The Saint Alvia Cartel Create A Sound For The Summer

“I Don’t Wanna Wait Forever” sings Saint Alvia Cartel’s Ben Rispin and nothing could better describe the way that the fans of this Burlington sextet must be feeling. After bursting on to the scene in early summer 2006, the band recently released their debut eponymous album. And to say it’s going well is an understatement.

“It’s going really well. We’re really happy with it,” says Ben of the release. “Every song on the record, we tried to make unique, and its own. We play a lot of different styles and tried to bring a lot of that to this record. There’s more of the same type of stuff that people know, but we tried to push ourselves. We don’t want to be that type of genre-band.”

Featuring members of Boys Night Out, Jersey, The Video Dead and Grade, the band draws on a plethora of musical experience. In regards to how their previous experience has helped in shaping their current sound, Ben says, “Not musically it hasn’t, but it’s definitely brought a knowledge and experience to the table that we know what we’re doing. We’ve all been doing it for a decade in all our respective projects. But as far as musically, it’s nothing like those bands.”

But that hasn’t stopped their old fans from picking up on the new sound. “It’s seemed to work out so far,” says Rispin. “We were kind of nervous that we wouldn’t be able to pick up anything from the other bands, being that the sound is a bit of a departure from what they’re used to. But in respect to the Video Dead crowd (Ben’s other band) it’s definitely seemed to work out.”

Another big boost for the band came from opening one of Alexisonfire’s six sold-out shows in December. “We were well received. We were a little apprehensive at the beginning, but it was a great night. It was really awesome of them for helping us out like that.”

It’s this camaraderie between bands within the scene that lies at the root of what SAC is all about. That’s why, when deciding upon what to call the band, they chose to name it after World War II veteran Ernest Alvia “Smokey” Smith. Ernest was Canada's last living recipient of the Victoria Cross for valor in WWII.

“He was a guy who always kept his word, always looked out for his friends and he has this great story that people should read up about. And if all that comes out of this is somebody looking up on the internet about “Smokey” Smith, then that’s great because he’s got a remarkable story that’s really worth knowing.”

With the album out and a summer of touring, including stops on the Barrie and Montreal Warped Tour, it appears that pretty soon “Alvia” will be a household name, be it band or soldier.

- Ryan O’Shaughnessy 





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