September 29,2004

The toast of Canadian joke-folk

A&E 15

Arrogant Worms mix music and satire

“We like to think of
{the Worms) as a
hybrid. The joke is very
important to us. Yet, as
we've matured and
become better musi-
cians and singers, we
enjoy that part of it just
as much. But we're still
a comedy act -- (mak-
ing) jokes that rhyme
and jokes that sound
nice when three people
sing them,"

by Joel Trenaman
>> The Manitoban (U of Manitoba)

WINNIPEG (CUP) -- Chris
Patterson describes the Arrogant
Worms as "three dumb guys
singing dumb songs that sound
pretty sometimes."

All jokes aside, the singer,
bassist and physical comedy spe-
cialist seems to ignore the fact that

the Canadian musical comedy trio
has enjoyed a cult following for the
past 13 years, including notable
performances at the Grey Cup, in
Australia and with the Edmonton
Symphony Orchestra. The Worms,
as they're often called, were also
one of the most popular acts at last
month's Winnipeg Folk Festival.
The Arrogant Worms take a
massive bite out of Canadiana and
spit out thoughtful, clever and
often hilarious sketches about
everything from hockey to beavers

- to Céline Dion. Basically, they spin

enough yarns to reduce the coun-
try to a mere farce.

The "band" formed in 1991 at
Queen's University in Kingston
after a few casual appearances on
the campus radio station garnered
more than a few laughs. It began as
a four-piece and went through a
few line-up changes, with
Patterson joining original mem-
bers Mike McCormick and Trevor
Strong in 1995 to fashion the cur-
rent troupe.

Though he wasn't around from
the very beginning, Patterson rec-
ognizes the role that university

support has played in the band's
longevity. "Campus radio contin-
ues to help us out. They were the
first ones to open the envelopes
containing our tapes and continue
to do so."

The Worms are just one of the
many independent bands that
have survived and continued to
gain new fans -- without one big
radio hit.

"Commercial. radio is just so
hard to crack . . . as far as I know
there's one person in the world
who runs it, the Wizard-of-Oz
Clear Channel guy. And unless
you have backing from a major
label, you're not going to get
played," laments Patterson.

Perhaps you can't blame the
suit-and-tie music exec crowd for
being unable to figure out the
group. Are they really a band or a
comedy troupe anyway?

"We like to think of (the Worms)
as a hybrid. The joke is very impor-
tant to us. Yet, as we've matured
and become better musicians and
singers, we enjoy that part of it just
as much. But we're still a comedy
act -- (making) jokes that rhyme

and jokes that sound nice when
three people sing them," explains
Patterson.

The band was particularly
happy to be invited back to
Winnipeg this year, after a long
hiatus. The Worms did enjoy a run
of three consecutive years at the
folk festival in the late '90s though,
a rare feat. For its weekend perfor-
mances, however, the group did
have to make due with a guest
Worm.

Patterson says that Mike Ford, a
member of dormant folk act Moxy
Friivous is a good fit to stand in for
Trevor Strong. "We knew that he
could handle it; we knew he'd be a
fast learner, and he'd be the right
sort of personality on stage that
could match ours."

This year has also seen the
Arrogant Worms put out their 10th
release, Toast. The group has
remained prolific despite the chal-
lenges of living in different cities.
Patterson says it helps that each of
them has a different style when it
comes to song writing: "We write

separately from each other and

(then) we edit together.”

That process came to fruition
when the trio got together at a stu-
dio hut in the mountains sur-
rounding Banff in order to create
arrangements for Toast.

"We actually got a lot of work
done which was amazing because
there's three buffet meals per day,
mountains and moose mating --
how could you look away?"

Patterson notes most of the
album was ultimately recorded
live in Toronto, because the band
finds that it gets better results
when there's the immediacy and
excitement generated by an audi-
ence.

This connection with audiences
continues to drive the Worms to
skewer Canadian icons, make fun
of Americans and expose the
lighter side of life. Patterson
speaks as if the band was just get-
ting started. "We'll just keep doing
it as long as we enjoy ourselves.
Weekends like this, remind us (of
that enjoyment). It makes driving
across the barren landscape in
February palatable."

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