The value of getting off to a good start can’t be overstated. Early momentum is often a springboard for continued success but, conversely, piles on the pressure to continue to produce at a level at least equal to the quality of the initial foray.
Canadian rap-rock band Down With Webster scored points on both counts, following up their commercially successful 2009 debut EP with a full-length sequel that proved equally noteworthy.
From that point until disbanding in 2015, it was game on for the multi-Juno Award nominated band.
It has been 15 years since Down With Webster’s career-kickstarting release of Time to Win, Vol. 1 and, to mark the anniversary, it has reunited for a series of limited 2024 appearances — a celebration of what was, and still is, coming to Del Crary Park when Peterborough Musicfest welcomes the quintet for the first time for a free-admission concert on Wednesday, July 31st.
Taking its name from the title character of the 1980s sitcom Webster, Toronto grade school pals Patrick Gillett and Tyler Armes started Down With Webster as an instrumental jazz band. After hooking up with Andrew Martino and Martin Seja, hip-hop elements were incorporated into the band’s reggae, funk, and jazz sound. That morphed into exclusively rap-rock when rapper Cameron “Cam” Hunter came into the mix.
In 2006, with material written and produced in their garage studio, Down With Webster self-released its debut self-titled recording the following year. While it barely made a dent commercially, notice was served when the song “Weekends” was playlisted by CHUM-FM.
That, combined with a loyal following for its live shows, saw Down With Webster slowly but surely gain traction — a momentum that was furthered by a 2010 Juno Award nomination for New Group of the Year.
VIDEO: “Whoa Is Me” – Down With Webster
With the October 2009 release of Time to Win, Vol. 1, Down With Webster’s upward trajectory hit a whole other level. The seven-track EP, featuring the platinum-certified singles “Rich Girl$,” “Your Man,” and “Whoa Is Me,” was certified gold just more than a year after its release on its way to being nominated for two 2011 Juno Awards for Pop Album of the Year and Group of the Year.
With all eyes on Down With Webster’s follow-up to that success, the band didn’t disappoint. Released in 2011, Time To Win, Vol. 2 produced three hit singles in “She’s Dope,” “Big Wheels,” and “Royalty” on its way to peaking at an impressive number nine on the Billboard Canadian Albums Chart and earning a 2012 Juno Award nomination, again for Pop Album of the Year.
Three years later, Party For Your Life brought Down With Webster continued success. It peaked at number two on the Billboard chart, fuelled by the singles “One In A Million,” “Chills,” and the title track. And yes, the album brought the band yet another Juno Award nomination — its sixth.
Come 2017, Down With Webster announced that it was taking a hiatus — a move that proceeded the co-founding of the band Honours by Seja.
There things sat until 2020 when Down With Webster resurfaced and then released the singles “Love Is Not Enough” and “Take Us Alive,” both of which were included on the 2021 album V, the band’s last album to date, but one that was actually recorded six years earlier. But by 2022, the hiatus was back on, bringing things to the current reunion tour featuring Down With Webster’s original lineup.
Earlier this year, the band announced via Instagram that it was hitting the road again, writing “Time to relive the best times. Time to absolutely rage. Time to win.”
VIDEO: “Your Man” – Down With Webster
Way back in 2014, Seja, Gillett, and Hunter sat down with Madeline Knutson of Blast Magazine, touching on a number of topics.
“Our goal is just to write songs that people love,” said Hunter.
“Popularity hasn’t changed us really. We’re still the same people. That’s partially because we’ve all know each other since we were eleven or twelve years old and it helps when you are surrounded by friends that have known you for a long time.”
Hunter noted that Time To Win was originally planned to be released as two half-albums to form one album, but that planned was shelved when there was enough material for two full albums.
“We really set ourselves up for a doozy by calling the first one volume one. It meant we had to follow it up with something (which was volume two),” added Gillett.
Harkening back to 1998 and the band’s first gig at a school Battle of the Bands competition, Seja reflected on the growth that followed, both musically and personally.
“It’s been natural,” he said. “Like when you grow up, you change. You’re still you but you’re not the same person you were 10 years ago.”
VIDEO: “Rich Girl$” (clean version) – Down With Webster
“We’ve just got better at what we do individually and figured out what our place in the band is,” added Hunter.
“It has become more honed in. it was a lot more scattered back in the day.”
Their Peterborough Musicfest debut will be the first time Down With Webster’s has performed in Peterborough since 2013, when the band appeared at the Peterborough Memorial Centre, joined by Marianas Trench and Anami Vice.
Peterborough Musicfest is presenting 16 free-admission concerts during its 37th season, each staged on Wednesday and Saturday nights until August 17th.
Overseen by executive director Tracey Randall and staff, a board of directors, and numerous volunteers, Peterborough Musicfest’s stated mission remains “to provide diverse, affordable live music to enrich cultural and economic prosperity in our community.”
For more information on this concert or the 2024 season, visit www.ptbomusicfest.ca or phone the Peterborough Musicfest office at 705-755-1111.
kawarthaNOW is proud to be a headline sponsor of Peterborough Musicfest’s 2024 season.
