You can appreciate the sound of No Island no matter your musical taste. With two new members aboard, the five-piece band will be returning to Invermere tonight (Wednesday, August 21st), to perform at Strand’s Old House Restaurant.
“The food at Strand’s made Invermere a major highlight on our previous tour,” said Andy Rice, No Island’s keyboardist and vocalist. “For a touring band, your meals on the road aren’t always that good.”
And even though restaurants aren’t the band’s regular venues, their show is as good as the food.
“For us, as a five-piece rock band playing into amps, we pare it down in those acoustic settings and turn it down, and really read the crowd and make sure we’re not blowing them out the window as they’re trying to eat their dinner,” Andy said.
But when the meals are done, the amps may get turned up — which is what happened with their previous Strand’s performance.
“As it turned out, towards the end of the night, people are more into the rock, so we turned the place into a party,” he said. “It was fun; it started off quietly and built up and, after everybody finished their meals, it turned into a concert.”
He said adapting to the restaurant setting makes Invermere one of No Island’s most interesting shows.
Since their formation in 2009, the group has released two albums. Sign of the Times is the title of their debut, which was followed by The Waiting Game last year.
“But shortly after we released The Waiting Game, we got a new drummer and new bass player,” said Andy.
“So we’re itching to release a new record that features those guys.”
In the meantime, No Island has two new digital tracks available through their website. The new songs better represent the band’s development, Andy said.
“We feel we’ve outgrown our previous two CDs and we’re hoping to better represent ourselves on the next one,” he said.
The band hopes to begin work on a new, full-length album after concluding their cross-Canada summer tour. The Vancouver-based band began in Creston on July 5th, and will conclude in Fernie on August 24th, after making their way to the Maritimes and back.
“We have the desire to spread the music and go outside of our comfort zone and really share the music,” Andy said. “We want to be a Canadian band, not just a Vancouver band.”
Make sure to check out the band’s Twitter account while they’re in Invermere, as the group posts interesting content from every trip of their journey.
“We’re really looking forward to coming back to Strand’s, and Invermere is a beautiful place.
