photo: Leigh Eldridge

Name: Devon Lougheed

Birthplace: Hamilton, Ontario

Currently residing: Vancouver, BC

Musical past and present in one rambling run-on sentence: A self-righteous hardcore kid with an obsession for weird time signatures and stand-up comedy grows up and gets real and begins to make pop music for oddballs, which culminates in BEEKEEPER, a trio of vagabond music geek raggamuffins who have a crush on you and aren’t afraid to say it.

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 1. Who are some of your favourite composers, musicians and bands from the past and present?

As a band, we’re heavily influenced by They Might Be Giants, Fugazi, Kurt Weill, The Travelling Wilburys, Hawksley Workman, faraquet, Jimmy Eat World, Katy Perry, and, oddly enough, Drake.

2. Is there a particular song or musical passage that never fails to move you emotionally?

I get especially teary-eyed over the part in “Dr. Jones” by Aqua where the lady is calling Dr. Jones, but he is asleep. Also, bits of “Your Ex-Lover is Dead” by Stars and “What Sarah Said” by Death Cab for Cutie really get us weepy.

3. How would you describe your perfect day?

Sleep in; sun-soaked hangs with cold kombucha beers in the afternoon; beekeeper show at night; whisky-soaked makeouts with the girl or guy we were eyeing all day.

4. What would your friends say they appreciate the most about you?

Our excellent hair. Plus we give great back massages, forreals.

5. What is your most valued material possession?

Is it cheating to say our instruments? I fished a weird androgynous statue out of a dumpster about 15 years ago; it’s the only thing that has stayed with me through multiple moves. It’s worth nothing in terms of $CAD but if it broke, I’d be chuffed.

6. Who were you, or would you be nervous to meet?

I’d like to meet Steve Albini, because he is my hero in so many ways. But, I’m nervous, because nobody likes to find out that their hero is a total asshole, which I’m assuming he is. Steve, if you’re reading this… let’s take this as a jump-off point!

7. If you could blink your eyes and be in a favourite place right now, where would that place be?

At The Ford Plant, an all-ages venue in Brantford, Ontario, circa 2004. I’m on stage performing as my rap-alter ego BUTTASMOOTH, and I’m battling my arch-nemesis, Tupperware. We went round for round until everyone agreed it was a draw. He was reading his lyrics off a laptop on stage…

8. Is there something you would like to do more of in the future?

I have dabbled in standup and improv comedy for years, and much of that and much of that itch gets scratched via beekeeper performances. I’d like to have the time to really get back to it, to work on some things properly. Some people might remember a comedy podcast I did for two years called The Exploding Sandwich; I can’t reveal details yet, but fans of that show and/or of beekeeper should be getting pretty excited right now.

9. Where would you like to find yourself in ten years?

Doing an acoustic tour of wineries in the Niagara region… isn’t that what ALL successful Canadian artists do in ten years?

Name: Merle Travis Peterson

Birthplace: Great Falls, Montana

Currently residing: Great Falls, Montana

Musical past and present in one rambling run-on sentence: Started on harmonica at 14, then switched to Bass, then to guitar, moved to Missoula then to Seattle then back to Missoula playing original Rock and making demos; when I was dying up on stage I started busting into Johnny Cash songs in order to get the crowd back on my side, and they loved it, and it worked better than my stuff ever did, so I started The Cold Hard Cash Show (a Tribute to Johnny Cash) gave up the notion of being an artist/singer songwriter and decided to just be an entertainer, and things have been good ever since.

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1. Who are some of your favourite composers, musicians and bands from the past and present?

1. Johnny Cash

2. Jimi Hendrix

3. Queen

4. Merle Haggard

5. Iron Maiden

… and many many more …

2. Is there a particular song or musical passage that never fails to move you emotionally?

Conway Twitty, ‘I Can Tell You’ve Never Been this Far Before’

“… I don’t know what I’m saying as my trembling fingers touch forbidden places …”

That line makes me smile. It’s so dirty!

3. How would you describe your perfect day?

Everybody leaves me alone for the day, nobody calls, nobody talks to me, and I play the guitar all day long! And it’s NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN!!! A total fantasy of mine!

4. What would your friends say they appreciate the most about you?

I never ask them for money! Ha ha

5. What is your most valued material possession?

Sadly my car, and only because I have put so much money into it since I bought it. I need it to travel to gigs so I got to keep it running. I wish I could say I own a really valuable guitar but I don’t. I play Fender guitars and if my house was burning down I would grab those first.

6. Who were you, or would you be nervous to meet?

I was nervous when I met David Letterman and played on his show, but since then I’ve met lots of famous people, including John Mayer and Katy Perry, and I’ve pretty much got over it. They are all just folks! I suppose I was a little nervous meeting Johnny Cash’s brother, because I didn’t know what to expect. I impersonate his brother, but he was nice and said Johnny would be flattered.

7. If you could blink your eyes and be in a favourite place right now, where would that place be?

Memphis Tennessee, but I’d wait ’til Friday night to blink!

8. Is there something you would like to do more of in the future?

I’d like to Captain a Star-Ship and travel to the far reaches of the Galaxy, in order to rest my spirit. Being a Highway Man is tough! I may be thinking too far into the future.

9. Where would you like to find yourself in ten years?

Probably Las Vegas. I always figured I’ll end up there