People know Montreal based rock singer Jonas Tomalty by his first name, under which he recorded two Gold and near Platinum selling albums, received “Rock Album of the Year,” and “New Artist of the Year,” Juno nominations, plus toured with the likes of Van Halen and Collective Soul, however he insists it has never been a solo effort, it has always been a band effort.
“We’re road dogs. That’s what we love to do, be on the road, getting out there and converting new fans to the music,” enthused Jonas Tomalty, frontman of Jonas and the Attractions, taking a few days off at home in Montreal “for a couple days to do my laundry, before going back on the road.”
So, with a new record label and another hit album on his hands , 2010’s “the Big Slice,” he is doing a lot of press to set the record straight and to draw attention to his latest tour which comes to Essies, June 29.
“ The album has done really well. It’s sold 15,000 copies. We’ve had two Top 40 hits and one Top 10, ‘Big Slice,’ and ‘Seize the Day.’ It‘s the first album under the name Jonas and the Massive Attractions. It was important to me that the band got credit,” he continued adding their former record company wanted to promote him as a solo performer.
“We’ve been just knocking on doors of radio stations where they are playing our music and seeing if we can do interviews with them,” he said.
“I can’t wait to begin the conversion process and getting the sound out there,” he said. They have been booked for several big summer music festivals including several in Quebec and are pushing their way into Ontario as well as out west. They have several festivals on the western seaboard of the United States with bands including Seether and My Darkest Day.
He and band mate, guitarist Corey Diabo have spent a lot of time forging the band’s sound.
“Corey and I love writing together. We’ve done a lot of writing together for our past albums. This time we wanted to tell stories with a little flair. We’ve been battling with our old record company and not getting new material together,” he said adding he has been writing with numerous other writers as well.
“It feels good to get this material off out of my head and out of my heart,” he said.
New band members have infused the band with a renewed sense of purpose and power.
He said the band is sounding better than ever with the addition of drummer Martin Lavallee, who joined Jonas and the Massive Attractions’ tour back in January.
“He was subbing for us before. He was the drummer for Mobile, then they broke up, now he is with us full time,” he said.
“He sounds great. He owns this shit. He can play the straight ahead rock and roll, but he can also play those intricate ghost notes. He plays right in the pocket,” he said.
Bassist J.S. Baciu joined full time a couple years ago, subbing in for one of several tours in Afghanistan and is fitting right in as well.
He is looking forward to playing Lethbridge.
“We’re really looking forward to being there. We’ve never played there, so it will be a whole new public and meeting some new friends,” he said.
“We’ll be playing a lot of stuff off “The Big Slice,” because that's what’s been on our minds now. It’s going to be a big rock and roll show,” he enthused.
“We want to have some fun. And Lethbridge should come out and enjoy a good night of rock and roll, if they want to have some fun too,” he continued.
