It could have ended in tragedy.

 Instead, it ended in song.

 A silly childhood game Barenaked Ladies' bassist Jim Creeggan used to play with his older brother John and younger brother Andy almost turned into a do-it-yourself cryogenics experiment.

 "We were fooling around in the basement sort of seeing what it was like to be cold in the fridge," says Creeggan, explaining the incident that inspired the song, John's in the Fridge, from The Brothers Creeggan's latest release, Trunks.

 "John (Jim's older brother) would let us in and take us out again, and then he wanted to go in. But I was so young I could barely reach the handle.

 "So, he showed me how to do the handle thing and how to open it up.

 "But I couldn't do it once he got inside, so I had to run get my mom. I was kind of excited because it felt like I was saving his life, like I was doing a righteous thing."

 Trunks is the third release by Creeggan and his younger brother Andy since forming The Brothers Creeggan in the early '90s.

 Though the two had been playing music together since they were children, the band became more a side-project since both were involved with The Barenaked Ladies at the time.

 Andy, who played keyboards for the band, left the Ladies in 1995 to study music at McGill University, while Jim stayed aboard as the group secured a foothold south of the border with their multi-million-selling album, Stunt.

 Creeggan realizes it's the Barenaked Ladies association that brings people out to a Brothers Creeggan show.

 The band plays the Night Gallery with guest Julie Doiron on Friday night.

 "I don't mind that because (in posh English accent) I am a Barenaked Lady after all," he says with a laugh.

 "It's fortunate that people will come out because of the Barenaked Ladies. That's the main reason we can do a tour. It's interesting because a lot of the people who come out really don't know the music. It's been a really interesting tour so far because we're playing to people who don't have any reference."

 While the Brothers Creeggan -- described as "neo-Vaudevillian" by an American critic -- do share the same love of melody and quirky lyricism as the Barenaked Ladies, that's pretty much where the similarities end.

 The Brothers' musical arrangements are lusher and a little more intricate and subdued than the Ladies', though Creeggan does admit some of it can be compared to earlier BNL tunes.

 "It's maybe a little more akin to songs off (BNL's debut) Gordon, like Blame it on Me," says Creeggan. "Some people might be disappointed and some people might like it better and other people might come down for whatever reason."

 While he does have a voice in the Barenaked Ladies, the 29-year-old Creeggan says this side project allows him to utilize ideas that may not be appropriate for BNL.

 "I'm more of a sub-composer with those guys and with the Brothers Creeggan.... Andy and I are the main songwriters," he says.

 "It gives us a chance to explore that end of my music."