Newfoundland indie rockers Hey Rosetta! are getting set to spread their Seeds throughout the United States.
The critically acclaimed band’s newest record, Seeds, is just over a year old here in Canada, having been released last February. Now, with the ink freshly dry on a recording contract with ATO Records in the U.S., the band is getting set to undertake promotional efforts south of the border in effort to spread their band name like their album title implies.
Hey Rosetta! will be performing at Moncton’s Oxygen Nightclub Friday evening, with Halifax band Heavy Meadows opening. The show starts at 10 p.m.
Checking in with the Times & Transcript from Virginia, where Hey Rosetta! was touring in support of English rockers Gomez, lead vocalist and guitarist Tim Baker acknowledges that the group has been rather fortunate as of late.
“This tour with Gomez has been fantastic. We are playing to full houses night after night. We really couldn’t ask for much better,” Baker shares.
The group’s tour with Gomez is far from the first time that they have undertaken touring in the United States. With their deal with ATO in place, the label will be releasing Seeds to the potentially lucrative American market. Although he jokingly laments that Seeds is a bit of “old news” for the band, having recorded it more than two years ago, Baker is looking forward to spending much of his summer playing throughout the U.S. on their own as well as at high-profile festivals such as Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo and Sasquatch.
Asked what attracted Hey Rosetta! to ATO over other record labels, Baker insists that it was the company’s unwavering commitment to their artists that ultimately led them to want to establish that working relationship.
“Everyone at the label is incredibly supportive of us,” Baker shares. “We had taken some time to speak to some other artists on the label and learned what they are all about and could see that they are an artist-led company. They are a group of forward-looking people and that insight makes us happy to be a part of their family for sure.”
Hey Rosetta!’s newest release, the acoustic, digital-only Sing Sing Sessions was recorded at the behest of ATO who had caught some of the group’s acoustic performances on various blogs and radio shows and wanted to help show fans of the band a whole different side of the group.
“ATO really liked the acoustic platform for many of our songs and frankly, we really like playing acoustic as well because in that environment, it becomes more about the song than anything else.”
Baker says that while the band will be on tour in Europe during the East Coast Music Awards Week next month in Moncton, he is hoping to have the band back in the studio by fall to begin working on their next record. Though he is grateful for the opportunities that the band has been given, it is clear the he is anxious to get some new music out.
“We have been on the road supporting Seeds for quite some time,” he says. “I really can’t wait to get back into the studio to start work on a new record. I am writing music all the time so if I had my way, I would put out a new record every six months. We have had to learn to be patient because by the time you get your songs recorded and mixed and the marketing plans put together, quite a bit of time can lapse before the record is even released.”
Article published in the March 23, 2012 edition of The Times & Transcript