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By KRYS GRANDMOND
Staff Writer

A Juno nomination, a #1 rock single, a top 10 music video, a cross-Canada tour with the hottest rock band in the country and these guys are just starting out.

Independent rock band, The Trews, are quite possibly the single most successful indie group in Canadian history. For real.

And if that's not enough, they're probably the most down to earth, too. I had a chance to sit down with singer Colin MacDonald and drummer Sean Dalton before their show at Thorold club, The Moose & Goose.

The Trews have recently completely a country-wide tour that brought them from their homeland on the Eastern coast of our country, to the hometown of Roadrunner superstars and headlining act, Nickelback. Sean filled me in on what it's like to be on tour with the world-reknown artists.

"It was intense, it was fantastic, those guys were unbelievable people," he says. "And it really gave us a chance to go out there and play in front of large crowds that we'd normally never never get to play in front of. Chad Kroeger threw us a party the last night of the tour. Those guys, Nickelback, are some of the finest Canadian gentlemen we've had a chance to meet."

While he says that they were treated good, he didn't seem to expect it from Nickelback. "Our record sales are completely uncomparable to those guys. We're just a small band and they treated us like we were just as important to that tour as anything else. Made us feel real good."

And what about a Juno nomination? Caught up in the midst of new Canadian bands like Three Days Grace, Billy Talent, the Dears and Lillix, the Trews nomination was enough for the band.

"We were just happy to be included with everybody," says Dalton. "It was a great roster of bands, we're buddies with Three Days Grace, we toured with them the last few months. We were just happy to be part of a bunch of great Canadian artists who were up and coming."

On top of the tour and nominations, the band has been experiencing a multitude of other successes, including a top 10 video on MuchMusic's weekly countdown. I asked the guys what they thought it was going to do in the following week's list.

"Guaranteed number one," says MacDonald.

"We didn't know it was gonna get this far," adds the modest drummer, "so we're actually really happy that it did. Hopin it's gonna keep climbing."

And if you're not jealous yet, wait till you hear what else happened in the same week!

"Everything's just kind of fluke with us," says Dalton, about the recent accomplishments of the band. "It's just like, we work really hard for every bit of ground we gain as a live band. But in terms of the industry right now, i mean like "Not Ready To Go" went to number one in rock radio this week. We had no idea that was going to happen. It was on the charts for 6 months, and we're just this little fuckin rock band and all of a sudden, we're the number one single in the country. It was like 'wow, that's pretty cool' you know?"

But the first time the guys heard their songs on the radio was a different experience altogether. Relaxing in a summer home with friends, the singer admits they turned it up.

"It was really cool the first time," says MacDonald. "We won the Rock Search here with 97.7 and they played Fleeting Trust like, 2 years ago, and that was played all summer and it was getting a good response so it just kept getting played."

"It was kind of an exciting thing. Now we turn it off," laughs his bandmate as he thinks of the changes throughout time. Now, listening to a song on the radio could cause a lot of second-guessing in their position. "It's like any artist. They never like what they do. The best painters in the world hate their best paintings and the rest of the world loves them."

"If you look at it too much you'll lose it," adds MacDonald. "There's a certain amount of refinement that goes into any work of art, but if you overdo it, you're just gonna ruin it 'cause you'll get away from your original inspiration."

"I'm gettin kinda worried that people are gonna start to really hate it," says MacDonald, fearing the recent radio push may turn people off. "I know what radio does to songs. I mean, without radio we would be not nearly as far as we are. But I know that radio definitely takes a song that starts to work and it plays it four or five times a day. Sometimes ten times a day, and eventually people get pretty sick of it."

But he admits that it helps, "Because without that kind of radio push, we wouldn't be getting the 300, 400 people that are comin out to the shows right now and hearing all the other stuff we got. So you need it."

"With us as a band, too, we know we've got a lot of different things to offer," says Dalton. He adds that sometimes, listeners just need a "slap in the face" to get out to the shows.

"So this might be the slap in the face and once they get there, they can decide what they like. If they don't like the song, well at least they're gonna come out to hear it and maybe they'll hear something else that they'll think is really cool."

The guys were also featured on Much On Demand, a high-profile show that features artists and bands from around the world with a live audience, interview, and often, a live performance (much like MTV's TRL). While the band has experienced a lot of media attention over the last while, Dalton admits he was still nervous.

"I kinda was, just cause I was thinking about the performance. Apparently they said it was really good. Yeah it was fun."

"People screaming behind you and people interviewing you," adds MacDonald about the entire experience. "And there's people you're used to watching on t.v and all of a sudden you're there thinking 'Am I really here right now?' Not because you're starstruck, but because you're trying to get your head around something like that after a performance. It was cool."

So how did they do it? With no major label backing them and really only a manager calling the shots, how did the Trews become such a huge success?

"We just work really really hard," says MacDonald. "We always have. Right now it's just been working really hard touring across Canada, back and forth. We're constantly on the go. It's a lot of personal sacrifice. It hasn't always been like this."

"These guys, before I joined the band," says Dalton, "these guys toured around Nova Scotia for 5, 6 years. It wasn't like any of us woke up and just said 'Hey man, you know what? Nickelback want us to tour with them.' No. We fought tooth and nail."

MacDonald says the band never wanted to network their way to success. "And you can quote me on this," he says. "We never wanted to network our way to the top, we wanted to play our way to the top. That was our creed. We never wanted to go out there and meet all the right guys and come up with the perfect band logo and get the right haircuts and everybody dress the same and invite the certain reps to your gigs. No. We were like, let's just keep playing our asses off. We found a great manager who believed in the same thing we did, which is let's do this through the music. And we just let people come to us."

"If you want it, work for it," says the drummer, with his bandmate quickly adding, "Fight the good fight."

And what about fan support? The Trews admit that it's through their fans they've been able to book the shows and peak media attention.

"It's the only thing that's been consistent so far in the last three years," says Dalton. "We've had the same two people coming out in the beginning when we first moved up here. The same two people are standing in front, but there's a few more standing behind them."

"That's what it comes down to too," adds MacDonald. "The fans have to realise their power. Don't just go to whatever the media is telling you to go to. Try to seek out what you really like and what you think is a good time and what you really think expresses your sense of who you are. Go and support it with all you have."

And the Trews' fans have done just that.

"We've been lucky to find people that seem to really think what we're doing is good regardless whether we're opening for Nickelback or playing Mermaid's Lounge to 100 people. They're not fairweather fans."

Check out the Trews official website at www.thetrewsmusic.com for tour information and recent news! Their new single is coming soon! Are you ready for it??