Crown Lands- Rock Duo from Oshawa, ON
Interview conducted on May 28, 2020
By Dan Locke
The group’s name is indicative of their musical ambitions: “Crown Land” is a territorial area belonging to the monarch — or, as Cody (who is half Mi’kmaq, an indigenous tribe from Nova Scotia) puts it, “Crown Land is stolen land and we are reclaiming it.” They are on a mission to represent a sense of empowerment for a marginalized community
What is your upbringing? / How did you discover music?
Cody: In my house, the radio was always on, and my father was a drummer, so since as long as I could remember I was watching him play on the kit and quickly got into all the music he was into Rush, Zeppelin, Floyd, and Queen.
Kevin: My dad played guitar for us all the time when I was little and his folk finger-style playing influenced me a ton. My parents raised me on a lot of classic rock. We went on road trips every summer and the soundtrack to our travels was Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Queen, and John Prine.
How did you start to write music?
Kevin: The desire to write music came as soon as I started playing music. I always wanted to write a song someone else would want to learn.
I took music very seriously in school and tried to learn as much theory as I could. Music theory is a language within music and is key when communicating an idea. I eventually studied Music at University but dropped out to do music full time.
Cody: I started writing music when I stopped being a solo drummer and formed my first band in my teens.
Kevin- Do you remember how you got your first guitar? And do you still have it?
My dad bought me a bass guitar when I was 11 and I still have it! The first electric guitar in my house was my dad’s Fender Strat. To me, it became the archetype of an electric guitar. It captured my imagination. I learned how to play guitar on that instrument and I still tour with it – I think it’s the only guitar that has been to pretty much every gig I’ve ever played.
How did you get the band together?
We started jamming in the summer of 2015 at our friend’s barn. We wrote our first EP in a matter of days and we knew that it was something special. We still play some of those songs to this day. We had known each other for a year prior to forming Crown Lands.
How did you create your bands’ name?
Crown Land makes up most of Canada’s geography and has many uses & meanings.
Crown Land is an island that you can camp on for free for up to two weeks – which is awesome. However, Crown Land is used for a few things that we do not agree with.
Crown Land makes up our Old Growth Forests: forests that are rapidly being clear-cut for exportation.
The Oil Sands in Alberta is Crown Land.
We understand that the Logging Industry and Oil Industry are crucial to Canada’s economy, but as a country, we have greatly compromised our environment in favor of short-sighted financial growth.
Lastly and most importantly, the majority of Native Reservations in Canada are on Crown Land.
There is a lack of basic resources on many of these reservations.
Many Canadians do not have access to clean drinking water.
Our country has neglected and persecuted our own people for so long – people with such rich history and wisdom they could share. Cody is half Mi’qmaw.
We don’t claim to know everything about these multifaceted issues but we recognize that people listen to us and we want to talk about something that matters to us.
We call ourselves Crown Lands because we believe that it is the people that make a country what it is – not its federal policies.
We want to bring a sense of power and responsibility to everyone we play for; ergo, we are crown lands, you are crown lands… we’re all in this together.
Your band won the 2017 97.7 HTZ Rock Search Winner and 2018 Oshawa Culture Counts Emerging Artist Award. What did you get from winning the awards?
We’re proud of where we come from. We really cut our teeth in Oshawa and it’s been an honor to be recognized by our community.
The HTZ FM rock search helped us get a lot of radio play in Southern Ontario when we were starting out (it still feels like we’re starting out!) and we made a lot of good friendships out of it. It was very much our introduction to the Canadian music industry.
Kevin- if you had to pick between Sister Rosetta Tharpe or Chuck Barry to jam with which one would you pick and why?
I’d probably pick Sister Rosetta Tharp. Not only was she a trailblazing singer & writer, but she also played the coolest guitar of all time: a white 1961 Les Paul Custom – which is nowadays referred to as an SG. Also, without her, we wouldn’t have had Chuck. She really started it all and didn’t get credit until much later.
Cody- Why did you pick drums as your instrument?
I was practically born with drums as my instrument. My dad is a drummer and has been drumming my whole life. When I would watch him play 2112 by Rush in my basement as a baby I was enthralled and knew I had to drum too.
Cody- if you had to pick between Neil Peart or John Bonham to jam with, who would it be and why?
It would be Neil Peart hands down. He is (aside from my father), my biggest lifelong drumming inspiration. Not to mention, he was the greatest drummer in the world.
Why did you decide to use the name Crown Lands?
Because Crown Land is stolen land.
How it was that Jack White picked you?
We were submitted by our team and Jack’s bass player Dominic John Davis was the one who picked us. Our Manager called us on Monday morning and told us we had to leave Tuesday morning to get to the first gig on the other side of Canada by Thursday. Somehow, we pulled it off! We announced while we were on the way to the first gig! Luckily, we had just put snow tires on the van.
Have you had the chance to jam with him yet?
Not yet!
We did get to trade some bass licks with Les Claypool one time. Les is one of the best bass players ever.
Over your career, you have shared the stage with people like Coheed and Cambria, Primus, and Rival Sons. What have they taught you about the music business, that you would like to share with our readers?
We are super lucky to have toured with some of our biggest heroes and we haven’t even started yet. We were very green, playing to some of the biggest audiences in our lives. We were shown generosity and professionalism by all of them. They showed us how to be professionals on the road.
It’s been amazing to see how all of these bands have achieved longevity through different means. We’ve been able to pull some tips and tricks from them to help us along the way.
It’s a hard life living on the road and now we don’t know when it’s going to begin again. The current uncertainty is a very uncomfortable place to be, but there will be a turning point and we’ll be able to begin again.
Let’s talk about your latest recording. Tell me about it?
We recorded it in Nashville with Dave Cobb. Dave is a legend down there and for good reason. He is a masterful arranger! We tracked the bed tracks live off the floor with no click to get a real proper performance of the band. We overdubbed the vocals, solos, and keyboards, opting for as early as taking as we could. Working at RCA Studio A was a powerful experience as well – there is a lot of history in that building.
Why the Kaleidoscopic effect for the song “Howlin Back”?
Because Kaleidoscopes are cool and Howlin’ Back is a cool song. They went hand in, er, paw.
You just released “Howlin’ Back Again” on May 28, 2020. Tell me the story behind that song? And who created the video landscape with the birds flying and the waterfall flowing?
We recorded Howlin’ Back again and the rest of the Wayward Flyers Vol. I EP at Chalet Studio back in February with Justin Meli. We wanted to make an acoustic record that showed a different side of the band. We hadn’t properly explored the softer more intimate side of the band yet and this was the perfect opportunity to do so. We experimented with a lot of world percussion and textures and the record and we are very excited for it to come out on June 11th.
The artwork was done by Quinn Henderson. He is an incredibly gifted painter and he seems to create entire worlds in his work. We are very lucky to work with him and call him our friend!”
How do you stay healthy while touring?
We avoid fast food as much as we can and never drink Gas Station coffee. Lots of fruit and nuts as snacks. We always ask for Hummus & veggies on our Rider. Cauliflower is a great fuel. Staying hydrated is key. Whenever we get into a new town the first question is where the good Indian food is. We stay as close to Vegan as possible on the road.
What are your feelings about streaming music?
It’s a mixed bag for sure. It’s democratized the music world so that anyone can get their music to the masses without having to spend thousands on radio campaigns, but there are tricky politics to navigate just the same.
I think it has removed the thrill of discovering an artist through a body of work as streaming doesn’t lend itself to Album listening – it’s like a playlist always in flux, anticipating the next song you skip rather than an experience of sitting down and just studying an artist from debut album onward.
Digital vs. vinyl?
Both have their merits! On tour, we are constantly streaming and making road trip playlists. At home, it’s great to sit down and study a record.
Any plans to tour?
The very minute that we can, we will!
What song from the past is in your mind right now? And what is the meaning that song means to you??
High Hopes by Pink Floyd seems very timely.
You were planning to support Larkin Poe on a European tour before the Covid-19 virus hit. Now, what is happening to the tour?
The tour has been rescheduled for February 2021. The new dates are on our website!
How do you feel the Covid-19 virus going to affect the music business in the future?
Everything will be different. We’re all going to have to adjust to a new world and there will be some growing pains. It’s going to open up again slowly and we can’t expect an overnight miracle. I think Livestreams are going to be way bigger in the future and technology will hopefully move to a delay-free live stream platform.
What have you been doing with your self-quarantine?
It’s up and down – some days are harder to get out of bed than others.
Lots of cooking, meditation, music listening, and writing new material.
Now that the weather is nicer, it’s good to get outside and exercise, but it’s important to stay responsible and socially distance.
Have you discovered or rediscovered any new hobbies?
Kevin: I’ve gotten back to playing music for the sheer joy of it. I missed playing for the sake of playing. It’s hard to just play without the pressure to create, record, or perform sometimes. It’s transcendent sometimes. I’ve also really been enjoying brewing iced coffee every day now that the weather is nicer. It’s such a brief, beautiful moment in Canada when the air doesn’t hurt your face.
Lots of people are doing nightly concerts over either YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Are you planning to do something like that?
Kevin: At the beginning of the quarantine I hosted live-stream Guitar Lessons and play-throughs of our back-catalog. Now that we’re releasing new songs, I am working on teaching them as they come out.
We are working on a big proper live Crown Lands performance stream as well – keep an eye out!
Do you think it will be possible to make a living doing concerts this way?
You mean it was possible to make a living before? Haha
I think that it’s a new challenge and a new opportunity to make money from music for sure. Time will tell, and the industry has to adapt to it. We’re seeing a lot of our friends having success with it and hope it can continue to grow.
First, it was an article in the New York Times, then Rolling Stones talked about it and finally, Live Nation CEO said that concerts may not start again until the fall of 2021. Do you think this could happen?
What about Holographic concerts in our living room?
That is a very real possibility. Holographic concerts are a great idea! Who knows if the tech is there for a wide-spread in-home holographic show? VR will definitely play a role in how live-music is consumed in the future. Third-party live streaming platforms are a very new facet of social media. The next few years will be interesting to see how it develops.
How do you see yourself in the next five years?
Swimming in a pool of money like Scrooge McDuck, or touring the world and changing people’s lives. Hopefully the latter.
Anything you would like to say in closing?
This is a really tough time for all of us, and it might get even tougher. We have to carry on making music because that is why we’re here. Making music has been the most spiritually enriching thing we have done with our lives and I want to keep doing that every day. We will get through this and we will see the other side.
You must be logged in to post a comment.