I spoke to singer Anthony Demario and drummer Scott Fisher of Orlando progressive post-hardcore outfit Capstan about their new EP, 'Nulla', out now on Fearless. Check it out on Youtube. This interview was recorded as part of the Suburban Home: At Home series, where I strive to showcase the best alternative, hardcore, emo and punk bands that the world has to offer. Thank you for tuning in!
This past Sunday, December 17th marked Big Wreck's return to Winnipeg, supporting their new EP "Pages". The Regent Event Centre was treated to talent from 3 great rock voices, which included Daniel Greaves of the Winnipeg rock band The Watchmen and Texas King.
First on stage was Howard Mandshein of 92.1 CITI, introducing the singer of one of his favorite rock bands in Canada, Danny of The Watchmen. Winnipeggers may recall the sold-out Watchmen show a month previous at the same venue, which was a kick off show for Danny leaving to join Big Wreck on the road. Danny came on stage and immediately went into a cover of James Taylor's "Sweet Baby James", quietly walking back to his electric piano and exhibiting his talent on more covers of tunes such as "Highwayman" by The Highwaymen and "Watermelon Sugar" by Harry Styles. Interlaced into his setlist were original acoustic Watchmen songs, including "All Uncovered" and "Stereo". Danny's greatest strength as a performer, especially during acoustic/quiet sets, is his ability to feed off of the crowd's energy, strongly highlighted in this performance, taking some (albeit polite) jabs to people firing off requests or singing wrong lyrics.
Soon after Danny left the stage, Texas King from London, Ontario came on. This was the bands' 2nd time in Winnipeg this year, as they had previously headlined The Park Theatre on their "Whatever You Break" tour back in April. Texas King lighted up the crowded with some fiery but passionate blues-influenced alternative rock. Anthems such as Changes lit up the crowd while "Whatever You Break" and "Home" provided a more nostalgic vibe to the bands' set, the latter of which had a massive crowd participation flare to it. Texas King even had some of the younger fans in the theater on the edge of their seat with their version of Post Malone's "Chemical".
In Texas King's Spotify bio, singer Jordan MacDonald notes: "when you hear us, I want you to know that it's gonna be a crazy night". Jordan and his band delivered on this, and set the energy for the rest of the night.
Following Texas King's leave from the stage, Big Wreck hit the stage for the first time in Winnipeg since 2019. Their set was a solid mix of new material and old classics, which include "The Albatross" and "That Song". Also included in the setlist was a performance of Ian Thornley's own 'So Far, So Good' (which was released in 2004, after Big Wreck broke up). Big Wreck's current lineup includes drummer Sekou Lumumba (who I interviewed here), who had previously worked with Thornley when he was doing solo material. Other highlights of the set included a segue from their song "Ghosts", into The Doobie Brothers' "Long Train Runnin'" (sung by guitarist Chris Caddell), and the final encore performance of "The Oaf" which was extended into a long jam, with Danny Greaves coming on stage to perform a segment of the track with them.
The sold-out return of Big Wreck was overdue, and was a night to remember. As of writing, Big Wreck are currently finishing up the final 2 dates of their North American tour, before they get a well-deserved rest this holiday season.
-Fish, Suburban Home (UMFM 101.5, every Wednesday from 1-2pm)
Check out the links below for streaming and merch from the bands.
How are you today, and what is an average day for you like?
BG: Hey, I'm good! I got my flu and covid shot yesterday and I'm feeling it, I've been laying in bed all day waiting for this to start. An average day for me is working on music all day, every day. My full-time job is primarily composing music for TV spots, and every now and then, producing with artists. I've produced with my bands, but most of the artists I work with fall out of the punk stuff I play. I've worked with Vlad Holiday who is a psychedelic-indie guy from New York, as well as Kareen Lomax who has worked with Diplo. Most of what I work on with these people is stuff for trailer productions and commercials. It's pretty cool and different because you can work on something that works well as an artists' song as well as for an Apple commercial.
Did you pursue post-secondary education for audio engineering or music production?
BG: No, I didn't. However, my bandmates Corey in Locket and Greg in Like Pacific both went to the Algonquin Recording School. I would consider myself a creative individual. So if I'm not working on music, I'm always trying to do cool stuff with my friends. I've made music videos for bands like Bearings, I went to journalism school and wrote articles for Vice, I'm always just going with the flow and seeing where it takes me!
How did Locket start and what were your music influences?
BG: 10 years ago, I got a call from Travis [Locket's bassist], who said that he and a group of friends were forming a band and needed a singer. That turned into some jamming in our basement and playing small shows to touring under our former name, Safe to Say. Around 2012 or 2013, all the Run for Cover bands, whether you want to call them pop punk, or hardcore crossover, Citizen, Superheaven when they were Daylight, Turnover, these were people we were crossing paths or playing shows with quite a bit. And even outside of our main influence, Seaway was from the same area as us and we were super inspired by their work ethic, it was nice to see a band working that hard. [Seaway and Safe to Say released a split together in 2012.]
How did you start playing music?
BG: I grew up in a very musical household, my mom's dad was a guitarist in a country band from what I've been told. There was always instruments around my house, we had guitars and a piano, so it's always been kind of just something that stuck with me. When I turned 12, Seven Nation Army was the song that everyone was using to learn the guitar, and the obvious Blink-182's and Sum 41's, it was every kid's dream to start a band.
What was it like leaving behind your former band name and your former songs when starting the new era - how we know you today as Locket?
BG: It was weird, we first started playing shows under Locket about 5-10 shows into our shows with Bearings after our return. At the time, we hadn't out put out the album [2019's All Out], so we were still playing Safe to Say songs. It felt weird playing Safe to Say songs under a new name, that I wrote 5 to almost 10 years ago, it almost feels inauthentic to an extent. It was bittersweet leaving some songs behind, and some songs we still love and wish we could perform them for our newer audience, but hey, they're still on Spotify, go listen to them there!
Any memorable shows from both eras?
BG: Yeah, coming up where we did, there was a large DIY community. We've played big shows on big stages with massive audiences, but sometimes the ones we look back most fondly on are the basement shows with under 100 people, or stuff similar to that. One venue that comes to mind was a guy who ran shows out of his shed which held maybe, 30 people sardine can style. It was such a treat when you got asked to play a venue like that because you got to go crazy with your friends. One of the most memorable shows from our Safe to Say days, the first time Citizen ever came to Canada, we played with them. It was crazy because we had their audience watching our set. This was when Citizen had just released Youth. Another memorable one off the top of my head was getting to play one of the last Warped Tours [2016]. For this era, we did one tour before the pandemic that I did not have a good time on. It's always fun to play California, and we always do really well in Pittsburgh for some reason. Our shows there are usually really fun. It's hard to pin down one show for sure because of the fact that we don't play super often. I'd have to say any holiday show we play with our friends in Seaway and Like Pacific are always a party.
In 2019, you released your first taste of music under the name Locket, which to me shows a continuation of that more mature dreamy pop punk sound we see from Run for Cover bands. Would you agree and is there anything you'd like to add on to that?
BG: Yeah, I would agree. The last album we put out as Safe to Say is probably something that at least me and Corey look back on as a weird time in our lives where we were essentially pressured to make an album because we had tour offers, so labels wanted us to have new music, and it felt like we were writing music for the sake of writing music. I think the first album we released as Locket is what I would've liked to release as the last Safe to Say album. The style of music, the place that I was writing from musically, all of that is from that era where we shifting and going through life stuff. They're basically a perfect segue into one another.
Superluminal dropped on Fearless last month, with a handful of singles preceding it. In terms of writing, production or anything of the sort, was there anything that you did differently compared to albums in the past.
BG: We're a very tight unit, we self-engineer, produce, mix. Aside from mastering, we do everything on our own. Sonic Bloom is one of the few songs we have where we reached out to someone else to co-produce with us, and just help give our music something a little left of center or outside of the box. I have a friend name Chris LaRocca, he's from Toronto and used to play in emo bands back in the day, but now he's primarily an R&B and hip hop singer and producer, he's done behind the scenes stuff with huge K-pop artists, number one in the world type songs; his bread and butter is the pop and hip hop world. But he understands the emo and rock stuff because that's what he grew up doing. It was really cool to reach out to him to show him the original version of Sonic Bloom and say "hey, do you want to hop on zoom and work on this together and add these flourishes here and there, and do your thing". The whole Superluminal intro to album that leads into Sonic Bloom, that's 80% Chris. Looking back, we couldn't have done that without him.
Was there a goal in terms of direction that you wanted to take this album, and do you think you accomplished it?
BG: I had a very specific goal, I talked to Corey and said "let's write the songs we wish we were capable of writing when we were 20." Basically trying to bring the same energy that we had back then when we were just picking up guitars. For example, Sonic Bloom is basically just 2 chords back and forth, but we're adding all these little elements and flourishes now that we're capable of making a real good sounding record. I listen to it now and there's nothing I would've done differently, which in the past has not always been the case.
Who is the main lyricist on your material, and are you able to talk about some of the lyrical themes on the record?
BG: It's funny, my band always makes fun of me (lovingly), because on our liner notes, I'm the only one who writes our lyrics, so I'm the main lyricist, instrumentalist, songwriter, and then I'm lucky enough to have my bandmates come in and bring their ideas to the table and help me edit. I have done something this past record that many lyricists would be very scared to do. I was writing lyrics in the booth on a Google doc and in the next room, all the guys could see my lyrics being written in real time. It's something extremely vulnerable to do for sure. As for lyrical themes, I wouldn't say this was a pandemic record, but I was noticing so much had happened between records, three years went by so quick and all of a sudden our lives were so different than they were when were started writing the record. At the start, we were in our 20's, we had girlfriends, living at home. The record is out now, and we're 30, the guys are married and we own houses. As this was kind of snowballing, I said, "how do I capture this? How do I write about a part of you that feels so youthful but coming to terms with having to live my adult life?" It's almost like conceptualizing what happens after the band, what happens if I'm not around these friends anymore, what happens if being on the road and touring is no longer the priority, because now I'm a family guy. I had worries for a while that some of our younger fans weren't going to relate or resonate with our words, until we started getting DM's about them, high schoolers now in college having to leave former relationships behind for example, and it was nice reassurance having released this record and knowing that the things I'm going through in my late 20s are universal, and even relatable to a kid that's 18.
How has reception been, from old and new fans alike?
BG: So, we don't have a huge audience, but we have a very specific audience. The label is aware of this too, and if you know, you know. We're that band that's sometimes too pop for the punk label, too grungy for the pop punk label, sometimes we play ballads and other times we'll play heavy, slam parts. That being said, we notice some fans just by instagram usernames, he's been buying the merch for 10 years. It's nice to have new fans, but that's as good as it gets. No matter where you are in life and no matter which way you go sonically, you know you'll have them on board. Of course with Fearless pushing the record, we get new people commenting, things like "woah, this is great!", or even something like "this is Safe to Say? I was wondering where these guys went!" Some people haven't been aware of the name change and that's just the way social media goes.
What is your favorite song on the record and why?
BG: My favorite is you&i, because it's about my wife, it's got a lot of emotional weight. For some reason, the ones that are about her seem to do the best for us. But to me, it just seems like the most authentic and genuine song, and the coolest bridge section to me. For the rock songs, I would have to say Kilayear and Sonic Bloom.
What are your plans for the rest of 2023 and 2024?
BG: We have two shows left for 2023, and both are supporting my other band Like Pacific; One in Kingston on December 15th at The Mansion and the next day we'll be playing Sneaky Dee's in Toronto. The other support acts for the Kingston show will be F!th, Monach and Listen Up Kid, and for Toronto, they're Summer Heights, Seventh Dose and So Perfect. Sneaky Dee's is going to be the album release show basically, and our label didn't want us to press CDs and vinyl because they know we're not a band who tours or plays regularly. They did let us make physical stuff to sell only at this show, so that will be exciting. After that, we'll be filming some stuff that's dropping in the new year and that's all I can say for 2023. As for 2024, we'll be eager to play many more shows!
Thanks to Brad Garcia of Locket/Like Pacific/Safe to Say for doing this interview! Buy or stream Superluminal by Locket now, out on Fearless Records!
Links below.
Locket Website | Fearless Records
Big Wreck's Sekou Lumumba (right): An Interview (all promo pictures and album artwork belong to their respective owners)
What are you listening to currently?
SL: I've been listening to the new Periphery album that came out this summer! Those guys always put out great music, and this is no exception.
How long have you been playing drums?
SL: I started playing drums when I was about 16; I originally played bass with some friends, but when they needed a drummer, I decided to try it out and got more and more comfortable with finding a simple rhythm. I started playing professionally in 1998 as a session/touring drummer, about 25 years ago.
How did you get the gig with Big Wreck?
SL: I mentioned previously, that I was doing some session and touring work early in my career. I had drummed with a Canadian R&B singer named Ivana Santilli. After that, I worked with a few more artists including Edwin & The Pressure [Edwin being the lead vocalist of fellow Canadian rock band I Mother Earth]. Somewhere around that timeline, I was picked up by Ian [Thornley] to play on his debut solo album [Come Again], and toured with them until 2005, with Ken Tizzard of The Watchmen also in the lineup. After 2005, I played with some more notable acts including Bedouin Soundclash for 2 years and Serena Ryder for 10 years, around the time when she was becoming one of the next big things in Canadian music. In 2020 or 2021, Ian called me up and asked if I could join them for some sessions for what would become Big Wreck's 7 EP series, we recorded about 15 songs in those sessions and I became their full-time drummer soon after, as their previous drummer was suffering through some medical issues that made it impossible for him to continue touring and drumming at 110%.
Compared to the last series of EPs, was the writing and production process different at all, or was it similar?
SL: I would say similar writing-wise, though I wasn't too involved with that side of things on the EP tracks. I was also not involved with the EP 7 series' pre-production, as I joined in the midst of that happening. For this release, I was there for the entire process, including writing. What I can tell you from experience, is that Ian is a great writer. He'll come in with a drum loop or drum machine part that he imagines the song had, plus his guitar parts for a rough demo. At that point, he'll kind of let me do whatever I want with the part.
What has the reception towards the new single been like? Big Wreck is always one band that loves experimenting, but this is by far the heaviest Big Wreck material I've heard.
SL: I appreciate that man! Big Wreck gathers much influence from whatever we're all listening to at the time and therefore is an amalgamation of different sounds. From new and old fans alike, the reception has been super positive towards Bail Out, especially out on the road.
One thing that I have noticed about Big Wreck's legacy on commercial radio, as opposed to some of your contemporaries, is the lasting effect and play of some of your newer stuff (Albatross, etc.) Would you be able to speak on this, in some part?
SL: Certainly. Before I go on here, I would like to say Albatross just got gold-certified, which is really cool. What I will say, is that when we get put on a "nostalgia act" bill or festival with our friends including The Watchmen, The Tea Party, or whatever it may be, there is an understanding that a large majority of our setlist is comprised of our big commercial songs, or the songs that everybody grew up with on the MuchMusic charts. That's the difference between those sets and when we're able to play our own shows like we are currently.
What are some of your favorite venues that you've played in your career?
SL: Without Big Wreck, no doubt it has to be Red Rocks with Serena Ryder opening for OneRepublic. I saw multiple concerts there when I was younger, I was in awe of the venue. It was just an absolute dream to play there with Serena. With Big Wreck, I'd say History in Toronto. That is such a fantastic, huge venue that I believe holds about 2000 people, and sounds great no matter where you are, whether you're on the floor or up in the rafters. I saw Turnstile there this year, and that was such a wonderful, energetic show, with a huge, huge drum sound and great vocal sound.
What are some of your favorite parts about touring? Least favorite?
SL: My favorite parts have to be the people that we meet and see singing along with the songs in the crowd. You even get a person here or there who gets teary-eyed or cries during a song - I love that, it means they care. As for least favorites, there's not a whole lot I could say except for after when were in the tour bus, and everybody is cranky and farting in the bunk beds *laughs*.
Do you ever suffer from post-concert/post-tour depression?
SL: To be honest, I don't really. As much fun as I have on tour, I always can't wait to get back home to see my parents and my dog. Especially with this tour, being we started in early November, we will not be back home until a few days before Christmas. Another thing is that on tour off-season, I'm always trying to find work, whether it's at a wedding or a fill in. One time, I played a big show, and a girl wanted me to sign her chest. The week after that, I was at a bar mitzvah as a drummer waiting for the food line, and was told to wait in the kids' food line, so I was waiting with these kids for some chicken fingers and macaroni and cheese, *laughs*.
Are you a gamer?
SL: Absolutely, I love The Last of Us. It is likely my favorite game series besides Bioshock. Other games that I have loved or checked out recently include Alan Wake and Starfield. I got about 100 hours in Starfield, or whatever is enough to finish the game. Let me tell you, I didn't end up liking it all that much because I got stuck. I was doing all the tasks, mining and gathering all the resources and what have you, and then my marker for my home base disappeared, meaning I couldn't find my home anymore! Regardless, I think it's a nicely made game but there was some glaring issues like that that made me more critical about it.
Thanks for talking to me, Sekou! We'll see you in December at The Regent Casino here in Winnipeg.
SL: Thanks! I used to live in Winnipeg, so it'll be cool as always to be back. I'm very excited to continue the rest of the tour with Big Wreck!
Check out Sekou's Instagram and Big Wreck's music via the links below.
Sekou Instagram | Big Wreck Instagram | Big Wreck Facebook | Big Wreck Merch
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Brampton's own Moneen took on Winnipeg for the first time since 2009 with a stellar support lineup: New Mexico's Sparta (who were celebrating 20 years of their debut, Wiretap Scars), and Chastity from Whitby, Ontario. This is a Dine Alone Records fans' wet dream.
Moneen are out on tour performing 'Are We Really Happy With Who Are Right Now?' in it's entirety for it's 20th anniversary, and a handful of fan favorites from Red Tree and The Theory of Harmonial Value (which just appeared on streaming for fans to enjoy, alongside their debut EP 'Smaller Chairs...')
Canada's emo-grunge prince Chastity went on at 7:30, and performed a great 30 minute set. I have unfortunately missed every time Brandon has came here but I will not make that mistake again, as I've fallen in love with his music over the course of the year; it was a welcome surprise to see Chastity announced as support on this tour. Performing a selection of his well known songs which include 'Sun Poisoning' and 'When You Go Home I Withdrawal', as well as a handful of early songs such as 'Manning Hill'. In talking with him and his current touring bassist (who performs dream pop music under the name 'ellis'), they mentioned that they will be coming back in the spring to perform a longer set, please pay attention to that!
After that was Sparta, who performed the entirety of Wiretap Scars from 2002. Sparta's Jim Ward was one of the co-founders of At The Drive-In, and appeared on 3 of their albums until they called it quits in 2001. Jim co-founded Sparta soon after with other former members of ATDI (with Cedric and Omar forming The Mars Volta), and rejoined ATDI for a reunion in 2012, leaving permanently after this. Sparta's current lineup consists of Ward on guitar and vocals, Matt Miller on bass and vocals, and Neil Hennessy (of Joyce Manor/Lawrence Arms/The Falcon...) on drums. Jim is one of my guitar heroes, so seeing their energy, with how they crafted their ambient guitar transitions in between songs and more, was fascinating to watch. It was nearly an hour of watching a great group of people play great music, no stopping and talking.
The headliner was of course, Moneen. They played the entirety of Are We Really Happy With Who We Are Right Now? along with an encore that included The Passing of America, Locke and Tonight, I'm Gone. Kenny Bridges, Chris Hughes and Erik Hughes stage presence remains energetic as it was in the old Moneen music videos for "Are We Really Happy..." and "Start Angry", and Peter Krpan never misses a beat, whether it's a fast, more progressive song or one of the "slower", more dynamic songs ("Tonight, I'm Gone"). A huge highlight of the show included Kenny sliding up and down the Park Theatre's beer-drenched wooden floor and (jokingly) failing to do a somersault/frontflip - but being crowd surfed back to the stage in good condition to get to his guitar. It brings me back to watching Moneen's Jubilee Hall show from 2003 (the show they played with Alexisonfire in New Brunswick with Jersey opening), which can be found on YouTube. It was an emo-core show in the purest form - finger pointing, body shoving and great feeling from the boys in Moneen. Big love to Moneen, Sparta and Chastity for showing Winnipeg how it's done, and great job to everyone on selling out the venue on a TUESDAY night.
-Fish
Go check out the Moneen webstore, where you can buy cassettes, vinyl, shirts and much more (pay attention, because they might put up the 20th anniversary vinyl too)
https://www.moneenlovesyou.com/
The Beaches w/ special guests Beach Weather show review (November 5th, 2023) (poster courtesy of The Burton Cummings Theatre website)
Toronto indie/alt-pop four-piece The Beaches took the stage alongside Beach Weather on Sunday night at the Burton Cummings Theatre, as part of the 2023 Blame My Ex tour, in support of their album of the same name, which came out in September on AWAL Recordings.
The night opened promptly at 8pm, with Beach Weather from Massachusetts, USA. They play a brand of jangly indie and pop rock similar to most of The Beaches recent stuff, however I would more accurately compare them to a band such as The Neighborhood, The Wallows or Hotel Ugly; something more in that laidback indie feel.
Beach Weather played about 40 minutes of their material, which is great for a highlight reel of what they offer in terms of their tunes. They played a handful of their popular songs from their two 2016 EP's, 'Chit Chat' and 'What a Drag', and some from their most recent album, 'Pineapple Sunrise', including their viral-on-the-internet hit, Sex, Drugs, Etc. (which was first released on their debut EP, but rereleased years later). The bands' live stage presence and vibe oozes sunny day beach vibes, and frontman Nick Santino (of A Rocket to the Moon fame) oozes sexual attitude with a great voice. What I enjoyed about these guys live presence the most, is their dynamics; a tendency to go from a great power pop tune to an emotional, rock 'n roll destruction fest with their instruments in mere minutes.
The Beaches came on stage at 9:10pm, and delivered a set of both new and old hits and album cuts, including their latest album being played in full. Other favorites that aren't found on Blame My Ex include Grow Up Tomorrow, T-Shirt and Money. The only song that I noticed that was notably missing from any of their setlists (including this one) was Lame, but I'm not complaining. A major highlight of their set included Nick from Beach Weather coming on stage to sing with Jordan for My Body ft. Your Lips. Other notable moments included the crowd chanting enthusiastically during the song that changed The Beaches lives', 'Blame Brett', which went viral on TikTok this year, as well as the acoustic performance of If A Tree Falls - a personal favorite track of mine from this album.
The sold-out Beaches show at the Burton Cummings Theatre lived up to my expectations, and even smashed some. I've been looking into going to more indie/pop-centered shows, and this one was an extremely fun one, and a band I'll be looking more into as well as attending more shows in the future. I think the only thing that hindered my excitement a little bit was just how big the sold-out crowd was, and being pushed back slowly (I was on the floor for reference). Overall, I'll give this experience a 4/5 stars. Much love to The Beaches and Beach Weather, and I wish them well on the rest of their tour, where they go out to western Canada, then Europe later this month and USA (again) next year!
-Fish
The Beaches 'Blame My Ex' now available on streaming services and thebeachesband.com
The Beaches Music, Merch + More
Viridians. Picture credit: ?
Viridians were an emo/progressive/post-rock band based out of my home city of Winnipeg, Canada. As far as I can tell, they were active until 2013 and issued an album (Dangerous Visions, Again) and an EP ([sp]arrows). Members were Zach Allard, Shane Patience, Neil Exell and Joseph Peloquin-Hopfner.
As they aren't together anymore, info is sparse on this band, however, what interested me is the current active projects of this band's members. Zach Allard is currently in a handful of my favorite bands in the city, which include Storyteller (with Dylan of Distances/Clipwing) and Fox Lake. Neil Exell and Shane Patience also happen to be in Fox Lake, with Shane also being an audio engineer and a former member of Distances with... Zach Allard! The local connections with this group of guys are insane and they continue to make great music in all of their projects.
Below are some links you can use if you'd like to listen to the Viridians' releases, and some of the guys' other projects which would be up your alley if you enjoy this style.
Fox Lake Spotify (Zach/Neil/Shane)
Distances Spotify (Zach/Shane) - INACTIVE
