Where Nov/Dec 2016 Digital Where Nov/Dec 2016 Digital Issue | Page 8

WINNIPEG’S
DRUMMER BOY
Sean Quigley has turned his viral
internet success into an opportunity
to change the world and explore his
passion, one song at a time.

BY JOELLE KIDD
When asked, “why The Little Drummer Boy?”, a grin creeps over
Sean Quigley’s face.
“Do you want the cheesy answer—or the real answer?”
The question, of course, refers to Quigley’s video of the same name,
which as racked up almost 3.3 million views to date on YouTube. In it,
the then 16-year-old, clad in shorts, a toque, and Hudson’s Bay Canada
mittens, carries a drum through snowcapped scenes of a Winnipeg
winter while an updated version of the carol—complete with buzzy
guitar and a drum solo—plays. The video has resonated with a huge
number of people, winning internet fame, and has had long lasting
impact on many fans.
At the time, Quigley had not the faintest idea that his project would
be so successful. “To be honest, I chose the song because of the Boney
M Christmas album,” he says. “I just wanted to put my own spin on it.”
Armed with nothing but a borrowed video camera and a school
computer covertly loaned by one of his High School teachers, the
teenager set out to make a music video. The original plan was to shoot
indoors, which turned up too dark on camera. Then, the morning of
the planned shoot, Sean awoke to a dazzling snowfall. “I just knew, we
can’t miss this,” he says. He and his sister formed a makeshift film crew,
loading his drums into the back of her car and driving to his favourite
spots around the city.
“I think people relate to its authenticity,” he says. The video was made
on a whim, with DIY spirit, at next to no cost, by a young musician. For
Quigley, the video’s story is one of searching and finding—a version of
his own personal journey. “At the time, I felt like I didn’t have anything
to offer the world except music,” he remembers. At the end of the video,
the lone drummer stands, overlooking the city, playing his snare drum,
his voice finally heard.
In the five years since The Little Drummer Boy was originally posted,
Quigley has come a long way. The burst of success that followed his viral
video sensation originally took him to Los Angeles, where he ended up
on the edge of a quarter million dollar record contract.
But this record deal required compromising the authenticity that had
won him fans in the first place. “I couldn’t do it—it didn’t feel right,” he
says. “So I walked away.”
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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

Quigley has never regretted turning down the offer. Instead, he
has found purpose and the freedom to express himself here in his
hometown of Winnipeg.
Online success opened the door to promoting charitable
organizations. In one instance, he was offered a partnership deal with
Hudsons Bay Company, after they saw the iconic Canada mittens
featured in the Little Drummer Boy video. Like the rest of the video
shoot, the mittens were chosen for practical reasons—Sean’s hands
were cold and he grabbed some mitts out of the car. But he used his
newfound clout to collect mittens for Winnipeg’s homeless, and held a
special concert with proceeds going to local shelter Siloam Mission.
He has also worked with World Vision, and while travelling with
the organization met fellow Winnipegger Karli Gerbrandt, who was
working at a non-profit in Cambodia. The two musicians and world
travellers reconnected when they returned home to Winnipeg, got
married, and began playing music together.
Under the name Bold As Lions, the duo released a full studio album
in 2014 called The Hope Movement, a collection of crisp harmonies,
earworm hooks, and poignant lyrics. Another album is in the works to
be released this year.
For this couple-turned-band, roots in this city go deep. “There’s
something special about Winnipeg,” Sean says. “I’ve been fortunate
enough to travel the world, but I never feel there’s anything I can’t do
right here.”
Find concert schedule and music online at boldaslions.ca.