If you walk past the stately columns of the Old Red Deer Courthouse and sneak by the big white van into the door around back you'll find yourself in the midst of creative chaos.
Guttural noises accompanied by precise breakdowns in the vein of Converge or Throwdown are carried along by pounding drumming. Art supplies litter a room packed tight with amplifiers, multiple drum kits, a plaid couch and one of a cream hue.
The sonic madness is none other than Stranger Danger, churning out brash tunes in Drop C tuning.
ìWe're about good times,î said Patrick Devine, a Penhold resident who plays guitar in the band. ìWe all really like to hang out with each other, play hardcore music and party.î
The five members span a wide age range with Devine the youngest at 19. The band is rounded out by Dylan Cave, drums, who is 21, Tanner Olsen, guitar, who is 22, Scott Ramsay, bass, who is 24, and Brett Tronnes, vocals, who is 26.
The crew is serious about high-energy performances and loves interacting with the people who come out to their shows. It's part of what has made them an integral force in the local hard rock scene.
ìWe like to get personal,î said Tronnes. ìWe want an experience with the crowd.î
Devine started out in a band called Hollow Absence which he says ìwas a really crappy emo band,î with a laugh.
ìNobody took us seriously,î he said. ìI don't blame them.î
He later played in Kill the Day with his identical twin Richard and current bandmate Olsen.
ìMe and Richard always dreamed about doing things like that,î Devine said.
After hanging out with Tronnes quite a bit Stranger Danger was formed.
That was three summers ago. Since then the band has made a name for itself playing in Ponoka, Edmonton, Calgary, Backfalds and Innisfail ñ where they opened for Sledgehammer Deathface.
Now the tables have turned and men of Danger are the ones youth have begun to look up to.
The band just came off a three-day mini-tour with Bonfire and Thresh in January.
Devine also came up with the idea for a local venue that would cater to local bands. His sister Desiree loved the idea and ran with it, and now Slumland Theatre is one of the few true venues in the entire Red Deer area, which showcases great out-of-town bands while nurturing the local scene.
For Devine his dream for Slumland was to create a force to help fund bands and showcase them to new audiences.
Cave says Slumland was key to reigniting the local scene, especially since it had been tough to get shows going.
ìThat was right around the time when no hall would rent to you unless you said you were having a wedding,î he said.
Tronnes, with his wavy hair styled as a grown-out Mohawk and frothy beard, looks every bit the part of lead screamer, especially as he bellows the words to songs like Second Hand Fleshlight and When in Rome.
ìGrowing up in Penhold gave me a really small-town mentality,î he says, adding it's something he tries to infuse into the music. ìI appreciate every show we have.î
Because Penhold didn't have a high school that went all the way through Grade 12 it forced him to find a new group of friends in Red Deer, which ultimately led him to meeting his new bandmates.
He had played in stoner rock group Hyperilis, whose songs included numbers such as Baby Seal and Time Will Tell, but wanted a change.
He says he's happy with the direction Stranger Danger is going and hopes he can do music professionally one day.
It's been a fun ride so far, from Cave's vantage point. He comes from playing with southern rockers Dusty Tucker and first filled in as a drummer when Stranger Danger was in a bind.
ìI really liked what they were doing,î he said. ìIt's just good old frickin' heavy rock 'n' roll.î
Ramsay is happy about the incline the band has been on and doesn't want to mess with the formula.
ìWe want to try to keep everything groovy and get a massive amount of people moving and feeling the beats,î he said, ìand stay true to how we've always been.î
