When local funk-rock band Floored splintered about five years ago, two of the slivers got lodged in the Vancouver music scene.
Floored was one of northern B.C.'s most popular bands at the time. They won the 2001 UNBC Battle of the Bands, were featured at the Northern Backyard Barbecue music showcase, they headlined the grand opening of the PG Skate Park, and were tapped to represent the region at the 2003 Vans Warped Tour at Thunderbird Stadium in Vancouver.
When the band eventually ceased, drummer Pat Poirier and guitarist Jeremy Breaks wanted to take the success they achieved in Floored and go to the next level. Fast forward through a number of music projects, upstart bands and sundry experiences in the Lower Mainland and the two finally came together with vocalist Scott Perrie (who has a musical theatre background, among other stage skills) and bass player Colin Medhurst to form up the group Redgy Blackout - a band getting plenty of stir across North America these days.
"I describe us as eclectic rock," Breaks told The Citizen this week. "A vendor at Granville Island told us we sounded like 'fresh retro' and we liked that.
"The way I realized people were starting to get more involved in the band and interested in what we were doing was by playing coffeehouses and small gigs and hearing that feedback. Scott plays trumpet, I play banjo, Colin and Scott are characters in themselves, so we have some quirks, we have a lot of creativity, and people started to come to us to be around that. People wanted to help out with what we were doing, and people were expressing interest in the music, and calling us for their gigs. It helps to be active, and be open to meeting people."
Mainstream radio has not been beating a path to their door, but Breaks said there was plenty of affirmation coming in from other sources. College radio in the United States and Canada both seized on some of their songs, propelling them onto some international chart lists. They acquired both a professional booking agent and publicist. Both found themselves busy handling the outside interest in Redgy Blackout. A cross-Canada tour is in the works, as well as some major media appearances here in B.C.
It doesn't matter if you play music that isn't Top 40, Breaks said, as long as you play music that is interesting and engaging and honest.
"We do a lot of dub-style, swing-influenced rock. I'm listening to old, old country stuff like Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash. I'm liking songs that tell stories, things that we can relate to," he said. He is one of the principle songwriters with Perrie, but all four contribute to the creative process and the band business.
"When you have four different guys and four different personalities we try to distribute the work evenly between us," he said. "Generally we write songs by someone coming up with a basic riff or a few lines of lyric and we use that to build the song around. You have some chords, you have a basic introductory idea, and we all work it up into a song together. Sometimes someone will come with a whole song already formed, and it is quite neat to see how adding everyone's part will change it. It adds a lot of diversity."
The band unfurls its array of diverse material on Saturday night in Kelowna but everyone on planet Earth can watch because it is being broadcast on the internet, including the world premier of their new video for the song 'Who Am I'. Log on to streamingcafe.net to watch it, then book your spot at Nancy O's Cafe on Monday night when they arrive back in their home town for an encore Prince George concert. After that it is off for a full tour of Alberta and southern B.C.
For more information and a sample of their sound visit http://redgyblackout.com.
