From the Promoter

SELFISH THINGS

Though taking their name from Jimmy Eat World’s song “23” based on the lyrics “I’m still driving away / And I’m sorry every day / I won’t always love these selfish things / I won’t always live not stopping,” Selfish Things prove they may be a lot of things, but neither of those things are selfish nor self serving. With unmatched determination, the Toronto, Ontario five-piece consisting of Alex Biro (Vocals/Guitar/Piano), Mike Ticar (Lead Guitar/Vocals), Cam Snooks (Rhythm Guitar) and Jordan Trask (drums), aims to bring unabashedly honest music to a world seemingly fueled by false promises and pretenses.

After spending years cultivating and nurturing his raw, natural talent and dedication to musicianship and songwriting, all the while sifting his way through the highs and lows of the behemoth music industry, frontman Alex Biro founded Selfish Things in hopes to shed light on one simple but highly important, yet oftentimes overlooked, concept — honesty.

“It’s just honest,” he explains. “I think it’s the first time in my life that I’ve legitimately told the truth. I think it’s really okay to engage with darkness, to acknowledge it, despite the fact in which people run from it. At a show, the collective feeling you get when everyone is engaged in what’s happening is irrefutably the equalization of our human suffering. I really feel like our words connect to people in every way imaginable. That’s the point of what we do. I got so caught up in trying to be something I wasn’t in my past endeavours that I forgot what was important, and that was nobody’s fault but my own. What we’ve created as this project, I think it’s the first time in my life that I’ve really just been honest with myself, my own suffering and the story I want to tell.”

Having spent September through October 2016 in Florida recording, the band’s debut EP Vertical Love, set to release spring 2017, is the culmination of Biro’s own personal storm; however, ironically enough, the band was experiencing their own literal storm, as Hurricane Matthew began bearing down on them during the recording process.

“I find it strikingly ironic that in the midst of finishing a body of work that was created in my own personal hurricane, we were then anticipating the arrival of a literal, category four hurricane,” Biro admits.

Vertical Love, produced by James Paul Wisner (Dashboard Confessional, Paramore, Underoath), resounds with the passion and wisdom of any seasoned band, yet also holds the unyielding determination of youth and discovery. The band delivers six tracks of pure veracity, while showcasing the personal journey of learning to love yourself despite the mistakes and moments in time when you feel far away from the person you are truly meant to be.
“I strive to find happiness in the truth of the world, regardless of its undying ugliness,” Biro says, reflecting on his past struggles of being within an arm’s length of dreams only to have them taken away by a mixture of luck, fate and human nature. “To truly love yourself and your life, you must learn to love the memories that define you.”

STORY UNTOLD

Story Untold (formerly known as Amasic) is a pop punk quintet based in Montreal, Canada that was founded in 2012.

Promoter