The following message appears on the Treble Charger website: “Thanks to all you fans who support artists by buying music!” Their latest album, Detox, recently achieved Gold status in Canada – no small feat given the file-sharing climate of today’s music industry.
“I think there’s a lot of people who justify it by saying that guys in bands are all rich and they don’t really care if people download their music,” hypothesizes Treble Charger drummer Trevor MacGregor. “Really, that’s not the case.”
“Trevor and I both live in rat-bag apartments in Toronto,” agrees guitarist Bill Priddle. “I think there’s a misconception that when artists don’t sell albums, it’s the record company that gets hurt. But when we sell an album, we get paid mechanical royalties and, for a band like us, that’s what pays the rent.”
“We’re not complaining,” MacGregor quickly adds. “But we’re not rich rock stars by any means.”
Earlier this month, Priddle performed alongside The Tea Party, Gord Downie, Holly McNarland and other Canadian artists at the sixth annual White Ribbon Benefit Concert, in support of the ongoing struggle to eradicate violence against women.
“Violence against women is something that no one really talks about but it just keeps going on and on,” he says. “I think it’s really important for people to realize what’s going on and I think it’s really important for men to come together and be doing something about it.”
Treble Charger recently played a free concert as part of the official opening of Yonge-Dundas Square, a sleek acre of public space located in the heart of downtown Toronto.
“It’s a nice place,” remarks MacGregor. “We’re glad to be a part of it, and we’re glad that people get to come and see us for free.”
Currently, MacGregor is busy fine-tuning his “interpretive dance side-project,” [Four Square] which unfortunately tends to get marginalized in the media, in stark contrast to Priddle’s work with Canadian heroes Broken Social Scene.
“It’s really special,” MacGregor says of his true passion in life. “It’s something that you have to see in person.”
Priddle chimes in with his two cents: “The flower arrangements alone are worth the price of admission.”
