'We have an arts scene here': Royal Tusk on striking oil with Edmonton Oilers goal song

Local rockers Royal Tusk already had a foot in the door when it came to working with the Edmonton Oilers.

Two feet, actually, since they’ve had a couple of songs (Aftermath; Head Up) used as period prompts since 2023. So when the Oilers Entertainment Group approached them about writing a new song to mark Oiler goals it likely didn’t come as too much of a surprise. According to lead singer Daniel Carriere, they were ready for the assignment.

“It wasn’t too hard because they kind of know how the band sounds from working with us,” says Carriere about Striking Oil, the band’s made-to-order celebration song. “And it was really fun to just imagine ‘well, this would be really cool to hear when the boys score.’”

As noted in an earlier article, fans first heard Striking Oil after Evan Bouchard’s first goal of the season opener on Sept 29. Unlike the ’90s club anthem Fluxland by XL, Striking Oil mines the baked in every sports fan’s bones arena-rock groove and shout for maximum audience participation. As Carriere notes it’s simple, but it definitely hits when the puck hits the twine and the siren blasts.

Now that the song has been triggered by multiple goals, fans at home and in the arena have had some time to sit with it. Social media is the test, and many Oiler fans are more than happy to embrace work by a local band. Some followers can be very resistant to change, however, and there have been a few dissenters.

It’s never fun to have your hard work ripped apart online, even by just a handful of nay-sayers, but Carriere is philosophical about it.

“We expected that and I think the organization expected that too, but they wanted to move forward with something of their own,” he says. “That Fluxland is a dope song, I love it, it’s really cool, but there’s nothing wrong with change. And hey, I welcome the criticism and the pushback. I mean, if people can’t have opinions, then what are we doing?”

In due time Striking Oil will become the accepted anthem, just as Fluxland was and just how a win by the Oilers must necessarily trigger La Bamba over the speakers. Those who grumble will settle down, and eased in by multiple overpriced beers shout the catch phrases along with everyone else. This is inevitable, but as Carriere points out, it was not so inevitable that the Oilers work with a local band.

“Staying connected with the community and especially the music scene is a real cool move on their part,” he says. “Because, to be honest, it’d be very easy for them to just stick with something easy and likely there’d be no pushback from Oiler fans at all. So, it’s good also as a reminder to people that we have an arts scene here, and when you go see local music or go to an art show you get something that you can’t get at home. It’s important to plug people in that way.”

If the hockey gods are smiling on the Oilers this year we’ll be hearing Striking Oil many times over the season. We haven’t seen much of Royal Tusk in town over the last two years, since the release of their 2024 album Altruistic. They’ll be changing that on Nov 20 when they play the Double Dragon, followed by a short tour with Protest the Hero that will swing from Thunder Bay through to Victoria.

There are still a few tickets left for the Double Dragon date, and if you head down it’s possible you’ll hear a very familiar track.

“I don’t think that we’ll be taking Striking Oil on the road with us,” Carriere laughs. “I mean, I don’t know if ‘Let’s Go Oilers’ is the most riveting lyric, but in Edmonton we’ll be blasting it for sure.”

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