Acres of Lions Reveals Musical Evolution in Collections

Acres of Lions releases a collection of catchy pop tunes.

It’s been two years since Victoria pop-rock band Acres of Lions’ debut album, Working, was released, and now they’re back with their latest record, Collections. Participating in this year’s Peak Performance Project (presented by Vancouver radio station 100.5 The Peak) for the second year in a row, the band has transitioned into a new chapter with their music, embracing more of a pop-inspired sound, opening the door to a whole new audience of listeners.

Youthink had the pleasure of sitting down with Acres of Lions’ guitarist and keyboardist, Tyson Yerex, mere hours before learning that the band had won fifth place in this year’s Peak Performance Project, to chat about influences, evolution and why being a rock star is the best job in the world.

YT: What is the meaning behind the title of the album, Collections?
TY: When we were putting together the songs for this new record, we kicked around a lot of ideas for the title. The cover for the album is a record collection, so our thought with the whole title was not just necessarily a collection of songs, but collections of moments, memories and nostalgia, and thinking back on things that had influenced our lives. Quite literally it is a collection of songs but the title was more about memories and looking back on life and being happy.
 
YT: Collections has more of a pop sound than your previous album. What is the driving force behind this change?
TY: It would partly be growing up a little bit. Previous to our first record, we all played in different bands and the majority of those bands were faster punk-rock bands. When we started Acres of Lions, it was a lot more rock and even pop than our old bands. With this record, it has just been a natural evolution. For Collections, we came together to write the songs for the album when we had been a band for a couple years. By that point, we had toured across Canada two or three times, we’d become friends and just played and rehearsed together for so long that we came into our own on this record.
 
YT: When it came to taking this album in a different direction than you were used to, was it hard to get all the band members on the same page?
TY: Oh, I don’t think so. On this latest record, it was more of a collaborative effort with everybody writing songs. In general, our singer Jeff Kalesnikoff will bring a song idea and then we’ll work on it together. There are conversations about different members wanting it to be one way or another, but I think at the end of the day everyone’s super excited about how the record turned out. It was awesome working with our friend Adam Sutherland as a producer on this record again and we just feel great about it.
  
YT: You list The Get Up Kids and Jimmy Eat World as musical influences. Which bands have you added to your list of influences over the last couple of years?
TY: We definitely like a band from the States called Motion City Soundtrack. Some bands that don’t maybe sound exactly like us but are definitely an influence on our music would be bands like The Weakerthans or Attack in Black. But essentially, at the end of the day, our vibe is still kind of a Jimmy Eat World, Get Up Kids, New Amsterdams kind of a pop vibe.
 
YT: What is the best part of getting to make music and tour with your friends?
TY: The best part would be when all my friends who chose to be lawyers and accountants come to the show and tell me that I have the best job in the world.
 
YT: What are some goals for Acres of Lions in 2012?
TY: For 2012, a big goal for us is getting our record released in the UK. Our label in Canada has a sister label in the UK that we could possibly release the record with. That’s definitely our hope, fingers crossed for early in the new year. We’ll be doing another Canadian tour early in the new year as well, and possibly playing South by Southwest - we’re looking into that for the short term. Long term, probably later next year, we’ve got to get back in the studio. Even though Collections is a new record, for a developing band like us, it doesn’t make sense to not have a new record for two years. So we need to get back in the studio and record some more hits and make some more fans.

Check out the video for Acres of Lions' first single off Collections, Reaction: