Fulfillment Aren’t Seeking Approval on Latest Album, Husky House

Kevin Stebner of Fulfilment. Photo credit: Shannon Johnston.

Fulfilment, based out of Calgary, is a three-piece punk outfit, speaking out about global warming, the recent Alberta school book bans, and the isolation that can come with being queer. 

The band is fronted by Kevin Stebner on vox and guitar, David Tkach on bass and vox, and Steven Duggins on drums. Ahead of the Purple City Music Festival, Stebner chatted with REVERIE about the band, Husky House, and what’s next for the trio. 

The band’s name came from a zine Stebner made. “It was trying to encourage friends to re-evaluate why they’re making [art],” he said. The zine presented the idea that creating shouldn’t be done with any other intention than self-gratification. “If [motivations] have anything to do with money or fame or prestige, your art will be painted as a fraud. If you’re making good art and you’re doing the thing that is ultimately fulfilling, then that’s why you created it in the first place,” Stebner explained. 

For Stebner, making music isn’t just fulfilling, but is cathartic as well. As the band makes music solely for themselves, not seeking fame or money has left them freer. He said this band has him coming off a bit angrier, there’s “much more joy.” By not looking for “approval from the world, press, or labels, and not looking for money or fame…it has opened [up]. There’s added freedom,” he explained. 

Husky House.

On the band’s most recent release, Husky House, they call out issues like global warming and wealth disparity. And, Stebner said that “in a very real sense, a lot of the songs on [Husky House] are in response to Canada.”

The title track, “is about two things. It’s about being in Canada and in a band, and the way you think about Canada as being an altruistic country that accepts a lot of people. We have a reputation for it, but in so many ways, we’ve squandered it,” Stebner explained. 

The end of the song is about the Husky houses themselves. Husky houses refer to gas station restaurants attached to, or beside Husky gas stations. Stebner said they were a staple of being a touring band on the road, always ending up at one. 

Stebner explained that there is “a dual meaning of doing the thing, being on the road and being in a band. And seeing these Husky houses getting run down or shutting down as a metaphor of how we see Canada. As an entity that was sort of catering to all people.” 

The second track on the record “Thousandaire,” is “about the state that we, as young people, are in economically,” Stebner said. “Specifically, it’s about the generosity of poor people. In the sense that, someone who has a thousand dollars is truly a rich person and knows how to share that money, they know how far that money goes.” 

Another track on the record, “High Tide,” is “about ecological disaster,” Stebner said. He explained that the track is “a response” to one of their favourite bands, North of America. They have a song called “Voting No on The Warming of Antarctica” and “High Tide” is meant to be a second part to that song. “We’re seeing the results of our squandering of the environment. So that song is specifically about how now that the glaciers have melted, we are in the high tide,” Stebner said. 

With their last release, Husky House, released this past May, the band is already working on their next release. One new song that’s set to be on the next release is called “Plant Dad.” The track, Stebner said, is “about the loneliness of gay men. In so many ways they’ve lost family.” He added that as a gay man, getting older has made him see that there is an inescapable loneliness. 

“Whenever we play that song I say ‘give your gay friend an ‘I love you’ for no reason.’ Despite the facade of being strong and tough, that fight is so alienating and creates such loneliness,” Stebner said. Being there for those who need it is a main message of the song. 

David Tkach of Fulfilment. Photo by Shannon Johnston.

For their upcoming Purple City set, the band is going to be playing a song called “Valleyview Municipal Library” in direct response to the recently announced book bans coming to Alberta schools. “There’s this small town in Alberta called Valleyview and just a few years ago, we watched it all happen [there too]. Conservatives got onto their library board and didn’t like queer kids having their Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) there. And they didn’t like certain books being in the library. It led to books being banned, and it led to the library being shut down,” Stebner explained. 

Stebner and Tkach both work in libraries and the threat of book banning is very important to them and the band Stebner said. And they looked to call out that out through the song, and eventually, it ended up happening in the cities too, Stebner said. 

While they aren’t looking to singlehandedly “take down Daniell [Smith],” they are looking to “use their ability of writing songs to raise some light.” 

Fulfilment are playing Purple City Music Festival in Edmonton, AB on Saturday, September 6th with Swimming, Astrology Girl, and On My Side at the Downtown Edmonton Community League. Tickets are available for purchase on TicketWeb.