My Son The Hurricane is used to standing out onstage — after all, not too many bands come with 14 members these days. But after their latest scene-stealing cross-Canada tour, the Niagara/Toronto brasshop funk collective is standing out in a whole new way.
“It’s a dream come true,” says frontman Jacob Bergsma, the always-energetic emcee.
“This is something I’ve always wanted to do, so the idea of waking up in some hotel room in one city, and then ending the day in a completely different city in a completely different hotel room… it’s an absolute dream come true for me.”
“We would crash into bed [on tour], and then [our vocalist] Sylvie would look over from her bed and say, ‘Oh my God, we’re in Edmonton right now.’ And we would both start laughing, because of course, it’s insane. Just the mere scope of everything is insane,” adds Danno O’Shea, Hurricane’s drummer and bandleader.
For the group that first formed nearly a decade ago after O’Shea put together a wishlist of band members, the momentum is starting to build. Performances at Hillside, Riverfest, Evolve, and the Beaches International Jazz Festival have cemented the group’s live show bonafides, and recognition from the likes of CBC Radio One and Much More Music have followed.
“It’s crazy to think about, because when Danno and I first started working together and hanging out, he ran a bong shop and I worked at a book warehouse, you know what mean?” Bergsma laughs.
“I do these music seminars now where we talk about making the biz, and how we do licensing music, and all this stuff — and I’ll say, ‘Don’t think it was always going great for me,’” adds O’Shea.
The band’s latest release, 2016’s Is This What You Want?!, has led 99.7 HTZ-FM to highlight Hurricane as a “Band on the Verge.” Their genre-defying sound has also put them on concert bills along performers of all stripes — from bluegrass, to folk, to hip-hop.
“Usually, if you’re a metal band, you play metal shows. And if you’re a rapper, you play with rappers. With us, we’ve had the opportunity to play with a gigantic and dynamic group of musicians, and it introduces us to all different kinds of sounds. And we’ve ended up making our strongest relationships with people that are so polar opposite to us,” Bergsma laughs.
As for what’s to come?
“We’re nowhere near perfect,” says Bergsma, “but we’re finding a recipe that’s working.”
Listen to the podcast: http://storyuntold.blubrry.com/2017/09/28/my-son-the-hurricane-were-nowhere-near-perfect-but-were-finding-a-recipe-thats-working/
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/story-untold/id1226851327?mt=2&ls=1
Subscribe on Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/m/Isnntxssdjkna5vdbzqhnjmouru?t=Story_Untold
Martin Bauman 