The Sit Down with PETRIC
Multi-award-winning Canadian country trio PETRIC are marking a major milestone as they celebrate 10 years together with the release of their long-awaited anthem Band of Brothers. The fan favourite track has been in the bands set list for many years but has never been released as a single until now. Following a short break as a band, PETRIC are back as they look to add to their collection of hit songs. We caught up with Jason Petric to find out more about why now is the time to release Band of Brothers
How are you doing?
Nice, and how are you?
Good, thank you. Thanks for taking the time.
No problem, thanks for reaching out and being okay to chat with us.
It's probably quite a busy day for you because you have a single out on a Monday.
Yeah, I love starting the week off right. I know some people like to drop music on Fridays, but I like to just start the week off and go. We've got a brand new song, Bann of Brothers out today! We're super pumped about it. The response has been fantastic and I couldn't be happier.
It must be a bit of a strange one though because lots of artists, when they release a new single, they might have only written it a couple of months ago. You've been sitting on this song and playing it live for around a decade!
Yeah, honestly, I realized this today. This was the first song we wrote as a band, and we've been playing it live. We have recorded it before, but it never really fit into what we were doing. As we kept going with this song, it just became something different. It came together, came to life in a new way and we're like, we gotta do this in the studio. A couple of years ago, we really made the decision that yeah, we were gonna do this and we were gonna put as much authenticity into this song as we possibly could. Today it's out and we're really excited for people to hear it and hear what we did with it. Hopefully we’ll continue to have the life of this song evolve and grow into something special.
Do you think it added that little bit of extra pressure on you trying to almost re-imagine it and put it out so many years after writing it and fans knowing it?
Yeah, absolutely. That was actually the fun part because I think when you write something or you record it or you release it, once it's out there, there's always something like, we should have done this differently; or you know what, next time if we do something along these lines, let's do that. Having the natural time that we had with this song, which honestly was over a decade has been really cool, really fun. You know what? I think about it and I think about all the places we played this song and how it's always connected with the fans, even though it's never been a single. Well, now it's a single and we're doing something cool with it and we're sending it out to radio all across the world and I guess we'll see what happens.
Is it a track that people have maybe like previously requested as a single over the years?
Always, you know what? It was always one of those songs where crowds would be like, are you guys gonna play Band of Brothers? I hope you guys are playing Band of Brothers. And you know what, in some shows where maybe we were the first of three on an arena show or we had a super short set on some festivals, sometimes it got cut, not often, but you know, you wanna play your hits. You wanna play the song that's most current on radio. It's just, you play the game of the music industry. That one kind of always sucked because this was the one that I think we have the most amount of fun playing live. There's a reason it's kind of hung on this long and gotten stronger and bigger over the years. And like you said, here we are, so let's have some fun now and we'll see what happens.
And then you linked up with Chris Baseford again to produce, how kind of important was it to kind of get that link up going again after a couple of years?
Yeah, you know, we've been very fortunate to work with Chris on numerous occasions, but I can't think of a better producer or person for us to work with on this specific song. This song really became a rock and roll anthem for us, it's one of the last songs we play on our set. We really crank it up and we go hard when we're into it. That's what Chris is all about. He’s well-known for working with acts like Nickelback. I think he's working on the new Theory of a Dead Man record. He's done Shinedown, like he's a rock and roll guy. This has definitely got a little bit more rock and roll than anything previously that we've released.
How are you doing?
Nice, and how are you?
Good, thank you. Thanks for taking the time.
No problem, thanks for reaching out and being okay to chat with us.
It's probably quite a busy day for you because you have a single out on a Monday.
Yeah, I love starting the week off right. I know some people like to drop music on Fridays, but I like to just start the week off and go. We've got a brand new song, Bann of Brothers out today! We're super pumped about it. The response has been fantastic and I couldn't be happier.
It must be a bit of a strange one though because lots of artists, when they release a new single, they might have only written it a couple of months ago. You've been sitting on this song and playing it live for around a decade!
Yeah, honestly, I realized this today. This was the first song we wrote as a band, and we've been playing it live. We have recorded it before, but it never really fit into what we were doing. As we kept going with this song, it just became something different. It came together, came to life in a new way and we're like, we gotta do this in the studio. A couple of years ago, we really made the decision that yeah, we were gonna do this and we were gonna put as much authenticity into this song as we possibly could. Today it's out and we're really excited for people to hear it and hear what we did with it. Hopefully we’ll continue to have the life of this song evolve and grow into something special.
Do you think it added that little bit of extra pressure on you trying to almost re-imagine it and put it out so many years after writing it and fans knowing it?
Yeah, absolutely. That was actually the fun part because I think when you write something or you record it or you release it, once it's out there, there's always something like, we should have done this differently; or you know what, next time if we do something along these lines, let's do that. Having the natural time that we had with this song, which honestly was over a decade has been really cool, really fun. You know what? I think about it and I think about all the places we played this song and how it's always connected with the fans, even though it's never been a single. Well, now it's a single and we're doing something cool with it and we're sending it out to radio all across the world and I guess we'll see what happens.
Is it a track that people have maybe like previously requested as a single over the years?
Always, you know what? It was always one of those songs where crowds would be like, are you guys gonna play Band of Brothers? I hope you guys are playing Band of Brothers. And you know what, in some shows where maybe we were the first of three on an arena show or we had a super short set on some festivals, sometimes it got cut, not often, but you know, you wanna play your hits. You wanna play the song that's most current on radio. It's just, you play the game of the music industry. That one kind of always sucked because this was the one that I think we have the most amount of fun playing live. There's a reason it's kind of hung on this long and gotten stronger and bigger over the years. And like you said, here we are, so let's have some fun now and we'll see what happens.
And then you linked up with Chris Baseford again to produce, how kind of important was it to kind of get that link up going again after a couple of years?
Yeah, you know, we've been very fortunate to work with Chris on numerous occasions, but I can't think of a better producer or person for us to work with on this specific song. This song really became a rock and roll anthem for us, it's one of the last songs we play on our set. We really crank it up and we go hard when we're into it. That's what Chris is all about. He’s well-known for working with acts like Nickelback. I think he's working on the new Theory of a Dead Man record. He's done Shinedown, like he's a rock and roll guy. This has definitely got a little bit more rock and roll than anything previously that we've released.
And then obviously you worked with Chris on the last album. Does it feel like flashbacks came nearly five years ago now?
Oh, isn't that crazy? It was 2021, January. We're coming up on five years. I can't believe how fast time flies and then everything else that we've done in between is really, yeah, it's crazy. Five years is no small amount. So, you know, when I think about that, I think about some amazing shows we've got to do and some relationships we've made since the start of working on that with Chris. We actually started working on that record in summer of 2019. It's been a few years where we've really got to make a fantastic friend and do some really cool things with music.
Now you talk of cool shows, you got to do Country Thunder in Winnipeg as a last minute stand-in
To be honest, we were trying to take the year off of doing anything for music. We were all pretty tapped out and we'd been going hard for over 10 years. It was a band decision of let's be okay with just taking a small step back and then all of a sudden Nate Smith, who was originally slated to perform on Country Thunder came down with vocal rest, I think two or three days before the show was supposed to happen. So, they were in a pickle. I knew the promoters pretty well and I kind of just casually shot a text. I'm like, do you guys need a filler? And the girl who I texted, she's like, maybe, LOL! And that was kind of it. The next morning, I got a phone call from True North Sports and Entertainment and they said, yeah, we actually need a band, are you guys willing to pull up your socks and get it done? We quickly got together for a quick rehearsal and had one hell of a show and it was a ton of fun.
Oh, isn't that crazy? It was 2021, January. We're coming up on five years. I can't believe how fast time flies and then everything else that we've done in between is really, yeah, it's crazy. Five years is no small amount. So, you know, when I think about that, I think about some amazing shows we've got to do and some relationships we've made since the start of working on that with Chris. We actually started working on that record in summer of 2019. It's been a few years where we've really got to make a fantastic friend and do some really cool things with music.
Now you talk of cool shows, you got to do Country Thunder in Winnipeg as a last minute stand-in
To be honest, we were trying to take the year off of doing anything for music. We were all pretty tapped out and we'd been going hard for over 10 years. It was a band decision of let's be okay with just taking a small step back and then all of a sudden Nate Smith, who was originally slated to perform on Country Thunder came down with vocal rest, I think two or three days before the show was supposed to happen. So, they were in a pickle. I knew the promoters pretty well and I kind of just casually shot a text. I'm like, do you guys need a filler? And the girl who I texted, she's like, maybe, LOL! And that was kind of it. The next morning, I got a phone call from True North Sports and Entertainment and they said, yeah, we actually need a band, are you guys willing to pull up your socks and get it done? We quickly got together for a quick rehearsal and had one hell of a show and it was a ton of fun.
How important was it for you as a band to kind of come to that agreement last year of, right, we need to step back for a bit and reset and then can go again?
You know what, I think the conversation was important that it happened the way it did. It's something that I think you're always in this business as there's a million reasons to quit. There's a million reasons to feel excited - it's the ebbs and flows. I think what's the most important thing is having healthy conversations. You know, not we're quitting because we're angry or let's keep going because this song sounds great. It's, let's be smart, let's make sure everyone is in a proper state for whatever the next mood is and next move is. Where we were at, the next move for us was let's just take a break. It was very healthy. I'm proud of that. You know what, it's okay sometimes to slow it down and give yourself a break in life no matter what business you're in. Everyone in the band was very respectful of each other, just saying, hey, it's okay. Let's just do that. The weird part was we didn't have a date on the calendar circled where we're coming back. It was just like, let's just trust ourselves and let's just worry about taking a break. Let's not worry about anything and there you go, look at that. We got to play our first stadium show opening up for some of the biggest artists we've ever got to play with just because we were patient and had a little bit of faith in life. It was a fantastic way to get back together with the guys. It was a great show to connect with fans and a lot of fun.
You've been posting pictures back in the studio. Does it feel like you haven't left?
Yeah, again, when you say it's been five years since we released Flashbacks, it is kind of surreal to think, wow, like, yeah, we've been still doing this and we're still doing it. We've got some really cool songs that I'm super pumped about that we're working in the studio where we'll probably be getting back in there in the next month or so to really hammer down again and see how far we can take them. But yeah, it feels like it's never stopped. That's sometimes when, again, you know you need a break and that's okay to say, hey, let's just tap the breaks a little bit and you'll see what happens when it comes back. We're really excited. I think we've got some of our best music coming and it feels very genuine and we feel very prepared and excited about it. What more could you ask for?
It been nearly 11 years since this all started. What were you hoping for going back to when it first started? Was it just to play local gigs around Winnipeg? Have a bit of fun with your brother and a friend? Or take it to the highest level you can of playing on stadium show bills?
You know what? Everything that I think we had hoped to achieve, we did, which is super cool and a real humbling mention and experience, which again leads to that break. Like it's okay to say, hey, you know what? I think we are okay. I wanted my song to be on our local radio station. Well, you know what? We've had them play 14 of our singles. We've had, I think we counted eight charting singles. Three of them went top 20. We had a song chart very well on the other side of the world in Australia. We got to play our hometown arena. We got to play our hometown stadium. You go and tell me at 15 years old that this is what you'll get to do. I think I'd be very okay with that. We are at this point where we're very grateful and we recognize what an amazing experience we've been given and we don't take it for granted. It's very cool and we love it and we wanna obviously keep doing some cool stuff still, but if it all kind of packed up today, man, I'm very proud of what we've done.
You know what, I think the conversation was important that it happened the way it did. It's something that I think you're always in this business as there's a million reasons to quit. There's a million reasons to feel excited - it's the ebbs and flows. I think what's the most important thing is having healthy conversations. You know, not we're quitting because we're angry or let's keep going because this song sounds great. It's, let's be smart, let's make sure everyone is in a proper state for whatever the next mood is and next move is. Where we were at, the next move for us was let's just take a break. It was very healthy. I'm proud of that. You know what, it's okay sometimes to slow it down and give yourself a break in life no matter what business you're in. Everyone in the band was very respectful of each other, just saying, hey, it's okay. Let's just do that. The weird part was we didn't have a date on the calendar circled where we're coming back. It was just like, let's just trust ourselves and let's just worry about taking a break. Let's not worry about anything and there you go, look at that. We got to play our first stadium show opening up for some of the biggest artists we've ever got to play with just because we were patient and had a little bit of faith in life. It was a fantastic way to get back together with the guys. It was a great show to connect with fans and a lot of fun.
You've been posting pictures back in the studio. Does it feel like you haven't left?
Yeah, again, when you say it's been five years since we released Flashbacks, it is kind of surreal to think, wow, like, yeah, we've been still doing this and we're still doing it. We've got some really cool songs that I'm super pumped about that we're working in the studio where we'll probably be getting back in there in the next month or so to really hammer down again and see how far we can take them. But yeah, it feels like it's never stopped. That's sometimes when, again, you know you need a break and that's okay to say, hey, let's just tap the breaks a little bit and you'll see what happens when it comes back. We're really excited. I think we've got some of our best music coming and it feels very genuine and we feel very prepared and excited about it. What more could you ask for?
It been nearly 11 years since this all started. What were you hoping for going back to when it first started? Was it just to play local gigs around Winnipeg? Have a bit of fun with your brother and a friend? Or take it to the highest level you can of playing on stadium show bills?
You know what? Everything that I think we had hoped to achieve, we did, which is super cool and a real humbling mention and experience, which again leads to that break. Like it's okay to say, hey, you know what? I think we are okay. I wanted my song to be on our local radio station. Well, you know what? We've had them play 14 of our singles. We've had, I think we counted eight charting singles. Three of them went top 20. We had a song chart very well on the other side of the world in Australia. We got to play our hometown arena. We got to play our hometown stadium. You go and tell me at 15 years old that this is what you'll get to do. I think I'd be very okay with that. We are at this point where we're very grateful and we recognize what an amazing experience we've been given and we don't take it for granted. It's very cool and we love it and we wanna obviously keep doing some cool stuff still, but if it all kind of packed up today, man, I'm very proud of what we've done.
You have got a hometown show to count down to now as well.
Yeah, we do. We're playing the Burton Cummings Theatre in a couple of weeks on October 25th. It is one of the most iconic venues in Winnipeg. I would argue it's probably one of the most iconic venues in Canada. It's very old and it's got a lot of character and everybody's played there. We have one hell of a show teed up for people. We're really excited to go out there. We've been working really hard to put everyone back in place and it'll be a good night.
Are the family and friends all trying to get on the guest list, are they?
Yeah, there's always somebody asking for something and we always do what we can to make it work. It'll be a good night. We're having a lot of fun and tickets are selling great. We're really happy with how everything's going.
Now, I'm gonna have one little moan though, you've never actually made it over to Europe yet, have you?
We have not and I'll be honest, that's definitely one of the things we haven't done, which, again, I try to be very grateful for what we have done and not live with my glass half empty. But yes, you are very correct. We still need to make our way out there and we will do everything we can to try and get overseas and make some noise.
There does seem to be a great connection at the minute with Canadian artists and the UK country scene
Yeah, I think that's one of the things when you get into any sort of media business, so whether it's creative, making music or arts or movies, or maybe you a reporter or you run a blog, whatever it is, I think you dream of traveling and doing these extravagant things. Maybe it doesn't, your dreams aren't to travel completely around the world, but I know for us, we definitely wanted to experience life in every corner of the world and we've been very lucky, but there's a few more spots we'd like to go.
Before we finish, how are Winnipeg looking, Jets looking for this season?
I'm feeling good. I think the team's going to do good. I like the off-season moves. It's been a little bit of a shakeup, but a great year last year. I think we're going to build off another one and take another step forward.
Do you think a Canadian team can finally win the Stanley Cup?
Yeah, honestly, I do. I think there's a few teams that could, it's just, man, it's tough. That's a tough trophy to win and it's too bad that it's been so long, but it's exciting. Our family's got season tickets, so we absolutely get to take in a lot of the hockey and we have a lot of fun with it. You know, if there was ever a game seven in a Canadian market for the Stanley Cup, you probably would have to be very careful with what's going to go down in the city. Like the passion and the energy would be next level. I mean, I'd love to see the Jets win. It'd be incredible. I'd probably spend every dollar that's in my bank account and re-mortgage my house to make sure I was out of that game!
I think most people would do exactly the same in that city! Thank you so much Jason for taking the time today. I appreciate it.
No, thank you. We'll see you soon and thanks for the support.
Band of Brothers, the new single by PETRIC is out now
For more information on PETRIC, new music, and upcoming shows, be sure to follow @petricmusic across platforms.
Tickets to their October 25 show at the Burton Cummings Theatre can be purchased HERE.
TikTok | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
Amazon Music | Apple Music | Spotify | YouTube
www.petricmusic.com
Yeah, we do. We're playing the Burton Cummings Theatre in a couple of weeks on October 25th. It is one of the most iconic venues in Winnipeg. I would argue it's probably one of the most iconic venues in Canada. It's very old and it's got a lot of character and everybody's played there. We have one hell of a show teed up for people. We're really excited to go out there. We've been working really hard to put everyone back in place and it'll be a good night.
Are the family and friends all trying to get on the guest list, are they?
Yeah, there's always somebody asking for something and we always do what we can to make it work. It'll be a good night. We're having a lot of fun and tickets are selling great. We're really happy with how everything's going.
Now, I'm gonna have one little moan though, you've never actually made it over to Europe yet, have you?
We have not and I'll be honest, that's definitely one of the things we haven't done, which, again, I try to be very grateful for what we have done and not live with my glass half empty. But yes, you are very correct. We still need to make our way out there and we will do everything we can to try and get overseas and make some noise.
There does seem to be a great connection at the minute with Canadian artists and the UK country scene
Yeah, I think that's one of the things when you get into any sort of media business, so whether it's creative, making music or arts or movies, or maybe you a reporter or you run a blog, whatever it is, I think you dream of traveling and doing these extravagant things. Maybe it doesn't, your dreams aren't to travel completely around the world, but I know for us, we definitely wanted to experience life in every corner of the world and we've been very lucky, but there's a few more spots we'd like to go.
Before we finish, how are Winnipeg looking, Jets looking for this season?
I'm feeling good. I think the team's going to do good. I like the off-season moves. It's been a little bit of a shakeup, but a great year last year. I think we're going to build off another one and take another step forward.
Do you think a Canadian team can finally win the Stanley Cup?
Yeah, honestly, I do. I think there's a few teams that could, it's just, man, it's tough. That's a tough trophy to win and it's too bad that it's been so long, but it's exciting. Our family's got season tickets, so we absolutely get to take in a lot of the hockey and we have a lot of fun with it. You know, if there was ever a game seven in a Canadian market for the Stanley Cup, you probably would have to be very careful with what's going to go down in the city. Like the passion and the energy would be next level. I mean, I'd love to see the Jets win. It'd be incredible. I'd probably spend every dollar that's in my bank account and re-mortgage my house to make sure I was out of that game!
I think most people would do exactly the same in that city! Thank you so much Jason for taking the time today. I appreciate it.
No, thank you. We'll see you soon and thanks for the support.
Band of Brothers, the new single by PETRIC is out now
For more information on PETRIC, new music, and upcoming shows, be sure to follow @petricmusic across platforms.
Tickets to their October 25 show at the Burton Cummings Theatre can be purchased HERE.
TikTok | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
Amazon Music | Apple Music | Spotify | YouTube
www.petricmusic.com
