Alberta Based Rock Trio Royal Tusk Releases Altruistic Album
Alberta-based rock band, Royal Tusk has unveiled their album, Altruistic.
In advance, the band released four singles from this record with the recent “Here On Out” including, “All My Life,” featuring vulnerable verses giving way to a riff-boosted refrain with words of encouragement, then there’s “Head Up,” Carriere’s emotionally charged vocal delivery with a head-nodding guitar groove while, “Relegate” stands out as a different kind of love song.
Carriere says,
“It’s about slipping away and losing your ground in a relationship like you can’t hold on.”
Spending nearly a year writing throughout the pandemic, the trio eventually hunkered down in Alberta’s Audio Department recording studio where they self-produced Altruistic. In the midst of the process, Carriere wound up in the throes of a year-long battle to get healthy after suffering from a blood clot in his lung. He lost over 20lbs and could barely speak.
“Sandy [bassist] and Quinn [guitarist] helped me through the entire experience,” Carriere said. “These songs were written prior to this life-changing event, but they still tell a story of struggle, suffering, uncertainty, courage, and watching your back. It’s bizarre how that happened. When I think of them now, they definitely illustrate what we all went through.”
With an unwavering determination, the band faced highs and lows that pushed them to the brink, including an almost career-ending illness that threatened to shatter their dreams. Throughout their trials and tribulations of friendships, brotherhood and tenacity prevail. In the documentary, witness the raw emotion, sweat, and imaginative determination as they pour their hearts and souls into creating what is undeniably one of the most powerful rock albums of the decade. It’s a story of passion, triumph over adversity, and the creation of a musical Tour de force that will redefine your perception of rock ‘n’ roll and the human spirit.
RoyalTusk will be in Toronto on March 14 at Velvet Underground on their co-headline tour with BRKN Love.
First off care to introduce yourself to our readers?
I’m Quinn and I attempt to play guitar in Royal Tusk
Tell us a bit about your recent release.
Altruistic is our third full-length record that has been in the works since 2019. We spent the better part of the pandemic writing and recording this record. This was the first time we have ever self-produced a record – we were lucky to have as much time as we needed to record which really helped us explore this approach to writing and recording.
How do you typically go about the songwriting process? Do you have a specific method or creative routine that you follow?
This process changes every album and song to song. In the past, most of our material was started by jamming ideas together in a room whereas with Altruistic the bulk of the material was born from demos that me and Dan started and passed back and forth between the band and refined together. This approach also enabled us to really dig into different parts and styles of production that we wouldn’t necessarily come by if we were all together for the inception of the ideas.
Looking ahead, what are your plans for supporting this new release? Are there any upcoming tours, music videos, or additional content that fans can look forward to in connection with this project?
We are touring across Canada this February/march on a co-headline tour with BRKN LOVE called the Northern Light tour to promote the new record. We are very excited to get back on the road for the first time since 2020. Stay tuned for more dates and festival announcements soon 😉
Looking back on your musical career, is there a particular moment or accomplishment that you consider a turning point or a highlight?
There have been so many amazing tours and experiences as a band – but touring with Slash was definitely a highlight for us.
Last but not least, it’s time to pay it forward, what upcoming band or artist would you recommend your fans check out?
This is an easy one because we are about to go on the road with 3 of the best Canadian bands doing it right now. If you haven’t heard of BRKN LOVE, The Honest Heart Collective, and Whale and the Wolf I really encourage you to check them out on this tour and also listen to the music they’ve been putting out – we’re beyond stoked to have them all together on this tour package with us.