One half of The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer's Matthew Rogers was living in Montreal when he took in a life-changing performance.
The concert showcased some impressive guitar finger pickers -Ken Hamm and Michael Jerome Brown included -and Rogers walked away inspired on two fronts: first to learn the technique; and second, once he had it down pat, to launch a blues duo, putting his new skill to use.
Later, when Rogers had moved back to the Lower Mainland and was ready to put phase two into action, he knew just who to call, friend Shawn Hall, who he'd met while recording a radio jingle. The musicians had become fast friends and continued to play together in different capacities, though never as an official band.
With Hall on board, The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer emerged, its name a reference to Hall and Rogers' main instruments, the harmonica and guitar, respectively (they also offer vocals and foot percussion). The Harpoonist reference was specifically derived from a lyric from Kris Kristofferson's "Me and Bobby McGee" which goes, "I took my harpoon out of my dirty red bandana."
Founded eight years ago, the duo went on to release its debut, a self-titled record in 2008, followed by 2011's Checkered Past and last year's A Real Fine Mess.
In addition to fans, The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer is continuing to amass a growing list of accolades, having been nominated for a 2015 Juno and multiple Maple Blues Awards, as well as a Sirius XM Indies award for Blues Act of the Year in 2013.
"It's been a steady climb," says Rogers, who's currently based in North Vancouver.
"It's always been fun and there's never really been any question in our minds that this is something worth pursuing. It's like being given the golden ticket. Once it starts rolling you just can't let go of it. It's something special when you're given that opportunity to actually have people hear your music and care," he says.
Their most recent award nod comes from the Canadian Folk Music Awards and they've been nominated for New/Emerging Artist of the Year for their latest album along with releases from Fortunate Ones, The Young Novelists, The River and the Road and Crooked Brothers. The winner will be announced at a ceremony in Edmonton, Alta., Nov. 8. The North Shore native was attracted to music, serving as an important outlet, at a young age. A student at St. Thomas Aquinas, Rogers recalls spending much of his teens jamming with friends in their parents' basements. "My parents told me I could be a musician but that I had to go to school," says Rogers, and so he dutifully enrolled in Capilano University's jazz studies program.
"It was great and I met a lot of the musicians that I still play with and that are still good friends," he says. Rogers started the same year as local powerhouse vocalist and songwriter Dawn Pemberton who is becoming more and more like an honourary third member of The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer as she is continually called upon to join them on stage. "We love playing with her, we love her as a person, and so it just kind of evolved into that," says Rogers, who says fellow local singer Jody Peck (Miss Quincy) also joins them at times. Rogers recalls first meeting Pemberton when they were in high school. Vying for a music scholarship, they ended up auditioning at the same time.
"She got up and did this awesome gospel thing and I got up and did a few lonely jazz songs on my guitar - She kicked butt and I thought, 'This woman's awesome.' So we became acquainted at that and she got the scholarship and I didn't," he says.
Rogers eventually shifted to Capilano's classical program and then the University of British Columbia where he graduated with a degree in music composition after deciding he wanted to get into film scoring. He remains active in that industry, scoring for a diverse range of film and television projects, and has been nominated for nine Leo Awards and has won three. These days he's also active as a music producer and has worked with Steven Drake (The Odds, The Tragically Hip), and Howard Bilerman (Arcade Fire, Basia Bulat). Fresh off a busy summer performance schedule that included a number of Canadian festivals, Rogers and Hall plan to stick close to home for the next few months. Both have young families, Rogers has a three-year-old and three-week-old, and Hall's kids are ages two and four.
However there's no rest for the weary as they're already gearing up for their next recording project, aiming to enter the studio in January 2016 with an anticipated release date in less than a year.
Right now their focus is on songwriting, which has "always been different and it's always changing," says Rogers, in terms of their approach.
As they live in different cities, Hall is currently based in Nanaimo, they often write separately, or add bits and pieces to other's creations.
"We're trying to write together more and more, actually being in the same room and starting something from afresh so that we both feel connected to the song, but sometimes inspiration just doesn't work that way," says Rogers.
While they're still in the early stages, some common ideas are beginning to form. "We're really appreciating the value of space and letting things breathe. I can't say for sure, but that will probably be a theme of this record. But who knows, it might just be super, fast noise rock," he laughs.
The band counts Willie Dixon, Jack White and Danger Mouse among its diverse influences. "We love the blues and we're a blues-based band but how to take that to the next level while still keeping it blues is the thing we always aim to do and it's not always easy. Sometimes it veers out of the blues world a little bit, and that's fine with us, but we still want to keep this essence that is the blues," he says.