CREDIT: LOWLANDSMUSIC.COM

The guys of the band Lowlands have no problem taking things slow especially when it came to making their new album Huron, due out on September 14. I got the chance to talk to Lowlands' Gordon Auld about all things music and why he is looking forward to their upcoming tour.

You guys relocated from Toronto to Guelph. In your opinion, what are some of the biggest differences musically between the two cities?
"Well, Guelph is a university town so that's the huge difference, really. The music scene or industries here in university towns are a totally different model than Toronto. In Toronto there are thousands of bands, thousands of venues and a great community and everyone stays really connected there. But in Guelph, (the music scene) is really dependent on students, which is good and bad. In the summer, playing shows can still be good, but it's less frequent, but everyone wants to tour university towns in the fall because that's when everyone is back and around to go see shows. I think that's really one of the biggest differences, though, that we are dependent on the university scene, which I don't really see as a negative thing. I see it as a positive thing, because if you look at the size of the city, there are four or five decent places to play and lots of amazing bands who play there. Also, anyone who plays a show in Toronto would play Guelph as well because it's on the tour route. So there are lots of good opportunities to play locally with people. We don't really play in Guelph more than once every three or four months just because we want to draw our focus to other cities. We can always count on Guelph because most of our friends grew up here and we live here, but it's always better to focus on your stronger cities, which will also make your other cities stronger — for example, cities like London and Hamilton. So I would say those are the two biggest differences musically between the two cities."

Your sophomore album Huron is due out September 14. Can you explain the feel of this album compared to your first album?
"The first big difference between them would have to be the production. With the first album, we had no idea what we were doing as far as recording material. I had only ever done recording on tapes and on (crappy) 4-tracks before that first album. Being in the studio, we had no idea what we were doing. I mean, we had really great people who were recording with us, but they were novices. Dan Beeson, who is the slide player and drummer of Lowands now, has a studio just up the street and mastered the first album, and said he wanted to do the same with this one as well. So we really took our time to make everything sound right. That's really the huge differences when I listen to both of them: it's the sound quality. Also one of the biggest things sound-wise for us that we have been dealing with is playing soft folk songs and loud folk songs and the difference between them. We do play a lot of bars at like 12 at night that are packed and you kind of have to play the loud stuff. But we also played at a farm and did an all acoustic set. Everyone was just drinking whiskey and crowding around and we don't ever want to lose that. Also, with our last album, it was really only our loudest, strongest songs so I guess we are kind of testing the waters a little bit with this one."

You have Canadian dates, but are you planning to play some shows in the States and maybe even overseas?
"Yes, we are planning to do so, but when? I don't really know. We have an east coast (of Canada) tour booked, though. We did have another little lineup change. Our rhythm section has just been a revolving door for the last few months. We have a pedal steel player now — Danny — who is also drumming and is going to be switching up that position as well because they can both play the pedal steel and the drums for the tour. We are also sharing band members with Alanna Gurr, who is touring with us, so it's like six people, one car, two vans. It's going to be fun, though, because we have been playing with Alanna for so long. We do have plans for the States, but it won't be happening too soon, I would say next fall at the earliest."

Go and see the band when they come to London on September 24 at APK Live. For more information, visit their website lowlandsmusic.com and be sure to get their new album, Huron, on September 14 It will also be available for streaming on their website and on iTunes.