5 things we found out about Arkells during their Reddit AMA
Newly-minted Hamilton Juno winners Arkells hosted an "Ask Me Anything" session on Reddit this week, and opened up about life on the road, at home, and the songwriting process.
- READ MORE: Arkells win twice at 2015 Junos in Hamilton
- LISTEN: The story of the Arkells and an orchestra
Here's what they had to say:
What was going through their minds when the power died onstage at Supercrawl?
The band's performance was a definite highlight at Supercrawl 2014, with tens of thousands of people slammed shoulder to shoulder on James Street North on the festival's opening night.
One problem – not long into the set, the front of house PA died, leaving the band soldiering through with just their amps and a handful of monitors.
"Honestly, the cabling from the front of house to the power generator cut out. I don't think Supercrawl predicted as many people and the pressure from all the bodies caused the outage," the band wrote.
"We were freaking out on stage, but the rule is when shit goes wrong: keep on grinning and pray to god."
Ever been star struck?
After a second round of Juno wins and a national TV performance in their hometown, it's safe to say Arkells are bonafide Canadian stars in their own right.
But the band's members aren't immune to feeling nervous around some of the greats:
"Bry Webb from the Constantines and Joel Plaskett are ones that stick out to me. Both are such huge influences for us and super talented songwriters and players, and really kind people too," the band wrote.
But then there's the real big leagues: "Also meeting Dave Grohl, Josh Homme and John Paul Jones (!!!) when we opened for Them Crooked Vultures was pretty surreal. Dave was walking around the backstage yelling 'Fresh pots!" and jamming Zeppelin with JPJ during soundcheck ... Crazy."
What's the band's favourite frosh week show?
As one redditor pointed out, the band is known for its really solid frosh week shows at universities across Canada. So which was their favourite?
"Bishops (in Sherbrooke, Quebec) was the drunkest by far," the band wrote. "Not us, them. Great little town."
That answer did draw one dejected response, though: "Bro. McMaster... We raised you."
They're big burrito fans
Like many, Arkells bow at the delicious altar of the burrito.
So when they're downtown at Burrito Boyz in Gore Park, what's their go to?
We got two answers: a rather basic "small shrimp, hot," and the much fancier "half chicken half sweet potato, everything on it, spicy."
Anyone who has eaten at Burrito Boyz knows how much of a gut-busting tank of a meal that is.
Why 'Arkells' and not 'The Arkells?'
There's a big one – why doesn't the band have a definite article in front of its name, especially considering many people throw it in there anyway?
"Too many "the" bands. Arkells just reads better."
And there you have it.