The Tourist Company, Saturday, Aug. 2 at 7:30 p.m. in John Lawson Park, part of West Vancouver's Harmony Arts Festival, Aug. 1-10. Free. harmonyarts.ca
Things couldn't have gone much better for the members of new band The Tourist Company, launched just over a year ago.
Forming in spring 2013, the band, comprised of North Shore residents Taylor Swindells, Jillian Levey and Brenon Parry, along with Abbotsford's Josué Quezada, has since released its debut album and an EP, and gone on their first tour. Other accolades include their being voted regional champion for Vancouver in CBC Music's Searchlight competition, and the most recent feather in their cap, they were named one of 12 bands in this year's The Peak Performance Project.
"We're just grateful for the opportunities that have come up. We couldn't have really anticipated the year going as it has. We're just really thankful to be where we are and excited to see what comes out of all of this too," says Swindells, a vocalist, guitarist and trumpet player with the band. The North Vancouver resident is further grateful for the support of his bandmates and from community members, important contributors to their continued success.
While music has always been a part of Swindells' life, as well as songwriting, it wasn't until January 2013 when he showed some of his songs to his future bandmates that things began to take off. Agreeing to help him record some tracks in the studio, they came to see their potential.
"As that process went along we realized, 'Hey, we should do something with this,' and we figured we should make a band of it," says Swindells.
The Tourist Company released its debut album Brother, Wake Up in spring 2013 and followed it up with Space Race, an EP, in May. Space Race was produced by singer-songwriter Jordan Klassen, thanks to an introduction by the band's friend and manager Alex Wyder.
"(Klassen has) been really great and really taught us a lot. He's just a brilliant mind musically and so it's been good to work with him," says Swindells. Klassen's influence is evident on the new EP, as well as that of fellow contributor Dan Klenner, a former member of Hey Ocean!
"Both of them really just helped us to start thinking outside of our genre a little bit and pushing our sounds and being a little more creative and really added to our thought process with recording and coming up with new lines and hooks in songs. Just working around them and seeing how they do things and what they brought to the table just matured our thought process a lot. We always want to be learning and growing, we never want to be stuck in one place musically. We're always looking to grow and expand and figure out new ways to try and get better at what we're doing," says Swindells.
The resulting Space Race has a more full and bigger sound than their debut, which they mainly produced themselves.
The Tourist Company's live shows are known for being upbeat and energetic.
"I think people go to a live show to enjoy them and to have fun. In our live show, we have a lot of fun creating what we do. We want to invite people into that as well. We hope that they're tapping along and bopping along with the songs that are more upbeat," says Swindells, adding they also write songs that are "not so dancey." "We try to incorporate all aspects of that into our set and so it's not like there's one thing happening all the time so it's really dynamic and flowing, and all the spectrums of what music can be," he says. The band has a busy tour schedule ahead of them this summer, including a hometown show at West Vancouver's Harmony Arts Festival, part of the Sunset Concert Series, Saturday, Aug. 2 at John Lawson Park. The festival is offering a host of music, art and food events along the West Vancouver waterfront from Aug. 1 to 10.
The Tourist Company will maintain a packed schedule into the fall due to their involvement in The Peak Performance Project. In B.C., the project is administered by Music B.C. Industry Association and is intended to help educate, promote, develop and launch the careers of promising talent.
"We're really excited. It's an honour to be included. The top 12 bands, this year, well every year, they're phenomenal. So to be considered among them, we're really humbled by that. The Peak is an opportunity to refine and get better at everything that we do. It's pretty rare that you have a panel of industry experts looking at what you're doing and critiquing it," says Swindells.
"It's going to be a big learning experience and a chance to get to the next level for us as a band with our sound and with how we're just operating and functioning as a band as well," he adds.
