By 
Here’s an interview I did recently for Montreal Rampage, with Andrew Exchanger of Seaway. Reprinted here with permission.
Seaway, the pop punk band from Oakville, Ontario, was named by Alternative Press as one of “100 Bands You Need to Know”. They have just embarked on a cross country tour of Canada that will lead them to Montreal on July 5th for a headlining concert at La Vitrola. I had the opportunity to chat with guitarist Andrew Exchanger about the band and the tour.
Montreal Rampage: What have you been up to recently?
Andrew Exchanger: We’ve been off for a little over a month now. So we’ve just been hanging out at home with our friends and family, doing summer stuff, getting some new song ideas together, and getting ready for this Canadian tour!
MR: Your latest album “Colour Blind” got some decent chart numbers for you. Did you feel it was a sort of breakthrough for the band?
AE: Yeah, we feel that it was a really important release for the band. It’s been received really well and the response at our shows has been great so far. We can’t wait to play these songs across Canada for the first time this July.
MR: Have you started working on new material for a follow up?
AE: We’re just starting to get some ideas together at this point. We’re also talking about what we want to do and where we want to go as a band with the next record. We’ll be diving head first into the writing process in the coming months though.
MR: What are the band’s main musical influences?
AE: They’re always changing for us. Anything from the obvious ones like Blink and Weezer to straight pop artists like Carly Rae Jepsen and Taylor Swift to 90’s alt rock and pop like Alanis Morissette and Barenaked Ladies. Basically anything with strong melody.
MR: You’re blending pop with punk. Are you finding it hard to connect with fans who might have a more purist view of punk?
AE: Yeah I definitely feel like we’ve maybe lost some of our older fans because we’ve kind of shifted away from the punk side of things toward the pop side. But that’s what we like to play and I feel like we’ve gained fans from that as well.
MR: What’s a Seaway show like? What can the Montreal fans expect?
AE: We just try to have a really good time on stage and encourage the crowd to do the same. If both of those things are happening, the show is bound to be a good time. Just dance.
MR: Have you played Montreal before? If so, any particular memories of the city you’d like to share?
AE: We’ve played Montreal a few times but my favourite was probably Pouzza Fest in 2013. Our set was terrible and there were like three people there but we partied hard and had a great time.
MR: What’s the weirdest gig you’ve ever played? Best ever gig?
AE: One of the weirdest gigs we’ve ever played was opening for A Day To Remember in Jacksonville, North Carolina, which is in the middle of nowhere and has one of the biggest army bases in the states. No one knew who we were and it was cool to play in front of like 800 people for the first time but during ADTR’s set there was all these army dudes acting like fools and hitting girls and it was just a really fucked up situation. Best show was probably the Leeds show at Slam Dunk fest last year in the U.K. Massive.
MR: You’ll be crossing Canada with 14 shows in 17 days. How do you prepare for such a tour, with all the driving involved?
AE: There’s going to be a lot of driving involved but we’ve done some pretty stupid 18 hour drives through the states before so I think we’ll be fine. We haven’t driven across Canada much and we know it’s beautiful so we’re just excited to be able to do it.
Seaway will play La Vitrola on July 5th with Coldfront and Rarity. Tickets can be purchased here.
He's also a regular contributor at the excellent news site Montreal Rampage
- I bought one of those music Advent Calendars so you wouldn’t have to. - December 5, 2021
- The Music Addict’s Band Name Challenge - October 11, 2021
- Book review: Rainbow in the Dark: The Autobiography – Ronnie James Dio - September 24, 2021