Meet The Band: The Schomberg Fair

Toronto's The Schomberg Fair are best described as a trio of electrifying, deep harmonies. Having released their breakthrough album Gospel in 2009, they're back with a new EP titled Mercy that makes you wonder why the hell you don't own Gospel already. And so we decided to the members of the band: the sewn-back fingers owner Matt Bahen, the deep-voiced Nate Sidon and thunderous drummer Pete Garthside.

If their winning personalities don't get you out to their Friday  night (Feb. 3) show at The Silver Dollar then we don't know what will!


How do you describe your music to someone who hasn't heard you before?

Matt: A radical juxtaposition between Black Sabbath playing on the tenth moon of Jupiter (the one with the volcanoes) and Blind Willie Johnson, playing on a street corner. That’s the long of it, but we shorten it to: “Roots Rockin’ Gospel Magic”.

If you could open for one current band that you haven't played with before, who would it be?

Nate: Dead Meadow, but if they’re busy then Nomeansno

If you could play one venue you've never played before, what would it be?

Pete: The Royal Albert Hall in London, UK

Your all-time, all-star supergroup?

Pete: Jimmy Hoffa, Mickey Rourke, and Clint Eastwood

What's the worst album you own?

Pete: The 1st LV album. LV was the guy who sang the hook on 'Gangsta's Paradise' by Coolio. By far most flushable, if I remember.

If you absolutely had to get a face tattoo of album art from one record, which record would you want to have on your face for the rest of your life?

Pete: The White album, Metallica’s black, self-titled album would likely get my ass kicked.

Say, for some strange reason, all the music in the world is going to be destroyed, but you can save all the songs from one decade. Which decade's records would you save?

Matt: I would roll mid-sixties to mid-seventies. It is kind of cheating but I would say that it might be the best 10 years of music and a strong foundation to rebuild from.

Who, in your opinion, has/had the best facial hair of any band ever?

Nate: I’m gonna say the “wildly unkempt beard” era of John Lennon…but only because he looks just like Mr. Burns when he was a germ-phobic casino owner.

What was the craziest live show you've ever seen?

Nate: Buried Alive
Matt: White Cowbell Oklahoma
Pete: White Cowbell Oklahoma

Our boys in WCO win 2 to 1!

We played a show with them once where their van broke down on the Coquihalla so half of their band showed up halfway through their own set, got on stage, drank an entire bottle of whiskey and rocked the pants off of Whistler…Nate’s changed his mind now, we’re all in agreement.

What's your favourite song to play live? Why?

Matt: I really like playing “Raise My Hand”, Its heavy, the hypnotic refrain gets the crowd going, Matt gets to have a guitar solo, Pete gets to have a battle cry and Nate gets to go into space with delays and wahs, everybody wins!

What was the first record you ever bought? When was the last time you listened to it?

Matt: Aerosmith Classics Live 2. I would say about '94.

John, Paul, George, or Ringo?

Nate: Definitely John. “I am the Walrus” and “The Ballad of John and Yoko” are my two favorite Beatles tunes.

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Meet The Band is a regular feature where we introduce you to bands we like. You can find all of the rest of them here.



1 comments:

Jacyln said...

Good stuff!

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