A Gentleman’s Pact is a band redefining what it means to be punk in the Edmonton music scene.
Hailing from Beaumont, Kaleb Kaiser, Jacob Kachowski, and Darren Guy are the punk rock sound that is A Gentleman’s Pact. The band was originally formed by Kaiser and Kachowski, and the addition of drummer Darren Guy includes an origin story that may or may not involve trying tequila for the first time.
But after their first jam that night, they never stopped, and the addition of Guy changed their sound.
“We played our first show together, and it’s changed a lot since then,” said Guy, “I came in on drums and all of a sudden it goes from an acoustic act to an electric guitar act. Before we were playing folk songs, but now we’re playing punk songs.”
And since then, they’ve exploded. One of AGP’s biggest shows to date happened just this past August, opening for Chixdiggit and Teenage Bottlerocket. This gig was a huge deal, not only in its size, but also for them personally – they credit Teenage Bottlerocket as one of their influences.
“Teenage Bottlerocket was the first punk band that I listened to on my own,” said Guy. “I started getting into punk music and was like, man, I gotta learn some of this stuff that Kaleb and Jake are into. And Teenage Bottlerocket was the first that I listened to on my own, so they have a huge impact on me [personally], as well as a punk musician.”
But, in spite of their successes, they are still very much involved in the meaning of their music, not just fame.
“I want people to feel as though the time that they’re living is right there for the taking. And that they should take it, and they should truly appreciate whatever’s going on in their life. Of course, bad shit is bad, but I want people to feel as though they can feel again, and just be grateful for what they have in life.”
Their music comes from personal and life experiences and Guy says he channels his emotions into his playing, because that takes his playing to a “passionate level”.
For Guy, performing is also an outlet for emotion.
“In a social media age, it’s kind of rough on me. I can get isolated sometimes, so shows are a really great reminder that there’s still humanity out there,” he said.
So what can you expect from an AGP show? High energy… though Guy says that’s what every band says.
“The live experience should be high energy, and it should be fun, but sometimes it’s a more relaxed crowd of people. And honestly, I would just love to play to the people and have them enjoy whatever mood they’re feeling,” he said. He made sure to note that his favourite shows involve moshing and a lot of hugs – on and off stage.
Punk doesn’t always have to be rough and tough – and A Gentleman’s Pact proves that a punk band can play a lot of different kinds of shows.
They’ve just returned from a BC and Alberta tour, their biggest tour to date. AGP has also just released two new songs, “A Broken Calibration of a Human Soul” and “Goners”, which you can find on their Bandcamp (agentlemanspact.bandcamp.com), Youtube, and on Apple Music, Deezer, and Spotify.
You can follow them for updates on tour dates and new music on Facebook (A Gentleman’s Pact), Instagram (@agentlemanspact) and Twitter (@AGentleman’sPact).
Images courtesy of A Gentleman’s Pact
