Heavy rockers UNDER THE MOUNTAIN have two album's out, a single, and even a cover track as well, with an all new album expected in the next year! Nothing but recording is to come forth from this band with playing to follow whenever possible. The band chats about their start, music, and to remember them.
1. Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.
Myles: Steve and I started playing music together back in high school. Twelve years ago or so, we both moved back to Nanaimo at the same time and started playing together again. I was working on a job site and met Curt, he came and jammed with us and it was a good fit. After trying out a bunch of drummers we finally met Fred through another friend of ours. He was with us until last year when he moved to Toronto, we've known Jon for years and knew right away he's who we wanted as his replacement. There wasn't even a discussion, it was an immediate agreement.
2. What’s the origin of the band’s name?
Haha oh man. It took us FOREVER to come up with a name. We filled up two or three sheets of paper with names that we didn't end up liking. In the end it was Curt who was reading a book and came across the phrase "Under the Mountain". We wanted a name that sounded big, and had something personal to it. There's a mountain in Nanaimo called mount Benson and when we first started jamming it was at my dad's house. His living room had a big window with a view of Benson, so it was like we were jamming under the mountain.
3. Where is the band based out of and what is your music scene like there? Are there any local bands you could recommend?
Myles: The music scene here is absolutely filled with amazing musicians that we've been fortunate to get to play with. I'm going to forget some bands and feel bad later but off the top of my head I'd say check out Vogue Villains, Chunkasaurus, Awkward A/C, Chris Andres, Moths and Locusts.
4. How would you describe your style?
Myles: This is always a hard one, it changes song by song for us. We go from straight up rock and roll, to eight minute progressive metal instrumentals, to southern rock with acoustic guitar and banjos.
5. What have you released so far and what can someone expect from your works?
Myles: We've released two full length albums and one single, it's a cover of Black Velvet by Alannah Myles. We slowed it down and made it heavy. From UTM you can expect a bit of everything. Balls out rock, in your face metal, slow groove... We cover all the bases.
6. Do you have any new music in the works?
Myles: Yup! Look for a new album in 2021!
7. How about playing shows and touring, have anything planned out?
Myles: We've been more fortunate than most this year, but we've only played three or four shows. We had two shows lined up that we were super pumped on that got cancelled due to covid. Vancouver with Shocore and Victoria with Chris Holmes. Hopefully when this all dies down they reschedule!
8. What plans do you have for the future as a band?
With covid I doubt we'll be touring any time soon. We're going to record a new album in 2021 though!
9. Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?
You can listen to us anywhere you stream your music. You can buy our tunes on the usual platforms, and we appreciate everybody that does. Streaming doesn't really generate much revenue and making albums is not a cheap endeavor!
10. What is it you’d like a listener to remember the most when hearing your music for the first time?
Myles: That's a good question. I haven't really thought about that... I'd say remember to have a glass of whiskey beside you and really give it a good listen. We put everything we had into these songs and I'd like to think that it deserves at least one proper listen before you use it as background music.
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