Brothers Jon and Daniel Hnatishin, better known as Canadian Western music duo, Banned & Outlawed, speak with us about their musical journey, latest single, ‘Keepin’ It Western‘, and what fans can look forward to from the pair.
Tell us a little bit about the journey of becoming Banned & Outlawed.
We started out sawing the fiddle at the young age of 3 & 4. Later on in life as we grew up we got introduced to country music. Brad Paisley was our first live concert, we fell in love and wanted to like his song “Start a Band”. Our parents got us into playing drums and guitar and even singing lessons at a young age. We played everywhere growing up in a small-time band. Drove 4 hours to play a show one time outside a party tent opening up for a headliner because we were “Underage” and got Cotton candy and some stickers as part of our payment, that was wild! We played almost every small town fair from the western Manitoba border to the eastern Manitoba border down Hwy #1. We started writing and recording music throughout high school, finding deals on recording and scraping up some money to get some promo together, we’d even find some time to put together some homemade music videos as well! In the most recent years, we’ve had our songs streamed on AM/ FM Radio across Canada and Sirius XM across the world! Meeting top-notch writers in Nashville TN, we’ve been going on regular western Canadian tours, and even making a stand on stage in Nashville TN, We’ve been focusing on the live US market more and more as time is coming.
What was the inspiration behind the song ‘Keepin’ It Western’?
During our tour across western Canada, we’ve come to meet lots of small-town people and come to realize how similar we all are. We all have Blue Collar in our blood one way or another. ‘Keepin’ It Western’ is about those small-town people, striving in the ‘Keepin’ It Western’ way of living. Hardworking people drive the country when you’re either farming or drilling for oil, or even just regular construction. It’s a patriotic stand against the people in high rises complaining about how they were late because of the road construction or because the farm tractor was taking up too much of the road. The Prairie provinces in Canada are the backbone of the country. Rodeos, Mining, farming, Construction, and good ole Small town Western People.
Can you tell us the story or message you wanted to convey through the song?
‘Keepin’ It Western’ is about the blue-collar roots in everyone. How that farmer works from sun up to sun down and loves what he does. The American Dream. Seeing those fields of gold for miles and miles, driving through the prairies. But at the end of the day, you can get down to a bonfire in the middle of nowhere and pass the crown Whiskey around the bonfire with your damn good friends.
How did the idea for the music video come about?
The music video is in our backyard in our small town of Hazelridge Manitoba Canada population 92. It showcases our prairie way of living and how wide open it is! The stack of hay bales tower over us from the previous cut, drying out. The only thing missing in our video we’d love to have is a Northern Alberta oil pump jack. The Cowboy hats and farmland celebrate who we are as people, and the song itself.
How do you think the music video enhances the experience of the song?
The music video makes the song ‘Loud and Proud’ show off the “Western” way of living. Old Diesel Trucks, Farming, cowboys, a banjo, and good ole Country Music.
How does your dynamic as brothers influence your music and video production?
We work together on all our musical ideas. If one of us doesn’t like the others yes we have our arguments but in the end, we both know what we want our business to portray and what we want to sound like. We take our collective thoughts on different music styles and make them match up together.
Jon – “I’m more of a Cody Jinks, Tyler Childers, Zach Bryan, Eric Church, and Morgan Wallen style of music”
Dan – “ I’m more old school Jason Aldean, Alan Jackson, Riley Green Fan”.
We take those different styles and combine them as Banned & Outlawed.
The song has a distinctly Western vibe. What elements did you include to capture that essence?
The elements we captured to create the distinct Western vibe while writing this song with Madison Wolfe (Nashville TN) & Krissy Feniak (Alberta) painted a picture from a day in the life of a hard-working man. Waking up when the Rooster Crows, Stetson hat, Crown Royal Whiskey, Bench Seat of a Pickup truck. Explaining to the listener that a good old country boy is genuine and can talk to you about anything because he’s never in a hurry. As for the video. The elements we captured are Prairie land, a farm yard, hay bales, and an old diesel truck.
Are there any interesting behind-the-scenes moments from the video shoot that you’d like to share?
We’re very thankful it was a beautiful day outside! We were originally supposed to shoot it in September but then we had a major snowstorm a few days before the day of shooting so we had to postpone until spring. Another great moment we had was our parents went to the house and grabbed some food for the camera crew and us! We always have to make sure everyone is fed and doesn’t leave hungry. We also had some of the Hutterites from the local colony stop in and ask us if we had any tequila and then they’d join us in the video… unfortunately we didn’t… and all the local farmers were driving by on their quads & golf carts wondering what was going on! We had a big production crew that you don’t see just randomly set up in a field around here!
Do you have any plans for future projects that you could share with us?
We’re going to be shooting another video in August and hope to release it in September while it’s still warm here in Canada before we start revving up our Snowmobiles for winter. Also, we’re planning to do an album release very soon with all our tunes for Y’all to listen to. Keep it locked on our social media for the news on all these things!
Check out the music video for ‘Keepin’ It Western’ below. You can find out more about Banned &Outlawed and their music online on their official website, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
