Dominic Bianchini of Vancouver’s The Sindicate recognizes the band has reached a new stage, as they prepare to kick off a summer tour and release their second album.
“Just over the past few days, we’ve taken a step back to realize we’ve done some cool things,” he said. The Sindicate has opened for Tomorrows Bad Seeds, The Wailers, Slightly Stoopid and Streetlight Manifesto in the past year.
Bianchini calls the band “aggressive reggae rock,” influenced by the parallel threads of anti-establishment that runs in both grunge rock and reggae music. The Sindicate consists of Bianchini on vocals and rhythm guitar, lead guitarist Josh Garrett, bassist Stephen Clark and drummer James Davenport.
The friends formed the band in 2005 when they were students at Hudson’s Bay High School. Though they started playing to provide “a soundtrack for our house parties,” Bianchini said it was only in the past four years that they’ve pursued music full time.
That mindset went into their upcoming second album, “Sasquatch,” said the vocalist. Recorded at a cabin in the woods near Woodland, the album “felt very Northwest.” The album reflects both the band’s party-loving past and their hopes for wider appeal.
“When we started out, it was all about the party, about having the best possible time. It’s still about getting people dancing, but it’s also about putting out the greatest piece of art we could,” Bianchini said.
The single “Decomposed” is a nostalgic song for Bianchini.
“It’s about how it feels when I was so young and naive, how everything felt easier,” he said. “We feel like it’s going to resonate faster with people than other (songs.)”
The band can often be found performing at the Brickhouse Bar and Grill in downtown Vancouver, promoting other local groups as their opening acts, regardless of genre, to help highlight the growing music scene.
“People in Vancouver are hungry for music,” Bianchini said, “The owners of Brickhouse (Sarah, Steve and Angela Deans) have been super supportive in arts and the community. They’ve partnered with us, and helped pay for ‘Sasquatch.'”
The Sindicate will perform July 13 at the Brickhouse, before touring Oregon, stopping in Reno, Nev., and then heading to California. “Sasquatch” will be released sometime in July or August, said Bianchini. Visit http://www.sindicateband.com for updates.
“It’s a cool moment right now,” Bianchini said. “We’re in this in between stage where it could go both ways, we could screw up and never become anything more than we are, or we could just keep rising and blow up big.”
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