Not your average media darling

By Laura Glick

Not many artists make the leap from cover band to major label original artist in less than four years. Especially trios from Saskatoon.

Wide Mouth Mason have been an exception and have had a moderate amount of success since the format switch.

"We gradually switched over to blues rooms and that’s where we could slip in our own stuff a lot easier," explains drummer Safwan Javed. "Within a year, we started to build up a bit of a following, and then there was a buzz and Warner Music jumped on board."

Since then Javed, along with bandmates Shaun Verreault and Earl Pereira, have churned out two albums, including the spring release Where I Started. They’ve picked up multiple Prairie Music Awards and are in the early phase of a nine-week tour.

The personal and lifestyle changes accompanying the signing and new found popularity didn’t affect the musicians tremendously on a personal front.

" It was a switch in how visible we became and how accessible our music became to a national audience. But, in terms of how it impacted us, it had very little impact," Javed states. "I think it helped keep our fire going."

There has been an increase in tolerance, however, amongst the bandmates since rises in the number of touring days means spending exorbitant amounts of time together. In very close quarters.

"To live this lifestyle and do it the way we do it, which is a lot of touring, you have to be incredibly respectful of each other," said Javed.

"We’re lucky, we’re all friends and we all consider ourselves brothers with each other," he continued.

Their strong relationship has solidified as the three have known one another since their early teens.

"Shaun and I always use this quote, cause we’re both only children, ‘I’m an only child but I have two brothers’."

Exerting effort such as this has allowed Wide Mouth to tour incessantly during the past couple years, most recently on their North American tour.

"No one in the us knows who we are," he said about varying reactions from fans down south. "There’s always a few fans there who have a clue, but not very many.

"The thing I always find in the us is they’re rowdier fans. They seem to willing to make more noise."

Canadian fans have a chance to demonstrate their noise prowess when Wide Mouth Mason hits the stage at the Palace Tues., Oct. 26. They will be playing an all-ages show at 5 p.m. and a licensed event at 8 p.m.
     

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