April 29 2014 – We here at T-Mak World love music and we love music festivals. Toronto is the home of Canadian Music Week (CMW) and as usual we dig in the mountains of artists being presented to find bands in the only genre that matters for us – namely rock n roll. We dont do folk, we dont do country, we dont do alt-anything (whatever that means) and we dont do bands that have string instruments other than electric guitars. We have covered hundreds of band in our Emerging Artist Spotlight Series and we continue on our quest for #RealRock with our CMW 2014 Emerging Artist Spotlights with Tupelo Honey. The band plays CMW on May 9th at the Underground Garage and will be listed on our “must see acts” of CMW article coming shortly. Here is what vocalist Dan Davidson had to tell us.
- Hey Tupelo Honey, thanks for taking the time out to talk to us. Let’s start off with the obligatory introductions. Who’s in the band and what instrument does everyone rock?
Tupelo Honey (Davidson): Our pleasure! Ill take any chance I can get to pretend I’m super cool and important! Haha jk.
- Dan Davidson – Singer
- Brad Simons – Guitar
- Tyler Dianocky – Guitar
- Greg Williamson – Drums
- Steve Vincent – Bass
- How about the history of the band, when did you get started and how did it happen?
Tupelo Honey (Davidson): We started WAY back in 2004… We met while getting our music degrees at Grant MacEwan University in Edmonton. Eventually we all found our way into a terrible folk band, had fun playing songs we hated and decided we needed to form a rock band. We entered some local contest and were seen by a promoter for one of Alberta’s biggest festivals at the time (Stage 13). After seeing us, he booked us for an opening slot for Three Days Grace and a bunch of other bands. Essentially, he gave us 2 weeks to get a set together (we only had 3 songs at the time). So we did it, and nailed the set. From there we started working with some big name agents and producers, and began to tour Canada, have songs on the radio, and videos on Much Music. The rest is history!
- Who are some of your musical influences?
Tupelo Honey (Davidson): In our van you will hear everything from Kelly Clarkson to Killswitch Engage and everything in between! We are all fans of great songs and try to listen to everything we can. I think the ones that we can all agree on are bands like: Foo Fighters, Audioslave, Imagine Dragons and 30 Seconds To Mars. Lately we have been listening to a lot of The 1975 and Dead Letter Circus.
Personally, my biggest influences growing up were probably bands like Faith No More, The Deftones, Everclear, and the Foo Fighters.
- So based on the above how would you describe your music to someone that has never heard it?
Tupelo Honey (Davidson): I like to call our current sound “mountain top rock”. It’s anthemic arena-rock that’s meant to inspire larger than life images and feelings.
- Why do you believe that a music fan should come and see your show instead of all the other choices available to them on any given night, especially at Canadian Music Week (CMW)?
Tupelo Honey (Davidson): We don’t play Toronto all the time. We try to play our key markets strategically so that fans build a buzz and anticipation for us. We haven’t been to TO since we released Brave New World so this will be the first time fans get to see/hear the new songs (and new sound of the band) live!
- What is your favorite single line of lyrics the band has written and why?
Tupelo Honey (Davidson): “Wear those scars like a badge of honor” which is a line from the song “Nothing Left To Lose.” The lyrics on this record are meant to inspire, but they are also very personal. As an indie band you don’t always get the breaks. Tupelo Honey has had its fair share of ups and downs, and to me, this line sort of embodies my current attitude on music and life. It might not be a perfect world but we’re going to be proud of what we’ve accomplished and continue to love what we do.
- What does the rest of 2014 hold for you?
Tupelo Honey (Davidson): Well this summer we head out to play some shows with bands like Three Days Grace, Five Finger Death Punch, Danko Jones, Chevelle, Big Sugar, The Sheepdogs etc but we are also hoping to shoot some more videos for upcoming singles and THEN get back in the studio to make some more new music!
- Imagine that you were asked to be the opener for any band’s world tour (both current and historical). Which band and tour would be your dream opening gig.
Tupelo Honey (Davidson): Hmmm tough question! I think Muse and U2 would be on my list. Any band that can play 100,000 person venues would probably be a pretty fun band to play with! Also… Katy Perry… for obvious reasons.
- What is the future of the music industry? With the concept of the album and physical CD’s facing extinction, how will we be consuming music in 10 years? Are the economics feasible for emerging artists?
Tupelo Honey (Davidson): It’s all about singles. The album is dying. In some ways that’s a bummer, but it is what it is. People consume things faster these days. I like releasing singles because it keeps you in the faces of music fans constantly, it always gives you something to talk about. As long as bands have a good plan then I don’t think it should change how an emerging artist acts. You obviously need a catalogue of songs to play live, but its almost a waste to do an album these days. Many bands are putting so much time and effort into full releases but then people only hear 1 or 2 songs off the record… it just doesn’t make sense. I think for emerging artists to adapt they have to be well rounded and prepared. You need to have all your ducks in a row as far as promotion, content, appearances and other marketing strategies so that people can actually hear the music. Releasing music just to get it out there is a frustrating strategy… trust me I’ve been there! haha
- Where can people purchase or listen to your music?
Tupelo Honey (Davidson): People can check us out on
- – iTunes
- – tupelohoney.bandcamp.com/album/brave-new-world
- – YouTube.com/tupelohoneyband
- – Soundcloud.com/tupelohoneyband
- – And basically any site that streams music
- At the end of 2013 we published our picks for top 10 albums of 2013. Lists like those are always a reflection of personal tastes so if you were making the list what are some albums you would you have had on it?
Tupelo Honey (Davidson):
- – The 1975 (The 1975)
- – SmallPools (SmallPools EP)
- – Small Town Pistols (Small Town Pistols)
- – SIIINES (Fukushimarama)
- – Bryan Finlay (Bulletproof) .. Maybe because I co-produced it! haha
- – OneRebublic (Native)
- – Letlive. (The Blackest Beautiful)
- – Paramore (Paramore)
- – Biffy Clyro (Opposites)
- – Clutch (Earth Rocker)
- Any closing remarks for our readers?
Tupelo Honey (Davidson):
Make sure to check out our new video “These Walls” below! We put a tonne of effort into the videos for “Halo” and “These Walls” and were lucky enough to work with one of Canada’s brightest rising-star directors (Michael Maxxis). Michael has done videos for Billy Talent, OLP, Alexisonfire, Ultra Records and many other amazing artists.
Thanks so much for taking the time to chat! So excited about this Jabra contest! If you ever need anything else from us please don’t hesitate to ask!
T-Mak : Well Dan I would like a seat on your jet when you hit your first global tour so I can enjoy the over the top rock star lifestyle!
We leave you with These Walls video from Tupelo Honey. Check it out!
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