By David DeRocco

 The City of Hamilton has contributed a great deal to our sense of Canadiana over the years, from the first Tim Hortons and second Canadian Tire locations to the uniquely Canadian comedy stylings of Martin Short, Eugene Levy and politician Sheila Copps. When it comes to its musical contribution, however, Hamilton’s artist list is long and varied, from Crowbar to Teenage Head to Daniel Lanois to Neil Peart to…well, Arkells!  

Named after a side street close to McMaster University where all band members met, Arkells have earned their rightful place alongside all the great things to come out of the Hammer. Now four Juno Awards and four albums deep into a career that’s put them on a meteoric rise to the top of the Canadian rock scene, ARKELLS were the most played band on Canadian alt-rock radio last year. That’s a testament both to the quality of their music and to the blue-collar work ethic hard-wired into their DNA. 

 With their new album,  Morning Report, the ongoing evolution of Arkells continues.  From the first single “Private School” to the quirky hip-hop holiday ode to “Drake’s Dad,” the album is a bubbling kettle of influences, one that showcases  the willingness of bandmates Max Kerman (vocals/guitars), Mike DeAngelis (vocals/guitars), Nick Dika (bass), Tim Oxford (drums/percussion) and Anthony Carone (vocals/keys) to experiment with modern sounds and push the definition of “rock” music forward.

 Chilling at home in the Hammer on a rare day off from the rigors of the road and endless promotion, singer Max Kerman took the time to chat with GoBeWeekly on the band’s success, the state of rock and the trouble with interpreting band press releases.

 GOBE: Arkells were the most played band on alt-rock radio last year, which is a significant milestone. That’s not just the result of CanCon regulations, that speaks to the music quality and songwriting. How do such achievements resonate with you as the band gets deeper into its career.

 MAX: I feel like we’re generally pretty grateful just for any opportunity we get just to showcase our music. Anytime you get invited to a music festival, that’s a great platform to release our music and showcase our songs. If you get played on the radio that’s an opportunity to showcase what we’re creating and putting out to the world. So we’re always pretty stoked about it to be honest. When you’re in a band you’re just looking for a piece of good news every week. When you’re driving in the car and  hear your songs on the radio it’s kind of a reminder that you’re headed in the right direction.

 GOBE: I was reading an interview with Jim Cuddy talking about The Hip and he said that the wonderful thing about Canada is that the market here allows bands to have lengthy careers. He mentioned Rush, April Wine, 54.40, Blue Rodeo and The Hip, bands that are well into three  decades of making music. Given your band’s on-going evolution can you see Arkells being together 30 years from now? What might that look like or more importantly sound like?

 MAX: (laughing) I don’t know what it would look or sound like, that’s hard to predict. Hopefully we’re in good shape. For us, the way I look at it is, it’s a really great job. I think having a job that you wake up every day looking forward to is a real gift. We’re definitely aware that it’s a pretty precious thing to have a job like the one we have, which is basically writing your own music and getting to go tour it around the world. That’s why we work really hard it, because we don’t want to lose it. As long as we’re feeling motivated to keep doing it and remaining inspired by the job of being in a band and doing our best work, we’ll just keep going. Bands like Blue Rodeo and the Tragically Hip are a good example; the way they’re thought of today is just them putting in countless years and writing great songs and playing great shows. Fast forward to 2016 and their body of work is really impressive.

 GOBE: You work in a very public career, so people bear witness to how you evolve in the role. The band’s live show has certainly progressed from the first time I saw you open for The Waking Eyes years ago to the last time I saw you playing in Montebello Park. Do you have a conscious sense of that improvement as a band and do you take reward in that fact?

 MAX. We’re always trying to get better. I heard the expression you’re only as good as your last show or your last song. We take the job seriously. We don’t want to let anyone down that’s bought a ticket to see  us. That’s why we keep on putting in time and thought to our show. We really try to get better. I really do appreciate when people say we’ve evolved and improved. To me I don’t think we’ve ever been better. And that’s the result of having more experience under our belts. Another thing is we’re fans of music, of watching other performers work. I love going to see a band and seeing what tricks I can steal for the Arkells. I think if we have improved it’s the result of that attitude. We are always looking around to see what other people are doing and being inspired by it.

 GOBE:  You mention competition as an inspiration. What do you think has helped Arkells survive and succeed where colleagues like The Waking Eyes haven’t had such luck?

 MAX.  I think you need a little bit of luck in this business to get recognized. And anybody that has received a lot of acclaim and recognition ought to point to that fact, that you need a little luck on your side. Also, I feel like my temperament is a pretty positive one. I don’t get deterred particularly easy. And I think I’ve been lucky enough to be s surrounded by people in my life that are pretty positive thinkers. I don’t get too weighed down if things aren’t’ going in my  direction. It’s an underrated personality type or skillset, because in reality there is a lot of rejection in the music industry. You’re constantly being told ‘no  you don’t get to open for that band or no, this radio station doesn’t want to play you.’ You get told no all the time. It’s just in my disposition to not get too bummed out about it. Knowing there’s always a lot of rejection, you just always keep it about the work. Obama has a good line: if  you can keep it about the work you’ll always have a path. I think about that. As soon as you start getting hung  up on what didn’t happen for you, or what people are saying about you, then you’re lost.

 GOBE: In the press around the new album MORNING REPORT you’re quoted as saying you’d rather listen to Drake, Kanye or Rhianna given the state of rock. You’re a BA grad in Political Science. Is there any thought given to the politics of offering such an abject dismissal of rock in favour of those three artists specifically given how polarizing they are to old school rock fans?

 MAX: I love rock and roll obviously. It’s in my DNA. It will always be a big part of this band and where we come from, because we grew up listening to our parents records, The Beatles and Springsteen and Motown and all that great music. And when I was in my late teens and early 20s it was the Weakerthans, the Constantine’s, Sam Roberts and the Hip. All those bands really shaped me. I still really love those bands, and it’s not to say that all rock music coming out in 2016 is bad. What I meant is that when you look at how those genres evolved, in 2016 those artists are pushing boundaries in terms of the sonic quality of the songs more than rock and roll is. Rock and roll has been around for 50 or 60 years because there’s a formula there, which I love. But  to my ear it’s very exciting to hear what Kayne West might do in a song, because he’s not playing by any conventional rules.

 GOBE: Kayne certainly displays the kind of defiance you expect from rock artists.

 MAX.  He plays by whatever rule he makes up, which to me is the most rock and roll thing of all. Rock and roll is supposed to be the spirit of “I don’t give a fuck about what the rules are.” And a lot of what I hear today is like no, it sounds very rule oriented; it sounds exactly like what was made in 1977 depending on the band. That’s all I meant to say. When you listen to what kids are listening to today they don’t really give a shit. This notion of I’m a punk rocker, I’m into hip-hop or I’m into pop – any of those lines that used to exist in the 90s don’t exist anymore. And personally, I like that. If I bring one thing to the band it’s that I identify with lots of different kind of people. I also likes different kinds of music. So when im listening to music I’m always trying to find similarities to the music rather than the differences.

 GOBE:  Arkells are heading back to Germany and Europe to tour. What do you most look forward to when performing in front of international audiences and do you feel anxiety travelling given the state of alert in Europe these days?

 MAX:  No, not too worried about it or any of the more depressing world events that have happened in any of those areas. You can’t go travelling around when you’re in a band living in fear. But as for shows, it’s a rush to be able to play to any size crowd and try to win them over, especially when you’re somewhere far away from home. It kind of reminds me of the earlier days of the band, like when we were on tour with The Waking Eyes. You’re playing for a few hundred people and you’re like, ‘I have to make the most of this because I want these people to come back to the show the next time.’ We’ve been over there a few times and that’s sort of the way it’s gone. We played over there in Berlin a few year ago probably to 75 people. Then the next time we played to 150 people and the next time it was 300 people. The most recent time it was 500 people sold out. So I love that about the band. There’s always a mountain to climb. No matter where you are or what you’re doing you kind of have to beat your last best score.

 GOBE: I imagine as a songwriter those travelling experiences are great for inspiration, like the trip that resulted in the song and video for “Drake’s Dad.” Was making that video as much fun as it looks?

 MAX. That was a lot of fun, one of my favourite video shoots to be on. We were sort of recreating that actual trip that took place. The two guys that did it were friends of mine. One of them, Shane, was on the original trip. He’s a really talented film-maker comedy writer. So it was a pretty small crew, four people on set plus the band. It was great being down in Memphis and Nashville. It was a bit of a party.

 GOBE: September 9^th you’re back at Jackson Triggs. Given rock’s rebellious roots, does the fact that it’s now safe to stage a rock concert for the wine and cheese crowd speak to what you had mentioned earlier, that rock has become too safe? Or is it just a cool venue in which to play?

 MAX: (laughing) No, it’s just a cool venue. I see this happen in politics, and I see it happen in music – people like to get riled up about shit like this. I don’t get riled up. Not that Im not passionate or don’t believe in certain things, but to me it’s just a rock band plays at a winery. Whatever. Of all the things to get outraged about that’s not one of them. It’s just enjoy the fucking show, drink some wine, have a good time. That’s what we’re doing. It’s one of the most beautiful venues in Ontario.

 GOBE: I just spent the other night in the un-air-conditioned heat at This Ain’t Hollywood, so I completely agree that being at Jackson Triggs is a much better option.

 MAX: And I love This Aint Hollywood too. When it comes to music, critics and people get all riled up about a direction a band took or something they’ve done differently. It leaves my head scratching a little bit. Who cares. You don’t like it you don’t like. If you do, great.  This has been on my mind a lot lately. I was listening to a Paul Simon interview and I loved it so much. He talked about his relationship with music in a way that I’ve never heard any other artist talk about it. But I transcribed it. (Reads the transcription)  I loved that passage so much. Paul Simon genre hops more than anybody. He’s bounced around from genre to genre because he doesn’t give a fuck. He was just following sounds he liked. I like to hear what artists are doing. Like, oh yea, Drake’s kind of channeling a Caribbean thing there. I grew up in Toronto so I get it. To me it’s all good. I don’t get riled up and say “this is the way rock music needs to be.” That attitude kind of annoys me. Same goes for playing a winery. It’s a beautiful venue. Drink the wine. Believe me, we’ll be back at a club just like this Ain’t Hollywood the next night and it will be awesome!

 GOBE: On a final note, what’s the best thing about being Max Kerman these days? What’s bringing you the greatest joy and personal satisfaction outside of simply being in Arkells?

 MAX. You know, people are pretty nice to me. My friend Julian, whose bachelor party inspired the “Drakes Dad” song, said something to me off hand because he got married last summer. He tried to explain to me why weddings are so good, because I don’t totally understand them. He said it’s because everybody’s really nice to you. In the weeks leading up to the wedding, the wedding night, people are just so happy for you. It’s just a nice thing for people to feel happy for you. Not in a vain way, but I think being the singer of Arkells is like that in a lot of ways. I’m pretty appreciative of the fact that people go out of their way to be nice to me and they don’t have to be. It really nice and I don’t’ deserve it but I’m grateful for it. I was just having lunch and they gave us free appetizes just because I was in the band. They didn’t have to do that.

 GOBE: I bet in the early days free apps would have been something a club owner would have suggested as payment for the band’s performance.

MAX: (Laughing).  I know. The big thrill was probably getting two drink drinks tickets. If we got four those guys were probably the nicest promoters ever. Lou at This Ain’t Hollywood always  gave us lots of drink tickets!