Former local starts popular band
Shannon LeClair – Times Reporter
Nine years ago a local Strathmore boy went off to Vancouver to become an actor, and last week he came back as a musician with his band, Minto.
Evret Tucker graduated from Strathmore High School in 1996. After working at the UFA for four years, he decided to head to Vancouver after enrolling in a yearlong intensive acting program.
“That’s how I met everybody, we were all actors basically and we all played music and enjoyed it. Then we decided to just write songs and one thing led to another. People asked us to open up for them, other friends, and then the wheels started turning,” said Tucker. There are five members in the band including Johnny Stewart and Jimi Cuell, but the three core members are Ryan Hoben, Evret and Kalvin Olafson. Being a former resident of Strathmore, Tucker had a few ideas in mind when he started planning to come back to town.
“I noticed the Old Mill would have been a great venue but they were closed, so I tried the green bar. I had that in motion, but then they fired all the staff and didn’t want to take any bands on, so we tried Rumors, but they are closed for the month of June. I had the green bar kind of booked for a couple of months now and then that fell through and so we were scrambling trying to find something and we ended up playing Stix Lounge,” said Tucker. The turnout wasn’t what the band had been hoping for, but with the last minute venue, it being a Monday night and the fact they didn’t have a chance to advertise, they were still happy with those who could make it. Minto started off as an alternative country band, which eventually evolved into rock with a bit of folk mentality.
“The structure of the songs, and the way they are written could easily be folk songs as well, but we have electric guitars so it gets a little bit louder,” said Tucker.
“A lot of our inspiration, or people we look up to, are like Neil Young, Crazy Horse, or My Morning Jacket, they have that sort of folk/country aspect but they’re very rocking at the same time, and that’s who we sort of draw from a bit,” said Tucker. The band writes all of their own music, with Tucker and Olafson writing the progressions and structures and Hoben coming up with the melody and lyrics.
“It’s kind of a collaborative process.”
The band is currently looking for management and an independent label, so they can tour more while having a helping hand.
“We’re not looking for a major label, major labels are really suffering right now so we want an independent label that has a sort of old school mentality to it so they really work with the artist and develop them,” said Tucker.
“This is definitely something we’re going to pursue, when you work hard and try to get something together and sacrifice lots to make it happen, its harder and harder to let it go.”
Tucker still lives in Vancouver and is taking a degree program in jazz and contemporary guitar, while the rest of the band are still pursuing their acting careers. In the fall they will be heading to Toronto for a tour of eastern Canada, and they plan to come back to Strathmore and play again, possibly next summer.
The band’s current album is called, ‘Lay it on me’. To listen to what they are all about people can either find them at www.myspace.com/mintominto or www.mintomusic.com