Sure, they’re one of the hottest bands in northern B.C., but hey, that’s No Big D.
The quartet is a little bit rock, a little bit alternative, a bit grunge, and some riot-punk all shaken and stirred in a lo-fi cocktail of saucy skills and world awareness.
Although they are based in Quesnel, the rest of the region has plenty of awareness of them, in return. They opened for DOA in Williams Lake, they were hand-picked by Dayglo Abortions to open for them in Wells (show set for April 7), and they were just announced as members of the coveted Coldsnap Music Festival lineup later this winter in Prince George.
Here at home, they are releasing a new song each full moon, leading towards a vinyl album release and the big party-concert that comes with that.
The band is powered by Meghan Lackey who plays bass, “and a little bit of drums”; Janelle Harder on guitar “and I’m going to start incorporating the keyboard”; Melanie Dydynsky on guitar “and a tiny, tiny bit of bass”; and Debbie Scallion who swears she only plays the drums.
Well, and sings. And composes. All four of them handle the mics and pens.
“Not all the songs sound the same, with four songwriters,” they said, sharing a brisk conversation with frequent laughter-recovery moments. It’s a telling feature that they don’t interrupt each other during lively conversation, but they do riff off one another and laugh a lot. Their dialogue is a lot like their music, or maybe it’s the other way around.
“It’s a pretty open, trusting, welcoming space,” one said, to a round of nods and agreement. There was laughter about how they have gone from reserved to raucous with each other, because of that supportive, mutually encouraging attitude, and it’s also how the songs keep rolling out from mental spark to material fire.
“I think it’s because we’re foremost friends first, we really respect each other and love each other, and we protect it. All four of us are professional women outside of this band, we have families, we have a lot responsibilities, so for us to be able to have this is really special and contrary to the seriousness we have in the other parts of our lives, so we need to protect this space and each other, to make sure it continues.”
It takes each of them a great deal of dedication to maintain the band, because there are so many other forces picking at their time and attention. They get together once a week for sure, twice a week sometimes, with zeal, but deliberation.
“It was almost instant. The band just gelled right away,” and that chemistry is important to each of them, on a personal level as much as a creative one. They appreciate it because they were all involved in other musical pastimes and projects not knowing all four of the members, but each of them knowing at least one other, until suddenly the realization criss-crossed the cosmic garage (they are literally a garage band) between a couple of them that by mutual connection, all the pieces of a band puzzle were within their grasp. They scooped the four parts together, and the potion bubbled. Halloween of 2023 was their sixth bandiversary.
They proudly laud the music scene in Quesnel, but sigh over the weak venue options at the moment. They applaud places like The Den for trying, but it’s not really suitable for their onslaught. They cheered about The Occidental reopening, circled Billy Barker Days as a big helper of local music, and they love the Baker Creek Hall. More space to rock would be welcome. They need a place that can handle their crunch.
One of them described their presentation style as “kind of edgy. We aren’t afraid to talk about uncomfortable topics, or life, and that’s kind of, when you think about punk, part of it - the things people just aren’t willing to talk about.”
They all loved that, and agreed that smooth and safe wasn’t who they were as people, and not what their art was, as a result.
“As a human species, we only really grow when we’re pushing ourselves and making ourselves uncomfortable. This is our way of doing that,” they said. Some might consider that a heavy responsibility, or a sober realization, but for this fun four, it’s just No Big D.
Mission Not Aborted
Dayglo Abortions will carry out their Cariboo Country mini-tour in spring, after a medical postponement:
April 4 - Williams Lake (Central Cariboo Arts Centre)
April 5 - Burns Lake (Royal Canadian Legion)
April 6 - Prince George (Omineca Arts Centre)
April 7 - Wells (Wells Hotel)
If you had tickets for their previously scheduled dates in the region (Wells was set for Nov. 19 when the show was put off unexpectedly for the punk stars), those will still be valid. If you didn’t have tickets, you get a long forewarning that they are coming.
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