Inside the AMP sessions at Banff Centre with Side Hustle

Side Hustle started as a family playing music together during the pandemic. Somewhere along the way, the experiment became a real band, and after seeing them take over the Banff Centre Amphitheatre, it is pretty clear they are not treating this like a casual side project. They are a family band in the truest sense, but they completely over-deliver when you put them on a premium stage. The chemistry is natural, the musicianship is tight, and there is something genuinely special about watching people who know each other this well build a performance together. We caught up with Side Hustle right after their set to talk about the music that was already present in their family, how the pandemic pushed them into playing together, whether being related makes the creative process easier or simply more honest, and how the band has changed their relationship away from the stage. We also get into the value of keeping traditional music alive, what the Banff Centre Amphitheatre brings out of performers, what comes next for the band and whether this side hustle could ever become the main gig. A quick note on the sound: we thought we had enough isolation to keep the background music under control, but more of it came through than we expected. We still wanted to put this interview out because Side Hustle are simply too cool not to share, and the performance they had just delivered before sitting down with us was incredible. This episode is brought to you by Banff Centre and the Summer Arts Festival. See you next Tuesday.