MOUNTAIN LIFE - Blue Mountains | Fall 2018

FALL 2018 ML BLUE 41 words :: Allison Kennedy Davies The first time I saw My Son the Hurricane, I was in awe. This 14-piece funk/brass/ hip hop band is like nothing I’d ever seen. It was a scorching hot day and I was at a sour beer festival—aptly titled Funkfest—at the Sawdust City Brewery in Gravenhurst. It was Canada Day and by all accounts, it was an epic setting to see a band like MSTH. Beer-fueled dance crowds, sun shining down, more horns than you can shake a stick at and a surprising blend of hip-hop vocals kept the crowd dancing, jumping, laughing and just plain feeling good. I knew nothing about the band beforehand but I was instantly hooked. I was keeping an eye out for local bassist Frasier Gauthier, but he hadn’t made that tour stop. Instead I was drawn to the chemistry between front line vocalists Sylvie Kindree and Jacob Bergsma. When the show was over, I immediately started looking for other tour dates; I needed to experience the Hurricane again, ASAP. And so began my love of the band, and I quickly booked tickets to a concert at the Marsh Street Centre in Clarksburg. This small, sold-out venue came alive and this time I had a killer idea. Mountain Life was poised to publish the “No Man’s Land” issue you’re currently reading. Selfishly, I wanted to know more about the force that is Sylvie Kindree. We set up an interview, in Owen Sound, and I waited quietly at my table at the Milk Maid. I could see the blazing red flash of Sylvie’s dress reflected in the bingo parlour window long before she arrived: a hurricane of style, kindness, brains and energy. Mountain Life: Tell us about howyou ended up as amember of My Son the Hurricane. Sylvie Kindree: I saw them years before I joined, near the beginning of the band. Nelson Beattie is a friend of mine and he started the band with Danno O’Shea. They were playing in Owen Sound three years ago and Nelson asked if I wanted to sing a few songs with them. I was like, “definitely.” I said to my husband, “I will be in this band.” I went home and I studied all of the hook lines in all the songs. I memorized them all in the hopes that they would let me sing more. I was supposed to do a few songs, but they realized I knew everything, so I stayed on stage all night. The next morning, I went out for breakfast with the band over at The Bus Stop and the guitar player, Chris Sippas, turns to me and says, “So are you coming with us for the show today?” I looked at Danno and he said, “do you want to?” We drove to my house, I packed up some things and I went on tour with them. I’ve been at every show ever since. Meet Sylvie Kindree of the brass-funk beast My Son the Hurricane DAUGHTER HURRICANE “We just want to give joy and then the joy comes back. Don’t we all need some joy right now?”