From Ottawa to Montreal, the guys at Out By Lucy say it all

Kicking off their hometown tour, the quartet kicked off at the Yeti Cafe in Kitchener, before heading to Brantford, Toronto, Peterborough and Montreal's Ratwater Square on February 23, ending in Ottawa on February 24. Harrison Mees on the beat. guitar and lead vocals, Dom Doyon on bass and vocals, Sam Moreland on lead guitar and Julian Moreland on drums, the band has amassed a humble cult following in the five years since its formation.

Out By Lucy played their first Montreal show at the ironically named Ratwater—a pun on the nearby Atwater subway station—owned by roommates and music lovers, Henry Seymour, Henry Sherman, Oscar Mitelski and Connor. Mugli-Manson.

“We started Ratwater because we felt venues were cutting too much from bands, and we wanted more freedom to organize our shows,” Seymour said.

This unique attribute is recognized and appreciated by Out By Lucy.

“It's a beautiful apartment and you wouldn't have it in Ottawa,” said Julian Moreland. The venue's admiration was supported by Doyon, who praised the intimate comfort of an indoor show compared to other venues.

“It's a lot more intimate than a regular place. Sometimes it's good to be on the same level as the audience for a change of pace. “In my situation, I'm not completely comfortable on stage in a normal place, so I'm like a different person in this room with other people who love music,” Doyon said.

Out By Lucy's name comes from Mee, Sam Moreland and Julian Moreland, who grew up together at Waupus Marina in Prince Edward Island. The name comes from days at the Marina docks with a Moreland French bulldog named Lucy.

Accordingly, Mees and Morelands formed the group in 2018, with Doyon joining in early January 2024. The aforementioned trio credits Moreland's brother's father, who was also with the Admirals in the 1990s, as one of them when he was in Toronto. great inspiration to start a group.

“Out By Lucy came in with a drum kit and bass amps and electric guitars in our grandpa's dad's basement,” recalled Sam Moreland.

The band's sound is influenced by their diverse musical inspirations, from first- and second-wave Britpop icons like the Beatles and Oasis to garage rock classics like The Las. Doyon describes their sound as “Indie-ROCK” (rock in all caps and indie in italics).

“Mostly old people's music,” explained Sam Moreland.

The original trio added Doyon's recent addition to the group as another inspiration for their sound. “Dom inspires me every day. He has a positive attitude towards driving. He is our angel. He discovers many musical concepts that we don't find very intuitive. Only good spirits,” praised Sam Morland.

Talking about his experience with the group, Doyon said, “It was good. It's been exciting to see from my own perspective (from a fan to a band member) since I've been so close to the band, there's a new energy here…”

“Yeah, we're strong,” Miss teased.

The band also released three new songs after Doyon joined in February – “Red Sorghum,” “Dreaming About Baseball” and the public debut of lead single “Longer,” resulting in Ratwater's enthusiasm (definitely a sign of approval). ).

Out By Lucy credits local Ottawa musician Sean Lundy of local bands Sorry Snowman & Backseat Dragon for the tour.

“Our new brother/father/uncle best friend Shawn took us under his wing and drove us around in his beautiful big caravan. He took us to places he had previously planned with his groups. He just knows the places, the people and the floors where he falls,” Mees said.

After Lundy himself asked Mee why the band didn't perform out of town, Mee explained that the idea for the tour came to him by accident, and Mee explained that none of them had a car, so there was no way to do it. This inspired Lundy to contact a friend in Brantford, offering to order Out By Lucy during the school week. The show was booked in the morning, Lundy thought to himself, “I'll book the rest,” and from there the tour began.

The group detailed their new travel experience as a pleasant week of relatively smooth sailing, crediting their friends and the groups that were willing to take them on.

When asked about some of the highlights of the tour, they shared a fond memory from the first stop.

“We ran into some mischief at our first stop in Kitchener. We were so close that the bartender was messing around with us. He had already closed the kitchen, but he knew we were hungry kids who had just come from Ottawa, so he sent us down to the basement to get a ton of eggs, and we opened the kitchen, scrambled some eggs, and fed them. just eat eggs and toast at the opening ceremony, and then we have to go right away, “said Doyon.

Despite this exciting start to the tour, the band cites Brantford as their favorite stop. “It's a very polite, welcoming community – it's definitely the place to go,” praised Mees. “Basically, the scene in Brantford seems really tight and really passionate about indie music, which I never knew until I went there,” Doyon said of that feeling.

The band's close friend and official photographer, Serena Yang, described the tour experience, saying, “I don't want to do anything with people I'm not really good friends with (…) We're good friends, but whatever. It's hard to be like six people in a big caravan and four people and a photographer.” he added.

The quartet also cites the tour as an opportunity to get to know their new “cousin/bandmate” Doyon better.

“World domination, marble statues, number one hits, but more importantly, to keep doing what we've been doing: having fun on tour and being the new aspiration of a popular Canadian act,” Julian said. future goals of the group. “We want to sing our silly songs.”

At 9pm, after finishing my pre-show feast – this time at Montreal's Kebab Burger Frites (they never mess with Sam's leftovers in his pocket), Out By Lucy started playing. Located in Ratwater.

In the dewy pink glow of the Ratwater lamps at the front of the carpeted living room – the show is immortalized in the dreamy photographs taken by Young. A crowd of friends, fans and soon-to-be fans of the band watched, danced and sang along to the 30-minute nimble set.

After finishing his first show in Montreal, Sam Moreland summed up the difference between the music scene in the city and in his hometown of Ottawa, where they will finish the tour the next day. “I mean, Ottawa's home, that's why we play the best there, so it's the most comfortable for everyone who knows us,” he said.

“It's great to see different ways of managing a team depending on what city you're in. But I'm glad I'm from Ottawa, because I feel like there's not a lot of touring here, so indie acts get a bigger exposure. action will be taken,” added Julian Moreland.

This sentiment was corroborated by Kaylee Kelly, a longtime friend and fan of the band, who revealed that, like everyone else, she made as many friends by going to local shows, including Out By Lucy's.

“They always seem to have fun and have great energy. It's so much fun to see everyone dancing and shaking their heads,” Kelly said, describing the Out By Lucy show.

Everyone seems like a friend to Lundy at the Out By Lucy shows.

“You can go to an Out By Lucy show by yourself and by the end of the night you've met like five new friends. It's a great atmosphere at all their shows. They have unreleased songs like 'Peter III', 'Grackle,'” Lundy said before pausing. “George Costanza doesn't exist either, but everyone knows his words.” The audience's familiarity with the songs strengthens the group's persistence in the local music scene.

Finally, after their debut in Montreal, the band promised to return to represent the city. We can't wait for their return.