Canadian rock band, Across The Board, takes a pause during their Sonic Boom album release project to support Ovarian Cancer Canada with a brand new song She’s Listening and a 5 song EP with never-before published acoustic versions of some of their songs.
She’s Listening took its title from the project by the same name that brings female indie artists from across the country together for a collection of acoustic performances to promote ovarian cancer screening and education and to raise funds for Ovarian Cancer Canada.
Jacqueline Auguste and her life partner Andy Ramjattan (bass player for the band), founded the group in 2013 out of a desire to move their garage and back yard jams to social media. They created a popular cover webseries, Pick Up & Play now in its 5th season on Youtube, and decided to take their show on the road with the debut album Jane on Fire, released in June of 2016. Since then, Across The Board has played to sold-out crowds across Ontario, and from Newfoundland to Vancouver. Recipients of four international music awards for work on Jane on Fire and Amends, ATB is set to take off yet again on tour this spring and summer across Southern Ontario and into Quebec and the Maritimes with Sonic Boom. ATB is a 2018 Josie Music Awards nominee. Check out the single She’s Listening below!
We managed to catch up with the band as they talked about their latest release and more!
How has the release of She’s Listening gone down with fans so far?
The She’s Listening album release comes on the heels of our major full length album release SONIC BOOM in May of 2018. Had it not been for this special project “She’s Listening” we would not have worked to bring this project out so soon after our major record release. It’s been met with such amazing reviews and media exposure, fan interest and support of Ovarian Cancer Canada/
We’ve been fortunate to have had two amazing releases this spring—for SONIC BOOM, we played to a sold out crowd during one of Toronto’s worst wind storms ever—the venue had no power and went and collected two generators and completely rewired the sound set, stage, bar and club in order to house the event that night! We started only a few minutes late and still played to a full house in spite of car accidents, fallen trees and poles and ambulances scattered along the road to the club. We have amazing media coverage thanks to Michael Stover of MTS and we’re now embarking on a tour this summer with a fellow musician from Toronto, Jessica Speziale—powerhouse Canadian rocker who also recently released an album. The album, as a rock opera, provides a unique opportunity to share our music from a point of reference of a story—the concept of breaking a band and all the trials, tribulations, successes and failure that go along with that musical journey. The best part of all of this, is to have fans singing songs from our album back to us, commenting, sharing on social media and letting us know how they enjoy the music.
The “She’s Listening” release involved playing two shows in support of Ovarian Cancer Canada—one in Kitchener on June 3 and one in Toronto on May 31—both very successful shows which featured some of Canada’s top female indie artists. We were fortunate to bring Jessica Speziale on stage, and Tash Lorayne—who sings with Arkells—on stage with the band for a lovely trio of harmonies with our lead singer/songwriter Jacqueline Auguste. We created a CD with a theme song for the project, “She’s Listening” for which we did a video, and a 5 song EP using never-before released acoustic versions of some of our songs from our debut album Jane On Fire—all which you can find on our Bandcamp page at http://acrosstheboardmusic.bandcamp.com.
How much does the cause Ovarian Cancer Canada mean to you?
Ovarian Cancer Canada is an incredible organization that promotes screening and education for Canadian women on the most fatal women’s cancers. There is no early detection test for the disease and the signs and symptoms are hard to recognize. In Canada, we lose 5 women a day to ovarian cancer. Outcomes have not improved in over 50 years because investment in research has lagged behind that of other diseases. Ovarian Cancer Canada is the only national charity in Canada solely dedicated to overcoming ovarian cancer: a disease, which is often overlooked and underfunded. Efforts such as “She’s Listening” to support awareness campaigns, education programs, support services, and funding of research are crucial to fighting this deadly disease.
What’s your favourite track from the EP?
“She’s Listening” is the title song off the EP and calls to women and men to bring the conversation to the forefront—to support, educate, create opportunities for research. The song was written by our lead singer Jacqueline, and she performed all of the instruments on the track—guitars, bass, drums, and all vocals. It’s really a labor of love for her and the song turned out beautifully. Beyond this, we love “Barb’s Song” – originally written as a commissioned song for a friend who wanted to propose to his girlfriend on Valentine’s Day a couple of years ago. Written by Jacqueline as well, it features ones of our remote writing collaborators, Collin Campbell—a gospel singer from Arkansas.
If you could work with any band on a new song, who would it be and why?
We are excited by the Canadian band “Walk Off The Earth”—we love the way they have managed their career, as we have come from similar backgrounds—starting as a Youtube band and moving from there out into mainstream music. They have made some great moves on social media and in global promotions of their band, they write amazing music and they have an incredible chemistry as a band.
What was the first gig you ever went to?
The first gig as our band was at The Cameron House in Toronto, a 75 capacity room that we sold out in an hour. We had no idea how many people would want to come see us. As a Youtube band, coming out of the internet box into the real world, we were really not certain how many Toronto fans we had versus global fans. It’s an amazing room with fantastic sound and the show was incredible! To hear fans singing back our songs to us was absolutely fantastic! What an honor.
The first concert I ever attended (Jackie) was a Nazareth show in Edmonton Alberta Canada at the age of about 14. I barely remember it, but I do remember thinking that THIS was where I wanted to be when I grew up—on stages like that!
What’s the music scene like in Toronto at the moment?
The music scene in Toronto is vibrant and varied! Hundreds of venues from small clubs to large halls play live music of all genres from hip hop to jazz, country to rock—on any given night you could hit 4 or 5 different venues and catch some of the most fantastic Canadian bands and touring bands from the States and other countries. We have several major music festivals in and around Toronto each year, including Canadian Music Week, Field Trip, Echo Beach and more.
What do you get up to in your spare time when not working on music?
When no working on music, we love sports—we love to ski, boat and fish. We have a small cottage about an hour from Toronto where we hang out, relax, hold writing workshops, child with family and friends.
What’s it like being a 2018 Josie Music Awards nominee?
We are so excited! This is the first Josie Music Awards nomination for us. We re clearning up our schedule to come down to Dollywood for the ceremony and to check out Tennessee! We are so honored to have been nominated for three Josie Awards and it’s so motivating to know that our music has been considered for such a prestigious and important independent music award!!