The duo behind StillNative have been riding the wave of success this year, with an album, tours, and their first stage appearance at Bluesfest. With their unique sound combining just drums and a guitar, their live shows aren’t to be missed – it seems impossible for so much music to come from just two people. They’ll be out at the Casino during Bluesfest, so be sure to catch them while you can – they leave on tour at the end of the week!
How would you describe your sound?
It’s certainly rock, and it’s totally bluesy, but there’s a side to StillNative you can only experience in our live show right now. Our new songs have a jazzier world inflection both in rhythm and melody. Our next album is going to sound very different.
For now we’ll stick to “Rawbeat Rock”. It’s what we use to describe our groove based sound. Max has a way of always churning out the sloppiest beats to accompany the music we write. I get to bounce off of what he does and we end up with something that’s in between every other beat. Combine that with our call & response style song-writing and you can almost imagine two musicians fist fighting on stage to keep time.
What are you hoping to get out of your Bluesfest performance?
Our Bluesfest gig was kind of the feather in our cap this year. We worked really hard all year and released an album we were proud of.
At first we had received a “sorry try again next year” email…to which I quickly responded directly to Mark Monohan with a “Come on…Come on!” and a link to our upcoming full length concert DVD filmed during our release party here in Ottawa. We were very excited later that month when we received an official offer to play not one, but three sets in a swanky Martini Bar at the Casino! We’ve played long bills before but this will be our longest yet. The experience earned is invaluable, not to mention the cash will be going towards a tour van. We have to drive all through the night after our last set to kick off our Maritime Tour in Moncton the next night… rock n’ roll roadtrip!
Who’s your favourite Bluesfest act this year?
There are lots of great acts at this years festival..but we will be touring and probably won’t get to catch much! I would have loved to see B.B. King & the Balkan Beat Box. I’ve heard good things about Half Moon Run and one of my favorite locals would be John Carroll & the Epic Proportions.
What’s your band’s spiritual animal? (This is our silly question, have fun with it!)
Our spiritual animal would be an Iguanadon. I always loved dinosaurs and the Iguanadon is always giving everyone two thumbs way way up! Or maybe a cat…for the YouTube hits.
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