A year in the life of Backroads

What has the last year been like for Backroads?
It’s been a roller-coaster to say the least, with its share of highs and lows! As some people know, we made the decision to switch singers. It was a decision that helped us personally and from a business perspective. A few months later Mike resigned from Backroads in preparation for his twin baby girls. It was quite understandable and we wished him all the best. We soon brought in our good friend to fill his shoes. The new lineup consists of Troy on vocals, Boyd on bass, Chris on drums and Matt on guitar. We’ve been working extremely hard on the new album since being together and preparing for some future live performances.

Has your sound changed?
The new songs are definitely more thought out, edgier, more dynamic and intense. We won’t record anything this time around until we’re totally satisfied. We’ve spent lots of time on lyrics as well as producing the songs before recording. We’re still in the process actually but we’re 80% done pre-production. Some songs have even been recorded already and near completion. Our new sound has elements of Three Days Grace, Foo Fighters and Breaking Benjamin, but rest assured the songs still have that definitive Backroads sound to them!

Tell us about the recording process and what has changed?
It’s the greatest thing in the world, yet can be the biggest pain as well! Because we do it all ourselves, we’re the ones dealing with issues, whether it be hardware issues, computer issues, etc. Well, I’m (Matt) mainly dealing with everything, being the engineer. Recording the first album (Precious Things) was a real learning process. The computer crashed so many times that I nearly lost it! Although a high end computer, you still run into problems. The new album’s getting the royal treatment. A dedicated studio computer, loaded and ready to record! We’ve also improved our equipment and the audio difference is obvious! All problems aside, having total creative and recording control is such a great thing! We’re not limited by a budget or time limit, we can do what we want when we want and have a great time doing it!

What makes Backroads different than other bands?
There are so many things. For one, we go full tilt! We just pound the living **** out of our instruments and we do it well. Not to pat my own back, but there’s a lot of talent in Backroads and we’ve worked extremely hard to get where we are. There’s also the family element, the Doherty brothers. Chris and I (Matt) have been playing music together for a long time and come from a musical family. We’ve learned a lot about the business and have a sheer joy for what we do. Musically, we don’t sound like everyone else. Sure you’ll hear hints of things, but that’s inevitable. The cool thing is you have four guys with different backgrounds, influences and playing styles, coming together to play the same music. It makes for an interesting blend and sound! The other thing is ego, which you won’t find any of. We’re all really approachable and up for a chat!

Have you changed much as a group or personally?
What doesn’t kill ya can only make you stronger, right? We’ve dealt with lots of change this past year, musically and personally, but at the end of the day we’re still doing what we love to do! Karma has come into play as well, and we’ve rid ourselves of any negative aspects. Moral in the group is high and it comes through in what we do.

What has been the biggest obstacle?
Finding new members! You never know who you’ll encounter. You have to weed out the bad ones and some don’t show their true colors right away. You want to find people you’ll get along with and people who can really hold their own and live up to the standards we have set as a band. Losing Mike was hard because he’s been a friend for years; long before the band.

What motivates Backroads?
A true love for music and our eagerness to prove we were meant for bigger things. We’ve worked way too hard to just stop now. The new album will be a true testament of our persistence, work ethic and growth.

Of your original music, who comes up with it? What’s the process like?
The first album was typical of many bands first albums where members contributed songs they had written in the past. Our singer had a batch of tunes and Chris and I had a batch of tunes. So it was a 50/50 mix although I had a big say in producing the songs I hadn’t written. After all, we were Backroads and the tunes needed to have a certain sound. The song Precious Things sounded country before I laid my hands on it. Other songs were far from rockers as well. Writing for the new album has been a breath of fresh air. There are no compromises, so short cuts, no songs on the album for the sake of filling space. That’s not to bash the old album and say we just fluffed it, because that certainly isn’t the case, but we’re just working double as hard on this new one. Chris and I have written the album but Troy and Boyd have certainly giving their twist on things. A sophomore album should reflect a progression. We want to define our sound even more and deliver tunes that truly reflect who we are and what we’ve gone through in the last few years. I’m confident everyone will enjoy this new album!

What do you think of the Sudbury scene?
There’s no lack of good bands in Sudbury, ranging from blues bands to metal bands. As far as a scene, it’s what you make of it. The metal bands and punk bands figured it out a long time ago and have built up a good scene and good following. The rock scene has always been an odd one. You have most rock bands falling into the cover band category and that’s not a scene we want to fall into. The original rock band scene is almost non-existent and venues for our brand of music are few and far in between. The Townehouse is definitely the forerunner for fostering original music in this city and Sudbury’s lucky to have such a venue. Other than that, Toronto’s your next best bet but most of us in Sudbury can’t just pick up and leave to pursue the “dream”. It would be nice to see more opportunities for everyone in Sudbury. Maybe with time and persistence? MFM seems to be doing some good stuff and it will get better with time I’m sure.

What are you future plans?
Near future would be to record the new CD. After that we’ll be looking to showcase and send our material to A&R across Canada and the US. We’re also looking forward to playing our new material for Backroads fans, new and old!

Do you have any merch available?
Our first CD (Precious Things) is available at www.myspace.com/backroads
We also have stickers and shirts designed and will look at having them ready when we release the new CD!

Where can people go to listen to you?
Songs are available for download or listen at www.myspace.com/backroads or www.sonicbids.com/backroads

Any final thoughts?
Thank you to everyone for your continued support and interest in our band! It means the world to us!