What started as a teenage obsession has turned into something bigger for Kris Scott. The Creston-born and -raised 20-year-old is currently touring in Ontario with his band, Live on Brighton.
“When I was in Creston, I would play drums non-stop in my parents’ garage,” he said. “When I was going to college, I was kind of weighing the two — going to school versus being in a band.”
The band will be in Ontario until May, and tour from P.E.I. back to B.C. in June, at which point Live on Brighton may play in the Creston Valley, following up on two well-received concerts at the Sirdar Pub last summer.
“Everyone in there was my friend, so it was a great time,” said Scott. “People I didn’t expect to come out were there. … Lots of the people who were there didn’t even know I played drums.”
But the tour isn’t the only big thing on the Kelowna-based band’s schedule. On Feb. 20, Live on Brighton will be featured on the The Real Radio Show, a podcast/live show on New York’s 103.9 WRCN FM.
And the band is also one of 30 finalists in EMI’s Mobile Artist competition, which will see one artist, to be announced during Canadian Music Week, win a recording deal with the label.
“We’re really pushing for that,” said Scott. (For more information, visit moartist.com, and to vote, text LOB to 79999. Voting runs through March.)
Live on Brighton has released two albums, an EP in November 2010 and a full-length CD, After Hours, in January, the former recorded at Kelowna’s Centre for Arts and Technology, the latter recorded in lead singer, guitarist and sound engineer Jeff Fero’s home.
The band’s three members — Scott, Fero and Harrison Crerar — met in Kelowna, where they were attending post-secondary schools. Scott planned to become a teacher, Fero took an audio engineering course and Ontario native Crerar, their bass player, moved to Kelowna to study creative writing.
“I kind of rallied the guys all together to get this band going,” said Fero, who grew up in Lethbridge and whose parents recently retired to Creston.
Scott has been playing the drums for about eight years, having studied in Creston with former Prince Charles Secondary School music teacher Roy Carson and with Rick Potyok. He cites the Police and the Foo Fighters as major influences.
“I think they have a good combination of intelligence and raw energy. There are some bands where the hipster guys try to be too smart and punk is all raw energy. I don’t know how intelligent we are, but we try to bring energy, anyway,” he said with a laugh.
Live on Brighton plays a few covers, but mainly music written by the members, who were living on Brighton Road in Kelowna when they formed.
“When we practiced, we were live on Brighton — whether they liked it or not,” said Scott.
He has come a long way from playing in his parents’ garage, and releasing a new CD is an exciting turn of events.
“You actually feel more like a band because people you don’t know listen to your songs,” he said. “We had a review and it felt like we were an actual band selling our music.”