Hamilton karaoke band The Approximators wants to make your 'rockstar dreams' come true

Even if you don’t want to sing, Nathan Whitlock says you should still come out to one of his band's live karaoke shows. 

Audience members sign up to sing songs from a list of over 200 songs the band, The Approximators, knows. When the emcee calls on them, the audience member comes up on stage and fronts the band. 

For Whitlock, it’s less about one person singing and more about “making the whole room part of the party,” the drummer says. “The best moments are when the whole room is singing.”

The Hamilton band is starting an monthly residence at Ooey Gooey’s in the city’s Hess Village area. They’ll be playing at the venue on the last Saturday of every month, starting Jan. 31.

Whitlock, who’s also a writer and podcaster, first got the band together for the Sharp Words Literary Cabaret in 2023.

Originally, the idea only extended as far as playing while different writers sang at that one event, but the group had so much fun they wanted to keep playing together, Whitlock said. 

Taking cues from a Toronto group they know, Good Enough Live Karaoke, The Approximators started playing regular live-band karaoke shows at Hamilton venue Casbah then at The Corktown, as well as travelling for gigs.

In addition to Whitlock, the band consists of guitarist and vocal coach Tom Shea, bassist Sebastian Farias, keyboardist Annie Shaw and emcee Amy Jones. 

Lately, Whitlock told CBC Hamilton, the group has been expanding its song list based on requests from audience members. They add eight to 10 new tunes per show, he said, with Shea sharing parts he’s written for the members in a group chat.  

“I do feel like we've gotten to a point where we can just jump into a song,” Whitlock said, adding that while they try to rehearse new songs before performing them, sometimes they’ll play them for the first time on stage. 

Funnily enough, Whitlock said, “there are almost no songs on our list that I actually like as a listener. I don't sit and listen to Shaniah Twain or Creed or any of that but I love playing it because it's always fun to see where it's going to go.”

It’s never boring because there’s “always a bit of chaos,” be it a singer realizing they only really know the chorus, or skipping a verse entirely, he said. As their name suggests, the band doesn’t play songs exactly like the originals, and will adapt on the fly to suit a singer.

If someone gets lost on stage, guitarist Shea and emcee Jones might give them cues or join in to guide them back. 

“We have a lot of tricks up our sleeves to help people,” Jones said.