Thousand Foot Krutch, a Canadian based Christian rock band, is touring the country, promoting their new album, The End Is Where We Begin. The band, composed of Trevor McNevan (lead vocals), Steve Augustine (drums), and Joel Bruyere (bass guitar), chose to release this album (their 6th!) without a label, and so far it has made quite a big impression with fans. Read on as the band talks about the decision to leave their label and release music independently, the creative ways in which they promoted their latest album, and what’s coming up next.
Without using any “conventional” genre words, describe your sound.
Uninhibited. BIG, ferocious and gentle.
Your latest album, The End Is Where We Begin, had an impressive debut, hitting number 5 on iTunes US and number 1 on iTunes Canada. Congratulations! What were some ways in which you generated hype leading up to the album release?
We’re independent now, so companies like TuneCore have helped play a big part in this. We were able to secure some great promotions on iTunes and other accounts with the help of TuneCore and their staff for the first 3 weeks of album release, and did a great pre-sale promotion through iTunes where the fans could get the single instantly. We also did video diaries, twitter incentives, a kickstarter campaign, and too many other things to mention. A huge thank you to everyone who’s supported us independently—we’re doing this together.
Now that the album’s out, how are you continuing to market and promote it? Are you making more video diaries while on the road?
We’ll continue to shoot videos and send shots from the road to keep everyone connected to what’s going on with the band. We did an incentive where if fans helped us debut in the top 20 overall on Billboard, we’d give them 2 free remixes of songs off the new record and they did it!! We debuted #14 overall, and the remixes are being done now! We’re keeping things fresh and want to keep finding new ways to connect with the people who support the band.
How important is social media in connecting with your fans?
When it comes to connecting, it’s EVERYTHING. When we started back in the day, we didn’t have any of that—it’s something we’ve had to adapt to and have embraced. It’s really incredible what you can do and how effective it can be if we communicate and work together. We have an incredible social media guy on our team who’s very cutting edge, so we keep current and try to stay ahead of the curve on that.
After releasing 5 albums through a label, you chose to release The End Is Where We Begin, independently. What inspired this change?
Haha yeah, it’s been a busy year! This wasn’t a decision we made lightly—we’ve been doing this a long time, and have been through and seen a lot. We had some great options and deals on the table, but really felt this was the right move for us. It was definitely a faith step we had to follow our hearts on. What some people don’t know is we were independent for a LONG time before signing with Tooth and Nail/EMI—we used to manage ourselves, book ourselves, hire our own radio/video, and everything in between. We ended up selling 80,000+ records out of our van. God is good! So we’re no stranger to getting our hands dirty! We’ve hired an incredible, passionate new team across the board, and couldn’t be more excited! It’s always been about that connection for us, so being able to grow this together with the people who support this band, is an incredible experience. We’re very thankful and excited for where we’re at—there are a lot of new possibilities.
How have you had to adjust as a band because of it?
It’s a change, and there are always ups and downs that come with transition, but overall it’s been a pretty natural progression. For the most part, we knew what we were getting into, and we have an incredible team—it’s very much a group effort. Couldn’t be more excited.
How does the sound/spirit of your new album differ from your others?
This record is a hybrid of sorts, in some ways it picks up where we left off, in others it goes back to our roots, and also steps into new territory. It’s the kind of record I love making, it’s got variety.
I saw you’re on tour all summer long. What’s your live show like?
Our live show is a big part of who we are as a band, it’s all or nothing when we’re together up there. It’s kind of like lighting the wick on a stick of dynamite. High Octane baby!!
So what can we look forward to next?
We hope to see everyone out there at fests this summer, and then we hop onto Rockstar Energy drink’s UPROAR tour in Aug/Sept w Shinedown/Staind/Godsmack, it’s gonna be nuts! We’re getting ready to shoot a video for “Let The Sparks Fly,” so watch for that. Thanks to all the good people at TuneCore for allowing bands like us to share our music!!
Download The End Is Where We Begin from iTunes