The Rural Alberta Advantage

I first investigated this band, The Rural Alberta Advantage, when I found out they were playing at my friend Jonas's house a few months back. Unfortunately I couldn't make it to the show, but I kept this band on my mind since I really liked what I'd heard on their website. I even played 'em on my radio program a few times! Thankfully, they're coming to Oshawa later this week, and there is no way I'm missing this show! I e-mailed them a few questions and their singer Nils Edenloff was nice enough to answer them for me. Here we go:

For people who have never heard of you, what would you like people to know about your band?
Nils: Given the fact that we're a newer band based out of Toronto, there's been a lot of confusion as to the authenticity of the whole Alberta angle. Just to clarify I'm actually the only one in the band from Alberta and it’s a completely honest tribute.

If rural Alberta has such an advantage, why did you leave?
Nils: I guess the advantage is more of a personal thing. After initially moving to Toronto to pursue music I found the local scene intimidating. There were, and still are, so many great bands around town that it was hard to feel like you could contribute something different, and something that is your own. I guess it wasn't really until I started writing more and more songs about Alberta, that I started to feel like I was doing something that was my own. I think it was that point that I really started to look at the fact that growing up in Alberta gave me my own advantage and defined who I was.

Did your songs become more retrospective once you moved to Toronto, or have they always had this outlook on Alberta?
Nils: It was totally something that started after moving to Toronto. Its one of those things where only after you leave home do you start to look back fondly on every little thing that you miss about it.

I see you've listed some of your influences on your MySpace. How have they shaped your sound?
Nils: I've always been a fan of quieter music, songs that focus more on the melodies and yet the instrumentation allows the songs the space to breath, which has a lot to with the fact that we've usually got more percussion than melodic instruments. To be honest this band more or less evolved from an acoustic guitar and drum kit open mic night setup and I think at the heart of what were really trying to do there is always going to be that aspect to the songs.

Are there any plans on recording again in the near future?
Nils: Yes, we're definitely hoping to get do some more recording in the next couple of months, working with Ryan Mills at Little King (now Sleepytown Sound) was such a great time that we're hoping to do it again. As it is right now we've got a lot of songs that we really want to get down, we just need to decide on the songs and save up a little bit of money.

For someone who has never been to a RAA show, what can I expect?
Nils: Its really hard to describe, the current setup that we're preforming with isn't exactly the standard rock setup that you'd expect to see. It’s a really stripped down approach and there’s a lot of drums in it, but honestly I couldn't be happier with it.

Tunes: myspace.com/theraa