by JOHNSON CUMMINS

While resident DJ at the Bifteck, Simon Nixon was waging his nightly battle, trying to heave his DJ set over the din of student chatter and slamming shot glasses. On one particular night, it seemed that once again, his playlist of the Rolling Stones and the Faces would fall flat before a clientele that looked like they just stepped out of an American Apparel ad.

While Nixon played his standard pub fare (well, standard if it were 1973), there was one person sitting up front who was all ears, and bowled over that somebody was actually playing the exact same music that he listened to. By the time Nixon started playing the Band’s Music From Big Pink, transplanted Vancouver-ite Tavis Triance had made his way to the back of the bar.

After many drinks, the two finally hatched plans to form a band. With the passing of a few weeks and a lot more beers, the Royal Mountain Band was born. “After hearing him play the Band, I just said, ‘I’ve got to meet this guy because I didn’t know anybody who liked the Band,’” says Triance.

It turns out the Band would play a huge part in the Royal Mountain Band’s career. They were cast to play their heroes in the new Dylan biopic, directed by Todd Haynes, which was shot here in town last summer. With numerous people playing the role of Bob Dylan at assorted points in his career, RMB’s scenes support Cate Blanchett, who plays a mid-period Mr. Zimmerman.

“It would be nice to think that we were picked because of our huge admiration for Bob Dylan and the Band, and because we already knew how to play all of the songs, but I think Todd Haynes just picked us because we looked more like them than Wolf Parade.”

The Royal Mountain Band are currently getting ready to record their debut album this spring, which will coincide with Haynes’s biopic making the festival circuit, followed by a worldwide release in the fall of 2007.