Lost Priority

In communities filled with despair, Northern Manitoba rockers Lost Priority hope their music will help

Winnipeg musicians talk of forming bands because there’s nothing else to do in the city during the winter, but in Wasagamack, Manitoba, there’s really nothing to do.

Located 600 kilometres north of Winnipeg, the Oji-Cree reserve has a population of about 1,600. It’s from this community that rock four-piece Lost Priority has emerged with its debut CD, All That We Are.

Speaking by phone from his home on the reserve, 23-year-old singer-guitarist Jonathan Harper said that the group formed in 2000 as a way to escape boredom, inspired by mainstream nu-metal acts like Korn, Limp Bizkit and Papa Roach. Playing in a band soon became an effort to escape the drugs, alcohol, gangs and violence its members grew up surrounded by.

“I’m not scared to say we also experimented with drugs and alcohol, and just being negative,” Harper said of the group’s junior high and high school years. “Stealing, that was what we considered fun at that time, ‘cause we had nothing really to do.”

Eventually, marriage, the birth of their children and a renewed focus on their music led Harper and his bandmates – guitarist Stanley Mcdougall, bassist J.R. Harper and drummer Mark Harper – to clean up their act.

Stealing, that was what we considered fun at that time, ‘cause we had nothing really to do.
– Jon Harper, Lost Priority

All That We Are is the band’s first CD. The eight-song, 39-minute disc was recorded during March 2008 at StrongFront A/V Productions in Winnipeg.

While the band’s sound hasn’t changed much from the influences they imitated when starting out, it’s the lyrics that are the most compelling. Harper hopes the band’s music will be a voice for aboriginal youth who are ignored in communities like Wasagamack.

“There’s been a lot of suicides in Wasagamack and the surrounding communities because the authorities are so ignorant of what’s happening related to alcohol and drugs,” Harper said. “Most of the time I hear that people feel they aren’t being helped in any way – there’s nothing for them in the community and they have no options to move somewhere else, so that isolation really affects them.”

He’s only seen things get worse in recent years – more drugs, more gangs and more violence. If the elders in the community would listen to the young people, Harper said, things might be different.

“[The young people] have lots to say. I know they want more stuff in the community. There’s an arena, but it’s not being maintained; there’s a school, there’s a gym, but our school was almost burned down by a youth and now there’s no activities there.”

Ultimately, Harper says, what the young people want is to not feel alone.

“I think what they would want is a place where they could feel safe, basically, and relate to other youth or individuals.”

While the situation sometimes makes him feel helpless, Harper wants to make a difference with Lost Priority.

“What I’m trying to do with my music is portray how I feel, and so hopefully they can relate to the music and the lyrics and not feel alone.”

by Aaron Epp (Arts & Culture Editor)

LINK TO ARTICLE: http://uniter.ca/view/645/ - The Uniter "Winnipeg's Weekly Urban Journal"

Lost Priority is a new Native Rock band that hails from an isolated reserve in northern Manitoba, called Wasagamack.

The band consists of four members: Jonathan Harper, vocals/guitar; Stanley McDougall, guitar; J.R. Harper, bass; and Mark Harper, drums.

All Aboriginal and in their 20s, Lost Priority have been playing together since the summer of 2000.

“We really had no goals in mind when we started out; we just did it for fun because we were bored most of the time,” Harper said.

The band is very influenced by the Nu-Metal era with bands such as Papa Roach, Linkin Park, Adema, Korn, and Limp Bizkit. Once they mastered the styles of those bands, they decided to write their own songs.

“From there on we started getting serious about music; we had the drive and the love for music to tackle our dreams. But during those times, we weren’t strangers to the negative lifestyle that surrounded us on a daily basis. Drugs and alcohol were all over the place but when we played music, we forgot about that stuff, music was like a drug itself for us, it gave us such a good high,” Harper said.

In March, the band went to StrongFront Records, based in Winnipeg, to record their first CD.

“We are very proud in how the songs came out, and we were lucky to be working with such a talented engineer. Now, we are confident to compete in this tough music industry, to reach out to not only our Aboriginal people but also the vast majority.”

Their debut CD is expected to come out in January.

Although the band is still “fresh” in the music scene, they believe they have some knowledge on how things roll, and also they have many good musician friends to guide them.
“I believe to succeed in this business, you have to really love what you’re doing otherwise you’ll just be wasting your time. People will always try to bring you down but it’ll be up to you if you want to make it.”

Future goals for the band include making a music video and to tour across Canada.

For more updates and music from Lost Priority be sure to check out: www.myspace.com/lostpriority

LINK TO ARTICLE: http://www.sevenyouthmedia.com/node/254 - Seven Magazine