Page 62 - ION Indie Magazine JanFeb 2021 Issue

It’s official! I’m getting old. I’m usually the last one to join the social media
train…MySpace in the 1990s, Facebook in the late 2000s, and Instagram, 2010s.
And now, this TikTok thing in 2020. And man, am I so happy I joined! As I was
scrolling through the millions of videos one night, I came across this guy playing
covers with his guitar. His voice and his take on my favorite cover songs really
captured my attention. “New” and “different” is what I saw in him. And after about 45
minutes of listening, I made a note to research this guy in the morning. And what I’ve
learned is that he is Andrew Joe Stevens, also known as “Drives The Common Man.”
He considers himself a post-rocker and acoustic punker and hails from Southern
Ontario. He’s also a part of London, Ontario’s punk band Youngest and Only. He
recently released his newest video “Night Vision,” which features song that tackles
the struggles with substance abuse. Everything that I wanted to start with as my intro,
DTCM covers it in his own words. So, I’m keeping it short here. I see a grand future
in this new artist, Drives the Common Man.

Marty Haviik: Drives The Common Man…love the name. Would you share with
us a little bit about yourself…how you got your name, where are you from?

Drives The Common Man: I got the name Drives the Common Man from a song by
one of my favourite bands Bad Religion. They had a song called ‘Anxiety,’ and there
was a lyric that went like ‘Anxiety destroys us but it drives the common man,’ and for
whatever reason, when I heard that, I instantly knew that was the name that I wanted.
I think I was 15 or 16 when that happened. I'm a Mi'kmaq first nation, born in
Kamloops, British Columbia, but raised in London, Ontario. My family lives in a
community on Cape Breton Island called Eskasoni. Shouts out to them!

MH: Late as ever, I just got on board on TikTok recently and you were one of
the first artists I saw doing your thing. I really love your short videos of covers
that you perform. The bloopers are a gem! How did you get started and what
inspires you to cover other artists?

DTCM: It was such a random thing. The first cover I did was ‘Watermelon Sugar’ by
Harry Styles, and the idea to cover it just happened when I was working on
something else in my studio. Then I decided to film it and make it a whole thing. I
posted it, fell asleep, and when I woke up, my phone was blowing up from TikTok
notifications. It was pretty wild, ha-ha! I've always been a huge fan of dancehall,
soca, and just island music in general, so I thought it would be fun to put those twists
on some of those artists I was covering, like, Lewis Capaldi, Dua Lipa, Keith Secola,
etc. I just want to put my own little style on the covers so that they can be my little
thing as well as theirs.

MH: Speaking of, one of my favorites is your rendition of Keith Secula’s ‘Indian
Car.’ Your take on it is fantastic! I can feel your energy coming from that song.
If you could share with our readers your musical influences and which bands
or artists has been a big impact in your musical journey.

Photo credit: Josh Ford