Red Deer band Face the Earth is riding a wave of nostalgia for its EP A Life in Color — not for the ’80s, or even the ’90s, but for the “Y2K culture” of the early 2000s.
Bands such as Blink-182 and Sum 41 were all the rage from 2000 to 2009, and so members of Face the Earth are drawing on the pop-punk spirit of these groups for five new songs on the EP.
The harder edge “is a very new sound for us,” admitted Face the Earth singer and rhythm guitarist Zakk Waschuk, who will perform with his band on Saturday at Bo’s Bar and Stage, along with Saskatoon’s The Radiant and Calgary’s Good Grief.
But he assures fans Face the Earth is still staying true to itself, so the group’s “energetic, fun” vibe will still be heard on the new EP.
Fellow band members, Jeff Gauthier (lead guitar), Mike Fitzgerald (bass) and Ethan Rose (drums) collaborated on a series of songs about different types of relationships.
The EP’s title track is about being in love with someone “who doesn’t allow you to fully show who you are…. so maybe it’s not really working out,” said Waschuk. The tune is inspired by the “tumultuous world of miscommunication and stifled emotions… It’s an anthem for those who feel like they can never truly be themselves.”
The music video for Life in Color, directed by British filmmaker Oliver Clarke and Calgary-based projection artist Mackenzie Bedford, can now be seen on YouTube. Waschuk said Face the Earth musicians become “living backdrops for mind-bending animations” that complement the song’s lyrics and infectious melody.
“As artists, we always want to explore new territories of sound, and this EP is no exception.”
Other new songs in the EP, No Mercy and Overthinker, are about grappling with an adversary and your own demons, while the tune We Are sees things through a wider lens. “It’s about society,” said Waschuk, who explained the world seems based on money and “extreme capitalism… It’s about values and about how people in power seem to have them skewed.”
The musicians of Face the Earth, formed in 2019, pushed themselves out of their comfort zone to ensure that each song felt different than the last, said Waschuk.
Born in 1995, he feels the music of Y2K bands formed the background sounds of his childhood. Now that Blink-182 has announced a reunion tour, and Sum 41’s final album is being released, Face the Earth wanted to pay homage to these band and that time of music.
By infusing more of an alternative/indie sound with the group’s own more fun vibe, listeners will get “that throwback feeling,” Waschuk added.
Face the Earth is also performing two sets on July 19 at the Westerner Days beer garden in Red Deer.
For more information about Saturday’s show at Bo’s, please contact the venue.
