Brothers band together to work on music careers

The Whitecalf brothers really know how to rock.

Michael, 19, plays guitar. Ben, 17, plays drums. And Frank, 16, plays guitar and provides lead vocals. Together the three boys from Sweetgrass First Nation are Arrowhead, a heavy metal band the trio formed last year.

"We were jamming with each other for a long time, but it was official last winter," said Frank.
"We're pretty much self-taught," Michael added. "My older brother taught me this one riff and it just went from there."

Michael was in another band, Highway 40, before Arrowhead was formed.

"It was just basically a cover band. We covered country and old rock and roll like CCR. The covers were all old, like from the 60s and 70s and the 50s too," he said.

"But we only lasted like two shows. We all didn't quite gel together."

Arrowhead gels, but sometimes things get a little sticky.

"We're brothers. Of course we fight," admitted Frank. But the brothers, who all share a love of music, enjoy playing together and get along most of the time.

The band's repertoire includes covers of tunes by Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Motorhead, plus about a dozen original songs.

Ben said the band plays at death metal speed, while Michael described Arrowhead's sound as thrashy, chunky and heavy.

"It's all a combination of different influences from different bands, but at the same time we want to come up with our own unique sound."

"You can't imitate the real thing," Frank added. "We want to come up with a particular sound that's a strong blend for our band."

Some of Arrowhead's original tunes tell stories. "But they're not that epic," said Frank.
"One of our songs is about being in a life or death stand-off, like staring down the barrel of a gun," Michael said.

Like many of the songs the brothers write, this song isn't based on personal experience, "Cause we're still young," explained Michael. But a few of their songs are drawn from what's going on in their lives.

"There's a song called Breakaway," said Frank. "The first verse is 'Restricted/Construction of my misery/Open flame/The ember that burns inside me/Illusion/Point of feeling non-existent/Trapped/Deep in quicksand.' That song is about personal struggle."

Often, the brothers are inspired to write songs by listening to what's being produced by other bands.

"Watching a DVD of one of our bands that we like, and it's like, man, I want to do that sometime," said Michael.

"Or you listen to a CD and think, man, I wish I could play like that. And you start working at it," Frank added.

Ben likes rock, both old school and new, listing Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Allman Brothers and Johnny Cash as some of his favourites. Frank favours metal, but also listens to blues, jazz and country. "I like expanding my musical horizons," he said. As for Michael, he's a fan of the Insane Clown Posse. "For me, the only thing that catches my attention is ICP," he said.

The brothers chose the name Arrowhead for their band because it was a hard-hitting name and it reflects their Aboriginal heritage.

"We wanted something to do with being Native," said Michael.

"It's the only thing that incorporates our heritage," added Frank.

The band has recorded a six-song demo of their music. They played a concert at Sweetgrass this fall, and they're planning another show in the spring. And they've ventured into the world of movie making, creating an amateur horror movie called The Hillsign. They also wrote a song specifically for the movie.

"Basically it was blood and gore," said Michael.

The picture, which the brothers made over the summer, was named people's choice at a local film festival.

Michael, Frank and Ben are all serious about their music and find time to practice almost every day, something that comes easier thanks to having a supportive family.

"Our parents, they always support us. They're like, 'Keep on practising,'" said Michael.

All three brothers want to stick with the band and see how far they can go with it. That is unless something better comes along.

"We made a deal with each of us when we started this band that if one of us gets a really good opportunity, we'll go. We won't hold each other back," said Michael. "We want our music to develop into careers."