When Dave Ritter was a master’s student at Carleton University, you could usually find him socializing at Mike’s Place, working in his TA office, and talking with his friends about literature and philosophy. Nearly 15 years later, he’s a two time Juno Award winner, and has experienced worldwide success with his band, the Strumbellas.
Before founding and playing keyboard for the Strumbellas, Ritter grew up Oshawa, Ont. He spent two years living in Ottawa, getting his MA in English at Carleton. Ritter said he enjoyed life on campus, describing Carleton as an “intellectual” place where he spent a lot of time.
“I was very into my classes, so I was really into English, and I did a bunch of electives in political science and political philosophy,” Ritter said. “I just remember a lot of studying, but also just discussions about books and about ideas with my classmates.”
Now as a father, Ritter fondly looks back on intellectual discussions he had with friends.
“To have the time in the day to think about Plato and Shakespeare and then sit down with people and have passionate discussions over a drink about it – that really seems like a luxury now, in retrospect,” he said.
While at Carleton, Ritter was in a band with a few other Ottawa friends. They rehearsed downtown at Café Dekcuf during the day before eventually breaking up. After finishing his MA, he left Ottawa to get his PhD at the University of Toronto. There, he started looking for other bands to join.
In one of his first bands, Ritter says he was kicked out for missing shows and rehearsals. In 2008, he responded to a Craigslist advertisement to join another band. After joining their first rehearsal, he stuck with them. From there, the Strumbellas were born.
“We get to make cool music that we like, and then go play it for fans, and it connects with people – that’s the best part about being in a band,” Ritter said.
At the 2017 Juno Awards in Ottawa, they won Single of the Year for their hit song “Spirits.” In that category, they were up against some of the biggest names in Canadian pop music; Drake, Alessia Cara, Shawn Mendes and the Weeknd. Ritter says that the band wasn’t expecting to win in that category.
“It was surreal, I mean, we really didn’t expect it, we were in very good company… very humbling to receive it, for sure,” he said.
“We’ve heard that if you beat Drake that you become Drake. We’re pretty excited about this next phase of our career,” Ritter told the media room immediately following his band’s Juno win.
Earlier this year, the Strumbellas released Rattlesnake, their fourth studio album. Ritter says that he was very happy with the fans’ response to the album, since they changed their sound from folk and country to a bigger indie-pop sound.
“Occasionally I wonder whether our fans will be disappointed because the sound is a little different from what they’re used to, and they never seem to be,” he said. “Our fans always seem excited about new music, they’re always ready to go in a new direction and stuff, which is all you can really ask for.”
The Strumbellas return to Ottawa for the second time this year on Sept. 12 at CityFolk. Being from Ontario, the band has been frequenting the nation’s capital since their earliest days of playing small shows at cafés in Chinatown.
“We always have great shows in Ottawa,” Ritter said. “We have fans in Ottawa that have been with us from the first record, and remember songs, and have been with us for a long time. So, it’s always fun to play to an audience like that, that appreciates not just the more popular recent stuff, but the deep cuts, as well.”
There’s many things Ritter’s looking forward to about coming back to Ottawa, he’s hoping to order a poutine at the Elgin Street Diner – one of his personal favourite local traditions, he said.
“I have such good memories of Ottawa, and going to Carleton,” he said. “it’s good to go down memory lane a little.”
Feature Image Provided Courtesy of The Strumbellas
