When Canadian Music Week pops the top off the nation's largest music festival on the nation's annual calendar, The Statistics will be waiting in the wings.
The local punk-pop duo is one of only about 15 bands from B.C. to get into the coveted mega-event, which runs in Toronto from May 2 to 8. The Statistics are comprised of brothers Erin and Darby Yule and they got the news over the long weekend that they were one of the chosen few who get their own performance showcase.
"It's basically the hunting ground for record labels and booking agents to spot new talent," said Erin. "Really major Canadian bands have all played there, and the keynotes are all massive names in the industry. Last year it was Quincy Jones and this year it's Eddie Kramer, the classic engineer for the stars."
Canadian Music Week is much more than just a festival. It is an all-encompassing eruption of show-business. Some of the headliners playing for the sake of entertainment include X Ambassadors, Bob Mould, Cheatahs, Coleman Hell, Royal Wood, The Black Lips and many more.
There is a conference focused on telling the most cutting edge stories of the recording, marketing, touring and career-building parts of music industry. Built into it is a digital media summit, a radio conference, and a film component.
And for more than 100 up-and-coming bands, though, there is also a series of showcases to show established industry professionals and superfans alike what the next wave of Canadian culture sounds like.
The Statistics are part of that, and they get to piggyback their performance slot into being there for all the learning and networking.
Darby said getting the green light from the organizers was like a blaze of affirmation that all their hard work - a lifelong pursuit of instrument practice, songwriting, studio time and driving the highways of Western Canada - was not in vain. High-calibre music analysts had just patted them on the back.
"It is a huge opportunity and we're looking at it like an honour to be chosen and a responsibility to make the most of this, because true breaks in this business are few and we want to make the most of this one we've been given," he said.
They are looking at how they might get a chance to play some gigs in the region, since they'll be travelling halfway across the continent anyway.
They are also booking studio time for a special project that will elevate their careers all the more.
"It will be the biggest week in our careers," Darby said. "We also get to work with Cone McCaslin from Sum 41. When he's not doing the band thing with them, he produces a lot of cool acts and somehow we convinced him to work with us, too."
(They had a credible mutual friend do some vouching, too.)
"We sent him our last EP and a demo of the song we're wanting to record with him. He has been seriously supportive ever since, and one of the nicest guys I've ever met in the music industry, and a bit of a titan in our side of the music world," Darby said.
Erin said the application process for getting into any music festival takes some work, but CMW was even more so.
"It's a little more intense," he said.
"You have to include your social media, write an essay, submit songs and pictures and at least one video, map out your tour plans for the year... It's quite rigorous, which is cool."
