Yes, The East Pointers do know Nick from Canada

Asking a random Canadian if they know Nick, would be like asking the Molson Canadian rant guy if he knows Susie.

Unless you’re from Prince Edward Island. Then, you probably do know Susie—and more likely Nick.

PEI is one of my favourite island destinations. In recent years, my little family has made it a yearly summer pilgrimage. Although PEI is Canada’s smallest province, every time we visit it feels bigger—until The East Pointers proved it really is the small, close-knit island community of our red-sand postcard dreams.

Here’s my conversation with East Pointers’ member Koady Chaisson on family, floatillas, and of course Nick.

QUESTION: Some of you are cousins, brothers… what’s it like to tour and play with family?
ANSWER: Two of us are cousins, yep, although we’re all as close as brothers. Actually Jake had his cousin out on the road with us in Australia recently making a film, Jake was happy to have an Ontario skate boarding buddy. It’s nice to be able to lean on each other when things get difficult on the road. I couldn’t imagine being in a band that didn’t have that connection.

QUESTION: The floatilla in your video teasing the latest album “What We Leave Behind” looks like a really special occasion. Is there anything that makes playing on a boat, to a bunch of audience members on other boats, more special? More challenging?
ANSWER: It was special and challenging — but ultimately awesome. It was special because it’s something we’ve never done before. Playing on lobster boats to a bunch of volunteers from the Rollo Bay Fiddle Festival and other people from our home town is certainly a rare and incredible experience to have. There were plenty of challenges to pulling it off for sure. Weather on PEI can be finicky at the best of times, so we were lucky to get a beautiful sunset. The most difficult thing was actually playing our instruments, the rocking back in forth made Tim’s job of playing foot percussion very tricky, trying to sing while cresting waves and not having your teeth break from the mic was also a funny thing we’ve never had to think of before! Land gigs are a breeze now.

QUESTION: How heavy is that banjo? If heavy, do you ever wish you didn’t write so many songs with it?
ANSWER: The banjo is pretty heavy (12 pounds) and its weight distribution isn’t ideal for performing standing up. That being said it plays an important role in the band (says the banjo player) and we couldn’t imagine not having it in all the songs/instrumentals. I’ve been told by my family that I need to get a back support to use with the banjo – obviously those people aren’t in charge of band image.

QUESTION: What aspects of PEI culture do you wish would spread a little faster/further to make the world a better place?
ANSWER: One of the best things about PEI is how kind people are to strangers. The world could benefit from a bit more PEI.

QUESTION: PEI is a close-knit community. Do any of you know Nick G.?
ANSWER: Haha, yes, PEI is close-knit and we do know Nick, he is a good buddy of ours. Funny, the last time I seen Nick was while we were driving down Queen Street in Toronto. He was walking along and we yelled his name from a moving car. He began running and we had a nice little roadside catch-up on the side of a busy TO street corner. He’s such a lovely human. We need more Nick G.’s in the world.

QUESTION: As musicians, who also travel to make a living, do you feel a kinship or empathy for those who need to find work away from home (fishermen, crew, other) like those you talk about in “Two Weeks”? Do you have any advice for long-distance relationships?
ANSWER: Pretty much any relationships we have outside of those in the band are long distance so we definitely feel an empathy with those having to leave home for work. We’ve been on the road for at least 9 months a year for the last 4 years. We know that feeling of being away while important things happen back at home. It can be tough but we try and keep the communication going between band members and loved ones. The world of technology has definitely made it a lot easier as well. Being able to see family members and partners with the click of a button is a blessing.

QUESTION: On “The Drift” Tim plays the egg shaker… Could you comment on how hard it is in reality to play the egg shaker?
ANSWER: It’s harder than people think to play the shaker! Rhythm is the backbone for everything, if it’s off everything is. That being said, if you are aspiring to be a professional egg shaker get cracking, it’s fun. Never take up the spoons though, okay?

QUESTION: PEI is known for fishing and tourism for its coastal aspects. Could you comment on any of the issues facing our world’s oceans (fight against plastics, climate change, fishing practices…)?
ANSWER: PEI is awesome and its fishing and farming communities are the backbone of the province. In the scheme of things keeping fishing small and local is great, it’d be awful to see those super trawlers heading up North. We have drastically reduced our plastic consumption over the last few years (we all have reusable water bottles and take away containers). It’s such an easy thing to do and paying for water is such a ridiculous thing. Because our line of work requires lots of travel we try to reduce our carbon footprint as much as possible by eating sustainable foods (local whenever possible) and trying to pack as much gear as possible into the tiniest vehicle we can.

QUESTION: Alpine or Schooner?
ANSWER: Schooner all the way! Souris PEI breeds very loyal Schooner supporters, it’s one of those funny things about growing up in a small town. You weren’t a local if you drank anything but. We’ve moved onto more local brews in recent years. Copper Bottom and Barnone are a couple of really awesome PEI craft brews that everyone should check out. They also do really cool music gigs as part of their mission. Barn dances at Barnone have become the cool thing to do on the island, it’s nice to see the younger generation listening and dancing to jigs and reels!

QUESTION: Do you and Tim really share 51 cousins? Do your phones light up like crazy with people looking for free tickets to home shows?
ANSWER: 52 in total! And yes, absolutely to the free tickets thing. It’s funny if a show sells out prior to day-of you end up with a pretty significant guest list. We’re constantly encouraging the pre-sale route and they’re slowly catching on…

Get your pre-sale tickets for The East Pointers before shows sell-out!

Follow the East Pointers on their international tour via Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.