Hailing from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, The Sheepdogs brought their authentic brand of ’70s-infused rock ‘n’ roll to the UK for an electrifying show at London’s famed Electric Ballroom. I’m a bit late to the party on this one, stumbling on the band on a recommendation from a fellow member of a Jellyfish Facebook group, but once I watched the video for “I Wanna Know You,” I was hooked. At first I thought this can’t be real—this is too fucking good. Then I met the band and saw the show, and I can say this is 100% real, it’s authentic, it’s home-cooked rock ‘n’ roll.
Just before their show in London, I went backstage to chat with frontman Ewan Currie and bassist Ryan Gullen about their sound, creativity during the lockdown, and pop culture—and got a few fun stories along the way.
Why this sound in particular? What drew the band to the ’70s?
Ewan: When I was a teenager, I didn’t care about modern music the way I felt about Creedence, The Kinks, Zeppelin, or The Beatles. Then when I was 19 and going to bars, there weren’t any bands playing this kind of music. We were listening to the early Black Keys, the first Kings of Leon album, and we thought we could do this kind of stuff. We figured that we would all sing and do guitar harmonies hopefully. Eighteen years in, it’s not like we are chasing a trend; this is us.
Ryan: We started out playing songs from bands that we liked, and then eventually we started writing our own songs. We always come from an honest place, even if it’s beneficial or not to us. We try to be genuine in the way we do things, and I think we attract a more dedicated fanbase because it’s so organic.
How did the lockdown affect the band’s creativity? Did you find you were more or less creative?
Ewan: I think it was a bit of both. We tour a lot it’s hard to be creative on the road. For me, I find that creativity is usually associated with quiet introspection, a chance to sit down and sort through thoughts and ideas instead of when you’re rushing around on tour. Being in a green room with a bunch of guys around you, along with frantic travel, it becomes the enemy of creativity.
It was such a bummer of a time. I guess some people get motivated when they are depressed, but it didn’t feel like a very inspiring time. You have to live your life and be inspired by things to come up with ideas. Being stuck at home watching TV or whatever shit we were doing during lockdown just doesn’t really get my juices flowing.
Ryan: What started to be like a fun long weekend turned into the uncertainty of when this would end. It was the first time we had taken a long period of time off with the band, it was kind of fun, but then as time went on, we didn’t really know if we are going to be able to make a record. It became a bit of a bummer, but when we finally did back together to play music again, it was amazing and it actually helped us creatively as we were all a bit refreshed and excited to be back together.
Where’s the most unusual place you’ve heard your music over the years?
Ryan: We had a song that was in a milk ad in New Zealand that we didn’t know about. Eventually, I figured it out. I only realized that when we approve things, we don’t always know exactly where they will end up. A while back, we got asked to be in a new Steven Soderbergh movie, and they explained the synopsis, but we didn’t know the title of that movie. That turned out to be Magic Mike. The way they described it, we didn’t have any idea it was about male strippers. They said it was gritty but nothing about male strippers.
What are you watching on the road?
Ryan: We both watched and enjoyed We Own the City, the Baltimore cop show.
Ewan: I just watched The Equalizer with Denzel
Did you watch Top Gun, Maverick?
Ryan: The guy on the plane was watching it next to me, and I leaned over and said, ahh, just the way the director meant for it to be seen, on the small screen. I don’t think he got the joke, and I thought I was being funny!
Ewan: I just recently saw the original Top Gun for the first time.
How many copies of Rolling Stone did you buy when you made the cover? (The Sheepdogs were the first unsigned band to be on the cover. —Ed.)
Ryan: I’ve got a stack of them!
Ewan: I don’t have one. We were so busy when it came out, and across our hometown it got bought out by everyone.
What was the most surprising thing that happened from being on the cover?
Ewan: We went to a party that Rolling Stone threw for us, and Larry David was there. He was friendly, polite and chill; it was amazing.
Ryan: The best part was that we got to see a Larry David moment in real life, and it was amazing. A guy came over to talk to him, and the guy started spelling his drink everywhere, and Larry started saying in a very Larry David way, “Hey, what are you doing? You’re spelling your drink everywhere.”
What’s your favorite story from the road, the one that gets told again and again?
Ryan: Once, we had our tour manager tell us that someone stole all our money from the venue. We did all this detective work, and we figured out that he got drunk and got a prostitute who stole all our money. Then he tried to lie to us and give us this story. We had to send him home on a Greyhound bus and continue the tour without him.
Ewan: We were leaving a bar at 2AM walking through a back alley in Zaragosa, and we were told to be careful of people impersonating cops. We were smoking a roach, and this man and a woman walk up to us and show us some badges and say they were cops. Then my brother shouts, “they’re not real cops,” and pushes and shoves them. We were like, let’s get the fuck out of here as they pull out their radios and start speaking in Spanish. Next thing we know, ten cops show up in full uniform and either end of the alleyway with their cars blocking the road. And we were like, aww fuck, and we all put our hands up. They ended up letting us go because we weren’t from there, and all we had was a little roach. But we did end up in a scrap with the cops in Spain.
What prized vinyl do you have in your collection?
Ewan: I listen to JJ Cale a lot. I put on Troubador when I’m at home. It’s an easy record to find, so I always have a bunch of copies of it, so when it does wear out I go onto the next one. I also give it to people who come over and don’t have it.
Ryan: I was always looking for the second album from a German band called Frumpy. They’re a really cool progressive ’70s rock band with a female singer. I’d go to all these record stores and flea markets while we are on tour and could never find it. One day we were in Amsterdam playing at Paradisio, and there is this great record store across the street from the venue. I walked into the store, and it was the first record I saw, Frumpy II. I spent years and years looking for it, and there it was, sitting in new arrivals.
The Sheepdogs tour continues across North America, so get out and see this one; there’s really nothing quite like it at the moment. Their latest record Outta Sight is in stores now.
