With music sales declining, rock and roll bands are finding the long road to success even tougher.
Despite the industry’s competitive nature, that illusive thrill of performing sustains most musicians through rockier times.
One St. Albert rock and roll band with four talented musicians scratching out a living on stage is gaining momentum and developing their own brand of notoriety.
Without a label or management, Alleviate hosted a release party for their first EP, Glass Habits, on Friday, Nov. 16, at Shakers Roadhouse.
Glass Habits follows the successful launch of their 2017 full length album, Aggressive Grace, an eight-track embracing stories based on truth and honesty about love and war.
“We’d recorded it (Glass Habits) in April and we’ve been dying to get it out and it’s finally here,” said lead songwriter Chad Plamondon.
The other members of this tight crew are Matt MacKenzie (guitar), Chris Weihmann (bass) and Aaron Passek (drums).
Back from a successful summer tour, the foursome works hard at producing authentic, raw rock and roll. Alleviate loops strains of ferocious classic rock into original material delivering fresh twists, intensity and power.
Recorded at Sound Extractor under the guidance of Stu Kirkwood, the concept for the five-track Glass Habits focuses on living and enjoying life to the fullest.
The first single, Daredevil, written by Plamondon, is very personal. It looks at mental illness and has an intense vulnerability built into it.
“It was influenced by my life. I’ve got severe depression and I struggle with it. The easiest way of coping with it is writing about it,” he said.
Carefree and Fearless, is part of the album’s ethos on accepting the good and bad in life. Cementing the lyrics is catchy music that delivers a Rolling Stones vibe.
“It was written at night when we played Vancouver for the first time. I was hanging out with some old friends I’d known since childhood as well as the band, and this song just came.”
The EP’s heaviest song is Gunslinger, a song bristling with youthful energy that Plamondon wrote in high school on a dobro guitar. After introducing it to the band it evolved “massively.”
“It’s got a moving pace. It reminds me of a train. The lyrics are just fantasy, a storytelling song about a guy in the west taking back his home.”
The Fool tackles a relationship that has soured, yet the individuals keep closing their eyes to all the red flags. And the one song that differs from the rest is Old Soul Love, a song with a lighter, more joyful essence.
“We didn’t have anything soft or with an acoustic guitar. Matt pushed me to write something in a happier, lighter tone. The song is about trying to find love or appreciating your partner in the little things and just being there.”
At the moment Alleviate is riding the tide of success from Handle, an Aggressive Grace song that reached No. 1 on the New Rock Charts and was nominated for a 2017 Edmonton Music Award.
But they’re also hoping Glass Habits will yield its own nugget of gold. CDs are available at www.alleviateband.com.
