Scott Roos
Special to the Herald
Saturday, August 10th will mark the fourth edition of MooseFest. Located in the quaint little hamlet of Bellevue, the festival has elected, this year, to return to its roots and hunker down in the Bellevue Community Hall (the second and third editions were hosted on the Sports Grounds with the first edition in the hall). This simpler, more streamlined approach will feature a musically diverse lineup of six separate acts with a “something for everyone” vibe. It’s an approach that MooseFest has become known for. Saskatoon pop punk upstarts, the Checkout Queens, are looking forward to the opportunity to entertain at the festival.
Forged in the flames of a Saskatoon production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch back in 2021, the Checkout Queens come by their self described label of “theatre nerds” honestly. Founding band members Spencer Krips (guitar), Braden Buhler (guitar) and Alan Nieman (bass) were part of the back up band for that run of Hedwig shows. In the meantime, founding vocalist Oli Guselle had been cast in the role of Yitsak. The group of musicians enjoyed working together so much that they decided to continue doing so and thus an early version of the Checkout Queens was formed. A few lineup changes have happened since then with the band today rounded out by co-lead vocalist Avery Wall and newest band member Derrick Frost on drums.
“After (Hedwig) we kinda talked about what would happen next and Oli (Guselle) said ‘Hey, I have a bunch of songs, do you wanna come over and play them.’ So we did that,” Krips tells the Herald.
From the sound of it, Guselle, who is a respected member of the Saskatoon classical music community and has also, recently, begun to become known in bluegrass circles, had wanted to form a rock band for some time. Hedwig was the opportunity that presented itself and Guselle shot their proverbial shot. Guselle has the confidence and gravitas that only a lead vocalist could possibly have. There’s a big personality there for sure but also a grounded humility. Guselle just wanted to rock and the Checkout Queens did just that.
“My dad told me to manifest (a band). So I started writing songs for a band. And then I had them done and then Hedwig started…. And then it just like super snowballed from there, which was so awesome. I don’t know if I would have asked or had the guts to ask the guys if we hadn’t been kind of joking about being a band, ” says Guselle.
Since those early days, the band has gone on to make waves within the Saskatoon music scene with some award recognition and a kickass self-titled ep that was produced by GreenWing’s Matt Stinn at Rainy Day Recording Co. They’ve followed up that release with their recently released single “Ballad of a Trapeze Artist” produced by Stinn as well. Their live sets are fun and energetic. The dual lead vocals present a different kind of flavour which make this crew interesting and unique whilst in the meantime the musicality of the band is top notch.
“I think I want us to have this very kind of campy silly goofy vibe,” explains Guselle of the band’s live shows, “But then when we play, we really rock it. I don’t want us to present as tough or scary because we’re not. We’re super fluffy and funny,” explains Guselle.
Tickets to MooseFest are still available with further info on the festival including purchasing of tickets at their website moosefestsk.ca .The hospitality from co-organizers Mark Poppen and Joel Gaudet is fantastic. They are great guys. Additionally, there’s 28 first come first served campsites near the venue that have power, shower access, potable water and flush toilets for $30. With tickets to the festival costing $30, $60 all in when you include camping seems like a phenomenal deal to experience the awesomeness of MooseFest. In short, the festival is a great time with good vibes on tap at an amazingly affordable cost.
