A one-on-one with lead singer Simon Ward
By Angela Espinoza, Arts Editor
In February of this year, the Toronto-based six-piece band the Strumbellas released their debut album, My Father and the Hunter. The group embarked on a tour to promote the album earlier this month, and now this Friday, November 23, theyāll be stopping in Vancouver over at the Electric Owl. In anticipation for the upcoming show, I spoke with lead singer and proud daddy Simon Ward just after the tour began.
Since this was a special case, I chose to start off basic, what with there being six different members of the band. As cool as Ward is, I wanted to know about the group.
āWell theyāre crazy, each and every one of them,ā Ward states. āAnd we all got weird stuff going on, like Iām an elementary school teacher, our bassist [Darryl James] worked for a golf course company, another is a Ph.D. studentāitās kind of all over the map. We all just got jobs where we could take off any time we needed to.ā
Something as hectic as a touring band can create a very tight knit relationship for a group, especially a seemingly as normal batch of folks as the Strumbellas. One of the perks of having such an eclectic band of pals is that they each bring something different to the table. I mean, sure, five of them play multiple instruments on the album, but Iām referring to something very specific: this is the only band Iāve ever heard of that created a video game as a means of promoting themselves!
āOur keyboardist Dave [Ritter], his girlfriend makes video games for a living, so Dave decided heād learn how to make one. He spent a good 100 hours learning how to decode, but he made it.ā
The game for those wondering is a delightful musical platformer, with graphics ranging somewhere between 8- and 16-bit. Each character is a little cartoon version of the six in the Strumbellas, paired with their musical instrument as a weapon. Using recordings of their own voices for sound effects and with chiptune versions of every song on their very folksy album for each level, I canāt stress enough how awesome this game (and band) is. And as an added bonus, Ward gave players a little tidbit:
āAccording to Dave, Jon [Hembrey, our guitaraist] is the best character, statistically speaking.ā
I stated that the album was āfolksy,ā because I do feel that is the best category for the band. But youāll find from just about every other source that the band is considered countryāsomething I disagree with.
āI think most call it country because with this album especially, there is a lot of G, C, and D. Itās very under-toned like a lot of country music. But when people ask what we are, I just say, āI donāt know.ā We just say weāre not jazz.ā
Ward seems to always be the optimist, so when I asked him what the album was about, to say I was shocked by his answer is an understatement.
āItās kind of a concept album, and itās dedicated to my dadāthatās him on the cover. He died when I was younger, so itās mostly a tribute album to him, and itās about how Iām scared of facing the things he faced in life. You know how everyone is worried about becoming their parents. Itās basically about me as āthe Hunter,ā and how Iām scared to follow the same path my father went.ā
But, again, Ward being the cool guy he is, is always the optimist.
āItās weird, itās a super dark album; death and my dad, thatās the whole album. Iām just going to tell people to put it on at parties.ā
Donāt let the subject matter bum you out though. Itās very obvious from the first song, āThe Sheriff,ā that the group is having a great time. The music is immensely upbeat, and Wardās beautiful vocals, regardless of what heās singing about, are bound to put a smile on your face.
Once again, the Strumbellas will be playing the Electric Owl this Friday night with the Tom Fun Orchestra. Get in on the fun, have a few drinks, and be sure to enjoy this very cool band from Toronto.
If you canāt make the show, check out the game here: http://www.thestrumbellas.ca/game.
