As July’s hot weather fills the streets of Victoria, The Zone @ 91-3’s Band of the Month returns with a refreshingly cool breeze for your earholes.
The Poubelles, a three-piece indie pop rock outfit out of Victoria are the latest to join the stack roster of The Zone’s Band of the Month. The band is made up of singer and drummer Amber, guitarist Steve, and bassist Kent.
Amber, Steve, and Kent chatted with Tyson Elder after a very cathartic photo shoot filled with smashing windshields, breaking guitars, and getting dusty . . . on the hottest day of the year. A huge thanks to our friends at Brentwood Auto & Metal Recyclers, especially Erik.
Tyson Elder: I can’t tell you how excited I am for you to be Band of the Month.
The Poubelles: Thanks!
TE: I’ve been pitching you to Jenny for a long time…
Steve: So, you’re responsible.
Amber: You’re the guy! [band laughs].
TE: I’m sorry.
Kent: No, that’s great!
TE: You’re just so much fun live and the is recorded stuff is just as good.
Kent: Just wait until you hear the new stuff… or have you?
TE: Maybe… I have heard some of the new stuff. I’ve listened the Band of the Month single, Exaspirator, and I fucking love it! It’s a super catchy pop-punk song. Victoria is going to love it.
Amber: I hope so.
Steve: It’s going to be the song of the summer.
Kent: We set out to write a pop-punk song. That was the funny thing. We were like, “let’s just write a ’90s pop punk song with three chords,” and it just came together.
TE: It’s super catchy. I’ve had it stuck in my head since I got to listen to it a few days ago. It’s really fun. I’m sure everyone in this city is going to feel the same way.
Kent: Great!
TE: You mentioned that you set out to write a pop-punk song. Could you tell me a little bit about Exaspirator?
Steve: Amber had had a particularly bad day. She came in all steamed and we had some chords ready to go.
Amber: I’m a house cleaner and I had this vacuum that I’d brought in for repair like three or four times. It was supposed to be fixed. I lugged it up three flights of really steep stairs for a job. When I plugged it in it just exploded everywhere. So I kicked it down the the stairs yelling “stupid vacuum.” So, the song is about a vacuum that broke. It’s all vacuum puns but it sounds like I’m singing about a dude. It’s this double entendre song punk song.
TE: About how they suck?
Amber: [laughs] If you listen to the lyrics you’ll wonder if I’m singing about a guy or am I singing about a vacuum? It could be either.
Steve: It’s a short walk to the point. [laughs]
TE: How did the band get together? You’ve been a band for a few years now and it’s sort of a mystery to me how y’all happened.
The Poubelles: A mystery?
Amber: They found me outside of Lucky Bar.
Steve: No, let’s leave it a mystery.
TE: Leave it a mystery?
Kent: It wasn’t Lucky. It was Logan’s.
Amber: That’s right, Logan’s. They scooped me.
Steve: You were in that great band you were in, and we thought: the band is okay but that drummer… we need that drummer.
Kent: Like a million years ago with a previous project we needed a drummer.
Amber: They needed a fill-in drummer. I started playing with them… and then it was six months later… and then it was a year later… and then it was finally three years later when I asked “guys, am I officially in the band?”
Steve: Then that band broke up.
Amber: And we continued with just the three of us.
Kent: We tried it as a four-piece but then that person left.
Amber: We started with another singer. She was with us for about three months and did our first two or three shows. When she left we auditioned some people but I just kept writing and singing from the drums so we could continue on. The three of us get along really well and I can drum and sing at the same time. Here we are.
Steve: So, we asked Amber if we were in her band. [laughs] Tables turned.
Amber: They picked me up for like a month fill in drummer and now I am…
Kent: We are… [everyone laughs]
Steve: We are the this.
Amber: We aren’t The This. We are The Poubelles. [laughs]
Steve: Not much of mystery.
Amber: We’ve been playing together for a really long time and for whatever reason, despite different musical tastes and stuff we gel really well writing music together. It’s always really inspired and we have fun doing it. Each of us kind of brings a piece to the table. Kent and Steve usually come up with a good hook or some sort of luck. Then I’ll usually write some lyrics first or melody to get it going and throw drums over top. It just really works.
Steve: The magic happens.
Amber: It’s just like “how many songs do you wanna write?” and I usually have something to yell about. [laughs]
Steve: With three people we don’t really get in each other’s way. Sometimes in bigger bands somebody’s got to be the leader and everyone plays follow the leader. We kind of do whatever and we don’t get in each other’s way.
Kent: As long as Amber is happy. [laughs]
TE: No one gets in anyone’s way [whispers] as long as Amber’s happy. [everyone laughs]
Amber: That’s right.
Kent: It’s just best for everybody, you know?[laughs]
Amber: I’m the drummer and the singer. That’s high maintenance. [laughs]
TE: That’s two jobs.
Amber: That’s too much.
Steve: We are actually a pretty low drama band.
Amber: Yeah, we are heckin’ chill.
TE: Well, you aren’t chill when you are playing live. You put a lot of energy out there.
Amber: We save it for the dance floor.
TE: Unfortunately the last time I saw you was a sit down show because of COVID. People wanted to move during that show.
Steve: We had a gig booked at Vinyl Envy the day the restrictions were lifted. It was sold out before the restrictions were lifted so they opened up more tickets and it sold out again. People were bouncing in there. I’d never seen the place like that.
Amber: It was intimidating after two years of having people golf clap and sit for shows. Everyone was waring mask but there was this wall of kids jumping around in there.
TE: I was at Vinyl Envy for Sleepshake and Teenage Violets around that time and it was a crazy energy from the crowd.
Amber: People are just itching to get out there and do something.
TE: Itching to stand up. That was the first stand up show I went to during the pandemic.
Amber: Kind of close to people; getting sweaty with a stranger.
TE: I don’t miss that. [laughs] We did just get sweaty on this photo shoot but I don’t want to be next to a sweaty person at a concert.
Steve: I think we got a little sweatier that you.
TE: Speaking of the photo shoot. Did you have fun smashing shit?
Steve: I do it all the time.
Amber: Oh my gosh. I’ve never felt so alive!
TE: What do you have coming down the pike?
Kent: We’ve got Laketown Rock coming up Friday, July 22nd with Tom Cochrane, Wide Mouth Mason, Liam McKenzies & The Moondogs, and us! We get to open the whole thing up.
TE: On the main stage?
Kent: On the main stage! That thing is massive. We’ve got that, and a week later we’ve got our EP release show at the Victoria Event Centre with The This and Queens Park.
Amber: We’ve got our music video for Exaspirator coming out mid month too.
TE: Damn, it’s going to be a busy month for you.
Steve: It’s all happening!
Amber: We are all just biding our time and now everything is happening all at once. We’re just trucking through.
TE: Thank you some much for taking the time to chat with me and smashing stuff in a scrapyard.
Your new favourite song, Exaspirator, will be featured all month long on The Zone @ 91-3. Find out more about The Poubelles and listen to more of their music on their Band of the Month microsite.
Rocktographers is a proud supporting sponsor of The Zone’s Band of the Month program.