Edmonton Blues-Rockers The Fight Are New, Young and Electric

Formed in 2010, Edmonton blues-rock band The Fight has been hard at work fostering its distinct sound. New Young Electric, the band's first full-length album, was released in November, born of a mixture of music genres. Influenced by a variety of bands, The Fight’s music has a bluesy-rock feel, complete with singer Bradey Daeland Feil’s soulful vocals amidst heavy beats and thick, lively strings. Youthink recently got the chance to speak with Feil about his band's new album, his favourite artists and what he’s learned about the music industry.

YT: The band’s musical influences are quite broad. What musicians did you grow up listening to?
BDF: I grew up listening to a lot of punk rock. From there, I personally got into a lot of soul music and old Motown stuff. I’d say I draw an equal influence from Motown, soul and rock n’ roll. The other guys are the same. They started listening to more indie bands like the Weakerthans and Constantines.

YT: What inspired you to pursue music professionally?
BDF: I just fooled around on an acoustic guitar at home. I ended up working with a drummer at a CD store just after high school and a few years later, he and two of the other guys from his old band decided that they wanted to start a band with me, so we jammed and it worked out well. I guess it's something that comes naturally. If you write songs, you have to keep doing that because it’s just part of who you are.

YT: Was it an easy or difficult task to agree on the direction the band would take musically?
BDF: We’ve never even had that conversation! We just go into the basement and get to work and whatever comes out, comes out. We all like different things and we have a lot of different influences which come out in the music, I think. We’ve never made a conscious effort of bringing a sound like this, or bringing a sound like that... just what we’re feeling at the time and what we’re going through.

YT: How would you describe the overall vibe of the album?
BDF: It’s a rock 'n’ roll album with soul undertones, and I think it has an overall positive message. My goal is to hopefully get people to do something that they didn’t think they could do before and to succeed at whatever they do. Hopefully it’s a bit of a motivational record to people.

YT: Which song on the album are you most connected to and why?
BDF: That’s a tough question. I feel like they’re all my babies, but I think Broken. Sometimes, that’s a hard one to play cause it's about a relationship that didn’t go too well. It hits close to home and it cuts me up a bit.

YT: If you could collaborate with one artist, who would it be?
BDF: I’d say probably Bill Withers because he sang Lean On Me and Ain’t No Sunshine.

YT: You’ve shared the stage with bands like Library Voices and Two Hours Traffic. What have you learned from spending time with other artists that has helped The Fight grow as a band?
BDF: I think playing with bands like that, you see them doing it and that’s what you aspire to be. You aspire to be on the road and, you know, surviving off of your music… or at least getting close to surviving. I mean, both those bands are really hard-working bands, and you learn that the only way to get anywhere in this industry is to work hard, play as many shows as you can and put yourself out there.

YT: What can we expect next from The Fight and how would you like to see your career evolve in the next few years?
BDF: I think this summer we’re going to try to tour around Western Canada a lot more and hopefully gain some new fans. Hopefully people enjoy our sets and come out. I’d actually like to play more all-ages shows 'cause we don’t do that often enough.

Learn more about The Fight by visiting:
paperbird.ca/artists/the-fight