Meet The Juno Nominees: Arkells

Everyone knows it's just nice to be nominated. But it's especially nice to be nominated on your first record.

Hamilton, Ont.'s Arkells are still riding high on the stretch of their 2008 Jackson Square debut album, which makes them contenders for this year's best new group Juno. Singer Max Kerman and keyboardist/guitarist Dan Griffin stuck around until the last free bagel was being buttered to talk about how they're training for the JunOlympics.

CHARTattack: Don't be modest, how do you feel about being nominated?
Dan Griffin: It's something that's not really on the radar, any of these sorts of award shows. You don't really think about it when you're practising, or trying to book gigs. Then you find out about it from your management and they you're like, "Hey!" and you call your parents and they're happy. Then you get back to practising.
 
What was your musical highlight of the last year?
Max Kerman: I guess the most recent thing is that we were up for some Hamilton Music Awards. It's been a great year. And the CASBY Awards.

We won a whack of awards in Hamilton, and it was special to come home from tour and be welcomed home in your own city by everyone who was supporting us. That was a special time for us, and we took a minute just to remind ourselves it's been a great few years and we should be proud of where we're at.

Awards show producers love medleys. If you were invited to perform at the Junos in a medley with one of the other nominees, who would you want to collaborate with?
DG: Does it have to be a duet? Or can we play with another band? We had an opportunity to play with Tragically Hip and Sam Roberts this summer — both heroes or ours. So if we got to do a medley with them, ideally it would be the Hip singing our songs and Sam singing our songs, and us singing our songs. So basically the whole thing would be us. Or what about Tragically Hip playing a song over Sam Roberts lyrics, but performed by us?

April Wine are this year's Canadian Music Hall Of Fame inductees. What's your favourite April Wine song?
DG: You know what? I think "Patio Lanterns."

[long pause]
DG: Is that April Wine?

No. That's Kim Mitchell.
MK: We could tell you some Bryan Adams songs.

Name something you'd do with your trophy other than put it on your mantle.
DG: We're obsessed with the Olympics, so we're going to take it to a foundry, melt it down, colour it gold with markers, then hang it around our necks. You can find lanyards anywhere.
MK: Gold medalists in the Junolympics! We're going for gold in 2010!