The band Sorry Snowman began as Carleton music student Sean Lundy’s solo project in 2018. He released his first solo EP while living in Carleton University’s Grenville residence building during his freshman year.
The band, which is now made up of Lundy, Owen Allan, Cole Hallman and Dax Cardoso-Grant, owes their genesis in part to the Carleton residence placement algorithm.
Lundy bonded with Allen and Hallman over similar music tastes while living together on the third floor of Grenville. They began jamming together and then picked up drummer Cardoso-Grant at a house party shortly after. The rest is history.
Since finding each other mostly through residence, the band has continued to spend all of their time together by moving into a house off-campus after their first year at Carleton.
“Naturally, it’s pretty chaotic. But it’s often really inspiring and fun,” Hallman said. “A bunch of our friends’ bands practice in our basement too, so there’s always tons of music around.”
“There’s a lot of tripping over guitars and toy keyboards,” Cardoso-Grant added.
Hallman said he first picked up a bass when he was 11.
“I got really into the Beatles and I thought Paul [McCartney] was so cool,” he said. “I’m more of a George guy now, but I definitely owe my start in bass to Paul.”
Lundy and Cardoso-Grant also picked up their instruments over a decade ago and have been hooked ever since.
“When I was 10, my dad told me I had to learn either piano or guitar and I thought piano was lame,” Lundy said. “I’ve stuck with [guitar] because it’s kinda the main vehicle of the music I listen to.”
While performing together, each band member has a different pick for favourite song to perform.
“I think my favourite song to play might be a new one called All Wrong,” Hallman said. “I get to tap dance with my pedals and live my shoegaze dream for a few minutes.”
Lundy said his go-to when playing live is Halloween Party.
“I feel like it’s a song that best represents our sound at the moment,” he said.
In their first live show since the COVID-19 pandemic, Sorry Snowman kicked off their return to the stage at Happy Goat’s Preston Street café in October. Alongside local bands Sven and Dad Sports, Sorry Snowman performed a healthy mix of originals and covers at this intimate Indie rock night.
“A lot of the venues [in Ottawa] are geared toward an older audience,” he said.
Sorry Snowman is booked to play next at Avant-Garde on Nov. 27, a Russian-themed venue near Sandy Hill.
“We’re playing with two super cool bands called Class of 91 and Mad Gamma. It should be a good time,” Cardoso-Grant said.
In the meantime, the band is also working on a new album. Similar to their debut album, titled Sorry Snowman, it’ll consist of eight tracks. Lundy said he wants this one to be a step up in energy compared to their first album. Its release date is still pending.
“This time, we really want them [the songs] to be a little more exciting than the ones on the first album,” Lundy said.
A previous version of this article incorrectly stated all four band members attended Carleton University. The piece was last updated on Jan. 23.
Featured image by Leighton Parrett.
