by Scott Roos
"You just gotta be yourself, authentic and real."
Funk, Reggae, Soul, Dub and Ska… That’s the modus operandi for one of Saskatoon’s premiere party bands. The Steadies, with a precision musical craftsmanship led by bassist vocalist Earl Perreira, will, nine times out of ten, give you a good time, every time or something like that.
“You just gotta be yourself, authentic and real. This is the music I love. If I had jumped right out of high school and created a band, this is probably what I would have done,” explained Perreira to NSMZ in a conversation this past summer.
He didn’t, though and, unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’d already know that Perreira’s destiny was, at first, forged on a different path. As it turns out, the interstellar blues musings of Wide Mouth Mason needed a funkadelic bass player.
“I ended up in Wide Mouth Mason which was a blues based band... Blues rock and blues based but I tried to bring a lot of the same things to the table - that funk and that mo-town vibe and that's when it came to live shows it brought that energy. So when I went off on my own I kept that element of it. And again, coming from being a bass player you're the back bone. You're the person that's in charge of people moving," adds Perreira.
Perreira left Wide Mouth Mason in 2010 after the Vancouver Winter Olympics wrapped. About a year later, The Steadies were born. Is the rest history? Hard to say. The Steadies have been on an upward trajectory since their formation, but they haven’t quite arrived at the final destination yet. They are still searching for the “X” that marks the spot. Critical acclaim they have found, a faithful following they have earned, but the legendary status that Perreira found with Wide Mouth Mason still remains elusive The secret to finding what The Steadies are looking for, according to Perreira, will be in the lyrics and, in particular the hooks, of their songs.
“I want people to feel good when listening to our music. I've paid a lot more attention to lyrics these days being a songwriter. I’ve been trying to write things that people will relate to or wanna sing along with and I think that's usually what I feel is the key to standing out when making music. There's a lot of bands that can play certain styles and do certain things but at the end of the day it's going to be about your songs. That’s what will take you the furthest," relates Perreira.
At the end of the day, with a pandemic still raging on and on and on and on, The Steadies will continue to do what they do best while they can when they can. Perreira exudes confidence and he’s a likable guy with a magnetic presence on stage. It’s probably only a matter of time before the rest of the country picks up on what The Steadies are laying down.
"I think with music you just gotta play and create what it's in you, what's in your blood and what's in your heart and what you love. It doesn't matter where geographically you're from. You just gotta make the music that speaks to you and that you believe in. That's all I'm doing. That's all we're doing,” Perreira concludes.
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