Moore Ave’s Cover Of Sublime’s “Santeria” Out Now
It’s difficult to make a cover sound like a unique production that does justice to its origins, but Moore Ave has done just that with “Santeria.”
The 1997 Sublime hit has transcended generations and continued as a valuable tune in the cultural zeitgeist. Aylmer, Ontario’s Moore Ave put their own indie punk spin on the track as part of its upcoming debut album, Turn Around.
Bringing another level of energy and intensity to a track that’s traditionally performed in a more laid-back, campfire-y sort of tone adds another layer to the lyrics of the song, which center around a man’s feelings toward his lover and the man she’s cheating on him with.
The idea to put this cover on the album came while Moore Ave were sitting around a fire, a very appropriate setting to discuss “Santeria.” The success of the band’s singles “Beanies And Plaid Jackets” and “6 Feet” had its members – brothers Josh, Joe, and Jack Gaudette and brother-in-punk Shawn MacDonald – excited to take the next step. But what should it be?
“At that time, all the songs we were playing together were released, and Josh had a solid collection of partially written tunes just waiting around for us to tackle,” the band said. “As the night went on and Josh was showing everyone demos of some new tunes, Shawn stopped the conversation and suggested we write and release our first full-length album.”
“This was never something we would have ever entertained before for whatever reason,” the band continued. “We thought the single game was what we were playing now just being an indie punk band from a small farm town in Ontario.”
That night, the band decided an album was in its future. The musicians elected to include one cover on the project, and “Santeria” was the quick favorite.
Moore Ave’s cover of the Sublime creation kicks off the countdown for the release of the band’s debut album and provides a taste of what’s to come from its original music. In this take on “Santeria,” Moore Ave pushes the tempo and blends the words of the legendary band with the aura of an early-2000s pop-punk aesthetic. Considering the band’s named influences of NOFX, Alexisonfire, Rancid, Sum 41, and Blink-182, plus their reputation for high-octane live performances, it only makes sense. In fact, Alexisonfire has had a direct impact on the production of this project.
During the pandemic, Josh Gaudette took the liberty of sending some demos to Wade McNeil of Alexisonfire on a whim, taking a shot in the dark at his favorite band might find his work to be interesting. Shortly after, McNeil got back to him with positive comments, and the relationship began.
Over the summer of 2021, McNeil set Moore Ave up with a studio and an engineer, and now more than two years and plenty of mixing and mastering later, it’s nearly time for the album’s release.
Keep an eye out for Moore Ave.’s album Turn Around in the spring of 2023.
Watch the video for “Santeria” below and learn more about Moore Ave via our mini-interview.
Care to introduce yourselves?
Hi, I’m Josh, and I play guitar and sing! Hi, I’m Joe, and I play lead guitar, and sometimes I yell at the mic. Hi, I’m Jack, and I play the bass guitar. Hey, I’m Shawn, and I play drums!
We’re Moore Ave!
Tell us about the process of covering Sublime’s “Santeria.” Why that song?
Over the years, we have covered quite a few songs for many different gigs. We always try to play to the crowd and build our sets for the bill that we are on. As we started writing and playing more original tunes, the space for covers became less and less, so we had to start becoming more specific with our cover choices. When you play a cover in a set, you really want it to be something that gets the crowd super stoked and maybe catches them off guard a little. As we started playing “Santeria,” we noticed the people at our gigs absolutely loved the tune and would go nuts when they heard it. Everyone always knows the words, so it gets people scream singing, and raising their drinks! So, we felt it would be a good cover to put on the album and add our own little spice to it.
When we were recording it, Wade wanted to make it as simple and punk as possible, so we actually only made five tracks. No layering, harmonies, guitar-monies; nothing like that. Just Bass, Rhythm Guitar, Lead Guitar, Drums, and Vocals. We came up with some killer guitar tones and messed around with different guitars, and it came out super rad!
What’s it like being a musician in Aylmer?
Aylmer, Ontario is an interesting place. We got really lucky as we have really great neighbours that surround our place where we jam and host shows. We did have one neighbour that gave us a hard time as we were growing up, but they didn’t last all that long. The community is generally really supportive of us as well, which is super encouraging. It also helps that we do a lot of work within the community. Me (Josh), Joe, and Jack are part of a local service group that works for the sole purpose of the communities greatest needs. Every year since the end of high school we have organized a small local music festival that is completely non-profit, and all proceeds go directly to the local Corner Cupboard. So when it comes to small-town support, we really lucked out.
I would say the only downsides are the lack of venues within the town to put shows on in and the lack of Aylmer-based bands. When we were in high school with was a decent hardcore scene, and now there’s a pretty decent local punk scene, but it would be rad if we had a larger range of bands to put on shows within Aylmer. We end up working with a lot of London bands and venues because that’s where the local scene is.
Who was the first Canadian artist to blow you away?
Wow, what a great question! Let’s go around the group, and everyone says their answer!
Josh: Okay, I’ll start! For me, it was Alexisonfire. They were the first artist that I really clung to. Everything they did just made me feel something different. And it’s wild to say that because we got to work with Wade on this album. It’s like a dream come true!
Joe: Okay, now me! I’d have to say The Tragically Hip. Gord Downie was such an incredible songwriter and the way the band worked together in the wiring process to create some of the most unique tracks will always be something that gets me stoked!
Jack: Okay I guess it’s me…can I pass? Hahaha, just kidding! I would have to say Billy Talent. When I first found out that they get that huge guitar sound from just one man, I was shocked. Ian D’Sa is an incredible player!
Shawn: I guess that just leaves me! My answer is simple and straight to the point. Shania Twain. I will take no more comments at this time.
You’ve been making music for a while now. What’s one piece of advice you can offer those starting out?
Collectively we would have to say that the biggest piece of advice we can give is to jam with the band and have fun. The more you jam with your group or on your own, the more fun you can have. The more fun you have, the tighter you get as a group, as musicians, and as an individual. And when it becomes second nature and you’re laughing and having a great time, that energy comes off in your performances, is seen in your songwriting, and it really makes a difference. Jam covers, originals, riffs, ideas, and complete nonsense. And post-jam, try to make some time to hang out with your group. We feel the reason we have made it this far and still enjoy each other is because of that fact. We didn’t just start writing originals and gigging relentlessly. We played covers, hung out, jammed ideas, played Mario Kart, Mortal Kombat, and Super Smash Bros. We created goofy drinking games to movies and cartoons. Then we jammed some more! It really brought us close, and I feel like that really comes across when we are performing!
Connect with Moore Ave:
Website
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok