Hey Ocean! proved to Ottawa that they are a grown-up band with a grown-up sound on Sept. 28, when they played in front of a packed crowd at Ritual Nightclub.
The Vancouver indie-pop group has been playing for roughly eight years, but as bassist David Vertesi said it’s their latest album, Is, that has most helped the group mature.
“This album was a huge challenge,” Vertesi said. “I think we’re coming out of our adolescence as a band.”
In the interview, Vertesi affirmed his belief that taking more ownership over their music by self-producing the album was part of what made Is such a challenge for them.
“[Self-producing] has really matured us, but doing things like that is a difficult thing in life and a difficult thing as a band,” he said.
While Hey Ocean! may feel like they have grown up as a band, their on-stage presence remains light-hearted and energetic.
The group encouraged the audience to do “spirit fingers” between songs, and lead vocalist Ashleigh Ball ended the set by walking through the crowd, dancing with audience members.
Along with the group’s energy, the band’s closeness with their audience was highlighted when Ball realized that her vocal microphone was turned too low in the first song, simply by noticing the disappointed looks on the faces of the first few rows.
However, the next challenge will be retaining that energy in spite of the grueling two months of touring ahead of them.
“The travel aspect is really difficult,” Vertesi said, when asked what the most difficult part of any tour is.
“I mean, we’re lucky that we’re on the road with people that we really like, but being in a van for eight to 10 hours at a time is really exhausting on the body, mind and soul,” he said.
“It’s really just the sheer time we spend on the road.”
The tribulations of touring were proven recently by Hey Ocean!’s opening act, Family of the Year.
The California group’s van recently broke down in Sudbury, forcing them to miss a show in North Bay.
After the show, the band was already preparing to schlepp back to Sudbury to get their vehicle and begin the long drive back to the west coast.
Having been on the circuit since 2004, however, Hey Ocean! is no stranger to difficult tours, the troubles of which are detailed in their song “Jolene.”
When it comes to their sound, the band has changed immeasurably in their eight years together.
While elements of their more light, acoustic-pop style remain in Is, they are often replaced by more grandiose tunes, such as “I Am a Heart” and “Jolene.”
The band has also begun to dabble with more electronic sounds in their production, which shows in “Big Blue Wave.”
In spite of the band’s evolution, Hey Ocean! still has a unique youthfulness, soul, and love of anything west coast that shone through during their entire set Sept. 28.
When asked how he felt the band has changed, Vertesi thought it better to ask what hasn’t.
“Oh, everything’s changed,” he said.
“[The only thing that] hasn’t changed is that we’re trying to make music and have fun with it.”
