Arkells
Photo by Nathan Nash
It’s a pretty crazy thing if I’m being honest with you. So get this, five friends from Hamilton, Ontario get together to write music, where they initially craft these beer-soaked songs that end up getting an audience. As time goes on they end up refining their songwriting into these anthemic gems, but remarkably they’ve done this on their own terms. That band is called Arkells and they’re easily some of the most ambitious guys I’ve ever met. Multiple Juno Award wins (the Canadian equivalent of The Grammy’s), sold-out world tours, and headliners for the 108th Grey Cup halftime show (the Canadian equivalent of the Super Bowl)....yeah, these guys are unstoppable.
But you see, the crazy thing is how in a lot of ways they’re outliers in the music world. The world of Arkells is never a dower one, even when the songs delve into deeply painful experiences such as loss and heartbreak. No, a secret ingredient for an Arkells song is hope, even when it’s not overtly obvious. All of this was instrumental in the making of their latest and sixth album, Blink Once, an album that features Arkells distilling what they do best. I can personally say that having this album come out during the pandemic certainly made some of those lockdown days brighter for me and that’s partially what we explore on today’s podcast with frontman Max Kerman.
I’ve known and worked with the band for a few years now and getting to have this chat with Max in person, right before a sold-out show at Irving Plaza, was beyond special. Together we chat about how uplifting music can be in its nature, along with how sports unexpectedly inspires Max’s songwriting.
Big shout out to the people over at Brooklyn Cannery (@brooklyncannery over on Instagram) for hosting us for this talk. Be sure to check out Max’s podcast The Best Hang Podcast, a massive favorite series of mine that truly feels like catching up with your friends.
Arkells will soon be touring Europe and Canada throughout 2022, with their massive Rally concert happening on June 25th with support from Mt. Joy, K Flay, and podcast alumn Haviah Mighty. Visit arkellsmusic.com for all tour dates.
After you hear the episode, be sure to check out Arkells track Past Life (featuring Cold War Kids) on the official New Exchange Playlist. Also, be sure to follow Arkells on Spotify, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
