Hey Rosetta! return from a lengthy tour for their highly anticipated trio of holiday performances.
After an extensive tour to cap off a headline-making 2015, Hey Rosetta! return home to St. John’s for their highly anticipated annual holiday showcase. Decompressing from endless travel, founding members Tim Baker and Josh Ward caught up with The Herald for our latest installment of our Q&A.
Q: You guys are just wrapping up a pretty extensive touring schedule that had the band all over the map to end 2014 and for pretty much the bulk of 2015. Parting thoughts on one of the biggest stretches of touring you’ve ever done? Have you been seeing obvious increase in crowds?
A: Tim: This might be the best one we’ve ever done. The shows were all sold out, in great venues and with great gear. Great hospitality. They (Yukon Blonde) were such a great band to tour with. It was beautiful.
Josh: I’ve always said that the thing about us and our band that has worked for us from the start is that we just keep going. Keep showing up, be back
in Charlottetown in two or three months. As long as you keep showing up you’ll see a slow and steady increase. That’s kind of always been the way with us.
Q: You have three big shows at the Holy Heart Theatre, Dec 16-18, in what has become anannual Christmas tradition now for Hey Rosetta!. These holiday shows must be one of the highlights of the year for the band?
A: Tim: It’s a beautiful time. Christmas in St. John’s is a beautiful thing. So many people go away, so it’s more than just Christmas, it’s everyone coming home. All those friends and family members you haven’t seen in so long. It’s the ideal situation for a show. Not to mention there’s twice as many people
in their 20s in town, and everyone is just so happy to be here. There’s such a festive atmosphere.
Josh: Everyone has been out suffering away at school or their jobs and then they get to come home for Christmas. Family is around, people having
drinks and visiting. It’s the best.
Q: So now that you do have this brief reprieve from touring, what are some of your downtime plans? Anything you have lined up for the
holidays?
A: Tim: Plumbing, electrical, fix up the house (laughs). Just imagine putting your entire life on pause for six months. Answer mail, pay bills, all
the good stuff. Seeing people you haven’t seen for a long time is pretty sweet. It’s pretty incredible being away months at a time and coming back to see how
the city has changed. New buildings going up you didn’t know anything about. A good feed of Newfoundland food too.
Q: Yourselves and Yukon Blonde released a protest anthem Land You Love back in October to coincide with the federal election, which subsequently
went viral. What are your thoughts on that entire event and, of course, the end result of the election?
A: Tim: It did better than we expected, but then we did expect it to do well because that was the whole point. We worked very hard to make it reach
around, because that’s the only way to make a real difference, to reach a critical mass. I don’t know if it’s good or not, but we were pretty happy with the results. We’ve been playing that song on the road, because it’s turned into a celebration where it once was a protest song. It feels kind of strange as a celebration, because the lyrics are pretty dark. There’s some pretty serious complaints being aired in the song, and we’re doing it all celebratory on stage dancing around. It’s strange, but it was a great morning waking
up and hearing the results.
Q: So now with a well deserved rest period for the band in the next few weeks, have you considered what 2016 has in store? Plans for, dare I say, more touring? Songwriting or recording?
A: Tim: Second Sight’s time is kind of coming to an end here. We’ve been at it for about a year and a half. It came out in October, but was done a good six months before. We’ve been playing it in touring, and it’s been a pretty heavy year and a half. We’re going to take some time off right now. I’m certainly writing, but we don’t have any deadlines or blueprints as to the next year. We’re just home right now, coming to.
Josh: It’s nice that we don’t have any deadline. We have that bit of breathing room … it doesn’t have to be a point where we have to have three weeks to do a record and working 12 hours a day kind of thing.