Members Jesse Dryfhout and Christopher John (then Chris Moerman) were high-school classmates who played in a band called Molly with friends Mckenzie Dougall and Shaun Bennett. Molly released their demo-tape "Ghosts of Yesterday" in 1997 and sold all 500 copies. Dryfhout was originally the drummer until he came to the band with the first song that he had ever written: "Everybody". Soon after, he and John started to share song-writing and singing duties.
Molly played their last show at a barn in Maple Ridge only to walk back onto the stage as Stabilo Boss, sporting a new line-up with both Christopher and Jesse leading the band. The band's acoustic-rock sound featured Nathan Wylie, an accomplished drummer and friend of Dryfhout and John, and Karl Williaume on bass.
In 1999, the band recorded Kitchen Sessions, so named as it was an independent recording made in a kitchen. The EP was a completely home-made affair, the band and their university friends burning and distributing the discs themselves. Around this time, Stabilo Boss began to grow a solid local fan base based on the core support of their peers in school.
In the summer of 2000, the band recorded their self-titled debut, releasing it independently in early 2001. The album quickly sold out of its first pressing as Stabilo Boss began to become regulars in the local Vancouver music scene. The band's big break came roughly a year later when a DJ at the Vancouver's XFM decided to play "Everybody" on their music competition show, Chaos.
The band's solid songwriting and loyal fan base lead to the song beating out other offerings from more well established artists and dominating the station's Top 7@7 charts for nearly a month. With this exposure, the band sold 5000 copies of their album independently and began to be courted by major labels.
In the midst of all of the excitement over "Everybody", the band quietly released The Beautiful Madness EP which they sold only at their shows. The four song disc was recorded live off of the soundboard and prominently featured a grand piano on all tracks. It quickly sold out.
Rather than accept the first offers coming in from major labels, the band began to record their next album at Mushroom studios. According to John, the studio's owner John Wozniak (Marcy Playground) liked the band so much that he "basically just gave us free time there". By 2003, the band had completed their next album, produced by Wozniak and local musician/producer Jon Anderson (Radiogram/Jonathan Inc.).
At this point, the album was not released as Stabilo Boss was courting the record companies. After a search, they signed a deal with EMI Canada. With this transition to the big time, the band shortened their name to Stabilo. In an interview, Jesse stated that the band's name came from the Stabilo Boss brand highlighter they used to write down possible band names.
After touring Canada and then waiting a year, the new material recorded in 2002 was included in the album Cupid?, released on May 11, 2004. The radio-friendly release was somewhat of a let down to longtime fans who had been waiting for the release of a new albums worth of material for two years. Most of the new material recorded was shelved in favor of a seven song disc featuring only three previously unreleased tracks.
For the uninitiated, the album was well received across Canada with "Everybody" repeating much of its original success in many new locations. The re-release of "Everybody" was followed by the single "One More Pill", which was also culled from the self-titled disc.
Stabilo have just released their second album with EMI Canada on April 4, 2006 called "Happiness and Disaster", Their newest single "Flawed Design" is currently being played on radio stations across Canada. The video is also being aired on MuchMusic and MuchMoreMusic
In May of 2006, Stabilo was announced to the opening act for the Canadian arm of INXS's tour.
In July, 2006, Stabilo released their second single and video, "Kidding Ourselves".
In late 2006, the band released a third single from their CD "Happiness and Disaster", "Don't Look In Their Eyes".
Gateway
Stabilo Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The painter paints,
The poet writes.
She knocks a hole in my front door.
She's the one I can't ignore.
She tries to paint a hole in time,
She puts her face right next to mine.
She knocks me out and on the floor.
I've wandered ten thousand years for you,
To see this coming true.
I've been to the outer edge of time,
To try to make you mine.
I've been so far gone,
That there's no need to try redeeming me.
I believe that I'm the greatest of mistakes,
That ever has been made.
Pay no heed to what I say,
Because what I say it has no relevance,
To what you might believe.
I just want to find the truth.
Take the gateway, push her down,
Because in the end she'll only drag you down.
Sucks when I can't remember my own name.
Mary wants to hold my hand,
But when she does it's hard to stand up.
I never thought she'd take my soul,
I'm the one who's lost all control.
Never mind the violent crowd,
Its hard to penetrate my cloud.
I never thought they'd take your soul,
You're the one they can't control.
I've wandered ten thousand years for you,
To see this coming true.
I've been to the outer edge of time,
To try to make you mine.
I've been so far gone,
That there's no need to try redeeming me.
I believe that I'm the greatest of mistakes,
That ever has been made.
Pay no heed to what I say,
Because what I say it has no relevance,
To what you might believe.
I just want to find the truth.
Take the gateway, push her down,
Because in the end she'll only drag you down.
Sucks when I can't remember my own name
The song "Gateway" by Stabilo is a powerful narrative of a person's journey to find love and truth. The first verse starts with a distressing report of seven people dying and the painter and poet are using their art to capture the emotional turbulence of the tragedy. The singer then describes a woman knocking on their door to try and create a "hole in time" using her art. It is evident that this woman has a profound effect on the singer as they become physically incapacitated in her presence. The chorus continues with the singer stating their journey of wandering and travelling ten thousand years to find someone they deeply desire, but they believe that they are the "greatest of mistakes that ever has been made."
The second verse introduces the character of Mary, who the singer believes is trying to hold their hand but does so with force. The singer feels like they have lost all control, with Mary taking their soul. The bridge of the song emphasizes that the singer's words may have no relevance to what the listener believes, but it is their truth, and they only want to find the truth. Finally, the chorus repeats the idea of pushing the "gateway" down because they believe that it will only drag you down. The song ends on a somewhat melancholic note, with the singer ruefully acknowledging that they cannot remember their own name.
Line by Line Meaning
Seven people died last night,
Tragic events occurred with the death of seven individuals.
The painter paints,
The artist paints to express their creativity.
The poet writes.
The poet writes to communicate their thoughts and emotions.
She knocks a hole in my front door.
Someone is forcefully entering the artist's home.
She's the one I can't ignore.
The individual who entered the artist's home cannot be dismissed.
She tries to paint a hole in time,
The person attempts to alter the past in their mind.
She puts her face right next to mine.
The singer is confronted with extreme proximity to the individual.
She knocks me out and on the floor.
The artist is rendered unconscious and falls to the ground.
She's the one I can't ignore.
The individual remains impossible to disregard.
I've wandered ten thousand years for you,
The artist has been searching endlessly in the hopes of finding the person they address.
To see this coming true.
The hope was that the search would be successful.
I've been to the outer edge of time,
The artist has journeyed to the furthest reaches of existence.
To try to make you mine.
To attain possession of the person addressed has been the ultimate purpose of the journey.
I've been so far gone,
The singer has been consumed by their quest.
That there's no need to try redeeming me.
There is no point in appealing to the singer's redemption.
I believe that I'm the greatest of mistakes,
The artist considers themselves to be the greatest error or regret.
That ever has been made.
The artist deems themselves the most significant blunder to have ever existed.
Pay no heed to what I say,
The listener is advised to disregard the singer's words.
Because what I say it has no relevance,
The singer's communication has no bearing on the listener's belief system.
To what you might believe.
The listener's personal convictions are what matter.
I just want to find the truth.
The artist is seeking factual information.
Take the gateway, push her down,
The advice given is to use a particular entrance and force something down.
Because in the end she'll only drag you down.
The gateway will ultimately lead to a negative outcome.
Sucks when I can't remember my own name.
The artist is troubled by a lack of recall regarding their personal identity.
Mary wants to hold my hand,
The individual named Mary desires physical contact with the singer.
But when she does it's hard to stand up.
The physical effect of her touch is significant, possibly overwhelming.
I never thought she'd take my soul,
The singer did not anticipate that Mary would have such a deep impact on their being.
I'm the one who's lost all control.
The artist is no longer in command of their own actions or emotions.
Never mind the violent crowd,
A group of potentially aggressive people is of no consequence.
Its hard to penetrate my cloud.
The singer is unreachable due to their current state of mind.
I never thought they'd take your soul,
The singer did not suspect that the listener's essence would be under threat.
You're the one they can't control.
The listener is beyond the power of those who would try to influence or manipulate them.
I've wandered ten thousand years for you,
The artist has persisted for a great length of time in pursuit of the listener.
To see this coming true.
The artist hoped that this eventuality would be realized.
I've been to the outer edge of time,
The singer has explored the furthest reaches of temporal existence.
To try to make you mine.
The ultimate goal of the journey has been to acquire the person addressed.
I've been so far gone,
The singer has been deeply consumed by their objective.
That there's no need to try redeeming me.
The singer does not believe that their redemption is possible or necessary.
I believe that I'm the greatest of mistakes,
The singer regards themselves as the most significant blunder.
That ever has been made.
The artist deems themselves to be history's most significant error.
Pay no heed to what I say,
The listener is advised to ignore the artist's speech.
Because what I say it has no relevance,
The singer's remarks are of no consequence.
To what you might believe.
The listener's beliefs are what matter.
I just want to find the truth.
The artist is seeking genuine and factual information.
Take the gateway, push her down,
The advice given is to make use of a specific entryway and physically force something downward.
Because in the end she'll only drag you down.
The outcome of using the gateway will be detrimental.
Sucks when I can't remember my own name.
The singer finds it unpleasant to be unable to recall their personal identity.
Contributed by Allison R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Coctile Crocodile
Lyrics:
Seven people died last night
The painter paints, the poet writes
She knocks a hole in my front door, but
She's the one I can't ignore
She tries to paint a hole in time
She puts her face right next to mine
She knocks me out and on the floor, but
She's the one I can't ignore
And I've wandered ten thousand years for you
To see this coming true
And I've been to the outer edge of time
To try to make you mine
And I've been so far gone that there's no need
To try redeeming me
And I believe that I'm the greatest of mistakes
That ever has been made
Pay no heed to what I say because
What I say it has no relevance
To what you might believe because
I want to find the truth
Take the gateway, push her down because
In the end she'll only drag you down
Sucks when I can't remember my own name
Mary wants to hold my hand , but
When she does it's hard to stand up
I never thought she'd take my soul, but
I'm the one who's lost all control
Never mind the violent crowd it's
Hard to penetrate my cloud
I never thought they'd take your soul, but
You're the one they can't control
And I've wandered ten thousand years for you
To see this coming true
And I've been to the outer edge of time
To try to make you mine
And I've been so far gone that there's no need
To try redeeming me
And I believe that I'm the greatest of mistakes
That ever has been made
Pay no heed to what I say because
What I say it has no relevance
To what you might believe because
I want to find the truth
Take the gateway, push her down because
In the end she'll only drag you down
Sucks when I can't remember my own name
daxter8792
The Accoustic versions of any of their songs are extremely rare and only sold in canada. The CD is to hard to find and I don't have a canadian credit card to buy it online :P
UndividedSun n
This song makes me think of my favorite person
UndividedSun n
I miss you
daxter8792
I had to send in for it by mail, I don't remember the address, I'll try looking for it, but there is also the chance they don't have them anymore since I ordered it something like 2 years ago. give me a min