Laura Power
Northern News Services
Published Friday, December 21, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - Fort Smith's resident rockers, State of the Art, will bring a little metal to Yellowknife this holiday season.

On Dec. 28, the band will kick off a Northern mini-tour at the Top Knight Pub. The tour will also take them to Inuvik on New Year's Eve and Tuktoyaktuk after that.

State of the Art is Aaron Kikoak on guitar and vocals, Jamie Chabun on drums, Brandon Kikoak on guitar and vocals and Craig Allard on bass. - NNSL file photo

"It's been in the plans most of the year. Basically it's just been a matter of getting around to it, and getting something we could support like the single," said Jamie Chabun, drummer for the band.

The single he refers to is an EP the band recently finished called Old Money, which consists of the title track along with four other original songs including The Hunt. The tour's Yellowknife show will be the official release of the EP, but Chabun said people in each community can expect a great show.

"They can expect a high energy rock concert," he said.

State of the Art decided to hit up a few Northern spots on this tour as opposed to the southern destinations they visited previously.

"We didn't really promote our first album in the North - we concentrated on doing that in Alberta and B.C., and getting as many fans as we could in the more populated places ... now we're going back up to the North because we have the opportunity to and we kind of need to bolster support for our new album," he said.

Three of the band members - Chabun, Aaron Kikoak and Brandon Kikoak - are originally from Inuvik, which makes a Northern tour more special for them.

"It's been four years since the band has made it back up to Inuvik. It doesn't seem like it," Chabun said.

State of the Art is still working on its second full-length album.

"The whole CD is right on schedule, and it should be released at the latest in the springtime," Chabun said.

The band has also decided to begin work on other projects during the tour. They will record each of the shows. The audio and video footage may be used for an upcoming documentary on the band and possibly a live album.

"If one night happens to be a smokin' night, sure, why not," said Chabun. "If the crowd is just as good on tape then maybe a live album, you never know."

When Chris White of Western Arctic Moving Pictures (WAMP) heard about the project, he jumped at the chance to help out by lending equipment to the band and its camera crew.

"We're really interested in partnering up and doing more projects with other filmmakers and other artists outside of Yellowknife," said White.

He said WAMP is interested in helping to get artists together in such a way.

"As far as I understand it's probably... the most ambitious rock documentary that the Northwest Territories has ever seen," he said.

"I really think you're going to see the North's version of The Last Waltz."