Photo credit: JSenftphotography
You may have heard us playing Hold Me Close from Hello Fiasco recently. We caught up with Eric Labossiere, the band’s lead singer and rhythm guitarist, to find out more about them.
Tell us a little bit about your yourself?
We are a Canadian-American Pop Rock band from both Winnipeg, Manitoba (Canada) and Helena, Montana (USA). This is why a lot of people call us “North American.” Although I was born and raised in Canada like everyone else, I’ve been a US citizen for the last ten years and lived in the US since then. The rest of our line up includes Joel Perreault on lead electric guitars and backing vocals, Joel Couture on bass, Ivan Burke on drums, and Guy Abraham who does keys, piano, Ableton and also fills the role of lead backing vocalist.
When did you first start to develop a passion for music?
We all got turned on to music at different ages but for me I will never forget the moment. It was the end of the sixth grade school year and they brought in the guitar teacher to play us a few songs, so that we could each decide if we would be interested in signing up for music courses the following year. The teacher brought out this classical guitar and did a beautiful rendition of “Stairway to Heaven.” No vocals, just the guitar. It blew me away and I was hooked from that moment on.
Which artists did you listen to while growing up?
The band has a range of influences but common ones for a lot of us are Pearl Jam, The Killers, The Police, Springsteen, Radiohead, Coldplay, U2 and Muse. A lot of us also love acoustic stuff like Jim Croce, Ani Difranco and Simon & Garfunkel.
How would you describe your music to someone who hasn’t heard you before?
We have a more mainstream and world Pop Rock feel, chasing after the sound of artists like The Killers, Muse, Coldplay and Panic! At The Disco for instance. But we also mix in some acoustic and more emotional numbers to level the playing field.
What music have you recorded and released to date?
We just released our debut album “Find The Shoreline” back in May, via our own indie label The Mailman’s Children Inc. We are pretty proud of the fact that the album is already playing on terrestrial, internet, TV and cable radio in over 30 countries, The songs have also been streamed over 3,000,000 times and been placed on over 6,500 Spotify playlists.
Which artists do you enjoy listening to at the moment – and do they influence your work?
Right now, I’m personally listening to the Arkells from Canada a lot. They are the apex of Pop Rock over there and they’re really killing it, both on the stage and in the studio. They just won the Juno for Group Of The Year up there.
What are your plans for the future?
Right now, we are putting all of our efforts into getting ourselves everywhere on radio, while also planning World touring for 2023 and 2024. We have a couple of big Canadian shows at the top of the New Year to start things off and then it’s the world from there.
Where can we find out more about you?
The best starting point is at www.hellofiasco.com. We also created a special website for the album at www.findtheshoreline.com.
Photo credit: JSenftphotography
