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The Overcast: You’re heading out on a 5-month tour with an organization called Live Different. Tell us about Live Different and how this tour came together.

Matthew Dines: Live Different is a Canadian charity that aims to inspire positive change in today’s society, one person at a time. They believe that change can happen in our society through the actions and choices of each person. While they have many programs ranging from educational seminars to mission trips to third world countries, we’re involved in putting off a series of motivational presentations in schools across Canada. These presentations include live music (us!), lights, motivational speakers, videos, and more. Essentially it’s a rock show with a bigger purpose. We got involved with Live Different by applying for a one of their previous tours, which didn’t happen to work out for us. They stayed in contact and after a few months of courting, both sides decided that it was a good fit.

Where does the tour start and end? Looking forward to anything in particular about the tour?

The tour is made up of a series of shorter runs across Central and Eastern Canada, based out of Hamilton. We’ll be staying in Ontario most of February, then heading west as far as Winnipeg. We’ll then come back to Hamilton before going east to Nova Scotia, and then finally returning to Hamilton in June. As a musician, I’m looking forward to waking up every morning to play to a brand new audience and growing our fan base. As a band member I’m excited to spend time with my best friends while we have an adventure driving across the country, making some memories and having a few laughs! Most importantly, I’m looking forward to spreading hope and a positive message to thousands of kids, and hopefully being a positive role model for them.

Congrats on all the success — Scope’s Band of the year, Music NL Pop/rock group of the year, etc. Any personal highlights for you?

Thanks for the kind words! While this year was a very busy one for us, my personal highlight would be this year’s Music NL Awards. Not only did we have the honour of playing during the awards gala, but winning Pop/Rock Group of the year was something very special. I really appreciate and cherish the positive feedback that we get from our friends, family, and fans, but being chosen as the best in the province by our fellow musicians is a great honour! As a young musician I look up to many of our local established acts, and to even have our name in the same class as them is incredible to me.

When can we we expect the new album? Got a title for it yet?

We finished up tracking the album this month, and it’s currently off for mixing and mastering. We’ll be taking our time with the release to make sure that we can make the most of it when it finally drops, but right now we’re aiming for March. While we will be on the road then, hopefully we’ll be able to put together a big CD release show in St. John’s when we get back in June. The record is yet untitled but I can tell you that it is seven tracks: our single “Here’s To Us” plus six brand new ones. One of these tracks may or may not include a co-write and guest vocals by our producer Chris Kirby … you’ll have to listen to find out!