Growing older and moving forward

They may only be a toddler in the music industry, but Forward Music Group is already taking big steps.

In the past few years the independent label has signed nearly a dozen artists, including local favourites Share, Sleepless Nights and Grand Theft Bus.

This hardworking label’s staff does double the work of most major labels, with a number of the staff also being members of a number of the bands on the label’s roster.

Kyle Cunjak, agent for the label and bassist for Olympic Symphonium and Share, explains that though the label is just a baby it doesn’t mean they haven’t been running with the big boys.

Case in point for this assertion is the label’s ECMA nomination for Record Company/Distributor/Independent Label of the Year, a category that includes big names in the music industry like Warner Music and Sonic Records.

“It’s funny that we’re up against Warner Music and Sonic Records who’ve done quite a lot more than us, but I think what we’ve accomplished over the past three years is actually pretty impressive when you consider our ages and where we’re from. I guess the committee and the jury thought we deserved it too, so that’s pretty cool,” says Cunjak.

And the label, which entered its third year of business this January, made a number of strides over the past few years, promoting New Brunswick music to the rest of the Maritimes and the country. “A lot of people still don’t know who [Forward Music Group] is because New Brunswick is pretty isolated in the music scene,” explains Cunjak.

“In the Maritimes, Halifax is obviously the epicentre of it all, so a lot of the time it takes awhile for the industry folk in Nova Scotia – and PEI and Newfoundland for that matter – to take notice of New Brunswick. So, to have this kind of recognition helps other people and bands in the industry to take notice.”

And it’s not just the label that was nominated for an ECMA this year. A number of the label’s bands received music award nominations as well.

“This year we have a huge amount of nominations. We have one for Share, Motorleague has four, Slate Pacific has one, and Paiens has one. All in all we have eight with the label, which is awesome.”

While this is the first year the label has received this many nominations at once, they are by no means strangers to the conference.

At last year’s conference in Cornerbrook, Newfoundland, the label had a showcase concert to show off their artists’ talent.

Forward isn’t stopping with showcasing to the Maritimes though.

The group has had a history of sending artists on cross-Canada tours by train, a method of travel that includes free concerts for the passengers in addition to the Canadian landscape’s sights.

“Andrew [Sisk] of Share is doing a tour of Canada on the Via Rail trains in March. We’ve sent a few artists from Forward to do that,” says Cunjak.

Cunjak explains that it is a great partnership for the label as the railways pays for their travel in exchange for the performances.

“You save a lot of money on transportation and gas. Plus, it’s better travelling [by train] than in cars because it’s less dangerous. Travelling in March through the Rockies can be like hell.”

The method of travelling also provides some entertainment for bands when they would otherwise be bored on some stretches of the renowned TransCanada highway.

“The TransCanada, especially around Southern Ontario, is not very glamorous at all. It’s actually pretty boring. It was really nice to take the train and see the country. It’s a pretty romantic idea to travel by train across the country and play music. Everybody latches on, especially musicians, to this idea and we’ve been getting a very positive response,” says Cunjak.

And the positive response has interested some other musicians in the area. Cunjak explains that Sackville band Shotgun Jimmie and local favourite Owen Steel are planning on doing Via Rail tours.

The new year will see Forward Music Group venturing out again, this time a little further from home.

“In the last year we did a lot trying to develop our work in Europe. We did a lot of touring and releasing a lot of albums. Just laying a lot of ground work that needed to be done,” Cunjak explains. And the new decade brings the label the goal of breaking into the American market.

“The biggest thing that we’re trying to do this year is break into the U.S. It takes a lot of time to actually work in the U.S. because you need to apply for visas, which is a pretty lengthy process. Our next goal is to try and get some shows in New York, Vermont, and Massachusetts, because they’re so close.”

The label plans on moving ever forward, but for right now the closest thing in sight is the ECMAs. This year’s award ceremony will be hosted in Cape Breton, N.S. The conference will take place over several days from March 4 to March 7.