Power-Buddies
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Power-Buddies

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada | Established. Jan 01, 2014 | SELF

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada | SELF
Established on Jan, 2014
Band Alternative Garage Rock

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This band has not uploaded any videos
This band has not uploaded any videos

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"Power-Buddies: These buds are for you"

EDMONTON — A reviewer in the Needle reflects on Power-Buddies’ 2014 self-titled release: “From someone unfamiliar with the genre and wary looking at the album cover, this has definitely changed my view of what I thought garage rock was.” When asked what garage rock meant to them, Nolan Bossert explained the genre is “rock and roll with energy and a looseness to it that doesn’t really become defined by just rock and roll, with a take on old influences.“



Their sound ranges from song to song, but always remains fun, catchy and full of energy and soul. BeatRoute touched base with two thirds of the trio Power-Buddies (Dustin Sebzda who is on keys and vocals) and Nolan Bossert (guitar and foot drums) regarding the band’s evolution and influences.

The band has changed quickly since the beginning. “The self-titled release, about half of it is me solo,” says Bossert. “It even evolved while we were recording that. Dustin added keys to songs that we never ended up playing after that point. Then there were a couple songs we knew together. So about half of the songs are just me, and half are a two-piece.”

In recent months Power-Buddies has added a third member, Cassia Hardy, on guitar and vocals. In December they put out Banana Split, a 7” split with the now defunct punk outfit Racket. That record contains material recorded before Hardy joined the duo. In addition, they have a track on an Edmonton label – Sweetie Pie Records’ – compilation, which was also was released recently.



Both Bossert and Sebzda are involved with the label. Sebzda tells BeatRoute a little about that track: “That’s one of the tunes that we recorded with a full band in Montreal. It is also a very old song. That recording changed how that song sounds in a way. It sounds a lot different that how we sound live. I like that idea, having a different sound live and recorded.”

Garrett Johnson has recorded Power-Buddies and is an influence on the band. “We really enjoy recording with him and he gets us. They were the whole reason I got into garage rock — Brazilian Money. I didn’t know a whole lot about garage rock until I went to their shows in Edmonton, at places like the Baby Seal Club and stuff,” recalls Bossert.

Musical influences are diverse and on constant rotation. “What I’m listening to is constantly changing. For me right now I’m listening to lots of Pavement and Replacements,” notes Bossert.

Adds Sebzda, “I’ve always been influenced by a lot of soul music. James Brown and Edwin Starr. A lot of old music.”

Collectively Power-Buddies tends to listen to newer music, especially fellow Canadian bands. Bossert says “Slam Dunk is one of our favourite bands collectively.” Adds Sebzda, “Girlfriend, from Victoria, are another great band. “Johnny de Courcy is the project the three of us all bonded over. Cassia had a mini-tour set up with Johnny and we ended up landing on the bill. She ended up playing with us there too.”

They have constantly collaborated with bands that they have toured with while on the road, which is partially how Hardy (who also plays in Wares) joined the duo.

“Cassia was just on tour at the same time as us. We picked her up and she came in the van with us. We had a drummer at that point. She was touring with Strange Fires at the time. We happened to run into her and booked Wares on all of these bills we already had,” explains Bossert.

Power-Buddies are super involved with the community and are constantly collaborating. “Garage rock in the ’60s was just a community of people who were getting together and making music and having a good time and not necessarily thinking about getting famous. It was lo-fi having that loose aspect to it,” says Sebzda.

The band will be releasing new material a few months into the new year and will likely embark upon another cross Canadian tour in the summer months.

Catch Power-Buddies as they play as a part BIG Winter Classic (which takes place at Broken City and Last Best Brewing & Distilling) on January 30th, 2016 in Calgary. - Beatroute


"Power Buddies release split seven-inch with Racket"

We’re Power Buddies. We live together.”

Dustin Sebzda, vocalist/keyboardist for Power Buddies, would introduce the band the same way at every tour stop across Canada.

“I kept telling him to say, we’re called Power Buddies,” laughs Nolan Bossert, guitarist/occasional-foot-drummer. “And we don’t even live together anymore!”

The group formed in 2013 after Bossert decided to expand upon the material he’d been writing under his own name.

“Me and Dustin started playing together when I recorded my solo album. We were just going to call it Nolan and Dustin or something, but we decided to call it Power Buddies.”

The pair began to play regularly around town, winning over crowds with their ramshackle, high-energy rock ‘n’ roll. An opening slot for garage-rock veteran Mark Sultan, master of the guitar/foot-drum combo, prompted the sudden expansion of the band, including the guitar and vocal talents of Cassia Hardy (Wares), now an official member. Was the addition of another bandmate a case of not wanting to emulate one of his idols so closely, both in instrument choice and musical style?

“Yep, that’s pretty much exactly what it was,” Bossert smiles.

“But I feel like it’s a pretty natural progression for the band as well, to kind of widen things out a bit,” Hardy interjects. “The foot drums are great, too. I mean, the first half of 2014 was me going to every show these guys played and loving it, but this is kind of a step forward. ”

“Yeah, and it’s great exploring new things, and to hear these old songs with a full band,” Sebzda says. “It brings a whole new life to them.”

The Power Buddies upcoming split seven-inch features the band’s classic two-piece lineup, as the material was recorded over a year ago. As is increasingly the case, vinyl delays set the release back by about six months, long enough for Power Buddies to expand its lineup, and for the other band on the split, Calgary’s Racket, to call it a day.

“It was a fight to get them to do this last show,” Bossert says. “They were like, ‘We’re done.'”

“We said, ‘Hell no! One more!'” Sebzda laughs.

“They have to sell those records somehow,” Bossert shrugs.

A bittersweet end to the kinship between the two bands then, but Power Buddies has a wealth of memories from touring cross-country together in the Racket van.

“I remember a night in Sudbury, we were all hanging out at the bar after the show, and we decided to do an open-mic,” Bossert says. “We took some acid and we had to leave because we were laughing too much. I remember being crowd-surfed out of the bar and placed on top of the van—just lying there, screaming in the rain. The bartender was just standing there smoking, watching it all go down.”

“I think that was a Wednesday,” Sebzda chuckles. - Vue Weekly


"Power Buddies – Power Buddies"

Self-released

Being best friends is easy. There are only a few hard and fast rules to follow: don’t borrow money, don’t hook up with each other’s exes and don’t leave if they get into a fistfight. So, when you start a band with a close pal, those rules are already established. There’s a lot less stress. The records that you make and the shows that you play are going to be a blast. After all, your best bud is going to be right there.

BFFs Nolan Bossert and Dustin Sebzda are clearly having a blast with one of the most fun albums to come out of Edmonton this year, the self-titled cassette, Power Buddies. Power Buddies is a garage-rock album. Quick comparisons could be made to Harlem or Black Lips, but it isn’t an album (nor a genre) meant for over-thinking. This is an album that dials in a streak of raw old-school soul and that stomps out a pulse for anyone willing to tap in and lose control.

Power Buddies’ greased-up pop sensibility sizzle with their straightforward chops. Guitars are oversaturated, cymbals barely ever show up and lyrics are melodically shouted out straight from each band member’s smoke-punished lungs. Bossert and Sebzda don’t give many fucks toward technical perfection here, but it’s that unabashed approach to being themselves that works so well. The right amount of carelessness has always been cool.

Music isn’t always at its best when it’s challenging. Sometimes all you want is a solid beat and the right doses of laid-back familiarity and nonchalant intensity. Sometimes, all you want from your music is for it to be good. This album is that. Power Buddies is an album for when you just want to hangout with your best buddy, put on a decent tape and know he won’t care when you steal his last cigarette. - Beatroute


"New Canadiana :: Power-Buddies – S/T"

Like pebbles between your toes, burger between teeth and peeling your legs off the sofa, Power-Buddies are a refreshing jolt in the sticky Alberta summer. The sonic clash of fuzzy guitar against an inviting rhythm will be enough motivation to get you out for river beers. - Weird Canada


Discography

Still working on that hot first release.

Photos

Feeling a bit camera shy