If you’ve watched Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010) recently—whether voluntarily or at the demand of your most self-mythologizing pseudo-geek friend— you might have been told unprompted that the movie was based on a comic series of the same name. If they’re really dedicated, you may also know the series was inspired by the song “Scott Pilgrim” by a band called Plumtree.
If (and I do apologize for this) you and I were watching the movie together, I would’ve made sure you were aware that Plumtree was the greatest indie rock act to come out of Halifax in the 1990s, and coincidentally the raddest high school girl band to ever hail from Halifax.
By the summer of 1993, the West Coast had successfully churned out a raucous grunge scene, which made its way to Halifax a few years later—as good things often do. Dubbed ‘New Seattle,’ the student city lured in musicians with its low cost of living and ample bar gigs.
Fresh out of their junior high talent show, drummer Lynette Gillis (14) and guitarist Carla Gillis, (16) and their classmates, guitarist Amanda Braden (15) and bassist Nina Martin (16), had just played their first show in June at Café Ole, an all-ages venue on Barrington Street. After a summer of playing Iron Maiden and Jimi Hendrix covers, Plumtree released their first song “Follow You” on a mixtape of local bands under No Records, a label and distributor owned by now-Halifax city councillor Waye Mason.
A fresh, bouncy rock sound that flirted with the abrasive, Plumtree’s talented instrumentation and raw sound carried them to Sound of One Hand Studios in Ottawa, and by 1995, their first album hit the shelves. The album, called Mass Teen Fainting, was their first full-length album after a handful of cassettes and the band’s last with Nina Martin. Martin left to pursue undergraduate studies at McGill University and was replaced by classically trained harmonicist Catriona Sturton. A University of King’s College Foundation Year Program graduate, Dalhousie history student and blues artist-turned-punk prodigy, Sturton picked up the bass just months before joining the group. With multiple tour dates and a successful 13-track debut album under their belt, Plumtree was awarded YTV’s Best Canadian Band Under 20 in 1996.
Carried by Carla Gillis and Amanda Braden’s strong vocals, the group returned to Halifax the following year to release their album Predicts the Future through the now-defunct Idea of East recording studio. Track nine, “Scott Pilgrim,” was featured as a B-side on the record for The Inbreds’ single “North Window.” The song is underpinned by Sturton’s self-composed bass line and the thrall of unrequited teenage yearning. Plumtree’s sphere of influence had remained largely local to Halifax, but on June 10, 1998, the foundation was laid for them to be discovered by comic and film fans which would elevate them to pop culture notoriety even after the band’s dissolution in 2000.
In a 2010 article for The Coast, Plumtree vocalist and guitarist Carla Gillis recalls a “sad-sack show” at the Whippet Lounge in London, Ont., attended by three people, one of whom was aspiring graphic novelist Bryan Lee O’Malley. A longtime fan of Plumtree and the East Coast punk scene, O’Malley published the first issue of the comic called Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life in 2004, nearly a decade after he first saw Plumtree at the Whippet Lounge.
Growing into one of the most cohesive examples of multimedia storytelling, the Scott Pilgrim universe now consists of six original volumes, a full-colour hardcover re-release, a video game adaptation and the 2010 film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, which follows floundering garage band guitarist Scott Pilgrim’s love life. In a nod to the movie’s origins, Pilgrim is shown wearing a mock-up of Plumtree’s logo on a yellow T-shirt during his group’s first on-screen performance. Plumtree joins Beck, Metric and Broken Social Scene on the film’s soundtrack, ushering in the credit roll with the song that catalyzed it all.
The success of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World far outlived Plumtree as an active entity, but the film introduced a new demographic to their music as it gained a cult following. Plumtree disbanded amicably at the turn of the century, playing their final show at the Marquee Ballroom in Halifax on June 30, 2000. Lynette and Carla Gillis continued in the rock scene, playing in the Toronto band SISTER, later renamed Overnight. Former guitarist Amanda Braden works as a history professor at Simon Fraser University and, returning to her roots, bassist Catriona Sturton now teaches harmonica in Ottawa. Nearly 25 years after parting ways, with three full-length albums and a best-of record to their name, Plumtree has just shy of 140,000 monthly Spotify listeners, living on through the media they inspired.
Give them a listen if you’re a fan of Dazey and the Scouts, Remember Sports or Sidney Gish.
Recommendations: Check out their song “In the Sink” or the CKDU Promo Song.
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