> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# stef.in: Icterus II
- URL: https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/stef-in-icterus-ii/
- Published: 2025-04-07T13:00:47.000Z
- Updated: 2025-04-07T13:00:51.000Z
- Description: Rock-funky band led by drummer Stefan Hegerat with guitarists Robyn Gray and Patrick O'Reilly, plus bassist Mark Godfrey
- Author: Will Chernoff
- Tags: Free Weekly

The band **stef.in**, led by drummer Stefan Hegerat,features the two guitarists Robyn Gray and Patrick O'Reilly plus bassist Mark Godfrey. ***Icterus II*** is their second album, coming six or seven years after the first.

*Icterus icterus* is the bird called the Venezuelan troupial, seen on both the band's album covers. The Calgary-raised, Toronto-trained Hegerat only uses the word *jazz* in his artist bio about his schooling, and his band is primarily instrumental rock. Its brew contains classic funk, contemporary experimental distorted action, and a bit of ambient texture. Off the first two tracks, "Three Wars" rocks while "Here's to Circle" stays ambient, covering most of the range.

I don't even know which guitarist is which on the record. They interact together like the two leads of a guitar band, not two jazz soloists. The tracks with the most funk are "Dosage", which also has glitches and spaced-out sections; and the short closer "Leave Unattended and Suffer the Consequences", where it's more straight-up with a wah pedal and that old-school bass.

"Aku San Zan" feels like the opus. It has a bass feature and the most soaring riffs, before it cools down. I notice how every track turns on a dime. The tracks aren't even long, so this relatively short project covers a lot of ground.

"Old Guard" and "Our Circle" might be a juxtaposition: Boomers versus Millennials? The former has wonky tuning and fuzzy bass, the latter keeps comfortably whirling. Hegerat wrote all these tunes, and his thoughtful drumming is like a big friendly embrace of his bandmates, whom he's now been with for quite some time.

Then there's "Juan Soto". When the band cut *Icterus II* in February 2023, Soto was about to start his one full season with the Padres. Hegerat, a confirmed baseball nut, tells me that the title references Soto's big trade to that team in 2022\. I wonder what coordinated chord-sprays and garbles they would have weaved together in response to the rumoured Shohei Ohtani flight into their city.

Though the *Icterus II* album release tour is staying out east, Hegerat plays in an experimental synth-rock band called Parade, who came to play Tyrant Studios and What Lab in August 2023\. He's also in a pop-punk band called Chinese Medicine, which will head out west in June and potentially make one or more stops in BC.

![Icterus II cover](https://storage.ghost.io/c/15/2b/152b7411-0202-45a2-9f09-f39a793683ef/content/images/2025/04/10---stef.in---Icterus-II--Artwork-by-Amy-Weber-.jpg)

Art: Amy Weber

released April 4, 2025 | [Buy CD (Bandcamp)](https://stefin.bandcamp.com/album/icterus-ii?ref=rhythmchanges.ca)