by Kaitlyn Emslie Farrell
Do you like mosh pits? Well you should. There’s no better way to enjoy violence than through the experience that is punk music.
Considering Single Mothers has had over a dozen different members over the years, I should probably start by specifying that I spoke with Evan Redsky, one of the long time members. This page would be a mess of ink if I were on the phone with that many people and it’d be more of a puzzle than an article. I mean, it’d be pretty punk.
So let’s just get into it already. Evan Redsky, Drew Thomson, Mike Peterson and Brandon Jagersky are the four current members of Single Mothers. This band is a true representation of life. They’re not hard to work with, the quantity of previous members is simply based off differences in musical taste, schedules and as Evan states so simply “people have lives.” It’s all typical “starting a band” stuff.
So don’t think messy when you think Single Mothers. That’s not an accurate synonym. Try words like fun and energetic. Or if you talk to Evan on the phone you’ll hear him use the word cathartic a lot. And he couldn’t be more right. If you put this music on you’re going to forget about your troubles. Nothing matters as you bop your head back and forth while laying around in your apartment. You’re going to forget about your obligations too though so be careful. I put it on while watching a movie once. That didn’t make much sense. But I felt like a badass doing it because that’s how this music works. Single Mothers sound better than troubles, obligations and shitty Netflix movies. This much I can say is true.
Single Mothers began their journey of broken beer bottles and loudly strummed guitars back in 2009. Evan heard them play when he was working on his own solo stuff and fell in love right away. They needed a bass player so he joined. That’s how it works, right?
You’ve got to give them credit though. They named their band off the mad respect they’ve got for single mothers. Many members being raised by such, it only made sense to pay respect. I’ll admit that I thought their aim with the name was to be humorous but I was wrong. Punks love their moms and it’s great that they honour them on every t-shirt and gig poster. I know my mom would be proud.
The guys have two EPs out from back in 2010 and 2011, plus their newest album Negative Qualities (2014). According to Evan it took three years to make this album. In retrospect a lot of time and effort led to the completion. Anticipation was clearly built.
The music has changed over the years but that has come to be expected when a band has a long life. But the key qualities that make this band great have stayed the same. Wild Party and their self titled EP are rowdy and mosh worthy. Negative Qualities has the same positive qualities of their previous album with a tidier structure. The lyrics never disappoint. They’re the kickers, where the songs literally kicks itself into your mouth and you can taste them for the rest of the day.
As for the bright future of Single Mothers, there’s going to be a new album. I couldn’t tell you when as they just started the writing. But it’s in the works and that’s nice to hear. But of course they’re also touring soon. The ideology for Single Mothers is to play a lot of shows. At the end of February they’re heading out to South by Southwest (SXSW) and all of North America. That’ll last a couple of months before they have a couple of weeks off in April to which they might head to Europe.
I tried to get Evan to sum up a Single Mothers show for me but he threw the question right back. “I don’t know, I’ve never seen us play live.” Brilliant. But neither have I. So the mystery is there and what better way to lure a crowd of cold Winnipeggers out on a February night than the promise of surprise? Apparently the guys like it here. Evan calls it “great” and refers to our music scene as “solid.” We couldn’t agree more Evan. He knows it’s cold but that doesn’t make it any less fun. “We played a bike shop last time, it was awesome.”
Single Mothers will be at The Good Will on February 25th. The only way to make sense of all of this is to go check them out yourself.