Edmonton rock band Royal Tusk hope their first full length CD “Dealbreaker” will break them into the mainstream, so they have been touring hard  on it.
“We’re doing like 30 shows in 33 days, so it’s a long tour. We had a day off on Sunday, but we had to do a 14 hour drive from P.E.I to Southern Ontario and we had to drive through snow in New Brunswick,” related bassist  Sandy MacKinnon.
The last stop on the tour is in Lethbridge, May 27 at Studio with Vancouver‘s Fake Shark and local rock band the Supervoid.

“It’s the last show on the tour, so we’ll be playing tighter than we ever have before. If we haven’t learned to play together by then, we‘re in trouble,” MacKinnon chuckled.

“ Even though home will still be six hours away, the Lethbridge show will be like a homecoming for us,” MacKinnon continued, adding they have never played Lethbridge as Royal Tusk.

 The CD, which was released May 6, has already spawned  two successful singles, “Fever“ and the most recent single “Curse the Weather.”

Royal Tusk includes frontman and guitarist Daniel Carriere and MacKinnon (bass), from JUNO-nominated Edmonton band, Ten Second Epic, along with Quinn Cyrankiewicz (guitar), Calen Stuckel (drums) and Mike James (keyboard/guitars).

 MacKinnon noted their debut EP “ Mountain” highlighted the band’s pop side, but the new CD  showcases not only their  heavier, guitar riff driven side, but they psychedelic jammy side as well.

“I actually think this one is heavier. We’ve got three guitarists in the band when Mike plays guitar, so we wanted to show that psychedelic/ jam side of the band,” MacKinnon said, noting he and frontman Dan Carriere have been playing together in bands since they were both 17.They wrote a lot of songs for “ Dealbreaker” and trimmed them down to the 11 tracks on the CD.
“We wrote a lot of songs just because we wrote a lot of songs and when inspiration strikes, you don’t want to turn it off,” he observed.

 

“ We grew up skateboarding together before that so we’ve known each other or a long time,” he said, adding they just want the band to grow together. So far so good.

“ I’m thrilled by the response so far. It’s a pretty positive feeling that people are enjoying it.”
He has also received some compliments on his bass sound  on the CD, which is surprising.

“ It’s pretty funny actually. I never thought about it. I never even knew most people knew what a bass was,” he said, adding  overall songwriting is more important.

“The songs grew organically. Any of the guys will bring something to the band and we’ll work on it,” he said.
The band are playing with Big Wreck at a big festival this summer.
“We did a tour with them and actually Ian Thornley plays a guitar solo on “ Don’t Get me Wrong. They’ve taken us under their wings, so it’s like we‘re their little brother,” he said.

 They even got well known producer Eric Ratz to produce the CD.
“He’s worked with The Arkells and Billy Talent (and Big Wreck) so he seemed like a natural fit for us. We really liked his vibe. He’s so easygoing,” he said.
He said there are a lot of crowd favourites on this tour, particularly the new single “ Curse the Weather.”
“ But personally I enjoy playing ‘Cold On Me. We like to jam a lot, so we can show it on that song. It’s lots of fun,” he said.
 Fake Shark are joining them in Lethbridge.

“ Our paths crossed a few times on this tour. We’ve played with them on three shows. They’re great guys and lots of fun,” he said.
Royal Tusk, Fake Shark and the Supervoid play Studio, May 27 at  9 p.m. Tickets cost $15.