Rural Alberta Advantage Unleash 'Tornado 87' at Sonic Boom -- Video Premiere

Since releasing their sophomore disc 'Departing' earlier this year, Rural Alberta Advantage left Toronto to crisscross North America with their latest batch of energetic indie rock. In the process, the celebrated trio caught the attention of Southern Souls, an Ontario film collective who capture bands playing impromptu performances in spaces that have personal meaning to the musicians, something of a "homecoming for the music itself."

Spinner chatted with frontman Nils Edenloff about shooting their new Southern Souls video for 'Tornado '87' in a popular Toronto record shop and how such an intimate performance compares to playing a giant festival like Coachella.

What significance does Sonic Boom have to the band?

It's one of the larger indie record stores here in Toronto and is known for having bands play shows in the basement. We've got a couple of friends that work there so we called in a favor.

Did the shoot run smoothly?

The store was totally open for business, so everyone that appears to be shopping is doing exactly that. This was the last song we recorded for the Southern Souls Sessions that day. We didn't have specific arrangements for many of the locations we hit up that day and mostly tried to see who was cool with us invading their space. Sonic Boom was really supportive with us setting stuff up and doing our thing.

How did you become involved with Southern Souls?

Several of our friends have done Southern Souls Sessions before so when the opportunity arose we were all totally onboard. I like these sorts of things because it gives us a chance to try different versions of songs and give a little insight into the writing process. For example, 'Tornado '87' was initially a keyboard song, but during the recording of 'Departing' we felt it had more impact as a guitar song. Most of the other songs we shot are probably closer to the initial version of the songs when I was first starting to write them.



What's it like playing such an unconventional venue?

It definitely keeps us on our toes. When we were first starting out we played our fair share of DIY type shows -- living rooms, a curling club, etc. To be honest, our goal back then was just to play as many shows as we possibly could and get our name out there. All the early shows were fun and crazy in different ways and I think we all have fond memories about them, but The Embassy in [Toronto's] Kensington Market probably has a special place in my heart. There's no stage, there's hardly any room for a band to set up and the audience basically has to sit in with the band to watch the show. However, it was where we played some of our first "big" shows where the audience wasn't comprised of just close friends.

How do intimate performances like the one at the record store compare to massive gigs like Coachella, which you recently played, or selling out a New York City club?

I think we've always tried to maintain that same sort intimacy and intensity while gradually playing larger stages and venues. It's something that we've definitely grown into and constantly try to balance. However, at the end of the day we're all trying to put every ounce of what we've got into the performance regardless of the size of the stage or room.