THE CROSSROADS OF ROCK ’ N’ ROLL
We talk to One Bad Son, W3APONS about the Saskatoon music scene
Saskatunes is a Postmedia News series examining musical genres in and around Saskatoon and Saskatchewan before Saskatoon hosts the Juno Awards in 2020.
MATT OLSON
SASKATOON Kurt Dahl’s band might have its roots in the middle of the Prairies, but it didn’t reach its level of success by staying at home.
“There’s definitely not one formula to find success ... but I think if you’re based in Saskatoon, there’s no two ways about it — you have to get out of the city, to some extent,” he said.
“Either you tour like crazy, or you decide to relocate.”
Dahl, the drummer for Saskatoon-based rock band One Bad Son, said Saskatoon’s rock music scene is “vibrant,” with a lot of different bands trying to make names for themselves.
Saskatoon is not typically known for being a mecca of the music world, but Dahl said working in a more isolated setting has its perks as well as its difficulties.
He cites One Bad Son as a good example.
“We worked away for seven or eight years in a bubble, did our own things, and then eventually — like anything in life — when you put enough hours in, you find a little gold, if you’re lucky,” he said. “It didn’t sound like what was happening in Toronto or Vancouver.”
There might be a wide and “vibrant” variety of rock music to experience in Saskatoon, but Dahl was very clear that in order to be successful in a place like Saskatoon, you’ll probably have to leave.
“When you look at it in the context of where rock is at generally right now, across the world, it’s not the hippest, most trendy genre right now,” Dahl said. “But despite that, I think there’s some great rock coming out of Saskatoon.”
There is a history of bands from Saskatoon and Saskatchewan finding success outside the confines of the city limits: The Sheepdogs, Reignwolf, Wide Mouth Mason and One Bad Son have established themselves as major players in rock across Canada — in some cases internationally.
W3APONS is another Saskatoon-based group fighting its way to success. The trio’s single Off the Top of My Heart has been on the rise around the country for the past few months.
The trio — Myk Ulan-hohol, Tallus Scott and Jordan Welbourne — admittedly has a different view of the current state of rock in Saskatoon than Dahl.
“Everyone’s sort of really playing it safe,” Scott said. “The rock scene in particular ... is definitely suffering. I don’t know if it can make a comeback.”
The scene in Saskatoon is at a crossroads, both literally and metaphorically. In the stretch of open prairie for bands making their way from Toronto to Vancouver and back, Saskatoon is the best place for an extra show stop while on the cross-canada trek.
But for the acts sprouting up in Saskatoon, the guys in W3APONS say they’ve seen too many bands that have become “complacent” with their place in the music world.
“People have to not be so afraid to be weird, be an outcast, be yourself, actually create something that’s sincere and outgoing,” Welbourne said. “I think that sincerity speaks volumes over popularity ... rock and roll is making a statement and standing by who you are.
“To sum it up bluntly: ‘This is what I do, and I don’t give a f — k,’” Scott added.
Rock soared into popularity decades ago on a powerful wave of counterculture and audacity — and it’s that kind of attitude that Scott thinks is missing from rock in Saskatoon.
“There’s the odd band you hear once every 10 years that’s doing something cool and also has the attitude,” he said. “There’s a lot of rock and roll that’s coming out ... that’s cookie-cutter rock and roll.”
Despite their less optimistic view of the local music scene, the guys in W3APONS certainly have good things to say about the city, especially when it comes to thanking all the fans in their hometown — and they do not begrudge the successes of their fellow Saskatoon musicians.
But W3APONS — on tour once again — see real problems in the future of rock in Saskatoon.
“The same group of people are always going to go out to the same shows and watch the same bands. There’s nothing new happening,” Welbourne said.
It’s not as simple as saying it’s new-school groups W3APONS against Dahl and the already-established crowd.
Up-and-coming bands in Saskatoon — groups such as Dirty & The Perks and The Buzzardline — are making names for themselves within the music community. They might never ascend to the same heights as The Beatles, but that doesn’t mean they don’t view their work as a success.
For Dahl, the outlook is much more positive. With the Juno Awards set to take the city over in 2020, Dahl said there’s a lot of variety to be found in Saskatoon’s music scene, and said Saskatoon is doing well to be seen as “not just a small town” in the overall rock scene in Canada.
“We’ve got a very unique music scene in this city, one of the most unique in the country,” Dahl said. “So when we have the Junos here, it brings the industry people ... to our great city.”