Weak Size Fish

For Weak Size Fish, a reggae-rock band based out of Fredericton, that’s exactly what happened at a show in P.E.I. last summer.

“We were walking home, guitars in hand, and we saw one of the guys at the show,” says Matt Bernard, who sings and plays guitar in the band.

“He just got real drunk and was butt-ass naked, walking the whole way home and yelling at people.” The band, a five-piece that’s only been together for a couple years, has blown up fast on the campus scene in Fredericton. They started out jamming in dorm rooms on the University of New Brunswick campus, where enthusiastic dorm mates begged them for covers of Wonderwall and told them they should start playing bar shows.

“We would just sit around and play guitar. Kumbaya? No,” says singer Nick Mazerolle, who also plays guitar (and on occasion, bongos). “It was anything drunk people would shout out. A lot of Sublime.” The guys, who were 18 at the time, played their first show at the Cellar, UNB’s student pub, and have since been back time and time again to sell out the place to zealous fans interested in their particular brand of danceable reggae, acoustic, and infectious rock.

They’re back at the Cellar tomorrow (April 4), returning to their roots over half a dozen (or so) beers. They’re fresh off a string of successful shows and have begun recording their first studio CD of original tunes, for the fans who’ve followed them since their meal-hall days.

“I think we appreciate all the fans we have,” says bassist Andrew Thomson, the newest member of the group. “We’re trying to expand now, but we want to keep all the fans we have on campus.

We’re really glad they’re pretty much our place where we started. We owe them everything.” And fans might wonder at the comparisons between another upbeat band, Reel Big Fish. The names might be kind of similar, the guys say, but the tunes are different – and Weak Size Fish comes from a whole different place altogether.

“It’s a saying on P.E.I.,” says guitarist Mitchell Bernard. He and several other band members are from the remote fishing town of Tignish on the Island. “It depends on how you say it. ‘Weak size fish’ actually means ‘big fish’. It’s a local thing.”

“‘Weak’ is kind of like the f-word,” Mazerolle adds, “in that it’s used in a lot of different ways. I don’t know. They’re really into sarcasm.”

And more sarcasm – Steve MacMillan, the band’s drummer, has been trying to get the guys to cover Meatloaf. Paradise by the Dashboard Lights and I’d Do Anything for Love are both brought up.

No one quite knows if he’s serious.

“I couldn’t even listen to the full song,” Thomson says. “It was terrible.”

“Oh, don’t write down that I like Meatloaf!” MacMillan says, making a face.

The guys start talking about musical influences – Matt Mays and, oddly enough, LCD Soundsystem both come up – before the chat returns to the Fredericton music scene, of which Weak Size Fish are a big part.

“I think the East Coast just has its own sound, with the whole singalong thing,” Matt says.

And Weak Size Fish? Everyone agrees. “If you can get drunk and clap your hands, you’ll appreciate it.”
- [here] Magazine (04/03/08) - Ashley Bursey

Spawned in a small community in rural Prince Edward Island, Weak Size Fish are slowly starting to make waves with their own unique blend of folk, blues, reggae, and rock.

“Three of us have been playing together acoustically for about three years now,” said Nick Mazerolle, one of three guitar players in the band. “We’ve been playing as a full band for about a year and a half.”

Mazerolle, together with Mitchell and Matthew Bernard started playing music together in their hometown of Tignish, PEI while attending high school.
“We’ve never really played (publicly) in our hometown,” said Mazerolle. “We probably never will.”

With a population of just under 1000 people, the music scene in Tignish is basically non-existent. When the trio made their way to Fredericton for school they found not only a thriving music scene, but also other musicians interested in what they were doing.

“Fredericton has a good scene and it’s very supportive,” said Mazerolle. “As you meet more people, more and more doors start opening up. There’s a lot of good artists around here that’s for sure.”

It was here in Freddy Beach that the trio met with bassist Andrew Thomson and drummer Steve MacMillan. That’s when things really started to happen for this small fish in a now bigger pond. With a full rhythm section backing their solid musical voice, things are starting to happen.

Since playing their debut performance at The Cellar back in 2005, the guys in Weak Size Fish have started to take a more serious approach to what they have created.

The band has plans for a full blown, professional recording.

“We’re in the process of a recording a 15 track CD with Evan Hanson,” said Mazerolle. “He’s definitely playing a production role as well as being the engineer. He’s a perfectionist and he’s been helping us out quite a bit.”

Weak Size Fish will be playing many favorites and selections from new album as they kick off the school year with their first show of the term at The Cellar on Sept. 19.
- The Aquanian (09/16/08) - Matt Carter

"....their original mix has a tasty flavour that keeps your feet moving and your head bobbing....." - The Brunswickan (09/26/07) - Alex Stevens

If you need music for a summer road-trip or for barbecuing on the back porch, you might consider picking up Weak Size Fish's new album, Off We Go.

The Fredericton group will release the CD tomorrow night at The Cellar when they take the stage with The Ideal Gas Law.

Nick Mazerolle, who sings and plays guitar and harmonica, said the CDs arrived earlier this week from the distributor and the band is really excited to let their fans hear the finished product.

"To get this done feels really good," he said.

"A lot of the songs on the CD have been around for quite some time, so it feels good to put them out there like this."

Mazerolle said the band is a little anxious for people to hear how the songs sound in the studio.

"You wonder if there are things that they might pick up on," he said. "We've listened to every bit of every song and we know exactly what's happened (during the recording process). You wonder if people are going to appreciate it and like it as much as you'd like them to. It's exciting."

Tracks like Growing Old and Johnny Running Too Slow will have people longing for warmer weather, and Jam On Skinners Pond shows the band isn't afraid to have some fun.

Matt Bernard, who sings and plays acoustic guitar, said the band has worked hard to make this release possible.

"We've completely funded this (project) ourselves through all the money that we've made so far," he said.

"We've never spent a dime on anything. It all went right into the band. So there's a feeling of accomplishment, definitely."

The show is expected to start at about 10 p.m. - The Daily Gleaner (03/13/09) - Adam Bowie

Years of work have come to fruition with the release of Weak Size Fish's debut album, Off We Go.

The band, which consists mainly of UNB students, celebrated the release of their album with a packed show at the Cellar this past weekend.

"It was honestly one of the coolest experiences I think that we've gone through so far. We did it without really knowing what to expect and we're really glad with what happened," says bassist Andrew Thomson about last Friday's show.

The experience was likely a great deal different from the band's beginnings playing house parties.

Thomson, who joined the band a little bit later than the rest, explains how the band came to be in the state it is today.

"I came into the band a little bit later than the rest of the guys. They were together playing house parties and one days I guess they realized they needed a cute bass player," jokes Thomson.

Their choice of Thomson was a random choice that worked out quite well for the band.

"We didn't even know each other; they just knew I played bass. So, they gave me a call and I went to Charlottetown with them one day. Love at first sight I guess," quips Thomson.

From house parties to bigger venues to the release of their debut album, Weak Size Fish has come a long way over the years.

"We matured a lot as a band. It's kind of cliche, what I'm saying, but just sitting around for hours listening to these songs over and over and trying to make them perfect was really cool. Now we just have to do the hard part and pay it off," says Thomson.

While the recording of an album was a new experience for most members of the band, the album's sound doesn't show any inexperience.

The album is full of the same great fusion of rock and reggae that has enamoured students on the hill for the past four years. None of the tracks fail to impress, and unlike a lot of bands who only give high-energy performances live, the CD manages to recapture that feeling.

Only days after the CD's release, students on the hill have already been heard saying that Off We Go is a great choice to chill out and dance to.

The album's title is a representation of the band's attitude as they put this album out.

"We sat around for awhile trying to come up with a title for this. Off we go is the title of one of the songs on the album and we really liked the feel of the song and what Nick [Mazerolle, vocals/guitar] was trying to say when he wrote the song. We figured that it went well with our attitude right now," says Thomson.

With the release of the album Thomson says that he finally feels like he has a reason to play.

"We're promoting this CD now and it's really cool. People have always asked whether we had a CD and we've always had to just say 'no, we're working on one.' It's different being able to say we have a CD now. 'We're promoting it, this is us,'" says Thomson.

"We've made friends everywhere. There are beautiful crowds everywhere and I cannot wait to keep playing more, it's been so much fun. We just like to see people dancing and that's what we're getting," says' Thomson.

The release of the CD won't be the only change for Weak Size Fish this year. A few of their members will be graduating - a change that Thomson doesn't expect to affect the band too much.

"We've talked about it a bit before. We're all still going to be in Fredericton and we're going to keep going with what we have now. We love what we're doing so far," says Thomson.

Always moving forward, Weak Size Fish will be playing a show in a few weeks with Cape Breton band Slowcoaster.

"To all our fans, we'll hopefully see you soon. We're playing with Slowcoaster in a couple of weeks. Anyone interested in coming out should come get your groove on," says Thomson.

The Weak Size Fish and Slowcoaster show will be at the Cellar on Mar. 28. - The Brunswickan (03/18/09) - Alison Clack

Perhaps the only thing that P.E.I. and Jamaica have in common is that they’re both islands. But don’t tell that to the members of Weak Size Fish.

While growing up on P.E.I., the band’s principle songwriters found reggae to be a common language after connecting through a mutual love of Bob Marley. It eventually led them to start performing as an acoustic trio in 2005.

They expanded to a six-piece three years ago, adding a rhythm section and saxophonist, and released a debut album, Off We Go, in spring 2009. Since then, Weak Size Fish has become a popular live draw throughout the Maritimes, and is hoping their next album, due out next spring, will continue building on that momentum.

“I feel as though the way we blend different genres adds a unique quality to our songs,” guitarist/vocalist Mitchell Bernard says. “We all have so many musical influences and, in the end, they just boil into one big melting pot. I think when people listen to the album they sense that our music is about fun, enjoying the moment, and taking chances.”

Explaining where their love of reggae originated, Bernard credits co-frontman Nick Mazerolle.

“Nick was always a big reggae fan,” Bernard says. “I remember driving to high school in west end of Prince Edward Island and Nick would always be playing Bob Marley’s Legend album. There’s something about the mix in reggae music that makes you happy, and I’m sure that has something to do with why we choose to write music in this style.”

That positive energy was evident in crowd responses from the time Bernard, his brother Matt, and Mazerolle first started gigging as a trio. It was a natural progression for them to become a full-fledged band, but Bernard says it’s still a challenge to work out new material with three songwriters constantly bringing in ideas.

“If you can imagine six heads all trying different melodic lines and rhythm patterns at once, it can cause some serious headaches. So mostly things are done in a systemic method. On top of that, financing our CD was difficult since the only revenue source was shows. But we were all very pleased with the way the recording turned out.”

As Weak Size Fish has gradually expanded its scope westward, they have been encouraged by how their approach has been translating. Bernard says it mostly comes down to their fun-loving East Coast attitude, something he already knows their Waterloo audience appreciates.

“We played in Waterloo on our last tour and we were thoroughly impressed by the passion that Mr. Maxwell at Maxwell’s Music House has for the scene there,” Bernard says. “He even serenaded us with his own impromptu version of Meat Loaf’s I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That) while we were packing gear at two o’clock in the morning. We love that city and it is definitely one of the shows we’re most looking forward to on this upcoming tour.” - The Record (08/18/2010) - Jason Schneider

Nick Mazerolle, who sings and plays guitar and harmonica for Weak Size Fish, said the band is looking forward to taking the stage Sunday evening.

"It's definitely going to be a great little festival," he said.

"I guess this is the first beer, music, and art festival to happen in New Brunswick. We think it'll be lots of fun and there are a number of great artists from here and across the province. It'll also help shine a light on local performers."

He said the band is still promoting their debut album, Off We Go.

Mazerolle said the feedback has been really positive.

"It's always surprising to hear who likes it. We've had friends of our parents tell us how they feel about it, and our friends like it," he said.

"We're happy that different people seem to be interested in what we're doing and we just hope we can keep that going. That's what every band tries to do - catch the ear of someone new."

The band, who is also nominated for this year's Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival's Galaxie Rising Star award, will be performing a slew of shows this fall.

Information about where and when you can see them is available on the band's website at www.weaksizefish.com.

Weak Size Fish will take the stage for Folly Fest at 9:30 p.m. on Sunday night. - The Daily Gleaner (08/27/09) - Adam Bowie

Jammin' their sweet Jamaican vibes in the middle of the Maritimes, Fredericton's Weak Size Fish are, as Raymond Chandler once wrote, ?about as inconspicuous as tarantula on a slice of angel's food.' Their reggae-inspired harmonies draw influences from well beyond Fredericton's reach, and the accolades are rolling in. The one-time college frat band were finalists in CBC's 2009 Galaxie Rising Star competition, and played to a captivated nationwide audience at this year's ECMA's.

Their latest accomplishment takes them a wee bit outside of their comfort zone on the East Coast, treading new waters at the upcoming North By Northeast Festival [NXNE] in Canada's de-facto music capital, Toronto.

"The work's starting to pay off," says guitarist and vocalist Mitchell Bernard. "It's made it a lot easier to book shows on the East Coast now that we have these bigger music festivals on our resume, like Evolve and now NXNE."

The six-piece group, which came together in 2003, released their debut full length album - Off We Go - in 2009. The guys are currently in and out of the studio recording content for their second album, which is due out this fall.

Despite their success, the guys of Weak Size Fish aren't yet in a position to quit their full-time jobs to follow their dreams. Yet Bernard says they'll continue moonlighting so long as the fans are there.

"One of the best feelings is playing a song and people start singing back to you," he says. "You never imagine when you're in your basement and you're playing a song that one day you're going to be playing and seeing people singing back to you. It reminds you of why you do it."

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Weak Size Fish will be playing
Toronto's Harlem Restaurant June 18 at 10:00 p.m. You can catch them on their home turf at the Feels Good Folly Fest in Gagetown on July 9 and 10. - [here] Magazine (06/10/10) - Gilean Watts