|
The Story So Far...
The frigid tundra of Northwestern Ontario Canada … in a place called Thunder Bay, a bass player is born …
Kevin McParland first picked up a bass in early high school. One of his best friends, Tom, had already claimed the school's guitar. A fortunate turn of events as Kevin took to the bass like a pickerel to a chartreuse Little Joe. He was hooked. He'd play that black and white Fender Precision for hours. With the help of his friends and bandmates (including the loudest drummer in the world), Kevin developed as a player. As a songwriter, Kevin had a penchant for avoiding where others had tread. Something that would come into play a little down the road.
Flashback
Arek Wojciechowski was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1973. After a two year stop over in Austria, Arek and his family arrived in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, in 1983. Many uneventful years passed, until two friends (one of which just happened to be Kevin McParland) suggested he take up drums in the grade nine stage band, securing his spot on a band trip to glorious Winnipeg, Manitoba. Along with Kevin on bass and Tom on guitar, Arek formed his first band: Indecision. Starting out with covers, Indecision played many live shows in Thunder Bay, and went on to record a full length original album entitled “… Any Questions?” In 1992. Shortly after, Indecision began work on their second original album, only to disband mid way through.
Meanwhile, across town
Mike Ball was playing Pong. Also from Thunder Bay, Ontario, Mike and his band, Cold Fusion recorded an album in Vancouver in 1992. The band toured in Western Canada, and like most bands with success just around the corner, they promptly broke up. While drinking tea at a local club, lamenting the break up of his band, Mike saw another local act with an awesome drummer. Needing a drummer for his next musical adventure, Mike thought, "Hey, we should get this guy!" The next night Mike came back and immediately asked the drummer to join up with him. The drummer: Arek. The band: Indecision. The story: A different kind of band than what Mike had seen the previous night. Good thing Arek could drum. The resulting project was Love In Venice.
LiV released several original recordings and a 7” single to rave reviews. They began playing in Thunder Bay, and touring Western Canada, including the Music West festival in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1995. Needing a great bass player to fill a recently opened gap, Kevin McParland reentered the picture to complete the LiV rhythm section. Unfortunately, “real life” took precedence in 1996 when Mike moved to Ottawa, Ontario, and Love In Venice was no more.
Great things simply cannot be kept down, and so Mike, Kevin, and Arek were reunited again in 1997 in Ottawa. Soon enough, a new band was in the works.
Enter the Frontman
Bart Marcoux was born in Sudbury, Ontario to a musically driven family. Though a sports enthusiast, his parents pushed him to attend music lessons and perform at small functions playing guitar and singing or lip-syncing to Elvis records. Bart played often with family bands at reunions, giving him a stage to perform his Mick Jagger and Elvis impersonations. Since everyone he knew played guitar, Bart got a set of drums for his 18th birthday, just to be different. After playing with a band called the Pessimists for a short time he realized he wasn’t made for drums, nor wanted to hidebehind cymbals and toms. Center stage is what his ego and talent demanded. Working on his voice with various bands, Bart eventually formed the band Stone Cold, which became a staple of the Sudbury music scene. After relocating to Ottawa, Bart joined Sky Candy and got recognition as a great musical impressionist. This continued with 3 Guys and a Drummer, but the creative genius needed more. His salvation would come in the form of an ad placed with 106.9 the Bear’s Band-Aid from a band looking for a singer. After a grueling audition (beer and cheesy covers), all members exchanged excited grins … Bart was in like Flynn.
The rest, as they say is history (but we’ll tell you anyway, just in case you slept through it!) With Bart Marcoux coming on board as the ultimate front man to join drummer Arek Wojciechowski, Kevin McParland on bass, and Mike Ball on guitar, Waiting For Dave was born in 1999. The band has since performed numerous times in Ottawa, as well as Western Quebec, and has built a dedicated following. Their high energy live show and super-Rock original material propelled them to victory in the 2002 Tech Rocks band wars competition, and provided an opportunity to perform with Sam Roberts, Swollen Members, The Watchmen, and Edwin at the Molson Canadian Rocks Canada Day Party in Ottawa. They have twice been featured on Ottawa’s Breakfast @ the NewRO television program. With the release of their debut album entitled “Rock Show” in 2003, Waiting For Dave has firmly established a foot hold in the Canadian music industry.
And they’re just getting started …
|
