Across The Board (ATB) is an award-winning Canadian pop rock/Americana band of multi-instrumentalist musicians with over 300 Youtube videos, debut album, a concept EP and now a second full length album, SONIC BOOM, who seamlessly combine creative talents to push their pop-rock sounds to the edge of the rock ‘n roll envelope with harmonious power vocals and catchy electric guitar riffs. Forged from garage jams and basement Youtube sessions, “Across The Board” finally broke out of the internet box with their debut album “Jane On Fire” last spring. A collection of rootsie rock and pop-rock beats, “Jane On Fire” earned ATB critical acclaim for the single “Indifference” which also became their first track to hit the FM radio waves and launch them to a number one spot on the Reverbnation charts in Canada for pop/rock as well as winning them an Akademia Music Award for best pop/rock/Americana song in 2016.
In this interview spotlight, I chat with Across The Board about the latest project, the results of their previous release, challenges and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
-We have featured ATB before! Find those articles here and here.
It’s great to hear you guys again! How have you guys been? Any big news or events since our last feature?
Since our last EP “AMENDS” in 2017, we have been working on our second full length album SONIC BOOM and we have an upcoming CD Release in Toronto May 4th.
Are you satisfied with the results of your last release?
We were so excited to receive terrestrial and college radio play on our EP Amends and won two international independent music awards for the record. We have been grateful to be playing to sold out audiences in our home town of Toronto and area, and recently returned from a coast-to-coast Canadian tour where we played to crowds from Newfoundland to Vancouver.
What can we expect when pressing play on your latest project?
SONIC BOOM comes out May 4th on all platforms. It’s a full length alt pop rock / rootsy album that takes the listener on a musical journey from a small town to the big city in an attempt to “break a band” and bring our music to the world.
Were you trying to accomplish anything specific (or different) with this release versus the previous one?
With SONIC BOOM, we wanted to show the evolution of our writing from an Americana and country rock genre, through AMENDS which was more pop-rock through to where we find ourselves now–more alt pop rock. We realize these genres are often hard to define, but we feel our music always pushes the rock and roll envelope to the edge of pop, country and blues–and sits somewhere out there in “alt” land as a result.
Name one or two challenges you face as an indie musician in this oversaturated, digital music age? How has technology helped you (since we know it does help)?
Yes, there is certainly a lot of NOISE out there and it is difficult as an indie band to rise above all of that to gain the listener’s attention. Technology has helped us help our listeners can find us by curating the indie music world through Spotify playlists, influencer recommendation and sites like Reverbnation, Pandora, and Ditto Music, and others who can classify, quantify and help listeners navigate through the demos and scratch tracks and find what they want to hear. We are grateful for the internet that allows us to reach new fans across the globe without the limitations of time and space.
Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?
Here is a list of all our social media links. We have over 300 videos on Youtube and Facebook, and we add daily content to Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, Twitter and our blogs/vlogs–we would love to connect with you by email too!
- Please Like us on Facebook
- Follow us on Twitter: @ATBmusicCanada
- Hear us on Soundcloud
- Check us out on Reverbnation
- Visit us at iTunes
- Stalk us on Instagram
- Read our blog
- Patronize us at Patreon
- Buy our tunes at BandCamp
- Playlist us on Spotify
- OFFICIAL WEBSITE LINKS http://acrosstheboardband.ca (EPK)
- http://acrosstheboardmusic.ca (Fan Site)
Anything else before we sign off?
As always, we thank you for keeping up and staying in touch. We love your blog! Across The Board will be touring in Eastern Canada again this spring and summer and we encourage you to check out our new release on May 4th. You can download a copy of the title track SONIC BOOM right now from Soundcloud for free.
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THANKS!
