To purloin a few lines from The Boss, when it comes to ye olde romance “it ought to be easy / ought to be simple enough / man meets woman and they fall in love.” It’s a tale as old as time, true as it can be.
…wait, that’s not Bruce.
Where was I? Ah, right, things that ought to be simple enough.
When it comes to a band, I’m sure you’ve heard that simple story too. Couple buds from high school meet, start jamming in their garage and, one day, they’re superstars. Orrrrrr maybe it’s the one where some dudes reply to a personal ad and, boom, Metallica.
Edmonton’s Altameda is not one of those stories. Well, kinda’. Ok, sure, bandmates Troy, Todd, Matt and Erik did know each other, or at least of the bands they were each jamming in, but the paths didn’t veer them all onto the same trajectory until a recording session. Troy Snaterse was thinking of flying solo, needed some backing musicians, a few calls were answered and, well, boom, Altameda. Not quite the solo album he was thinking of but, hey, no regrets.
Like how they formed, Altameda’s sound is all about laying new treads down on old ground to create fresh roads. With a mantra that says they hold a “respect for tradition with the sophistication to shake it off”, the band is emphatically blasting out their sophomore record, Time Hasn’t Changed You. It tosses some new ingredients into the well stirred stew of country rock. This ain’t what mama used to make but the flavours are still there to savour.
A cut like “Fire” may have the sorrowful fiddle you’d expect from a ballad crying off your favourite country station but shift that dial far to the left and crank up a tune like “Soft Shoes Slip Away”. That gorgeous guitar would be right at home moving into a 70s FM classic rock slipstream. The album’s new single “Rolling Back to You” manages to roll both those sounds into one track where folk careens into old school rock. The resulting crash is a beautiful thing to take in.
Truth is, these boy’s from Edmonton are a prairie stampede that can’t be roped. They’re barnstorming onto Club 27’s stage Sunday night. Before the dust kicked up by that show engulfs York Street, I chat up the bands roots, the new album and Edmonton music scene with Altameda drummer Erik Grice.
Andre Gagne: New Year…new record. 2019 must be starting out on a pretty big high for you all. When you look back, what are some of the most memorable moments for the band in 2018?
Erik Grice: We were really excited to get the record out so it’s been a great start to the year. 2018 was a lot of lead up to all of that, but we played some really great shows. I suppose the biggest was the US tour we did with The Sheepdogs and Calvin Love. Having said that, the last couple years leading up to this release have been full of a lot of big moments.
Taking a longer jaunt in this way-back machine, the band actually has a pretty interesting origin story. You know, not the usual “we meet in high school” or “he answered our add in VUE Weekly”. Ok, well, kinda’. You knew each other for years but never made that step into forming a group. What was the barrier there, do you think?
We certainly ran in similar groups — saw each other at shows or parties and knew of or had played with everyone’s respective bands. I once reached out to Troy and told him how much I loved his songs and that if he ever needed a guitar player or someone to start a band with that he could call me. After playing in other bands for a number of years, Troy called us up looking for a group of guys to go into the studio with. He had some solo material he was looking to make an EP out of. After the rehearsals and sessions for that, we ended up making the whole thing a band and the EP became Dirty Rain.
So you guys finally clicked into your own groove after a recording session for Troy? Can you tell me a bit about that session and how it progressed into forming the band instead of focusing, say, on a solo project as simply backing musicians?
I think because there was a familiarity there of having known each other ahead of the sessions, rehearsing and writing just felt really casual.
Musically everyone was on the same page from day one and that’s really helped since. Everyone’s tastes vary but we all share a lot of the same influences and so we’ve never had to force anything stylistically.
As friends who were on separate music paths before that session, what are some of the things you feel you each learned that was brought into the mix when creating Altameda?
Around 2015 when each of our respective projects had begun slowing down, Troy’s call was really serendipitous. It was an opportunity for us all to work on something fresh. I’ve always loved Troy’s writing and I think we were all happy to just play together for fun. But the chemistry was palpable and writing songs came quite easily to the group. It also felt like for once we were all part of a project making the kind of music we always wanted to be making. As far as what lessons we took away from starting the band, I think we all just felt like our goals had all aligned. When you play in bands it’s a constant struggle to have everyone on board all the time. People’s priorities change over the years and things can fall apart quickly. For once, everyone had the same goals in mind and that just helps makes things run smoothly.
I guess I kinda’ liken it to when friends move into relationship mode. What did you feel changed most for your friendships when you stepped into the boots of a band?
Funnily enough, three of the members became roommates at the same time that the band started. Having a communal space with a rehearsal room made the band feel like a collective from the beginning. Once that had served it’s purpose, everyone found their own places but it helped develop some relationship skills, so to speak, that made touring easier. I think there’s always something to learn from every tour or every band endeavour, like a relationship. Respect for each other and each others’ space is important as well as understanding people’s boundaries. Most recently we’ve all become pretty into Emergen-C Vitamin packs which has helped keep us all a little healthier on the road.
I don’t know that there was a point where everyone said “this is a band now”. We finished the sessions and the EP, as it were, was an LP and we wanted to play the stuff live. I guess the moment there was giving the project a name so that we could start playing shows and before we knew it we were booking shows across Canada.
I’ve been told, for musicians, recording that first album is often times far more educational than anything they learned in school. What did it teach you?
I would say that being in a band that really has their priorities straight will teach you a lot of things. It’s always a lot of trial and error and, like I mentioned before, you gotta find people who want the same things as you and sometimes that takes a while to figure out. I think every endeavour as an artist is educational in some respect whether it’s recording, writing, rehearsing or touring.
A little older, a little wiser…would you say things were different when hitting the studio for this new album, Time Hasn’t Changed You?
Certainly. We recorded about 10 or 11 tracks almost a year prior and sat on those demos thinking they would just be released as the album. When we met Aaron and shared the songs with him we knew we could take it further. We spent most of 2017 on tour and as a result came to those Baldwin Street sessions with the tunes road tested and bit more fleshed out as well as some new material to add to the mix. Those sessions really were the first time all four of us and a producer were working on everything simultaneously rather than the ship being steered as a solo endeavour.
I like the title, by the way. Makes you reflect. What does it mean for the band? I kinda’ get this idea that, well, we recorded an album, we’ve toured, our tunes are on the radio but, well, we’re still just us.
That’s a good way to look at it. I think it’s a title that is all encompassing of a number of feelings surrounding being an artist but also human. We’ve never sought to reinvent the wheel, so to speak, but we obviously try to grow as artists as much as we can. The metaphor at the end of the day is that we’re still just us and here are the songs that represent us at this point in time.
Can you tell me a bit about working with Aaron Goldstein on this? I admit, I am more familiar with his amazing pedal steel playing than production work.
Working with Aaron was one of the best, most creatively visceral times we’ve had as artists. When we sent the demos to Aaron, in short, he just got it. He understood exactly where we were coming from and what we wanted to accomplish. Not only is Aaron an unbelievable player, but he comes with musical sensibilities that matched what we were working toward. He’s also very well connected which is a big reason why we were able to get some of the players that we had on the record. The environment was extremely creative and extremely honest. We never beat around the bush on critiquing the takes and Aaron encouraged experimentation and acknowledging when something wasn’t working. The whole experience is something I think we’ll all cherish forever.
You once sited Mac DeMarco as an inspiration. What is it about his music you feel other musicians should take note of?
I think this is a quote that was taken a bit out of context. Though Mac is undoubtedly a prolific and talented artist, I’m not sure he’s an inspiration per se. What I was getting at in that interview was that a guy like Mac really just shows that relentless hard work pays off. I’ve mentioned priorities already, but that’s just it — if you know what you want and you go after it whole-heartedly then you can get there. Making music and taking it out on the road for people is a goal we share in common and I certainly respect him for that. I think we probably both love John Lennon too.
I’m always interested in the music scenes of city’s I haven’t been able to dive headlong into. Can you tell me about Edmonton’s?
Edmonton’s music scene has really changed since we all first started playing shows here. I think the biggest takeaway is that Edmonton’s lack of mainstream industry really helps yield some incredible art. People are making music that they want to make and making it for and with their friends without the pressures of who might be in the audience on any given night. Nobody is out to impress anyone really — they just want to make music and have fun doing it.
Where are some of the venues people need to hit up for live music when visiting?
The Starlite Room is a long standing club in Edmonton that is pretty vibey for shows. The Empress is another one where people are hosting a lot of different club nights like local DJs, comedy and music on any given night of the week.
Altameda opens for Ruben and the Dark Sunday, March 3 / The 27 Club
