30 years on, Northern Pikes keep rocking
Resilient rockers celebrate milestone year with tour, newly released three-record set
Don Schmid of the Northern Pikes has plenty of time to reflect on the 30th anniversary tour of his band’s 1987 major label debut, Big Blue Sky.
The drummer is whiling away the hours lying in one of 12 bunk beds on the Pikes’ tour bus, setting out on the second leg of a crossCanada jaunt.
Just a few days before, Schmid and his wife were opening vinyl reissue copies of Big Blue Sky (SuperSized), a remastered, three-record extravaganza that includes a live set and unreleased demos from the session. In addition, each record is a different colour: red, white and blue.
“There really aren’t a whole lot of three-record sets out there, are there?” Schmid says with a certain amount of pride. “If you’d told me when I was younger that we would release a triple album promoted by a major label, I would have scoffed and said no way.”
Such cynicism! Happily for Schmid and his bandmates (bassist and singer Jay Semko, guitarist and singer Bryan Potvin), Big Blue Sky has held up as a beloved Canadian classic, with first single Teenland an undisputed Can-Con classic. The success of Big Blue Sky sent the Pikes on a musical ride that gave them many more hit singles, including a Top 100 entry in the States with She Ain’t Pretty (from 1990’s Snow in June), before they called it a day in 1993. They’ve been back at it since 1999, though co-founding guitarist Merl Bryk opted out in 2006; they’re now a three-piece, with Grapes of Wrath keyboardist Kevin Kane filling in on second guitar.
Schmid took time out of his
schedule of staring at the top of his bunk to speak with us about the reissue, and the Pikes’ future.
How has the tour been going so far?
It’s been going really well. We’ve really changed things up on this tour, including the fact that we no longer have amps. The guys are using these electric foot pedals, and I have this clear acrylic drum kit. We’re using inear monitors instead of the usual wedges, and we now have a video component. We’ve had a camera on the road since 1987, and we’ve been using footage as part of a visual presentation for each song.
Sounds more like Kraftwerk than the Northern Pikes. Have you guys always been gear freaks?
Well, it’s funny, because back in ’85 and ’86 in Saskatoon when we were starting, we spent more on recording than we did on gear or a light show. That’s what all the other bands did, because the bigger the light show and sound system, the better paying the gigs were. We spent all our money on studio costs, which was ballsy, because studio time was very expensive. We had faith in our songs, however.
That’s borne out by the warm regard in which Big Blue Sky continues to be held. Those songs are still very dear to people’s hearts.
It feels great to know that. I love hearing people talk about how important those songs are to them, just as songs by other artists are important to me. To know that the Pikes have the same impact on people as another band has had on me is really amazing.
The Pikes always seemed poised for a break outside of Canada, but it never really came.
We came close with She Ain’t Pretty and Things I Do for Money (from Big Blue Sky). I remember the first time we pulled into Boston in 1987, and Things was on the radio. Some people related the song and guitar riff to Pink Floyd and The Police. We thought, wow, who would have ever compared us to Pink Floyd? It reminds me of something that Dave Grohl said last week: you can play a song to 85,000 people, and they’ll sing back the song for 85,000 different reasons.
What’s up next for the Pikes?
Well, 2018 is the year when our second record, (1988’s) Secrets of the Alibi, turns 30. We’ll likely go out and do something like this to celebrate it. After that we’re going to go in and do an album of all new Pikes songs; so watch for that in 2019.