The History of Rival Currents

Rival Currents was not a band that got together over night. We are the product of many months of hard decisions and long hours of work-- musically, emotionally and literally...

The whole idea of starting a band was formed by Brian and Nick, to be able to play Stairway to Heaven at St. Michael's school talent night at the end of the school year (2000. Brian was in Gr. 9, as well as Nick). The original band consisted of Brian, Nick, Kyle, and two other close friends of ours (we will not mention their names at this time, as we do not have confirmation of the acceptance to being online). The band was still unnamed, and did not include a bass player (in fact, Alex had never even thought of wanting to play bass at this time). As you can guess, things didn't go very well. Although Stairway to Heaven was pulled off, the guys did not make the auditions and so did were not able to play at the show.

Fortunately, no one gave up hope, and they continued to practice through the summer, hoping to have things perfected by the Spring Arts Show next year. However, as the summer rolled on, things began to look bleak. The song would simply not work. Slightly let down, a new song was attempted: Cocaine, by Eric Clapton. Practiced hard, things really took shape, and no one doubted their entry into the show. That is, every one but St. Michael's principal. She was concerned about the lyrics, due to the drug content. The guys even offered to change the word to 'Propane' instead of 'Cocaine', but things were still shaky. Disheartened, the audition went awry when Brian broke a string, and they didn't make the show.

Things went downhill from there. One member fell ill for a long period of time, and another gave up interest after feeling that no headway was being made. This was not the case with Brian and Nick though. Determined to make music, Nick tried his hand at writing, and with Brian's help at lunch hours at school, "WHEN" was born. Kyle was let in on it, and the song really came together.

At this time, Alex had just gotten his bass, although intentions of playing with Brian, Nick and Kyle had not yet been considered. That changed however, after hearing a toned down version of "WHEN" played by Brian and Nick in front of anxious family members in the Kall living room. Nick had to make due with a standard piano, instead of his keyboard, but it still sounded great. Alex was invited to play "WHEN" and an instrumental version "You Shook Me All Night Long" at the next show. Things went great, and Alex was inducted into the band without a moment's hesitation. Now, all that was missing was the drummer...

The band was still in bad shape. Even with their new found bassist, things could not be completed without drums. After being forced to recruit one night percussionists (such as Mr. Pelletier, and Mr. Summers [see Thank You's] ) for two of their shows, they decided to call upon drummer Ben Headrick. The guys had been contemplating asking Ben to join for quite some time, but never actually got around to it. Thankfully, upon hearing about the band Ben accepted the job. The band was complete.

This was about the same time the band's name had took shape. A catchy name is something every band wishes for. Unfortunately, is it something that rarely becomes reality. This was the case with Nick, Brian, Alex and Kyle. Everyone had a different idea as to what the band should be called. "3:10", "Straight Up" (which we later found out had already been taken) "Kentucky Fried Children" and "Dead Babies From Hell" were some of the suggestions received. So, how was"Rival Currents" thought up, you ask? A long day of sleeping on the couch. "Rival Currents", meaning to go against the crowd, was thought up by Nick, after waking up one afternoon in his living room.

After only slight skepticism, the name caught, and everyone agreed. Rival Currents was complete.

Unfortunately, after a good number of awesome and successful months, things took an serious twist. The band's momentum was becoming faster, songs more complex, and show more important and often. It had become evident that things had changed dramatically over the past months, and things were becoming more difficult. Due to reasons strickly musical--absolutely nothing personal--, Kyle Comber was asked to leave the band. A sad day in the story of Rival Currents, but it is still looked at as an inevitable one. Life goes on however, and there is still music to be made.

--The very first version of our logo. Good example of how much things have changed since we started!--

If you would like to see the steps to the complete creation of our logo here.

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