Band of Rascals

South Cowichan has a new forerunner in the Vancouver Island music scene, and it goes by the name of Band of Rascals.

They have just been announced as the Zone 91.3's band of the month for January.

After their constant struggle to make ends meet, the boys in the band are finally reaping the rewards of hard work and commitment.

Band of Rascals released their first EP, and kicked off the CD release with a show at a Victoria bar late last year.

The band followed the release with a mini-tour on the mainland, with stops in Whistler and Vancouver.

The band came together in the spring of 2013 when Malcom Owen-Flood sent Marcus

Manhas a Facebook message asking if he was drumming in a band. Owen-Flood had been playing in an acoustic group, but wanted to play the electric guitar instead.

After a few conversations, Manhas and his bassist, Steve Williams, agreed to join Owen-Flood and start a rock and roll band.

Owen-Flood contacted Cobble Hill resident, Sam Trainor, and asked him to join the band as lead vocalist.

"Sam and I were friends who jammed casually and I thought he had a really unique voice," said Owen-Flood.

The group had their first jam session soon after and immediately started setting up recording dates and asking for gigs in the Cowichan Valley.

It wasn't long before the group became good friends, able to be serious about their music and enjoy it at the same time.

From backwards guitar playing to sipping beers as a substitute for dinner, the inner "rascal" in all four boys is evident.

Naming the band was a bit of a no-brainer, Owen-Flood said.

"I just thought of it one day," he said. "I didn't want anything contrived or serious, like so many band names are, and I thought this one represented our bunch pretty well."

Band of Rascals soon headed to the Woodshop Recording Studio, off of Herd road, where the entire recording was done for their first self-titled EP, "Band of Rascals."

The process encouraged them to launch a Facebook page with info and links to their music so friends and family could listen and share the tracks, and soon their first music video was uploaded to YouTube.

Manhas' friend, Adrian Sousa, was a Concordia University graduate in broadcast journalism and agreed to film a music video for Band of Rascals.

Sousa had been into filming live videos for the past four years of his schooling, and had filmed some of Manhas' drum solos, which are also on YouTube.

While the pure love of music keeps the boys recording songs and playing shows, the process has not been kind to their bank accounts. "Being in a band can be expensive," Owen-Flood said with a laugh. "Before you even consider the recording costs, you need equipment first." Thanks to the November CD release show, the boys were able to fund the EP from their merchandise sales.

Their success so far is evident in the growing crowd at each new show the boys play, and their Facebook page is gaining more followers every few weeks.

With all the excitement of shows in bigger cities, Band of Rascals love coming back to their roots in the valley and playing for friends and family at the Cobblestone Pub or at backyard bonfires.

"It feels real," said drummer Marcus Manhas.

"It feels like we can really go somewhere and do something with it." - Cowichan News Leader Pictorial

Sugar Nightclub’s stage has been blessed with many amazing performances, and January 23rd was no different. Three island acts closed down the venue with a relentless rock n’ roll assault that had everyone’s adrenaline pumping.

Johnny Regimbal from the Deep Sea Gypsies warmed up the crowd as a solo act with his skilled acoustic guitar work. Johnny’s music was soulful, gritty, with a rock and bluegrass feel; a fun way to open up the show

Next up was The Zone 91.3’s band of the month Band of Rascals who delivered a show full of hair whipping, cowbell smashing, and crazily riffing guitars. These four young men have quickly made a name for themselves with their energetic performances. Sam Trainor, the band’s front man, has a mesmerizing, soulful voice that flooded the room. As their set came to a close, the night’s most anticipated act emerged from the darkness and took over the room.

Jesse Roper, showcasing his latest album Red Bird, launched into his set at full speed. His intricate, blues-influenced rock riffs complemented the beaming smile that never seems to leave his face; he clearly loves his craft, and the crowd loved it right along with him. His natural ability with the guitar was evident; technical, captivating, yet seemingly effortless.

Even though all three bands played to their own tune, the lineup seemed to fit seamlessly; a massively successful rock show.

By Shay Daviau - The Royal Magazine

Regardless of which school members of Band of Rascals went to in the quiet Folk music town of Cowichan Valley they eventually pooled their talent to form an eager new band. Right from their very first jam session all the musicians have contributed their love of Rock and Grunge to create songs tied together by the lyrical writings of lead singer Sam Trainor. Their sound is a mix of inspiration from the poetry of bands such as ZZ TOP and Led Zeppelin. Fortunately they have received constant encouragement, especially from drummer Marcus' mother who provided an initial rehearsal space in the family home. Today, they practice at an off-site location which is essentially a skate park inside a warehouse. The band’s name originated from the fact Malcom and Sam were always finding themselves in trouble, however now they find way of sorting it all out on stage. For January 2015 they are named Band of Month by the ZONE 91.3FM and are likely to make further headway in the coming year. - Vic42

Vancouver Island-based rockers Band of Rascals have released their debut self-titled EP. Comprised of Marcus Manhas, Sam Trainor, Steve Williams, and Malcom Owen-Flood, the band spent over six months in the studio recording the release. Band of Rascals has seven tracks, and can be streamed below.
Band of Rascals formed in 2013, and have released three singles to date. Physical copies of the new release are available on their Bandcamp page. - The Permanent Rain Press

Reporting for duty. First day in Vancouver. Woke up to some serious rain. My Dad dropped me at the Skytrain and after 40 minutes-ish…I was downtown. Here is a picture from Granville and Georgia. My new radio job is way up on the 21st floor of the black tower on the left of this pic. Neat.

Maybe I should have a Vancouver band for you today, but I do not.

I have Victoria’s Band of Rascals.

Groovy. Bluesy. The feature song is called “Giv’her to the River.” Get your lighter out.

Check out Band of Rascals on January 23rd at Sugar Nightclub. They’ll be playing in support of Jesse Roper’s album release party.

Go with yourself. - The Morning After

The band formed April 2013 in Vancouver Island’s tight-knit music scene. They released their first self-titled EP in November 2014 after gaining much popularity from single releases and music videos. The band’s guitarist and backup vocalist Malcom Owen-Flood was Sam’s guitar teacher in high school. After Sam graduated they would jam once in a while over beers. Eventually, Malcom rounded up Marcus Manhas and Steve Williams as the drummer and bass guitarist respectively, to join them. The first night they jammed together for about 5-6 hours before deciding that this bunch of rascals would make a pretty sweet band.

How did you meet Jesse Roper and start playing with him?

The band opened for Jesse Roper at the Cobblestone Pub in Cobble Hill, as they needed an opener and Band of Rascals was keen to fill the spot at the beloved local pub. At the time, neither band was well known outside of their personal networks. Sam laughed as he said “it’s kind of funny cause we opened for Roper at the Cobblestone, and then at Upstairs, and now at Sugar…and the escalation of [all that] is just really sweet”

Where do you practice?

“Just north of Duncan in a warehouse type space, it’s actually pretty cool…we have a mini [skateboard] ramp…it’s always been my dream since I was young to have a mini ramp so I finally got that” Sam laughs as his parents roll their eyes in the background at their accident prone child.

How did you guys get to be the Zone 91.3’s Band of the Month?

Sam admits that Marcus and Malcom “deal with all that kind of stuff” and he passed this question off to Malcom, who I emailed for the answer. Malcom said that Dylan Willows of the Zone 91.3 first noticed them when they opened for Jesse Roper at Upstairs Cabaret in March 2014. From then on Malcom states it was a combination of “…crazy shows, music video releases, and our album release that got us the spot.”

Who writes the lyrics for the songs?

Sam has written most of the lyrics for the songs the band plays. He said, “[he] had about 5 songs written before the band got together and that is what the band kind of started with”. Although Sam has written most of the songs, he states that it is a collaborative effort in making the songs what they are now. The inspiration for the songs comes from friends, and any emotion that he feels regardless if it’s a happy or sad.

What are your plans for future albums?

The band’s EP release was a big success, and they have future plans for a full album, of which they already have 5-6 songs in the works. “I’m super excited to do the next one” Sam beamed, “because I’ve never done anything like this before, so I can kind of see later on what I didn’t like about the first one [and change those things] for the next one”.

What are your plans for possibly trying to get some management for the band?

Sam said that some management would definitely be nice, as he isn’t too into the social media that comes along with promoting the band. Sam humbly said “Marcus and Malcom are the brains, they keep me on my feet…if I didn’t have those two, I mean, if there wasn’t all of us together, we would just be screwed”. Sam says he just wants to keep making music and isn’t too stressed about getting any type of management as of right now, although he’s sure that when the time comes Malcom and Marcus will take care of that.

Was playing Sugar your biggest show?

“Yeah it was for sure, [our show at] Upstairs was almost sold out but this was our biggest show by far…Man Made Lake and Johnny Regimbal opened for us there too.” Sam ever so modestly says, “…we were just lucky to play at Sugar, we brought some people out but obviously most of the people were there to see Roper…its really cool to have Deep Sea [Gypsies], Roper and us together on the same stage, we are all rock and roll from the island, it’s kind of like a family feel when we all play together”

How does it feel to have other bands opening for you rather than the other way around?

“Its super weird for sure. I kind of like it the other way around cause you get to watch the show after! Either way it’s good though!”

How did “cowbell guy” come about?

“Ah, Dean [cowbell guy] is just one of my favorite people in the world. We just decided it would be a funny gimmick for someone to come up and play cowbell. We actually sent him the song so he was on par with the timing of the song. He’s really animated so he gets the crowd all fired up”

Band of Rascals’ latest EP is available on iTunes.

Facebook: Band of Rascals

Instagram: @bandofrascals

By Shay Daviau - The Royal Magazine

I love it when I immediately don't hate something and then I look off into the distance and start writing my grocery list in my head and then I keep starting the song over and over and over until I'm completely fucking in love with it.

Band of Rascals, whoever the Fuck they are, have taken a simple rock melody and made it intimate as Fuck. I don't just want to stare up at singer dude's delicious face from a seated-on-the-grass position, but I sort of wanna find one of their shows in Canada and take pictures of each members' hands and print them in black and white and set up a pop up art show and go full on artboy I love this song so much.

If being Canadian wasn't so illegal in the US, I would totally advocate for crowdfunding getting these shitdicks a show in my tiny city so I wouldn't have to arrange a designated driver other than the cops who would haul my ass away on assault charges because I tried to pet all the guys in this band.

BAND OF RASCALS, I'LL ADD YOU TO MY LIST OF APPROVED GUESTS IN PRISON! COME SEE ME! Or I'll come see you in 16-19 months bros!

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Band of Rascals Bandcampe - SYFFAL