By Sherry White and Michelle Wray

Before the 1998 East Coast Music Awards in Halifax, Nova Scotia, ‘Bucket Truck' was just the name given to utility trucks used to access power lines.

A lot has changed since then.

Matt Wells, Jud Haynes, Mike Rowe, Chris Hanley, Mike Rizkalla and Mike Stewart chose ‘Bucket Truck' as the name for their band. Halifax was where they had their big debut, showcasing in downtown bars.

"We released our CD in St. John's because we released it first in Halifax," explains lead singer Matt Wells. "Then we played a show with the Tea Party at the university. We played two shows with them so we have been pretty busy and pretty happy."

Saying the band has been busy is somewhat of an understatement. They have already made their first music video which will be aired sometime in the beginning of September. The group hopes it will attract attention.

"It has potential to excel a band to so many new levels," says Haynes, but he knows that's not always the case.

"At the same time (it can) do nothing for a band. It all comes down to Much Music. They have all the power when it comes to Canada."

During this time, the guys gained a new respect for the technical aspects of making music videos. They say music and imagery are not as easy as they look. Band members spent up to 17 hours a day making their video and were sore for days afterwards.

The band's hoping their breakthrough performance will be while playing with Summersault, a series of concerts featuring bands like Our Lady Peace, Garbage, Sloan, I Mother Earth and Moist.

"Summersault is going to be kind of along the lines of Lilith Fair and Edgefest," says Wells.

He adds that it wasn't as hard as one would think to get into the lineup for Summersault.

"It was actually advertised in a national magazine just saying that the tour was going to happen......we knew Our Lady Peace's management and just gave them a call and asked them, ‘If you need another band let us know' and a few days later we were booked for it. So I guess it was the easiest thing we did," Wells says.

Bucket Truck will be featured in two of four Summersault shows -- one in St. John's on September 3 and the other in New Brunswick on September 4.

Back