A group of buddies from Aldergrove will be the first band to headline a new live concert series at a Surrey nightclub.
Since they formed a few years ago, the Special Tease have been playing clubs from Chilliwack to downtown Vancouver, but the introduction of a weekly live music night — beginning this Friday — at the Mirage, in Surrey’s Guildford area, will mark the Langley band’s first time playing that venue.
And it will offer something a little different than the club’s regular patrons are used to, said lead guitarist, Nick Waterman.
The Special Tease’ original music is influenced by old style rock ‘n roll and ’90s grunge, Waterman said.
“It’s loud, it’s heavy, it’s in your face.”
But it’s fluid, too, he said. “We know when to bring it down and give everyone a breather.
“We have a couple of cover tunes to get people dancing,” he said.
Among the bands the Special Tease cover are Kings of Leon, The Sheepdogs and Band of Skulls.
“It’s not all about riffs. Some of it is more groove-oriented,” Waterman said.
Special Tease is made up of five guys who met either in high school or at parties around town, Waterman explained.
In addition to the guitarist, the band features Trevor Robinson on lead vocals, Wes Masztalar on rhythm guitar/vocals, bassist Cody Nicholls and drummer, Kaeden McLeod.
“We started out playing parties for friends,” Waterman said.
But word spread and opportunity followed.
“People started talking about us online and we connected with Clyde (Hill, music promoter).”
Soon the band was getting booked into downtown clubs, opening for other acts.
Still, their second place finish in last spring’s Langley Has Talent competition came as a surprise, Waterman admitted.
Some of the competition seemed pretty polished, he said.
For the contest, the band performed two of their original songs — Fire and Don’t Tell Me.
But because their time on stage was limited, they had to pare down the songs and then, in a sense, re-learn them.
“It opened our eyes to how much we had to work at,” Waterman said.
“But we got some money out of it. It helped us to record our songs.”
The exposure was good, as was the experience of having cameras pointed at them, he said.
“It was a different crowd than we’re used to,” he laughed. With the audience just sitting and watching them sing, it was a bit tough to gauge their reaction, he said.
But they will be the ones folks are coming out to see on Sept. 27 at the Mirage. The Special Tease expect to hit the stage around 10:30 p.m. but Waterman encourages people to come out earlier and check out the opening acts.
Tickets are $10 in advance and can be purchased by emailing thespecialtease@gmail.com or calling 604-910-0704. Tickets will be on sale at the door also for $12. Doors open at 8 p.m. and first band is on at 8:30. The Mirage is located at 15330 102 Ave.
You can check out the Special Tease on Facebook and Soundcloud.
