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, theyâll 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.
âWell theyâre crazy, each and every one of them,â Ward states. âAnd we all got weird stuff going on, like Iâm an elementary school teacher, our bassist [Darryl James] worked for a golf course company, another is a Ph.D. studentâitâs kind of all over the map. We all just got jobs where we could take off any time we needed to.â
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 Iâm referring to something very specific: this is the only band Iâve ever heard of that created a video game as a means of promoting themselves!
âOur keyboardist Dave [Ritter], his girlfriend makes video games for a living, so Dave decided heâd learn how to make one. He spent a good 100 hours learning how to decode, but he made it.â
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 canât stress enough how awesome this game (and band) is. And as an added bonus, Ward gave players a little tidbit:
âAccording to Dave, Jon [Hembrey, our guitaraist] is the best character, statistically speaking.â
I stated that the album was âfolksy,â because I do feel that is the best category for the band. But youâll find from just about every other source that the band is considered countryâsomething I disagree with.
âI think most call it country because with this album especially, there is a lot of G, C, and D. Itâs very under-toned like a lot of country music. But when people ask what we are, I just say, âI donât know.â We just say weâre not jazz.â
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.
âItâs kind of a concept album, and itâs dedicated to my dadâthatâs him on the cover. He died when I was younger, so itâs mostly a tribute album to him, and itâs about how Iâm scared of facing the things he faced in life. You know how everyone is worried about becoming their parents. Itâs basically about me as âthe Hunter,â and how Iâm scared to follow the same path my father went.â
But, again, Ward being the cool guy he is, is always the optimist.
âItâs weird, itâs a super dark album; death and my dad, thatâs the whole album. Iâm just going to tell people to put it on at parties.â
Donât let the subject matter bum you out though. Itâs very obvious from the first song, âThe Sheriff,â that the group is having a great time. The music is immensely upbeat, and Wardâs beautiful vocals, regardless of what heâs 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 canât make the show, check out the game here: http://www.thestrumbellas.ca/game.
