The Canmore-based youth band The Eerie Green is set to release its first single – “El Diablo” – from a forthcoming, as-of-yet untitled album, Saturday (Nov. 17) at Cornerstone Theatre in Canmore.
Founding member Layten Kramer sat down for an interview to speak about the release.
“We really want to promote the album, we’re excited about the entire thing, and people have been anticipating it since early summer, ever since we released the EP,” he explained. “We want to get it out there one by one as the tracks finish.
“‘El Diablo’ – it’s a rock song with a country folk twist. People have referenced it to Johnny Cash.”
In spring, The Eerie Green released an eponymous four-track EP.
“We’re planning on releasing three singles before March, and then the entire album will come out,” said Kramer. “All of our singles will be free via the Internet. Hopefully it gets our sound out there and new places.”
At the end of September the group won the Emerging Artist bursary from the Town of Canmore.
“That’s really helping us out towards the production of making a CD, so in a sense that’s covered, but we’re planning to tour this summer,” he said. “That’s going to be expensive and what we save now will be going towards that for sure.”
The band was originally started two years ago when Kramer, playing guitar, hooked up with Eli Panning-Osendarp on drums.
“We recorded ‘Lost in the Woods’ two years ago, and at the release party for it, we had Logan Thackray join us,” said Kramer. “After that she just hung on to us and we were a trio for about a year.”
Thackray, who is also known for competitive skiing, plays guitar and ukulele.
“When we went to Vancouver this summer, our producer Nathan Turner started playing bass with us. And another engineer who worked on the EP, Brendan Steele, is playing guitar, so it’s exciting, we’re a five-piece now.”
Kramer began playing guitar when he was 13 years old. “My aunt and uncle gave our family a guitar for Christmas, and one day I was bored and picked it up and started playing,” he explained. “I learned a couple chords and never put it back down.
“It just kinda happened, it never was really planned, I’ve always been looking for people to play with.”
Over the last two years, the band has played any chance it’s been offered, including a spot at the Canmore Folk Music Festival.
“People seem to be enjoying the EP, our horizon is slowly getting broader, it’s exciting,” said Kramer. “The excitement and the exposure, just the pure feeling of playing and being able to speak your own ideas in front of people through music, that’s what’s keeping me going.”
The band’s name came from a rainy day experience.
“It was a really, really rainy day, and a friend of mine and I were planning on going for a skate at the skateboard park that had just got built, so we took a drive out to Harvie Heights and there was a colour in the forest that day that could only be described as an eerie green, and it just stayed with me.
“I originally wrote the song “Harvie Heights” which is being redone on the record, and there’s a lyric that I mention ‘go to see the eerie green,’ it’s just really symbolic of the forest and the colours and the texture and the feeling that you get when you look into the wilderness.
“We’re obviously a folk band – folk rock, indie rock, whatever you want to label us as – and a lot of that style of music revolves around the forest and nature, and we just thought it was the most appropriate name and we went with it.”
As for the name of the new album, while the band is undecided, they’re leaning toward a “change” related concept.
“Every song on it it is based on some sort of change,” said Kramer. “We’re going to look for a more clever synonym, but right now the idea is ‘turning points,’ because Eli went through a big transition from graduating high school to university; Logan graduated high school, she went through a major breakup, she’s a ski racer, and she has to fit all that on top of music; and me, I went through a breakup as well, and I’m graduating high school this year, so we thought it was pretty appropriate to be doing this.”
Two other bands will join The Eerie Green for the show, Scenic Route To Alaska and Vista Park.
“Scenic Route To Alaska – those guys are incredible, not only as musicians, but people as well,” said Kramer. “They’re indie rock as well and they’re great energy, great people, we’ve actually played a couple shows with them in the past – we were instantly friends.
“And then Vista Park is also indie rock. They’re all Grade 12 and they’re just awesome dudes, that’s all I can say. I met them at auditions for the talent search for the Calgary Stampede this summer. They made it to semifinals and I was third runner up.”
The show starts at 7 p.m. and tickets are available in advance at the theatre, by calling 403-609-0004 or online at www.atthecorner.ca
