Band hits scene with new disk

Flood the Stone may be barely two years old as a band, but the Springside rockers have already put together their debut CD.

And, the album has already gained recognition with three Canadian gospel music association covenant award nominations; .rock/modern rock album of the year, rock/modern rock song of the year (Made for You) and album artwork.

"It's really exciting to be be recognized as being part of the Canadian music industry," offered drummer Adam Breitkreuz. "We have been working for so long internally so we are very grateful to find out that what we have been working on is being well received by others. It's a very surreal thought to me."

"As far as future opportunities for the band goes; everything we do moves us forward. And this is one of those things that we hope will help propel us further in our careers."

It's a big endorsement for a band so new on the scene.

"We've been together for about two years now and we started out at the beginning playing a couple of local shows," said bassist Roger Angrove. "We realized pretty quickly that we need to get some stuff together if we want to capitalize on the momentum that you build when you play live."

"So basically we started doing things backwards from the pattern that a lot of bands normally take. We have spent the last couple of years recording an album, and getting some other stuff together like music videos etc. That has consumed the majority of our time. We play a few shows every year as opportunities come our way, but we have been pretty busy with the album. We played with Manafest in January, and we headlined a venue at Junofest this year.

"But now that our album is out and we're ready to hit the road we have something like 20 shows booked in the next couple months."

The band came together by design, noted Breitkreuz.

"I write a lot of the lyrics and melody for the songs," said Breitkreuz. "I've been writing since I was 15 or 16 and it's been a long process. I would say as a writer that the majority of the stuff you come up with is garbage. But there will be a grain of something good in there somewhere that you have to separate and build off of that."

"By the time this band got together I had maybe four or five songs I thought were good enough, and were at a point that we could pick them up and play them."

"It didn't take very long after though, only a few months and we had written an album's worth of material and more."

"Everything about this band just seemed to click musically that it became very easy to write effectively. That being said, every song is still a work in progress until it's recorded. Hundreds and hundreds of rewrites to make sure that every word is exactly what you want to be saying. You have to check your pride at the door. The guys are really good about telling me when something doesn't work and it's back to the drawing board.

"We've got an entire albums worth of other songs that are garbage," added Angrove.

"We probably won't be recording those ones," continued Breitkreuz "Yeah, it's a really long process but it's good. We set out to write songs that could potentially have an impact on people and I know, that with the music and the lyrics, we have a definitely done our very best to do that."

With songs in-hand the band headed to the studio.

"It was recorded at Revelation Studios in Saskatoon by Colin Richet who was the engineer and our producer as well," said Angrove. "And it's really completely different than playing onstage. We've all been in studios recording projects before for other bands so there were really no surprises with the recording process. One of the biggest differences is that all of the little mistakes that you can normally cover up when playing live are front and center when you play back your part by itself. It pushes you to play better though, and can actually help you be a better musician onstage because of it. Often times if you're going into studio and record a great sounding album it's most likely going to transition into a great live show."

While a new experience, Breitkreuz said it was one the band enjoyed.

"We had a really good experience recording this album," he said. "It was a really long experience, we were all working full-time jobs and driving out on weekends to track in the studio, so it was a little bit hectic at times, but we are incredibly happy with the final product. It was well worth the effort. I guess you can listen for yourself and be the judge of that though."

In terms of influence they come from the decade they grew up in, offered vocalist and guitarist Tim Hay.

"I like to think I'm a child of the 90s and I love the music that came out of that decade," he said. "It probably starts with the grunge influence and that really kind of grew into a lot of what I appreciate in music. Like what Nirvana did, and bands like Pearl Jam and eventually Our Lady Peace, we all share pretty similar musical influences. I love rock that has a super catchy melody with choruses that are bright and lifting. There is a lot of music that is very minor in its feel and dark and we just don't go to that place with our music."

Hay said as a musician he evolved over time.

"I play guitar and sing in the band, but I actually started learning drums as a kid," he said. "I remember seeing a guy play the drums once at a talent show and I was hooked. As I grew up I just started picking up other instruments as I went along and played with different bands."

"I grew up listening to mom and dads old records, just got hooked on the different rhythms of music," continued Angrove. "Actually I wanted to play guitar first, but my dad didn't know too much about music so he came home one day with the bass, so I was like 'okay we'll do this then'. So I play bass.

For Breitkreuz the drums were his lasting first love.

"I think the drums are the coolest instrument to play ever," he said. "I remember seeing a long-haired guy playing drums at a summer camp once and I asked if I could play on his kit after. And he was nice enough to let me go in mash around on his set for little while. Sure he wasn't too impressed with some little peewee on his drums but I couldn't stop after that."

The album was released in June.

"So we've already released a couple singles to radio," said Hay. "Our first single, 'Made For You', was released when the album debuted along with a music video of that track. I think we are playing on something like eight or 10 radio stations in Canada, and nationwide in New Zealand on a number of stations as well (Angrove is from New Zealand).

"We have just released a second single from that album, Broken. It's a little bit more upbeat then the first one we released, so we are currently in the process of getting that song out there."

Brietkreuz said the work of promoting the disk is now in full swing.

"We have got a number of things in the works right now," he said. "I probably can't say too much about it until it's finalized, but we are very busy behind-the-scenes talking with industry people and trying to get things going for the band."

"Apart from that we are leaving on a tour to promote our album in a couple of weeks. We are going to be across Western Canada and the U.S. for about three weeks and then returning back to the Prairies where we will be playing a bunch of shows in November around Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba."

"We are going to be traveling with a massive light show. That is really something to see, and we will be linking up with a band called Faz when we hit Washington. We are very excited about the future of Flood the Stone! We have a great product to share with people; great music with a great message."

You can check out the band at www.floodthestone.com and the album is available through iTunes or other music outlets.