Week 14: The Blazing Violets

Yep, I was listening to the band before they got big, man.  Back in the day when Paul Emme was the bassist.  You probably wouldn’t remember him, since you didn’t go to those gigs for grade 9 grad parties in tiny community halls.  I was in the band before anybody was listening to them, bro.  Scene points.  I rake ‘em in like craps winnings.

I basically installed myself as the de facto roadie of The Blazing Violets and didn’t leave until Codie McLachlan, singer and lead guitarist, relented and told me I could join the band - on rhythm guitar and keyboards, incidentally.  The fact that I was minimally talented on both of these implements was of little consequence.  I’ll never forget the first day that I crashed through the door with a huge grin and the Fender amp I’d just bought that was WAY too loud for the small basement that we spent years jamming in.  We were way too loud in general, but this was at a time that we prized volume over content in most respects.  More loud = more fun.  Simple.

My first stint in the band was great fun and lasted for the grade 12 year of high school plus the year after, until I decided that I’d move to Charlottetown for some reason.  The fact that I was in a band with big tour plans and engaged to be married didn’t really factor into my decision process.  Making sensible decisions has never been my strong suit.  I’m much better at being broke and indecisive about careers, school, and life in general.

When I moved back from Charlottetown a year later, I called Codie right away.  Our conversation went something like this:

Me: “Dude, I’m back in town.”  
Codie: “Dude!  Come over!”
Me: “I will, we should jam ASAP!”
Codie: “Yeah man, our drummer just bailed, ever thought about playing the drums?”

I didn’t even own a pair of drum sticks, let alone a kit, but my excitement about the prospect of rejoining my friends in a musical endeavor far outweighed the obstacle of my ineptitude.  I also had the immense fortune of sharing rhythm section duties with Ty Boyd.  Some of you already know him as one of the grooviest, funkiest bass players ever.  I learned how to play drums by following his bass lines.

It turns out that playing drums is the best thing in the world.  And I was lucky enough to do it in the company of Codie, Ty, and Haley Reap, our rocking keyboard player and sometimes lead vocalist.  I never took a single moment for granted.  We weren’t exactly a super serious gonna-get-rich-and-famous type of outfit, but we made a real attempt at writing and performing great tunes.  A lot of bands fail quickly because egos and other commitments get in the way.  We were able to hold it together as the same lineup for over three years, and only missed a handful of weekly jams in that entire time.  Codie, Ty and Haley are still my best friends in the world, and it’s all thanks to the music that we made together.

Stories from our time together could (and probably will eventually) fill several 1,000 word entries.  One of my favourites to recall, though, is our recording session.  We entered The Physics Laboratory with producer and all-around rad dude Terry Paholek, and emerged with a whole new view on our music and our creative process.  We spent 36 of 48 hours locked in a small room together.  We learned a great deal about our skills and our limitations, and felt pretty good about what we were able to accomplish on a shoestring budget of both time and money.  We came out better players and better friends, and our creativity and songwriting output exploded.  It taught me a lot about music and gave me a brand new perspective on the band and my role in it.

The two years that followed our recording session encompassed some of the most enjoyable moments of my entire life.  We gigged regularly and wrote another recording’s worth of songs.  I was never happier than in those beautiful instances when it would all click and our performances turned out seamless and satisfying, and we walked off stage high on music.

Some day I’ll write an extended piece about the band.  It’s second only to my own family as my greatest commitment of time, energy and love to date.  The bass drum head that I used is up on my wall and the recordings are on my hard drive, and I still love my bandmates like family.  We had more fun together than I’ve ever had with anybody else in my life, and I’ll forever be thankful for it.  Being in The Blazing Violets gave me new ways to explore and make music.  It was horizon-broadening and mind-expanding, and came with challenging and powerful experiences.  It gave me the opportunity to share something truly profound with my closest friends, and by extension, to share it with a few thousand more people over the few years we were together.

There’s no question that every future musical endeavor will be weighed against the one I had with the Violets, and I’m glad that we managed to set the bar so high.  Most long term relationships end badly, but we managed to skirt most of the silly egomania, and sitcom-family drama that frequently accompanies groups of musicians.  I can look back on it now for the rest of my life with not a shred of bitterness or regret, knowing that what I did was good, and that it brought out the best in me.

So, Ty, Haley, Codie, and of course Terry & Sabina for all the support, these words are dedicated to you.  I owe all of you a lot more than I could ever get across in a few paragraphs.  There’s no feeling quite like the feeling of hitting that big cymbal crash and everybody stopping with a nice, tight punch at the end.  Mein herz brennt.


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