What: Current Swell with Humans, the Electric Timber Company and Degree One
When: Saturday, 3 p.m.
Where: Ship Point, Inner Harbour
Tickets: Free (register at redbull.ca/currentswell for entry)
When the members of Victoria roots rockers Current Swell sat down to write and record Long Time Ago, their 2012 recording, it was a six-month process from conception to completion.
For their followup, Ulysses, which arrived in stores worldwide last week, it took the group half that time to get everything in order.
The speed at which they wrapped their fifth album says a lot about the band’s mindset going into the project. Current Swell — singer-guitarists Davers Lang and Scott Stanton, bassist Ghosty Boy and drummer Chris Petersen — worked quickly over the course of Ulysses, but they weren’t exactly in a hurry. They simply knew what they did and did not want.
“We like to work hard,” Stanton said. “If we have an opportunity that makes sense, we jump on it.”
Current Swell signed to the Nettwerk Music Group following the release of Long Time Ago, the first contract of its kind for the independent act. The campaign for Ulysses is bigger and better and makes full use of the label’s reach. Although the new record has only been in stores for just over a week, already the arrangement is benefiting both sides.
New single Keys to the Kingdom is in rotation at rock radio stations across the country, and first-week sales of the album saw Ulysses crack the Top 50 sales charts. Strong word of mouth has sent Ulysses further up the chain to Sony Music, which distributes some of Nettwerk’s catalogue. Sony has since taken the album under its stewardship in certain countries, which resulted in a high-profile release for Ulysses — a coup for a Canadian group, let alone one bred and based in Victoria.
Current Swell knew the deal was working almost from the get-go, Stanton said.
“You hear horror stories about record labels, but they let us have the recording process to ourselves and have been great all the way along,” Stanton said. “We are all on the same path, and have the same ideas of what is good for the band and what isn’t. It’s healthy.”
Stanton and Lang, who write the bulk of the band’s material, wrote songs together for Ulysses, rather than apart. The longtime friends, both from St. Albert, Alta., hadn’t worked in such a way since the early days of the group, when they were roommates. That they are doing so in a high-profile way at the moment — with many eyes and ears focused on the results — is something that takes a little getting used to, Stanton said.
“Davers and I never planned on being in bands. We started writing music for fun and one thing led to another. It has been stepping stone to stepping stone, a nice steady growth, which has been healthy for everybody in the band. Things are continually getting better.”
The band returned from Toronto last week, cresting on reports that Current Swell killed it during their festival-opening appearance at Canadian Music Week, the country’s largest music industry conference. Toronto Maple Leafs players and Current Swell fans Frazer McLaren, Carter Ashton and Jerry D’Amigo attended that gig. They followed that up with a sold-out appearance May 10 at Vancouver’s Commodore Ballroom, arguably Canada’s best mid-sized concert venue.
The band brings Ulysses home Saturday afternoon with a free outdoor performance at Ship Point in the Inner Harbour, one that is expected to draw an audience in the thousands. Current Swell has had its share of stellar Victoria shows over the years, from Canada Day performances at the legislature to sets at Rifflandia and Rock the Shores. Big or small, hometown gigs never lose their appeal, Stanton said.
“After every show, we all think: ‘Wow, this is crazy we get to do this.’ ”
The band’s schedule will only get busier from here. The first half of June has Current Swell touring the U.S., followed by a two-show run through Germany. A mish-mash of concerts in Ontario, Alberta, England and B.C., including a July 11 return to Rock the Shores, will occupy the band through Labour Day, after which the real work begins, Stanton said.
“We are hitting it pretty hard. We’re home for a week, and then we’re gone for two weeks, home for a couple of days, and away again. My calendar as I look to the future is planned out into the fall. I’m living in the future a little bit.”
Being such close friends with his bandmates is a benefit during extensive road runs, he said. As Current Swell passes its sixth year as a full-time entity, Stanton could not be happier with how things have turned out. Lang will be getting married in July, with his bandmates and management in attendance, and the group is cruising in a new, rewarding professional direction.
Stanton doesn’t want to jinx anything, but he says life couldn’t be much sweeter for him or his bandmates .
“Over the last couple of years, with all the oh-my-God moments, we’ve become even closer. Everyone in the band really cares about each other. It’s a family.”