Sled Island Festival Series: Les Gigantiques Interview Conrad Montana

Conrad Montana (Les Gigantiques) on Sled Island, Calgary’s Music Scene & a 20-Year-Old Album Finally Released

Darren Scott of The Sonic Collective continues the Sled Island series with a conversation featuring Conrad Sawatzky (Conrad Montana of Les Gigantiques), a longtime Calgary musician who has been active in bands including Anxious Poets, the Shinolas, Cripple Creek Fairies, and The Deadly Skulls. Conrad shares his musical beginnings, his role in local preservation efforts like the Rat’s Nest Recording Society, and his early connection to Sled Island through Zach Peshack and Pop Montreal. He recalls standout Sled memories (Guided by Voices, Television, Yo La Tengo, and more), highlights Calgary venues supporting live music (Loophole, Blocks, Palomino), and discusses what makes Sled unique, including its diversity and discovery-focused playlists. The episode also covers Les Gigantiques’ newly released album—recorded 20 years ago, rediscovered by Trap One Records—now streaming, with vinyl coming in August and a release show August 23 at Blocks.

https://www.instagram.com/lesgigantiques/

00:00 Show Intro
01:08 Sled Island Series Setup
02:13 Guest Conrad Montana
04:12 How We Met
04:48 Conrad Music Origins
07:12 Preserving Calgary Tapes
09:08 First Sled Island Connection
10:50 Favorite Sled Memories
12:53 Calgary Venues Today
14:43 Day In The Life
17:03 What Makes Sled Unique
20:17 Les Gigantiques Album Story
22:32 Sound And Stage Energy
24:44 Tour Plans And Sled 2026
26:15 Local Band Shoutouts
28:24 Advice For New Musicians
29:34 Show Plug And Farewell
30:57 Host Wrap Up
32:44 Subscribe And Closing Credits

The theme music for The Sonic Collective is Dust by Les Gigantiques from Calgary. Our thanks to the band for letting us use and feature their music. Be sure to check them out. https://www.instagram.com/lesgigantiques/

Transcript

0:02

Welcome to The Sonic Collective, where music's past meets its future. Join hosts Alan, Scott Scott, and Darren Scott, as we explore the albums, artists, and movements that shape the music we love today. From legendary records and influential musicians to rising artists creating tomorrow's soundtrack, we're passionate about helping music fans discover what matters. While streaming algorithms push what they're paid to promote, we dig deeper, connecting you with the classics you need to revisit and the new artists you need to hear. Rediscover the music that shaped the past. Discover the artists shaping the future. This is The Sonic Collective

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 1:08

I'm Darren Scott, and this episode is part of our special Sled Island series celebrating one of Canada's most unique and important music festivals. For nearly two decades, Sled Island has helped transform Calgary into a destination for music discovery, bringing together local artists, emerging talent, and internationally acclaimed performers in venues scattered throughout the city. It's a festival that has introduced audiences to artists they may never have otherwise discovered, while also giving Calgary musicians a platform to grow, connect, and be heard. In our main feature episode titled Sled Island: The Festival That Changed Calgary Music, we explore the history of the festival, its impact on our local music scene, and why it continues to matter, not just to Calgary, but to independent music culture across Canada and the world for that matter. As part of the project, we're also sitting down with several local artists, some performing at the Sled Island Festival, to learn about their music and understand what the festival means to them. But today's guest is someone I've known for many years, Conrad Sawatzky, better known in the music circles as Conrad Montana of the band Les Gigantiques. Oh, there's my French immersion coming out. But he used to play with the Cripple Creek Fairies, the Shinolas. He's been in the Calgary music scene for years. but I wanted to connect with him as somebody who has not played the festival but has been in the scene. Les Gigantiques has one of those stories that perfectly captures the spirit of independent music here in Calgary. More than 20 years ago, Conrad and Gary Reimer recorded an album alongside Andrew McDonald and Matthew Tate. Like so many great recordings, it quietly disappeared in the archives of time. Then years later, the folks at Trap One Records rediscovered the recordings and asked a simple question to Conrad, "Hey, can we re-release this?" Thankfully, Conrad said yes. That unexpected discovery sparked a new chapter for the band. Conrad and Gary reunited, recruiting an outstanding rhythm section featuring Daryl Hartlen and Joseph Vol- Volich. Hopefully, I pronounced that right, my friends. And they began performing these songs for a whole new audience here 20 years later. they just released an album. It literally just came out June 8th. You can check it out on Bandcamp, search for Spotify, YouTube, all those, all those platforms. it's great, very cool music. But in this conversation, Conrad and I talk about the origins of the band, the unlikely story behind these recordings, Calgary's music scene, and what Sled Island has meant to him and the local scene from a perspective of someone in the scene that has not yet had the chance to play the festival. Anyway, without further ado, here's my conversation with Conrad Sawatzky or Conrad Montana of Léger Gondtique. Enjoy. okay, we'll get started. So Conrad, you and I have known each other for a very long time. We met, at Smugglers Inn. We both worked there. What year did you start there? What month was that, do you remember?

Conrad 4:23

Started in 1998

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 4:24

'98, okay. Like, I, I knew it was the '90s. We've known each other for 28 years, but I think one of the first things I learned about you, and I'm a huge music nerd, but not really musical by nature, but, is that you were a part of the local music scene. So maybe just tell me about your early experiences with music, earlier in your life, and then how you got in, into, music and playing locally.

Conrad 4:48

yeah, I was, I was always a musician. My, my dad was an opera singer, I always grew up around music, so it was always part of, the background. There was always music playing in my house. when I-- So I was always playing piano, trombone, then I picked up bass and guitar when I was in years of high school, and started a band and played some of the churches and stuff like that. But then the... when I really started to get into, playing, I met, Laurie Matheson, and, I, I knew his girlfriend at the time, and she introduced me to him, and we started a band together right away. we were... we hit it off right away. So we started a band called Anxious Poets and, got our first show at the Westward Club in Calgary. our first show was actually in Saskatoon, which is weird, but we went out to Saskatoon. But our first show was at the Westward Club in Calgary, and then we just started playing Republic, Night Gallery, The Warehouse, all of those old, haunts in the, in the early nineties. Anxious Poets broke up. Shinolas started, and for the rest of the nineties, I was in the Shinolas. And then Cripple Creek Fairies, at the end of the nineties, wrote a song about me called "Conrad Montana" and asked me to play keyboards on it. And then I ended up joining Cripple Creek Fairies played with them until, two thousand and seven or eight or something like that. And, then I took a break. Or actually, I was playing in Les Gigantiques at the time as well, but we were called The Giga-Gigantiques. And we, we took a break, though, for a good while until two thousand and twenty-one, twenty-two. I ran into my friend Rick Overwater, and he asked me to join his band, The Deadly Skulls, and that's the history. Les Gigantiques is now revived as well, and I'm right back into the Calgary music scene.

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 7:06

Yeah

Conrad 7:06

the history of how I got into and what I did the past thirty years or so

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 7:11

Yeah, yeah. That's awesome. And also, I remember too, you were part of, like, the Rat's Nest, Cassette Per- Preservation Society, where you were actually gathering, recordings of local artists and kind of preserving them. Like, who were some of the bands and, and what, what was that about?

Conrad 7:27

The Okay so the that's two different things actually Calgary Cassette Preservation Society is Arif and I gave him a bunch of my stuff and he recovered a whole bunch of my old recordings on cassette for that the Rat's Nest Recording Society we actually recorded a lot of old bands like Miko and Hurricane Felix and oh who else Rayovac there was like a ton of bands there's actually two CDs out of of music that we recorded the Rat's Nest Recording Society and that was like a nonprofit thing and that I was vice president and then president of for number of years until it kinda kinda went away because recording in a studio wasn't as easy anymore and it cost a lot too so kinda

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 8:27

Yeah, no kidding. No kidding

Conrad 8:29

to a halting and end kinda in the early 2000 2005 I think we finished

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 8:39

Yeah

Conrad 8:40

But yeah so yeah I was part of that and small part of Cassette Preservation Society just donations though

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 8:48

Yeah, but you know, very cool that people are taking the time. And there's some great compilations around. I've seen, I know there's some on vinyl and other things like that. If you're looking for the history of Calgary, go to your local vinyl store and ask, and I know they're, they'll have some stuff there. But I mean, so obviously, hey, you're a, you're a guy that's been on the music scene here locally for a long time. we talked about it a little bit as we were getting ready here to start, but tell me like how, how and when were you introduced to Sled? 'Cause I know it was very early. Tell me your Sled introduction experience.

Conrad 9:19

So Zach who was one of the first drivers behind Sled Island was looking at Pop Montreal for a template for Sled Island and I didn't know what the name of festival was gonna going to be at the time so I didn't know it was called Sled Island But we flew out to Montreal and played an Alberta showcase I was playing with Cripple Creek Fairies at the time and Forbidden Dimension and Sudden Infa Infant Dance Syndrome we played a Alberta showcase at Pop Montreal and Zach was the one that kinda got us out there from what I remember anyways we talked about how Pop Montreal was laid out and that he wanted to do a festival exactly like that in Calgary And next thing there it was And so it was kinda about it before it was happening know a little bit involved in talking to Zach about how he wanted to do things

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 10:19

What's,

Conrad 10:20

but I

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 10:20

to interrupt, what's, Zach's last name? Who, who

Conrad 10:24

Peshack

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 10:25

For Shack, okay. Awesome

Conrad 10:27

He is no longer in Calgary and I'm not sure how amicable the relationship ended with with SLED He's he's a individual so I don't know the details he's no longer involved in in that so

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 10:44

Yeah. So the early years, so Sledd starts here, kind of l- seems like loosely based off Pop Montreal. I guess what were, what were from some of your first actual Sled Island memories?

Conrad 10:56

I got some great memories I don't even know which ones are the first ones but I saw Guided by Voices played one of the earlier ones they're one of my favorite bands so that was like one of the big big ones for me seeing Television Sled Island was ridiculously good too just legends And Yo La Tengo and yeah just s I remember Yo La Tengo played one where they did a a They talked to the crowd afterwards They did took questions from the crowd after the show and my son Jacob was one of the guys that they ac they allowed to He was like I don't know 10 or 11 years old at the time asking how to make it as a young musician and said Don't do it so that was

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 11:48

You gotta love it. You do it for love and not the money.

Conrad 11:51

Yeah totally and then just recently this past year actually I went to Bobsled in February so like the winter version of it and saw this band called Sour Widows that I'm totally obsessed with now So those are my one highlights Barty Strange a few years ago when he was the curator fell in love with him too Etobicoke Beaver last

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 12:17

Oh yeah, I saw that show. I saw you there. Yeah, we saw each other there.

Conrad 12:22

in Calgary Yeah Yeah that was a fantastic show yeah there's there's tons and tons of highlights of Sled Island shows but

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 12:27

I, I think, you know, and that's one of the key things is like it really is a discovery festival. And I mean, there's a lot of bands you might not necessarily know, but once you learn them, and you've mentioned, mentioned a lot of big names from the past, but really there's tons of bands that have played and then all of a sudden a year or two later they're, they're huge. So I mean, you're really seeing these bands before, they explode a lot of times, and it's in these intimate, cool venues. so speaking of that, I mean, you mentioned some of the old school, like the Night Gallery, The Warehouse, The Republic. But,

Conrad 12:59

Yeah

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 13:00

what are, what are the places in, that are really supporting live music now in Calgary that you would like... I always try and give them shout-outs, like, go see live music. So where is that right now in Calgary? Where's the scene?

Conrad 13:11

there's the cool little places that I really love are Loophole and Blocks can put your own shows on in there but they're so super supportive and they're just little places like Loophole is just think the capacity is like 55 people but I've played five shows there now and they're just so much fun And the kids when it's all ages in both of those venues as well all Blocks So the kids come out and they support and they're so much fun to be around see where there's the bigger places like The Palomino has always been supportive and love The Palomino they're super great there those are kinda my three that I can think of off

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 14:00

Yeah, yeah. There's lots of great ones, and many that I've interviewed have talked about, Loophole and Block's as well, so that very... And all genres too, and I think that's a thing too. It's not like people just think, "Oh, it's a rock club," or, "It's a, you know, a hip hop club." No, no, no. There's these spaces you can come in and hear, you know, industrial one night, hip hop the next, indie the next, and then, you know, you know, maybe some kind of noise the next. It's, yeah, it, there's really some cool things happening, and I think one thing, you know, we've lived in Alberta a long time, and especially now politically in, in the news where we get there sometimes the wrong reasons, but we're not just the Calgary Stampede and country music. There is such a vibrant music scene here in Alberta in general, but, in Calgary. So, you know, let's, a few more questions about Sled, and then I wanna talk about your latest project. But, you know, so Sled, I guess tell me about, you know, we talked about the bands and stuff, but I think what people aren't really understanding about Sled is how unique the experience is, like how close the clubs are, and I guess what do you love about that, those days of just experiencing Sled? Take me through a, a day in the life of Sled for you.

Conrad 15:09

Oh yeah starting off at at the Palomino walking down to the Palace to see a show and then run over to like Loopholes doing shows over there for Sled as well then all the breweries that have gotten involved too that are all close to downtown You run down to to Dandy that kind of thing I've never been cause I'm an old man now

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 15:33

We're not old anymore. We're just, we're just vintage. We're vintage.

Conrad 15:37

Oh yeah Vintage

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 15:38

Yeah

Conrad 15:38

it that night the Etobicoke Beaver night we ended up at Dickens after that for And I don't even remember who who was playing but it was so cool and it was completely different from what I we were just at was more industrial dance kind of music and it was super fun but yeah just it's so cool to just jump around from venue to venue If you've got the pass and you just

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 16:03

Yeah

Conrad 16:04

go to one one to the other But I for me I mostly pick a show for one night and go to that show and that's kinda my thing and that's my experience with Sled

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 16:16

Yeah, yeah, it's great. And for those that haven't experienced it, I mean, most of the, the bars, and it's usually smaller venues or medium size, couple larger ones, but they're really within a few kilometers of downtown in general. Like, a lot of people use the e-scooters or just bike. They install bike racks out in front of all these places so it's, you know, safer. You know, hey, even if you're drinking, maybe watch it on the bike too. But I mean, i- it's such a unique And you can just go, if you have the, the pass, you go one to the next, next. And there's comedy, there's film, there's so much more, with the festival as well. yeah, and yeah, the brewery scene is cool, but, Dandy's been a sponsor, 88 Brewing has been a sponsor, and I know, peers of ours, Confluence Distilling. So yeah, you can cool, see these cool spaces and experience these, you know, great, great artists. you know, I guess, what do you think Sled Island has that maybe other music festivals don't have?

Conrad 17:10

I think it's just the sheer amount of bands that are playing it is like the variety of band that are playing it the fact that it goes on for four or five days is it four days or five

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 17:24

I think it's, it's, it's five now. It goes Wednesday to Sunday now. Wednesday to Sunday. I think the big wrap-up night tends to be the Saturday, but, stuff happening on the Sunday, but the Wednesday, yeah, Wednesday to Sunday

Conrad 17:36

Yeah just the exposure And the other cool thing about them is the playlist that they put out of

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 17:43

Mm-hmm.

Conrad 17:44

cover these bands. so you don't even have to go to see them all 'cause still get the chance to hear them, 'cause they put that, that cool discovery playlist together. Is that Spotify?

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 17:55

Y-yeah

Conrad 17:56

they do that. Yeah, like that's really... I think they just, the, the diversity of it is just incredible, so big and supportive of all different types of artists as well, like supporting the Indigenous and, and all the, the minority artists that are out there. they get a platform through SLED that they wouldn't normally get, I think, and that is awesome, and that's one of the big reasons I'm a big supporter of

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 18:25

Yeah, you, you, you read my mind. I literally had that as the next point to ask you. I think one thing that's really unique, maybe not unique, but very prominent is it's a very safe and diverse space. you can go and you can be like, I'm 56, but you love my music. I can be the guy downstairs in the Palomino, and s- a lot of times there's all-ages shows, and there can be a 15-year-old standing beside you, and then a guy in a full Mohawk on the other side, and then, you know, but you're all there just enjoying the experience, learning, discovering the artists, and it's a very safe, diverse, space. And, and I think it's beautiful for that 'cause, you know, especially in a world now where everybody's dividing, it's like a SLED does a good example of like, hey, if you just come together and really just to celebrate, these great local bands and other artists, like, wow, what a, what a cool experience. Like, yeah. yeah, and I mean, you also hit it on the head. You know, I used to love Spotify and some of these streaming s- services 'cause they used to have good recommendation engines, but now it's all paid for, it's all BS, and it just serves you the same pop crap you probably don't wanna hear. No offense to it. You know, I, hey, I love pop music like anybody else, but, it's, it's getting harder and harder to discover. So when you get, you go into the SLED playlist, like, these are actual bands that are gonna play, and they're, and they're working their butts off to get you to notice them. Those are the, the types of playlists you wanna, like and subscribe to and then keep listening to, and that's how you're gonna really learn, artists. And does a good job pulling locally, not only from just Alberta and Calgary and Edmonton and other areas, but this side of the world. Like, so, the Northwestern states and, you know, people from BC and Saskatchewan, and it really pulls because geographically, I mean, we're... It's not like people play Toronto and then just do a quick drive to Calgary. That's like a massive amount of distance, so we really have our own unique ecosystem, here in kind of the, the western states in Canada. So, very, very interesting that one. All right, well, we've kinda talked about SLED and your history, but, and you've mentioned it a bit already, but, your band, Les Gigantiques, has just released an album. So tell me about the band, the history of the band, who's in it, and, you know, tell me about this new album.

Conrad 20:33

Oh, hey. So it's, the new album is an old album, funny enough. it is The recording itself is actually 20 years old. we recorded it and then didn't do anything with it. And so I gave it to my friend Darren, who is one of the main guys at Trap 1 Records. I had no idea about that at the time. said, "Hey, yeah, I've got this album. You should check it out." just gave him a copy on CD, it was a couple years ago now. And, the next day he came back, he said, involved with this? I need to know more about it, and can I release it on my label?" and I was like, yeah, sure. let's do it." over the past couple of years, we've been toying with different ideas and stuff, and finally just went, "Let's, let's just release it." And, so the vinyl is coming in August. Don't have an exact date yet,

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 21:31

Mm-hmm.

Conrad 21:31

it should be here, in time for our vinyl release party, which is on August 23rd at Blocks. And, but today, funny enough, June 8th, it has gone streaming, so it's y- it's available everywhere right now. Bandcamp, and then all of the Apple, Spotify, all of the, all the streaming services, YouTube. you can find it everywhere now. but if you want the cool experience, you'll have to wait till the vinyl gets here in August, but we're gonna have a big release show. it looks like we've got, one of my favorite bands opening up for us called Left Bank. some cagey old vets, playing in that, that band as well, but kinda art rocky, really cool band. gonna be with us, and they're on Trap 1 Records as well.

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 22:24

Yeah. Yeah, very cool. I, I have listened to it, and it's great. It's a lot of fun. I actually, I mean, I didn't know it was 20 years old. I'm surprised. It sounds great. I mean, Grud, like, I guess how would you describe the sound or genre that you're, you're playing on this?

Conrad 22:40

I've been going with alt goth pop shoegaze country

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 22:46

I kinda, I kinda love that. I kinda love it. And, and you're doing the vocals, and I know in past bands you haven't... You've done vocals, but not necessarily the lead, so, you know, what was that like for you?

Conrad 22:57

Yeah. I'm doing lead on, yeah, n- probably seven of the 10 songs, and then, my friend Gary, is, is the other three songs, I believe. but yeah, it's, it's songs mostly that me and Gary wrote. so they're, know, my songs and his songs. and yeah, being the lead guy is, is a little different. I'm used to being the sidekick, the one that's standing on top of the keyboard and,

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 23:26

Yeah, I was just gonna say, I've had the pleasure of seeing you live several times, and Conrad is a high-energy show in himself. If you've never... If you've seen any of his bands, you, you'll remember Conrad. He's, like, nine feet tall and jumps around and yeah, yeah. Didn't you actually just hurt yourself a, a few years back jumping

Conrad 23:46

I did. joined Deadly

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 23:47

around?

Conrad 23:48

and my first show back, I stepped off the back of the stage and jumped at the same time, not realizing how close I was to the back of the stage, and, tore my Achilles.

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 24:00

Oh.

Conrad 24:01

Yeah, so I was in a walking boot for what was it? I think it was, like, three months I was in a walking boot, after that. But, yeah,

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 24:11

Amen. For the, for the love of the art, for the love of the art. And, and, and I real- I really like the sound of this album. And, and, and not to, it's always hard to compare, but, like, even your vocals and the vibes, sometimes I was coming in and out of, like, I'm like, I'm getting hints of, like, kind of Dylan or Jonathan Richman or Michael Stipe. I was getting these really cool alternative singer, like, sounds out of it, and which, I mean, I love all those bands, and it was just like... But yeah, and this kind of modern, you know, rock flow and, like, yeah, it just, it's a great, great, great album. So I mean, y- you have the release party coming the 23rd. Are you gonna look to maybe do a little tour even in or in and around Alberta? What are you, what are you guys thinking?

Conrad 24:53

Yeah, we're thinking after that we'll... I haven't got anything in the can yet, but, yeah, we would like to tour, in and around Alberta for sure, interior BC. if we can get out to Vancouver we'll probably do that. but we are, Gary and I have been talking a little bit about, trying to play in Europe 'cause we'd, we really would like to just get out

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 25:17

Mm-hmm.

Conrad 25:17

and do something that we've never done before. and, so we'll see. Hopefully that'll happen, but, we don't know yet.

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 25:26

Yeah, yeah. And I mean, as mentioned, we're a little more vintage, so I mean, it gets harder, like, you know, with all the- everybody in the band has to get all their lives covered to go do it. And that wasn't like when you're, like, in your 20s and you're like, "Screw it, let's just go right now," you know?

Conrad 25:39

Yeah. totally. No, we all have to get w- time off work at the same time. That's

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 25:46

Yeah, yeah, I hear you, man. So,

Conrad 25:48

one

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 25:48

Sled this year, I assume, you- have you got a pass? And if you do, what, w- do you know what bands you maybe are gonna go try and see this year?

Conrad 25:57

I have no idea yet.

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 25:58

Yeah.

Conrad 25:59

really- Well-

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 25:59

And

Conrad 26:00

Yeah.

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 26:00

kind of the beauty of Sled, you don't have to. You can just kind of wander around and just discover as you go, and if you're at one place and maybe it's not vibing, you're like, "Oh, I'll just walk two blocks to the next and see what's going on there."

Conrad 26:12

Yeah. No, totally.

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 26:14

Yeah, awesome. yeah, anything else you're excited about? What other, local bands? I always like to ask that. you've mentioned many you've played with in the, in the past, but what local bands, especially around Calgary now, are you, listening to or would you like to give a shout-out to,

Conrad 26:29

Oh,

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 26:30

yourself?

Conrad 26:30

Fam, Toxic Fam is probably my favorite local band right now. I just love those guys. They're--

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 26:35

う ん。

Conrad 26:36

And they've just, gone, like they've gone to the next level. we played with them at Village Brewery a coup- few weeks

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 26:44

Mm-hmm.

Conrad 26:44

now, I hadn't seen them in a few months, they're just elevated their, their show. they're just so good now. I've been watching them since d- day one and all their lineup changes and stuff. But, Like they've really gone next level. Gush, we just played with them a little bit ago, a '90s, oh, what do you call it? kind of a vibe to them, they're really good as well. yeah, we talked about that. I don't know, like some of the old guys, like in Battle River and, that kind of stuff. Laurie Matheson has a new album out. it's like a few months old now, but, really great album that I love. one of my old vintage guys. just trying to think of the, some of the young... Oh, Stutter,

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 27:31

Oh, yeah

Conrad 27:32

younger band that I really like. they've, they've been coming along. The Medusas, unfortunately, I think they might be done, but, they were one of my faves as well. yeah, I

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 27:47

Yeah

Conrad 27:47

on the rest right now, but there's, there's just a million bands in Calgary. It's kinda crazy how cool the scene is and,

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 27:55

Yeah, it, it has grown and, and, and then we were talking about a lot of them, but there's all these great spaces now, and, and they've become more open and, you know, accessible, whereas in the past maybe there were several clubs, but if you weren't kind of on the A circuit of local, you were having trouble getting in them. So now you can, you know, like you said, rent some of these small spaces or just approach them and to come in and do a show on, like, a Thursday night or something, and you'll, you'll get that opportunity. So, so that's great. so Conrad, you know, vintage again, as we said, but, you know, still young at heart as we all are. And but, what advice would you give to those, like, maybe kids coming out of high school or kids starting their own bands now, especially in, Calgary and Alberta? Like, what advice, would you have for them and about their, about their music?

Conrad 28:45

Do it. Just keep doing it. Put it, put your own shows on if you can't get into Blocks or Loopholes. Rent a community hall. just get your music out there and, and just play live. Record yourself. Just keep doing it, and persistence is the key. They... Y- it's not gonna be a quick road. It never is, but- Yeah but just keep doing it. I'm, 30-some years into this, and I'm never quitting. And, yeah, just keep going 'cause it's rewarding. It's what we live for. We live for music and art and, love and all of those things. Don't go get a stupid day job. Hey, Si.

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 29:31

I kinda love it. I kinda love it, man. Yeah. Conrad, thanks. Any, you, anything else to add before we, sign off for today?

Conrad 29:38

not that I can think of. Just, come down to our show at Blocks on August 23rd, and, we should have a good time. I've got some... The Brisket Boys are gonna bring some food down, so there, there's that. Sea Change is sponsoring

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 29:52

Nice

Conrad 29:53

so there's, there's gonna be beer as well, but it's all ages too, just come down and, have a good time. I wanna sell the place out and put on a good show

Darren Scott - The Sonic Collective 30:01

Yeah. Awesome. And, thanks for talking to me, my friend. I definitely wanted your perspective as somebody that's, been around and, listening to the local music a long time. But, yeah, I will see you around Sled. I will see you at your show. I'm excited for that. check out the new album by Les Gi- Gi- Gigantiques. there's my French coming out, and, you know, it's great. Support local music. Get out there, see it live. Get away from your screen and in front of a band. That's, always my advice. But, Conrad, great talking to you today, and, I'll, I'll see you soon, my friend. Many thanks to Conrad for joining me today on the Sonic Collective and for sharing the story behind Les Gigantiques. I always stumble over that word. French, but cool. I think, they were actually called The Gigantics, he mentioned, but, probably the English version was already taken. Anyway, one of the things I've always loved about Calgary's music community is that it never stops surprising you. Stories like this remind us that great music doesn't always arrive on schedule. Sometimes it waits patiently for 20 years before finding its audience. If you'd like to learn more about Les Gigantiques, be sure to check out their music. again, you can find it on Spotify, Apple Music, all your streaming platforms, YouTube, just, Google Les Gi- Gigantiques. We will link to it in the show notes here, so please check that out if you're listening there. but yeah, try to catch them live. again, he promoted that date in August, so be sure to try and check that out if you're in Calgary area. anyway, Sled Island, really that's what the festival is all about. It's discovering artists, supporting local music, and finding something unexpected. This episode has been part of our ongoing Sled Island series. Be sure to check out our main feature episode, Sled Island: The Festival That Changed Calgary Music, where we explore the festival's history and impact on Calgary's music scene. We have had conversations with other Sled Island artists that were playing the 2026 lineup. as of this recording, it hasn't happened yet, but, be sure to check out the interview with K-Rizz, Cartel Madras, Brock Geiger, and the Sun Glaciers, along with a post-festival wrap-up episode that will come out after Sled Island, where we'll look back at this year's event and share what we learned from the artists, the fans, the organizers, and everyone who makes the Sled Island experience so special. If you've enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, share it, do whatever you gotta do. please help support these music artists. grow local. Don't just fall to the trap of listening to pop radio or listening to what Spotify or Apple serves you. independent podcasts and independent artists thrive for the same reason: passionate people spreading the word. Until next time, I'm Darren Scott, and this has been the Sonic Collective. Thanks for listening

33:14

Thanks for listening to The Sonic Collective. If you enjoyed this episode, help us keep great music alive by subscribing, leaving a review, and sharing the show with a fellow music fan. Be sure to explore our growing catalog of album reviews, artist interviews, festival coverage, and music discoveries from across Canada and beyond. The theme music for The Sonic Collective is Dust by Léger Gongtique from Calgary. Our thanks to the band for letting us use and feature their music. Be sure to check them out. Until next time, keep listening, keep discovering, and keep the conversation going. This is The Sonic Collective signing off