I was wondering how the Montreal ska‑punk scene is doing, since I followed that musical wave for a while with some rad bands. Even more, I was missing the humor of the Curci brothers from their other project. It works out perfectly, because their new project is full of it — in their lyrics, their videos, their social media, and even in their interview answers. But make no mistake: they’re serious musicians, gamers, and pizza lovers.
Well... I think Montreal's ska/punk scene has changed quite a bit since I've (Nico) been part of it. I wouldn't say the ska portion has been that strong for a while, but things are starting to pick up. I can only name a handful of ska/punk bands on the island, so if you're out there, hit us up!
Indeed we have! Nico and I (Davy) were / are? both founding members of The Real Deal. We have had a lot of great opportunities and got to play and travel a lot during that time.
If I'd say it was easy I'd be lying though, there was a different work ethique back in the day that I think is lost in the scene today.
There are some great things as there are some less inviting things about the scene. I find that you end up going to the same shows time and time again as there is less diversity. Same bands, same shows, same venues, same crowd for the most part.
Bands play less out of their comfort zones to take that risk.
With that being said, the positives of the scene is that the bands have created a nice little family and they all support each other.
We give it our all, when there are zero people watching, to hundreds... it makes no difference to us.
We don't take ourselves too seriously, as music is made to have fun... But we always try our best to give a great show or write the best song.
If we aren't sweating, out of breath or popping suppositories because we sang too hard the night before, then why play music?
Difficult? Start the band? Hell nah!
Nico and I (Davy, still Davy!) Were both in separate bands and both bands rarely jammed or played shows. If they did, it would just be a drinking party instead of based around music.
For the name, we (The Real Deal) have decided to use a different name to keep whatever memories that were built with TRD for that period.
(Nico) Some people have come up to me after shows talking about The Real Deal, it's weird lol. But it's nice to know that we made an impact on some punks back in the day!
Every show is different, hell I've had more fun playing a 30 capacity room in Sutton than I did playing in front of thousands of people at Rock Fest in Montebello.
I don't like to compare experiences like crowd reaction to any of my previous projects as there are so many factors that can change an experience even your own perception of a crowd can come into play.
My moto is if you, the band, is having fun... then the crowd will follow.
Who doesn't like Booty?
Ironically enough, this song started off as a random joke song Bill McNeal would jam that stemmed from another joke song that we jammed about my butt crack itching after wearing a thong to sleep after drinking all day in Mexico. Inception upon inception!
So we basically based everything off the chorus for this song and just went for it, we have our partner in crime, SoMad who helps us with guest vocals from time to time and live shows in Montreal (oh and the artwork for 3 Wise Guys); she was transcribing all the lyrics to her notepad while we were trying to rhyme words like Rum and Cum's together.
Essentially 4 like minded folks, writing a poem about Pirate Booty. I think it turned out amazingly :)
Ahhhhhh, one of the very few, serious Bill McNeal songs (kidding, we are working on that a little more these days!).
It is a personal (Davy again...) song about protecting your own mental sanity from those trying to manipulate your being.
Some things hit harder than others, I still have a rough time singing that one cause it hits in the feels! But, the show must go on as they say.
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Fuck to the yeah it is! Nico and I (Davy is I, I am said Davy) grew up together (we are brothers btw) and always gamed from my earliest memory. We still do and pbbly will till we are in a retirement home.
So why not try and make a reggae song about what we love? Video games, pizza bagels and hanging out with your friends.
It was hard to choose which games to sing about but, I went for the N64 games I played the most (excluding Wave Race 64, that game slaps, but there are less things to create an imagery for everyone with that games)
Definitely a lot of stupidity! We are heading out on an Eastern Canadian tour this summer with our buds from Ottawa, Kingfisher!
We are writing new songs to record a whole album (instead of EP's) and I am looking into getting our brand of Skank Nasty to the fine people of Europe in 2027? Maybe? Hopefully?
One thing is for sure, you will get new music and new shows. If you want to book us anywhere in the world, contact Nico, cause Davy (me again) hates dealing with booking shows.
Peace, love and Pirate Booty for all.
The content of this interview didn’t prove me wrong about their humorous authenticity; the self‑deprecation carries over from one project to the next for two of the three musicians from Bill McNeal. Always driven by genuine camaraderie and a spontaneous take on Montreal’s ska‑punk culture, they still hold real relevance in their art.
If their universe speaks to you, you can check out their upcoming shows on their website or just listen all the singles and EP.