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By KRYS GRANDMOND
Staff Writer

We can never stress enough the large amount of incredible talent coming from Canada in recent years. Not only from our great country, but from our small towns and cities as well.

Let's go back to the year 2000 for a minute.

While the new wave of great Canadian rock bands were just starting to shake the scene around the world, High Holy Days, the newest addition to Roadrunner Records' roster of superstars, was just getting together.

In a little town in Northern Ontario, the four-piece rock band jammed at every bar and venue they could get. Vocalist Marc Arcand, bassist Jeremy Galda, guitarist Billy MacGregor and drummer Jason Guindon had come together to create a band that was desitined to go places.

Fastforward to May 15th, 2004. Sitting in a van parked outside of Thorold's most popular nightspot, The Moose & Goose, I asked the guys what made things happen so fast for them.

"I try to think, when was the time we took it seriously? Because that's essentially what happened," says Arcand. "When you take it completely seriously, you try to jam every day, and you try to get every gig and every interview that you possibly can. That's when you can start making it. A lot of bands I think, maybe don't necessarily always bring it to a certain level, you know what I mean? Until one day they're like, 'Okay, well let's really just give 'er now.' And that's usually what puts you on the top ... Besides writing good music."

North Bay, Ontario is a town known for their summer Heritage Festival, a gig that High Holy Days is booked for this year. But as an independent band, the guys had to jam at every bar in town to get exposure. As a town that appreciates cold beer and live music, it seems a perfect place to get a gig every night.

"The town's love for booze made sure there was always a crowd in the bars," says MacGregor. "Everyone always says the fans in North Bay are so great cause they stick around right to the end of the show, they're just waiting for last call."

But the bar gigs and basement practises were essential. The four men had just come together and it was still difficult to make some things fit an overall picture.

"I fit well between the washer and the dryer, I remember that," says Galda in a humourous tone.

"We yelled at each other really efficiently, you know, and that's very important when you're in a band," adds MacGregor. "Like every other walk in life, you're dealing with different people, you're never really on the same page. We got the same goal though, which is cool. That's been a good foundation to work from."

So they've got the foundation, they've got the fans, and they've got the gig spaces. But what about the first time they ever jammed together?

"It was the first time I was on stage in front of anybody, and these guys were opening up for Wide Mouth Mason," says MacGregor. "I didn't know the whole set list, I still don't. So I jumped up half way into it and there was about 500 people in the bar that night. It was killer. I remember looking out and seeing all those people in the place and thinking 'This is cool! This is something I could do'."

Canadian Music Week in Toronto is a favourite gig among many indie bands. My question was why.

"We've played it every year for the last few years," says Guindon.

MacGregor clears up a misconception about the event: "Canadian Music Week is a wicked party. As a band though, like, as an indie band goin 'Oh we're goin to CMW and it's going to be everything for us!' -- no. That's just not the way it goes."

"The parties are awesome, but no one's gonna get a record deal at CMW," adds Guindon.

But exposure is enough and throughout the past four years, these guys have been doing everything they could for it. It seems to have worked in their favour. With a newly released album in stores across the country, a video on Muchmusic and extensive radio play of their first single, it's no wonder there's bands opening for THEM now.

"We're still brand new on the scene. We don't think that there's anything super-special now. We're gonna grind our way from coast to coast. We're gonna put out more and more songs," says the band's frontman.

MacGregor adds that when headlining your own tour, "Even if there's only 100 people, or 30 people that show up, they've shown up to see YOUR band. They've shown up to see us and that's a really cool feeling. It's like, bingo, these are our fans. It's great we're fortunate enough to get on a tour with a bigger band, play in front of huge crowds, and the reception is there, we play well. But even if there's only 30 of our fans, they own our albums they know the lyrics, and they're up in the front singin and shit, that's really cool, I like that a lot."

As a signed, successful band, High Holy Days, even though they're just starting out, are in a great position to offer some advice to our local (and not so local) independent bands.

"Keep pluggin' away," says MacGregor. "Don't wait for the record labels. We did not wait around for A&R guys. We did not. We called them. 'We're playing here tonight, come see our band'. Constantly. Constantly. We did it all the time."

"And try to get your shit on the radio before you worry about a record deal," adds Arcand. "Seriously starting your own distribution system regionally. If you can get 3 radio stations, 3 record stores carrying your shit, and one other band to play every fucking gig in town with you, and draw 100 people to all three towns and you do it in a cycle of, a month and a half."

"How to Break an Indie Band, by Marc Arcand!" (For the record, Billy MacGregor is one of the funniest fuckin people you'll ever meet)

So, Billy, what's next for High Holy Days?

"Uh, soundcheck!"

You can check out the band's tour schedule and other info at their official website: www.highholydays.ca. If you can catch them live, do it! And when you do, e-mail me your review!