While KISS has espoused the creed of rock ‘n’ roll all night and party every day for years, Victoria band Mindil Beach Markets has taken a different tack with their daytime hours.
At night, as often as possible, the five-piece Mindil Beach Markets offers up rock infused with reggae, blues, folk and hip hop, while during the day, at least on the band’s most recent tour to Halifax and back, they combined music with an environmental message.
Mindil Beach Markets (MBM) will share a stage with the four-piece Deep Sea Gypsies at Banff’s Rose & Crown, Jan. 7-8 and the Canmore Hotel, Jan. 9.
MBM is Daniel Kingsbury (vocals, guitar), Patrick Codere (vocals, guitar), Matt Posnikoff (bass/guitar), Rod Campbell (vocals, keys) and Cam Ainslie (drums). The band’s 2013 release It Might Take Long followed 2010’s self-titled debut.
“We just got back from a three-month tour across the country to Halifax,” said Campbell. “Banff and Canmore are part of a short tour of ski towns.”
On their cross-Canada trip, said Campbell, MBM played regular gigs across the country, but during the day played at 48 middle and high schools and offered up presentations of their Jellyfish Project – an educational initiative focused on generating awareness among youth about the declining health of the world’s oceans and the environment at large.
By combining live music and Jellyfish Project presentations, students are engaged in the environmental conversation and are given information on how to become active participants in the sustainability movement.
“We did about 70 presentations and it was really good,” said Campbell. “We mapped it out so we’d play bars Thursday, Friday and Saturdays, you need to play on those good nights, then we’d go to schools on the weekdays.
“We really kicked off The Jellyfish Project a year and a half ago. At first, they were pretty amateur, but now we’ve done presentations for about 40,000 students. In March, we’ll be back in Banff (for Navigate 2014: A Water Literacy Youth Summit), where we’ll be keynote speakers. That’ll be cool.
“At schools, we do about 30 minutes of music, then about a 30-minute presentation; it’s about one-third on oceans (no surprise for a West Coast band), a third on climate change and a third on solutions.
“Even in places where there is no ocean, it’s been going over well with kids. And we sell some merchandise, get kids’ email addresses for updates on the project and get it out there with social media. “
Musically, the band is working toward a new album, with a couple of singles ready for release. “For a new album, we’re shopping around for the right people, there’s been a big gap between our first and second albums, so we’re working on something new,” said Campbell
“It’s tough to do any songwriting on a long tour. It was almost too long a tour and with all the school presentations, I felt like I was back in high school again. For the tour, we all left our jobs, some left girlfriends and we moved away from Victoria, for now.”
In hitting the road with the Gypsies, everyone will load into MBM’s motorhome, which sleeps eight, then they’ll get back in time to work with the Vancouver Aquarium in February. Working with aquarium staff, MBM will join a tour of its AquaVan; a truck-mounted unit that is an aquarium on wheels where students can handle live sealife.
For the future, MBM is looking to expand The Jellyfish Project by getting other bands across the country involved to spread the environmental message coast to coast.
Based on Vancouver Island, Deep Sea Gypsies are influenced by the blues and rock originators of the early to mid-1900s. It was a time when music was all about exciting innovation and experimentation. Feeding off this inspiration, they blend their own unique twist with elements of hip hop, folk and funk. Their songs are reflective of the laid-back vibe and lifestyle of Western Canada and find a comfortable home anywhere; whether relaxing at a beach fire or dancing at the bar.
