When Kaslo, B.C. trio Small Town Artillery stepped into Vancouver’s Blue Light Studio earlier this year they were a independent band working on an EP. They left with a record label deal and a new full-length album.
The band – guitarist Tom van Deursen, drummer Derek van Deursen and bassist Carson Webber – had just been awarded a provincial grant to record the four-song CD, but were determined to make the most of that funding.
“When we started preparing for that we realized that we had a whole album worth of tunes and so we kind of stretched our budget around to record 10 songs instead of four,” Tom van Deursen said.
It was at that point that the group got the attention of JumpAttack! Records, a label which works closely with the studio. Van Deursen said “they had some guys on the ground” who heard the band and extended an invitation.
“So it started as, ‘OK, let’s use this money from Creative B.C. to make some music,’ and then the record quickly took wings from there and started sounding really good and that’s when the label support happened,” van Deursen said.
“So everything has been snowballing for the last few months and picking up momentum, which feels great.”
On Aug. 14 Small Town Artillery released their first record with JumpAttack!, Don’t Talk Away the Magic. Van Deursen said the title is a bit of relationship advice he got from his mother as he was going through some “tumultuous personal issues.” Some of the album is about his last relationship.
“I always remembered that phrase and I think that’s something that’s important in today’s climate and today’s world is letting things be the way they are and enjoying them and appreciating them … to just remember the core of everything is simplicity and magic,” he said.
Last week the band struck out on its album release tour and on Thursday, Aug. 30 they make their Nanaimo debut at the Queen’s. Van Deursen said it feels good to finally be sharing the new music with an audience.
“Albums always take so long in the incubator from inception to recording to delivering the music as a cohesive story, so I’m really proud of it and it feels like a weight had lifted,” he said.
“And now that it’s public the real work begins getting it out to as many people as possible.”
WHAT’S ON … Small Town Artillery performs at the Queen’s on Thursday, Aug. 30 at 9 p.m. $10 admission. 19-plus.
arts@nanaimobulletin.com
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