The four-track EP, Bittersweet, was their pandemic project that left them with more songs than ever. From spending months at their parents’ home in the countryside to various bedrooms and studios, these songs represent the latest exploration of their lives.

“We went with a group of songs that we really all resonated with, that musically flowed well into each other, but importantly, conceptually had a thread linking them all together,” lead guitarist and vocalist Josh said.

The first track, “The Horror”, is what Josh called a “lifetime of recollection from three introverted thinkers” when we spoke to them earlier this year. The lyrics accurately describe the anxiety that comes with not being able to forgive yourself, even if everyone else already has.

The second track, “Thunder In the Room”, was also released as the second single and touched on societal structures. The accompanying music video plays off of those structures as they perform underneath a bridge and amongst nature.

“Cedar” and “Reculver” are nostalgic both lyrically and sonically. While “Cedar” speaks of places that hold significant memories, “Reculver” dives into how those memories become distorted over time.

“That thread that linked the songs was this exploration of the duality of what we perceive as reality - how our experiences and emotions colour how we see ourselves and the world around us,” Josh said. “We touched on nostalgia, forgiveness, anger and self-doubt - often not reaching conclusions but more documenting the journey of unpacking them.”

Bittersweet (Re-edits) is an alternative look at the four tracks, where instead of making a song the ‘traditional’ way, they allowed themselves to “be guided by a chain reaction of ideas inspired by riffs, patterns and musical moments in our original recordings.” Josh, Seth and Adam each reworked a song as well as their drummer, Josh Gale (also known as Single Ruin).

This time around, due to the nature of the world, Bittersweet was much more of an isolated project. Coming together to track the songs meant that most of the parts were already written and demoed, and was both an adventure and a challenge.

“We were all really pleased with the outcome, although it did feel like it took more work to get over the finish line as we weren’t able to fluidly create and bounce ideas off each other,” Josh said. “Going forward, we’re excited to spend more time jamming out ideas to see if they can develop into fully-fledged songs.”

Picture the scene: You’ve decided to start a new musical project in secret. You pick a good name, you write and produce an EP, you develop an image, EP artwork, logo designs for future merch and you are in the final stages of live show prep, including costumes, projections, click tracks, etc. World domination right?

WRONG!

Our music has really taken a back seat in the past year. We’re lucky these songs have been done and we’re prepared and ready to go, but since we’ve really been grinding we’re ready to go away for a month or two and really grind it out. We could never leave our fans without content for two months, without speaking to us and talking to us live. I truly would feel like us not going live is like not calling our parents; the longer it goes by, the worse it feels. Our fans are our family now.

I’ve become such a better man; I feel like I wasn’t a man before Pink Elefants. I think it wasn’t until Pink Elefants started to get some support from people that it did a lot for me. When we first started doing well last year we thought: how long will it last? Playing these shows live and getting tips and selling merch. We were trying to enjoy it while it lasts to be honest and I think we were trying to enjoy it while it lasts so much we’re making damn sure that it’s going to last forever.

When we went to Maine earlier this year and drove along the East Coast, we didn’t meet up in random spots. We went to our fans’ houses. We think about every aspect like that because I look at it like I do think we’re going to be a top artist. I don’t know when it’s going to be but I do believe that so when I do these things I go, ‘I want to go to their house because I want them to remember us in their driveway looking outside at their home’. It makes a difference and it goes that extra mile. Who else is doing that?

It is life changing to see you can do something like that. It makes me realize that maybe I do make a difference and we’ve been told countless times that we’ve saved individuals from their dark places. That is very humbling and it makes us feel a way that is not explainable. That’s really what we live for; we try to have a positive image, we try to develop this family relationship with our fans. We try to make it unacceptable to not try to be the best person we can be. We all make mistakes, we’re all far from perfect. I’m going to make a fuck ton of mistakes today, tomorrow, but the more great things you do in the day the less that things can seem to really affect you.

We’re in the process of doing everything ourselves. We didn’t realize that it was a possibility but I will tell you this: in the past, when we were working on music videos or working on production, we’ve always been self-reliant. We’d always been pretty well-equipped to do it ourselves and now that we have some funds to be able to build a studio and do these things, I think we don’t know what’s to come because we plan on doing it all ourselves. It’s that simple because the people that I really look up to working with, we just aren’t there yet and I think it’s up to us to get there.

You can’t let anybody stand in your way. As much as I want to work with Benny Blanco and all these producers that do a lot of these top songs - I’m not the kind of guy who thinks I can do it without them - I just know the only way we’re going to be able to work with these guys is if we earn our own spot.

We spend all the money we make; we invest it into things like the studio we’re building. It doesn’t feel like an investment. If I blow money it’s because I bought a synthesizer or something that I probably shouldn’t have bought but we’re going to use it and we’re going to make sure it’s in a song and hopefully it pays itself off. We look at it as an investment and if it doesn’t work out, at least our fans got to see us fuck around with a synthesizer. I just think that alone is worth it. You really need to care about the entertainment value of what you’re putting out.

Photo courtesy of Dana Gorab

I first heard of Rihanna the summer I turned 17, when I was working as a ranger in an all-girls forestry program in Northern Ontario. On one of the last days of the program, the coolest girl at the camp told me that she liked Rihanna, and that was it; my life was changed.

Six years later, in 2012, I was in my third year of university for music. Studying pop production and singing, I had no shame in the Rihanna posters taped up on my wall. Not only had I devoured all of her music, but I was a true fan of her brand. Her seemingly badass confidence inspired me to no end. I channeled Rihanna in every song I produced, every show I performed and in every spit-spackled scolding I gave to the boys vying for my affections. Rihanna was the spirit I called on to propel me through the tumultuous first few years away from home.

So, when Rihanna announced Toronto tour dates for March 2013, I was ready. I scraped together every dollar (and I mean scraped) in order to pay for the most expensive concert tickets I had ever bought - only my idol could conjure such lavish expenditure from me, which I planned and bought months in advance.

And then, out of nowhere, I won a pair of tickets for Rihanna's surprise 777 Tour that November.

A Facebook contest I entered had paid off...

So I cried!

I cried from shock. I cried because I was so broke that I couldn't imagine being able to afford seeing Rihanna twice in the span of a year. I cried because the show was the next day. I cried because I could invite a +1. And I cried because I was finally going to see my idol, who in large part had influenced my entire career path, and I was seeing her in person tomorrow.

That night was a whirlwind. I called my biggest Rihanna-loving friend and we made a plan to ditch our music improvisation lecture to go stand in line early the next day at the Danforth Music Hall. I barely slept, and the next day we dressed our best and made our way down to the venue two hours early so we could be first in line.

Pushed up against the stage, I remember seeing Rihanna walk out like a god. She was like the living manifestation of all of my hopes and dreams. And when she sang her hits, notably "Cockiness", “Birthday Cake", "Diamonds" and "We Found Love", we sang along every word. I touched her hand as she waved it through the crowd, and I beamed with happiness.

Months later, when we saw her at the ACC, thousands and thousands of fans surrounding us this time, we laughed and cried again.

It's surreal to think of it now, so many years later. It feels like I'm explaining the moment that I met a Messiah. But for me, it was truly a life-changing concert, and I'm in awe looking back on that once-in-a-lifetime moment.

The time that I won tickets to see my biggest musical inspiration, Rihanna.

COVID and the pandemic has caused everyone to reexamine how we do the things we do daily, and learn to either adapt, pivot or reinvent the processes and strategies we used pre-pandemic. If anything, this past year has taught us all a lot more compassion and mindfulness about others and health - nothing to take lightly.

One of the hardest things about being an artist during COVID for me is the lack of in-person, face-to-face collaboration with other creatives due to isolation. Everything from producing, recording, performing and shooting music videos has changed. I love writing with other people, and bouncing ideas back and forth is one of my favorite things about being a songwriter. The other hardest part of the pandemic as a performer is the inability to perform live concerts.

Traveling and the live music business completely shut down, and it’s still not back 100%. As an artist, not only is traveling and performing an important part of expressing yourself, but it is another way of marketing yourself besides social media. When I launched my first single in early February 2020, I expected to hit the road with my music, but was quickly let down when the pandemic started.

I as well as my entire family have been fully vaccinated and we continue to follow all current CDC protocols to keep our friends, associates and collaborators safe. There’s no telling when or if things will ever return to the way we once knew…but you can bet, nothing is stopping me from continuing to write, record and produce great songs. And I cannot wait for you all to hear what’s coming up next! Stay safe and stay strong friends.

Photo courtesy of Alisha Kabir

It feels like a fever dream when I think back to the couple shows I had at the beginning of 2020. From graduating college, to moving to Ireland (just because), to releasing my debut EP, I had a lot of hope and excitement for the year ahead. I had plans set for 2022 to release a full length album and it felt like things were really beginning to fall into place as to where I was musically.

I was in the middle of some recording sessions when COVID started lurking into Tennessee. When the pandemic hit full force in March, all of my plans came to a crashing halt. My studio sessions were cancelled, my final year of college was completely uprooted and moving to Ireland was now a big fat question mark (and currently still is).

I retaliated against quarantine by throwing myself full force into work and I found myself in this draining routine of depleted creative outlets and very little drive from the lack of variation in my routine. It wasn’t until I decided to release my debut EP, I Doubt He’ll Ever Hear This, that I really started to feel like myself again.

COVID definitely made 2020 an interesting year. Having no choice but to be inside every day really changed my mindset and daily routine. I spent a lot of time writing songs and learning more about the technical side of music production. A lot of great material came from me just sitting down for hours and hours every single day, studying my favorite producers and trying to figure stuff out on my own.

I made a lot of original music during that time but I think the most eventful thing I started doing was TikTok. I started uploading videos of me playing covers of popular songs on the violin and people really enjoyed them. In a couple months I had over 100K followers and many of those people have become fans of my original music. 

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

Saying goodbye to the longest-running American live-action fantasy TV series, Supernatural, doesn’t mean saying goodbye forever. One of the greatest parts of being in the Supernatural Family is that family doesn’t end with blood, and fans are part of a life-long journey that stems from watching this show.