Orillia rock band Bleeker was featured during the opening of Wednesday night's Toronto Maple Leafs television broadcast on Sportsnet.
Lead singer Taylor Perkins formed the band in 2004 — then known as Bleeker Ridge — playing covers in local bars with his brother, Cole, who plays guitar. The band was discovered and signed by Roadrunner Records and by 2010 was touring the world after releasing the debut album, Small Town Dead.
The Twin Lakes Secondary School graduates haven't forgotten their hometown roots during their careers. Many of Bleeker's songs, themes, and music videos relate to Orillia, including the band name, which pays homage to Bleeker Street, where Perkins and his brother grew up.
"I think it's the best city in Canada," Perkins said. "It's right in between the biggest city in Canada and one of the most beautiful places in the Muskokas."
During Season 4 of Rogers Hometown Hockey in November 2017, Bleeker returned to Orillia to perform at Couchiching Beach Park in front of friends, family and fans.
"That was a lot of fun," Perkins said. "That's when a lot of our friends actually got to come out and see us play for the first time."
Also in 2017, Bleeker was nominated for Breakthrough Group of the Year at the Juno Awards.
Over the years, they have opened for and played with some of their childhood favourite bands, including Aerosmith.
From the time Perkins, now 34, was a child, he and his brother dreamed of the life they live today.
"We wanted to be the biggest band ever," he said. "Now our goal is to make music that we love playing, and if something good happens, then it happens."
Getting to where they are today wasn't easy. It's taken 20 years of practice. The recipe to their success has been teamwork, Perkins says.
"We all get along. The band doesn't fight," he said. "We travel together, we live together, and nobody ever has a problem with each other."
He says none of the band's four members take themselves too seriously, which keeps things light.
On New Year's Eve, Bleeker opened for Big Wreck in downtown Barrie.
"It was definitely an honour playing with those guys," Perkins said. "It was a great turnout. I would say a quarter of the crowd was from Orillia, which was nice."
Wednesday's opening of the NHL on Sportsnet came about through their label, Five Seven Music, and Rogers.
"They have a good relationship and we thought it was a good idea to pitch them a song," Perkins said. "We heard 'yes,' which was amazing, and then they added our music video in and made it a huge bonus."
The song played in the intro is called Walken, a hard-hitting anthem with a lot of energy.
"I have a lot of friends who play hockey and, for those five minutes, they respected me," Perkins said with a laugh. "Our bass player, Mike (Vandyk), and drummer, Chris (Dimas), are big hockey fans, so it was cool for them, too."
Bleeker has a new single coming out Jan. 26 titled Make it Better. They are also set to tour Western Canada at the end of the month with Canadian rock band The Trews.
Fans can follow Bleeker on Instagram and their music can be found on Apple Music, Spotify and Amazon Music.
