Arkells eager to get back on the road again after Juno victory
Arkells managed to win their fourth Juno Award for group of the year without really breaking a sweat. Now the Hamilton rock band is eager to prove its worth by getting back on the road.
We're ready to rock and roll again," Arkells lead singer Max Kerman told said Friday night during a virtual news conference after the band won group of the year honours at the opening night of the 50th annual Juno Awards.
Arkells also won group of the year in 2012, 2015 and 2019, putting them just one award behind category leaders Blue Rodeo, who won five times in the category between 1989 and 2008.
It's an amazing job we have, to get up every day and think about touring and songs and how we can interact with the world," Kerman said. We don't take that for granted at all."
Arkells had been working on a new rock album when the pandemic struck last year. The band shelved the project, however, when lockdowns meant they would be unable to tour the new songs.
Instead, the band released Campfire Chords" a collection of fan favourites, reworked in an acoustic folky fashion.
It didn't really feel right to deliver a bunch of big rock and roll sweaty bangers for people to dance around to in a club or an amphitheatre," Kerman told reporters via a Zoom link. So, we put those songs aside and went to work on the Campfire Chords record ... that you could listen to in your backyard or around the campfire."
With the possibility of lockdowns being lifted in the upcoming months, Arkells have started to ramp up for a new album release and a fresh round of touring, which will include a twice postponed concert next year at Hamilton's Tim Horton's Field.
Last week, the band released a new single All Roads," which was recorded pre-pandemic in Los Angeles. Earlier this spring, the band also released You Can Get It," featuring American rapper K.Flay. Both tracks put the band back on its pop-rock trajectory.
Arkells were nurtured in their early years by Hamilton's vibrant club scene and Kerman expressed concern that some of those clubs may not be able to survive the pandemic. He urged fans and aspiring musicians to support live music as soon as the lockdowns end.
Life is a lot more than just looking at a phone screen," Kerman said. I want all those artists who are making a name for themselves on TikTok to go play shows and feel the connection of a live crowd. That's where I think it all comes together in a really exciting way, that's the next step, and those clubs ... they need to be open."
Also winning at this year's Juno Awards was Dundas-native Dan Snaith, who records under the name Caribou. Snaith, who is now based in England, won his third Juno for electronic album of the year for the Caribou album Suddenly."
Graham Rockingham is a Hamilton-based freelance contributing columnist for The Spectator. Reach him via email: grahamrockingham@gmail.com