Arkells to make 3 Maritime tour stops, open for the Jonas Brothers in Moncton

Max Kerman of the Arkells joins Your Morning Atlantic’s Lataevia Beezer for a chat ahead of the band’s upcoming shows in the Maritimes.

Arkells frontman Max Kerman says his band produces music that is meant to make people feel good and that’s what they hope to do when they bring their “Between Us Tour” to the Maritimes this summer.

The Canadian rock band is set to play shows in:

• Moncton, N.B., on Aug. 8
• Charlottetown, P.E.I., on Aug. 28
• Hubbards, N.S., on Aug. 29

“There’s a legendary venue called The Shore Club in Hubbards in Nova Scotia. We’ve never played there, but some of our friends’ bands have played there,” said Kerman.

“On that same weekend, we’re playing in P.E.I. We haven’t played PEI in years.”

When Arkells take the stage in Moncton at Croix-Bleue Medavie Stadium, they’ll be opening for the Jonas Brothers, which will be the second time they’ve joined forces with Kevin, Joe and Nick.

“They played in Hamilton and they brought us out. We did ‘Leather Jacket’ and, yeah, they’re a great group of guys and really passionate fans,” said Kerman.

“That’s what we learned from the Hamilton shows, their fans love the Jonas Brothers. And they work a lot, those guys, really deliver an A-plus show.”

When asked to describe his band’s sound, Kerman said it’s “very spirited.”

“When I think about the kinds of music that I’d love to listen to the most, it’s, you know, stuff like The Beatles and Motown and Springsteen, like a lot of stuff my parents listened to growing up,” Kerman told Your Morning Atlantic’s Lataevia Beezer.

“The DNA of our music has that kind of energy, which is meant to make people dance and sing along.”

The group’s latest album, “Between Us,” was released in April.

“We made a lot of music during the pandemic… in recording we had to be often in different spaces and we were in studios and then the session would be cut short because, just because the pandemic and the rules around that. So on this album, finally out of it, we really wanted to just be in a room together and just remember what that felt like,” said Kerman.

“The record title ‘Between Us’ I think speaks to that. I think it speaks to the relationship we have with each other as a band and it speaks to a relationship that we have with our fans and all those things that we owe each other, just as people.”

Kerman says they band has had a great time playing the record live.

“It was just a satisfying experience because it feels like so much of our life is spent online and scrolling on our phones and so just be able to spend that kind of quality time in a club with people just felt really good.”

Tickets are still available for the Moncton show with the Jonas Brothers.