"I miss Originality. Period. I know it gets harder and harder, but there are many new artists around that have managed it. It’s not like it’s necessary to create a new genre. Just do it your own way – don’t follow a formula, follow your own lead. People love something original. Give them yourself. It’s easier than trying to be somebody else."

Dave Bingham: Noise From The North End

Canadian singer-songwriter and harmonica player Dave Bingham has been part of the Canadian music scene for over of 5 decades. His career highlights include opening for the likes of The Rolling Stones, The Animals, The Beach Boys, Wilson Pickett, Sam the Sham & The Pharoahs, The Grassroots, Gary Lewis and The Playboys, Jeff Healey, Goddo, Mandala, Lighthouse, Mahogany Rush, Edgar Winter, Albert King and King Biscuit Boy. He has also jammed with iconic artists Jimi Hendrix and Buddy Miles, Junior Wells and Buddy Guy and John Lee Hooker. The first album he recorded with his seminal band The Ugly Ducklings (Somewhere Outside) was voted #72 in "The Top 100 Canadian Albums" for the book of the same name, and the first single he recorded (Nothin'), which debuted the night he opened for The Rolling Stones, was voted #33 in "The Top 100 Canadian Singles", for the book of the same name. This is his story and the story of The Ugly Ducklings and all of the musicians he has played with, who share his passion and dedication to music.                          (Dave Bingham / Photo by Villiam Hrubovcak)

Dave Bingham (aka D.J.) published his book “Noise from the North End: The Amazing Story of The Ugly Ducklings” (2015). The band made their live debut at Cedarbrae High School in Toronto (all the members, minus Boers, attended the school). It was at this time that they changed their name to the Ugly Ducklings. The Ugly Ducklings are often referred to as one of the greatest garage bands to come out of Canada. It was the 1960's. The British Invasion was under way as The Who, Beatles and Rolling Stones dominated the top of the charts. In Canada, Toronto's trending Yorkville district was attracting Canadian acts to its many coffee houses and nightclubs. In 1965, Canada's Ugly Ducklings burst onto the music scene with their gritty garage-punk style and the rest is music history. Noise from the North End is a wild, energetic, original and enduring story of one rock band's journey through Canada's music scene, from smoky coffee houses to high school dances to bars and nightclubs throughout Canada in the 60s and 70s. It is also a compelling chronicle of a music industry often unwilling to get behind its talented and popular musicians and really promote them; to the extent some moved to the U.S. where their careers finally took off. Noise from the North End contains never before told anecdotes and never before seen photographs that explore a unique era in Canadian music. Dave’s previous albums on Spotify are: ‘Thank God For The Blues' (2016), 'Sittin' In' (2024), and ‘Down at The Little House of Blues' (2025).

Interview by Michael Limnios                        Special Thanks: Dave Bingham

What do you learn about yourself from the Rock n’ Blues Culture and what does the Blues mean to you?

I used to think of it as a lifestyle, but now I think of it as a discipline. The Rock culture is split into too many factions for any or each to be definitive. You are what you are, or each one is what it is. The ways you learn about yourself are revealed in the sentiments in your writing & your performance and not defined by musical associations. That’s why I embrace The Blues. The Blues can be intellectual, but they are simply more emotional & personal than many other musical forms. The physical performance helps make the connection with the audience. If I can make the audience laugh or cry, I’ve done my job. And the Blues audience wants to be moved, that’s the kicker. That’s why the Blues pulls you in; you feel that anticipation in the audience before you even start to play. If those ‘vibes’ aren’t there, it becomes harder to make the connection. I think that musicians originally created that word, ‘vibes’. And probably a very long time ago. The ‘vibe’ is really what the blues musician and the audience yearns for. It’s slang for ‘spiritual feeling’ and no doubt its creation was influenced by the association that the blues has with gospel.

As far as what the Blues means to me…

I think the Blues is my compass. It keeps me on the right path without preaching to me or talking down to me. That’s a difficult thing to do these days, but the Blues just sort of evolved into playing that role. And the Blues did it with empathy and sympathy. Like a mother…                                     

"I used to think of it as a lifestyle, but now I think of it as a discipline. The Rock culture is split into too many factions for any or each to be definitive. You are what you are, or each one is what it is. The ways you learn about yourself are revealed in the sentiments in your writing & your performance and not defined by musical associations. That’s why I embrace The Blues." (Photo: Dave Bingham)

How do you describe your sound and music philosophy? What's the balance in music between technique and soul?           

For me the sound is important, but what is more important are the spaces in between the sounds. It’s more satisfying to be able to hear all the nuance and expression. I like songs, not ‘tracks’. And I also like stories; but mostly I like melodies. That’s why I was so happy when John Mayer came along. He’s a savior. Someone who can interest a younger audience in real music. He is keeping real songwriting alive. We need more like him. I don’t think there is much music around these days that relies on technique. To a certain extent jazz and blues are the last genres that take it into account. Although, you can hear a small element of soul technique in the new Country music sound. It’s funny but Country has now become the last bastion of 70s rock and R & B. That’s O.K. by me, but whatever happened to the good old pedal steel guitar?

I have to admit I don’t understand what has happened to pop music in the last 20 years. Computers are wonderful machines and they make our daily lives much easier, but they don’t ‘play’ instruments. They emulate. Without emotion, without thought, & without humanity. If Ray Charles was still around, I’m sure he wouldn’t be singing along to any of the computer-generated nonsense that they call modern R&B.

Which meetings have been the most important experiences for you? What was the best advice anyone ever gave you?

Meeting and jamming with Junior Wells and Buddy Guy in 1967 and being told by Junior that I had the ‘gift’ was a big boost. And being asked to join The Hawks by none other than Ronnie Hawkins himself made me feel pretty damn good too. But, the best was being reminded by Domenic Troiano of ‘Mandala, Bush, James Gang, Guess Who’ fame, that what I did and what The Ducks did, was as important to The Toronto Sound as any of the other bands and singers that came out of Toronto in the 60s.

Jamming with Wilson Pickett & Jimi Hendrix was pretty cool too.

Best advice was from Ronnie, though. He told me to “Just keep on drivin’ down the center of that white line boy!” and to never look back! I took it seriously.

Down @ The Little House of Blues'

"The 60s were an explosion of creativity totally unencumbered by restraint and/or doubt. It was truly the decade that young people affected a major change in world culture and ‘made things happen!" (Photo: Canadian singer and harmonica player Dave Bingham)

Are there any memories from gigs, jams, open acts and studio sessions which you’d like to share with us?

When I jammed with Wilson Pickett and Hendrix we hung around and talked with The Bar-Kays, Duck Dunn and Buddy Miles after the show. They were the rest of Wilson’s band the night that we jammed with them. Our drummer Robin asked Buddy how he got such a fat, clean snare sound in the arena that we had played in. Buddy turned over his snare drum and showed us 4 holes that he had burned through the bottom snare-skin with a cigarette. One on each side of the snare wires about 2 inches in from the rim, at each end. He said it released some of the air inside when he was playing, helping to eliminate excessive rattle and make the sound much punchier and less hollow.

Best studio session: I was in New York recording ‘Gaslight’, when I met guitarist Hugh McCraken and drummer Ed Shaughnessy of the New York Tonight Show Band. The two of them played on ‘Gaslight’. Three years later Hugh played on Paul McCartney’s ‘Ram’ album. And thirteen years later he played on John & Yoko’s ‘Double Fantasy’.

How has the Blues/Rock Counterculture influenced your views of the world? What moment changed your music life the most?

Well Michael, my view is still optimistic, it’s just obstructed with a lot of new distractions. Nowadays I’m more interested in the song. The song is the way you communicate. It’s getting difficult to keep playing ‘live’, so I’m turning more to writing songs and recording. I’ve always just loved the music. And playing. But these days most musicians are striving simply to have a gig to play. The demand for original music is even less. It’s funny but the pay scale has pretty much stayed the same over the last 20 or 25 years. It’s demoralizing and disheartening. And most venues just want you to play music that people recognize. Sort of like the way it was when the ‘Ducks’ started out in the 60s!

My biggest moment in my musical life? Well, that would still be opening for the Rolling Stones. It was right at the very beginning of the journey and I think that that was what  made me a ‘lifer’.

“Life. People. Places. But most of all, stories. Everybody has a story and I’m living mine. Sometimes mine will intersect with someone else’s. That’s what I really enjoy. And that’s also why jamming and writing songs is fun. It’s all about connecting and getting on someone else's wavelength.” (Photo: Dave Bingham)

Do you have any interesting stories about the making of the new album “Down at The Little House of Blues” (2025)?

The album was a lot of fun. I’m still only making the music I love and I did it with a lot of my friends from back in the day. And I still hear the blues in everything and that’s where my muse takes me. Most of the newer music doesn’t interest me. I still want to hear a Band!

The new stuff is all created by computers and sounds very sterile and lifeless to me. I’m waiting for a new John Mayer Album to come out; something with some feeling and some balls. Even a new Keith Urban would be nice. Funny, but new Country (or say 20-30% of it) is more to my liking than the pop charts. Chris Stapleton comes to mind.

How did the idea of the band; and the name “The Ugly Ducklings” come about? Was it unusual for a white kid in Canada during the '60's to be interested in blues music? 

The ‘Ducks’ started in high school. It’s all in my book and it’s a long and convoluted story. It was an accident that I got into music in the first place. I never set out to be a singer. We chose the name because we wanted to be different. We called ourselves ugly right up front. It was an easy way to get attention. I met guitarist Roger Mayne before the band started and he was into Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley just like me. That was what opened the door to The Blues for me. We listened when Chuck and Bo dabbled in the Blues too. Then when The Stones came along with their first album, that absolutely cinched the deal.

Are there any specific memories with Albert King, Jimi Hendrix, John Lee Hooker, and Mahogany Rush?

I covered all those meetings in my book. What I’ll say here is: Albert was the sweetest guitar legend, a real gentleman. Soft, fatherly and mannerly. Jimi was other-worldly. No compromises. Playing the guitar with his teeth and behind his back (with Wilson Pickett). John Lee Hooker was an enigma with the sweetest most soulful voice I ever heard, but I had a hard time following him when I jammed with him because he played every song as a two-chord blues. Even the ones that were supposed to be three chords! Frank Marino was something else; so accomplished! He had a pedal board that was five feet square and arched at the top, with more than 20 guitar pedals attached to it around the edges. And he stood in the middle of it and played that board seamlessly, changing his guitar sounds with the toe of his boot without missing a cue!

“The ‘Ducks’ started in high school. It’s all in my book and it’s a long and convoluted story. It was an accident that I got into music in the first place. I never set out to be a singer. We chose the name because we wanted to be different. We called ourselves ugly right up front. It was an easy way to get attention.” (Photo: Canadian singer and harmonica player Dave Bingham)

What are you doing to keep your music relevant today, to develop it and present it to the new generation?

I’m just doing what I always did. No special adaptations or compromises. I’ve never catered to an audience and I never will. The audience either likes it or they don’t. Bending your muse or trying to tailor the tunes to a new generation won’t work and is just not in my DNA anyway.

How do you approach the process of songwriting, and are there any specific themes or emotions you tend to explore in your music?

My one rule is: make it real. If it comes from your heart and soul, it is way more likely to connect. I’ll write about anything that moves me. But if I can’t really feel it when I sing, then it’s not going to make the cut. It helps when the story is real, as well. I write stuff down everywhere I go.

What do you miss most nowadays from the music of the past? What are your hopes and fears for the future of?          

I miss Originality. Period. I know it gets harder and harder, but there are many new artists around that have managed it. It’s not like it’s necessary to create a new genre. Just do it your own way – don’t follow a formula, follow your own lead. People love something original. Give them yourself. It’s easier than trying to be somebody else.

Why do you think that the Ugly Ducklings music continues to generate such a devoted following?

I think that any music that comes from the heart and is totally unique & genuine will stand the test of time. In a poll in 2007 The ‘Ducks’ Album, ‘Somewhere Outside’ was voted #72 in the Top 100 Canadian Albums of all time. Yet, there were only 1800 copies of the album pressed. And it never charted. And it’s been bootlegged eight times. We called it ‘Somewhere Outside’ for a reason; because there was nothing else out there to compare it to. If you listen to it today, it’s still as fresh sounding as the day it was released.

"Be true to yourself, be kind and remember who your friends are and that money isn’t everything. You are the master of your own fate. You really do create your own reality. I have written songs with over 40 different co-writers. This only happened because I asked, cajoled, offered and/or suggested it. Speak your truth – it will only bring you more success and people will respect you for it." (Photos: Dave Bingham with The Ugly Ducklings — Dave Bingham / Photos by Villiam Hrubovcak)

What were the reasons that Canadian musicians in the 1960s started Blues, Rock, and Garage researches and experiments?

The reasons? Well, probably The Beatles – The Stones – Buffalo Springfield – The Young Rascals - The Beach Boys - and all of the other bands that emerged from the shadows of suburbia around the world. Those bands set it all in motion. It was a musical renaissance that followed the emergence of new technology & the rise of Radio. And Canadian Radio was at the forefront. Especially C.H.U.M. in Toronto; motivating thousands of young Canadian musicians who were ready, willing and able.

All the young people who were listening and watching; they got really inspired! They saw what was possible and followed the template. The British Invasion, West Coast sound, the East Coast, the Toronto Sound, Vancouver, Athens, Rome, Paris, Madrid. It really started happening everywhere. A lot of 60s artists cite The Beatles appearance on Ed Sullivan as their most important motivation. Me too.

The 60s were an explosion of creativity totally unencumbered by restraint and/or doubt. It was truly the decade that young people affected a major change in world culture and ‘made things happen!

What keeps a musician passionate after six decades in rock and blues music?

Life. People. Places. But most of all, stories. Everybody has a story and I’m living mine. Sometimes mine will intersect with someone else’s. That’s what I really enjoy. And that’s also why jamming and writing songs is fun. It’s all about connecting and getting on someone else's wavelength.

What are some of the most important lessons you have learned from your experience in the music paths?

Be true to yourself, be kind and remember who your friends are and that money isn’t everything. You are the master of your own fate. You really do create your own reality. I have written songs with over 40 different co-writers. This only happened because I asked, cajoled, offered and/or suggested it. Speak your truth – it will only bring you more success and people will respect you for it.

Dave Bingham’s book “Noise From The North End”

(Photo: Canadian singer and harmonica player Dave Bingham, San Miguel Mexico)