Becoming The Jerry Cans: From Legion cover band to ambassadors of Inuit culture
The Jerry Cans are now known for their eclectic sound that combines rock, folk, throat singing and singing in Inuktitut, but the group originally met at Inuksuk High School in Iqaluit, and started off playing cover songs.
"When we first started playing, it was literally like Metallica and Ozzy Osbourne and Guns N' Roses [covers]," said drummer Steve Rigby.
"So it was a lot of people clapping politely [at our shows], being like, 'way to go, you learned an instrument.'"
The turning point came when they brought in accordion player Nancy Mike.
"Once we started singing in Inuktitut, and Nancy brought in the accordion, that was sort of missing [from the Iqaluit music scene] at that time," said Rigby.
"We all kind of realized how much everybody missed it and how huge a part of the community it was to have square dancing and to have Inuktitut music being played … it just kind of grew from there."
The band is at work on their fourth album, which will sound different from what fans are used to hearing.
"We've been exploring some new sonic landscapes, like Nancy's been doing some interesting things with some different guitar pedals, it's been amazing to see her explore this new range of what she can do … with her voice," said Brendan Doherty.
Mike described her vocals on the new album as "heavy metal throat singing."
"It's good change for us, we're evolving ... but I'm really excited for this [album]," she said.
The group both sings in Inuktitut and incorporates Inuit throat singing into their sound — decisions that haven't been met by too much opposition.
"I think that times change, society evolves. We've had some people who weren't happy with Andrew [Morrison] being a white person [and singing Inuktitut]," said Mike.
"When we come across those kind of responses, we reassess, and talk as a band and say, 'what do we do? How do we make sure we don't make mistakes?'"
"But the majority of the time, I think it's really positive because we are singing in my language and I think that's something that we're all really proud of."
Becoming a household name
The first time many Canadians first heard of The Jerry Cans was at the 2018 Juno Awards, where they performed Ukiuq in Inuktitut.
"I was aware that there was going to be so many people watching [the performance], and I was nervous but also really excited," said Mike.
"I felt the love from all over the world, and we were all teary eyed … we cried and it just felt so special."
Originally the band was asked to perform the song in English, but asked if they could perform it in Inuktitut, because it meant so much to the band for Canada to hear the language.
Starting a record label
The Jerry Cans recently launched a record label, Aakuluk Music, with the intent on highlighting talent from the north. It is the first of its kind in Nunavut.
"We ran into a lot of challenges being a band based in Iqaluit, and tried to release our music across Canada and tour across Canada … challenges in terms of getting funding to do that," said Brendan Doherty.
"We wanted to share some knowledge that we gained to help people apply for funding, or get their music on the radio … we've been in this game for six or seven years, we've learned so much and we just want to share that with the community."
"We're good friends with everyone on the label, we're good friends with most musicians in the territory … everybody supports each other, and this label is just an extension of that support."
Since launching, musicians like Aasiva and Josh Q & The Trade-Offs are getting a lot more attention down south.
"People were just unaware that Nunavut existed, let alone there were artists from there … I think people are kind of blown away because it's music that they've never heard before," said Steve Rigby.
"I think in this world where everybody is looking for new music, looking to connect, it's been awesome because now people are looking outside of their own culture … it's been cool to see how much the world is ready for something new."