DORIAN GEIGER
Arts Writer

Being a seven-piece funk, ska, jazz, instrumental hip-hop group will definitely turn a few heads on the indie paradise that is Saskatoon’s music scene — and that’s exactly what local band Sly Business has sought out to do since the band’s inception in fall of 2009.

    After recording the group’s debut LP 1976 in Saskatoon, frontman guitarist/vocalist Mark Ejack flew out to Hollywood, Calif., to have the album mastered by Brian “Big Bass” Gardner at Bernie Grundman studios in February 2010. And more recently, Sly Business returned from a tour of Western Canada and is now getting ready for a flurry of fall shows, including Louis’ House Party on Sept. 14.

The Sheaf sat down with Ejack and pianist Ben Fawcett to discuss what this funky Saskatoon band is about, how their tour was received and the elaborate truth behind the group’s name.   

The Sheaf: Describe the high and low points of your Western Canadian tour. I heard some questionable things. 
Sly Business: The tour had plenty of ups and downs. We planned to be on the road throughout the month of May with another band and we were supposed to travel in their tour van but they backed out of the tour at the last minute so we had no transportation. When we finally found another van it decided to break down in North Battleford.

This left us very stressed and financially marginalized. We spent all of our band cash to fix the van, drove 30 kilometres an hour back to Saskatoon, maxed out our credit card on a rental van and drove all the way to Kelowna, straight, to make the second show of the tour (we missed our first in Edmonton).

After a great show in Kelowna, we played two shows in Victoria, one in Parksville and also Nanaimo. Nanaimo ate us up and spat us out. Our sober driver for the night blew a .03 in a no tolerance zone and our tour van was impounded for 24 hours. We had to take two taxis full of our equipment to a friend’s house literally a 45 second drive from our current point.

We hitched a ride the next day to make our show in Victoria, hitched a ride back to Nanaimo to get our van out of the impound the next morning after that and made it to our show in White Rock that night an hour after doors opened.

Yet, despite the universe kicking our asses night after night after night after night, we partied through it and were ultimately resilient.

The rest of our tour was amazing and included two shows in Kelowna and Canmore. Both shows were packed, sweaty and super dancy even though we had to play as a three-piece. 

Sheaf: How was the response been to 1976?
Sly Business (Fawcett): The response to our debut album has been amazing and we’ve had nothing but positive feedback. Especially from our parents. Even though Mark’s mom hates rap music. On tour we sold sheaves of CDs and gave several free ones away in an effort to spread the Sly Business love. 

Sheaf: What’s next on the horizon for Sly Business? 
Sly Business: We’re just focused on writing new music and jamming regularly and getting a really tight set under our belts. We’re trying to play plenty of different shows in all types of venues and we have been in touch with a company in L.A. about shooting a video. We’re excited to see how that peter pans out. 

Sheaf: What do you want Sly Business to be known for in Saskatoon? What is your trademark? 
Sly Business: We just want people to have a feel-good time. We like being a friendly, live-instrument rap group in a genre that often harbors aggression. We want people to dance, not fight.  

Sheaf: I’ve seen Sly Business play some one-man sets lately with just Mark rapping over some of 1976’s more hip-hop influenced tracks. How do you like doing the solo MC stuff and freestyling as compared to playing with a completely live instrumental band? 
Sly Business: It’s really awesome and energetic to have a full seven-piece band at shows, but it’s cool to be versatile and do it solo as well. 

Sheaf: Where in the world does the name Sly Business originate from?  
Sly Business: When you spell Sly Business backwards, you get Yls Ssenisub, a renowned 19th-century German physicist who researched and developed the laws of being super cool. 

Sly Business plays Louis’ on Sept. 14 with The Gaff, DJ Ramadan and Post Secondary Fresh for the USSU House Party and the first Dollar Beer Night of the year.