British blues rockers The Temperance Movement dropped their sophomore album White Bear on January 29 and have been on tour promoting their new record ever since.
While staying in Toronto, vocalist Phil Campbell, drummer Damon Wilson and bassist Nick Fyffe shared with The Gracie Note what it’s been like traveling through Canada and how they are holding onto the important moments on their journey.
“I document everything that happens on my GoPro cameras,” Fyffe revealed. “We do a lot of things ourselves.”
“We even write a few songs,” added Wilson.
The band says that White Bear has been well received in Canada with the Great White North showing love for specific tracks like “Oh Lorraine” and “The Sun and Moon Roll Around Too Soon.”
According to singer Phil Campbell, “Oh Lorraine” started off as a different sounding song that changed quite a bit before making it to White Bear.
“It used to sound like The Allman Brothers Band,” he said.
“It turned into a Beastie Boys track,” Fyffe added. “People like to dance. They like having something that they can jump around to.”
Another standout song on the album is its title track, which has lyrics taken from sentiments expressed by musician Dave Grohl in his 2014 documentary television mini series Sonic Highways.
“[The lyric,] ‘Do your best until the best comes along,’ is from Sonic Highways and something that Dave Grohl said in relation to an artist that he loves.”
The Temperance Movement have many Canadian artists that they love to listen to like Alanis Morissette and Neil Young. They have even played on the same bill as Canadians like Monster Truck and The Sheepdogs. However, one of the most impressive acts that they have supported hails from the United Kingdom and have been together for almost 55 years.
“I think that most of us in the group were kept out of the loop until the email from The Rolling Stones came through,” Campbell explained. Added Fyffe, “We were in Zurich, which strangely was where we did the first show with them, and Paul gets an email saying, ‘Do you fancy supporting The Rolling Stones?’… None of us thought that it would ever happen.”
After finishing their set in Zurich opening for the iconic Stones, the band got to stay and watch them perform with their family and friends and bassist Damon Wilson and his wife shared the show with a celebrity that they almost didn’t recognize.
“I remember standing there with my wife and we’re taking photos and there’s some guy in front of me really drunk and singing along and turning around to me. After a little while, [I realized] it’s Woody Harrelson having the time of his life.”
To see The Temperance Movement live in concert, head here to find tickets.
Listen to White Bear on Spotify below and purchase it on iTunes and Amazon.