"I basically tell everyone we're ripping off Eric's Trip," says Surveillance drummer Tri Le. The noisy rock three-piece formed about a year ago and named themselves after a "24-Hour Surveillance" sign. Coincidentally, "about a week later, the Edward Snowden thing came out," says guitarist Dave Burns, who felt it was his time "to start a shitty band to play around town." While paranoia about the government is a cool backdrop, Surveillance has a more suitable place in Halifax's scrappy pop-punk tradition than conspiracy theories, even though the aesthetic expresses anxiety.
"I started playing music because I was feeling restless," says Rachel Fry. "I love mixing sweet and harsh sounds, and I think that contrast has been a major part of the city's scene for years."
Since jamming together, Surveillance has released two self-produced demos, including the mouth-watering Go Fuck Yourself, which blends Fry's lilted vocal and jangly guitar with grungy distortion and serious drums. Burns says the trio is like the Father, Son and Holy Ghost (Le is the Ghost); Fry says they're more like Harry, Hermione and Ron (Burns is Ron); Le says they're most like "Charlie's Angels, of course," if Farrah Fawcett was a punk rocker.
