The Weakerthans are proud Canadians
Written by:Clara Lavery
Date: May 25, 2009

When I ask drummer Jason Tait how The Weakerthans feel about being a distinctly Canadian band, he laughs. “Well, it's not like we have a choice in the matter, anyway!”

Tait is certainly right – Canada loves their Weakerthans. Hailing from Winnipeg, the folk-punk-turned-indie-rock band is known and adored by prairie and city folk alike. In the past year alone, The Weakerthans have been shortlisted for the prestigious, much-coveted Polaris Prize and have been nominated in two separate categories for the Canadian Music Week Indies Awards. As they embark on the Rolling Tundra Revue tour with fellow canucks The Constantines, the band has sold out in almost every single city. In Toronto alone, two additional shows were demanded after tickets for the first show at the Phoenix sold out in mere days.

But Canada's love for the band is far from unrequited. Tait and his band mates are playing two shows in Winnipeg this month to raise funds for Macdonald House Youth Services, a local organization. “Our old label allowed us to donate some profits to a charity of our choice,” explains Tait. “And it's just something we've continued to do.” For many years, The Weakerthans have donated time and money to various non-profit organizations, particularly those focused on working with disadvantaged youth. “Generally, we approach them, and we try to keep it in Winnipeg,” says Tait. These boys have an obvious love of their hometown, which is made clear through in all four of their albums, especially in their latest effort, Reunion Tour.

“Everything [singer/songwriter John K. Samson] writes about is about Winnipeg – the imagery is just there,” Tait says. “I can even envision the part of the street or place John's singing about when we play.” Certainly, this has made The Weakerthans incredibly popular with those who have grown up in the prairies, but the band is equally popular with Torontonians and with indie-loving folk worldwide. With a growing international fan base and burgeoning media attention (their power-pop ballad “Aside” was featured on the soundtrack for 2005's Wedding Crashers), what is it that makes these home-grown boys relatable to those of us who, um, didn't grow up in Winnipeg?

“It has a universal appeal to it, too,” says Tait. “I mean, 'One Great City' can be as much about New York or Berlin as it is about Winnipeg.” Though Samson's lyrics describe the streets and buildings of Manitoba's fair capital, the themes are of a nature anyone can relate to: profound loneliness, the inability to leave a place or a person, the death of a beloved friend, and, of course, a love/hate relationship with your city.

The latter is the subject of the song Tait describes as universal, “One Great City”. With the catchy and sing-along-able refrain “I hate Winnipeg,” it's unsurprising that it's the tune the band is best known for. Equally unsurprising is that it found itself voted one of the “most Canadian songs of all time”. Thus, the song was voted by CBC patrons as one of the 49 songs to be featured on “Obama's Playlist”, a concept cooked up by the broadcasting corporation to showcase Canada's musical talent to U.S. President Barack Obama. And how does the band feel about this?

“Well, I don't feel much about it,” laughs Tait. “I assume the CBC gave him a CD when he came to Ottawa...and, I mean, we haven't heard from him, so he probably doesn't like us.”

With or without the President – or anybody else's – approval, The Weakerthans are forging onwards. Their latest record has marked a rather significant departure from their usual sound. When asked whether or not this departure was a deliberate decision, Tait hypothesizes that the sound of Reunion Tour is more due to the unplanned accumulation of various instruments than anything else. “Oh, and [guitarist Stephen Caroll] lost his steel pedal,” he adds with a chuckle. “Really, it's completely different instrumentation. I'm especially happy with that title track, 'Reunion Tour',” he adds. “I finally got the guys to put down their guitars.”

Reunion Tour rattles and buzzes with the build-up of tiny percussive sounds, rolling drum solos, plinking keys, and even a spoken word track ('Elegy for Gump Worsley', the solemn, heartfelt tribute to the hockey goaltender). Despite the intricacies of sound in Reunion Tour, it is making for a tour with much audience participation – The Weakerthans are known for shows where everyone in the house sings along.

Tait is honest about his mixed feelings about the onslaught of shows: “I mean, we're touring with the Constantines, which is great and it is exciting, but I'm happy to stay home and write music in the basement; record music in the basement.” With this in mind, I ask if there's another album on the horizon.

“We haven't discussed writing the next record yet,” he says, “But we are heading down to the States, and we'll be recording a live DVD for Epitaph. It should be out by next spring...and it should be mildly interesting to watch,” he laughs.

Undoubtedly, a live DVD will be happily devoured by The Weakerthans' adoring fans, satiating them until a new album of Canadian anthems is delivered. And until their next effort is released, we'll all be singing along at sold-out shows. Catch the Weakerthans on a mini-tour this July