Canadian pop band Stereos talked with ai love music over email about being on the Canadian TV show disBAND, their musical inspiration, and the release of their infectious new single “Look Good”. Founded in Edmonton, Alberta in 2006, Stereos first gained notoriety after appearing on the MuchMusic original series, disBAND. Following the release of their self-titled, debut album their popularity exploded. On the strength of singles like “Summer Girl”, “Throw Ya Hands Up”, and “Turn It Up”, the band began touring relentlessly and ultimately racked up JUNO Award nominations for Best New Artist and Best Pop Album in 2010.
Make sure to check out Stereos’ newest single down below and see why this infectious pop-rock tune is called the “anthem for summer 2021”. Let me know what you think in the comments below!
Please introduce yourself! How did the band come to be?
Hi! My name is Pat and I sing in the band (Stereos). We started in 2006 just writing, probably close to 100 songs, before finding the pop sound I think we’ve developed ever since. From there, we used a lot of the same strategies we’d always used before in the punk rock scene, just touring as much as possible and doing anything to play shows.
What musical artists or genres inspire you?
I honestly have so many I don’t even know where to begin! I’m definitely more inspired by solid melodies and vibes than any one genre. On this latest album, I think I was listening to a lot of Prince, and I personally can hear the areas in which it came across in my writing, but to others listening it might not be as apparent. I honestly listened to a lot of country music during the year we put this together too, anything goes!
You debuted in 2006. How have you or your music changed throughout the years?
I definitely think we’ve grown a lot like people in those 15 years, which comes across in everything from the lyrics, the tone, and even the image of the band. But I still think at the end of the day, our sound wasn’t broke and didn’t need too much fixing, so the hook-driven pop sound is still very much what we do and what we love doing.
You were on the show disBAND. How was that? What did you learn by being on that show?
It was incredible. It was absolutely our first taste of the life we had worked so hard to get to. Until that point, it was sleeping in the van in Walmart parking lots, going job to job so that you could save enough to leave for tours where we played to 50 people a night. Then the show really gave us a new platform and we were able to run with it. I think the one thing I definitely learned was that what airs versus how it went down is definitely not always accurate. There were more than a few things we had to “reshoot” for the purpose of creating drama.
Let’s talk about your latest single “Look Good”. What is it about?
“Look Good” is about being and loving yourself no matter what, especially in tough times. I think after the last year it’s a theme people can relate to, and I hope it can kind of be that reminder for people whenever they need it.
This is an upbeat song that is inspired by your personal lives and the pandemic. Why did you decide to go with positivity in tough times?
Well, the song was already coming together in this very upbeat sound which we all knew was great, but yeah I think the personal circumstances at the time made us want to keep going down this positive path while also providing some reality in the lyrics. If nothing else, I personally felt like I needed a “positivity in tough times” song so why not write it ourselves!
It is an infectious pop-rock song with a strong piano, cool synthesizers, and slick vocals. How did you come to write this song?
Well, thank you! Our drummer Aaron and I wrote this with a good friend of ours Dan Davidson, who already had the basis of the hook idea. Once we were able to get the theme together, the rest of the song really wrote itself pretty quickly. From there, we really perfected the sounds and arrangement while recording the album in Toronto.
What do you want listeners to listen for in “Look Good”?
I want the listener to take anything positive from the song they can, whatever that looks like. Our music has always been for everyone, and I don’t think we have a song that better illustrates this fact than Look Good.
Any future plans?
Absolutely! We’re going to keep putting out music over the summer and then album in the fall. After that, it’s time to do what we love most and start touring again.
Finally, any messages for the readers?
Thank you for caring if you’ve read this far! If anyone out there loves our music, let us know, we love hearing from our fans and can’t wait to see you all again soon!
