One of the more difficult dilemmas facing an independent band releasing a new album is deciding “what is the single?” – the song that is going to make that powerfully bold statement to the world saying “here we area, check us out!!”
It is often an arcane process sometimes involving the study of various statistics, metrics and demographics, and is also just as often an expensive enterprise, involving the hiring of PR firms, radio trackers and social media mavens – or a really big dart board!
But even in this day and age of high-tech analytical wizardry pervading much of the music businesses, sometimes old-fashioned good fortune and good timing still prevail, and that elusive choice for the first single is kind of taken out of the band’s hands.
Such was the case for Ottawa-based melodic hard rockers Iconoclast. The band released its incendiary, pulse-pounding, balls-to-the-wall fourth album They Were Right About Us in November of 2015, and over the next couple of months pondered which of the seven very strong tracks would become that ‘statement’ first single.
Somehow, the album got into the hands of the DJ who runs all the music at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa during Senators NHL hockey games. He particularly liked the track I Run to play in the lead up to face-offs and during other breaks in the action. This meant on a given night more than 18,000 people were hearing Iconoclast … although 99.9 per cent of them probably didn’t know it was Iconoclast.
“We are going to make a video for I Run, and once that’s done we’re going to start firing the single out to radio all over the place and hopefully build some steam. The Senators play the song fairly consistently and sometimes you can hear it when the game is on TV. Probably nobody knows it’s us, but it’s still pretty cool when there’s more than 100,000 televisions tuned in and our song is 
there in the background. So the key is to get the song out into the public where they know that it’s us. Now, thanks to the Sens, a good number of people in the city have heard it and if they hear it again on the radio or through social media – and then also hearing the name of the band – it might get them out to a show or even to buy the album,” said guitarist Dave Di Ubaldo, the newest member of the band, joining about four years ago.
“My helper at work was at a game with his buddy and the song came on and he turns and says, ‘hey that’s my boss’s band.’ So a few people are starting to recognize the song and the hook is sticking in their heads, so that’s cool. The Senators’ DJ has obviously been very good to us. He heard our stuff and said he honestly thought it was good and has gotten behind. That made the decision as to the first single pretty easy for us.
“I am not a big hockey fan, but I went to a game and they played I Run before the puck drop and there was some delay in the action, so it actually played for about a minute and that was so lucky for us. And I am sitting there in this packed arena and I was like, ‘my song is playing, that’s my song. My mind is just exploding’ and then it ends and the pick drops, the hockey game goes on and I was saying to myself ‘why is nobody else freaking out about this?’ It was a little bit surreal, but it was a really cool experience.”
The album itself saw the quintet of vocalist Marc Bourgon, bassist Michael Korn, drummer Marian Dej and the dual axe attack of Mike Corkum and Di Ubaldo working more collaboratively than ever before in what is the Iconoclast’s fourth release over a more than decade-long stint as a stalwart of the music scene in the nation’s capital.
“We are all very excited about this album. It was the most collaborative of a writing project that the band has ever done. Korn has always been the principal songwriter. He is one of those guys who can just pick up a guitar and pull something out of his ass. He’s amazing,” said Di Ubaldo.
“But we wanted everyone to be involved with They Were Right About Us. Everything was written in the room as a group, including lyrics. We went through all of them together so everyone feels like they have some ownership in every song, and then we recorded it all together. The whole process took about six months.”
Iconoclast produces music that has the relentless propulsion of a locomotive, tempered with just the right amount of melody to create an impressively memorable and epic hard rock sound.
And it’s music that is best appreciated live, with the band in front of a crowd able to demonstrate its true mettle – a potent combination of breathtaking musicianship, masterful stagecraft and an infectious, up-tempo energy that can’t help but impress.
“We take a lot of pride in our live show. If you ask any one of the guys in the band what our best feature is, it’s the live show. We have kick-ass recordings but our live show is where it’s at. And it’s not like we’ve sat down and mapped it out and contrived it; we are all natural entertainers, we are all experienced rock musicians, and we just get better each and every show,” said Di Ubaldo. “
“We love playing live so much. It’s a no brainer for us, no matter the size of the stage or the size of the crowd, to put on a good show. Once we hit that stage, we might as well go full tilt, there’s no reason to do it halfway.”
Their reputation as a band that can deliver on any stage has helped Iconoclast develop a large and loyal following in Ottawa, and a growing cadre of fans in an expanding territory throughout large swaths of Ontario.
It has also help land the band opening slots for a number of pretty significant rock acts over the years, including The Trews, Finger Eleven, Rival Sons and Theory of a Deadman.
“It was a real kick for us to be with Theory of a Deadman a few years back because we earned a lot of new fans from that show. Our merch table at the end of the show was a mob scene and we were totally unprepared for such a positive response. The show was sold out at the Bronson Centre and there was a line up around the building to get in. And I know they’re not there to see Iconoclast, they’re there to see Theory, but it’s still a cool feeling to just walk past that and cruise into the venue,” Di Ubaldo explained.
“So things really started to pick up again for us. We got the Rival Sons gig and then we got a spot at Ottawa Bluesfest, which was also a really cool day. We enjoyed the experience of those bigger shows but we’ll play anywhere and always give it all we have.”
With influences ranging from the classic stylings of Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, to the alternative greats of the 1990s such as Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots and Tool, Iconoclast has created a sound and vibe that appeals to anyone who likes hard rock music with intensity, infectious riffs and boatloads of passion.
For more information on Iconoclast, visit their Facebook page or http://iconoclast-band.com/
- Jim Barber is a veteran award-winning journalist and author based in Napanee, ON, who has been writing about music and musicians for a quarter of a century. Besides his journalistic endeavours, he now works as a communications and marketing specialist. Contact him at jimbarberwritingservices@gmail.com.
