By Scott Roos
photos by Tracy Creighton/Copperblue Design
Bif Naked and band were back in Saskatoon this past Tuesday, Oct. 12th to stage a rousing set of energetic punk rock mayhem at Coors Event Centre. The band had only done a handful of shows since the onset of COVID but showed no rust as they cycled through each song.
"It was like riding a bicycle. We couldn't stop smiling. Grinning from ear to ear every single night of this tour," said Naked in a brief telephone interview with NSMZ.
Bif and band were opening for Buckcherry on a series on Canadian dates. Returning to Saskatchewan is always a special time for Naked. Her father, for many years, lived in the Prince Albert area.
"So many memories of Saskatchewan. My dad never missed a show every time we played and back in the day I was guaranteed to be there at least once a year. So it's been really wonderful to be able to have those memories. All these places in this province hold a huge part of my heart. I feel like every time I come here I leave part of my heart behind," Naked related.
At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March of 2020, Naked had just released her first single "Jim" which was to be the lead off release to a full length record that was going to come out in the fall. The record was to be titled Champion in part to reference some of the struggles that Naked had been through in life and how she had come out the other side. The fall release plans were soon scrapped, however, as the pandemic dragged on and on.
"I'm happy that we shelved the record because there were many more important issues in the world that were happening; especially in 2020. I wanted to be there for it. I wanted to be present for everything else that I felt was more important like social justice. Now what we wound up accidentally doing was kind of revisiting all of our songs and in fact writing even more. So the record evolved into what we wanted to put out. So I'm much much happier with it now," Naked explained.
If the recently released track "I Broke Into Your Car Last Night" is any indication, Champion is set to be one of the more sonically eclectic records that Naked and band have released to date.
"There's a song that we have for example that's about roller skating and that song seemed to lyrically beg for something that's a little bit more poppy and then we have another song that's called 'Stay In Your Lane' that's basically thrash metal. So it kinda depends on the lyrics. Everything goes together really well on Champion," said Naked.
When that eventuality will be is anyone's guess. Naked is waiting to see what happens with COVID in the new year. In the meantime, Champion is in the can and off to be mastered.
"I'm excited for everyone to hear it eventually," said Naked.