WL 367 - Sunday, June 10 – 10pm
Purveyors of: barn parties

Kat Burns corresponded with Brad Giefert, one fifth of Guelph's own Tacoma Hellfarm Tragedy, to find out what makes them tick, stomp and rock....and where the hell their name came from.

The first time I heard of Tacoma Hellfarm Tragedy, I remember wondering where the hell you got your name. After a few years of friendship I've fully understood it. Tell everyone the story.

Well Kat, Darryl and I agreed that we wouldn’t tell the story of our name anymore, but since it’s you we will tell it one more time. Way back in a forgotten time, we will call it 2003, we were trying to come up with band name for our little three piece outfit. We really liked band names like “You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead” because of how absurdly long it is and how it almost tells a story. We used to rehearse on Darryl’s parents horse farm in an old century barn. His parents bought the farm when they were in their early thirties and they would have all of their friends up from the city to party and it soon became known as the ‘Hellfarm.’ T-shirts and hats were made with iron-on felt letters. The ‘tragedy’ is that back in the 1800’s on the farm something went horribly wrong and family members killed family members in some sort of murderous rage. This is according to Darryl and we have never found out if it is true or not. The Tacoma part came from a design firm in Guelph called Tacoma Steckly. I thought those two names sounded funny together and even suggested calling ourselves the Steckly Tacoma Band. I was laughed at and made to feel shame because of my suggestion. We did however keep the Tacoma part.

Your first EP was recorded at a farm (correct me if I'm wrong), which brought a certain aesthetic to the sound, and your first full length was recorded at various houses, with various collaborators, which also came out through the finished product . Now you're on your second full length, and you recorded all of it with the same person, in the same place. How has that stability translated into the recording?

Recording the record at Pipe Street in Guelph really allowed us to sit back and focus on the songs and the music. We were no longer worrying about mic placements and drum sounds and all the rest of the toiling that comes with lo-fi recording. We left everything to Evan Gordon and Andrew Collins, who we trusted to take our demos and translate them in a studio. Finally having a set line-up for the band and being able to record in a laid back atmosphere like Pipe Street really gave the record a more cohesive sound. It sounds like a record, where as Dirty Water Flows sounds a bit more like a really good mixed tape.

The band has changed around a bit, originally being a duo of Darryl Stevenson and you, Brad, and eventually including bassist Innes Wilson. You have two new members, and have lost one member. How has it been recording with new members? What new ideas and influences have come to the table?

The addition of Jesse Whiteside (lead guitar, pedal steel) and Andrew Collins (bass, keys) really made a huge difference in the final product. Darryl and I four tracked demos of all the songs and knew what we wanted all the songs to sound like. Jesse and Andrew then starting rehearsing the songs with us and it just seemed like they brought all the missing pieces to the puzzle. We were really blown away at how much better the songs had become and how their playing brought everything to a whole new level. I think we managed to write a really good record, we are all very proud of it. I think this is an album that needs to be heard.

With a new shiny disc under your belts, what does the near future hold for Tacoma?

I think we are going to be [touring] around Ontario and Montreal for the summer and maybe heading up to northern Ontario in the fall. We are going to be working on an EP this summer with a new full length not far behind it… and hopefully playing lots of shows.

By Kat Burns