An Interview With Berner Trail
A fresh release from Berner Trail brings on a folk-rock approach that bursts into a thick laden grunge chorus with touches of psychedelia and a progression that feels warm and familiar.
"Sleep Til The Afternoon" is a pretty honest single that gives the feel of late 90s radio alt rock most of the time and the distortion on those guitars is like a sonic wave of sound crashing down on you.
The single is completely addictive and Incredibly relatable and one of the best things about the whole thing is that you get this almost live performance vibe from it like the players are feeding off of each other's energies the entire time.
This of course makes you want to see them live because with an energy like that on the record they have to be really something to see live.
By the end of the song you're singing along at the top of your lungs with your fists in the air and it feels awesome.
Because of the sound of this track, you do get a little bit of a nostalgic feel which is again, really comforting and let everything kind of have a welcoming undertone to it.
This release comes off as pretty massive and bright with a very particular energy that lets the song become quickly infectious along with that descending progression in the chorus, everything wraps itself around you.
Once you're done with this one, you find yourself wanting to dig into the band's back catalog a little more and when you do you find quite a wondrous array of single releases dating back to 2020 that each has a little bit of something different to bring to the table.
Berner Trail is the kind of band that you either love or hate. There's no in between really but if you love them you'll be in for everything.
All of the releases are excellent and they have all those elements that hit a classic alt and grunge sweet spot, especially for the real-deal fans of the genre.
With the release of such a killer single, we wanted to have a sit down with the band to find out where this track actually came from and what might be coming up next for them.
Here's what happened.
TSWS: Okay guys let's start with "Sleep Till The Afternoon"! This had a great combination of feels including a massive grunge undertone! How did this track come about?
We can’t recall much of how the track came about, as it was written a long time ago. It went through different variations musically as our sound changed. We think lyrically it resulted from feelings of isolation, and disillusionment as of what was next to come in our lives as individuals.
TSWS: How did this all start for you as a band?
Well, it’s a long story. Spencer (guitarist/vocalist) and Aaron (drummer) went to elementary school together, lost touch after Spencer moved to another school and finally reconvened during the last months of high school. It was very much a coming of age band. We went through various line-ups (including having a percussionist), sounds and moods, ultimately settling as a trio when Nate (bassist/vocalist) came onboard during the early days of 2020.
TSWS: What kind of things really inspire songs for you guys?
Art is an insight into the mind and perspective of the artist. Being from Scarborough (the shadow to Toronto’s eastern border), we find song writing solice towing the line between the bleakness and beauty of our surroundings. To be a little less fanciful, Scarbourough’s a shithole, but it’s our shithole and it’s home. If you wander around long enough you’ll start to see its charm and pockets of beauty.
TSWS: This single has some great styles on it! Can you give us some of your biggest influences musically?
ANSWER: We all come from different backgrounds musically, we all have different tastes and different passions but the one thing we have in common as a band, is a voracious appetite for music. Biggest of the three, and the most influential is our drummer Aaron’s obsessive cataloguing of Canadian music from various genres and periods.
For example, our newest song “Be Here” (currently unreleased) gives a musical nod to “For What I Am” a song written and recorded by The Paupers in 1966. They were a Scarborough band who had a brief brush with fame before they imploded, seeing their musicians find more successful outlets in other groups.
TSWS: What are you doing when you're NOT working on music?
We all have day jobs to fund our habits: Nate’s a computer nerd, Spencer toils in construction, and Aaron works a warehouse gig.
TSWS: Who's in your headphones right now?
[AARON]: Anything and everything Canadian music-related, specifically Toronto Reggae right now. I like this tune a lot by Pat Makeba (Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQBfTc3BIOI) . [SPENCER]: Aaron’s gotten me really into Toronto Garage Rock from the 1960’s lately. This song by The Ugly Ducklings has been on repeat all week (Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbBbQr3CY3c) . [NATE]: I’ve been obsessed with Math Rock lately, this song by Tricot has been one of my favourites (Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tqpj9gmk8UI) .
TSWS: Are you doing any live performances right now?
We’ve been on the Toronto/Oshawa circuit since last summer. We have some exciting Toronto gigs coming up over the next few weeks as well as a gig in Guelph coming up in mid-August:
1.) Lee’s Palace, Toronto (Friday, February 17th)
2.) Baby G’s, Toronto (Saturday, February 18th)
3.) The Linsmore, Toronto (Thursday, March 2nd)
4.) Bovine Sex Club, Toronto (Thursday, April 13th)
5.) Jimmy Jazz, Guelph (Friday, August 18th)
More dates coming soon!
TSWS: Did you record yourself or hit a big studio for this?
We recorded this song (and nearly a dozen others) with friend and long-time producer Luc Chaisson. A fantastic audio tech who’s becoming more and more in-demand in the GTA music scene, and for good reason.
TSWS: What can your fans expect from you in the near future?
LOTS of new music (including music videos), LOTS of live shows and LOTS of cool merch (CD’s, T-Shirts, etc.)
TSWS: Before we go, what would you like to say to fans of the music?
First and foremost, we want to thank all of you; the people who’ve supported us and like what we do. We’ve always told ourselves, if we could influence just one person or musician, that’d make us happy, but the reception we’ve received thus far has been a dream come true. Thanks again from the bottom of our hearts and stay tuned.