Three bands/musicians with ties to the Westlock area will be helping to say farewell to a storied musical venue in downtown Edmonton on Saturday, March 28.
The Gear Seabastian and Death by Robot, as well as singer Alex Giannakouras, will both be playing at the Tight Jams closing party of The Artery, located at 9535 Jasper Avenue.
Though they’re two distinct bands with different sounds, The Gear Seabastian and Death by Robot feature a group of friends who have been playing together for most of their lives.
The Gear Seabastian is composed of brothers Greg and Andrew Tkach, who hail from the Fawcett area, as well as Death by Robot frontman and bass guitarist Jeremy Pudlowski, who hails from the same area.
Greg occasionally plays keyboards for Death by Robot, which features Jeremy, Colton Pudlowski, Nathan Woodward and Paulie Finch.
“We’ve played together over 10-plus years,” said Greg. “We’re pretty close.”
After playing with Death by Robot for many years, Greg said that when he moved to Athabasca, he put more focus on The Gear Seabastian because of his close proximity to his brother, who lives in the Fawcett area.
“It’s easier for us to prepare and to play music together, basically,” he said.
The March 28-29 weekend will be the last weekend of operation for The Artery, which is being shut down by the City of Edmonton because of structural concerns with the century-old building.
The Artery has featured thousands of Edmonton area and international musicians since it opened in 2007, but was also a venue for poets and Fringe Festival actors. It has also featured both bands at different times.
Greg said they were all saddened by the news, as the owner, Phillip Muz, has done “so much for the Edmonton music community.”
The farewell concert will also feature a number of other bands playing throughout the day.
The March 28 concert was actually intended as the CD release party for The Gear Seabastian’s new album, Hopeful Horizon. Greg said The Artery’s owner felt bad that the CD release would no longer be the focal point of the day.
“I told him that you’ve done so much for us and so much for the community, we’ll be happy to be part of the farewell show,” he said.
Although the Tkach brothers had recorded tracks at home before, Hopeful Horizon marks the first studio-produced album for The Gear Seabastian.
Greg said he and his brother began working hard on the album this past summer. They had always wanted to go into a studio at some point, but it never worked out timing-wise.
Hopeful Horizon features five tracks, though Greg said they will have some digital download cards at the CD release party with a bonus sixth track. Although the album will be available on iTunes, Greg said the bonus track will only be available through the download cards.
Recording the album was, on the whole, a very positive experience. “It kind of reiterated to me the importance of music in my life,” said Greg.
As befitting the title, Greg said Hopeful Horizon is a very positive record, noting that was a key goal while writing it.
“We’ve written a lot of sadder songs ... that deal with issues in our lives,” he said. “We tried to really make sure (Hopeful Horizon) was positive as it could be.”
He added that recording the album was overall a surreal experience, but very positive and fun.
“It wasn’t super quick, but it felt like everything came together at the right time,” he added.
“We’re really proud of the record.”
According to The Artery’s website (http://theartery.ca), the Tight Jams farewell party gets underway at noon on March 28.
Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door.
As noted on The Gear Sebastian’s Facebook page, Alex Giannakouras will play around 5:20 p.m.
The Gear Seabastian will then take the stage around 7:20 p.m. and Death by Robot will play at about 8:20 p.m.
