The rigours of touring are such that each member of an independent band has a specific set of duties to perform. In the band Zerbin, the task of driving in bad weather falls on the group’s leader, Jason Zerbin.
The Edmonton native, who now lives in Victoria, has plenty of snow-related drives under his belt, so it was fitting that he was behind the wheel Monday as the band drove back into B.C. through snowy Alberta. His longtime bandmate and Zerbin co-leader, guitarist Peter Mol, could have also taken the wheel. Zerbin said both are capable, unlike their current bandmates. No matter what, Zerbin joked, there was little hope of Nanaimo bassist Brandon Clarke or drummer (and former New York resident) Duran Ritz getting the call.
“We definitely don’t trust them in this weather,” Zerbin said of his B.C. bandmates. “When it’s dangerous weather, I take the helm of the ship.”
Nicer weather is in store for the four-piece band, which wraps its 20-date tour of Canada on Saturday in Victoria. Zerbin visited five provinces on the trek, all in support of the group’s new, Imagine Dragons-sounding EP, Touch.
It’s a big-bottomed, stadium-sounding record, with post-production help from one of the best in the business, Greg Calbi, who has mastered records for Paul Simon, the Ramones, Bob Dylan and Tom Petty, among thousands of others. The album is a stopgap measure between Zerbin’s 2010 debut, Of Fools and Gold, and its forthcoming sophomore full-length, due next year. But it is no throwaway: Touch is propelled by the lead single, New Earth, which has garnered radio play across B.C., prompting Jason Zerbin to relocate from Edmonton (where Mol still lives) to Victoria in 2011. As for where the new record will take them, Zerbin said there are hints to be heard on Touch, which saw release in both the U.S. and Canada in October.
“There is a little bit of nod to the past on Touch,” he said, “but it also shows what the future is going to sound like as we are evolving as writers and artists.”
You were in Edmonton up until a year and and a half ago. What prompted the move?
Whenever we travelled to the West Coast, even if it didn’t make sense for shows, we’d go to the Island. It is an atmosphere I feel very creative in. It made sense.
How does it operate with you in Victoria and Peter stationed in Edmonton?
It doesn’t make it simple, but we work it out. It’s kind of up to him, but he’s out here enough that it works. He comes out for six weeks at a time.
The core of the group is Peter and yourself, but it seems like there has always been an open-door policy in the group.
Peter and I are the songwriting brains, but we’ve always had a bunch of different friends who are with us for different lengths of time. We have enjoyed it. The songs get to be embodied a little differently every time.
Ever thought about making Zerbin a group with more permanent members?
It’s hard. The reality of life in music is that only the brave survive. It takes a lot of risk and a lot of choice, and really playing the game well, to make sure that you have the income to actually survive and do it.
What is the toughest part about being an independent band?
Sometimes people go on the road and realize the work that it takes to be a musician, and they count the costs. Most would rather get a solid job and do music on the side.
It would appear that you often work on new material. You just released an EP but already have intentions for a new record. Is that the case?
We want to get music out right away. Our goal is to release a new album in the spring of 2014. The plan right now is to rent a cabin on the Island and bring up a producer friend who lives in California, and lock ourselves in the cabin for a month and get it done.
You have mostly produced your own music to this point. Why change now?
It can get stretched out, because you are working on it and doing other things. We really want to lock in this time. That’s the goal.
How much of the Touch EP was done in Victoria?
It was mixed in Victoria, and Lift and Take Your Heart were recorded in Victoria. Touch was recorded in five or six different basements or bedrooms or houses or studios. The next record will be very much a Victoria record.
So it would appear that Zerbin — if not the group then yourself, at least — will stay rooted in Victoria?
B.C. does very well in its promotion of new bands and younger artists. That was something I was always envious of as an Alberta artist. We’ve always felt a little homeless, on the outside looking in.
Zerbin performs with Said the Whale and Leisure Suit on Saturday at the Alix Goolden Performance Hall. Tickets are $22 at Lyle’s Place, Ditch Records and ticketweb.ca.