Local band, Taking Balfour brings rock music back with their second album and say they hope fans listen to it in full.
Dawn of Polaris will be released at an album release show on Friday at Onyx.
The band was started in 2019 but it wasn’t until 2020 that it was fully formed.
Before the album release they produced two music videos. One for their song The Watcher and The Witness, the other for Neptune. Both songs are on the new album.
The music video for Neptune had over 3,000 views on YouTube in 24 hours, said Spencer Gill, lead vocalist of Taking Balfour.
“That was really our first kind of sign of real, I feel like real success in the band was when we really started gaining more fans than just our hometown, and started getting kind of recognized internationally,” said Gill.
Dawn of Polaris was originally going to be called Polaris, and have a song with the same name.
“It’s been a big deal for all of us, because we all put our hearts and souls into this album. We're all really proud of it. And it's, it's really, I think, a good representation of what our band is about. Kind of a journey that we've all been on,” said Gill.
The new album is about the afterlife and the cosmos. He said it's cinematic, in which each song tells a story.
“We bring kind of a high octane experience,” said Gill when it comes to Taking Balfour’s live shows.
“I really encourage people to come and see us because our recordings don't even come close to the presence that our live shows really bring.”
Being a relatively new band who formed during the pandemic Taking Balfour is integrating themselves into the changing Guelph music scene.
“I think COVID really hit everybody hard in the music industry. And it's been very hard for people to come back and for venues to get as many people as they were used to getting. I think what's going to bring people back is going to be music, and it's going to be the fans,” said Gill.
Without the support of local promotions, like Gain Media, it can be tough for bands to get excited about putting gigs together, he said.
He wants people to listen to the album in full since these days people listen to singles, playlists and less frequently listen to a full album.
“The decision for us to make an album was tough, because we know that most people aren't going to hear the whole thing. Most people are listening to singles and what's being promoted from the album,” said Gill.
Other band members are Orion Park on bass, Noah Anderson on guitar, Tim Paty on drums and Zac Culp on keyboard.
Their album releases on Friday with an album release show at Onyx at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door.
