It was a homecoming of sorts for CIVILIANA at Fernando鈥檚 Pub on Saturday night.
鈥淒id we say how good it is to be back?鈥� asked the band鈥檚 lead vocalist and drummer Calen Trentini to the pub packed with family and friends. 鈥淏ecause it鈥檚 really good to be back.鈥�
The members of alt-rock group CIVILIANA all grew up and found their musical roots in 琉璃神社 before starting the band in Vancouver in 2015. Saturday鈥檚 show at Fernando鈥檚 marked the first time the group was able to come back and rock their hometown crowd.
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鈥淧laying a place where you鈥檙e from, you definitely get a warmer crowd,鈥� guitarist Adam Wilson said. 鈥淎 place like Fernando鈥檚 isn鈥檛 a big venue, so you fill it with your friends and family and it just ends up being a big party.鈥�
Trentini added, 鈥渋t feels a bit different in 琉璃神社. In Vancouver, we grind away, we market our shows hard and try to pull in as many people as we can. We come to play here and it鈥檚 kind of like an exhale moment. Like, 鈥榣et鈥檚 just play in front of these people that we grew up with and have a bit of fun with it.鈥欌��
The band is formed by Trentini and Wilson, alongside bassist Spencer Daley and guitarist Daniel Ponich, who all met while attending school in 琉璃神社. Trentini met Daley in Grade 7 music class and starting a band was 鈥渙bvious鈥� for the two rhythm section members. Trentini and Daley played several shows in 琉璃神社 as a bass/drum-duo before being introduced to Wilson who rounded out the band then known as Civilian with some guitars.
The friends all went their separate ways after high school and reunited once they all eventually ended up in Vancouver. It was there that Ponich and the 鈥楢鈥� at the end of the band鈥檚 name were added and CIVILIANA was born. In the four years since they started playing together again, the group has taken a more synth-based approach to its classic rock inspired riffs鈥攇iving CIVILIANA its own modern twist on a guitar-driven sound.
鈥淭he city and the esthetic of being in a big city makes you less just want to play straight ahead rock and roll and instead incorporate something like maybe a synthesizer; something that鈥檚 a bit more widely accessible by somebody who would live in Vancouver,鈥� Trentini said.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think that was the primary driver of why we started incorporating a ton of electronic stuff into our music, but when I look at Vancouver, I think our music now is more represented by it than our older stuff.鈥�
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The group has been going strong for the past three years, releasing its first EP Out the Window in 2016 and following it up with singles Carry a Light and Void this year. The singles outline the story of navigating a relationship throughout your twenties, which Trentini says he鈥檚 well-versed in.
鈥淲hen we went into the lyrical meanings for the song they did kind of take on a connected meaning,鈥� Trentini said. 鈥淰ery much, I was writing about what I knew. While it might鈥檝e changed now, what I was going through was relationships and the messiness and different things that come with those.鈥�
Trentini describes the narrative of the songs by placing Void first, symbolizing the loss of 鈥渄irection and meaning as the result of a relationship,鈥� which then moves into Carry a Light, which describes the post-breakup phase of 鈥渓onging for what you once had and not being ready to do anything else.鈥�
The third release in the narrative is Melt, a yet-to-be-released song about being ready to move on.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the gooey centre,鈥� Wilson said.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the fun part,鈥� added Trentini. 鈥淚t鈥檚 when you鈥檙e ready to move on and you鈥檙e looking for those new connections. And the messiness and trickiness that comes along with it.鈥�
CIVILIANA doesn鈥檛 have any future show dates set yet, but be sure to keep an eye on its to find any other information and see where the hometown boys end up next.
michael.rodriguez@kelownacapnews.com
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