By Will Yannacoulias
Photos by Tracy Creighton/Copperblue Photography
April 20th saw Saskatoon’s Slow Down Molasses choose the hallowed ground of Amigos Cantina to throw a raucous release party for their video single “Street Haunting”. Guitarist Tyson McShane, bassist Chrix Morix and guitarist Lévi Soulodre also took the opportunity to introduce the hometown crowd to new drummer Andrew Taylor. Blue Youth and Little Darkness helped set the stage for a riotous , jubilant night of some of the finest indie music Saskatchewan has to offer. Slow Down Molasses have become a regular feature at several big Canadian and European festivals over the last decade, so talking with them about playing here at home and photographing them in their natural habitat was an opportunity NSMZ couldn’t pass up. Enjoy!
“This was my second show with Slow Down and my first playing with them in Saskatoon, although I’ve seen them live many times and knew what I was in for. Having the experience to not just see the frenetic energy of a Slow Down show but to be in the center of that made for a really exciting experience. There’s an energy, fury and ecstasy that an audience feeds off of, and bringing that from the Big Winter Classic to a hometown show felt like something really special.”- Andrew Taylor
“We’ve had lots of opportunities to play elsewhere and adore the wonderful clubs in town and the wonderful people behind them, but Amigos is the reason we’re in bands. I would have never played in a band if there wasn’t that communal welcoming wonderful place in our neighbourhood and city. It’s such a crucial part of the community, especially for a band like us- that venue has been central to so much we’ve done.”- Tyson McShane
“As we’re talking now I’m realizing I’ve been playing at Amigos since 1999, my first show there was opening for The Ripcordz. There’s still that same weird nervous energy every time I get onstage there. So many iterations of myself have been on that stage, so many iterations of the band, I’ll never take for granted that feeling of pure joy, pain or ecstasy.”- Chrix Morix
“Amigos feels like it’s almost in our blood or part of our life force. I played there on my 21st birthday, I played there for my 40th birthday. It feels like a home away from home but you also feel this reverence, this tinge of nervousness, because it’s renowned as one of Canada’s go-to independent music venues.”- Lévi Soulodre
“Its been said that we’re deliberate, thoughtful and textured in the studio, which is very generous and appreciated, but ironically as we get older this band has become so much more of a live band. The new material we’ve been working on, one of the goals is to capture the visceral energy of where this band has gone. It’s been a natural progression but it’s also the opposite of what you’d expect; we’re getting faster and louder as we’re getting older!”- Tyson McShane
