When Jamie Comeau of the Crooked Teeth met the members of Dad Patrol at The Cap in August of 2021, he asked the group how many shows they had done since the end of COVID-19 lockdowns. Comeau was surprised to hear that it was their first show.
Fast forward to today, the group is coasting off the success of their most recent album Pleaser, which has just been nominated for an East Coast Music Award for Loud Recording of the Year.
While they have a fanbase that resides throughout the Maritimes, their self-proclaimed home base is at the place it all started — The Cap in downtown Fredericton.
“The people who work [at the Cap] and the people who come to the shows, it’s our home base now, we always come back,” said Dad Patrol guitarist and vocalist Gregor Dobson.
“The technical side –the sound setup – is the best that we play with. They always have a sound guy there that walks us through everything each time. It’s professional every time.”
Zach Pelletier is another guitarist and vocalist for the band, with Jonny Marino playing the drums. Dobson, Pelletier and Marino are all from the greater Saint John area and have known each other since the first grade. The three had only put out their first album, Yellow Phase, until they met Simon Boudreau at university. When they found out the Memramcook native played bass, they asked him to join them, officially forming Dad Patrol.
Dad Patrol’s biggest show was a fundraiser at the Wasted Days club in Saint John.
“The show was packed from front to back, there was no way to get back and forth from the stage to the bar,” said Pelletier.
Their second-largest venue came during Harvest Festival in 2022, taking the stage at a familiar place — The Cap.
So what about their sound?
“Influence comes through our music that you wouldn’t initially guess just by listening,” said Pelletier.
The band is influenced by artists such as Mother Mother and Knocked Loose, contextualizing their gritty, meticulously layered guitar rock.
“Off the most recent album, we had a lot of influence in the creative direction, but we mostly took inspiration from unusual, janky stuff,” Boudreau added.
There is more music on the way following Pleaser’s success, but the band is setting no deadlines.
“We are really just trying to take our time. With Pleaser it went very quickly, but we recorded everything in weekends or day stretches,” said Dobson.
