With a brand new album and a Vancouver Island Music Award nomination, local indie folk band West My Friend is going places, and using its own power to get there.
Place is the new album and its being launched at a CD release party at HermannB次元官网网址檚 Jazz Club on April 5. The event is set to be a community affair, as the band is staging a cycle-to-show ridealong as part of the festivities.
The band will be biking to the gig from Fernwood Square and is inviting anyone coming to the show to join them. They will be taking the scenic route and picking up cyclists along the way, swinging through Cook Street Village, Irving Park in James Bay and Centennial Square, before heading to the show.
B次元官网网址淭here will be much joyous noise and sparkles IB次元官网网址檓 sure, regardless of how many people are there,B次元官网网址� lead singer and guitarist Eden Oliver said. B次元官网网址淎nd bubbles.B次元官网网址�
The CD release as a whole has been ordained B次元官网网址淩evolutions,B次元官网网址� alluding to the revolution of records, of bicycle wheels and, at a grassroots level, of communities.
To save up money for studio time, West My Friend appealed to the community to chip in. The band launched an Internet campaign centering around a series of videos paying homage to Bob DylanB次元官网网址檚 Subterranean Homesick Blues. In the clips friends of the band introduce themselves and ask for donations via posters while the band jams out in the background.
Oliver said that the band managed to raise a few thousand dollars toward recording costs and has repaid the debt through free house gigs, signed CDs, high fives and vegan meals. The idea ended up fostering a community like spirit to the album too.
B次元官网网址淚 feel like people know about us a lot more after that,B次元官网网址� Oliver said. B次元官网网址淲hich is almost better than making all that money.B次元官网网址�
The band previously released an EP but headed into two local studios with two production pros to lay down its first full length release. Producer and sound engineer Adrian Dolan (The Bills, Mark Atkinson) cut the album and Juno-award winner David Travers-Smith (The WailinB次元官网网址� Jennys, Oh Susannah) mastered it from his homebase in Toronto.
B次元官网网址淚 feel like itB次元官网网址檚 a really good representation of our sound,B次元官网网址� Oliver said. B次元官网网址淚 feel like Adrian really understood what our sound could be like when recorded and I feel like itB次元官网网址檚 a really surprisingly cohesive whole for a first album.B次元官网网址�
Playing acoustic guitar, mandolin, upright bass and accordian, with the new addition of drums on the album, the band members bring both an academic knowledge of music and a penchant for pop to a folk base. Oliver said the band describes itself as indie roots music but also enjoy DolanB次元官网网址檚 appraisal of B次元官网网址渁 pop band disguised as a folk band.B次元官网网址�
A string quartet from UVic will also be joining the band for a few tunes during the show and Victoria-based country/folk sisters Carli and Julie Kennedy, who are nominated for a Vancouver Island Music Award for best live act, will be opening.
West My Friend is up for a Vancouver Island Music Award itself, in the best song category, for their track Saturn Maybe featured on the new album.
The bike ride starts at 6 p.m. on April 5 and the show is at 8 p.m. Tickets are available at Long & McQuade and Larsen Music at $8, or $10 at the door at HermannB次元官网网址檚 Jazz Club.
