The Okanagan has long enjoyed a reputation as the land of wineries, jet skis and hot, dry summers. Only in recent history has it become ripe land for some of Canada’s top musical talents. Ladyhawk, Yukon Blonde, and members of Baptists are just a few bands that have firmly planted roots in the land of the Ogopogo.
Kelowna is the Okanagan’s Emerald City, where musicians, skateboarders and artists reside in a dusty pool of Canadian desert magic. This is where we reach Danny Marshall, guitarist of doom-punk group Baptists, as he strolls through a farmers market on a sunny weekday afternoon.
“Somebody’s singing Hotel California in a hot-ass parking lot,” he laughs, describing the comical pleasant scene, one which would not normally be associated with one of Canada’s leading hardcore punk bands.
Last year, Baptists released Bloodlines, a thunderous, apocalyptic mind-explosion of a record produced by Kurt Ballou at his GodCity Studios in Salem, MA, the same place they recorded 2013’s Bushcraft. A few months later, they played at the opening party for Rain City Recorders, a studio opened by The Hive’s Jesse Gander and Stu McKillop. Their performance was recorded, filmed and released on YouTube as “Rain City Sessions”, and caught the attention of a one Mr. David Grohl. The former Nirvana drummer and head Foo was so impressed by Baptists drummer Nick Yacyshyn, that he posted the video on the Foo Fighters’ Facebook page, declaring himself a new fan, and praising the skills of Yacyshyn.
“Not that he was unnoticed by any means before, but he’s getting a lot of recognition that he absolutely deserves,” says Marshall, still in awe. “It’s fucking Dave Grohl! Nirvana was the first band I ever got into that made me want to play music. Those albums still obviously hold up and are better than anything since. The drummer from THAT band!? I think that’s cool shit, I’ll never get sick of hearing about it.”
The video also now serves as a way for the band to share their live show with the masses, something that can hopefully make up for their inability to tour as frequently as their peers.
“We don’t tour that much. I have two kids and a wife, Andrew’s a foster parent, and we’re not going to get out there a ton,” says Marshall. “To have a really good account of one of our shows is kinda cool, ‘cause we don’t get to [play live for] everybody we want.”
Baptists are about “half way done the next album.” With Marshall being the only member of Baptists living in Kelowna, and the primary songwriter, they rely on voice-memo riffs and home demos to kill time between monthly jams.
“It’s kind of weird not having anybody to reel me in,” he says. “I kinda wish I had them to tell me ‘that part is so shitty, take that part out!’ I need some quality control over here!”
When the time comes, they will return to Salem to work with Ballou at GodCity. Having been a member of metalcore band Converge and producer of bands such as Coliseum and Trap Them, Ballou has worked up a tantalizing resumé of punk, hardcore and beyond.
“It’s not really a secret that we’re HUGE Converge fans. I would say every song that Baptists writes has some similarity that you can find between the two bands. We’re a fast punk band with a really busy, really good drummer. That alone is kind of a formula that they built!” Marshall laughs. “He’s the best. He’s a genius. And not just in an overused sense of the word. He’s a retired biomedical engineer. He’s nuts!”
The holy wrath of Baptists continues to grow, but in the mean time, all members are keeping busy with various side projects. Marshall and Yacyshyn are starting a new project with members of LA’s Obliterations and Waingro. Bassist Shawn Hawryluk is a member of Ladyhawk and Slow Learners, vocalist Andrew Drury plays bass in Total Isolation and Yacyshyn has SUMAC. Marshall also plays in Erosion and “couple of Kelowna projects I’m trying to get off the ground.
“All the Vancouver bands for me are wrapped into a weekend a month,” He says. “Other than that, I’m just sitting here for 27 fucking days of the month, twiddling my thumbs, more or less!”
Thumb-twiddling aside, the band will continue to work on the next record, and are currently sorting out tours in both Eastern Canada and Europe. But right now, it’s just Danny, the farmers’ market and the city of Kelowna. So what’s behind the magic of one of BC’s most fruitful cities?
“I honestly don’t think it’s just musicians. I’m a skateboarder [as well], and there’s a whole bunch of really good skateboarders from here too. You either find a hobby or you bore yourself to death… I think there’s a lack of other things to do so people kind of wind up picking something and obsessing over it.”
Baptists
Baptists play The Astoria July 25 with Lewd Acts, Griever and Blunt Object.
