A few weeks ago, I walked into Robarts and a copy of The Varsity caught my eye. There, on the cover, was someone I usually only see at weekly intramural dodgeball games. Declan Dawes was pictured standing at a mic, squinting slightly into bright stage lights that painted him in washed tones of red and blue. Looking more closely at the photograph, I saw another familiar face thoughtfully strumming his guitar—Kurt van Bendegem.

This was my first encounter with Paint Dept., and my first realization that a group of Innis guys had gotten together to form a band. A couple of weeks later, the four members of Paint Dept. sat down with me in the Herald office and gave some insights into how they went from a regular group of friends to headlining U of T’s Battle of the Bands in just under a year.

Gabe Faucher, the band’s drummer, said forming the band was a gradual process which began last spring. “It was kind of a slow, smushing motion… You and I lived together,” he said, gesturing to Kurt, who nodded in affirmation. Then came Kyle Visvanathan, Kurt and Gabe’s good friend and the band’s soon-to-be bassist. Kyle remembers the exact moment the three of them committed to playing music together: “We went for drinks one night and we decided two things: the first was to go to Amsterdam, and the second was to form a band.”

“It was fun, but we couldn’t decide who was going to sing,” said Kurt, who describes himself as the worst singer in the band, “We were just kind of… playing stuff with no vocals for a while.” So how did the three friends find their frontman? It involved a very serendipitous trip to Dance Cave on the night of Innis Bang. Kurt and Gabe ran into Declan at the popular club, and the three started to talk music. “We were looking for a singer to cover Strokes songs, and Declan was like ‘I like the Strokes and I’ve been doing vocal lessons for a while,’” said Gabe. Paint Dept. found its singer, and things began to fall into place.

The band spent the summer starting to write their own music, which was difficult with Declan out of the city. The band did a good job of sending material back and forth, and managed to write their first song, “Long Way Home.” They also stumbled upon their name while walking along Dundas Street. “We were looking for a sign, and we found one,” Gabe said with a laugh as he showed me a neon sign with a dripping paint bucket and the words “Paint Dept.” in fluorescent green. The band feels that the name is pretty ambiguous in terms of genre, and gives them the freedom to try out different styles of music without committing to a single sound.

Summer came to an end, and “September is when it really kicked off,” said Kurt. Declan was back in the city and the four guys were able to practice and play together regularly. The band has now written and recorded four original songs and three covers. While Gabe said their first song, “Long Way Home”, is still his favourite, the other three bandmates unanimously named “Caricature” as their favourite original song. In Kurt’s words, the song “came together really nicely and easily.” Declan, Kyle, and Kurt all agreed that the lyrics were particularly meaningful, and, Kyle noted, “it sounds really pretty.”

From September onward, the band also found venues to play and began to hone their performance skills. The four musicians started out by playing at open mic nights around the city, at laid-back venues like The Cavern and Steve’s Music. “The Cavern was a really good spot for growing on stage… getting that experience,” said Kurt, who said these performances are what really allowed the group to grow.

It also helped prepare them for their set at Battle of the Bands, which they auditioned for with zero expectations. While they were supposed to perform at Lee’s Palace (“We tell people that to sound more impressive,” Kyle joked), the venue was under construction and they ended up playing where the full band came together—Dance Cave. While they lost to their competitors, Rocket Bomb, the guys had a great time at Battle of the Bands and were incredibly grateful for the thirty-or-so friends who showed up to support them.

Despite losing the Battle, the group still ended up scoring the grand prize—the chance to play at UC’s Fireball. While this was meant to go to the winning band, Rocket Bomb broke up a couple weeks after the competition. The spot opened, and Paint Dept. jumped at the offer to play. While the band has now played Fireball, at the time of the interview they were a bit nervous about their performance. Fitting 100 people, the venue was bigger than others they had played, and the crowd was mostly people they didn’t know. How did they plan to handle the stage fright? “Just focus on how good we’ll look in suits” was Gabe’s strategy.

The group feels lucky for their recent successes, especially considering how short their journey has been so far. Looking to the future, the band has a few concrete goals in mind. Gabe wants to write more original music; Declan wants to record their songs with professional equipment; Kurt would love to release their music in a more official capacity, like a single or an EP; And Kyle wants more bonding experiences, envisioning a scenic Ontario road trip: “Hit small towns, camp… Canada is so beautiful, it would be nice to go see it, and ideally play shows along the way.”

Mostly, the four Innis students who recently discovered their shared passion for music are thankful for all of the people who have supported them along the way. “There have been so many people who have supported us even though we’re in our infancy,” said Gabe. Declan also said the band is lucky to have such dedicated friends who come out to their shows and encourage them to keep making music. “We’re really, really, really grateful, for just, not even the support, but just people being there,” said Kyle, “It’s so nice for people to take the time out of their evening to come see us.”

While Paint Dept. may be in its infancy, it has built a solid foundation both musically and emotionally over the past year. The band is a group of four sincere, down-to-earth guys who are just happy to be making music and sharing new experiences. Any success they find along the way is secondary. Wherever the band ends up, they’re sure they won’t forget their roots. “Innis is really the reason we all got together,” Kurt noted near the end of our interview, “Without Innis, this whole thing would have probably never happened.”