Stefan Babcock will be sporting his Sudbury Wolves gear when his punk rock band, PUP, headlines the River & Sky Music/Camping Festival Saturday, July 22.
The Toronto-based musician says he'd eventually like to move to Sudbury. “I'm dead serious about this,” Babcock said.
He said his girlfriend is from the Sudbury area, and he spends most of the time he's not touring in the summer here. “I'm an outdoorsy guy,” Babcock said. “I really like camping.”
Not surprisingly, Babcock said he's really looking forward to playing River & Sky, which takes place in Fishers' Paradise in the community of Field, in between Sudbury and North Bay.
“We don't get to play a lot of camping festivals in the middle of nowhere, because we're not that type of band,” said Babcock, who, when prompted to describe PUP's sound, calls it a noisy cluster****, pardon the potty mouth.
“We're a rock band. It's kind of a different experience for us. I'm really excited.”
PUP was formed in 2013 by Babcock, Nestor Chumak, Zack Mykula and Steve Sladkowski. Babcock is actually the only one of these guys who didn't go to school together, but he said after spending so much time with his bandmates, he definitely feels like he's a part of the posse by now.
The band was originally called Topanga — a Boy Meets World reference — but its name was then changed to PUP.
What does that mean? The internet reveals a few clues, including the idea that it stands for Pathetic Use of Potential or references graffiti above the urinals at a Toronto bar.
But those are urban legends, Babcock said. “I just like the rumours to go,” he said. “I think it's funny. It doesn't mean anything. We don't really talk about it, because I think this is funnier.”
Although the band has only been around for four years, and has just two albums out (they're working on a third), PUP has received critical acclaim, including Juno and Polaris Prize nominations.
Babcock said while the recognition is nice, PUP gets more validation from “just playing shows and seeing people have a good time.”
About that — PUP keeps up a truly gruelling touring schedule, averaging about 200 shows a year.
Touring so much can be difficult, as evidenced by a 2016 music video put out by the band, entitled “If This Tour Doesn't Kill You, I Will.”
“It takes its toll, physically and emotionally and mentally,” Babcock. “We're all really good friends, as I just talked about, but there's days where you just want to kill each other.”
River & Sky runs July 20-23. For tickets, the full festival lineup and more information, visit the festival's website.
