Lights talked about how the collaboration with Owl City’s Adam Young came about and yielded the remix to her single “Saviour” on “The Ralphie Radio Show”
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EXCLUSIVE: New Artist Lights on Touring With Owl City, Making It In The States
She’s already won Juno awards and climbed the charts in her home country of Canada. Now, 23 year-old Lights (yes, that’s her legal name) is invading the States with her infectious pop melodies… or at least attempting to. The Canadian explained on “The Ralphie Radio Show” that breaking through in the U.S. is easier said than done.
“It’s a lot of work, and a lot of musicians, especially from Canada, kinda get disheartened because it’s not the same,” explained Lights, who continued as to how one country’s music scene differs from the other. “Canada has Canadian Content Laws on all entertainment. At least 30 percent of the music that’s on the radio has to be Canadian.”
The country to our north has a committee similar to our version of the FCC that enforces the law – which benefits all Canadian artists, and especially those that have already made it big worldwide: Nickelback, Drake, Justin Bieber, and Theory of a Deadman just to name a few.
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Download the interview
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Of course Lights received assistance from a well known, American talent in Owl City’s Adam Young, in breaking through to the lower 48. The singer recently wrapped up a tour with Owl City, and Young even remixed her single, “Saviour.”
“The tour was wonderful because of the music that he makes, like, it’s very similar to mine in a lot of respects,” she said. “Its electro pop, it’s real easy to sing along with so the crowd’s that came out… were really accepting of the music I had.”
As far as off stage – Lights noted she didn’t become “super tight” with Adam because he keeps to himself, which she wasn’t surprised with, considering Young’s pretty honest about his shyness in the music he makes.
EXCLUSIVE: Theory Of A Deadman Scratched Fall Tour To Support Daughtry
Theory of a Deadman admits that by the year’s end, they will have catered to both ends of the spectrum of their audience: with a summer spent on Crue Fest and a fall tour planned with Daughtry. But none of the British Columbia rockers believe that either group will feel alienated.
“We were really thinking about doing a headlining tour,” TOADM front man Tyler Connolly revealed. “I think we were kinda thought to ourselves, ‘Well, where are we in this record cycle and our career? Maybe we should be out there in front of a lot of people, maybe people that don’t know Theory of a Deadman yet.’”
Connolly and his band are no strangers to Daughtry – as Chris himself lent vocals to TOADM’s “By The Way”, off of Theory’s third LP, Scars & Souvenirs.
“That’ll be cool to play that song live too,” said the lead singer. “From a business point of view, it’s going to be such a great tour for us.”
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Part 1: Canadian Beer (Drake Comments), Touring w/ Tommy Lee
Part 2: Vocal Warmups, Touring w/ Daughtry
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Theory’s perspective is simultaneously honest and refreshing. While many bands struggle to find an identity in between their rock and mainstream audiences, TOADM seems to have successfully done so. Yet the band doesn’t take itself too seriously – Connolly along with bassist Dean Beck and guitarist Dave Brenner joked about partying naked with Motley Crue, banging groupies, and their choice of Canadian beer.
The ribbing didn’t lie exclusively within the room, as a lot of light-hearted comments were directed toward fellow Canadian Aubrey “Drake” Graham. When asked on The Ralphie Radio Show if he was a Labatt or Molson guy, Drake responded with Dom Perignon Rosé.
“What?! What is he talking about?” asked Connolly, as all three guys laughed while chatting about their favorite microbreweries in British Columbia.