Three-year-old band Neon Dreams is suddenly playing with the big boys.
Members of the Halifax-based pop-electronica group were thrilled — and rather shocked — to be chosen one of the Top 3 bands in a competition held by the Juno Awards/CARAS (Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences).
“It was pretty incredible,” said DJ Corey LeRue, of winning a spot in the coveted Allan Slaight Juno Master Class.
More than 100 acts from across the country had applied for the chance to go to the one-week workshop in Toronto. While the Neon Dream musicians — who perform on Thursday, Nov. 10, at Cowboys Nightclub in Red Deer — thought it would be an amazing opportunity, they didn’t think they would climb to the top of the pack.
“It seemed too far-fetched,” said LeRue — until they made the short list. Then he realized his band, which mixes recorded electronica music with live instrumentation — could actually do this.
The artist development program is focused on helping up-and-coming acts get on the fast track to compete for Juno Awards. Industry leaders and other artists will act as mentors to assist bands to reach their full potential. Neon Dreams will share the masterclass experience with The Lytics from Winnipeg and Youngblood from Vancouver, ending with a showcase performance for the music industry.
All three groups will then go to the Junos in Ottawa next year and perform during Juno-fest. Neon Dreams is getting $10,000 to film a music video that will be shown on MuchMusic.
LeRue said the musicians are, meanwhile, working very hard to expand their fan-base by getting their tunes on more than 40 TV placements (shows ranging from Keeping Up With The Kardashians to Silicon Valley) and touring in Western Canada for the second time in three months.
The band that last passed through Alberta in August is back again this fall, promising to get audiences dancing.
Neon Dreams recently released the seven-track EP, To You, and entered the top 40 on radio charts with the first single, Marching Bands, featuring Canadian rapper (and record producer) Kardinal Offishall. The group members met Offishall through a mutual friend a while ago, “and we thought it was time we worked him into a song,” said LeRue. “We made this song and thought he would be a good fit for it.”
Tunes on the EP are pretty much all relationship-based, but allow room for interpretation, said LeRue, who noted that while Wallpaper was written about a loved one who died, it could also be about someone who fades out of your life for other reasons.
He invites Red Deer music fans to come out and see the live show with fellow group members, vocalist Frank Kadillac, guitarist Matt Gats, and drummer Adrian Morris. “It has a lot of energy … In a word, it’s all about fun.”
For more information about the show, please contact the venue.
lmichelin@www.reddeeradvocate.com