Default Keeps it Confident

Vancouver alt-rock band Default returns to the music scene with their much-anticipated album, Comes and Goes. After a four-year hiatus, the boys of Default have had their share of challenges, but they have proven that even when things go wrong, it’s important to stay positive. I recently caught up with the band at Roxy Burger in Vancouver to chat about their long-awaited fourth release.

Default had originally started working on Comes and Goes in 2006, and finished recording it in 2007. Shortly after, TVT, their record label at the time, went bankrupt. Now signed to EMI, the group hopes that the album will take it to an even higher level. “[We hope] it does well for us, sells some copies and pushes the band further,” comments drummer Danny Craig. “We are just really happy it’s come out; hopefully it does something good.”

Comes and Goes was produced by legendary producer Bob Marlette (Alice Cooper, Tracy Chapman, Black Sabbath), who Danny says had a “huge” impact on the album. “He wrote the record with us so he’s just as much a part of it as we are.”

So how does the band’s latest album differ from its previous three?

“A lot deeper production, more kind of strings and keyboards and all that kind of stuff we’ve never messed with before... we’ve just been kind of strictly guitars,” says Danny. “It’s got a little more depth in that way, I guess… it’s a little more mature.”

Having sold over a million records in its career, Default is a band that knows this kind of success doesn’t just happen by accident. “You have to be really confident,” advises Danny. “There’s no other way to make it in this career if you do not believe 100 per cent that it’s going to work out.”

Four years of ups and downs, four years of career-altering challenges, but ultimately four years of growth on both a personal and professional level, Default has proven they are a strong and successful band willing to battle challenges head on.