"Passionate people, devilish people ," sing Wilderness Crew, three friends who have lots to say from the soul. Lyrics are what this group is all about.
For seven plus years Brett Mjanes, Eli Dill and Eric Amberg have been developing the sound that is Wilderness Crew. The guys formed an unbreakable bond while growing up together on the Sunshine Coast.
In August they set out on tour with another group, Mindil Beach Markets, also buddies who lived on the Coast. The five, Daniel Kingsbury, Rod Campbell, Pat Codere, Matt Posnikoff and Cam Ainsle, found each other again in Victoria and have even moved in to the same house together in their decision to form a tight band.
"We've been together about nine months, but it's been years in the making," said Kingsbury.
Some may remember a few of them as Chatelech Secondary School students who performed with Waking Life. Others attended Elphinstone Secondary School.
"Our families grew up together; it's a natural progression," Kingsbury adds.
Mindil Beach is named after a market place in Australia where one of the band members used to live. Their music is like a marketplace, said Kingsbury, full of sounds and sights and colours.
"We're hard to cram in a box," he said.
Though each of their musical styles is different, it makes for a nice match. They're on a huge learning curve that's showing early successes: they placed first in the University of Victoria's battle of the bands, then were selected as a feature band at a music business conference.
The two bands on tour: Wilderness, who is mostly vocal, and MBM, vocal and instrumental, complement each other.
On Saturday night, Oct. 10, both groups will play to their hometown crowd at the Sechelt Seniors Centre. The Wilderness guys were last seen on the Coast during Gibsons Landing Jazz Festival last summer and it's MBM's Coast debut.
With all the home grown talent don't be surprised to hear Coast culture infect Wilderness Crew's words.
"Roberts Creek, baby. This is where hip hop lives," they tell a healthy local fan base who considers them "sick" and loves them.
The concert is an all-ages event. Doors open at 8 p.m., music runs from 9 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Tickets are $18 in advance and $20 at the door and are now on sale at Chemistry in Gibsons and Lucy's in Sechelt.
