“She got kicked out of the bar really early, and then she came back 20 minutes later in a cartoonish disguise—she was wearing a trench coat and a top hat.”

In case you missed it, 331 was a night to remember—three local bands, a packed house, and nearly $7,000 raised for charity. With an electric atmosphere and a stacked lineup, the event left its mark on Saskatoon’s music scene. Blu Beach Band had a lot to say about their experience and what’s next for them.

Blu Beach Band is an indie rock band from small-town Southeast Saskatchewan known for its charismatic stage presence and high-energy performances. The lineup consists of Carter Vosper (Vocals and Guitar), Remi Berthelet (Guitar and Vocals), Eric Vosper (Bass), and Riley Buchberger (Drums). If there’s one phrase they’ve clearly adopted as their motto, it’s “fired up.” I spoke to them following their performance at Louis’ for 331, a USask UNICEF fundraiser.

 

Q: Can you introduce yourselves?

Reggie: “I am Reggie. Otherwise known as Eric. I play bass and write some songs as well.”

Riley: “I’m Riley Buchberger and I play the drums—and that’s pretty much my role… and roadie.”

Eric: “And trailer driver.”

Riley : “Backer upper.”

Remi: “My name is Remi. I play the guitar and sing backup vocals, and my other job is making really bad jokes on stage.”

Carter: “My name is Carter and I sing and play guitar in the band.”

Remi: “And do everything else—set up shows—”

Carter: “And write grants and make sure to attend Zoom meetings.”

Remi: “And make sure everyone’s on time” [laughter].

Q: Can you tell us your favourite song you guys have made?

Carter: “3…2…1…”

Unanimously: “The Middle!”

Q: Why is that?

Carter: “I think it was like the most collaborative songwriting thing we’ve done to date. We usually like all pitch-in ideas to a certain extent, but with that one, every single verse was like somebody had an idea, and we combined them all together. It turned out way better than I think any of us thought it was going to, and it seems to be the crowd favourite.”

Q: Have you guys ever felt pressured to please the people and play those crowd pleaser songs?

Carter: “Yeah.”

Reggie: “Yeah, but those ones are usually like some of our favourites, too.”

Remi: “Yeah, like “Fishin’ in the Dark”” [laughter].

Carter: “Well, when it comes to covers, you just gotta swallow your pride sometimes. Play those corporate gigs. But I think the crowd pleasers are the ones that we want to play anyways.”

Q: For the people who haven’t heard your own music, what should they listen to first?

Reggie: “City Love.”

Riley: “Yeah, I’d say.”

Carter: “Yeah, we put it at the start of the new album for a reason. I think it’s a good gateway drug to Blue Beach, maybe?”

Q: Tell me a little bit about the Louis’ show. How was the energy there?

Riley: “That was a lot of fun.”

Carter: “Yeah, it was electric. That was probably one of the bigger shows that we’ve played. They told us that that was one of the biggest shows Louis’ has had in like 2 years, so I feel like we felt accomplished after we played that one. People were very engaged and I felt like we had the crowd in the palm of our hand.”

Q: In that same vein, not only was it a fantastic gig, but it was also a good fundraiser for UNICEF. Do you guys ever think about ways that your music can give back to the community or do you have any plans to collaborate with local initiatives?

Carter: “We have played a couple of benefit shows already. I guess the contribution that we’ve made is organizing a festival called Indie Rock Summer Kickoff in Regina, and I guess we’re going on year number four. It’s more of an artist showcase. We’ve been really fortunate to gain a following and have people support us, so we’re trying to share the love and share the platform with up-and-coming artists. 

Remi: “And the Frost festival. We do a lot in Regina with the Creative City Centre. That community of artists and recording engineers is real close to our hearts. So anything we can do for them really means a lot for us.”

Q: Is there anybody you guys are looking at as like up-and-comers? Or people you want to Shout out as far as the local scene?

Carter: “Tracy Waters, they don’t really even need it at this point. In the year that they’ve been playing, they have gained such a huge following, but we really, really like those guys. Their whole approach to music is super refreshing.”

Q: Can you talk about your tour last summer?

Carter: “We played a bunch of festivals this summer before we did like a ‘tour’ tour where you just play constantly. It was sick. We did Sask Jazz Fest, Waskesiu, Gateway, Cathedral Village, and then the big one was North by Northeast in Toronto. We had never hopped on a plane to play music before, so that was a sick experience, and we learned some valuable lessons along the way about taking care of your gear. There’s a good chance it’s gonna get fucked up when you put it on a plane.”

Reggie: “I liked all the camping that we did […] You get the full festival experience, and then you also get to go play a show, which feels pretty cool.”

Riley: “Yeah, we did a lot of that kind of stuff that made the trip whole every time.”

Carter: “A lot of golfing.”

Q: What’s the favorite festival or venue you guys have played?

Remi: “Ness Creek was definitely the most festival-wise gig we’ve played, [it] definitely takes the cake in that regard. It was three days in the woods. You’re surrounded by people walking in their bare feet.”

Carter: “And can’t forget there’s no cell service out there, so it’s really like you’re off the grid and you’re just doing music and interacting with people. It’s really refreshing, actually.”

Riley: “Yeah, that’s sweet. It’s a lot of fun. And a lot of partying too” [laughter].

Q: Aside from the partying, what’s the most rewarding part of being in the band for each of you?

Reggie: “Playing live shows.”

Carter: “The money” [laughter]. 

Remi: “Getting up in front of a crowd full of people and really putting your whole heart and your feelings out on the line and receiving that back is such an amazing feeling that a lot of people just don’t understand. Like it’s crazy—the rush you get from going up there.”

Riley: “We’ve played so many shows where it’s been nobody. So that’s where we’ve known to just have fun with ourselves. That has carried so much in the live playing […] I get goosebumps sometimes, just playing like our own songs—which sounds so corny—But it’s just so fun seeing everybody so fired up […] I get so wound up about that, it makes me so excited. That’s huge.”

Q: If somebody made a movie about your band, what genre would it be, and which actor would you want to play you?

Carter: “Either Adam Devine or Andy Samberg ‘cause I’ve been told they look like me or I look like them. I hate when the actors don’t look like the musicians. So, I want that part to be spot on. Or you could do it like that new movie coming out about Robbie Williams where it’s just like a CGI monkey. I think that would also work for us.”

Remi: “I got an apron for Christmas and everyone keeps telling me I look like The Bear—Jeremey Allen.”

Reggie: “I think Henry Cavill could do me justice, probably” [chuckles]. 

Riley: “I was thinking a young Joe Pesci.”

Carter: “And as for the genre—sci-fi. It would take place in outer space.”

Sean: “So you get abducted by aliens, they probe you, and then you come back with crazy alien music?”

Riley: “And scarred for life” [laughter].  

Q: What’s an artist or band that’s different from your sound but secretly inspires you? Do you guys have a guilty pleasure?

Remi: “The guy who wrote “Alone Again, Naturally”–Gilbert O’Sullivan.”

Carter: “Yeah, guilty pleasure as in—that album is super misogynistic. But…it’s good music.”

Remi: “Yeah, definitely the kind of hokey, kind of campy—almost like Beatles rip-off music, but he’s from Ireland. Doo-wops and stuff […] Pet Sounds just gets me.”

Q: Who’s the most likely to go Brian Wilson and stay holed up in their room?

Remi: “Carter for sure. Carter or Reggie.”

Riley: “Yeah, definitely one of the brothers.”

Carter: “Yeah, me or Reggie. I feel like Reggie is just as likely to drive himself insane writing songs by himself too. Reggie’s like our hidden weapon. A lot of our best lyrics and chords come from Reggie.”

Reggie: “We all contribute” [laughter]. 

Q: Reggie, didn’t it take a while for you to show your music and your songwriting?

Reggie: “Yes, for sure […] You take a little while to get the confidence to actually speak your mind. At first you don’t really wanna write what’s going on in your life, but at some point you realize that’s what people wanna hear, and that’s what actually is the easiest to write about.”

Carter: “This new album that we’re working on […] There’s unanimously a goal that we’re not going to write any songs that are about nothing anymore. All these songs are going to be specific, either experiences, moods, or feelings that we have. We’re only writing about what we know for this one.”

Q: Tell me more about the new project. 

Carter: “It’s underway. We’re hoping to have it out for early summer, spring-ish. We also have our biggest tour planned yet for April. So, hopefully, we have a couple of songs out to hype the album up before we go on tour and then release it once we get back from tour. But we’re producing it entirely ourselves this time. So, it’s tough. It’s not easy. It’s a lot of coordinating, especially with all of us living in different cities now.”

Remi: “We’re musically homeless, as Carter likes to put it, we have no place to jam or record.”

Reggie: “But it’s our best work yet.”

Carter: “Ah, we’re going with that? I like it.”

Remi: “I think I think the fact that we have to really work to get together makes the writing process a lot more enjoyable because you’re there to write […] We do have fun, but we’re not there to just mess around, we’re there to get the work done and it feels very rewarding.”

Carter: “Yeah, cause like with No Guff, we were all just living in the same house together. It would take us like 20 sessions to finish this song, cause it’s just mixing in beers and Fortnite and whatever the hell else you’re doing the whole time. So this, yeah, we’re more focused this time around.”

Q: So what does success mean to you on the new project or as a band in general?

Reggie: “Being entirely satisfied with the finished product. Every song, the sound. I think that’s a big thing.”

Sean: “Sounds like you’re a perfectionist.”

Reggie: “Well, you want to put out your best work.”

Carter: “Yeah, I’d like to not feel like I want to crawl into a hole and die after we put it out ‘cause that seems to me, every time we put out music, just like—’this sucks’. And then it takes me a while to come around on it.”

Remi: “I think success as a band is being able to grow as a band, and every time we put out a new song, it’s better than the last song we put out. I think that’s the real determinant of success in my eyes.”

Q: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received, whether music related or not?

Carter: “The best advice I got was that never forget that music is funny […] Don’t get so wrapped up and like being an artist and like, you know, just yeah, remember that it’s a funny thing to get up on stage and sing and play your little songs. You play together. I know that for me takes the pressure off of like [thinking] ‘What if these lyrics aren’t resonating’ […] It helps me. Music is funny.”

Reggie: “I think when Rory Allen told us to ‘crack your water bottles before you go on stage’” [laughter]. 

Q: Explain that for me.

Reggie: “Rory Allen—an Elvis impersonator. We played the show with him in Esterhazy. [He told us to] twist the lid of the water bottle so you don’t hurt your hands while you’re on stage” [laughter].

Carter: “He also told us ‘don’t drink cold water. It’s gotta be lukewarm, otherwise your throat will seize up.’”

Remi: “Lukewarm beers” [laughter]. 

Remi: “Carter hit it right on the head. I think that sums up the whole band […] We’re here to have a fun time we’re not here to show you what we’ve got. I think that really gets picked up by the crowd.”

Q: Was there ever a moment on stage where you guys felt like, yeah, you had the right to be yourselves and you didn’t have to be any sort of image people wanted you to be?

Carter: “Anytime we’ve played O’Hanlon’s, probably.”

Riley: “Yeah, that’s where it feels like a hometown show.”

Reggie: “I do think we learned how to be ourselves, doing the shitty cabarets, though.”

Riley: “Oh yeah, that definitely builds character.”

Carter: “That makes you appreciate actually having like a crowd now and like, shit, ‘cause those were tough days.”

Q: What’s your favorite memory as a band? Favorite memory you guys have together?

Remi: “When we came up with the name of the band, we stayed up all night at Pyotts West Music Festival just on the edge of the Manitoba border at the Lake of the Prairies. We were all going for a piss at like 5:00 in the morning. We looked outside and the sun was just starting to rise. The sky was clear and the way it reflected off the water onto the beach, it just made it look so blue. And we all ran out there. And then, yeah, four hours after that we decided—this is the name of the band—It was just such a beautiful moment between four dudes hanging out in the trailer” [laughter].

Carter: “That’s the opening to the movie, by the way.”

Remi: “That’s where the aliens drop us off.”

Riley: “I got one too. We were playing a show near Round Lake, and it was for a biker bash […] During the show, in between songs they would start burning rubber on their motorbikes until the tire was completely gone. Smoke was completely filling the air and it was tough to breathe, but we were just playing through it.”

Carter: “It was like a fog machine, but it just smelled like shit. It was so loud and it wasn’t even in between songs. They were ripping it while we were playing.”

Remi: “They had a line of people with their motorbikes in a little grotto there, right in front of the stage. Not like downwind or anything from us. Just right smack in front of our faces. I can’t even remember what we were playing but it definitely did not fit the vibe.”

Carter: “I like the memories of the really shitty gigs too. We actually played a pretty tough one this summer at a Ford dealership. They did not give a fuck that there was live music. They could have just had a Bluetooth speaker. At one point, they’re like, ‘We’re gonna unveil the 2025 Raptor. Can you guys give us some hype-up music?’ And we’re like, ‘Yeah, well, we’ll play “Thunderstruck”.’ That’s gotta be rock bottom.”

Riley: “Nobody was fired up at all.”

Carter:  “[The Raptor reveal] was over in 30 seconds, and you have to finish ‘Thunderstruck’ while everybody’s walking out of the parking lot. It was like an I Think You Should Leave skit.”

Reggie: “I think the shitty gigs are my favorite memories. It’s just like tumbling, but it’s also reminds you [that] you gotta do this for yourself. Do this to have fun with your boys. That’s what it’s all about.”

Q: Have you guys ever had any crazy fan encounters?

Carter: “I don’t know if you can call them fans, but we’ve had obnoxious people at shows before. We were playing at Bobby’s Place in Moose Jaw. We started at 5:00PM and she was already pissed drunk. She got up on stage and was like, ‘you guys know any Janis Joplin?’ We’re like, no. And she was like ‘GRAAAHHH!’ She got kicked out of the bar really early, and then she came back 20 minutes later in a cartoonish disguise—she was wearing a trench coat and a top hat” [laughter]. 

Carter: “You know, you gotta respect it, though. It’s like they really want to be there at that point, if you’re willing to put on a fucking trench coat and top hat, you should just let them stay. I think they wanna be there more than us.”

Riley: “Yeah, they’re trying. They’re gonna dance too!” [laughter].

Q: Do you guys have a go-to karaoke song and who sings it best?

Remi: ““New Orleans Is Sinking” by The Tragically Hip. I think Reggie saw me singing that on White Claw Monday.”

Reggie: ““I Love Rock ’n’ Roll” by is it…Janis Joplin?” [laughter].

Riley: “Reggie does a pretty good ocean man too though. And Remi’s got a pretty good monster mash when he gets drunk.”

Carter: “Riley does a good Motörhead.”

Riley: “I gotta get a bit fired up for that” [starts growling “Ace of Spades”].

Remi: “You gotta smoke like half a pack of darts before you start singing Motorhead.”

Q: Do you guys have any pre-show or post-show rituals?

Riley: “Cigarettes.”

Remi and Carter (in unison): “Beer.” 

Carter: “We got to be a part of Jake and the Kid’s preshow ritual. They do shit you do before a football game. It got us fired up.”

Carter: “We don’t have anything locked in like that.”

Sean: “Just the sound of a beer can cracking is enough.”

Carter: “It’s like shaking a bag of Temptations for cats.”

Riley: “Yeah, like I’m fired up. Ready to go.”

Q: If you guys weren’t doing music, what do you think you’d be doing?

Carter: “Just a gym bro, honestly.”

Remi: “I’d be deathly afraid to talk to women, that’s for sure. I think if I wasn’t in the band, or if I never had the thought of playing music I think I’d be an incel” [laughter]. 

Q: So when you guys are on the road, who’s got aux?

Carter: “Reggie.”

Riley: “He always likes to take it. That’s one thing.”

Remi: “Carter will just play. Mk.gee for like 24 hours straight. Which is good. I like it, but, you know, a little variety goes a long way.”

Q: Who’s got the strangest, most eclectic music taste?

Carter: “Reggie.”

Reggie: “Hmm, I’d say Riley.”

Remi: “Riley definitely has a couple of deep cuts in him.”

Riley: “Yeah, I like to go everywhere.”

Reggie: “He played me on the way home from Saskatoon. It was a seven-minute French song, and he knew like half the lyrics.

Riley: [Starts singing in French]. 

Q: What’s next for the Blu Beach band? You guys have an album in the works. You’re working on the tour. What else is in the future? Any dream gigs?

Carter: “I’d like to tour outside of Canada, personally I think going to Japan is my goal, my end game for music.”

Reggie: “Coors Event Centre in Saskatoon, that’s probably the number one.” 

Carter: “Shootin’ for the stars, Reggie.”

Remi: “The Russell Inn. That would be a fun place to play” [laughter].

Q: Can you describe the vibe of your shows in three words?

Carter: “Fuck-around as one word.”

Remi: “Loose.”

Riley: “I think it’s fuck around, loose, fun.”

Blu Beach Band has received two 2025 Sask Music Awards nominations: Rock Artist of the Year and Music Video of the Year for “July Again”, featuring nominee Carter Vosper. You can get fired up at their next gig on April 10th at the Coors Event Centre (The Green Room). Maybe they’ll have learned some Janis Joplin by then. It couldn’t hurt to ask.

Special thanks to the event photographers Light Thief Media @lightthiefmedia and Utopia Captured @utopiacapturedd.