Kamloops-based Alternative band, Van Damsel, started playing together in high school and formed Van Damsel in 2010. Now, as the members near the age of 30, the four are going their separate ways, with a final show at Cactus Jacks’s Nightclub in Kamloops on December 9th.
Lead singer Sebastien Ste. Marie says the split, which was announced on Facebook, is amicable as the friends have different goals at this point in life.
“We’re calling it a day,” he says. “We feel like it’s time to spread our wings a bit and really experience something different and strange.”
The band released their first full length album, named after the band, in April. The single Best of Everything charted up to 37 the Billboard’s Canadian Rock charts. The band also had success in indie music circles, participated in Toronto’s Canadian Music Week festival and finished third in the 2015 edition of the Peak Performance Project.
Throughout their run, Van Damsel stayed based in Kamloops. Ste. Marie says the band was never able to find a time to move to a bigger city with a larger music scene with four band members and their partners.
“It’s complicated, it’s tricky being in a band,” he says. “It’s a bit like a marriage except there’s four of us with our own aspirations.”
(KIM ANDERSON – ASSISTANT EDITOR /InfoTel Multimedia)
Those aspirations have diverged, he says, and drummer Matt Barron agrees. Both are planning long trips in the new year, gone for at least a year each, with Ste. Marie looking at Asia and Barron to South America.
“It’s something that I’ve always had this hankering for, I’ve always wanted to go travelling,” Barron says. “I went to Japan this year; it let me know I need to get out of Kamloops, out of Canada.”
Both see the music industry as a difficult way to make a career. With their full length album they made a go of it, but the results, while positive, weren’t enough to keep them afloat. Ste. Marie says they built a team and toured following the album’s release, but they decided recently to no longer pursue the band.
“We wanted to take Van Damsel to the point where we could quit our day jobs and live off of Van Damsel,” Barron says. “Being a Canadian-based band it’s difficult to break out.”
“We were an alt rock band in a hip hop pop world,” Ste. Marie says. “There’s not the sort of revenue from sales right now and there’s a lot of great artists out there.”
“We had to make the decision how much further and some of us ultimately want to try something different.”
They expect to stay involved with music in a some way in the future, and Ste. Marie says he thinks bassist Matthew “Renny” Rennehan and guitarist Rich Bregoliss will be involved in their own projects.
“Keep an eye out for individual projects,” he says. “We’ll all be involved in music in some way.”
The band is thankful to their fans who’ve followed them and anyone who spent time listening to their music, Ste. Marie says.
“It’s been really nice to see people actually take an interest in our band,” Barron says. “That’s something any artist feels good about, when people care about what your doing.”
Good morning!
hello
good morning
Hey ho good people. 1st interview on q this morning is with that guy from REM, I think it’s Michael Stipe. (Missed the very beginning, typing this before the end. Sounds like MS though.)
Good morning!
Good morning everyone! Greetings from Portland airport. Phoenix bound for American Thanksgiving. How are all of you?
I wouldn’t mind being in Arizona at the moment
Who wins
Drake
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86D7AGm5sHk
Or
Taylor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egHjkeiqjrA
okay, those are pretty funny.
Drake’s not messing around. that’s 205 lbs on there
After watching the Drake one, I was pretty sure I knew what was coming with the Taylor Swift one, and still giggled at the pratfalls. I guess I’m a sucker for physical humour.
Hey there kids! (Except for you Benoit – you’re older than I am!)
Those are pretty good. Haha!
Hi Lee! Happy Birthday!
You guys heard about Kanye’s latest rant? — at one of his own shows (in Sacramento), after singin’ a gran’ total of 3 songs, he went into a 15 minute rant about Jay Z & Beyonce, after the AMAs. Yow. (Reading in comments on reddit, it seems that his um unbalance may date back to his mom’s death, after elective — cosmetic — surgery.) Anyway. The guy’s a nutter!
It’s the birthday boy!
‘imbalance”, I think.
Thanks, Darbarsooperdooper! It’s hard to believe, as I still think I’m 35. (But then again, my son is 32, so I’m not sure how that would have worked out.) Good start of the morning, as Pegalicious got up and made me a hot breakfast with muffins, sausage and scrambled eggs, and I took my time getting to work. Not bad, if I had to go to work.
And hey there, Garf!
Benoit, it happened here all right in our brand new Golden 1 Center (home of the NBA Kings). He walked out after 30 minutes of with the last 15 was the rant, then said, “The show’s over.”, dropped the mike onto the stage and walked off. Also canceled last night’s show in LA (that was a make up show for a previously canceled show), and word’s out that tonight’s show in Fresno is also canceled. At least those in Sacramento are going to get refunds.
looks like he’s cancelled the rest of the tour
There are much more important crazies to be concerned about these days.
Sounds like a good start indeed Lee.
Kanye is an ass. I hope he gets whatever help he needs to stop being an ass.
Thomas D’Arcy and Hawksley Workman Collab, Tommy Hawkins is sounding good to me.
http://open.spotify.com/album/3FJ8cy38dCka6D7MCwpCvu
Hi!
Happy birthday again Lee!
Thanks Jeremy! I had to look up where Tappen was – between Kamloops and Revelstoke. Cool! Live up there in gorgeous country!
I just discovered Spotify’s Release Radar today. It is tailored to you new releases and is quite enjoyable.