Victoria band Current Swell filled the room with sounds of folk, rock, blues and reggae at Rideau Street’s Mavericks Nov. 23.
Often categorized as “surf rock,” 28-year-old lead singer Scott Stanton says surfing and the ocean have inspired a lot of their music and style. He says the band spends a lot more time outdoors than a band would in other parts of Canada.
“I don’t even know what [surf rock] means anymore,” Stanton said. “But if people want to call us surf rock, that’s fine. We don’t fight it, we just accept it.”
The four piece band started out playing at backyard parties, and had their first real gig in 2005. Lead guitarist Dave Lang says it wasn’t until 2008 they started getting a little bit more serious about booking tours.
“It was such a slow, organic start to our music,” Stanton said.
Tommy Walker, fan of five years, drove from Pembroke with seven friends to see Stanton, Lang, bass player Ghosty Boy and drummer Chris Peterson perform at the Nov. 23 show. He says he loves the blues and eastern fusion Current Swell offers.
“It was a pretty rocking atmosphere,” Walker said.
“I didn’t think that many people would come and know all the words.”
In 2010, Current Swell won first place and $100,500 at Vancouver’s PEAK Performance Project. Lang said this gave people another reason to look up their music and their fan base grew.
“The amount of press we did just after that was worth more than the money,” said Lang, with a reminiscent grin appearing.
“Some things you can’t buy – like the story,” Stanton said. “A lot of work went into that, so to win it was pretty amazing. I think it kind of put us in the spotlight for a bit which can always help a band.”
For most bands, a large part of their story is their name. For Current Swell, Stanton said it’s still a mystery to them.
He said it wasn’t until the first time they were interviewed for a newspaper they realized they didn’t even have an official name.
“We just kind of got the name and now it all kind of makes sense,” Lang said.
Wayne Diotte, 64, first met the band members when surfing in Baha, CA. He said he has been a fan for a little over a year because of the lyrics, harmony, and tight spirit of the group.
“I’m old enough to have seen Bob Dylan and Neil Young, and these guys have that spirit,” Diotte said.
“Scott Stanton has the capacity to be all of what they’ve been, but to a younger generation.”
Since returning from their Brazil tour in July, Current Swell has been touring eastern Canada, New York, and the U.S. west coast.
“There’s something simple and nice about four guys out there, and it’s kind of like a family,” Stanton said. “We just love performing and writing music and getting to do that to fans that really enjoy it is special.”
“It’s a lot of luck, but it’s a lot of hard work,” he said.
“But it’s fun hard work.”
