The Shindigs on Nanaimo Roots, Friendship, and Growing Into a Band

The Shindigs’ story goes back further than the band name.

On this episode of Inlet Wire, I’m joined by Shea Peoples and Alex Peabody from The Shindigs, a five-piece indie rock band from Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. Their story starts in a pretty random way: an exchange student from Korea was living at Shea’s house, knew Jacob and Matt, and helped connect the early pieces of the band.

That eventually led to a basement, a few songs, and a group of friends who kept finding their way back to music together.

The Shindigs have grown a lot in the last few years. They’ve become tighter, more serious, and more aware of what they want to do. But the way they talk about the band still comes back to the same thing: they were friends first.

Some of the early songs came from smaller writing sessions, but the process has become more of a five-way collaboration. Everyone brings a different ear into the room, and that is part of why their songs can move between different sounds without feeling like a completely different band.

We also talked about songs like “Snowball,” and how sometimes a track does not come together right away. It can take time, circling back, and one small change before the whole thing finally clicks. With their recent single “Feeling the Love,” the song came from a different place: the feeling of their first show, and seeing people from different parts of their lives show up in the room.

The live side of the band became another big part of the episode. The Shindigs talked about opening for Cameron Whitcomb on a run of sold-out shows, including the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver, and how those bigger rooms changed the way they saw themselves on stage.

But by the end, it comes back to something much simpler.

Near the end of the conversation, they talk about touring as a week-long sleepover with your friends. It is funny, but it also says a lot about why the band works. They are trying to take it seriously. They want to make it work. But underneath all of that, it is still five friends laughing, sharing tight spaces, and taking some of the pressure off each other.

You can listen to the full episode now on Inlet Wire.