Saskatchewan (the band) is great
There is a band called Saskatchewan and they are from Florida. We hope they don’t get sued like the guy who used to have a band called Manitoba and then was forced to change it to Caribou. But all things aside they sound pretty damned neat. Saskatchewan (the band) that is.
Hailing from Orlando, the group is primarily the dream-folk-mobile for front man Chandler Strang. And on their most recent single “Possession”, Saskatchewan (the band) drop some of the haziest vocals this side of a prairie summer morning. Synth lines take a stroll amidst pop guitar hooks and curious percussion noises that seemingly come out of nowhere.
And on April 30 Saskatchewan (the band) will be releasing their debut album entitled Occasion.
Ominocity caught up with Chandler from Saskatchewan (the band) for a quick chat about Saskatchewan (the province), their new album and why the ’80s were and continue to be amazing.
Ominocity: So we’re from Saskatchewan and you’re named Saskatchewan. But you’re from Florida. How did you ever come up with this crazy band name?
Chandler Strang: There isn’t a beautifully deep and complex meaning or story behind choosing the name. When I started recording for the project a few years ago I was playing drums in a few bands and this new side project began as an outlet to play other instruments. Around that time I began assembling a list of possible monikers. Saskatchewan made it on that list because I came across the word looking through an old atlas. I wasn’t really searching for ideas in said atlas but the word popped out to me and I found it intriguing. It’s hard to say and spell for those who are not Canadian, ironically opposite of my home state in pretty much every way. And upon Googling it I learned it comes from a native american word meaning “swiftly flowing river”. All of these were reasons it was added to the list. As pretty much any band will tell you the hardest part of starting a band is finding a name. At the end of the day Saskatchewan was the only name on my list that wasn’t taken and that is why it was chosen.
OM: Tell us a little about your upcoming full-length album – what can listeners expect?
CS: It’s been a couple years since then and Saskatchewan has grown into a main project for me. As you know we’ll be releasing our debut album Occasion via the label Father/Daughter Records. We use a lot of instruments from the 80’s – synths, guitars, effects, even our drumset is an electronic set from ’81 – so there are a lot of 80’s textures throughout the recording. We use atmosphere to try to set a slightly different tone to the delivery of these sounds. Lyrically the album embodies my somewhat morose outlook on religion, popular culture, coming of age and coming to terms with mortality.