I drive 3 minutes across my neighborhood and end up at the cuuuutest little green house to hangout at a Roll The Bones band rehearsal. They’re in the basement, and I can hear them as I walk up to meet a guy that looks as lost as me at the front door.
They’re trying out a new guitar player. His name is Joe, he is very polite, and I have no idea if he passed the test that day. We decide they probably can’t hear us so we wait. I’m awkward so I think I talked the whole time.
Finally, Bri opens the door with a corgi at her feet and welcomes us in. The house is just as cute inside!
I’m here because they’re releasing a new single called Daylight “in the next few weeks”, but mostly because I just think they’re cool, and we should talk about them.
So, I’m sweating in their basement
and I realize I forgot my earplugs even after being reminded to bring them! Thankfully, they had some to give me. But if you’re reading this right now – you are not too cool for hearing loss! Please use earplugs! At every show! Hearing protection is hot!!
After playing through a few songs that I recognize, they decide they’re ready to sit and chat for a bit. We go upstairs and, daringly, out the back door.
But this is Edmonton. The mosquitos are too much!
We end up sat at the kitchen table and, seriously – who’s house is this? It is actually adorable. Wish I took a picture of them around that table. Missed opportunity.
Roll The Bones started as a duo
with Maxwell Evans singing & playing guitar, and the “best guitarist in the band” on drums, Mark Boer. Meeting how regular people meet – by nerding out over each other’s gear. Mark was not a drummer but says, “someone had to do it,” after they had tried out some actual drummers, but decided they were just giving too much… talent, I suppose.
“There’s some truth to that. Roll The Bones is guitar and vocals, it is not a drum band,” says Max.
They were a duo for a while, but then brought in a bass player, and then a second guitar. When recording these singles, it was just the four of them. If you’ve seen them live recently, you know there is a very important piece missing there.
Roll The who? That’s Bri Huot’s band, right?
Bri is the band’s newest member – her first time performing with them being at that same show earlier in the year at Temple. They’re all quick to let me know that she has completely transformed their sound.
She’d been to every show, was dating Mark, and during rehearsals, she was hanging out upstairs. “I was upstairs sewing and singing the songs to myself. I’d just sing all the harmonies,” she says.
One day, Mark thought the band could benefit from a rehearsal with her and invited her down to join them. “Bri has great rhythm, she’s a great person to have on your team, and she can harmonize with anyone. And it felt so good,” he says.
And let’s be real – those three part harmonies and her energy with that tambourine are the only reason I’m sitting in this kitchen.
She doesn’t want to make a big deal of it, but seems proud to sometimes be the one woman on a bill, representing and bringing the fucking energy.
In the recordings
all vocals are sung by Maxwell, and they’re playing to a click track. Click tracks can be restrictive for a band that really favours live performance. “The thing is that Max as a player, is very indecisive with where he wants to take the rhythm. You have to be at his beck and call, always ready to speed it up. Or slow it down. That’s part of our charm and chemistry. I am mostly following him like just a fraction behind to see where he’s gonna go and just help facilitate it. But speeding up and slowing down is just part of our sound,” says Mark.
“Our recordings are good but our live performances are something else,” says Max.
“If people like the recorded versions, they’re going to come to a show and have their face melt off,” says Nash Calvert, their bass player.
I couldn’t agree more and I love that they all felt so passionately about that topic specifically. Their recordings are good because Roll The Bones’ songs are genuinely really good. That said, I can confirm my face did, in fact, melt off and you’d have to see them live to realllyyy understand the essence of Roll The Bones.
Their newest release, ‘Daylight’
is out now, October 9th, 2023. It’s about seeing someone across a crowded room, uncertain about where it could go but they’re gone before anything can truly happen. Inspired not by romantic comedies, but by simply being in many crowded rooms.
Max wrote it and says that it quickly changed into what it is now after playing it through acoustically. “It was initially a lot slower and the chorus was very different. We completely modified the structure of the song together.”
It is another great song from the band, and if you’ve seen them live and appreciated their unique sound, you probably already know it.
What’s the plan for Roll The Bones?
“I think for right now – it’s just continuing the creative growth. We have this album done and, with this lineup, I’d like to get another EP out there. We just want the music out to more people and not staying stagnant. That’s pretty much the goal,” says Max. “I mean, fuck, a little tour would be cool, too!”
An album done? Does anyone know anything about this?
Make sure you give them a follow in Instagram, stream their music, and I’ll see you at their next show.
Love ya!