The Wankin Family were a 77' style punk band from Halifax, NS. Stealing their name from the folk/roots band the Rankin Family from Cape Breton, The Wankins burst on the scene in the mid 1990's. They mostly played locally, and released a demo tape and CD. Here is a little interview I did recently with bass player Ian Competent. Enjoy!
 |
| Band pic |
1. How did the band come about?
The previous band that I was in, Moronic Plague, had split up and I wanted to do something that would allow me to work on writing songs while also giving me the opportunity to become a better bass player. Lisa Verge and I were going out at the time and she wanted to start a band, too. We were really into Blitz, The Cockney Rejects, Cocksparrer, Sham 69, etc. so that was the direction that we went in. Lisa came up with name and The Wankin Family concept was born.
2. Tell us about the various lineups:
This gets pretty convoluted, but here goes...
It started out with Lisa, myself and Damien Nee, whom I believe was in the Upchucks at the time. We jammed a few times but it didn't gel. I was singing but really didn't want to, so Lisa suggested asking Richard Lafortune, who was presently playing guitar with The Chitz. Richard is a pretty eccentric guy and the idea of him fronting a band was really intriguing. He agreed to do it but Damien quit, so I asked a good friend of mine, Gerald Smith, if he was interested. Gerald was an odd fit in that he absolutely loathed the type of music that we played - he was more of a metal/grindcore kind of guy - but he was a great guy, willing and extremely talented, so that was enough. He was also in a bunch of other bands at the time - Gorbage, System Shit, Whohedness - so I knew he probably wouldn't stay long. It was fucking hard to find people interested in playing '77 punk in Halifax at the time. All of the people that I knew that liked that stuff were already in the band or in The New Breed. We had to take anybody that was willing, basically.
This was a really fun line-up and we seemed to get along really well for a while. Unfortunately, Lisa was having issues with stage fright and she wasn't really digging the idea of practices or learning new songs, so it seemed only fair to ask her whether or not she was really enjoying being in a band. She decided to quit, so I got an old friend of mine from where I grew up, Bob Langille, to play guitar. Bob was in a local band called The Boluga Group, whom I liked very much, so I thought that he'd fit in nicely.
We played a few shows with that line-up, but Gerald really wasn't happy. I'll never forget the day that he quit; he and I showed up early for practice and I was making small talk with him and he was being really curt with me. I asked him if he was OK and he just unloaded on me. It reminded me of that episode of The Simpsons when Flanders' house burns down and all the people in Springfield built him a newer and considerably crappier version. He just snapped. It was really funny - I wish that I would have recorded it and used it as a song intro, like "Madman" by DRI. I couldn't even be angry at him for it - he had put up with us for as long as he could and then just wigged out. I was never angry about it - it was too funny and too honest to be mad.
With Gerald gone, we switched Bob over to drums and needed to find a guitarist. We had two people in mind, Dave Robertson of The New Breed and Kim Macdonald, who was a relative newcomer and not in any bands. We went with Kim largely because we didn't want to force Dave to split his time between us and The New Breed. Bob moved to Edmonton shortly after Kim joined and Derrick Gennerick stepped in on drums. Having Derrick was awesome for me because he loved a lot of the same bands that we were influenced by and always seemed to instinctively know what to play. On the downside, we now we had half of The Chitz in the band which meant taking a bit of a back seat. I also knew that Derrick was there more as a friendly favour than any real desire to be in The Wankins. Sure enough, he quit after the final Cafe Ole show and I had no desire to find yet another person to be in the band. We split up and I went on to form The Smashers.
Unfortunately, it didn't end there. Richard had expressed some regret about never putting out a proper release and we got back together to release the CD and do some shows to support it. That line-up was Richard, myself, Kim, Bob on second guitar and Selwyn Sharples - who was also in The Smashers with me - on drums. That was the line-up when, mercifully, the band finally ended.
3. You recorded a demo which I don't believe you were too happy about.
Yeah - that was tough. We recorded it on a 4-track in Kim's basement. Derrick laid down his drums tracks and mixed them all on to one track and we all did our tracks over that. By Wankin Family standards, the process went pretty smoothly. I was really happy with the playback of the rough mix. Unfortunately, we used Richard's stereo for all of the dubbing. I know this probably seems foreign to younger people, but back then when you released a demo, you just bought a bulk amount of blank tapes on sale, photocopied your cover and inlay at the copying centre and did all your own dubbing from the master on a stereo that had two cassette decks. We never really bothered to actually listen to the cassettes that we were dubbing off and it turned out that the tape deck on Richard's stereo was pretty crappy. The whole thing sounded really muddy and grainy. My heart just sank the first time that i heard it. It sounded so bad that I gave most of them away because I couldn't bring myself to make people pay for them. I paid for the tapes and the copying out of my own pocket, so I lost a few hundred dollars in the end. However, that's peanuts to what Richard probably lost on the CD.
4. Tell us about the CD. Some great hidden cover songs on there - Gassenhauer and Forgotten Rebels.
The Gassenhauer song was Richard's suggestion and it was a great choice. I really love that song and I thought we did a pretty good job on it. Of course, guitar solos were foreign territory for us, so that was out of the question but it turned out well otherwise. Bob was the one that wanted to do "I Left My Heart In Iran" and there wasn't much of an argument there, either. I think that our version of it is pretty middling but I am a massive Forgotten Rebels fan. This Ain't Hollywood... is one of my all-time favourite albums. Some of the originals are decent. I think that "Fuck The Commonwealth" is awesome. "Anarchy In Whycocomagh" is pretty fun. I really liked the two Smashers songs that we did on the CD - "T.O." and "No Justice."
Otherwise, the CD is a bit of a sore spot. In retrospect, it wasn't a great idea. I was really torn between having our music documented and having to wade through all of the band politics all over again. The rehearsals were pretty contentious and shambolic and we never came together as a band with the five-piece line-up. Steve Outhit was an absolute prince through the whole thing and he really did the best that he could but we weren't up to the task at all. We were grossly under-rehearsed, and the songs are played too fast. When I complained to everybody about the latter point, the consensus was "well we all like it that way" so that was pretty frustrating for me.
Then there was the watch incident. The rest of the band did the songs live but Kim wanted to do her tracks on her own. While she was playing, the pick-ups on her guitar were putting the ticking of her watch on the recording. Steve asked her - quite politely - to just take off her watch off while she was recording. She refused. We tried to talk some sense into her but she made a big stink about it by ranting and raving and being really rude to Steve. I told her that if she didn't take the watch off, then she could leave and I would record the guitar tracks myself. Then Selwyn got pissed off at me for being heavy-handed and that just made everything more tense. Kim finally took it off but it really pissed me off that Richard's money was being wasted on fighting and arguing when all somebody had to do a take off their watch for an hour or so. Stuff like that makes for a lot of bad vibes and just turns something that could be really fun into a painful exercise.
I also made the absolutely ridiculous suggestion that we record four tracks of guitars to try to have a huge guitar sound like Hear Nothing, See Nothing, Say Nothing. Well, The Wankin Family weren't exactly Discharge and the whole idea was completely asinine. In a life chock-full of idiotic ideas, it was maybe one of the dumbest ideas that I have ever had; all it did was make the CD sound muddy and indistinguishable.
Generally, you could look back on stuff like this and laugh, but then I think about the amount of money Richard forked out for it and I can't help but have a sense of guilt. The rest of the stuff is easy to overlook but that was the real life consequence and that makes it not-so-funny. I can't really listen to CD and have only heard the thing 4 or 5 times. I just feel really awful that Richard could have spent his money on something else that would have made him a lot happier.
 |
| CD Cover |
5. You played at Café Ole a lot. Did you enjoy the shows there? Did you ever play anywhere else?
First off, what Condon MacLeod and Gary Beazley did for the Halifax music scene is as important as and any band. They put a ridiculous amount of work into something that barely covered its own costs so a bunch of kids could have some place to play and hang out. Those are the kinds of people that make the world a better place and, for that, they will eternally have my admiration and respect. They are just really good people.
Cafe Ole as a space left much to be desired. It was poorly ventilated. The acoustics were dreadful and sometimes the sound guys didn't have a clue what they were doing.
The bad part about Cafe Ole was that it made things a little too easy and I think some complacency set in. In the old days, bands had to fight and claw for places to play. I saw shows in churches, store rooms at the Grain Elevators, community halls, abandoned buildings. Shows were more infrequent and, if you sucked, you weren't going to be asked to play again. Conversely, you always knew Cafe Ole would be there and I think that it made bands a little lazy. Plus, everything became so fractured; the earlier shows that I went to, it was not uncommon to see a hardcore band, a metal band and an alternative band on the same bill. Now everybody just wanted to play to selective audiences and it was possible because you didn't have to worry about covering any rental costs for the space and equipment. I never liked that aspect of the scene at all. I sounds corny, but I believed firmly that we were stronger together than apart. Plus, I like all of those types of music and would have welcomed some variety. Even worse, some of the younger guys could be a little too entitled, cocky and irreverent. Those are total byproducts of too much comfort.
So, in summary... a lot of "yes" and a little "no."
We did play a few shows outside of Halifax, but not very many. The Wankins headlined a show at The Arts Guild in Charlottetown with two bands that I hold in very high esteem - P.O.S. and Da Brownies. That was really fun. We opened for The Hanson Brothers in Bridgewater, which was an absolute thrill for me as a huge Hansons/Nomeansno fan. We did another show in Bridgewater with Bad Luck #13, Marky and The Mopeds and a for-some-reason reformed Shitheads that was probably my favourite show experience in which I was involved. Bad Luck are my favourite Canadian punk band of all time. The Mopeds were perfect garage-y rock'n'roll. And I fucking love The Shitheads. They are a criminally overlooked band and Mike Brigadier was a phenomenal frontman. The New Breed may have played that show, too. I still listen to The New Breed a lot - what a great band they turned out to be. They became exactly what I wanted The Wankin Family to become and did it better than we ever could have.
6. Why did the band fizzle out? What are members up to now?
I can't speak for anybody else, but I felt boxed in. It was a lot of work to keep something going that, frankly, wasn't very good. I was starting to stretch out a bit musically, bringing in different tempos, minor keys, open chords and the like and it was not well-received by Kim, who really didn't want the band to change. Plus, with Richard and Derrick in The Chitz, the band was constantly second-fiddle. I don't blame those guys one bit for prioritizing The Chitz over The Wankin Family - they were, without question, a vastly superior band - but I needed to do something a little more ambitious for my own sanity. There couldn't be a Wankin Family without Richard. He was the glue; the even-tempered guy that held my worst tendencies in check. Most of all, he was the face of the band and a great frontman. So, I moved on. I told the others to feel free to keep the band going without me but there was no effort toward that to my knowledge.
The CD/reunion phase of the band was difficult from the get-go and was really easy to walk away from. I got an offer to join North Patrol and was very happy to focus on that. I'm sure that the others were similarly happy to see my arse go out the door as well as I'm sure that I wasn't exactly a peach to deal with, either.
Derrick and I are still in touch. The communication is sporadic but he has a big family and is a pretty busy guy. We're like brothers. I love him and sure that we will always be in touch.
I haven't heard from Richard in years. I made a few attempts to reconnect with him but it wasn't reciprocated. I love the guy - he is one of the most genuine, funny and interesting people that I have ever had the privilege to meet. I hope that we talk again someday. I'm betting that he still lives in the same apartment. That seems very Richard.
I haven't heard from Lisa in a long time. Somehow, we managed to have a bit of a friendship after we split up despite the fact that I was a total piece of shit to her and wouldn't blame her if she never talked to me again. I have heard that she is married and settled down but have no way to confirm that. I hope that she's happy, I certainly wish no ill-will on her.
Bob and I lost touch a few years ago. Things got a little weird with girls and the like and I think it strained our friendship too much. Too bad. We were really close. I hope that he's doing OK.
I was in touch with Gerald a few years ago, trying to get him to drum for a hardcore band that never got off of the ground with Dave Robertson and Brian Whalen. Again, great guy. Gerald is always welcome in my world.
Selwyn and I were never really close friends but he's a really nice guy and I wish him peace and contentment.
As for Kim...I have no idea and I'm fine with that. I'm sure that she feels the same way.
7. And the most important question....do you know if the Rankin Family ever found out about the band?
Yes! When The Wankins first started, Richard had a pile of stickers made that were just the Rankin Family logo with a ripped-out "W" from the banner of old The Daily News placed over the "R." We handed them out and they got put on everything in Halifax for a while. I heard that a bunch of guys stuck them to cop cars parked out in front of the police headquarters on Gottingen Street.
Richard gave a stack of them to Lisa and she stuck one to the dash of her dad's car, who drove a cab for Casino. One night, he picked up Cookie Rankin for a fare and she saw the sticker and was not impressed. Ken told her that it was his daughter's band. She told him that she was going to be contacting a lawyer and we needed to change the name of the group or she was going to sue. Of course, this was completely preposterous and nothing ever came of it, but it was pretty funny. Shortly after that, we were contacted by CBC for a local band spotlight but Richard was a bit spooked at the idea of being sued (he was the only guy in the band that had anything to lose, so fair enough) and we never did do the interview. That was a huge regret. One of many, as it turns out.
Listen to the CD and demo below:
