“We all really like each other so the best part is just coming together (to) hangout, and making some neat music,” said bassist Greg Hartling. “We all really like making new songs too. It’s an awesome feeling to create something that was not there an hour ago. It sort of feels like we are sitting in our jam space and there are these ideas floating above us, we just have to rope them down and nail them to the ground, that way they can’t get away.”

Since their inception four months ago, the group has practiced, though not necessarily diligently, twice a week, hammering out new tracks that they unveiled over the course of two performances with Calgary instrumental band, mid atlantic.

Now that they’ve had the opportunity to play live, they’ve overcome their nervousness and are ready to tackle the idea of playing regular shows and recording an EP.

“My biggest fear was probably not knowing what to expect,” said Matt Waits, lead and occasional slide guitarist for the group, about those crucial first performances. “We didn’t know how people were going to take what we sounded like and if we sounded like what we sound like in our basement.”

Their sound blends elements of the messy punk genre of garage rock with lingering slide guitar and melancholic vocals. Although the name Bikeland was originally used as for singer and guitarist Clarke Macleod’s solo endeavors, after several jam sessions earlier this year, the group decided to keep the name and the sound has morphed from subtle indie into a harder and impromptu version of its predecessor.

“Bikeland’s no longer me in my bedroom making songs,” said Macleod. “Bikeland is four.”

So far, the group has six tracks in their repertoire, which have morphed from compositions mainly by Macleod, including those created before the band became a four piece, into collaborations.

“The songs he had already written had simple and strong structure to them so we were just adding parts to what he’d already done,” the drummer, Joey Taylor, elaborated. “The process is usually he shows us the song and we don’t listen to the whole thing and we start playing as he shows it to us.”

“I kind of like writing the songs on my own, sort of, because when I am doing it with you guys I turn into a daze,” countered Macleod. “Everything is a daze, from the point I write it until the whole thing is done I just feel in a daze playing these songs and you guys are adding to them. And somehow I stumble out with amazing songs with amazing musicians.”

The result is a sound Taylor laughingly described as “like a bunch of winged leopards flying out of the back of a hatchback. Or like a bunch of refrigerators grazing on the tall grasses of the western Alberta landscape.”

Waits added, “We’ve always been influenced by the delicate western landscape.”

Bikeland members from left, drummer Joey Taylor, bassist Greg Hartling, lead Mat Waits and singer-guitarist Clarke Macleod Photo: Aurora Graveland/Calgary Journal

Now that the group have established themselves as a potential force, they have committed to recording with Edwin Isford (who worked with Hot Little Rocket and The Jagatha Christies) to lay down an EP with an undisclosed number of songs.

While they still are nervous about the prospect, after hearing themselves on an 8-track recorder at a Sunday night jam in Waits’ art-covered basement, they were thrilled with their progress.

“Everyone in the band is going to get better and more comfortable with playing music with everyone else in the band,” said Hartling. “It just takes time to get everyone’s personal style into the music you are making and once that happens you will be making something truly incredible.”

The group stresses that practicing is the most important aspect of being in a band, as well as familiarizing yourself with other musicians in Calgary so that you can book shows, make fans and get the word out.

So far, the group has established a fan base through their performances, and you can find updates for shows and other information on http://www.myspace.com/bikelandband.

Although they are in the process of booking their next show, their most pressing concern is not so complex.

“There is not enough coffee mugs at Joey’s house,” Macleod said, and the others agreed.
“He only has three and there are four of us!”