Vancouver musician Byron Slack has never really stuck to one lane, and his latest project isn’t changing that. Between his work with Dead Bob, his other project Rong, and now a new venture he’s describing in distinctly ambitious terms, Slack is one of those local artists who seems constitutionally incapable of repeating himself.
A self-described ‘Sgt. Pepper’s’ phase
Slack has described where he’s at creatively right now as being in his “Sgt. Pepper’s” phase — a reference to the Beatles album widely credited with pushing what a studio record could even sound like. That’s not a small comparison to reach for, and it says something about the scale of what he’s attempting with his new work: less a tidy follow-up to his past projects, more a swing at something bigger and stranger.
It tracks with his track record. Dead Bob and Rong already show an artist who treats each project as its own world rather than a variation on the last one — a habit that’s rarer than it should be in a local scene where it’s easy to get boxed into whatever sound worked the first time.
Why this is worth watching
Vancouver’s music scene runs on artists like this — the ones who keep starting new projects instead of milking one, and who make the city’s smaller venues worth checking on a random weeknight. Specific release plans and show dates weren’t confirmed at post time, so this is one to keep an eye on rather than something to circle on a calendar just yet.
If you’ve caught Dead Bob or Rong live, you already know what kind of energy to expect. If you haven’t, consider this your nudge to pay attention next.
