Who hasn’t starred in a soap opera?
Water spouts onto a head of sudsy hair; the mirror fogs up and bubbles gurgle down the drain, lost beneath the echo of a voice that boldly projects the latest Top 40 against tile walls.
Bless bathtub acoustics: everybody’s a sensation while singing in the shower.
St. John’s indie-rock outfit Soap Opera transports these good-time vibes to the stage. They’re still buzzing from the rush that built up to their 2017 debut album, India. The 10 tracks were recorded live off the floor in under 30 hours, in anticipation of upcoming shows.
“We needed to show the booking agent that we weren’t just some random, fake band from St. John’s that was just messing around. We had to get into the studio super quick,” explains guitar player and vocalist Peter Lannon.
Soap Opera formed in late 2015 during a jam between members of two separate bands that went on hiatus at the same time. Lannon came from a group with drummer Jack Etchegary, who also played in a group with guitar player and vocalist Adam Engram and bassist Braden Howse.
“St. John’s is funny, where the music scene is kind of small and everyone plays in everybody’s band,” says Lannon, laughing.
From booking their first gig in early 2016—before nailing a band name or a setlist—to opening for Canadian indie icons Yukon Blonde at two shows that March, pressure prodded their creativity.
“It was like, ‘OK, you’re going to do it or you’re going to look like idiots on stage.’ It was definitely a positive thing—super intense, but super positive,” says Lannon.
Originally known as India, after a Newfoundland brew popular among the hometown crowd, the band decided on a name change while booking their first tour in the spring of 2016.
“Of course it would be questionable why four dudes who are white would call their band India…that’s fair. We don’t want to fight that,” says Lannon.
Ultimately, it’s what they’re known for, and not what they’re known by, that counts.
“We could be called anything and we’d still be the four same people making the same music that we are,” says Lannon.
Those who caught Soap Opera at the Wardroom in February of 2017 can expect the same crowd-involved dynamic, with a few fresh tunes when the band drops by this Friday at 10 p.m.
“People were singing along, which is a weird thing to experience in a different city, but super humbling, super awesome. I really love King’s a lot and I think the whole band is there with me too,” reflects Lannon about their last Wardy performance.
Soap Opera was voted the 2017 Best New Band and 2018 Best Rock/Pop Group by readers of Newfoundland’s alternative newspaper, The Overcast. Their other notable performances include shows with Canadian acts By Divine Right, Hey Rosetta!, Paper Lions, Sloan and Wolf Parade.
