The Departures
Most of The Departures have been together since playing a cover of Led Zeppelin’s Rock & Roll for a talent show their freshman year in high school in 2015. In addition to realizing that they had similar musical tastes (Led Zeppelin of course, as well as The Strokes, Cage The Elephant, Talking Heads and Red Hot Chili Peppers, to name just a few), they also discovered that creating their own music was what they wanted to do. The Departures released their first album, Traffic Patterns, on iTunes and Spotify in 2019 at the same time three of them were graduating from high school at Vancouver School of Arts and Academics. They completed a tour of Oregon and California the week after graduation, and had plans to do a tour the following spring, but Covid-19 changed all that. The year in lockdown was difficult, but like many others, music got them through the hardest parts. They continued to create, sending recordings back and forth, getting together when they could, rehearsing at times in outdoor parking garages, parking lots, and backyards. Today, the band consists of lead singer and guitarist Bijan Massey, lead guitarist Max Lafayette, drummer Joe-Henry McQuary, and newest member, bassist Simon Denison, who is taking over for original member Kaden Finley. Even though their lives now have them living in different cities (Seattle, Vancouver, and Pullman) their new album, Yes No Maybe is being released early spring 2022, and they are excited to be touring again in the spring and summer.