What better place for a band that scored big in the Peak Performance Project than among the peaks of the Rockies?
Derrival, a five-piece rock unit out of Langley, B.C., play Banff’s Elk and Oarsman, Saturday (Sept. 5), with freshly pressed EP Departure & Arrival in hand. The band is made up of Adam Mah (vocals, guitar), Glen Jackson (guitar, vocals), Dan Kozlowski (drums), Deven Azevedo (bass, vocals) and Shane Stephenson (keys, vocals).
With the video Canvas launched on Exclaim.ca, the band headed east into Alberta for a short tour to showcase its new work. Departure & Arrival follows the band’s inaugural Youth Captured in 2013.
After forming as a band when all members were in high school in 2009, most have moved through the college ranks while studying in music-related programs like music production and public relations.
Now in their early 20s, the band hopes to take Derrival as far as it will go.
“We’ve been together for a while now,” said Mah. “In college we studied course related to what we’re doing and it’s all helped us out; especially with the business side of things, which I think a lot of bands don’t pay enough attention to.”
The band’s named was coined relative to the fact a lot of people don’t whether they’re coming or going and the members combine synth-heavy elements of bands like Phoenix and Chvrches with guitar-driven hooks and melodies reminiscent of Two Door Cinema Club and Young The Giant.
In moving the band forward, they entered Vancouver’s Peak Performance Project and placed second, in 2014, which put $75,000 in the old bank account – which will come in handy as they work toward a full-length album for 2016 (“If we have any money left”).
“That was super helpful to buy some really expensive stuff we need and couldn’t really afford,” said Mah. “And we think it will help us take the next step in making bookings.
“We got to play the Commodore in Vancouver, which was great, because it’s a venue where you grow up seeing awesome bands play; and then we were there, it was a great experience.”
Early on, Mah put together most of the lyrics and chords for Derrival, but a more collaborative approach is now taken. Three songs from the latest EP will likely appear on a new album, “and we have quite a few songs fully written,” he said.
“The songs are my own life experiences, but with a song of Dan’s like “Canvas” I tried to write from his perspective, which was different for me. It was an interesting approach.”
Along with keeping music among the band, they keep music-related items among friends. Sean Depner, a Vancouver Film School grad, has shot their videos and John Kim, who worked on Ice Age, is looking to create an animated video for the band’s next album.
“It’s great to work with people you know,” said Mah. “And if we can get a full-length album out next year, we’d like to take it across Canada, the U.S. and maybe Europe.”
