CAR287
Canadian rock band CAR287 return with fresh energy, honest songwriting, and their upbeat new single “End Of The Day,” offering a glimpse into their evolving sound.
1. After the success of your 2025 debut album Looking Through The Lens, you returned to the studio with new material. How has CAR287 evolved creatively and musically since the album, and what did you want to explore differently with the upcoming EP?
Jay Yarmey (Lead Singer and Acoustic Guitar): I don’t feel we are setting out to do anything different with this next EP or the new album we are working on. Its real and genuine, if it keeps coming that way I have zero problem putting out album after album of that content. I am very proud of the first record too, hopefully we keep evolving as song writers and musicians and they get better naturally that way.
Terrence Ferguson (Bass): I think that technically we have all become a little better at understanding recording, and the studio environment. Additionally, we have Robert, our keyboardist, who has added a different slant to the keys with the band that has changed our sound a bit. As with any band, we have become tighter through playing together a lot in live shows. If anything has improved our song development, it’s the fact that we battle test the songs live at many shows before we hit the recording studio. We can see and feel what works and what doesn’t when we are in front of a crowd presenting a song.
2. “End Of The Day” is described as an upbeat song about finding that special person who makes you feel complete. What inspired the song, and how did you turn that feeling into such an energetic and catchy track?
Jay Yarmey (Lead Singer and Acoustic Guitar): Travis came up with the riff for this song. In the end I don’t think he envisioned it going the way it went into this poppy rock song. I got my hands on the riff and wrote the lyrics to that riff. It turned out to be what it turned out to be. I drew on..just real life and things that happened in my life at that time. I ended up having a gastric bypass surgery because I had a bit of a food addiction and I lost a lot of weight, got some skinny jeans cause that’s all that would fit at that point. Ended up getting a full sleeve tattoo… took some fun mundane lyrics like how you like your eggs or your favorite hockey team…when you find that person that is special and those are things you’re interested in. I think those are things I am into with my current relationship with my wife and I drew off personal experience and things I thought people could relate to.
3. The song features a memorable guitar hook, prominent keys, and a sing-along refrain that has already connected strongly with audiences live. How important was it for you to create a song that could bring people together and get them dancing and singing?
Jay Yarmey (Lead Singer and Acoustic Guitar): The song wasn’t created to bring people together singing along, it came together really fast and we really enjoyed it – it was something that made us all feel good collectively. Its just a bonus that people can relate to it and they feel that they want to participate and sing, so that’s the cool thing about creating music, you never know how its going to hit with people.
Travis Wog (Lead guitar): The guitar hook was originally written for a much different type of song. I had always liked the 2-chord guitar phrasing in the song “New Sensation” by INXS. I had messed with some different combinations and settled on the one you hear on the track. However, Terry and Jay hijacked what I imagined would have been a hard driving straight forward rock song and turned it into this very festive, upbeat track.
So, the initial intention wasn’t to have it be this fun, inspiring love song, but once we committed to the new direction of the song, we set out to create a solid hook, specifically with the backing vocal Melody. Something’s the most memorable part of a song is a well-designed melody.
4. “End Of The Day” was recorded at CTRL Space Records, Winnipeg’s newest studio. What was the recording experience like, and did working in this new environment influence the sound or production of the single?
Jay Yarmey (Lead Singer and Acoustic Guitar) : We worked with Derek Benjamin at CTRL Space (Control Space Records). We feel very comfortable with him, he did the first album when he was working at Private Ear Recording and we were really happy with how that turned out, so we thought we would go back with him, and we felt great in the space, it sounds good. Dereks able to offer ideas and suggestions and we are pretty open to seeing what we do like and what we don’t. It feels like a safe environment for us to create some music in, so I can’t see us straying from CTRL Space Records again because we feel so good about it there. And I hope and like to think he likes to work with us as well, we are all pretty easy-going people.
Terrence Ferguson (Bass): CTRL Space is a new studio that is the rebirth of a legendary Winnipeg studio. In the 70’s it was Wayne Finucan Productions, then later Stereobus Recording. People who have recorded in that building include The Guess Who, Harlequin, The Osmonds, Sesame Street!!….and possibly the most famous tune recorded there…The Cat Came Back by Fred Penner! Derek Benjamin and Terrence Ruiz have revamped the space and modernized it. We are one of the first artists to get in there and record and it felt so good. The facility is amazing, but the recording is only as good as the people recording you…and Derek is excellent. It really allowed us to be very relaxed and let loose and do our thing.
5. You mentioned that people have been dancing and smiling whenever you play “End Of The Day” live. What does that reaction mean to you as a band, and how important is the connection with your audience when you perform?
Jay Yarmey (Lead Singer and Acoustic Guitar): For me personally audience connection is everything and it’s kind of what gives us energy and we feed off that connection. It’s fun to see what people are grooving to or nodding their heads or dancing to…or they can catch on immediately and sing a chorus back to you. So yeah, it’s been really special watching people groove and dance away to this new track that we have. It’s full of energy and it give us energy watching people hear it the first time and just immediately connect with it. For me as the lead vocalist, when you can see people enjoying your original music it’s just so fulfilling. It’s all about the audience and it’s all about performing live for these people and when they give back to us it just means the world.
Ryan Olenick (Drums and backing vocals): Having an audience engaged at a show, up front dancing to your music is a great feeling. It really boosts the energy from the band when you can make that connection with the crowd. End of the day, although the original vision for it wasn’t to be an upbeat song, after collaborating together it quickly felt like the right direction. We added a catchy backup vocal melody that just tied the song together and we find it really connects with the crowd. If you come out to our show early enough you may get to hear it twice, as it’s usually our sound check song.
6. “End Of The Day” is the first single from a five-song EP. What can you tell us about the rest of the release, and what would you like listeners to discover about CAR287 when they hear the complete EP?
Jay Yarmey (Lead Singer and Acoustic Guitar): We are extremely proud and excited about this new EP release and we can’t wait for people to hear it. I think we write really honest Canadian rock songs and I just think we are proud of that genre, that niche we fit in to. We have heard comparisons to writing songs like the Tragically Hip or something along those lines and that’s a giant compliment for us because they are the masters of writing Canadian rock and songs that make feel and are real to you. We will take that in a heartbeat. I think our songs are songs that people can relate to. When I write I write from personal experience or things I have seen and I hope that comes across in the music I write.
Robert Holter-Ferguson (Keyboards): The other songs in the EP are a great representation of the range of our music. Classic rock, blues, and punk influence can be heard on different songs in the EP, but collectively they all still feel like Canadian Rock. I would want our listeners to discover how closely the emotion in the lyrics is reflected in the musical feel of the songs.