history
THE AL IN PAST-TENSE
I've been in about a zillion bands and one band that went through a zillion names and members. The first one was An Essay for Sarah Jane a.k.a. The Wintfalls, Huh, What the? and "Boris Spider." We lasted from sometime in high school until three and a half years later. In that time we replaced two guitarists, three bassists and 2 drummers. I kicked out the original guitar player because I always had to show him how to play stuff and I didn't even play guitar yet. Our smallest crowd was about 100 people, the largest about 1500.
After Essay was a 2-year period of living between Calgary and Salt Lake City, Utah, where I jammed with tons of people. I went from a rap metal band to playing bass for a 3 piece jazz group with a pianist and drummer. Upon returning to Grande Prairie I formed Crushing Sara (no, it had nothing to do with Essay for Sarah Jane) with Anthony Sterr on Bass and Richie Martin on drums. Due to hectic schedules we went on a hiatus after about a year and a half... and never wound up reforming. Anthony is now happily married in Edmonton. 6 months after disbanding, Richie and I got together with Dan and Boy Charlie was born. Richie's career and family forced him to eventually resign, leaving a lonely hole and big shoes to fill. Our good friend Andrew Hall filled in at shows and Nathaneal Sterr in the studio till we could find someone more permanent. Kaehler Sterr has since joined on as the new drummer, bringing some fresh air and energy we had worried we never would've found again.
I'm not much for side projects. I play a lot of mandolin just for fun. I have been working on a concept album which has become a Boy Charlie project. It will tell the story of, and works as a soundtrack to, the book Fahrenheit 451. We think we might use it as our second album but work on the first is still in progress, and who knows where things will take us. I write tons of material that often ends up getting weeded through until we are left with the very best. So many times it doesn't have the right Boy Charlie vibe and sometimes it's just not good enough.
THE ORBIT OF PLANETDAN
I've been playing in bands ever since I was sixteen. There are three bands worth mentioning. These three bands pushed my skills and gave me new challenges. The bands were Eternity, Flash Jackson and The Furious Five and RCP90.
Eternity was the first band that I played in and sparked my interest in being a musician and helped me find an instrument I could just pick up and play --- the drums. Steve Rowe and Nathan Bernadet, two of my friends, played bass and guitar. We had the total "young new band" groove. The faster, the louder, the better. With strict practice we improved our individual skills and learned how to gel with other musicians.
Flash Jackson and the Furious Five started later and after I had played in several other bands. Flash Jackson was Dean Watson on guitar, Andrew Hall on drums, this Derrick guy on vox and me on bass. Since I had never played bass prior to our first jam session, FJ's dirty Rock and Roll was perfect for learning bass. The simple but hard-hitting songs didn't require me to play intricatly or precisely. The songs were more open to jamming and this helped me find my style.
RCP90 formed at the same time as Flash Jackson. Myself as drummer, Mike Fuller on 2nd guitar, Anthony Sterr on lead guitar, and Ryan Ro vocals. RCP90's fast paced, tight, groovy sound really challenged my drumming skills. The songs helped me break out of playing only what felt "natural" and pushed me to learn new timings and intricacies that I had not played in music before.
I am always keeping myself busy with side projects, often to the point of spreading myself too thin. When I'm not working with Boy Charlie I'm messing around with other music ventures or my art portfolio. I love experimenting and creating different musical pieces. Usually I record noise and guitar parts and mix them together. My own progressive experimental project is affectionately called Planet Dan. I also have an on-going experimental noise project with Andrew Hall called Sober Legit. There are no set practices or recorded material. We more or less come up with ideas while driving. One day we will record some of our meanderings and make our mark on the lost page of the indie-experimental noise books. It's all just fun.
KAEHLER "NO NICKNAME" STERR
I have been playing drums since I was 9 years old. My first drum set my brother, Nathanael, made out of a saw horse with ice cream pails attacked to it. I played it with chop sticks. I thought it was so cool.
My first show was when I was 11. I'v only been in a "band" since I was 16 and since I just turned 17 thats not really that long. I'v been in only two bands other than Boy Charlie. One doesn't really count but here it is. When I was 11 I played drums for a worship team in my church (Webster Community Church). We even played a show in Fort St. John. In the spring of 2004 I formed the band Possible Side-Effects. My idea was for me and some friends to start a worship team to play new songs and learn new songs. I just wanted to get together and jam but as soon as some people heard of it lots wanted to be in it. We soon had too many gigs to handle. However, our band life was cut short as summer loomed near we all realized we would be going are own ways and so the end of Possible Side-Effects. In the end we only played 3 gigs. I was lead guitarist and lead vocals. I would name the others but there was too many of them (we had two people on bass guitar). At the most I think we had 12 people.
Well, for side projects. Aside from drums I play guitar, bass, and I can sing. I really enjoy making up cool grooves and learning worship songs. I play worship music in church services and on wednesday I play guitar in a worship team for the bible study I attend.
One thing I really like about playing drums in Boy Charlie is that it really allows me to explore my kit. I am challenged to try new things and I learn a lot. It also gives me lots of time to work on my technique since I drop a lot of sticks. It's bad, I know, but I'm working on it.
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