For Ottawa punk rocker Dan Thomson, the most important part of a strong music scene is helping other bands out.
“You’re going to hang out with your friends and enjoy the music, welcoming the chance to see new bands, and enjoying some old favourites,” he said.
“It’s not about an ego build or how cool you can make yourself seem.”
Thomson, no stranger to the shared experience, now spends his days trying to create a new experience to share with the community.
Hailing from Belleville, he moved to Ottawa when he was 19 and, after years of careful planning and research, he handpicked the most compatible members for his four-piece musical endeavour, Sparrows.
Having just wrapped up a North American tour this past September, Sparrows has plenty of experience playing in many different kinds of communities.
“Ottawa, to me, is the perfect size. There is a great variety of bands in the city, and some great places to play,” Thomson said.
Compared to Belleville, Thomson attributes Ottawa’s size and reputation as a community to the numerous benefits of the local underground music scene.
“Ottawa has been lucky enough to grow some great local talent in the city, and we’ve had the chance to have some really great bands and tours come through,” he said.
Through late night gigs and long van rides, brotherhood is created and tested. No stranger to these tight squeezes and sweaty situations, Sparrows uses experiences like these to lace their music with a heartfelt punk rock vibe.
“Being in a band is like adopting brothers you never knew you had. You tend to bond very quickly with them, considering a large amount of time is spent perfecting a shared goal,” Thomson said.
Both guitarists agree that communication is the most important skill to learn from working in a band.
“It’s kind of like a relationship,” guitarist and vocalist Devlin Morton said.
“If one person is in a bad mood it rubs off on everybody. You got to be able to keep in touch and know how to treat each other and how to react to what everybody else is feeling,” Morton said.
Sparrows will be concluding their busy year with a new seven-inch LP called Ghosts From Our Past, to be released Dec. 12 through the Ottawa punk label Finish What You Started Records.
They will be playing Dec. 6 at Mavericks with Make Do and Mend and Seahaven.
