Funswick
Slate Pacific makes waves
Fredericton's Slate Pacific found shelter in creating their latest musical harbour, the EP Safe Passage. It's "the idea that everything ends up OK," says guitarist/vocalist Logan Hawkes. "That there's a perpetual connection, responsibility even, between the living and the dead---the dead and the dying. The title was meant to be elegiac but hopeful, I guess."
Existential themes, the human condition and life's cyclical patterns find their way into Slate Pacific's lyrical terrain, especially in "OCE," "Jenn's Not Going to Make It" and "In Tangible Lines." Their most monumental song, "Thirteen Kinds of Chemicals," showcases the band at its finest.
The band name nods to John Vanderslice's song "The Dead Slate Pacific." The track describes a character feeling as if there was nothing left between two hearts save for "6,000 miles of dead slate pacific."
"I liked the imagery," says Hawkes, who leads the Fredericton project with guitarist Stephen Dunn, bassist Heather Ogilvie, keyboardist Brad Perry and drummer Zach Atkinson.
"I basically stalked everyone until they agreed to join the band," he says. "We just finished recording a two-song, 10-inch record and we'll probably start working on a full-length next month. One step at a time."
With lengthy, well-written songs and Hawkes' brooding vocals, Slate Pacific could perfectly soundtrack a coming-of-age film, with heartbreaking lows, emotional highs and longing for more.
"Most of the time when we're playing I pretend that we're Force Fields," says Hawkes. "The way I play music is probably a direct result from watching bands like Share, Force Fields, Jon McKiel and Tomcat Combat. But I like to think our sound transcends geography. Maybe that's wishful thinking."
Slate Pacific
w/Dog Day, Tomcat Combat, Sleepless Nights, Share
Friday, February 26, 10pm
The Paragon Theatre, 2202 Gottingen Street
$13, ticketpro.ca
