By John Goodman
This Week Editor
jgoodman@nsnews.com

NORTH Vancouver's Exit This Side are entering a new phase.

The band, formed in 1995, is made up of former Carson Graham students and one Handsworth refugee (Julian the drummer). Bassist Craig McLaren has continued his studies at UBC where he plays rugby. Exit became a serious entity in '98 and since then the band members have all been committed to carving out careers in the music business.

Last summer their album Sucker topped local indie store charts with its mix of melodic tunes and rocking musicianship. Even at this early stage Exit's intense performance commanded attention but it was a mere whisper of what the lads are capable of doing.

"The Sucker CD was more or less a demo in our eyes," says lead singer Ben Wootton. "But it opened up lots of doors for us."

The band has been recording at Greenhouse Studios for about a month with Lee Preston producing and Sean Scallion assisting him. "Tarek's done all of his rhythm tracks and Dan's halfway through his," says Wootton. "We should be finished the guitar tracks in about a week."

Exit This Side create most of their material collectively. "Someone usually comes up with a bass line or a verse to a song and then we all add in." Wootton writes all the lyrics. "This album is a step up from the last one -- production and music-wise", he says. "It's not as flat as Sucker -- the last songs were very straight ahead -- happy, poppy. The new album is more textured, more layered -- it has more depth to it."

Wootton credits the addition of Julian as helping to give the band a focus. Although he appeared on two Sucker tracks, it's really since then that the drummer has come into his own. "We've had almost two years to grow with him now -- he's one of the driving forces in the band now that keep's us going. We've totally transformed since he's been in the band. We're better musicians with better attitudes about the whole thing."

These days the band is going from strength to strength as it continues to develop its own sound: "Craig's a very melodic jazz player. He's very steady on bass," says Wootton. "Dan's got a great chunky sound and he's got great energy on stage. Tarek's amazing. Over the last year and half he's transformed himself into this guitar-mad scientist." Wootton is learning what his limits are as a singer and continues to experiment with the vocals.

While we'll have to wait until later this year to hear the new record you can see Exit This Side live tonight at the Brickyard. They are also planning an all-ages show for March 25 at Eagles Hall. Catch them if you can