In early 2024, two pairs of musicians joined forces to form the alt-rock band now known as Carmine. After several months of refining their sound, the quartet released their debut single, Live So Slow, on Oct. 4 at Victoria’s Capitol Ballroom.
The Island-based band, comprised of keyboardist Rowan Hensley, bassist Breanna Montague, lead vocalist Reghan Geddes, and drummer Brett Rose, shared that their first official song came together effortlessly into place.
“We’ve all been in situations where we work a song to death before recording it. This time we wanted to try something different and record almost as soon as the song was written,” said Hensley.
Rose recalled that the entire process, from the song's inception to its full recording took about an hour.
“Brianna just started playing this baseline and Rowan started plunking away the synth,” he said. “Regan kind of stepped out of her jam space because she felt inspired and needed to write lyrics. She pretty much wrote everything down, had a melody, came back in, and jammed it out.”
With the song in hand, the group quickly sent it to their producer, Mike Noble of the Vancouver band Hotel Mira. Noble immediately saw its potential, said Rose.
“We sent it off to our producer right after the practice, and he was like, ‘Yeah, I think we’ve got lightning in a bottle here guys,’” the drummer said.
Lived So Slow is an energetic alt-rock track that tells the story of a Wild West duel, and metaphorically refers to taking the plunge and cutting off a bad relationship, explained Rose.
When asked to describe the band’s sound, Rose noted that it reflects the eclectic musical tastes of each member, blended with influences from artists like The XX and Muse.
“We have a lot of very rich and up-front synthesizers and keyboards that are taking the place of a guitarist,” he said. “Gritty is the word I’d use to describe the bass and drums [contrasted] by Regan’s almost sultry vocals, front and centre.
“It's kind of an odd mix [which] I would describe as theatrical and elegant while also having gritty elements of modern rock.”
As the Carmine stepped onto the stage of the Capitol Ballroom last Friday to perform their debut single live, Rose and his bandmates felt optimistic about their future, with several plans already in the works, including putting together their first EP and a potential provincial tour next summer.
“There's equal parts excitement, jubilation, just a lot of happiness and joy… we all feel pretty confident,” said Rose. “But we’re also super nervous as well. It's been a very quick ride and it’s almost disorienting in a way.”
To follow Carmine, visit the band’s website at: thatbandcarmine.com
