ASCENDIA began out with Prog electricity, then took the electricity lower back and made a number of their maximum memorable tune to date. Coming from Toronto’s heavy tune scene, the band drew first from what they and their friends grew up on – “Black Sabbath, Dio, Kiss and symphonic steel like Nightwish,” explains guitarist John Love. As their tastes broadened, their tune went thru a metamorphosis.
John and his more youthful brother, Billy (drums) integrate because the songwriting engine for the trio that still consists of adolescence friend, vocalist Nick Sakal. The push and pull among the very extraordinary siblings creates songs with Billy’s excessive energy / ardour and John’s introspection / intensity – the first-rate of each worlds. With Nick’s warm, expressive vocal style, the songs are added to lifestyles withinside the maximum proper way.
Billy (@billylovebaby on TikTok) thrills his fanatics through health hints with mindset and kills his haters with hilarity – the use of his gregarious nature and actually prevailing persona to acquire a following of near 200k at the app. As his brother rose to TikTok influencerdom, John became doing in-intensity studies into the brand new lane their greater industrial sound landed them in. “I became paying attention to three Days Grace, Breaking Benjamin and Sevendust. Sevendust has this sonic layering this is incredible… every of those bands had some thing to educate us.” Billy explains why his brother is his first-rate feasible collaborator “I am experimental, I attempt everything. John tethers me to Ascendia’s purpose – he maintains us from floating out into space.”
The trio has spent a lot in their lives collectively that they have got a musical shorthand. Nick’s writing function has grown thru the assist of the “Pain Sheets” that the band created all through recording and shared withinside the studio. Bringing his personal ‘pain’ into songs like “This War” and “Parasite” thru the procedure felt like “band therapy,” he explains. It made his connection all of the greater deep and palpable.
Combining what they found out from industrial rock contemporaries with factors they favored of Country and Pop songs, ASCENDIA has created a frame of labor as a way to spread upon a couple of listens. Early listener comparisons to Linkin Park and Nothing More bode nicely for the band participants who're fanatics of each bands. “I do not like being as compared to different bands due to the fact every body brings some thing extraordinary to the table,” says Billy. “I get it, due to the fact you need to have a relative scale of some thing to evaluate it to. BUT, when you have to evaluate us to bands, the ones are extremely good ones!”
After spending their adolescence afternoons at Long & McQuade (Canada’s solution to Guitar Center) gambling different bands’ songs, they determined to shape a band in their own. Billy admits having to railroad Nick into being withinside the band, however the ends justified his means. “When we had been teenagers, John and Billy entered us right into a Battle of the Bands with out telling me,” explains Nick. “I became so fearful after I located out and I couldn’t accept as true with I became going to stand up in the front of all the ones human beings for our first display ever, however we WON. The feeling of being onstage grew on me, obviously.”
Big fanatics of cinema and movie scores, the brothers went to look GODZILLA withinside the theater. One of the trailers earlier than the movie had an epic, ascending score. Billy cautioned to John they possibly consist of the phrase ASCEND withinside the call of the band. ASCENDIA followed. Prior to the modern-day new release of the band as a 3-piece there had been greater participants. The trio is preserving matters tight with the band roster this time round due to the fact “there may be such an same contribution from every of the 3 of us,” explains Billy. “To upload any other band member they might must deliver some thing large to the mix. At this stage, we can discover a traveling bassist while we hit the road.”
The love is same for traveling and studio paintings for Billy. “Of path I love the adrenaline rush of performing, however the motive why I am in tune (after having studied enterprise in University) is the excessive of writing a extremely good hook. There is not anything like it.” Nick loves traveling – journey and tune being dual passions of his, “and it's miles an advantage that I get to do it with my first-rate friends.” John concludes “The procedure of writing isn’t exquisite enjoyable. It is packed with roadblocks and frustrations… however you can’t beat the sensation of whilst you realize you ‘ve struck gold. When that takes place a sense of pleasure overcomes me and rings a bell in my memory why I love tune a lot.”
Episode available here : https://www.meetmeforcoffee.co/ascendia/
www.ascendiamusic.com
listen to their music on spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/album/1NexU6JAL9V1ZQMJ7HU5tp?si=n2OmA3uBR6qQpwH9FV84RQ
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