Fans, friends, and local music enthusiasts gathered at Paul Phillips Hall on Saturday, December 2nd for Maitarra’s “procession” and final hoorah.
The building was packed with an enthusiastic crowd and Maitarra bandmates were thrilled to sell out the venue and welcome other musicians into the mix to showcase new projects.
A total of four bands rang in the night, starting with the newest projects that Maitarra members have branched into: Special Guests, Hope City Waters, and Bong Witch.
They all expressed that they’re pumped to still play alongside each other in some of the new bands and look forward to sharing the stage again.
Maitarra ended the evening’s festivities, performing their final goodbye while everyone linked arms and swayed, singing along to the band’s beloved songs.
The band consists of Maita Waters on vocals, Sam Burke on bass, Ben DeCicco on drums, Aidan Polglase on guitar, and Jeremy Earley on keys and guitar.
“Maitarra was my first band…playing with them has taught me how to jam with other people in a band setting,” Burke told Victoria Buzz.
“Live music is one of the most important things in each community. Without live music there’s no vibrancy. Live music is where its at.”
Maitarra formed two years ago by a group of young musicians hoping to find a creative outlet that would enable them to further develop talents and push them further into the Victoria music scene.
In an interview with DeCicco, he said it was really pushed by Polglase, who was aching to play music and get more involved in the rich music community that Victoria has.
“He was inspired by other local bands who would just invite all their friends to come watch and party together,” DeCicco shared.
“We jammed with a bunch of people throughout that summer…and then he saw Maita and said ‘Wow, that’s a good singer and songwriter’…and asked her if she wanted to be in a band.”
They then needed to search for a bass player. Waters suggested they get a hold of Burke, who she hadn’t seen in a while but remembered her being really talented.
“We jammed together to test it out and wow…we just clicked. The rest is history.”
And although their creative differences have led to Maitarra coming to a close, they all still consider each other family and look forward to cheering each other on with future projects.
It was important to the band to have one final show together and present the new stuff they’d been working on, so after four months in the making, the final concert commenced and “was absolutely killer.”
“It was so cool to be able to have this last hoorah,” Waters gushed.
She added that as a part of the final performance, they wanted to spice it up with a bit of dramatics and decided to make their entrance like pallbearers would at a funeral—hoisting up a neon Maitarra sign on their way to the stage.
Waters and her bandmates were excited to get everyone’s reaction and knew the crowd would find it as hilarious as they did.
“We’ve created a community and no one is going anywhere.”
When asked about her favourite Maitarra moments, she highlighted the magic of a band syncing together after years of work and getting better at comfortability on stage.
“As a musician, I’ve learned a lot about stage presence and I’ve had fun playing with vocal tricks. It’ll be something I continue to develop.”
“I’ve also learned patience—you have to accept that learning your language as a band takes a while, and it’s so sweet when it happens.”
Each band will add something new to the music scene—for Bong Witch, members are excited to dive deeper into the metal scene in Victoria, and Hope City Waters looks forward to bringing more to the folk scene.
Bong Witch, described as “sludgy progressive rock”, will feature both DeCicco on drums and Burke on bass from Maitarra, along with their two guitarists, Dan Froese and Braxton Glass.
“Everyone I talked to at [the Maitarra] show is super pumped for Bong Witch to enter the metal scene and I’m excited to meet more people in it too,” DeCicco remarked.
Hope City Waters presents Waters on vocals, DeCicco on drums, Jeremy Early on guitar and bass from Maitarra, joined by Jacob Leger on guitar and bass—who works with Waters on Folk Night at The Mint.
“We want to bring some music with space in it and have it be lyric-centric,” Waters remarked about Hope City Waters.
“It feels like a lot of bands get a bit heavier to appease the audience, but we want to keep it pretty melodic.”
DeCicco added that there’s a lightness to it, both in the music and in the atmosphere while they practice.
“We’re having a great time and it’s been so positive…we’re going to bring the full potential of what folk can be.”
Special Guests was described as a chill, jam-centered group with bandmates DeCicco, Burke, and Polglase where they’ll have fun and won’t feel too pressed to perform unless they make some music they’re particularly happy with.
Victoria Buzz asked members how they’ll stay in touch even if they’re in separate bands and the answer for each of them was easy: they’re family and this isn’t really the end, but a new beginning.
“Love you guys, see you later,” Burke said, in a salute to her Maitarra mates.
Support your local music community and follow along with what so many talented individuals are accomplishing in the heart of Victoria!
