It’s been a near two-decade run for the Blame-Its, and on the 18th anniversary of the Alberta punk outfit’s first gig, the band will be rocking the stage in Jasper.
For the foursome’s guitarist, Chris “Chrispy” Workun, it couldn’t be a more appropriate venue. Jasper gave them some of their first gigs, and Workun says he and the band still reminisce about being 16 year olds playing in the mountain town.
Back in the band’s first years, with patchy stubble still budding on their cheeks, they used to play regular gigs at Pete’s—where the Four Peaks Nightclub now sits.
But because they were so young—well below the legal drinking age—they weren’t actually allowed into the bar. In order to play their gigs they had to get special permission from the government, in the form of a slip they would fax from their high school.
Workun recalled how all they would be allowed to do was set up their gear and play their show, before being immediately booted from the bar. With good-humoured bitterness he lamented the fact that as 16 year olds they missed out on all the fun after-show parts of playing gigs.
“Sometimes we would sneak a beer, but we were really paranoid too. We were just kids, so we thought we can’t screw this up,” he said.
One night a friend drove them to a show and altered his ID so he could party with them. But he was immediately flagged at the door, and had to spend the whole night waiting outside until the gig was finished.
“Looking back those are probably some of the better memories. It’s just so ridiculous,” Workun said.
But with nearly two decades now behind them, the Blame-Its have established themselves as one of the go-to acts in the Edmonton punk scene. The guys all have school or day jobs, so they don’t play a whole lot, but Workun said he doesn’t really mind.
“We were a little late blossoming and being grown up, so we kind of had to take some time and focus on our lives a bit,” he said.
That time coincided with a lull in the punk scene, when Workun said the Blame-Its were one of the few punk-pop bands still active in Edmonton. For a while he said it felt like every band they played with was either way heavier or much lighter than they were.
Even still, The Blame-Its often got called when big acts like Pennywise or the Mad Caddies were in town. And they still get together and practice when they can, usually once a week or so. Although, Workun admitted that can sometimes be just an excuse to hang out.
“We would still practice regularly, but that would be like playing eight songs and drinking beers all night.”
Even though they haven’t been writing too much, Workun said the group almost has enough new material to cut their next album.
“We’re not forcing it on ourselves, but there’s definitely another Blame-Its record in the future.”
Trevor Nichols
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