Artist Spotlight: The Statistics

Brothers “capture the soul of old music” country-wide

Darby and Erin Yule grew up in Prince George, BC, where they discovered their love of playing music together. Since then, their success with The Statistics has snowballed from writing EPs to recording with celebrities, playing national festivals, and touring the country.

They describe their music as “angsty, modern rock with the soul of old music.” From recent years, they’re fans of Green Day, Gaslight Anthem, and Blink-182, but they also cite classic icons Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, and The Supremes as influences.

“When you hear old records, there’s a certain element to it that you don’t really get anymore,” says Darby. “Our goal is to try and capture that while still pushing our genre and art forward. We don’t want to be a throwback band, but we want to capture the soul of old music, so it ends up sounding kind of Springsteen-y.”

The Statistics trace the roots of their success to the release of Haunts, their most recent EP, which was recorded at Fader Mountain Sound Inc. in Vancouver. An especially popular song on the record is “Jealous Heart”, described by Darby as incorporating “analog warmth that was really motown-based with the dance beats.” The track was well-received by thousands of fans, “tripling the number of streams [the band] had gotten in the past.”

That achievement was encouraged by Sum 41 member Jason “Cone” McCaslin, who reached out to the brothers after listening to their music. The three of them have formed a close professional relationship since then, spending time recording in-studio, working on grant applications, and mixing their upcoming EP together. McCaslin will be “involved in all of the songs” on the new album, and he has already mixed “Jealous Heart”.

“It’s proving that we’re onto something,” says Darby, about the band’s accomplishments and collaboration with McCaslin. And he must be right; the brothers played at Canadian Music Week Toronto this year as the only band from Northern BC, completed the 14-date “Jealous Heart Tour” of Western Canada, and are anticipating their fourth EP release this fall.

“Coming from Northern BC puts us in a strange position. It’s cheaper up here, we can do a lot more, and there’s great community support, but you’re still from small towns. It’s not the same,” says Darby. “For us to get opportunities like this even though we live in Northern BC is pretty phenomenal.”

From a personal standpoint, Erin and Darby’s priority as artists is to connect with their audience and “create a community of people with us where they feel included.” That determination is what has propelled them forwards despite adversity.

“People are responding to it in a really deep way,” says Erin, about The Statistics’ music. “It’s interesting because I was watching a documentary on the Eagles, which is one of my favourite bands, and Glenn Frey was talking about how people did things to the Eagles, like they went on a road trip to the Eagles or got married to the Eagles. We’re starting to get those sort of reactions. Like, our song being included in people’s road trip playlists. People are connecting over it, and that’s really more than we could hope for.”

Darby adds that their goal has always been “making great art,” and that they “strongly believe that great art should be shared.”

“I’m not interested in writing fluff music or music that’s made for any other purpose than creating something real and true,” he says, and The Statistics stick to that standard.