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Kimberley Ski-Punkers Rock Shotties

The Gorbies take the stage Tuesday Feb.11
gorbies
Kimberley's latest punk-rock sensations The Gorbies, left to right: Geoff Stratton, Ken Vargas, Riley Razz, Joey Raymond. (Ferdy Belland photo)

"I was busy in the Vancouver music scene for many years, but I moved home to Kimberley about three and a half years ago," explains Gorbies guitarist-vocalist Stratton. "I knew Ken from way back when, and we started jamming again and clicked as musicians. I was introduced to Joey through mutual friends, and so we also started playing together. As a punk rocker from Kimberley, I had this idea brewing about forming a silly joke band about ski hills and skiing, and Ken and Joey were both on board with the concept - so away we went and formed The Gorbies!"

The Gorbies perform live at Shotties Nightclub on Tuesday, Feb. 11, as local opening support for Vancouvers rising punk stars The Corps, who are passing through Cranbrook as part of their Winter Shminter Tour which takes them all across Canada.

In true traditional punk style, there's more mirth than menace to Stratton and his bandmates. 

"I grew up in Kimberley, and the local ski hill and the wild winter culture it cultivates is something you can't escape from," says Stratton. "Everyone I knew - kids, adults, everyone - referred to the terrible, awful skiiers who came in from out of town as 'Gorbies.' The term stuck with me all my life. I've gone to other ski hills across the Kootenays and the townspeople there also know what a 'Gorbie' is, so it's legitimate regional slang. So the concept adds a hilarous tongue-in-cheek theme to the band."

  Once Stratton had the idea boiling away in his imagination, it was surprisingly easy to form a working band to turn the dreams into ear-splitting, high-velocity punk rock reality. 

  "Ken and I were trying to form a cover band playing '90s Alternative Rock, but that didn't last," says Stratton, "but we knew we wanted to play together. Once I met Joey, and we were just having fun jamming together and playing music, I brought Ken into the mix and everything clicked from there. Joey just happened to meet our bass player Razz by accident in the local music store and just said: hey, you wanna jam sometime? So he showed up at our next rehearsal, and he was a lot of fun. Everyone fits in. We're all good friends...even though there's an age difference! The guys in the band make me feel old sometimes, but they also keep me young."

The in-house creative process finds the Gorbies not lacking for material. "I just wrote the basic building blocks for a new Gorbies song the other day," says Stratton. It's called 'Daniel Doesn't Have a Handicap,' but don't worry: it's about golfing! We're always songwriting, and I have a hard time writing anything that's not silly, honestly. I can't take myself seriously these days."

The Gorbies are busy exploring the other pocket-scenes existing across the Kootenays.  

"We just played in Fernie for the first time the other weekend - at the Legion Hall with that town's punk heroes Chungus," says Stratton. "Chungus is great. Another amazing Kootenay rock band. They're great people all around, and their musical energy is really catchy and loud and a lot of fun...so I love it!

"After the Corps show we'll be playing our first Kimberley gig at the ski hill. I mean, we're a Kimberley band and we're finally playing our first hometown show! It's hard for us to find suitable shows in the venues that currently run in Kimberley, just because we're so loud! Which is par for the course. We are a punk-rock band, after all. And we're looking to record our debut album later this year - we have more than enough songs in our live repertoire to piece together a strong album. We've only been together for about five months now, but we're busy busy busy!" 

Stratton & Co. are ultra-stoked for their upcoming show. 

"We're stoked to share a stage with The Corps," says Stratton. "They're a great band, and they're doing really well. They won an award in some punk magazine for Album of the Year! We were so excited to get the opportunity to make a local show happen for them on this current tour of theirs. We don't get a lot of melodic skate-punk bands of that caliber passing through these parts all that often.”

Catch the Gorbies live in action Tuesday February 11 (doors 7 pm, show 8 pm) at Shotties Nightclub, opening for Vancouver’s The Corps - tickets available at the door or online at Eventbrite.