Said The Whale Plunge Into Debt To Record, But It's Worth It

Halfway through Said The Whale's Canadian tour, the band have declared the small southern Alberta city of Lethbridge as having the best audience members.

"I think there's a lot of college students who are bored and like good music there," says guitarist/vocalist Ben Worcester from a pit stop at the Minnesota border while on their way to Toronto.

The rising Vancouver indie pop group toured the western provinces extensively, hitting out-of-the-way cities that most bands wouldn't even consider stopping in. But that over-the-top effort to get their music out seems indicative of the group's "go hard or go home" approach. It wasn't that long ago that they decided to expand their two-piece set-up to a full band and take out a bank loan to finance a record.

"We just decided, 'Let's do it for real and get a good studio," remembers guitarist/vocalist Tyler Bancroft. "That all costs money, none of which we had. It's been pretty much a steady downward spiral into the pits of debt. But it's totally worth it."

The debt-inducing record, Taking Abalonia, has caught the attention of everyone from CBC Radio 3 host Grant Lawrence, who frequently plays on their punchline-worthy moniker, to celebrity blogger Perez Hilton. The songs are heavy on The Shins' brand of experimental, plucky pop, and hint that the band have the potential to be Canada's next big export.

One test of whether Said The Whale are growing in popularity will be their upcoming Ontario tour.

"It'll be interesting to see if things have grown for us," says Worcester. "We don't know."

But even if crowds fail to show up this time, Said The Whale have faith that they'll attract them eventually. Still freshly drained of funds from Taking Abalonia, they're set to release an EP of songs from the album along with a few new tracks sometime in April.

Here are Said The Whale's tour dates:

March 4 Windsor, ON @ Phog Lounge w/Hollerado
March 5 Hamilton, ON @ The Casbah w/Hollerado
March 6 Guelph, ON @ Bookshelf Ebar w/Hollerado
March 8 Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern (ChartAttack CMW showcase w/Maybe Smith, Black Lungs, The Saint Alvia Cartel, White Cowbell Oklahoma, The Creepshow, The Ghost Is Dancing and The Tom Fun Orchestra)
March 10 Ottawa, ON @ Zaphod Beeblebrox
March 11 Montreal, QC @ L'escogriffe
March 13 Sudbury, ON @ Townehouse Tavern
March 14 Sault Ste. Marie, ON @ Loplop's
March 15 Thunder Bay, ON @ Kilroy's
March 18 Regina, SK @ The Exchange