Gearing up for trouble

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This article was published 02/04/2024 (556 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Comeback Kid knows Canada’s vast geography all too well.

The Winnipeg hardcore band, which plays a sold-out Park Theatre Wednesday, is in the midst of a gruelling string of one-nighters across Canada that began in Halifax in March.

Even getting prepared for the tour had the odometer on their tour van and trailer spinning as furiously as the rapid-fire tracks that are the foundation of Comeback Kid’s 23-year career.

“Jeremy drove the van all the way from Winnipeg. We met him in Halifax,” vocalist Andrew Neufeld says of the 3,500-kilometre journey guitarist Jeremy Hiebert embarked upon.

“And then (we go) all the way to Victoria and then back to Winnipeg. I haven’t actually really asked him what he pays himself for that, or if he does. I should bring it up … or maybe I shouldn’t bring it up.”

Trucking thousands of dollars’ worth of guitars, drums, amplifiers and electronic gadgets that make the song Wake the Dead do exactly that sounds exhausting, but Neufeld says it beats the cost and worry of hiring shipping companies or using airlines.

Trouble awaits around every corner when acts go on tour, but Comeback Kid doesn’t have the luxury of avoiding it at all costs like other acts.

It tags along with Neufeld, Hiebert, guitarist Stu Ross, drummer Loren Legare and bassist Chase Brenneman wherever they go in the form of Trouble, the group’s new four-song EP.

The songs began as part of recording sessions held at Winnipeg’s Private Ear Studios for Comeback Kid’s seventh album, 2022’s Heavy Steps.

The members felt the four tracks didn’t fit the album, so they set them aside until last year, when they polished them up with the help of Winnipeg producer John Paul Peters.

Songs such as the percussive Chompin’ at the Bit follow the band’s hard-driving pattern but have a more melodic aspect to them than the tracks on Heavy Steps.

That makes the Trouble a bit of a departure, Neufeld says, noting the working title for the single Trouble in the Winner’s Circle was “Alt-Rock.”

“I wouldn’t say these songs are the direction of Comeback Kid to come. This is a creative exploration. We’re just having fun writing songs and being able to step outside the box a little bit,” he says.

“With an EP, it allows you to throw caution to the wind a little bit more.”

The stop in Winnipeg will be a brief respite on the road for Comeback Kid, which performed in southeast Asia, Australia, the United States and Europe in 2023, Sao Paulo, Brazil in February and has three separate tours of Europe planned for later this year.

“We tour Europe a lot more than Canada, to be honest with you. The next tour we’re doing we’re actually going on a cruise ship from Germany to Holland, just for a couple of days. It’s going to be interesting, ,” Neufeld says.

“It’s a lot of waking up and flying at five in the morning, but some of the craziest crowds are out there and the passion is reality.”

Interacting with throngs of hardcore fans builds an immense amount of emotional energy that keeps Comeback Kid revved up.

It’s no easy task to recreate that spirit when the band goes into the studio, where there are no crowds to spur them on.

That’s when their experience comes into action, says the 42-year-old Neufeld.

“I remember doing four-hour sessions of vocals and then comping the vocals at the same time, which means picking and choosing all different takes and slicing them together,” he says. “It’s a lot of go, go, go and then rest and think of what you’ve done and go, go, go.

“You got to play the show whether you want to or not, and you got to record these tracks whether it’s time or not.”

Alan.Small@winnipegfreepress.com

X: @AlanDSmall