As told to Shannon Lepere and Rebekah Skochinski, Photo by Shannon Lepere

It’s only rock and roll, but they like it. Hard rock band Page 38 have been in the studio working on a string of new singles with big plans for 2025. Are they as tough and gritty as their music? And what’s the connection with their name and The Walleye? We sat down with a few members of the band to get the deets and more.

The Walleye: What is the origin of your band name? 

Andy: In 2012, when we first started jamming, there was an issue of The Walleye with a picture of my sister’s husband wearing these chaps. And I told my mom I’m firing up a band and I’m going to call it Page 38, because that’s the page that the picture was on. And then here we are 12 years later.

TW: Do you have a favourite show that you’ve played, and what made it stand out?

A: So we’re playing in Selkirk, Manitoba at a place called The Merch. And it was a pretty quiet night and we’re playing a set and it’s a good crowd but there’s one guy sitting in the back who is pretty uninterested. He’s drinking his beer, hanging out, whatever. And then we’re on our second last song of the night, and we’re covering Judas Priest’s “Electric Eye.” It’s got the big intro and as soon as we hit that first note, this guy who hasn’t moved all night stands up and he’s like, “yeah.” That was so special to me that I made that one guy go “yeah.” That’s what it’s all about. 

Preston: When I first joined the band, we’re playing at The Foundry and I have a solo and Jacob was a bit buzzed at the time and he bumps into me and all I hear is him yelling in my hair, “I’m so happy you joined this band.”

A: And that’s how he found out he was in the band. I mean, we never even told him. I was like, let’s bring this guy on, play piano every once in a while, right? Thanks for making the decision, Jacob.

TW: In your time together you’ve released several EPs, and you’re currently working on new material. Do you think your music has changed in that time, and if so, how?

A: Originally we were a very straight up rock band, kind of a little pop-punk. We just wanted to play music, not necessarily find our own sound. That’s the hardest part about writing music. It’s not writing a song, it’s writing two songs that sound like your sound. Our music now—I’m just gonna use the example of our Burning the Midnight Oil EP that came out in 2019, because I feel like that was the first thing we ever did that had our sound to it. A lot of the lyrics are what you’d expect a 19-year-old to be writing music about. So, like, I’m not 19 anymore, right? I’m not as fun. You get older, you go through some stuff, you make some mistakes, right? Now I have things to say. I have opinions, I have life experience. And that’s really the big, overarching theme of these songs that we have coming out: growing from those mistakes. This was the first time we ever went through the whole writing process with Preston. And he’s, like, the backbone of our music now. He’s been writing so many deadly riffs, and he’s actually helped us find our sound so much.

TW: So you’re in the studio right now recording some singles. When will you be releasing your first one?

A: We’re shooting for February. We’ve got some other stuff coming up that we’ll be announcing in the new year. I’m pretty excited. It’s going to be a big year. 

TW: What’s the first thing you would do if you won the lottery?

P: Set my parents up.

A: I think if I ever won the lottery, I’d still have something that I got up and did every day because I like to keep moving. 

Taylor: I’m living with my mom, so I would probably buy a really nice house, but I wouldn’t move away. I love Thunder Bay. 

Page 38 will be playing Norteños Cantina on December 7.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. To hear more, find the expanded interview on our Better in Stereo podcast on Spotify, iHeartRadio, and more.