Joe Costello
Happy hurricane edition of first show Friday everyone! The hurricane is pretty fitting for this interview, because we're going back to 2003 (cause hurricane Juan, just pretend you got the reference, okay) to talk about Joe Costello's first show!
“I didn't start really playing guitar until I started hanging out with Colleen Ash and Alicia Penney after Gobblefest 8. I actually was putting on shows before I ever played one. My first shows were a day apart. I threw a party at the Westmount legion when I turned 22, and Colleen Ash and I played Elderly Woman Behind The Counter in a Small Town by Pearl Jam and Lucky You Are by Colleen Power. The next day there was an acoustic show at the polish village, and Josh Brake and I played some songs including an acoustic version of We are 138 by The Misfits. Jerry Seinfeld said he got into comedy because he wanted to be “one of those guys,” and I think I can very much say the same. Back in those days it didn't really matter if you were good, you just played because you wanted to be part of this awesome thing that was happening in your community. Once I started playing, it motivated me to better learn how to play guitar and sing, and I kept playing shows since then.”
These stories really do show the importance of having a good local music scene, and if anybody can tell you some good stories from the early 2000’s scene, it's Joe Costello. Joe has been putting on shows since 1999, he's promoted shows under many names including Under The Underground and We Unite!, but these days he's mostly focused on his festival Makin’ Waves.
“I started my first band as a duo with my now-wife Amanda. We were called Embers and Ashes. Later on our friends Tim Patterson and Kris Planetta joined on drums and guitar. Dylan Mombourquette was our original bass player, but we replaced him with Adam Day because he was a pain in the ass. After Embers and Ashes i started doing White Stripes covers with John Hill. that became my first rock band called This is a Blackout! Clayton D’Orasy joined the band after a few shows, and I have pretty much been making music with Clayton for the last 15 years. He and I started what became the High Tide with Embers and Ashes bandmate Adam Day on drums. Mike O’Brien joined in 2011, and we've been through a pile of drummers since. I started Frigged in 2011, after finding out my friend Ian Farrel could play drums. Mike O’Brien joined on guitar, and we kidnapped an 18 year old James Rudderham to sing. After that, Dan Baldwin, Hector Smith, and I had a short lived band that never played a show. It was really fun, and I still listen to the demos every now and then because they were rippin’ tunes.”
We're two weeks away from Gobblefest now! You'll be able to catch The High Tide on Gobblefest Sunday at the Capri for our late late show! Stay safe this weekend folks, and we'll see you next week for another first show friday
