Get ready for ‘sick jams and sicker times’ at the De’d Dog Saturday with Jasper’s latest and greatest band, Cozen Indigo.
The homegrown groovy rock band is made up of Koltin Rea, Tommy Deagle, Taylor Blackstock and Aaron Sparks.
The gig this Saturday will be their first official show since banding together just a few months ago and making their name at open mic nights. Taylor caught Fuchsia Dragon all up.
51°µÍø: You guys are a new local band, what’s your story?
Taylor Blackstock: I was playing in a band last year called the Legionnaires. All of us, except the drummer Aaron, grew up in Jasper. I have known Koltin, the lead singer, for the majority of my life. He asked if I wanted to play a gig in Calgary a few months back just me and him, I thought ‘screw it, let’s make a band.’ We got Aaron and Tommy in and started writing our own music.
This is our first full-on official show in Jasper. We have played a few Jam Nights at the Legion but that’s only about 20 minutes on stage. Between all four of us we have about half a century of music experience. We have all played in professional bands before we got together.
It blows my mind, Koltin and I were playing together seven year ago and it only took us seven years to form a band.
Fitz: What kind of music do you write? What are your influences?
Taylor: Oh, that’s a long list. It’s everything from Led Zeppelin to electronic music, Koltin listens to a lot of 50s-style music. It stems from all over the place. Pretty much we just write whatever comes to our heads. We’ve got a song for every genre, a song for every person.
Fitz: What’s it like performing in your hometown?
Taylor: I love it, and I’m pretty sure the other guys do too. It’s always good to give back to the community that you grew up in and see lots of faces in the crowd. The atmosphere is awesome. I can’t even compare it to anything, it’s unreal. When you are up on stage and doing what you love to do, getting paid for it or even just putting it on for people you love and friends, and they get to enjoy it. That’s pretty amazing.
Fitz: What are your plans for the future?
Taylor: Just to keep playing with this band and taking it as far as we can possibly go. I wouldn’t be upset if we were playing in Madison Square Garden next year…
We are in the works of recording a three- to four-track EP you should look out for in late May to mid-June. I went to school and worked in the recording industry for a while before coming back to Jasper. I have procured a bunch of my own gear and have a makeshift space we use.
