{"id":9476,"date":"2014-10-23T14:55:56","date_gmt":"2014-10-23T14:55:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stylusmagazine.ca\/?p=9476"},"modified":"2014-10-23T14:55:56","modified_gmt":"2014-10-23T14:55:56","slug":"bahamas-reuben-and-the-dark-good-times-winnipeg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/2014\/10\/23\/bahamas-reuben-and-the-dark-good-times-winnipeg\/","title":{"rendered":"Bahamas + Reuben and the Dark = Good Times, Winnipeg"},"content":{"rendered":"

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by Anastasia Chipelski<\/strong><\/p>\n

While Winnipeg is known for its support for the arts, it doesn\u2019t always have enough venues to host all the acts that come through. Such was the story of two touring bands whose paths collided and they opted to join forces. Reuben and the Dark are supporting Australian folk act Boy and Bear on their Canadian tour, while Bahamas is touring with their friends the Weather Station.<\/p>\n

While the Weather Station won\u2019t be on the bill for Oct 23<\/span><\/span>, the Burton Cummings will play host to Bahamas, Reuben and the Dark, and Boy and Bear.
\nInteresting bill mashups are nothing new to Afie Jurvanen – the man behind the Bahamas moniker – as he tours to support his third release, Bahamas is Afie. \u201c[T]here\u2019s definitely a team mentality, people want to work together and just make a good show for bands, [and for] people that are paying money to come see a show. But we\u2019ve had some weird ones, we\u2019ve been on a bill with like a bluegrass band before,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

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His soon-to-be-newfound friends Reuben and The Dark are promoting their first album, Funeral Sk<\/em>y. In the process, frontman Reuben Bullock recounts that they\u2019re playing anywhere from Osheaga to the Icelandic Fest in Gimli (A highly contrasted back-to-back pair of shows for them), to opening for acts with crowds of screaming 14-year-olds, and then still playing house shows to 60 people. \u201cAll of it\u2019s been great. It\u2019s nice to have that serious diversity. Keeps things really interesting,\u201d says Bullock.<\/p>\n

Both acts have been on the road long enough to reflect on their craft, and the impact that seemingly small decisions in their presentation can have on the ways they are read, received, and sometimes typecast by audiences.<\/p>\n

Bullock noted that based on their first single, “Rolling Stone,” they\u2019re often compared to Mumford and Sons: \u201cThe one song where we have four-on-the-floor kick drum and banjo and some harmonies, it\u2019s an easy comparison [but] the band is a lot more dynamic than that\u201d. What began as a solo venture touring his hometown\u2019s open mic nights developed as Bullock\u2019s friends contributed their influence. The band grew organically, mixing in new people who understood the dynamic of the project, and still changes a little from time to time.<\/p>\n

Bullock still feels somewhat unrestricted by genre at this stage – some songs may move in a more pop, rock, or experimental direction, but he\u2019s taking this time try to avoid falling into a template. \u201c[M]aking the next album we may run into some of that where we\u2019re thinking about how we\u2019ve been perceived, but up to this point it\u2019s been really nice to not have any kind of even genre to work in or form to follow, just try to write as free as possible,\u201d says Bullock.<\/p>\n

Based simply on the name (and a single), it\u2019s tempting to think of this pairing of Reuben and the Dark and Bahamas as titular polar opposites.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hear people describe the music as \u201cbreezy\u201d and they use all these suggestive names [..] So is it ever interesting for me to hear how people interpret things through the filter of a name,\u201d reports Jurvanen. Jurvanen\u2019s latest release marks a bit of a re-introduction to his own name, Afie, though it\u2019s not something he claims he was ever running from; he was simply seeking a title for something he saw as an art project, unaware that it would later become his career.<\/p>\n