Every year, Bluesfest makes space for local artists to get showcased in front of larger crowds, usually on the River Stage or in the LeBreton tent. Getting to play on the main stage is rare, with just three local artists this year getting that honour. Even more rare when it’s a band that has been essentially dormant for the past few years. Such is the case for We Were Sharks, who will be coming out of hiatus to open the main stage on July 19 for none other than Daughtry and Papa Roach.
To warm up for such an event, they’ve decided to play an impromptu gig at the Dominion on Tuesday, July 8, supported by other fantastic local artists Neon Ghosthouse and Outta Hand.
We sat down with them to ask about their set.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Apt613: Welcome back! It’s been a while since you’ve been around. Where have you been?
Jason Mooney: It was challenging, as it was during the pandemic when we released (the last album) A New Low, and we couldn’t tour it. Two years passed and we were still in the height of the pandemic. We tried to make a comeback and things were still slow.
Also, we grew up during the three or four years. I mean, a lot can happen even in six months. As you get older, your priorities change. So, thankfully, we have been given a window of opportunity, we have gas in the tank, and we want to move forward.
We Were Sharks, 2018. Photo: Jen Bernard/Apt613.
That had to be tough, releasing an album in 2021, given the state of the world at the time. Many artists struggled with the idea of releasing music or shelving it until they could tour.
We sat on the record for a very long time trying to figure that out. No one thought it was gonna take as long as it did. Other bands were doing things to stay active, so we thought, let’s see how we can make this work for us. We recorded every song on the record like we were performing, to provide these digital experiences, and they were all fun and engaging.
And have you been writing new material since then?
We were writing during the pandemic. Some demos exist that could fill albums. But we were still wondering: “Where are we going? What’s the direction? We haven’t even toured this new record. What do people like?” So, now that we’re back and we’re gonna play more shows, these songs are finally coming to life, and the discussion is now, how do you get people’s attention these days?
I mean, you guys are coming back with a bang, considering you guys are gonna be on the Bluesfest main stage.
Pretty cool! I’ve been in the band for ten years, and I know that for those ten years we’ve applied and applied and applied. I don’t even remember applying last year, and then when I got an email asking if we wanna play Bluesfest? And we’re like “Well, yeah, we’ve been trying to!”
We love playing music together because we’re all the closest of friends, so why not do this? And try and figure out how to do it on our terms as well, because we got this opportunity, and then we have a tour coming up in September now.
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You also have a pop-up gig on July 8th at the Dom?
The whole point of the show was that we hadn’t played in front of people in a long time, and we’re playing songs we’ve never even played live before. So what we wanted to do was pick any date we could get, and we can give back to the venue and the bands that are playing with us. Because it is just for us, to get up there and brush off the rust and figure this thing out with people in front of us seeing us do it, judging us. We’re still able to have fun with it because it’s either that or we go into a room for three hours and look at each other in a circle and practice and be like, I think that was good.
This will give us a little more feedback and allows us to get together afterwards and then hate on each other about how awful each one of us was.
We’ve never played there either. And The Dom on a Tuesday night alone is a very interesting experience, I bet!
And then you have a tour with Teenage Bottlerocket, which ends here in Ottawa, at another historic location in the 27 Club. The big question is if you’ll release anything by then.
I don’t know if I’m supposed to say, but I’m going to anyway. We intend to have something out before the Teenage Bottlerocket tour. The only challenge is that it’s still being worked on, and that we provide the best new songs we can to say “Hi, we’re back!”
We’re hoping, and fingers crossed, we have something new to put out for everyone to hear before the tour.
We Were Sharks will be playing at The Dominion Tavern on July 8, 2025, with Neon Ghosthouse and Outta Hand. Tickets are $10 online and $15 at the door. Doors open at 8pm.
