Jay Semko and his bandmates in The Northern Pikes are at a very good place in their lives these days.Not only do he, band co-founder Bryan Potvin and long-time drummer Don Schmid have diverse, busy and satisfying creative careers, but a couple dozen times a year they are able to get together again as the Pikes to rock audiences from coast to coast.
One of the most successful bands to hail from the plains of Saskatchewan, for a significant period of time in the later 1980s and into the 1990s, the Northern Pikes were a staple on pop and rock radio as well as MuchMusic, with a string of rootsy, hook-laden rock hits, starting with 1987s Teenland, followed by tunes such as Hopes Go Astray, Girl With A Problem, Kiss Me You Fool, She Ain’t Pretty right up until Believe in 1993.
After a ‘hiatus’ that began in 1994 the band resumed touring in 1999 with the release of a greatest hits package and also returned to the studio with the albums Truest Inspiration in 2001 and It’s a Good Life released two years later.
And for the better part of the last 15 years, the Northern Pikes have continued to delight fans both new and old with periodic and well-anticipated shows. On Nov. 14, the band will be headlining a special charity show in Kingston at the BluMartini Lounge on Ontario Street for the Light of Day organization, which raises money to support care, treatment and research for Parkinson’s Disease. Also on the bill are local favourites Miss Emily and Paul Langlois of the Tragically Hip and others.
The band is also playing two dates in Bayfield, ON, Nov. 12 and 13, and at This Ain’t Hollywood in Hamilton on Nov. 15.
Semko told www.musiclifemagazine.net that the band is totally happy playing the number of dates that they do each year.
“We kind of go out quarterly during the year. We do what I call mini-tours of three or four shows, that kind of thing. In the summer we also do some fairs and festivals and we also do some casino shows. We do quite a variety of shows and venues and it’s fun,” said Semko.
“We all do other things so we’re not a band that wants to be on the road all the time like we used to. For me personally we’re doing enough Northern Pikes shows. We get to see each other and play together, do some cool shows for fans and make a few bucks. We’re just having a lot of fun and that’s what it’s really about now – enjoying those moments.”
Another band co-founder, Merl Bryck, had to leave the fold a couple of years ago because of pressing personal and family 
commitments, although he is still a valued friend and occasional contributor, sitting in with the band from time to time. Semko said the now three-piece version of the Northern Pikes has settled into a good groove after a short adjustment period.
“We’re a little more raw as a trio, and we’re down to two vocalists instead of three, but it’s working really well. I feel the sound of the band has really gelled. It’s a little different than the original version of the Northern Pikes, but as time goes by things evolve, people change – that’s inevitable,” he said.
“In our shows we obviously like to play the songs that everybody wants to hear and a few that will be a bit of a surprise for people, but the cool thing is as a three piece you have quite a bit more flexibility to alter the arrangements and jam out a little bit. So we can kind of say, ‘okay, Teenland is going to be 10 minutes tonight instead of four minutes long.’ The good thing about playing together as a group for a long time now is you get to know each other’s strengths when playing live. I know when it’s time for Donnie to let it rip on the drums for a little bit, or when it’s time for Bryan to take a run because he’s in a groove.
“I like it now because there’s a little more unpredictability because we can change things at the drop of a hat easier as a three piece. It makes the shows more interesting for us and for the audience.”
Part of the reason for the limited touring schedule is due to geography – Semko still lives in Saskatchewan, while Schmid is in British Columbia and Potvin now resides clear on the other side of the continent in Nova Scotia.
“The logistics are sometimes complex and there’s always flights involved. For a long time we didn’t actually rehearse regularly. A few months ago we got together and just started hammering out a few different arrangements and finding different things that worked; where we could expand things or restructure some songs. So we are kind of riding on that and we’ll probably do another rehearsal period or two in the summer,” said Semko.
He, Potvin and Schmid are also occupied with many other creative endeavours, which gives them some balance in their lives and makes the Northern Pikes more of a treat than a chore.
“I have put out a number of solo albums with the last one, Flora Vista, coming out last year. I go and play some solo acoustic shows. I still do music for film and TV and do some voice over work for commercials mostly. Don and his partner Jackie have been somewhat nomadic over the last few years. They live in a large RV and just bought a plot of land in B.C. which is their semi-permanent home and they do professional photography as well as a lot of travelling.
“And Bryan did a solo record a couple of years ago and he is also working with Kevin Kane of the Grapes of Wrath on a project. They’ve played a lot of shows together and are in the middle of recording right now. Bryan’s also worked for record companies over the years and Donnie used to have another band that also put out a record. So everybody has stayed involved in the business and has played live a lot, which is good when we get together for Pikes shows because it means we’re not rusty.”
With a career spanning more than 30 years, it’s not surprising that the fan base at live shows is demographically diverse.
“It is a pretty good cross section. There are people who were teenagers or college age who grew up with our music and it’s stuck with them, which makes sense. I grew up in the 1970s, so there’s certain music that stuck with me and always will because it was part of my growing up. And then there is a second generation of people who discovered the Northern Pikes later and have even discovered us through some of the other projects we have done,” Semko explained.
“I have written music for a lot of TV shows and films and stuff and probably the thing more people know about is the TV series Due South. There is always a sprinkling of fans of that show who are curious to know where the music came from, because it was pretty distinctive. I worked on that show for five years and some of the hardcore fans from around Canada and really around the world have kind of sought out my music and stumbled across the Pikes.”
Semko said he, Potvin and Schmid are thrilled that fans still enjoy the music after all these years.
“The good thing is as you get older most of us as musicians realize how fortunate we are to be able to play music and have people like it, make a living from it and just really enjoy the experience of playing live. And it’s a lot of fun to play the festivals because we run into a lot of other bands from our era and earlier eras and it’s like a class reunion. We have done a lot of shows with Trooper and Loverboy and also with the Odds and Grapes of Wrath. It’s great to just hang around those guys, and playing shows with those bands also helps remind their fans of our music and vice versa, so it’s good on so many levels,” he said, adding that the band was thrilled to be inducted into the Western Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2012.
That the songs of the Northern Pikes are still appreciated, still get good airplay on commercial radio and are still a joy to play Semko credits to the effort he and his colleagues put into the material as collaborative songwriters.
“It’s nice to know that you’ve written some songs that have stayed in the Canadian songbook for so long. We’re lucky to consistently make a lot of those Top 50 Canadian bands or Canadian songs lists, and it’s great. The biggest thing with this band was that we realized early on that songwriting is crucial; having songs that you can play on an acoustic guitar in a room and they will still translate and be memorable was sort of the school of thought we had from day one,” he said.
“Initially I was doing most of the writing, but very soon Merl started doing some songs and so did Bryan and then Donnie began co-writing with us, so all four people in the band eventually wrote songs and our standards were high. Your best editors and your best producers are often your peers if you’re in a band. You know each other so well that if one of your songs really doesn’t work or sucks, the other guys are going to say something. You develop your own quality control and we always were quite tough on each other in that way.”
Semko said the Northern Pikes are relishing their long-anticipated return to Kingston on Nov. 14, one of their most loyal and fun markets to play “back in the day.”
“It’s a really good cause, so that was one reason we took the gig, but also we hadn’t played Kingston in a while. I think the last time I was there I was doing a solo acoustic thing in the early 2000s, but my memory isn’t what it used to be. I do know we used to play Kingston a lot back in the day at Queen’s University and at The Lakeview Manor where the Tragically Hip used to play when they were getting going,” he said.
“Kingston was always a good place to play. It’s an interesting cross section of vibes there: you’ve got the prisons as well as the famous university and a lot of history there. It just always struck me as an interesting vortex of things happening there in Kingston, and I know it has a great arts and music community too. There always seems to be something cool going on, so we’re happy to be finally coming back.”
For more information on the show, visit http://www.lightofdaycanada.com/events/default/view/182/
For more information on the band, visit www.thepikes.com.
- Jim Barber is a veteran award-winning journalist and author based in Napanee, ON, who has been writing about music and musicians for a quarter of a century. Besides his journalistic endeavours, he now works as a communications and marketing specialist. Contact him at jimbarberwritingservices@gmail.com.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrLB-UGlhdk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FnrC0JPEAI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwkNsWcFy1Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzqX6VwaKMk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daJ28FzUlAw
For more videos from the Northern Pikes visit their YouTube page.
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