A local Fredericton alternative band, Dad Patrol, released their debut album, Yellow Phase, on Sept. 25, which features Zach Pelletier, Gregor Dobson and Jonathan Marino.
The album title was inspired by New Brunswick moving into the yellow phase of its COVID-19 recovery plan. Pelletier, Dobson and Marino have been friends since kindergarten. Dad Patrol formed in 2014, but they didn’t land on the name until 2018.
“There’s a lot of bands that we listen to that have those goofy style names,” said Dobson. “I came up with Dad Patrol as a joke … little did I know that it was going to stick.”
They classify themselves as punk/alternative, Dobson said that they’re inspired by various genres. He mentioned that Marino listens to heavy metal music which inspires his drumming.
Yellow Phase has been a long-term project the band has been working on. Dobson said Pelletier did most of the production.
“I can’t even tell the amount of nine-hour days I flipped to work on the album. I’ve put easily 300 hours into it,” said Pelletier. “It’s been almost a year of grinding and because COVID was happening, we were focused completely on working on the album.”
Dobson said that one of his favourite tracks is “Thank God for Strong Friends” from their EP Dad Jokes, while Pelletier’s favourite is “Yellow,” a single from the new album. Pelletier said the album marks a new step for the band, as the band came out with a produced, clean sound.
The band said the album has a theme of coming out of one’s shell and seeing everything in a new light.
“It coincided with how we were just coming out of all these really big COVID restrictions when we started writing the album,” said Pelletier. “There is a theme of going out to experience the world in new ways or ways that you were doing before and trying to be more open-minded.”
Dobson said the band wrote one-third of the album separated from each other. They sent Snapchat videos of different riffs to put the project together.
“Entering the yellow phase was such a hugely impactful moment for us in the writing and creating process,” said Dobson.
Dad Patrol has music videos uploaded onto YouTube. Pelletier said the group hopes to create videos for most of the songs on their new album. They will release a music video for their second single off the album, “Turning Blue,” on Sept. 30.
Dad Patrol said they hope to continue working together and gain new experiences, opportunities and maybe even go on tour. Pelletier said that even just touring the Maritimes would be fun.
“Hopefully it progresses and our work pays off and it keeps giving us opportunities to meet new people and play music for people who enjoy listening [to us],” said Dobson.
