Bluesfest has been growing exponentially by the year, providing the citizens of Ottawa with performances by world-famous artists such as Lady Gaga, Snoop Dogg, Skrillex, The Killers, and The Black Keys, to name a few.
In addition to these big-name headliners, however, the festival also provides artists from the Ottawa area with exposure to a larger audience, sharing the stage with some of the biggest names in modern music.
The opportunity to play at the Ottawa Bluesfest is second to none for any band from Ottawa.
One of the local bands playing at the festival this year is New Swears, made up of Beej Eh, Scru Bar, Nick Nofun and Sammy J Scorpion. New Swears are a rock band, but their diverse range of influences defies easy classification. The most noticeable thing about this band is that these guys seemed to be concerned with, first and foremost, having a good time.
The Charlatan spoke with the band at their house in downtown Ottawa, which holds an indoor half-pipe.
The Charlatan: So how does it feel to be a part of the 2015 Ottawa Bluesfest?
Sammy J Scorpion: It feels pretty good. We get a couple nights off in the middle of the week.
Scru Bar: The perks are really good and it’s a really good night. We’re playing with METZ and Black Lips, and then Lynyrd Skynyrd is closing.
Nick Nofun: We’re finally gonna be able to yell out, “Play Free Bird!”
Beej Eh: And it’ll make sense for once!
TC: What are some of the perks you get?
SB: Unlimited drinking. Plus all the lawn chairs will be sweet.
TC: You guys are evidently pretty ingrained in Ottawa culture: you have a 67s sticker on your door, you’re always wearing Senators clothing. What does Ottawa mean to you?
SB: It’s all we know!
SJS: We go everywhere else looking for the Hartman’s and stuff.
BE: There’s no shawarmas anywhere else. It’s as if everything we know is in Ottawa, like we live in a bubble.
SB: Have you ever seen Truman Show? It’s basically that.
BE: As far as I know, the canal goes on forever.
NN: I think the Beaver Tails Company actually runs all of Canada.
SB: And [Ottawa’s] music scene is burgeoning.
TC: So are you familiar with a lot of the local artists?
SB: Yeah for sure—everyone sort of knows everyone here. It’s a tight-knit community, like a little family. We all support each other’s bands and record labels.
TC: You guys must have been happy with the Senators making the playoffs this year, then.
SB: We were fucking poor after that.
SJS: We were super stoked; Every game we were all hanging out watching the games . . . I’ve never yelled so much in my life.
BE: It didn’t last very long though.
TC: Back to Bluesfest, how did you get involved with the festival?
SB: We just applied. We wrote a really passionate letter and sent them really tame videos of us, like, walking down the Rideau Canal and, like, high-fiving people.
BE: Saving cats out of trees…
NN: And picking up random garbage.
SB: Oh, driving the speed limit and only drinking Heineken 0 per cent alcohol beer.
BE: And lemonade.
New Swears is playing Tuesday, July 14 at the Ottawa Bluesfest in Landsdowne Park.
