Sunday 10 May 2015

TWENTY6HUNDRED Q&A

Band name:
Our band is called TWENTY6HUNDRED.

Where are you from?
We are from Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Who else is in your band?
The band is four piece. Randy Nolson on drums, Jim Burdon on bass and backing vocals, Mihai Trusca lead guitar and backing vocals and Michael Atkinson lead singer and rhythm guitar.

How would you describe yourselves and your music?
We are like a mix tape; a fiery and furious amalgam of musical influences primarily falling in the rock or alternative rock genre.

Who are your main influences musically?
Our influences are as dynamic as the styles on our latest CD "Electric for All". Ranging from the Ramones to Black Sabbath, Smashing Pumpkins, David Bowie, Pixies and Motorhead.

What do you hope to achieve in music?
Our blue sky dream is to be able to take our music on the road and perform internationally. Our more practical aspirations are simply to get our music into as many ears as possible in the hopes of converting some new fans along the journey. We would very much like to be able to do this 100% of the time without having to hold down day jobs to make ends meet.

What has been the highlight of your career so far, and why?
Every performance has its own highlights. No stage is too big or too small, but truthfully, we celebrate the small moments; the tiny victories. Being an unsigned band in Canada is a matter of inches. We work diligently on our songs and our sound, and each time we convert a veritable stranger to our cause, we consider it the best and biggest of victories. In terms of more significant moments; writing, recording and releasing our latest CD all completely independently has been the biggest highlight of our career. For the first time in our entire musical lives we got to do everything that we wanted to do our way. We produced the record ourselves in our own studios with no extraneous influences what-so-ever. To then have it received so well by the people who have listened to it has been the single most satisfying thing of all our years making music both together and apart.

And what’s the moment you want to forget?
We had a period of time after the release of our second EP where we nearly called it quits. Our singer, Mike, was particularly going through a rough patch and actually stepped away from the band. Unfortunately rather than pressing on, the remaining members conceded and stopped working altogether without attempting to call in a replacement. It was a dark time… but Mike really only needed to sort some things out and rediscover his passion for music. He eventually returned, and we hopped back into the saddle as if we only took a brief hiatus. This is the point where we brought Mihai, our lead guitarist/producer into the band, and it inevitably lead to the created of some of the best music we've ever written to date. Even the darkest clouds sometimes contain a silver lining.

If you had to pick just one of your songs to represent your music, what would it be and why?
If you asked each band member individually you’d get four different answers. But since we agreed on what song to release as the first single I guess we’d have to say "Death Rain Taxes". It has the angst and pain that Mike our singer is known for along with a blistering guitar solo by Mihai while deftly held together by Randy and Jim in the rhythm section. It’s the song that represents our “more than the sum of its’ parts” mentality and has elements of all of our personalities directly infused into it. 

Where can we listen to it?


Where can we find out more about your music? 
Everything you could ever want to know about us and probably a little more than you bargained for is on our main site www.twenty6hundred.com including links to all of our social media sites and accounts. We are very active online and update both our main site and social media accounts daily. We’re kind of addicted to promoting the band and our music online, and also never shy away from cross-promotion opportunities especially with other unsigned bands who face the same challenges as us.
Here are some of our main Social Media Links:
...and online digital music stores/streaming sites:

Anything else you’d like to say about your music that I forgot to ask?
We have released a video for our first single Death Rain Taxes over on YouTube if you’d like to take a peek. We shot it with our friend and director Sheldon Norton which was done in partnership with a local Toronto skateboarding specialty shop called Longboard Haven. It was an amazing experience to be involved in creating the video, and our singer Mike almost crashed numerous times while driving the camera car to shoot the high speed downhill sequences. It was dangerous frigid work shooting in the dead of winter. But we are so very happy with the end result. Our star Rob Sydia, also owner of Longboard Haven, should have received an award for his acting. The emotion he puts out in his scenes still amazes us to this day. But what you won't find in the video is any shots of us. Our director wanted, and we agreed with him, to create an emotional story with the video, instead of just a bunch of guys lip-synching to their tune. We couldn't be happier. If we've piqued your interest, you can see the video here:

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