TAKING A SONG THAT WE LOVE AND DRESSING IT UP IN A DIFFERENT OUTFIT
A CONVERSATION WITH NICK ROSE OF DWAYNE GRETZKY
It was 2012, when a group of friends who jammed together doing covers of popular songs managed to garner themselves a residency at the Dakota Tavern. From that point, Dwayne Gretzkyβs show began to gain momentum. They booked a one-off show at The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern that took off, and the following year that also became a residency with a lineup around the block.Β One couldnβt think of two better venues for any bandβs career to take off in. On the other hand, this is no ordinary band. This is Dwayne Gretzky beating the odds, going against the grain. Torontoβs best-known cover band is certainly going places.
They say curiosity killed the cat, but the cats in this band will have you curious. Apparently, Toronto is not the only market with curiosity. βIt was very much a Toronto thing for the first few years of the bandβs existence and then we wanted to expand and go to other cities, and so over the last few years we made an effort to play at other bars, like Maxwellβs in Waterloo. The last time we played there it was sold out, around 800 people there.Β The Town Ballroom Buffalo is a real great venue. We played there a few times. Weβre trying to expand outside the GTA but itβs a bit tricky because thereβs 10 of us, and as a cover band we did not promote singles and merchandise. Itβs a different kind of tour; itβs very much the word of mouth thing. We tried to keep it within a four-hour drive within Toronto. We played New York City several times.Β We played Chicago, Detroit; we tried to get the show out on the road.β
Everyone in the band has their own other creative projects they are working on.Β βPersonally I have Teen Ravine, a project with Dan Griffin. But Dwayne Gretzky is this fun thing, and we all come together in the sense of itβs more our day job. It sort of pays the bills and itβs the thing we spent a lot of time on and energy on but itβs important that everyone in the band have their own creative outlets, whether itβs writing and arranging music, and so on. We play music that was in our parentsβ record collection, everything from Fleetwood Mac to Paul Simon to The Bee Gees, but there is a stigma to a cover band. Ten years ago, I did not expect to be in a cover band, but youβve got to adapt to the new landscape.”Β Judging by the way shows are selling out, we can refer to them as a band of game changers. Tommy Youngsteen are similar in the sense that they are also a cover band thatβs also landing gigs at The Horseshoe Tavern. βTheyβre doing their own thing, weβre doing our own thing, thereβs lots of space in the city for multiple bands to pay homage to the classic songsβ.Β But Dwayne Gretzky has a bigger palate, covering a wider period. The new record goes as far back as the early β60s with The Beatlesβ βPlease, Please Meβ and The Beach Boysβ βDonβt Worry Babyβ, taking us up to the aughts with QOTSAβ βMake It Wit Youβ. βI canβt speak for everyone in the band, but we feel very fortunate that we stumbled into this something that thereβs a demand for, and we do it well, within the confines of being a cover band.
All of Dwayne Gretzkyβs song interpretations are in the same key with the same lyrics as the originals. The new record is a bold impression of their mandate. The chord arrangements are often with slower and softer time signatures. βThat was all very deliberate. Weβve been together for the past eight years or so, and when we perform songs, we do quite faithful renditions of them.Β But in this past year we decided we wanted to make a record, get into the studio and do something more creative. I donβt think itβs very purposeful to record faithful renditions of covers because it seems pointless. But stripping the song to its skeletal form and finding an interesting way to dress it up in different clothing was appealing. The record is all over the place stylistically exploring different genres, and the fun at taking a song that we love and dress it up in a different outfit.
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This summer when The Rolling Stones played Burlβs Creek on their only Canadian date, an adjacent stage was set up closer to the groundsβ entrance where a few of the openers performed. Β Around 11 pm, Dwayne Gretzky was on that same stage, getting ready for their cue to begin their show, their late-night after party. βIt was pretty surreal to get that opportunity. We were very grateful. We set up on the other stage of the other side of the field. We were supposed to start playing as soon as The Stones stopped all playing, so we were just standing on the stage, just watching them sort of quietly playing along to βSatisfactionβ. It was very surreal to be on the stage, staring out across a massive field and sort of playing along with The Stones. Youβre never gonna experience that again. I think pretty quickly a good sized crowd of about 2000 people gathered; basically it was all the people camping overnight. The whole thing was pretty cool.
Toronto certainly embraces Dwayne Gretzky. βToronto is a hub and it feels special. It gives me great pride that Dwayne Gretzky has built up a following. It feels like a part of Toronto.β However, as cover bands frequently experience, there is always a pinch of criticism weighing in.Β βIβm sure music purists will turn their nose up at it as a populist thing that is not cool. I donβt really care about that. Itβs really fun and positive. Our shows are celebrations of these great songs.β
Their repertoire spans music from the β70s to the aughts finding a place in their set-list. βWe started doing a β90s show. Weβve done six in a row at The Phoenix, and then we started doing a 2000s show for the first time in the bandβs history. Weβre doing everything from Kylie Minogue to Daft Punk. We love Queens Of The Stone Age, and when we started making this record, we decided that it would be fun to do that groovy, sludgy rock vibe songs, and turn it more into a Daft Punk-inspired dance song. The video was directed by our friend Anne Douris who is an artist and animator, and sheβd also done our video for S.O.S. Her sensibility makes her an amazing person to work with.β
One song standing out on the new record is βJust What I Neededβ by The Cars. βIt was very sad to hear of Ric Ocasekβs passing. The Cars, on a personal level, are one of my all-time favourite bands. Their debut record is the perfect pop album. We recorded βJust What I Neededβ around two years ago because it may be one of the best pop songs of all time.β
What is ironic is that Dwayne Gretzkyβs version of The Carsβ classic song is stripped down and softened up, while most of the record sounds like it was given The Carsβ treatment. βWe love doing pop from the β80s. I think thatβs one of the evolutions of this band. We started out doing Van Morrison, Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen; we play the music that was in our parentsβ record collection β Paul Simon, The Bee Gees. We started with the roots rock artists that we love and we still perform songs by them, we just try to push the envelope, and try things different. βDonβt Stopβ, and βBohemian Rhapsodyβ from Queen, to Whitney Houston, to Toto, and wild β80s stuff that is difficult to pull off. It forced us to challenge ourselves. It helps that we have 10 people in the band that are ready to tackle all these things and fill them out. For the first time weβre going to be performing the songs on this released record, mixing it in with all the faithful other repertoire songs. Itβs a fun new venture for this project. I think people who have come to Dwayne Gretzky shows will be pleasantly surprised with the new material and how it works.β
What it all boils down to here is that if there is a market shift in the GTA towards the high profile cover band market, at the forefront, carrying that torch are the game changers Dwayne Gretzky.
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Photo Credits: Arden WrayΒ
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