SURREY 鈥� From Cedar Hills to Cloverdale, Jacob Hoggard鈥檚 musical story is spread across the 性视界传媒 map.
鈥檚 lead singer grew up near the corner of 91st Avenue and 126th Street, and went to school at nearby L.A. Matheson Secondary.
A couple of decades later, on Saturday, July 1, the band he fronts will play for thousands of screaming, flag-waving fans at Bill Reid Millennium Amphitheatre, as headliners of .
鈥淎h, home sweet home,鈥� Hoggard told the Now-Leader in a phone interview on Tuesday.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been awhile.鈥�
鈥� READ MORE: , from May 2016
Hoggard lives in Vancouver now, but apparently still visits 性视界传媒.
鈥淚 still get by once in a while, because I鈥檝e still got old friends who live in the neighbourhood, so that brings me back, and you can never get too far,鈥� he explained.
Back in 2005, when Hoggard was still an apprentice carpenter living in Abbotsford and fresh from a stint on the Canadian Idol TV show, a retooled Hedley lineup played its debut gig at the Ozone, a King George Highway nightclub since demolished and replaced by a Save-On grocery store.
鈥淥h wow, what a flashback,鈥� said Hoggard when reminded of the show. 鈥淚 remember playing there, and it was the night the band met my grandparents for dinner at mom鈥檚 house, as I recall, so that鈥檚 cool.
鈥淚t鈥檚 gone, but we鈥檙e still here,鈥� he added.
鈥� READ MORE: , from June 23, 2016
At the time, the band鈥檚 sound was definitely snotty pop-punk 鈥� light years from its more refined, R&B-ish songs of recent vintage, including a new track.
鈥淚t鈥檚 one of those songs we think is going to be benchmark for us moving forward,鈥� Hoggard raved.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a brand new track and we鈥檙e super proud of it, and are excited to share it with everybody.鈥�
This week, the band got busy shooting a video for the song in Toronto. Cast wanted for the two-night shoot included one 鈥渁dult robot dancer鈥� under 4鈥�6鈥� and one 鈥渃hild robot dancer,鈥� also under 4鈥�6鈥�.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be a virtual-reality music video, so it鈥檚 kind of the first of its kind,鈥� Hoggard explained. 鈥淲e鈥檙e really stoked about that, the prospect of making it something really cool.鈥�
In March, longtime drummer Chris Crippin left the band and was replaced by Jay Benison, Hedley鈥檚 drum tech.
Like Hoggard, Crippin was also raised in 性视界传媒, and later moved to the woods of Quebec some years ago, Hoggard said.
鈥淚t got to a point where he wanted to do his own thing and he had our blessing, and we had a great 11, 12 years together and we wish him well,鈥� said the singer, who continues on with guitarist Dave Rosin and bass player Tommy Mac.
鈥淭hat was an opportunity for us to kind of move forward and kind of venture into a new phase of our lives as well, and nothing really changes in the world of Hedley other than the fact that we鈥檙e continuing to evolve our sound, and this single is exactly in line with the way we see our future. We鈥檙e lucky to be doing what we do.鈥�
The Canada Day concert in 性视界传媒 will be a fly-in, fly-out situation for the headlining band, which is set to play a WE Day event in Ottawa the following afternoon.
鈥淲e鈥檙e doing a private jet right after (the 性视界传媒 date) just to get to Ottawa in time for the next day, to make it on time, with the shows crammed so close together, but it鈥檒l be a fun day, you know,鈥� Hoggard explained. 鈥淗aving grown up in the neighbourhood and just obviously being home-grown Canadian kids on Canada Day, we鈥檙e really looking forward to it.鈥�
In concert, Hoggard鈥檚 between-song banter is known to explode with F-bombs, but can he keep it clean for the all-ages crowd in 性视界传媒?
鈥淣o f鈥�-ing problem,鈥� he deadpanned.
鈥淚 think there鈥檚 many, many sides of who we are and what we do, so it鈥檚 pretty easy to transfer, translate our show and our character on stage, into what makes sense for our audience,鈥� Hoggard elaborated. 鈥淎nd you know, we鈥檙e a band that鈥檚 really grown up with our audience, and we鈥檙e very close to them 鈥� on tour, recording, all that.鈥�
