Nothing comes free in life, and love is no exception. Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan rockers Highwind’s newest single, “At What Cost,” explains the price of humankind’s most precious emotion.
Rich with the apathy at punk’s core, vocalist Chase Rysavy unleashes his own tribulations onto the track.
“‘At What Cost’ is a song about being with someone that makes you feel alone,” the band explained. “No matter how hard you try to grasp onto them and fix things, it always seems to be wrong.”
The single fits neatly into the larger theme of Highwind’s latest EP, “Final Words.” Rysavy’s original idea for the project was to infuse the concept of grief being the cost of love. That displays itself openly in “At What Cost,” particularly in the track’s bridge, performed intensely by drummer and unclean vocalist Troy Waggoner:
“You’re breaking my heart
My meaning is lost
If love is the prize
Then grief is the cost”
Those who put themselves out there will be crushed. It is an inevitability that grief will follow after attaching oneself to someone or something, because it will one day be taken from you. This is the cost of love.
These are the harsh realities that Highwind explores in “Final Words.” In the band’s previous single from earlier this year, “Weighing You Down,” which describes the story of a hospitalized person who feels guilty for what their health is doing to their beloved partner.
“Final Words” is not Highwind’s first project – the band self-released “Cellar Door” in 2016, a full-length that was recorded live off the floor at Regina’s Blue Door Studios and went on to be chosen as one of Sask Music’s “Best Albums of 2016” – but it was its first with lead guitarist Ehren Pfeifer. Working entirely remote from Rysavy, Waggoner, and bassist and vocalist Eric Taylor, Pfeifer recorded all his parts in Toronto having never played with the band before.
But the chemistry shines through. “Weighing You Down” has become a regular on rock stations in Regina and Saskatoon, and “Finals Words” is gaining support from the Vancouver arts community.
It’s been a long time coming for the band whichbegan with Rysavy, Taylor, and Waggoner in 2014. The trio first collaborated long distance with some time together while on university breaks in their hometown of Moose Jaw. Their initial self-release, “We’re All Alone,” came in that year. It garnered praise from Vancouver-based magazine, Permanent Rain Press, which said that “Highwind might be the best thing by far to come out of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan … the band is capable of being more than just your average punk band.”
Now nine years later, the band is ready to break out onto the next level and make a national splash in Canada’s music scene. Check out Highwind’s latest piece of art, “At What Cost” – available now.
