When asked to play a Penticton festival a couple years ago, local music teacher and musician Maiya Robbie wanted to perform with a band.
Enter The Screen Doors.
The band is a collaborative effort from multiple diverse Penticton musicians: Tavis Weir,Darren Filipenko, Dave Mai and Stefan Beinz.
“I wanted to do (the festival) with a band and I’d played with those guys in different ways, indifferent combinations. Stefan had been in another band with me, in Short Story Long, and Tavis and I had played together, just he and I. So I got them all together and said ‘yeah this is awesome,we should totally play together all the time,’” Robbie said.
Preparing for the first performance was an encouraging sign of things to come.
“After that it was like, well that can’t just be it. We can’t just have played that one festival together and not play together anymore because we had so much fun. That’s when we decided to kind of lock it down,” Robbie said.
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The band is a cross section of the diverse amount of talent in Penticton and the South Okanagan,where the art community is growing in scope. Robbie said there has always been talent in the area,but there appears to be an uptick in recent years.
“I think there’s always been a little bit of that happening. Where there’s just a really large amount of talented people in all of the arts, not just in music, but in all of the arts. But in my opinion, whatI observed in the last five years especially, it’s just hit this hyper speed and there’s more and more influx of creative people coming to the valley,” Robbie said.
With more ways to share, and the climate of the time, Robbie said it’s likely more people are bringing their art to others where they otherwise would keep it to themselves.
“It’s a magical kind of area. I don’t know, something in the water,” Robbie laughed.
The Screen Doors are an eclectic mix of musical backgrounds coming together exploring genres ranging from jazz-rock-fusion, folk and some bluegrass for good measure. Weir and Robbie bring singer/songwriter styles, Weir also brings a jazz influence with Bienz coming from a jazz background too. Add in Filipenko’s folk and bluegrass experience and Dave Mai’s rock and punk influence and The Screen Doors have a mix pulling from nearly the entire musical spectrum.
“We get excited. Our collaborative song is a bluegrass-y kind of sounding song and we’ve been having fun going in that direction, but with these different backgrounds,” Robbie said.
The Screen Doors are set to make an appearance on Robbie’s next album, with the idea of the band putting out their own on the horizon. With Weir finishing up his latest album, Robbie said the next logical step will be The Screen Doors first album.
“Maybe once we have more collaborative songs,” Robbie said.
Catch The Screen Doors live at the Dream Café on Feb. 18. Tickets are $30 for premium seating,$15 for side seating. Available by calling the Dream Café at 250-490-9012 or online at www.thedreamcafe.ca.
