THE STEADIES FINALLY READY
Band releases first album since guitar player’s death
It has been a long process for Earl Pereira and The Steadies to start making music again. The death of a friend and bandmate will do that.
“It took me a while to even really want to write or create,” Pereira said. “I needed some time, for sure.”
It has been a couple of years since Justin Lee, one of the founding members of the Saskatoon-based rock band, died suddenly due to an aneurysm in 2017. For a while, Pereira said there was plenty of doubt about whether the band would continue.
But now The Steadies are about to release their newest album, Tiro De Leone (Italian for “tail of the lion,” as Pereira puts it) in early November, their first without Lee.
The album comes out Nov. 5, and the release party will take place at the Prairie Sun Brewery grand opening on Broadway Avenue on Nov. 8. It seems that their time away from the creative process hasn’t diminished their popularity. The Friday night show sold so quickly that they’ll play at the brewery on Nov. 9 as well.
“It’s a very confident-sounding record,” Pereira said. “I think that comes from not only international touring, but from ... all the new fans we made, all the comments we’re getting about our music and our band.”
Pereira said while the new music isn’t all about Lee, there are plenty of songs he has worked on since Lee’s death that he hopes can honour and respect his memory in some way.
“He’s been a huge part of the band, a founding member, one of my best buds,” he said. “It also led to some inspiration, lots of things to write about ... how life can throw you curveballs when you least expect (it), and you’re left having to face them.”
The Steadies are inevitably a different band now than they were at the start. Their new guitarist, Jesse James Clark, was recommended to Pereira by a friend, and he moved from Vancouver to Saskatoon to be part of the band, Pereira said. The drummer Kurtis Schultz is also new since the last time the band released an album back in 2016.
They’ve still been touring, including a trip to Italy that inspired the name of the new album and a few of the songs and song titles. But as Pereira puts it, they’ve worked hard to preserve that “quintessential Steadies sound” while the band has evolved.
“We’re confident people from anywhere can like this,” Pereira said. “I really think we nailed exactly how I’ve always hoped this band could sound. I think it’s a more refined sound ... it’s a full, collaborative effort.”
Pereira said he puts a lot of pride into songwriting, and he loves how much everyone in the band has worked together on making a new album for The Steadies to start working into the future.