Reign of Error is a 4-piece alternative rock band: Caspian Shaw (Vocals), Chance Brook (Guitar), Braden Halliwell (Bass) and Bryn Lipinski (Drums). But make no error, their personalities shine as bright as their ambition and creativity.
Christopher Harold (CH): How did it all start? Where did you all meet?
Chance: “I’m sort of the common denominator of the group. I could never really find people committed to the same endeavors I have. I went into the RATV program at NAIT and that’s where I met Braden and Bryn. We started jamming; actually, Bryn invited Braden to jam. It was the worst jam session ever.”
Why is that?
Chance: “I was late for jam and when I got there and started to tune my guitar, the string snaps. We actually didn’t play any instruments at our first official meeting. We all got together the day right before the lockdown measures came into place for COVID, so then we couldn’t meet with each other for a long time. At our first meeting as a band, not to jam or anything, we decided the best way to find out if we gel as a band was to play Guitar Hero and have a good time.”
CH: What was the very first instrument you picked up (besides the recorder) and if you did pick up the recorder or ukulele, did you pursue it to a degree?
Caspian: “I still play the recorder! I can play a mean hot cross buns. I first picked up the guitar and piano – I have an insane collection of musical instruments. I still play the ukulele.”
Chance: “In Junior High, we had a music program where everybody was distributed a Fender Squire and a basic amplifier. That’s where I learned to play power chords.”
Braden: “I wanted to start off drumming. At twenty-one, I bought my first kit off Amazon. I started to jam, and I didn’t like what I heard at first, so I started to gravitate towards the bass.”
Bryn: “Honestly, the biggest contributor to my inspiration for playing music started out as me just drumming on my knees with my hands. As a child, I was influenced by my parents to play the piano.”
CH: You’re working on a demo. What kind of vibes did you incorporate into this? Do you have a release date set?
Bryn: “It’s a rough draft.”
Braden: “Chance has connections.”
Chance: “T’s somebody from Gloom. We might be performing with them in the future. We’ve recorded some stuff that we’ll probably release on social media as a teaser.”
Braden: “I don’t think all of our songs are going to sound the same.”
Chance: “Yeah, but each song has the essence of our creative beings so to speak. We want to go for variety, but (not) so much variety that the band doesn’t sound the same.”
Braden: “Every week, we surprise ourselves with what we produce. Chance will play a riff, and then I’ll say woah, woah Chance, play that again! And it’ll spiral into something crazy.”
CH: What does the name ‘Reign of Error’ mean?
Braden: “My dad was watching a Robin Williams comedy special on previous U.S. Presidents. When Robin said – and I’m paraphrasing – ‘once George W. Bush left office his reign of error was over.’ It was the most epic punk sounding thing I heard in my life.”
Caspian: “Once Braden put it in the group chat, everyone was like yep, yep, yep. Once I told a designer what we wanted to get printed, they were like ‘that’s awesome’.”
Supplied photo.
CH: What kind of environment are you guys practicing and writing in?
Braden and Caspian: “Bryn’s basement.”
Braden: “I’m surprised how much patience Bryn’s mom has for us.”
Bryn: “I see earplugs lying around upstairs, and I’m like ‘who’s earplugs are these? They’re not mine’.”
CH: Hotdog…a sandwich or not?
Caspian: “I believe it’s a sandwich. It’s two buns split in half.”
Braden: “I believe it’s a taco. It’s essentially an American taco.”
Caspian: “But is a sub a taco?”
Bryn: “I classify a sub as a sub.”
Braden: “I classify a sub as a sub. Great argument.”
Follow @reignoferroryeg on Instagram, for announcements on shows, projects, and music teasers.
