FUTURE TALENT #17- Crash! Radio

Meet Crash! Radio. Hailing from the suburbs of Burlington, Ontario, the female fronted pop-rock quintet has burst onto the Canadian music scene and this year they are setting their sights even further afield. 

Est.1997 caught up with guitarist Aidan Robson to chat about how they got together, their influences and why having a female singer is a great dynamic...

For people who are new to you guys, please tell us how you met and put together Crash! Radio?

Crash! Radio first came together from the remnants of an old local band. I [Aidan] was in a band with our former drummer and bassist. Just as we were about to bring on a new singer and second guitarist to round out the band we got Michelle’s demo. We loved it and we loved the idea of having a female singer even more so the next day we called her up and she was in the band, simple as that. We still needed a second guitarist to complete the group and the first person to come to mind was Brad, a friend of mine from school. After a week of going on and on about how awesome this band was going to be I asked him to come for a tryout and he was accepted into the band right away. Over the past two years we’ve been through a few line up changes. After parting ways with our bassist over creative differences back in 2011 we brought Derek on board right before the release of our first EP and he’s been with us ever since. Just recently our long time friend and drummer decided to leave the band to pursue other goals in his life. Our new drummer Ben was a friend of Derek’s and he was brought into the mix about a month ago. We all agree that Crash! Radio is stronger than it’s ever been and we couldn’t imagine moving forward without the current line up. We’re like a big family really, and family is everything to us.

Some great bands have emerged out of Burlington, Ontario; was there a really good local music scene growing up? And who were you checking out?

Burlington used to have a great scene. The earliest local shows that any of us would have gone to would have been the later Silverstein shows right before they got big and even then we were pretty young. The scene really took a turn for the worst after bands like Silverstein and Dead & Divine left. We were young enough that most of what we know about how things used to be was told to us by guys in older bands. Burlington used to have Friday and Saturday night shows sold out at local venues. A lot of that has disappeared now and there aren’t a lot of bands or kids dedicated to the local scene. All of the shows I’ve ever been to growing up were only filled with 15 – 20 people even though we’ve had some really good bands around. We’re hoping this starts to change. The main thing a good music scene needs to thrive is a consistent string of shows with a variety of decent bands, and that’s what we’re trying to get started again.

What other bands do you listen to for inspiration and influence?

We have a huge range of influences in Crash! Radio. As a group we listen to so many different bands; from Taylor Swift to The Wonder Years to A Day To Remember and everything in between.  Individually we all have our own styles that we tend to lean towards but since we all come from slightly different backgrounds it really balances out.  If we had to pick band favorites that everyone was really into we’d have to say; Go Radio, Mayday Parade, We The Kings and All Time Low.

Female fronted bands such as We Are The In Crowd and Tonight Alive are doing great at the moment. What’s it like being a part of that growing scene of bands with female vocalists?

It’s really great to see female fronted bands taking such a lead role in the scene these days. Apart from a few bands, most of the new music coming out is the same stuff over and over. Having that female vocal really freshens things up, even if it’s just a little change. The new dynamic really breathes some life into a kind of music that in some ways is getting bland and dull.

Does it add another dynamic to the band having a mix of guys and a girl?

Having Michelle in the band definitely changes things up. We act more like a family unit because of it. In a way there is sort of a big brother mentality with Michelle being a little younger. We watch out for her and equally give her a hard time. Egos are also something we’ve never had a problem with. Sometimes when you get 4 or 5 or even 6 guys in a band together there is that posturing about who is the alpha male or who is better at what etc. We get along really well in terms of us all respecting each other.

You’ve recently been in the studio working with Justin Koop on the follow up to For You, From The Heart. How’s that all going and what can fans expect?

It’s going great.  We’ve finished all our pre production and demoing and we’re really excited to start in the studio next weekend. The project is still unnamed and we have yet to officially decide the exact length but listeners can expect a full studio EP of at least 7 songs. The biggest things fans are going to notice with this project will be our attention to detail and the cohesion of the entire record. FYFTH was a great EP and we’re really proud of it, but it is what it was meant to be - a collection of singles that grab people’s attention and state: “This is Crash! Radio pop rock.” Now that we’ve proven we can write a decent hook we want to give fans a full studio effort that really gives them something substantial to listen to. We’ve got some pop songs, we’ve got some ballads and we’ve even got a country song or two. Our first single Summer Heat is expected to be released in late March, along with a re-recorded version of an earlier song to be featured as a B-side. We’re really taking the band to a new level with this single. Fans should definitely expect big things.

And finally, what does Crash! Radio have planned for 2013?

Shows, shows and more shows!

After we get this new project with Justin done we plan on getting it out there to as many people as possible. We firmly believe that going out and playing shows is the best way to both make friends and connect with fans. We’re also working on getting a summer tour together with some other bands, but details of that are still in the works.

http://www.facebook.com/wearecrashradio