Local rockers In/Vertigo release Bad Enemy
New track, a product of six months of labour, also has video associated with it
It was a scene pulled from the pages of an old rock star biography. An inner-city basement where the walls are lined with reflective Styrofoam and the floors are strewn with vintage area rugs and guitar cables.
I have to watch my step as I manoeuvre carefully around all the drums and Marshall amps until I find a spot safely between a pile of empty Jack Daniels bottles and a couple of old Les Paul’s teetering dangerously up against a loveseat.
There’s a lingering scent in the air. Maybe it was the freshly cracked bottle of Bombay Gin or even the huge pile of cigarette butts overflowing in the ashtray, but I couldn’t quite place it.
And then it hit me. It was rock and roll ... Pure, rock and roll.
This is the band house where local hard rock quartet In/Vertigo has invited me, and after some deep conversation about vintage amps, local clubs and old school metal, we got down to the real reason that I was there — to talk about their new single and video Bad Enemy, released Sept. 4, from their upcoming album Sex, Love and Chaos.
Produced by Kirill Telichev at his own Sound Priory Recording Studio, the new track, inspired by some of the people they have crossed paths with on the road, is a product of more than six months hard labour. And now that there’s a video associated with it as well, you can tell that it’s a bittersweet moment for the band.
We’re all very proud of it, but we almost don’t want to release it because it’s kind of like our little art project.
“It’s amazing,” says guitarist Shaddy Elsaghir. “We’re all very proud of it, but we almost don’t want to release it because it’s kind of like our little art project.”
Shot over three days in Calgary, the video backdrops include local watering holes Morgan’s Pub, The Regal Beagle and the Bank and Baron — all venues that the guys may be found hanging out in on any other given day.
A social media call-out for fans to be a part of the madness left the band surprised by the amount of support they received.
“It was really cool,” said Elsaghir. “Normally a girl comes out to a show or another girl comes out to another show, but when it’s a music video, they all come!”
One listen to the track Bad Enemy and you’ll be scratching your head at the fact these guys have only been playing together for little over one year.
Powerhouse vocalist Reed Alton has a range that would make any diehard Soundgarden fan do a double take. Guitar virtuoso-in-themaking Elsaghir’s mad riff-rock skills are always on display and the solid rhythm team of former jazz saxman-turned bassmaster Duncan McCartney, and drummer Keaton Byfield round out a sonic pounding normally reserved for veteran rockers with years of touring under their belts.
When asked if this video is a highlight for the band, Elsaghir is quick to respond. “We’ve done over 200 gigs, recorded albums and played with our heroes even. This video is the pinnacle of where we’ve been — but it’s just the beginning of where we’re going.”
In/Vertigo are definitely a band in the early stages of a great rock and roll story. And like most great biographies, the first pages are what grab you — but the best is yet to be told in the chapters ahead.