Blur is not only a British band that had a massive hit with “Song 2” in 1997, it can relate to what happens when you’re a Canadian band riding a wave of success and touring around the globe non-stop.
For Victoria’s Current Swell, it must feel like a long time ago that they released Long Time Ago, but it was only 2012 when the surf/beach/folk/rockers released their fourth album.
Current Swell, with Vancouver Island buds Jon and Roy, roll into Canmore to play Communitea Cafe, Wednesday (Oct. 2).
Jon Middleton (vocals, guitar) and Roy Vizer (drum, percussion), with Louis Sadava on bass, will add their own brand of kick back island folk rock to the proceedings.
Current Swell is Scott Stanton (vocals, guitar), Dave Lang (vocals, guitar, harp), Ghosty Boy (bass) and Chris Peterson (drums). On this tour, Dave St. Jean joins in on trombone.
The stop in Canmore is one of a select eight in B.C. and Alberta the band is making before easing up for the winter season and working on a new album they hope will released in spring or early summer of 2014.
“We’ve been all over in this last year,” said Stanton. “Europe, Australia, Hawaii, Brazil, the U.K., all over Canada and the U.S. I can’t even remember everywhere we’ve been. Actually, we were away so much my girlfriend almost didn’t forgive me.”
Not that Stanton et al are complaining. When the band first got together in 2005, the four were living in one house to share bills while working on their music. These days, now that they’re pushing 30, with four successful albums and mucho touring under their belt, the guys have their own places. “We’ve matured, I guess,” said Stanton. “We’ve all got girlfriends, dog, cats…
“The band is paying everyone well right now; not to where we’re putting our feet up and buying Corvettes, but…”
The mini tour that carries the Swell into Canmore is just a matter of, “trying out some new material, getting on stage, having some fun with our good friends Jon and Roy and then getting home.”
Having moved away from their earlier indie days, Current Swell has embraced Nettwerk as managers, but had to refuse their coaxing to take this tour to Winnipeg.
Songwriters Stanton and Lang have been working on new material for a new album, “but we’re still working on it, we don’t want to rush it. Dave and I do the writing, then we hash it out as a band.
“Things are going really well, people are backing the band, the label’s great and I think the new album is going to have more of a rock sound.”
Early on, Current Swell had something of a surf/reggae/folk vibe, but as the band has moved along, including winning $100,000 as winners of the 102.7 FM Vancouver Peak Performance Project in 2011 the sound is moving toward more of a rock offering.
Also, now that bandmembers are pushing 30, the songs are becoming more mature, said Stanton. “We have so many songs and they’re from all over; some about family, some are made-up stories, a story about a dude that goes with an awesome guitar riff – but not so much about youth, partying, getting wasted.”
Once the next album is crafted and out there, Stanton sees a couple more years of solid touring in the offing.
“It’s going to have more of a rocky, heavy sound, including some psychedelic from the ‘70s, but with modern tones. That’s why this short tour is good, we’re trying to hash out new songs, test drive them, then take some of the winter off before getting into the recording studio.”
Long Time Ago (2011) followed Protect Your Own (2009), Trust Us Now (2007) and So I Say (2005).
For their part, Jon and Roy went searching for something intangible on their fourth recording, Let it Go.
Suffice it to say, they found it.
Freedom – from artistic constraints, from audience expectations – became a recurring theme during the creation of Let it Go. If there was one rule for long-time friends and collaborators Jon and Roy it was to have no rules at all.
“We felt much more free on this album,” Middleton said. “It was a very natural process in this way, similar to how we would approach a live show.
“We went into this album without thinking about what other people maybe wanted to hear or what we should be doing. The theme was letting go of old ways of being, looking inwards, and entering into a new phase of maturity, personally and musically.”
The duo arrived in 2005 almost fully formed, with a foundation built upon Middleton’s unique approach to the acoustic guitar and Vizer’s original rhythmic patterns. Their debut, Sittin’ Back, proved to be the beginning of a steady ascent that took flight with 2008’s Another Noon.
Jon and Roy spent eight months crafting a follow-up, 2011’s Homes, a recording that earned them airtime and exposure on CBC, NBC, HBO and MTV, as well as a placement in a six-month Scotiabank Canadian ad campaign, all in addition to a headlining performance on Canada Day before a crowd of 45,000 in Victoria.
