Breaching Vista – Emerging Artist Spotlight

March 21 2012 – We are very excited that Slacker Canadian Music Week (CMW) 2012 is coming to Toronto from March 21^st to the 25^th. CMW is a music festival, conference, exhibition, and even a film festival all rolled into one. It is also billed as “Canada’s Largest Music Festival” and aims to bring exposure to Canadian music of all genres and in general to support the Canadian music industry.  Over 900 artists from 40 countries in 60 venues converge for 5 nights in Toronto and this puts us on the map in terms of large artistic and creative gatherings. Having just come back from the fabled South By Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, we are very pleased that Toronto will host CMW and we are certain that CMW will grow in both number of attendees and stature in the music industry (much like Toronto’s International Film Festival has).

We weeded through all the bands bios found here and narrowed it down to the ones that were of interest to us musically. From there we quickly listened to a sample of their songs found on the same page and were left with a handful of bands that we were interested in finding out more about. We approached those bands and offered them to appear on our Emerging Artist Spotlight feature. Our first three CMW spotlights featured TimeGiant from Toronto, Grain from Edmonton, and Matt Groopie and The Bandits. We now set our focus on yet another band named Breaching Vista.  All bands are asked similar questions to each other so we can get to know them better. The description on their CMW page reads:

 Here is what the band had to say to us:

John – lead vocals & guitar
Mike – bass & backing vocals
Al – lead guitar & backing vocals
Nik – drums

John: CMW is Canada’s most elite festival and draws a large amount of international exposure. Since this band started, we have applied to CMW every year for the chance to showcase our brand of rock music on the world stage, and we are very fortunate to be in our 2nd year performing at the festival.  Not only is it a great performance opportunity, but it is a massive networking base to meet other artists, industry and media professionals.

Breaching Vista

John:  I have read it, and Dave is bang on!  I’ve been telling the guys in my band since we started that the industry goes in cycles, and we’re closing out the throwback to the 80’s right now.  All of the rhythmic pop music stuff sounds the same, and people will eventually get sick of it.  The 90’s were a huge movement in rock music, as were the 70’s (not that I was around, but I’ve heard many great things).   It’s coming around to that time where people are getting tired of hearing this fake version of music – Dave’s “computer music”.  Rock music is real music, just as he talks about.  And one of the things that we really pride ourselves on, more than writing and recording, is performing live.  We love to connect with our audience, create moments, and feed off of the energy of audience and the music.  I don’t think we could do that if it was all digital effects.  People go to concerts to experience those moments, to connect with their favourite bands and songs, and because they appreciate real talent.  They want to see an artist playing an instrument with passion.

The bands that have longevity in the music industry are rock bands.  Foo Fighters, Green Day, U2, Springsteen, The Rolling Stones…  Everyone has to experience something bad to fully appreciate what is good, and the good music is out there.  Right now you just need to look for it.  But once you find it, you won’t realize it at first, but you’ll be starting up the new movement of discovering great music.

 John: We already started off great playing a New Years Eve bash with our friends in, The Reason.  We quickly followed that show up by supporting Slow Motion Victory (of Much Music Discovered) and then Theory of a Deadman, on hometown shows.

With the momentum kicking off in full throttle, we’ve been starting to hear from festivals and getting some great offers coming in for tour dates this spring and summer.  We’ll definitely be playing some of our biggest shows to date this year, and our fan base has been consistently growing.  Unfortunately I can’t spill the beans on what festivals just yet, but we’re hoping to make some announcements soon!

I guess it’ll be our best year ever because we’ll be doing more of what we love to do, play music and entertain people.

Breaching Vista

Mike: Pink Floyd only because Comfortably Numb is quite honestly the best song in the world and that is a scientific fact. 

John: I’d probably go with Led Zeppelin.  Legends of rock n’ roll.  Stairway to Heaven is often considered one of the greatest rock songs of all time… Need I say more?

Mike: The music industry is quite honestly doomed. In the next 10 years there will be virtually no major record labels. Artists will move too recording at home, and distributing online, and music will have to be free. New artists will have to depend solely on their live shows to produce any sort of income, and maybe some really good music placements. To be successful in this business you’ll have to learn to adapt and be versatile. 

John: We started the band in January 2007, so it’s been just over 5 years now.  The band came together as a natural transition of musicians looking for other musicians to play some music with.  Al and Nik played together in a band, and were looking for a singer to fill in for a bar gig.  We knew each other from high school, so they asked if I wanted to come play a couple sets worth of 90’s alt-rock and pop-punk stuff.  I welcomed the opportunity as I had been out of a band for over a year at that point.

The show was a huge success and many of their friends asked me if I was the new singer of their band.  I humbly said no, that it was only a one-time thing, but we ended up taking an offer for a follow up show.  That night was abruptly ended when a fight broke between their bass player, and an audience member – while we were in the middle of a song.  We got kicked out, and I told the guys if they wanted to keep playing then we needed a new bassist.

We got to talking, and Al, Nik and I decided we wanted to try writing songs and start a new band, so I offered to call my friend Mike to join as a bassist.  Mike had played with me in my previous band, and we had remained good friends after disbanding.

Mike rejected my first offer to bring him in, as he wanted to play drums.  After a week went by and a few bass-less jam sessions, I reached out to Mike for a 2nd time knowing that he’s the guy I wanted to complete the line-up.  The 2nd call took little-to-no convincing and Mike signed up within minutes. 

Once the lineup was complete, we decided on the band name and immediately got started on writing and transforming my basement into a makeshift studio to record demos.

Mike: Our album is available on iTunes (Of Course!), But if you want to own a physical copy you can get it at anyone of our shows, or you can order it online here

 

Mike: I really enjoyed Foster the people’s “Torches”. I personally hated the band until I heard the album, and then it just clicked and I understand them.

I also have a secret obsession with Yellowcard, and their new album “When You’re Thru Thinking, Say Yes” is personally one of my favorite albums of 2011, and hand’s down my favorite Yellowcard album. 

Mike: Support independent music. You don’t have to buy music to support an artist, but making an effort to go to more shows really makes a difference.

John: Drop us a line on Facebook and Twitter.  We love hearing from new people.  Just look for BREACHING VISTA!