Tribe Royal, an Ottawa-based quartet made up of Chris Kerwin, Terry O’Brien, Bram Al-Najjar and Mike Giamberardino, share an undeniable harmony on stage and off. With their own unique sound of folk, alternative, and retro rock, the band will bring you back to a place of sweet nostalgia.
The Charlatan sat down with the band before they kick off their summer tour, which includes a stop at Bluesfest on July 6 on the Claridge Homes stage at 6 p.m.
The Charlatan (TC): To start, what can you guys tell me about the making of Tribe Royal?
Terry O’Brien (TO): It essentially started off as a duo with myself and Chris back in January 2014. We did a couple of shows and it seemed to work well and our voices blended pretty well together. So in February, Bram was a good friend of ours that we jammed with quite often, so we added him into the mix. We did that for a few months as an acoustic trio kind of thing. Then in April, we put up an ad looking for a drummer and Mike was the only one that actually answered and got back to us and he ended up being the perfect fit, so it worked out really well.
Chris Kerwin (CK): Knowing each other as long as we have definitely comes in handy and gives us more of an intuitive aspect to our song development and jamming. I find that it helps when we’re live for sure. We have an unspoken communication live that we all seem pretty tapped into—we kind of know what’s going on even if we’re not really sure where we’re going, we end around the same time and jam. It just gives a bit of freedom.
TC: So the band is called Tribe Royal. Where did the name come from? What inspired the whole tribe concept?
TO: It was kind of just some words that at the time fit together. There is some significance behind them because in the early stages, we were jamming with other musicians too and had a few other people featured on our album, so we considered everyone who was a part of it like a family—a tribe. As well as everyone who supports us, comes to our shows, comes with us on tour, or just involved in any way are all a part of the picture.
CK: It was also around the time of the Occupy of Wall Street. So it’s kind of like, “we are the 99 percent.” In the whole perspective of us being a big community and more or less an extended family, and to achieve anything we need to work together towards common goals against the establishment that may or may not be contributing to development.
TC: If you could describe your sound in three words, what would they be?
CK: Vibrant
TO: Introspective
Bram Al-Najjar (BA): Energy, for a few reasons: the connected kind of energy that we feel when we’re on stage and the connected kind of energy in a lot of the songs too, whether it’s more of a mellow energy or it’s an uplifting kind of fast-paced one. Especially in the live shows, there’s a lot of energy there.
TC: Are there any musical influences that have helped mold that kind of sound?
CK: No one specifically but there’s definitely a lot of influences from a lot of aspects from bands that we draw from. Like sounds from The Beatles that I find I really enjoy. It kind of reminds me of an acoustic guitar—a cottage room and like a warm setting. There’s something familiar about the music before you hear it. I’ve actually heard that some people believe that about us. It’s almost like they’ve heard it before but they haven’t. It’s kind of like a reminiscent of earlier times I guess.
TC: Okay so recent album, Colours of The Sun. What can you tell me about it?
TO: It was recorded at Gallery Recording Studios. We started tracking it in November 2015, and we just all decided to record a number of songs that we’ve been playing live for a long time and it was a really great experience. The track listing kind of made itself—we tried recording half of the album while we were recording our first album Samadhi at another studio. But it didn’t sound as good as we wanted it to and we realized that our musicianship wasn’t the kind of standard that we wanted for this album, so we took our time with it and finished it when we were more experienced.
TC: How is this album different from your very first album, Samadhi?
CK: I’d have to say that first off, it’s quality. We took more time with it. We were a fairly new band when we undertook Samadhi and we kind of felt an unnecessary pressure or expectation on us to come up with and release an album. In hindsight, it may have been better for us to wait but it served us well and gave us a product and a sound. Musically, Samadhi is more so acoustic and folky overall. I think Colours of the Sun just happened to turn out more rock and roll and more heavy. We dive a little deeper on this one and the sounds we really explored definitely more so and I think going forward it’s gonna be even more like that.
TC: So during your summer tour, you guys are actually stopping by Bluesfest here in Ottawa. How does it feel to be playing such a big festival in your hometown?
CK: It’s pretty crazy to be honest. I remember going to my first Bluesfest a long time ago when I was 16. I remember thinking like, “holy crap.” I’ve never really seen anything like it in my life. That year was the first year I’ve ever really clued into concerts as an experience. I was in love with all those classic bands but I’ve never seen it live and like felt it. To be there and see guys like Parliament, Steve Miller, White Stripes and Bob Dylan was like, “holy shit, these guys are legends.” To now be here 10 years later and be playing there, realizing a childhood dream and opening for one of our idols too (Sam Roberts), it’s an experience that you can’t take for granted. I’m really grateful for it because it may never come again.
What can your fans expect from Tribe Royal in the future?
CK: At least another album and hopefully many more. We’re also trying to do an east-west tour this coming fall. So definitely lots of touring and more music. We’re only getting started.
This Q+A has been edited and condensed.
