Bleed

iST is a power trio, the brainchild of Astrid Young, David Kiner (of Mal Havoc) and Dan Cornelius (Monster Voodoo Machine, Sass Jordan, Damn 13).

We started writing songs at Bill's place one summer - that was when Bill was our bass player, but after a year of gigging, and three bass players later, the epiphany finally came: a pivotal night at Rancho Relaxo, our bass-iST du jour had a way more important TV gig, so Astrid borrowed BassBitch Laurie Green's rig and -- well, the rest is history! iST was tighter, heavier, and had way more fun than they'd ever had before. Kiner broke a string. Dan grew hair on his chest. Astrid became a born-again Bass Bitch!! the trio went on to play the scene around Toronto, right around the time when 'stoner rock' was becoming a genre unto itself. "These guys sound like everybody else is trying to sound!" said one promoter. The album was recorded at Rob Sanzo's studio Signal to Noise in Toronto. Rob did the Big Sugar and VoidVod records we loved, it seemed a perfect fit!

Touring southern California in 2002, right before the album was released in Europe, we gigged to crowds agog to our style, tension and full-throttle-forward-thrusting. We made groupies out of other bands who tenaciously followed us from club to club and bought up all our CD's. Very flattering ...

Now, as to the title, Pokalolo Paniolo, this is kind of our inside joke - as 'Stoner Rock', we supposed was a term made up by some radio guy, we sat in Bill's apartment and wondered, why 'Stoner'? is it because the kids that listen to it are all learning how to burn and trying to grow facial hair in their parents basements? (eww) or is it because the musicians themselves are so stoned they just can't remember how many times they've already played the riff? Well, whatever the answer, one has to embrace something, right? Pokalolo is hawaiian for marijuana, and Paniolo is Hawaiian for cowboy. So, in a nutshell, it means "Marijuana Cowboy". As for the name iST, that's an even longer story. Check us out on the website!