Current Swell live at the Arden

In celebrating their 30th anniversary, the Arden Theatre is rolling out a special welcome mat for Current Swell, a Victoria-based band that surged into the international concert scene.

But before singer-songwriters Scott Stanton and Dave Lang moved to Vancouver Island’s seaside capital, they spent their youth in St. Albert playing music, skateboarding and snowboarding.

“Getting to play in your home town is always a treat. I still remember performing at the Arden Theatre as a kid for school recitals and it’s cool to return and play on the same stage,” says Stanton, in a telephone interview from Victoria.

The four-piece that also includes drummer Chris Petersen and bassist Ghosty Boy is preparing to lay down tracks in mid-October for a fifth album. The Arden gig, part of a small western tour, is one of the last concerts before the recording process starts.

Stanton adds that the band looks forward to the studio time after spending months touring England, Scotland, Wales, the Netherlands, the USA and Australia to promote their fourth album Long Time Ago.

In the early days, they were getting a lot of recognition as a cornerstone of the “surf rock” community.

“But we never used the surf rock name. Other people created the new genre,” Stanton explains.

Part prairie landscape, part B.C. coastline, the music taps into a mash-up of genres – funk, reggae, ska, hip hop, folk, blues, electro and hop hop. Deeply rooted in folk and blues, it is reggae inspired and rock driven.

The band plans to haul their analog gear into a digital studio in Vancouver, lay down tracks and finish the overdub in Victoria. The plan is to have 40 songs written, then whittling them down to a dozen.

Stanton adds the new album will make use of drum loops and incorporate piano and keyboard.

“In our last album, we used a lot of trombone, and it was a more cohesive record. Protect Your Own (third album) had jumps in the studio. With Long Time Ago (fourth album) we had 30 songs and we picked the ones that worked together. They were strong. It was a more cohesive, more mature record for us.”

The band never had trouble attracting fans from the start. Stanton, a 2002 St. Albert Catholic High graduate never actually hung out with Lang, a 2001 Paul Kane graduate, until the two moved to Victoria. They met through a mutual friend and started jamming together.

“Friends thought we were quite good and were pushing us to play a gig. Our first gig was at the Spiral CafĂ©. We had put out a five-song demo CD. It was a little recording and we expected maybe three people to show up at the gig.”

Island teenagers picked up the online recording and the place was packed.

“They knew all the words and after the first show we said ‘Wow. We can actually make money doing this. People liked what we did.”

Continually experimenting with what appealed to them, they developed a formula that amounts to a polished act that keeps pushing the boundaries of new music.

By 2011, they had become the richest indie band in B.C. winning the PEAK Performance Project prize of $100,500.

They didn’t blow it on bling or a new van. Instead they used a portion to finance a tour to Brazil where surprisingly their largest following resides.

“It was good to see our fans and shake hands with them. They were so passionate and excited to see us. They waited for years to see us and that makes it rewarding.”

In comparison to the flatter Victoria and St. Albert skyline, Sao Paolo and Rio de Janeiro were cities of skyscrapers as far as the eye could see.

“When we were flying in we were dodging skyscrapers,” laughs Stanton.

Although the cities reverberated a dynamic energy, there was always a relaxed feel.

“People were friendly and always positive. It’s very easygoing. You never see somebody walking down the street holding a coffee. You sit at a cafĂ© and have a coffee.”

As of now, no future tours are planned. The Swell needs to recharge its batteries.

“We get an offer every day to fly somewhere. Much as we love to perform, we love to stay at home and spend time with family and friends.”

Current Swell is not only one of the hottest acts on the West Coast music scene, but they’re also making a splash across the world.

Eager to obtain fan response to their music, the foursome will road test new material at the Arden concert.

“We just want to try out new material so we can make it better.”