How Labrador band Ptarmageddon made the most of its time in lockdown
Trio formed during the pandemic is nominated for 2 Music N.L. awards
A Labrador band begun as a way to find new ways of making a living during the COVID-19 pandemic already has two EPs' worth of material — and two Music Newfoundland and Labrador nominations.
For musician Scott Neary of Wabush, the search to find new ways of supporting himself brought him home from Ontario. He planned to use his time to record his own album, but the pandemic had other plans.
"The pandemic sort of forced me to leave Toronto and come back here and try and make music some other way than in a big city. And that's where I met Matt and Jen."
"Matt" is Matt Soper, and "Jenn" is Jenn Edwards. Neary, guitars and vocals, started playing with them at local bars — originally in duos, but then as an acoustic trio. One of their first sessions was a live streamed concert
While being back home, Neary started playing with Matt Soper at some local bars.The same with Jenn Edwards, a fellow musician who was in Labrador West teaching dance.
After performing as duos, the three got together as an acoustic trio, one of their first sessions was a live streamed concert at the Iron Rock Brewing Co. in Labrador City.
Soper — drums, guitar and vocals — said the trio knew they had something special.
"Jamming with two musicians like Scott, Jenn — it was a thrill, really," he said.
The next step was coming up with a name. They wanted a local name with a twist, so they combined the ptarmigan — a bird that can be found throughout Labrador — with, well, Armageddon. And Ptarmageddon was born.
The group played many local venues, taking requests and covering songs from the '70s, '80s and '90s.
Soper jokes he's to blame for their decision to write original songs.
WATCH | The members of Ptarmageddon speak with the CBC's Darryl Dinn:
"It's totally my fault," he said. "I was just having a bad week at work and I called Scott and I was like, 'Man, I'm taking a week off and taking vacation week. Let's just, like, let's get together and and write some music."
During that week they wrote a new song a day and by the end of the week they realized they had the elements to record their first EP. The resulting recording, an EP with six original tracks, was called Holding Pattern and was released in 2021.
Jenn Edwards, vocals and keyboards, said the band wanted to keep the momentum going.
"We love playing together, so we just wanted to keep doing it and keep playing shows," she said. "So then we decided to apply for a grant from Arts N.L. and they funded our second EP as well as our first music video."
That video, Gravity Party, inspired by their love of snowboarding, was filmed on top of Smokey Mountain in Labrador City last winter. They have a spooky one coming out at the end of October.
In August, Ptarmageddon received two Music N.L. nominations: alternative artist of the year and rising star of the year.
Soper didn't believe it was true.
"When Scott sent me the screenshot of the two nominations, I thought he was making it up. I thought it was just a joke, like Photoshop," he said. "But yeah, it was a pretty big surprise.… A fun little project that we started is now a two-time nominated project."
After the awards gala in Corner Brook on Saturday, next up for the group is the launch of their second EP at the end of November. While the first one was made with the mindset of having a good time with no expectations, things are different this time around.
"It was a little hard to put together because it felt like there was a little more on the line this time," said Neary.
Dream Logic will be released on Spotify at the end of November to coincide with their show at the Labrador West Arts & Culture centre on Nov. 25, where they plan to play all original songs.
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