Blue-collar rock
The Arkells hit up Ottawa on national tour
HAILING FROM HAMILTON, Ont., up-and-coming soul-rock band The Arkells are a levelheaded group of music lovers. The band, who are part way through headlining their first national tour, have been enjoying a rapid rise to fame since the release of their debut album Jackson Square this time last year. While their music has catapulted them into the limelight, the real appeal of this quintet is their humble roots.
“It was a pretty organic way of starting a band,” says lead vocalist and guitarist Max Kerman.
Kerman, who founded the band in his first year at McMaster University along with guitarist Mike DeAngelis and bass player Nick Dika, jokes that getting The Arkells together was really a passive game of chance, governed only by a shared taste in music.
“Mike and I met in the first week of school,” explains Kerman. “We hit it off because he told me that he liked The Weakerthans, and I was just getting into [them] at the time. I asked him if he could play guitar and he said, ‘Sort of.’
“Nick met me a few days later. I was wearing a Sam Roberts T-shirt, and I guess he liked Sam Roberts. I asked him if he could play bass and he said, ‘Sort of,’” laughs Kerman.
The band’s down-to-earth attitude and modest origins are what Kerman feels makes their music so appealing and relatable. Kerman explains that the record, which features tracks that are mostly devoted to the experience of the blue-collar lifestyle, is about the real, everyday people that the band admire most. He cites “Oh, the Boss is Coming!”—the popular single to come off Jackson Square—as an example of a common problem that fans can understand.
“I think we’ve collectively all had a boss we were worried about every day we went into work,” says Kerman. “I specifically remember working a job at a restaurant in the summer and not feeling comfortable—you know that feeling you get when someone’s breathing down your back? I remember writing down the lyrics for that song on a pad of paper I used to write orders on.”
Since the addition of the band’s final two members, keyboardist Dan Griffin and drummer Tim Oxford, The Arkells have had a world of musical opportunities opened to them. Since their debut, the band has shared a bill with their hero Sam Roberts, as well as bands like Bedouin Soundclash, Matt Mays & El Torpedo, the Constantines, Alexisonfire, and City and Colour.
“We have had [chances] to tour and play shows with a lot of great Canadian bands that we’ve looked up to for a long time,” said Kerman. “The cream of the crop.”
Touring has been an unexpected adventure for the band which, despite the hectic pace that a busy schedule demands, still finds the move from city to city exciting.
“It’s a change in my day-to-day lifestyle,” says Kerman. “The grind of working can get pretty tiring, but it’s pretty nice to get to know a lot of these places in Canada—finding all the little restaurants and the places to go [in each city].”
On behalf of the band, Kerman explains that the chance to keep making music is the greatest gift their sudden fame has brought them: “We’re very lucky,” he says. “Very lucky.”
The Arkells are set to rock Capital Music Hall on Nov. 7 as part of the Live 88.5 WTF Concert Series. Doors open at 8 p.m. and tickets can be purchased in advance for $15 at capitaltickets.ca.
