If you spend a lot of time at shows and concerts around British Columbia, do you see a lot of the same people? It seems like everyone is connected in the music scene – and why is it the bassists who know everybody?

You can’t ever escape the scene, for such a large area, every element in the lower mainland is overlapped. The bands, venues, promoters, photographers, and even audience is overlapped across cities and genres. Perhaps it’s a sign of a shrinking industry, with jobs now rotating a small select group of people.

Connor Scott McManus / Pexels

If you have been in the British Columbia music scene for a while, you can probably attest to the fact that it has always been like this, one guy in each venue, band, etc. is the great uniter. Last week I wrote two features on The Zolas and Said The Whale, if you remember those bands this will make more sense, I recommend checking those out because these two groups are an example of this interconnectivity within the scene. Zachary Gray and Tom Dobrzanski are both founding members of The Zolas, an alternative rock band formed in 2009.

Tom Dobrzanski went out to produce much of Said The Whale’s early material. Said The Whale are an indie band formed around the same time however, they encompass a much different scene than The Zolas. Tom Dobrzanski brought both bands together by acting as a major force in both of their beginnings, and those bands went on to become massive within the local scene, even reaching a large international audience. As a result of this, if you know one of those bands, you probably know both by extension. You can’t be a Zolas fan without being a Said The Whale fan, they’re so different yet so similar.

Your favorite musical groups and artists all have that one thing connecting them to each other, whether it be their producer, a member in the group, or even a stage hand. The next time you go to a local show in British Columbia, see who you recognize from other gigs. It is amazing that we have such a strong local scene here with people who keep showing up to support British Columbia music.