Windigo Are Dusting Off Calgary’s Cobwebs

All photos courtesy of author

There’s a sense of exasperation in Calgary’s indie music community. People who had been heavily involved with the music scene have grown tired; some have given up, not paying attention to the new, emerging bands coming into the fold—many of whom are bringing something unique to the table. But bands like Windigo are bringing a clean, youthful, and upbeat energy as an inadvertent attempt to revitalize a musical climate that’s grown jaded and old. But on May 12, Windigo released “Disco,” an upbeat indie-pop track rife with riffs with the intent—like its name—to get people dancing. Their sound, reminiscent of early alt-rock stalwarts such as the Strokes, Limblifter, and Hot Hot Heat, is refreshing, especially for Calgary’s musical landscape that some consider oversaturated with punk, hardcore, and thrash.

In 2013, they released their first LP Retrospectrum, an indie-rock album with a heavy influence on garage. Six months later, they released an acoustic EP titled Rhombus, stylized in the fashion of wistful, solemn folk and Canadiana. With Anthony Kameka’s (guitar/vocals) high-baritone and Jen Severtson’s (bass/vocals) soft, smooth jazz-like crooning almost like younger incarnation of Norah Jones, they compliment each other’s vocals nicely. Though they’ve been touring extensively throughout Calgary and Vancouver, I managed to catch up with Windigo a few hours before their show. The venue, Wurst, a German beer hall, might not have been the best environment to play a show—having only hosted acoustic performances beforehand. They were still excited. “We’ve been in worse,” says Kameka. “We had this show in Toronto where there was barely any space for us. It was a comedy venue, but we made it work”

A few years back they too found Calgary’s music scene to be lacking, especially for the kind of music they offered. “Back then there wasn’t really much for us, or even for bands like us,” says Severtson. “The music that we played didn’t really have a place here.” “I used to be really bummed out with the scene here; there was a point that I didn’t go to any shows,” says Kameka. “Bands like 36?, Samantha Savage Smith, and a lot of others are helping break from the usual thing. Kids are coming out. Shows are a plenty. It’s really going well for the indie-rock scene in Calgary.”

With all these new, emerging bands looking to make their mark within Calgary’s revitalized musical climate, Windigo doesn’t see it as competition. Rather, they see a community of artists that feed off—and compliment—one another through collaboration. “Competition has a place in music, but at a certain level you’re only being negative, really,” admonishes Mason. “We just try to make things that sound good,” says drummer Mitch Cooper. “If other people think it sounds good then all the better.” Initially formed in 2011, Windigo was certainly different than it is now. Undergoing a few lineup changes over the course four years, their music, although still catchy, upbeat, and spirited has become a lot more refined—a maturation of sorts.

What Cooper and Mason, the newer members, bring to the table is something that Severtson says Windigo had lacked the first few years of its incarnation: synergy. “It was a lot harder for us to make music in the early Windigo days,” she says. “We didn’t really have that sort of connection. But now, [with Barry and Mitch] it’s definitely a lot easier; we can write songs no problem.” “Although I like a lot of obscure stuff, I got a lot of inspiration from the Beatles, and the way they layer and harmonize their vocals and instruments,” says Mason. With the Disco EP, he says the release will be something different, although similar to Retrospectrum albeit “a lot more danceable, fun, complex, and great to groove to.” Their lively, energetic stage presence was an aspect they were really looking to convey in Disco. Kameka says they wouldn’t have been able to do so without the help of producer Lorrie Mattheson. “It’s really hard to find a guy that’s so dedicated to conveying that sort of energy,” he says. “He wasn’t just there to press record, he really helped us make the album what it is.” “I think for anyone who’s gone to our shows and started to enjoy [our newer material], they’re going to be pleasantly surprised on how they’re presented on the Disco,” says Severtson. “We love it, so I think they will too.”

Nikki Celis is a journalist based in Calgary. Follow him on Twiter - @CelisNikki