Whitby born, Vancouver based modern rock/ emo/ punk tinged rock band The Midnight Echo play a special Mothers Day show at the Canadian Brewhouse Rooftop patio, Sunday, May 8.
Since forming in 2016, they have undergone several line-up changes and are excited to bring the new line up, new music and a new sound on tour.
They are touring out west in support of their new single “ View From An Astronaut,” which is starting to get some radio love.
The band’s core, Lalonde and lead guitarist Tyler Rayman formed Whitby , Ontario, basically a suburb of Toronto, recently relocated and reorganized in Vancouver with Edmonton based drummer Aaron Passek and bassist /vocalist Matt Gibson, who they met upon moving to Vancouver right before Covid 19 hit.
“Tyler and I are from Whitby, which is pretty much a suburb of Toronto and we’ve been playing there for years. We got sick of the weather and all that snow and cold in the winter. So we moved to Vancouver where is just rains ,” he said, noting they just moved there as Covid started breaking out and venues started shutting down.
“ So we haven’t haven’t a chance to play a lot around Vancouver,” said frontman Joel Lalonde, just pulling into North Bay for a stop on a long tour that began April 21 in Hamilton and ends in Vancouver with a May 14 show at the Roxy before they head back east to Oshawa to do it all over again on May 15.
“ It just feels super good to be playing for people again,” said Lalonde.
The Midnight Echo exploded on the scene with their debut album Voyager in early 2017. They followed up the release with their sophomore effort, Dichotomy in 2019, followed by a string of singles including “How To Escape Reality,” “Paris in 39,” and finally “Carbon Copy” in 2019 and 2020 respectively.
The new single “ View From An Astronaut was not inspired my Elon Musk or any other space millionaire, but from the journey to Vancouver from Toronto and film from the Voyageur’s journey to Mars.
“I saw this video from like 10 years ago of the Voyageur looking back at the Earth, and it was a tiny blue speck,” he related, noting it made everything seem so insignificant.
“I won’t say it changed my life, but it definitely changed my perspective,” he said.
They are not planning on putting out an album yet.
“ It’s just the single for now. We have two other singles that are ready to go,” he said adding he doesn’t want to spoil the surprise.
“ But there’s no new album right now,” he said.
The band’s sound has evolved since the beginning.
“ When we started out, we were a punk band, but the sound has grown. I think we actually formed on Halloween 2015. We started as more of a pop-punk band. We changed line ups about three times and changed direction,” he said, adding he doesn’t want to pigeonhole the band’s sound.
He is pleased radio has picked up on their music.
“ It’s pretty surreal hearing ourselves on the radio,” he said.
They didn’t do a lot of writing during the pandemic.
“We’d just released an EP before Covid in February 2020, but never got to tour in support of them,” he said.
“ We probably won’t release another one until 2023.
They have some big shows coming up after the tour, including playing NorthbyNorthwest in Toronto in June and opening for 54 40 at the Monashee Festival , July 22 in Sicamous, B.C. They are also working on a European tour.
“ I’ve never been there, at all, let alone to play,” Lalonde said.
Midnight Echo play the Canadian Brewhouse, May 8 at 8 p.m.. Admission is $10.
— By Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor
