Victoria and Vancouver Island have a lot of musical talent, and Victoria Buzz wants to highlight some of the best and brightest local artists and bands.
Every Monday, there will be a fresh ‘New Music Monday’ article to help people find and support local artists and bands that are up-and-coming, well established or hidden gems!
For this endeavour, Victoria Buzz has partnered with our good friends at CFUV 101.9 FM, UVic’s campus radio station, to find and select the musicians and bands for this regular column.
This week, Three Sailing Wait is the New Music Monday highlight!
Three Sailing Wait is a four-piece rock and roll outfit who were born and raised in Victoria.
They recently made headlines in Victoria and elsewhere in BC because of a cease and desist order they received from BC Ferries regarding a logo they made for the band that resembled the ferry company’s a little too closely.
This mishap ended up being serendipitous for Three Sailing Wait, as they have been able to grab the attention of many new listeners as a result.
The band is comprised of Cam and Andrew on bass, rhythm and vocals; Geordie on lead guitar and Graham on drums.
Three Sailing Wait started with Cam and Andrew coming together to play their favourite cover songs together. Through the pandemic, they began to share their own music with one another before reaching out to friends Geordie and Graham to fill the band out.
Together they started playing at the Victoria Curling Club during bonspiel tournaments and writing more music together.
When it came time to naming the band, they came up with the cheeky name Three Sailing Wait as a bit of a joke to anyone who has grown up on the island waiting for ferries.
“We started playing under the name Three Sailing Wait, cause you know, ragging on the ferries and waiting for the ferries is kind of a way of life for everyone in Victoria,” Cam told Victoria Buzz.
In late August, the band released their second album, MARSEC Level 2, which is another little reference to island life and traversing the Georgia Strait via BC Ferries.
“It means ‘marine security,’ so when you drive up to the ferry, it always says ‘this facility is operating at MARSEC Level 1,’” said Cam.
“I always thought it was kind of funny, as a kid driving up, my dad would always say, ‘what level do you think MARSEC is at.”
They added that MARSEC is always at ‘Level 1’ unless there is an incident ongoing at the terminal.
The new record is rife with rock anthems which Cam and Andrew dubbed as “bonspiel rock.”
They decided to highlight the first song from the new album, “Bureaucrat Boogie,” as the highlight track for this edition of New Music Monday.
“Bureaucrat Boogie” was written as a sort of love letter to those in Victoria working as a public servant, as most members of the band work nine to five jobs for various levels of government.
“It’s a very Victoria song,” said Andrew.
“Anyone who’s wandered around downtown between the hours of 7:45 [a.m.] and 9:30 [a.m.], probably has seen these everyday heroes on their way to the office to toil away in service of the people of British Columbia.”
He added that this tongue-in-cheek track is meant to be an ode to these government workers while celebrating the intricacies of that career.
“The speaker of that song is going through a bit of a momentum crisis,” Andrew continued.
“In the second verse he kind of picks up his socks and gets back at it, and what gets him through the week is that ‘flexy Friday’ where he’s going to boogie on the dancefloor.”
They added that they hope anyone who is a public servant or is close to one can relate to this song.
“It’s a government town and we figured it deserved an anthem.”
Cam noted that when they play shows at bonspiels in town, he figures it’s the government workers who curl in their off-time that “get down and boogie” the most out of anyone.
Listen to “Bureaucrat Boogie” off the new Three Sailing Wait album, MARSEC Level 2, below:
To listen to the rest of MARSEC Level 2, check out Three Sailing Wait on Bandcamp, Tidal, Apple Music or Spotify.
Though Three Sailing Wait has no upcoming shows finalized right now, they are hoping to play soon in Victoria.
Additionally, they have been working hard at writing their follow-up album to MARSEC Level 2.
The followup album will include one song in particular they are excited to release to the world, “Cease and Desist,” which was written about the logo design debacle with BC Ferries.
To keep up-to-date with Three Sailing Wait, follow them on Instagram or check out their website.
Related:
- New Music Monday: Maita Waters makes best of bad situation on ‘Ruthless and Tender’
- New Music Monday: shark bite spite evolve indie-folk sound on ‘dreaming of wild horses’
- New Music Monday: AHRF teases upcoming album with first single ‘Cave In’
CFUV is a non-profit campus and community radio station that plays a ton of local music of all kinds across Vancouver Island. If you like to support local music they are an amazing resource with a plethora of new local tunes in their arsenal.
Cam says that in his time at UVic, he remembers CFUV being champions of the arts community, organizing shows and bringing a high level of entertainment to student life.
“I still listen to them on the radio and the variety of music that they play is second-to-none,” added Andrew. “They occupy a really cool space in the radio landscape.”
Tune into CFUV 101.9 FM on air or online!
Let us know what you think of Three Sailing Wait in the comments below!
