The Barking Parrot is taking on the shoulder season by hosting the Welcome Back Locals party on Oct. 8., and a trio of up-and-coming musicians will be providing the entertainment.
The three young musicians who comprise Vancouver rockers the Vidos are between 18 and 19 years old, but they’re ready to swim with the sharks in the music industry.
“We know we need to do something new,” said drummer Nolan Nielsen. “We came out to fight for a spot because all we’re hearing on the radio nowadays are bands that came out 15, 20 years ago that are just writing new songs in hopes of keeping their career alive.”
Nielsen suspects that commercial success encourages complacency in the music industry, so if the Vidos want well-written songs, they have to do it themselves.
“You hear these songs (from established musicians) and you think, really? This is what you’re releasing now? That wouldn’t have put them anywhere on the face of the Earth before they were famous.”
It wasn’t long after their inception that their talent was recognized. While performing at the Cloverdale Rodeo and Country Fair in Surrey, the drummer for the band Default, Danny Craig, was in the crowd, and he was impressed with what he heard.
“Then he went up to my singer Brett (Hornall) and said, ‘hey dude here’s my card, give me a call.’”
Nielsen said the Vidos first formed to write fun, catchy music that’s easy for listeners to bop their heads to.
“After we met Danny, we really started thinking, ‘what can we do to break out?’” he said. “There really hasn’t been a new band in the last 10 years that’s come out with something that no one’s heard before.”
Craig helped the band grow by refining their sound and songwriting, he said.
“After seeing some development and that we really did care, he brought a couple other people to the table, one of them being his band member Dave Benedict, the bass player for Default.”
Benedict, through his role with the Vidos, is focused on improving the imaging and style of the trio.
“Together those guys really started refining our band,” said Nielsen.
After teaming with experienced musicians, in addition to their passion to write compelling music, the music of the Vidos nearly overcompensates for the youth of its members.
“A lot of people don’t know what to expect at first. They look at the stage and see three really young guys,” Nielsen said. “So when people see the young faces or hear how old we are, they often don’t want to stick around, but as soon as we come in with our first song, we suck them right in. We can get the people at the back of a lounge fighting for the front row. There’ll be mosh pits; girls dancing on the stage – it’s awesome.”
On their current tour of B.C. and Alberta, the Vidos are excited about sharing their latest single, Shoebomb, which is free to listen to on their website, thevidosmusic.com. Nielsen said the song has been picked up by radio stations in Toronto, Regina, Edmonton, Nanaimo and Vancouver.
“Our first real shot dipping our toes in the water has been receptive.”
To ensure they only release music of high-quality, Nielsen said the band only records up to three songs at a time during each studio session.
“Then when you’ve finally recorded enough you can finally throw them onto an album,” he said. “Often when you buy an album, you get four really good songs on it, and then the rest is just filler, crap sometimes. We want everyone to like every song on this record.”
The Welcome Back Locals party begins at 8:30 p.m. and there’s no cover. Opening for the Vidos will be Cosmic Brew.
“We want to welcome back the locals who support us throughout the year right after hustle and bustle of summer,” said Brannigan Boyd – director of regional sales and marketing at the Penticton Lakeside Resort.
