Coming hot off of a weekend of performing Junofest madness in March, and now headlining the upcoming Hi-Light Festival on April 29th, Daniel Blade from Medical Pilot manages to balance a life of rock ‘n’ roll moonlighting with a nine-to-five job. It’s a routine of late nights, early mornings and weekends touring random venues, but Blade says it makes him feel like a superhero with a secret identity. “It’s a little bit daunting occasionally,” says Blade, who agreed to call the minute he got home from work. “But I think I’m still at the point in my life where I can juggle a lot of that stuff.” But it clearly requires some serious gumption to keep that many balls in the air.
On an average day, Blade wakes up way too late. He usually takes under 10 minutes to get ready because he has to make it for a 9 a.m. start at the car dealership where he works. He likes his job enough and does it well, but, all day long, he’s thinking about music. Once he’s back home, if it’s a Medical Pilot night, he knows he only has a quick break to decompress before heading out to meet the band.
Medical Pilot gets together a couple of times a week for rehearsal or recording. It released a new album in 2022 called Primary Colours and have big aspirations for 2023 with more recording, more gigs and trying to get overseas for a tour. Blade’s been with them for about six years and fits right in with the band’s personality, from its heavy but groovy sound to its unhinged, absurd online presence.
I want to point out that not every serious band trying to make it titles its YouTube Q & A videos something like “5 drunk manchildren answer fan questions,” but Medical Pilot enjoys leaning into its personalities. “We’re also all just a bunch of dumbasses,” says Blade. “We goof off with each other during practice to the point that it is literally a problem.” But rather than let that comedic brilliance go to waste, the members utilize it for their social media strategy.
Memes and jokes even make it into the band’s merchandise. My favourite is what Blade refers to as the “Kurger Bing” merch, a t-shirt with the words Medical Pilot styled to match the logo of a certain American fast-food chain. It’s the type of goofball energy that’s dripping with irony but can still deliver a good marketing strategy. Blade says that fans can also expect another piece of merch coming soon that will feature the ever-dignified aesthetics of Taco Bell.
Bands today aren’t just expected to make great music. With the tools at their disposal, so is the responsibility of setting up gigs, managing marketing, doing social media, creating band merch and recording. It’s overwhelming, especially considering that Blade, Medical Pilot and tons of Edmonton musicians are doing these workloads on top of full-time jobs.
When all the rockstar-life fiasco is done, and Blade gets home, he’s usually only got time to play Dark Souls, watch cartoons and eat some food. He’ll be back at work for his usual start time the next day. What’s his secret? “I just only do this stuff that I want to do, and I don’t really worry about anything else.”
Catch Medical Pilot at Hi-Light Festival. It plays April 29th, at the Starlite Room.
