BReview Fix chats with Pretty Archies’ Colin AP Gillis, who discusses the band’s origin, goals
Review Fix:How did the band get together?
Colin AP Gillis: Pretty Archie is a group of friends that have known each other for a long time, In the summer of 2011 we all basically abandoned what we were currently doing and decided to move to Cape Breton Nova Scotia where we all grew up to pursue a music career. We had played together for years around the fire or in the kitchen and we loved the idea of putting that party feeling into a show and into our music.
Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?
Gillis: We have written songs in various set ups but typically it boils down to someone coming with an idea that they’ve written some lyrics for, then we try and decide between us and our sounds how to direct the song musically. so take our song No one to Blame, It is about losing a friend or loved one and realizing that there’s no one to blame life happens so enjoy the time we have. So with that idea we knew it would be a slower more serious song. Then Colin came up with a guitar part that made it sound like a country song. and before you know it the song takes shape.
Review Fix: What makes “Stay the Same†a special track?
Gillis: Stay the Same is a special track for us because of the message in the lyrics. moving away ,Touring around , Life in General can separate us Stay the Same is about meeting up with an old friend you haven’t seen in while and even though time has passed you can still pick up right where you left off and there are some things that never change.
Review Fix: How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you?
Gillis: We have been calling it Sea-Billy Rock lately LOL Its like Great Big Sea meets the Old crow medicine show ~ We have some low down raunchy country sounds from the electric guitar then we have some quick picked up beat traditional sound from the mandolin, The vocals meet in the middle of soul country and blues. Its best to just Stream or download Hanging On And give it a listen then you can decide for yourself!
Review Fix: How are your live shows different from your studio work?
Gillis: We have a lot of fun at our live shows. The energy the crowd singing along it cant really be replicated on a record, at the same time we love the studio albums. You can really pick every spot apart and make the song exactly the way you want it and all in all we love both but the live show is where you really get what we are about.
Review Fix: What are your goals for 2019?
Gillis: 2019 has been amazing to us so far, we played in the U.k Had a great show at Celtic Connections in Scotland. Released our latest record and are headed out across Canada again at the end of the summer so at this point our goals are just to bring it every night and keep working hard , writing and performing and making some new fans.
Review Fix: What’s next?
Gillis: We are always looking for new opportunities to share our music and our stories, we are writing new songs and working on expanding our audience . We have a few great shows coming up -The ECMAS and the Calgary Stampede and we also have a great team working hard to get us booked all over the world so life is good we are just trying to make it happen!
Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add?
Gillis: You can check out our website for any concert details , www.prettyarchie.com you can also follow us on face book and instagram @prettyarchieband and have a listen to our new record Hanging On on apple music or Spotify.
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