18 Nov 2013

On November 28th, Toronto band Rival Boys will be visiting Guelph to play at Van Gogh’s Ear. The three piece band featuring sister and brother Lee and Graeme Rose with Sam Sholdice on drums has had a busy year. They toured extensively during the summer and spent some time working on their new album Animal Instincts due out early 2014. We got in touch with the band to get their thoughts on the new album, the Toronto music scene, and touring.

Music Lives: The summer looks like it was really busy for Rival Boys. Congrats on recording the new album! Are you happy with the results? What can people expect from this album compared to the music that you’re previously released?

Rival Boys: Thanks! We’re absolutely thrilled with how the record turned out. We were extremely lucky to be able to record at Revolution Recording here in Toronto, which is an absolutely amazing new studio. We really did our best to push ourselves in terms of our own performance – and made sure that at every step we took the time to make things sound their absolute best. Above all, we wanted to make a record that hits really hard – where not a second feels wasted on anything extraneous, and where every song is immediately accessible and exciting.

ML: What’s it like being a band that has really grown up in the Toronto music scene? How have things changed over the last 5 years?

RB: Being a band in Toronto has been pretty great. There are so many places to play, and so many great bands in the city these days. It’s great to see local bands getting recognition outside the city, as well. So much feels like it’s constantly changing, but on the other hand, everything stays the same. One of the small shifts (but that is really noticeable if you’ve been playing for a while), is that more shows seem to run on time these days, than they did 5 years ago.

ML: Some bands love touring and other love recording. What’s your favourite part about making music?

RB: We love both – for different reasons and in different ways. However, my favourite part of being in a band is probably just playing in our practice space. I feel like if you cant have fun standing in front of your amp, or behind your drum kit, or whatever, just playing for yourselves, you’re lost. It’s the playing that is the most rewarding.

ML: Any plans for the new year? What can expect to see from Rival Boys in the future?

RB: We plan to release our new record “animal instincts” sometime in the early 2014. The first single from that record – our cover of the Wolf Parade song “I’ll Believe in Anything” is coming out Nov. 12 (free download at www.rivalboys.com) . We’ve got some music video plans for the near future. Hopefully, 2014 will see us touring around a fair bit. We’d love to come back to Hillside in the summer!

You can catch Rival Boys live at Van Gogh’s on November 28th! Check the event listing for more details.