Young Galaxy Break Off Into a New Orbit

Plenty of bands release their own records, but very few risk it all to part ways with a renowned label after their career has just begun.

Young Galaxy did just that for their latest release, 'Invisible Republic.' The dream-pop band had been signed to Toronto's Broken Social Scene-affiliated indie powerhouse Arts & Crafts, a dream position for most up-and-coming musicians. But the Montreal-based band chose instead to strike out on their own in order to maintain full control of their careers. The split was mutual and amicable, as the band say both they and the label agreed moving on would be best.

"Owning our own highs and lows was more important to us than having help," singer Catherine McCandless tells Spinner during a recent visit to Toronto. "They're doing an incredible thing in the industry right now and we're completely behind them in what they're doing."

McCandless' beau and co-songwriter Stephen Ramsay adds the couple wanted the freedom to create their own definition of success, rather than pegging it to album sales or comparisons to other bands.

"We don't want to feel like we have to live up to other peoples' expectations," Ramsay says. "We don't have to answer to anybody's measure of success but our own. In this day and age, nobody in the industry can tell you definitively what's going to happen next or how it should be done. That suggests that it's a good opportunity to be doing it on your own because, at the very least, you know that nobody's going to work harder on your behalf than you are."

And they certainly are working hard to promote their new album, with a prominant showcase at the Pop Montreal festival followed by a barrage of Canadian tour dates. Aside from raising awareness of their music and building a fanbase, the band admit performing live played a crucial role in their approach to 'Invisible Republic.'

"The first record was really a glorified studio project in many ways. We had signed a record deal before we'd even played a live show yet," Ramsay admits. "So we had to do all of the things afterward that we had done in the studio -- reinterpret the record in a sense -- and we found that difficult. This time out we felt like we wanted to bring some of how we were as a live band [into the studio]."

The result of that new approach is a much more outward-looking, energetic record that reflects a level of comfort with their decisions and commitment to their direction.

"Releasing [records] independently is ultimately very exciting," McCandless says. "It's going to go where we can make it go and that feels empowering. We feel quite emboldened by coming this far already on our own resources."