When Vancouver-based experimental pop band We Are The City found out that they were the winners of the Peak Performance Project five years ago, it changed their lives forever.
“When it happened we were completely blown away and could not believe it,” said drummer Andrew Huculiak.
Since being crowned winners of the 2010 contest, Huculiak along with bandmates Cayne McKenzie and David Menzel have released multiple records, tour abroad and had experiences that they never could have imagined when they formed as a band back in 2006.
“We have been able to tour the world,” Huculiak said. “We have been able to continue to make albums and we have, what I think, is a solid industry family.”
On Thursday (May 14) We Are The City will be performing a free show at the Port Theatre with openers Gold and Shadow and The Wild Romantics.
The show was organized by the Port Theatre’s Youth Arts Initiative, a newly created group of young adults who were tasked with booking and organization a live performance.
Huculiak said the band is thrilled to have been invited.
“It all just seems really good positive and that is a plus for us,” Huculiak said. “We are just excited to be in that environment.”
The Vancouver-based trio recently released their fourth record, Violent.
“It is a bit of a sonic roller coaster,” Huculiak said. “It is loud and it is quite and at times it is aggressive and at other times it is quite melodic.”
In addition to the record, Huculiak wrote and directed a full-length film of the same name. The film, which was shot mostly in Norway and stars Dagny Backer Johnsen, features music from the album.
“It is a story about a young woman who is sort of facing a catastrophe in her life,” Huculiak said.
Violent premiered in 2014 at the Cannes Film Festival and has since screened at the Vancouver International Film Festival, where it took home Best Canadian Film and Best British Columbia Film honours.
“We had not the highest hopes for it, but we obviously put a lot of heart into it and it has gone on to live its own life,” Huculiak said.
Following their performance in Nanaimo, We Are The City, who have plans for a new record, will head out on a European tour through Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany and the United Kingdom.
Huculiak says the 2010 Peak Performance Project win presented the band with a lot of opportunities that it might not have otherwise had.
“We’ve just continued on and I would like to think that winning the contest has a lot to do with that,” he said.
We Are The City plays at the Port Theatre at 7 p.m. To attend the concert, please book tickets online at www.porttheatre.com or by calling 250-754-8550.
For more information on We Are The City, please visit www.wearethecity.ca or follow them @WeAreTheCity on Twitter.
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