Junior Pantherz Rejoice And Remain Together

After weathering through difficult times, people often gain a greater appreciation for the things they have. That's certainly the case for Terry Mattson, singer and guitarist for Saskatoon's recently reformed Junior Pantherz.

Mattson formed Junior Pantherz with his childhood friend and drummer Arnold Van Lambalgen II and classically-trained upright bassist S.J. Kardash in 1999. They released five albums in the six years between forming and 2005's Death By Life. But shortly after that album was released, Mattson's mother — a piano teacher who'd encouraged his fascination with music since he was a child — passed away. Mattson went through a period of reflection in the aftermath, which meant he needed to be away from the band. Since he was the frontman and main singer/songwriter, this meant the end of Junior Pantherz.

"I couldn't just leave the band and let them continue," Mattson says. "I guess things had to stop.

"Unfortunately, it happened at kind of an awkward time when we were on the road. But that was it. There just needed to be change for me, personally. Unfortunately, it had to affect the whole group."

Kardash went on to form The Blood Lines with his sister Maygen while Mattson continued to write music on his own. But Junior Pantherz began playing shows again at the end of 2006 after they realized they'd left things unresolved. They added Maygen on keyboards, booked some studio time and recorded this year's Rejoice, Remain.

"For me personally, lyrically and stuff, while our last album was more about kind of the lows and being defeated by life, this is a much more uplifting and inspirational record, I find," Mattson says, adding that those lows he experienced made him look at things from a new angle, and prompted him to change his outlook. "It's maybe not as dark as our previous record."

While Mattson says his lyrics have changed, the band's sound on Rejoice, Remain has largely remained the same. But he says Maygen's presence has resulted in a huge change in how the band tackle their songs live. Earlier Junior Pantherz albums contained keyboards and other instrumentation, but Mattson says since the original three members were primarily responsible for other instruments, recreating their records in a live setting was difficult.

"It's been nice to really be able to recreate our album, for the most part, pretty accurately live, having the addition of keys, trumpets and other instrumentation. So it's nice and kind of frees you up a bit more, and it feels like the load's been taken off me a bit, personally, and I'm sure for other people as well. Just having an extra sound up there, really frees you up to kind of experiment live and make more noise."

You can see Junior Pantherz here:

June 13 Toronto, ON @ Global Village Backpackers (NXNE Saved By Vinyl/Kelp Records BBQ, 2:50 p.m.)
June 13 Toronto, ON @ Rivoli (NXNE Chart showcase, 9 p.m.)
June 28 Calgary, AB @ Palomino w/Still Flyin', Mohawk Lounge, Mt. Royal and Language Arts (Sled Island Festival)
June 30 Edmonton, AB @ The Pawn Shop (Sonic FM Canada Day Pre-Party)