Biography: (source: Spawner Records website (2003))
Wishing Well is a melodic punk band from Vernon, BC, who enjoy skateboarding, snowboarding and playing stoking music to kids eager for something energetic and fast that has catchy melodies. Wishing Well is Kevin Bruce (bass), Justin denBok (vocals), Stephan LaCasse (guitar and harmony), Matt Lunde (lead guitar), and Scott Ross, (drums).
Wishing Well started out in late 1996 as school buddies Scott and Stephan bashing out Pennywise’s "Brohymn" on a Peavey Rage amp and a pile of boxes. Finally, months later, Scott bought some drums, Stephan tried singing and Kevin (another school buddy) came over with a bass (and no amp). Five songs and four shows later (summer '97), Bryce Marshall (who played guitar and went to some other school who Scott kind of knew) came on with loads of hooks and riffs to add to Wishing Well's increasing set list. It was around this time that the band recorded its first recording,
Euphoria, which was recorded by Bryce's music teacher, Brian McMahon in the school's music room. The tape had 7 songs on it and the band quickly sold out of the 50 or so tapes it had made. This lineup lasted for a few months until Justin was asked to sing. It was a few months after that the band recorded it's first studio-quality demo at Sirius Music. The band recorded three songs which were not really available to the public until the band recorded 5 more songs at Vernon Recording. The combining 8 songs were released on Wishing Well's first demo,
Wake Up, of which, 100 copies were made.
The band went on to play locally on regular basis and develop a loyal following. As many months went by, the band had to many songs they could not afford not to record, so into the Vernon Recording studio they went to record their first full-lenth,
Choices Made, Lessons Learned, which had 14 songs plus one hidden acoustic track. This is Wishing Well's most recent release, which came out in December of 1999, and has sold upwards of 1000 copies. This five-piece lineup lasted for a couple years, until recently when Bryce left the band to pursue other things (he still hangs out and comes to shows, and everybody loves him). The band then starting touring heavily throughout western Canada as a four-peice in their 1978, propane-powered, flame-painted, Ford Econoline Cargo van, which was recently deemed unfit for the road by the Vehicle Inspection Unit of the RCMP. After thinking back to memories of hitch-hiking from Calgary to Edmonton and back for a couple shows because of the van breaking down and missing shows on Vancouver Island for the same reason, the band agreed that the van was more of a threat than a benefit and left it on the road for a scrap yard to take away, after spending a little time smashing it up.
Recently, the band has re-added a fifth member, Matt Lunde. “Lundy” used to play bass in various bands with Justin and then Stephan and ended up buying a guitar and amp to play with Wishing Well. He is definitely a permanent fixture now in the sound and personality of the band.Their upcoming release,
Intervals, is a ten song journey through territory Wishing Well has been intimidated in the past to experiment in. There are still the hard, fast punk (
Nothing More Nothing Less, Lit) and some lighter, poppier stuff (
Pieces, A Day In The Life Of A Captive Heart)but the band has also included a couple acoustic tracks (
Sustain, Who You Aren't) and some tracks that don't quite fit into a specific punk genre (
Deeper Than, Jimmy Doggit). The band is especially proud of their new CD and plans on getting it into as many CD players as possible.
The five members of Wishing Well completed a hectic cross-Canada tour in December which nearly took 2 months and covered most of Canada and are currently on a lengthier cross-Canada tour from April 19 until June 10 to promote their upcoming release on Spawner Records. Response has been great, and word is starting to get around that these Vernon boys deliver one of the most energetic show in Canada.
Discography:
- Euphoria (1997) TAPE
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Wake Up (1998) CD
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Choices Made, Lessons Learned (1999) CD
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Intervals (2001) CD
