The Northwest originated in summer of 2013 – a band comprised of seasoned Sault Ste. Marie punk and indie scene musicians that decided they weren’t quite ready to call it a day yet. A debut 4-song EP came shortly. After a handful of solo shows as well as some high profile opening slots for like likes of Gob, Poor Young Things and Kalle Mattson, they entered the CBC Searchlight contest and came in first in the region for their song “Young & Wild”.
2018 saw release of their second EP ‘Songs from 2015 to 2017’ and further honed in their sound. In July 2019 they were chosen to headline the Friday night second stage slot at the Rock on the River Festival in Timmins ON along side The Trews and festival headliner The Sheepdogs. With their wide, heavy-hitting, 3-guitar, all-systems-go energy – rocked the river they did.
In late 2019 they were awarded an Ontario Arts Council Grant to record a 3rd EP – to be released in 2022 ‘ALL IN’ is their most polished and produced release yet. Their debut single ‘Long Hair (Longer Nights)’ outpaced everything else they have released in the first weekend and was featured on Hockey Night in Canada! Two more singles will be released before the album drops on June 10th 2022.
Link to the latest music
https://lnk.to/TNWShoreline
Where are you based?
Ontario, Canada
How long have you been making music?
The Northwest have been together for nearly 10 years. We had all been in the music scene for a while prior to this band and once we got together, we knew something clicked.
What genre would you consider your music to be?
I always just say rock and roll – there’s several subgenres we could fit into like Alt Rock, Indie Rock, Heartland Rock, it varies from song to song even, but it always comes down to big guitars and drums with strong vocal hooks – which is what rock and roll has always been about.
What inspired you to pursue a career in music?
We really just like to jam and cut loose together – it’s more about us wanting to make people feel the way music makes us feel.
What are your biggest musical influences?
The Gaslight Anthem, Tom Petty, Jimmy Eat World, Bruce Springsteen, Weezer
Are you signed to a label or are you an independent artist?
Independent artist but we are looking for a label!
What have been the biggest challenges in your music career?
The COVID-19 pandemic was a hurdle – we are a live band and need to feed off each others energy, even at rehearsal. Not being able to jam was challenging and Zoom meetings/Acoustic Facebook covers weren’t cutting it so we turned to cloud-based recording software to bounce ideas around. It was important because we had a deadline to meet for the recording!
How many songs or albums have you released to date?
We have released two EPs prior to our newest release ‘ALL IN’ – will be available on all streaming platforms on June 10th.
Can you tell us a few things about your latest release?
We had received a recording grant in late 2019 to go and started writing right away, the pandemic hit and we adjusted. The album was produced by Dustin Goodall and Bill Priddle (Treble Charger, Broken Social Scene) in the Fall and Winter of 2021 and our first single ‘Long Hair (Longer Nights)’ was released in April. The second single ‘Shoreline’ was released in May and both songs were featured on Hockey Night in Canada during NHL games. We honestly believe this is our best work to date and hope everyone will check it out and enjoy!
Any plans for new music or upcoming projects we should know about?
We really just plan to promote this new release by playing as many shows as possible – keeping busy with music is always very inspiring to us and new songs just come to us when we are living the dream!
