Vancouver band Said the Whale is gearing up for two concerts in the Sea to Sky in the next three weeks — but in between they’re going to boot camp for bands.

They’ll be joining 19 other B.C. bands and artists for a one-week crash course in the music business, from live performance and songwriting to marketing and promotion. Said the Whale has been selected as one of the Top 20 acts in the Peak Performance Project — a radio contest with more than $5 million in funding and a goal to help launch the careers of emerging artists in B.C.

“Apparently last year it was like summer camp for bands,” Tyler Bancroft, Said the Whale co-founder, said of the upcoming boot camp.

Now in its second year, the competition offers artists development funding for each of the 20 finalists and an impressive $100,500 first-prize package.

With Said the Whale set to play at Whistler’s GLC on Friday (Aug. 13) and return after boot camp to the Live at Squamish music festival on Sept. 4, it would be an interesting exercise for any fan or music junkie to check out both shows and see if there’s any obvious change after the band’s musical crash course.

Band camp or no, Bancroft said Friday’s show in Whistler will likely be a bit different than most Said the Whale engagements. The band is performing as part of the Deraylor Music Festival, on now through Friday and, if last year is any indication, featuring some of Whistler’s legendary party crowds.

Said the Whale made its Whistler debut during last year’s inaugural Deraylor fest and Bancroft said it was probably the drunkest audience the band’s ever entertained.

“They’re crazy,” he said of the resort’s Friday night masses. “Whistler’s another planet.”

Last year Said the Whale opened for Mother Mother, but the band has secured a headlining spot for the 2010 festival. Bancroft said the audience can look forward to “a much louder version of most of our songs,” plus a few new songs thrown into the mix.

Said the Whale released its second full-length album, Islands Disappear, in October 2009. A collection of catchy but diverse songs, Islands Disappear has been described as the sound of a band coming into its own.

While Said the Whale’s debut album, Howe Sounds/Talking Abalonia, featured Vancouver-centered lyrics around the band’s fresh indie pop sound, Islands Disappear plays almost like a diary of a cross-Canada road trip. Bancroft said he and Said the Whale co-founder Ben Worcester are songwriters who write from experience, and during the two years they were working on the music for Islands Disappear, they were almost constantly on tour somewhere in Canada.

It wasn’t a conscious decision to write songs such as Dear Elkhorn, about the tour van breaking down in Manitoba, or Emerald Lake, AB, inspired by camping in Alberta, Bancroft said. It was only natural that the “wonderful” cross-Canada adventures would become the inspiration for songs, he added.

As for future Said the Whale compositions, Bancroft said only time will tell. He and Worcester are “slowly” working on material for a new album and a break from the road is planned in the coming months to focus on writing.

“I can’t tell you until the songs have been written,” Bancroft said of what Said the Whale might come up with next.

He did confirm, however, that the band plans to carry on with its tradition of releasing a free Christmas EP for fans — a practice that’s been in place for three years running.

Help give an out-of-this-world Whistler welcome to Said the Whale on Friday (Aug. 13) at the GLC. The Deraylor Music Festival features more than 40 DJs and bands at six Village bars and nightclubs over three nights. All-access wristbands are $40. For a full Deraylor schedule and more info, visit deraylor.com.

Said the Whale is back in the Sea to Sky and joining artists such as Devo, Matthew Good, The Decemberists and Bad Religion for Live at Squamish, Sept. 4 and 5. Click to liveatsquamish.com for all the details.