Bocce

The Singing Lamb: Give us a bit of background on Bocce – when and how did you form?

Ben Ong: Mike Bond, our drummer, hand picked the entire band. Throughout 2005, he literally took us all individually aside, looked into our eyes and sincerely asked each one of us to play music with him. I joined first, Tony and Nik followed soon after.

What’s the story behind the band name? Do you think your music presents any similarities to the sport of bocce?

I had originally suggested the name “curling” for our band. The name was vetoed for being too Canadiana. Back in 2005, I guess it wasn’t as cool to reference Canadiana as it is now. Black things and wolves were popular then. Had Bruce Peninsula been a band back then, they probably would have chosen a different name like Wolf Beards or the Black Letter. Anyway, less-Canadiana-ish forms of the game curling include bocce and lawn bowling. It was our opinion that Bocce was the better name of the two. Done.

Bocce the game and band are both enjoyed by classy people.

Describe the music community in Waterloo. As a Torontonian, I don’t presume it’s that big there but please, explain to me!

I’m also a concert promoter and avid concert attendee in Waterloo, and definitely have some thoughts regarding this issue! Waterloo’s music community is growing. There are currently (and have always been) many interesting, quality local bands. Many amazing bands, famous and unknown, visit all the time. There are also many creative, hard working, honest concert promoters in the city.

Traditionally in Waterloo, the types of bands that consistently played to decent crowds include: local bands that are deep-rooted within the community, pitchfork-famous/indie rock royalty bands, and run the mill generic bands that shamelessly play themed-nights at campus pubs. It is a major challenge as a concert promoter in a small town, however, to attract and throw quality shows for bands that are either lesser known or more eclectic. When attending shows of this type in the past, it was very safe to assume you would be in an almost empty venue with a few other hardcore fans.

I’ve noticed that this trend has started to change in recent years. With the help of internet promotion, the blogosphere, savvy booking, and lots of hard work, the quantity and quality of concerts in Waterloo have really risen. The non-hardcore general concert goer is much more informed about bands and more often excited about shows. They read about and discover a band on a blog (like this one), they know when the band is coming to town from Facebook or Stillepost, they get excited and tell all their friends, and most importantly they are able to access the show. Access is key – even if they love a band: teens can’t get into 19+ shows, few will go to a show that’s too expensive, even fewer will go to a show that is difficult to get to, and no one will go to a show in a venue that they don’t feel safe in. Currently, one of the bright spots within Waterloo’s music community is the Trepid Arts Collective run by Jeff Woods. Trepid shares common philosophies and goals with similar collectives in other small towns like Kazoo (Guelph), OH (London), and the Ford Plant (Brantford). Jeff is very dedicated to organizing all-ages PWYC house shows in uptown Waterloo that always feature interesting, eclectic bands.

All in all, although not perfect, things are looking bright for Waterloo’s music community. There’s ample opportunity to achieve a lot here either as a concert promoter or a band. There are many music venues and 3 campus’ worth of students to sell your product to. You just have to be creative, willing to work hard, ready to do many things by yourself, and a sincerely good member of your community!

It’s been 2 years since your last release; what’s the progress on a potential new LP or EP?

Our new album, entitled Disambiguation, is finished and will be released this spring. We plan on playing CD release parties all over Ontario!  Keep an eye open for the dates!

Every time I’ve seen you guys play live, you’ve blown me away with your energy and excitement; how do you consistently keep that up? Any fun pre-show rituals?

We all consume very specific foods prior to performing: Mike always eats a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, Nik drinks multiple coffees, Tony drinks multiple beers, and I usually have an unnecessarily fancy supper, banana, and way too much chocolate. There was this one show when I (against the will of my bandmates) ate about 3/4 of a Deep and Delicious chocolate cake prior to a performance. That turned out to be a bad decision.

What does 2010 hold for Bocce?

We’re going release an album. We’re going play lots of shows. We’re going play each show like it’s our last show and take it from there.

Other that that Mike’s often recording other bands in his studio, Tony’s playing with two other bands, the Saskatones and Battlesnake, that I really hope release an album this year, and I have an omnichord-folk-rap project called Grandmother Willow.

And finally, since our site is called the Singing Lamb – if you were a singing animal, what would you be?

Either a spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus) or a soft shelled clam (Mya arenaria).  If so, we could perhaps name our tour blog the “singing clam”.

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For More Bocce,
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/thebocce

Don’t forget to catch Bocce, with TMDP, These Electric Lives, Smack Dabb, Matt Weed and Opopo RMX this Thursday January 28th at Wrongbar! Tickets are $7.00 and this show is presented by the lovely folks at The Untold City!