Jeremy Fisher and Friends Ride Their Bikes to Work.
The Mahatma Gandhi quote “Be the change you want to see in the world” most definitely applies to the upcoming “Malahat Revue” tour. The tour will include artists Aidan Knight, Hannah Georgas, Jeremy Fisher, and Said the Whale performing as a collective on a 10-day long tour around British Columbia. The collective will be changing traditional touring methods with high environmental impacts, opting to ride their bikes as transportation between venues and camp for accommodations. The Malahat Revue will have one support vehicle to transport their larger gear, but the artists will offset that by transporting themselves and smaller gear for the over 500 kilometre tour.
Jeremy Fisher is definitely not new to touring via bike, having a few cross Canada treks already under his belt. I recently caught up with him to discuss the upcoming tour.
Canadian Invader: What is the significance of the tour name “ The Malahat Revue”?
Jeremy Fisher: We needed something that sounded as physically big as the band. Getting all these people together for this unique tour kind of feels like riding a bike loaded full of instruments over the Malahat on Vancouver Island sometimes.
CI: How did the idea to tour by bike come about?
JF: I have done a few tours across North America by bike. Cycling is a big part of my lifestyle, I use a bike for most of my daily transportation needs and I’ve found travelling long distances by bike to be transformational.
CI: Are there any additional ways that you plan to be environmentally friendly on the tour, like the 100 Mile Diet?
JF: We haven’t really discussed anything else, but we’ll be camping out instead of staying in hotels (according to those cards they place on towel racks we will save gallons of water in the wash!). We try to be friendly to everything.
CI: Have there been any unusual logistical issues that have come up while planning the tour?
JF: At first there were some challenges surrounding routing because we can only ride a maximum of 100km per day to get to a show. On normal tours you set up the venues and towns and then drink lots of coffee and make long drives, sometimes overnight to get to the next gig on time. With the Malahat Revue we had to lay out the routing first and then ask promoters to accommodate our itinerary. We have an amazing team of people who have worked hard to put this together, it really just requires patience and good communication.
CI: Are there any concerns about breakdowns, inclement weather, or unforeseen problems causing you to be late for gigs?
JF: Sure, but any band that’s toured by plane/train/bus/van/car/foot/kayak has to deal with unforeseen circumstances. You just keep a good attitude and make sure there’s oil in all the right places. I’ve probably done 40-50 shows by bike in my life and haven’t missed one yet. I did miss a show because of a flat tire on my plane in Fort McMurray, AB once though…
CI: The tour will have you biking over 500 km, have you been doing anything to train in preparation?
JF: Not really. I believe anybody in a reasonable state of fitness can ride 500km in 10 days.
CI: Do you hope that other musicians will consider biking to work?
JF: I hope every person in any profession considers it at some point because of the value it adds to quality of life. It’s often faster than driving or taking transit in the city, it keeps you in great shape and it is so inexpensive. For the cost of a year’s transit pass you can have as nice a bicycle as money can buy, a strong heart and sexy legs. It’s a win/win/win situation.
CI: In the same vein, do you hope that fans will consider biking to the gigs?
JF: Yes, I know they will and probably not just because we’re doing it. Lots of people I know ride to shows all the time. It would be cool if absolutely everybody did though, don’t you think? What would 500 bikes locked up in front of Sugar Nightclub in Victoria even look like?
CI: Are there future plans to expand the ‘bike to work’ tour beyond B.C., like maybe across Canada or North America?
JF: No plans yet, we’re still on training wheels. We’re all dreamers though – so you just never know.
CI: Halifax musician Rich Aucoin has toured via bike across Canada raising money for childhood cancer research. Have you considered including similar efforts in future tours?
JF: We have discussed it a little. If we can keep this thing running we’d love to get some sponsorship for each kilometre ridden in place. It is a nice way to be supported by people who aren’t necessarily in the region we’re pedalling through and raise awareness and funds for a good cause.
CI: Does The Malahat Revue have any plans to record together as a collective?
JF: It’s not out of the question.
Perhaps, if we’re lucky, we’ll see a Malahat Revue contribution to David Suzuki’s “Playlist for the Planet”. If you can check out any of these tour dates, please do it, and if you can bike there, even better! A free Malahat Revue tour kickoff date was just announced from Said the Whale’s Twitter. It’s happening today at noon outside the Vancouver CBC Building located at 700 Hamilton Street.
The Malahat Revue Tour Dates:
Thursday July 8 – Artspring Theatre – Salt Spring Island, BC
Friday July 9 – Pender Island Community Hall, Pender Island, BC
Saturday July 10 – Sugar – Victoria, BC
Sunday July 11 – Duncan Garage Showroom – Duncan, BC
Friday July 16 – Nanaimo Entertainment Centre – Nanaimo, BC
Sunday July 18 – Vancouver Folk Fest – Vancouver, BC
