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Farewell to Freeway – INTERVIEW

Categories : Music Reviews.

Danielle Suchet June 29th, 2007

Being in a rock and roll band usually comes with a certain expectation of hard partying, and fast living. There is usually a lot of booze, a lot of smoke, and the occasional big haired groupie. But for metal band Farewell to Freeway, this partying sometimes comes with The Beach Boys and a couple of Canadian Idol sweethearts thrown in for good measure. This confusing melange of musical influences all joined together after one serendipitous night in Florida when the Canadian indie darlings found themselves after a Beach Boys concert, having the tour anecdote of a lifetime, partying with some of music’s not-so hard partiers.

“(Melissa O’Neil and Rex Goudie) were there, it was crazy. They were partying pretty good, (but) the Beach Boys were there so we kinda had to be. I definitely called my mom when they were playing and held up the phone and left a message of them playing,” says Farewell drummer Richie Gregor.

But partying with some reality show winners is about as close to the mainstream as you will ever find these Guelph Canada natives who are often described as post-hardcore and even neo-metal, both labels the group is hesitant to attach to themselves in a market desperate for diversity.

“A lot of our songs are really different. So when people ask us what kind of band we are we just say we are a rock band or a heavy rock band with hardcore influences, metal influences, pop influences it is just all over the place. The genres are mashed these days. We try and broaden the spectrum,” says Gregor, adding, “I have never even heard of neo-metal before.”

Weird metal labels aside, at the end of the day, a label is actually what they really want. The band, consisting of Chris Lambert (guitars/lead vocals), his brother Adam (bass/screams), Richie Gregor (drums/backing vocals), Drew Harwood (guitars/backing vocals), and Michele Walter (keyboards/samples/backing vocals) hasthree albums, seven Canadian tours, scores of loyal fans, and one conspicuously missing record deal. But all that might soon change with the recent honour of being named Alternative Press Magazine’s ‘unsigned band of the month’ this June. A huge coup that Gregor says is just the thing the band needed in order to take their next step.

“We are really hoping that that article does something for us and we think it will,” he says. “It was basically the first U.S. press that we have gotten so it is really rad, it’s a big magazine.”

Touring on both sides of the border, the band has managed to rack up an impressive list of credentials on their own. Playing with Alexisonfire, Underoath, and Protest the Hero, and touring with Emmure, their metal screams and tight melodies have made the group a stand-out in a sea of mediocrity.

But with all these accolades also comes a healthy does of the dreaded ‘B” word…buzz. And while many unsigned bands have succumbed to the pressures of living up to all the hype, Gregor and his band mates laid back attitude about the whole things seems to leave them in good standing.

“I mean it is cool to have stuff that people are talking about,” he says, “and we want to be able to take the next step to keep that buzz going. I mean there is a little bit of pressure in the next song we do right, to make sure it is going to be something that everyone will like, to back up the buzz.” But Gregor also concedes that at the end of the day, any buzz is a good thing if it gets your name out there.

Previously signed to Year of the Sun Records, the band is hoping that they can take their buzz to the next level and translate it into a big record deal. Though being signed is one of the band’s goals, Gregor says there have been some definite perks that have come with running their own ship.

“One thing that is good about it is you still make all the choices that your band does, the way it operates, you have say over everything that goes on whereas when you get a label you obviously have people from both parties so you have to keep it to a pretty tight deal with the label,” he says.

For now, you can catch the group as they tour Canada promoting their latest offering, In These Wounds.