Sandbox will exploit any angle it can get, no matter how
dubious or strange.
Singer Paul Murray, for instance, has no problem using the
fact that he's Anne Murray's nephew.
"People might give us a little extra listen because of it," he
says. "I think any advantage that you have, you have to take
it and try and use it. If people want to buy our album
because I'm Anne Murray's nephew, that's fine with us. And
if not, that's fine, too."
Auntie Annie's music bears no resemblance to what
Sandbox plays, of course, but that doesn't matter. The band
plays the U of A's Power Plant tomorrow night - a gig Anne
Murray could never get.
Then there's the location advantage. Sandbox hails from
Halifax, which, thanks to Sloan, briefly enjoyed being
"Seattle of the North." The city's club scene stinks now,
Murray says, but being from the Maritimes is still a foot in
the door since the East Coast music scene became so
successful (at least if your name has a "Mac" in it). While the
only thing that distinguishes Sandbox as a Maritime band is
the way Murray flattens his 'R's, that doesn't matter, either.
An angle's an angle.
Then there's the band's attention-grabbing new CD, A
Murder in the Glee Club. The songs are connected with a
little murder mystery theme for extra fun.
"We had the album ready to go and we were trying to come
up with a cover and something a little more interesting for
people to grab on to," Murray says. "A lot of people like to
over-analyse albums, so we thought we'd give them
something to read through while they're listening to the disc."
Sandbox needs any break it can get. The band is back to
being an independent now, having parted ways with its
record label, EMI Canada (same label as Auntie Anne). It
had to do with dreaded "artistic differences," Murray
explains. "They wanted us to be perceived a little heavier, I
think, and we just try to do our own thing. It's always been
important to us to have our own image."
The option to go it alone, with a sweet deal to keep all
revenues from sales of Glee Club, was taken without
hesitation. The members of Sandbox appear to be both
stubborn and smart, and not just because they all have
college degrees (the band's regular guitarist, Jason
Archibald, is on leave because he's in medical school).
After the band formed in New Glasgow, N.S., things
happened too fast to over-analyse. Murray had been out of
university for only two months when Sandbox was signed.
He wasn't even sure he wanted to be a rock musician. The
first tour had such a shoestring budget that the band
travelled in the guitarist's father's 1979 Suburban. A large
tent was provided for accommodation
"It's kind of funny," Murray recalls.
"We're playing these shows, people are sort of seeing us as
fairly successful and then after we're done, we go to the
campsite and set up our tent at two in the morning. There
were some good laughs."
The debut album, Bionic, earned Sandbox a Juno
nomination and three East Coast Music Award nominations
- none of which they won. Getting another "angle" might've
been nice, but it's clear Sandbox doesn't care one way or
another. They're not in the game for awards, they're in it for
themselves.
Says Murray, "If people like it, great, and if not, it's fine with
us. We don't let people drag us down. We get people
saying, 'oh, you gotta do this, you gotta do that.' And we
just say no, we're going to do it our own way, and if it
doesn't pan out in the end, well, at least we did it our own
way."
Tickets to Sandbox, with Calgary's Zuckerbaby opening,
are $10 at the door.