54-40, a legendary Canadian rock band formed in Vancouver in 1981, has recently released their latest album, ‘West Coast Band,’ which continues to showcase their captivating and thought-provoking music.

With core members Neil Osborne and Brad Merritt leading the charge, the band has evolved over the years, incorporating fresh talent like guitarist Dave Genn. Through autobiographical storytelling, the album explores the band’s journey and captures the essence of their enduring appeal. Recorded remotely during the lockdown, the album reflects the band’s resilience and creativity. With its release, 54-40 continues to inspire audiences with their raw energy and distinctive sound, proving that their passion for music remains undiminished after 40+ years in the industry. The album narrates the tale of 54-40, delving into individual anecdotes featuring specific band members or memorable incidents that collectively form the band’s rich tapestry of experiences. It represents a lyrical experiment, with stories presented in a straightforward and chronological manner.

We have been enjoying your latest single, ‘West Coast Band’ from the forthcoming album. What inspired the song?

Neil Osborne: Thank you for enjoying our latest single, ‘West Coast Band’. It’s also the title track of our latest album, ‘West Coast Band’. The song is inspired by our early days as a band. In fact, many bands from our area started out facing challenges like struggling to get gigs, being relegated to “open mics,” or facing themed nights like “new wave Mondays.”

The second verse relates to the struggles of trying to secure a record deal—sending out demos and facing numerous rejections. The third verse depicts our journey as we begin to play more gigs and gain a small but dedicated fan base. As more people attend our shows, suddenly club owners and record companies take notice and express interest in being involved. It’s the story of our band’s evolution.

How much time and effort went into your latest album? Can you share some further words about the recording and producing process?

This was a fun album to make. Most of the music riffs were created during sound checks—guitar riffs, bass grooves, or just band jams. We took little snippets and turned them into song structures. Lyrically, all the songs tell stories about the band or people in the band, taking a fun or funny approach.

Once the basic structure of the arrangement was set, I sang three or four takes, telling the “story,” trying to ensure everything rhythmically fell into place and rhymed well enough. Then, we compiled the best of the three versions of the story into one cohesive version. This is the first record that we’ve recorded in which not one lyric was written down before tracking the vocal.

<a href="https://54-40.bandcamp.com/album/west-coast-band">West Coast Band by 54•40</a>

Have you found the isolation creatively challenging or freeing?

We would get together for a cocktail on Zoom every Thursday at 5:00, and we still do. During those times, we would recall our own fun stories of days gone by, and those stories became the records. So, in that sense, yes, creativity was fun in all its aspects. Things went on as they always do, and we did manage to get into a studio and do the final tracks, like we always would.

You had a really full touring scheduled in 2023, did you enjoy it? Are you preparing for a new tour in 2024?

We had a busy gig schedule in 2023 and always enjoyed playing the shows. The hard part is the travel, but we’re used to it. We’re always open for business and looking forward to a bunch of shows in 2024. If you’ve got a gig for us, let us know, and we’ll do what we can to show up and play.

Okay, let’s go back in history. Would you like to share about your upbringing? Where did you all grow up? Tell us about daily life back in your teenage years.

During my teenage years, I lived in three different cities across Canada. My father worked for the federal government, and he would get transferred in the middle of the school year. Consequently, I would drop into a new school environment and have a difficult time breaking in, but I did eventually. It was during these times that listening to records and playing my guitar in my room became my solace. Fast forwarding to today, I still have music, and I still travel everywhere, just like my dad did.

Was there a certain scene you were part of, maybe you had some favourite hangout places? Did you attend a lot of gigs back then?

Vancouver in the early ’80s had quite a vibrant scene, known as underground music. This was before the terms “alternative” or “indie” came about. There were some punk bands, but Vancouver was a small enough city that bands often played together, whether they were weird art bands, post-punk bands, punk bands, or anything that was sort of on the fringe, it became part of the Vancouver music scene. We went to a lot of those shows and got inspired by bands like the K-Tels, Subhumans, Pointed Sticks, Insex, and of course, D.O.A. Most gigs were in halls or community centers and put on by the bands themselves or their friends. There was a club called the Smilin’ Buddha Cabaret, which was legendary. We named our sixth album after that club.

If we would step into your teenage room, what kind of records, fanzines, posters et cetera would we find there?

In my bedroom during high school, you would find Allman Brothers, Stevie Wonder, Chick Corea, Genesis, The Rolling Stones, Neil Young—just about anything. Lots of stuff, really. The new wave punk scene didn’t really happen until after I finished high school. And then things really became alive and interesting for me.

What would you say was the initial idea when you formed 54-40, do you as a band still follow the same ideas today?

A lot of the same principles of 5440’s “manifesto” we still carry with us today. It was always about survival as a band, and the recipe for survival was people you could get along with and want to hang out with in a van for two weeks at a time. Writing new music constantly, releasing new records all the time, and whenever we played a show, we would always be able to announce our next show. Always having something in front of us to work on.

One of the breakthroughs is your self-titled second album, what are some recollections that run through your mind when hearing it today?

When I hear our self-titled second album, affectionately called the “green album,” I hear a band that is alive, that is on the edge a little bit but fun. We would go in after midnight till 6:00 AM into a recording studio, Mushroom Recording Studio, to track that record we were so into it. Only the moment we were in mattered. We have just reissued that album on vinyl, remastered in a deluxe bundle format through Sing! Marketplace. [Link]

Have you found something new lately you would like to recommend to our readers?

There is some interesting music that is coming out of the UK, like Black Country New Road (‘Ants From Up There’) and Black Midi (‘Hellfire’), to name a couple. My daughter, Kandle (‘Set The Fire’), has released some amazing music. I love Niz Wiz. There is so much fantastic music, past and present, music that was created for all the right reasons.