Squamish Valley Music Festival Act of the Day: Zerbin

by Miranda Nelson on July 31st, 2014 at 10:10 AM

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Like Halloween, when the early October fogs start to roll in, and Christmas when the drug store starts playing "Jingle Bells" on November 1, it’s starting to feel like it’s almost here.

Yes, we’re talking about the Squamish Valley Music Festival, taking place August 8 to 10 at the Logger Sports Grounds and Hendrickson Fields. In anticipation of the big event—headlined by Eminem, Bruno Mars, and Arcade Fire—we’re spending the next few weeks rounding up local artists who’ll be playing the open-air party, and getting them to answer some important questions.

Like who they’ll be cueing up on the iPod for the Sea-to-Sky drive to the site, what they’ll be making sure to pack to make it through their set, the all-time dream-festival lineup, and who they plan to stalk backstage. Read on, but not before you pick up your Squamish Valley Music Festival ticket. The last thing you want to miss is today’s spotlighted act...

Featured artist

Multi-instrumentalists Jason Zerbin and Peter Mol (who gamely answered our questions) are the duo at the heart of Zerbin, the Victoria-by-way-of-Edmonton folk group that's rapidly gaining a name for itself across the continent. Since moving to the West Coast in 2012, the band's anthemic tunes have been popping up in TV shows, commercials, and movie trailers. Be sure to catch them playing beautiful music at this year's Squamish fest, if only so you'll be able to say, "Yeah, I saw these guys way back when".

Sea-to-Sky playlist

I’ve been getting into streaming services lately, they’ve sorta been blowing my mind. With Rdio, you can follow people like NPR and Pitchfork, they both have killer playlists with new music to discover. More specifically though, Robert Plant’s new project is swell, Mac Demarco, Odesza, Sam Smith, and SIA!

Outdoor essentials

I feel pretty self-sufficient at festivals. If I’ve had a coffee that morning, I’m pretty good just to sit in the sun and soak up all the music.

I’d love to hang with...

Probably just QuestLove, the man is such a cool force in his line of work, not to mention a wicked drummer. Topics of conversation? Probably D’Angelo.

First festival experience

This is not gonna be cool, I’m pretty sure I was nine and it was some little “by the river” festival in Athabasca (yes, Alberta). The bill consisted almost purely of 50+ blues cover acts. Didn’t do much for me, but the popcorn was free?

What's your fantasy festival lineup?

Dave Matthews Band, Jimi Hendrix, and SRV tag teaming it—post whatever drug of choice. Keith Urban, D’Angelo, Morgan Freeman softly performing spoken word renditions of the 50 most iconic rap songs