While some music groups come together as the result of long-standing friendships, intense chemistry, or a myriad of other possibilities, the roots of Moncton quartet The Galpines can be traced back to a roller derby track.
It was there that Heather Narduzzi, Amy Stone and Abbey Warren first met, but it was only after an injury sidelined Warren that the idea of making music together happened to surface.
“Abbey and I began getting together to hang out, watch roller derby and have dinner,” Narduzzi explains. “Then, every second week, instead of watching roller derby, we began making music.”
Where Warren and Stone had played music together in the past, Narduzzi says that bringing Amy into the fold made a lot of sense. In terms of membership, The Galpines once ballooned up to being a quintet, and ultimately underwent a couple of other line-up changes before the band would secure Mandi Allain on bass and vocals.
“With Mandi in the band, I feel we finally have that perfect mix of personalities. We are all on the same page in terms of how often we practice and how many shows we are going to play. Plus, we really get one another’s humour, which is really important for the group.”
Narduzzi isn’t shy about hiding the fact that The Galpines inject a fair amount of humour into their original material. It proves to be a breath of light-hearted air in a world where many artists take themselves far too seriously.
“For each of us in this band, it is equally important to have fun and make music. We performed at [Gagetown festival] FollyFest last year and were on stage fairly early in the day when a lot of people were out in front of the stage, dancing with their kids, when we decided to premiere a new song called ‘My Dog Is Better Than Your Baby,” she says, laughing.
“We actually weren’t sure how it was going to go over or whether it was really the appropriate time to play such a song, but it ended up going over really well, which was the best case scenario we could have hoped for.”
Buoyed by their light-hearted songs that musically reside in what the group deems “Crass Country,” The Galpines are, at long last, finally ready to unleash their debut EP, Truck, which Narduzzi says was a true group effort, featuring significant contributions from each of its members.
While the release of a new project typically signifies the potential start of seemingly endless promotional duties, Narduzzi shares they are hoping to balance out live commitments with the writing of new material.
“It’s great that we are so busy, but we’ve spent so much time playing shows over these last few months that we haven’t had an opportunity to really sit down and focus on writing new material. I feel that’s where our focus will be for the next little bit.”
What: The Galpines CD Release for Truck
When: Friday April 22, 10 p.m.
Where: Esquire Tavern, 2 Reade St., Moncton
Admission is $10