The Junction gets TV time

As anyone born in the 1970s or early-to mid-’80s may be able to attest to, there was a time when MuchMusic actually played music videos, believe it or not.

Unlike the MuchMusic of today that fills its prime-time slots with drama and tween programming, the station was often at the forefront of Canadian music culture, making stars of dozens upon dozens of bands.

And while MuchMusic still does dedicate a portion of their programming to music videos, the station’s video play list is considerably smaller today than years past, making any video play a coup of sorts.

Thus it is even more special that MuchMusic, along with its sister station MuchMoreMusic has picked up the newest video by Ontario rock trio The Junction for airplay. The band’s song Level With Me was added into rotation on both video stations, giving the group an enviable leg up on many of its counterparts.

The band performs next Thursday, Feb. 17, at Plan B on St. George Street in Moncton.

So how did this cunning trio get MuchMusic on their side? Junction member Matt Jameson credits luck and supporters at the video station.

“Just last week, we got to walk our video into MuchMusic and had them add it into rotation,” he says. “They are definitely behind us and seemingly have our backs at this point, it is great.”

The fact that his group managed to land such a coveted spot is not lost on Jameson. He admits that it wasn’t until his college days that he got to experience MuchMusic for himself but certainly recognizes the importance that the station can play in helping build a success story for any given band.

“There is no doubt that they are playing less in the way of music videos these days so that helps make them picking up our video to be included in the realm of videos they are playing that much more special.”

The Junction’s most recent effort, Another Link In The Chain, was released in July 2009. Jameson says that the band is currently in the process of writing songs for their next release. He says the group intends to enlist the production services of Gus Van Go for their next album. Van Go, who has also produced records by the likes of The Stills, The Trews and Priestess, was also at the production helm of the band’s 2009 effort, playing what Jameson considers a key part in helping ensure that their material was world-class.

“When we were considering producers for the last record, we really wanted to bring someone in that could give input.

“It was a pretty key part of the process to ensure that the songs that were going to make the cut of the record were up to 100 per cent quality before we even started tracking the material.”

With studio time for the group’s next full-length effort booked for August, Jameson says that he, along with band mates Michael Taylor and Brent Jackson, are hoping to have the record released in October.

“We want to get the record out as soon as possible but would really like to avoid releasing it in the winter if we can. We have found that when the weather starts to get nicer, everyone just seems to be so much happier.

“October is our target date for releasing the record but if it so happens that the timeline is too tight, I think we would be inclined to just wait the winter out and release it in 2012.”

Article published in February 11, 2011 edition of the Times & Transcript