Sproll

"Rather than having a CD with 12 tracks and only eight good ones, Sproll gives us six and delivers something different on every track. No reason to skip any of these tunes."

- Hiedi Irvine - The Aquinian

By Bob Mersereau
Special to the Telegraph-Journal


At the Juno Awards this weekend, one of the first things many of the movers and shakers in the Canadian Music Industry sees will be a young New Brunswick band. Moncton's Sproll just has one six-song CD released so far, the new Soft Science. The band, though, has caught the attention of the right people at the right time.

Sproll, from Moncton, is generating lots of buzz with its Brit-rock-influenced sound and style often compared to that of Coldplay. They will kick off Juno festivities tonight by opening for Matt Mays and El Torpedo in Halifax.

Neal MacLean is the guitarist for Sproll. He says this wasn't luck, it was hard work that got them the prestigious gig. "Mike Campbell from Halifax, who is the organizer for JunoFest, asked us if we'd play. He saw us at the ECMAs in Charlottetown, we had a showcase there, and it worked. We sold lots of CDs, and it got us this gig."

Many musicians approach shows like the ECMAs and Junos with a lot of cynicism and attitude. Sproll, however, sees these gigs as important stepping stones to get where it wants to get. "When we do them, we have one-on-one meetings," says MacLean. "It just proves that the ECMAs are successful if you go prepared. If you have a goal and objectives, you can accomplish things. It's not just to go and play and collect your five bucks at the door - you won't get anywhere."

Sproll began in 2003 in Moncton. MacLean met up with an old friend from Bathurst - singer/guitarist Corey Hachey.

"Corey and I knew each other since we were kids, but that's the weird thing, we never got together before," says MacLean. "But we met up in Moncton, we both had written a lot of material previous to meeting, and once we met up again here, we started jamming some original material. We started out in a few coffee shops, a lot of late-night basement sessions, and we then sought out the other guys to make a band. He had material, I had material - we had enough to make a band."

Sproll added another Bathurst native now living in Moncton, keyboardist Mike Goyette, and two originally from Nova Scotia: drummer Thom Cooke and bass player Austin Farquhar. The group has been gigging constantly since, travelling as far west as Ontario, only playing its own material. The title of their disc, Soft Science, comes from a fan's description of their music - modern rock with a whistful edge, certainly in line with the Coldplay crowd.

Its progress has been steady, businesslike and savvy.

The band has formed its own label which distributes its own disc as well as Fredericton's On Vinyl group. The band members work hard on promotion, taking this task as seriously as their music.

Getting the Juno gig was just one of the perks that came from the band's ECMA showcase. Impressed professionals wanted to be in business with them too.

"The ECMAs, the thing is, what you put into it, is what you get out of it. We were able to land a deal with a U.S. radio publicist and we're starting to get into (that market).

We're working on the U.S. college market, from Pennsylvania up along the East Coast. We're looking at playing down there in September and October."

After tonight's gig, more could be on the way. Neal MacLean says the group knows it can turn lots of heads with just one great show.

And they also know they can deliver.

"The JunoFest showcase should be good; we're going make some new fans. We've been playing a lot of shows, we're pretty comfortable on the stage. We don't get nervous, because we're pretty confident. We know our show, and we know we can do it."

Sproll's new disc Soft Science is available through the band's website, www.sproll.ca.

Listen to three of its tracks from the disc at www.myspace.com/sproll.
- The Telegraph Journal

By Eric Lewis
Times & Transcript Staff


The Junos are here in a few short days and they're only a couple hours down the highway in Halifax. A few Moncton-based bands are heading down to check things out, and a few are even playing showcases during this coming weekend's Junofest.

Sproll is one of them. The five-piece band released their EP Soft Science less than two months ago, and performing at the Junos is just one of the many things the band are doing as their career is beginning to take off. They probably couldn't have landed a better gig at Junofest either - Sproll is opening for Maritime favourite Matt Mays & El Torpedo.

"It's a great opportunity," says Neal MacLean, the band's guitarist. "We're going to make some new fans, and hopefully meet some new people down there."

The band just got back from a tour of Quebec and Ontario that saw them sell more CDs in Toronto than they have here at home.

"I wish I knew what it was, I don't get it," Neal says, perplexed. "Even with our hotels and gas, we made more money up there than we would here."

Don't think the band will be leaving their homes anytime soon in favour of the big city though. "We love it here, we're all pretty much from this area, and with the way things are now with communication, we can travel and still come back home."

Last month, Sproll - Neal, singer Corey Hachey, bassist Austin Farquhar, drummer Thom Cooke and keyboardist Mike Goyette - performed a few showcases at the East Coast Music Awards, which led them to signing on with a Boston-based radio publicist and a New York-based print publicist.

"We're charting on college radio, we're getting play on mainstream radio, everything is going really well. You know, we haven't sold 10,000 copies in two months, but (the CD) is selling as expected. We'll push it for a year, then likely cut another album."

If you're in Halifax for the Juno awards, check out Sproll with Matt Mays & El Torpedo and Adam Puddington and the Proof on Friday, March 31, at 10 p.m. at Big Leagues.
- Times & Transcript

Wednesday March 08, 2006 @ 07:00 PM

Moncton, New Brunswick Brit.rock-influenced band Sproll released their Soft Science EP last month through Quadraphonic Records and the three-year-old quintet are heading out in support of it. Sproll yourself out at these shows:

March 10 Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe
March 11 Montreal, QC @ Missy Bar
March 13 Ottawa, ON @ Zaphod Beeblebrox
March 14 Guelph, ON @ Albion Hotel
March 15 Windsor, ON @ Phog Lounge
March 16 Waterloo, ON @ The Grad House
March 17 Quebec City, QC @ Temps Partiel
March 23 Fredericton, NB @ The Cellar
March 25 Moncton, NB @ The Manhattan - Chartattack

Atlantic Canada has long been a multi-genre, musical hotbed of talent and, in a blind taste test you’d swear this 26-minute, six-song release had its origins in London or Dublin before you’d ever guess Moncton. Good on them.

Comparisons to the obvious (U2, Coldplay, etc.) are largely due to a great vocalist in Corey Hachey and Edge-clone guitarist Neal MacLean. Yet such is not mere mimicry. The EP is aptly named — the songs are a study in “soft science.” Repetitive riffs meet droning, mournful sounds that paint bleak landscapes as they present a sense of dark introspection. The musicianship is studied and effective, clearly making Hachey’s expressive vocals the band’s centrepiece. These guys show huge potential and their live show will be their acid test. Definitely a science worth studying!

-- Eric Thom - Exclaim!

"Another solid band from Canada's East Coast. Based in New Brunswick, Sproll has earned its place in the Canadian music scene with singles like "Eyes Have Spoken" and "Everywhere You Turn". With tour dates bringing them across the country, it won't be long before they're recognized as one of the East Coast's best alongside the likes of the Trews and Sloan."

- Matthew Romanada
06.27.2006 - Indie Pulse

Sproll, a Brit-rock-inspired group from Moncton, New Brunswick, released their Soft Science debut EP in February. The band's schedule hasn't slowed down since, and they couldn't be happier about it.

"We're happy with the way the album has been received," says Sproll guitarist and co-founder, Neal MacLean. "The album is doing better than expected.

"We've sold more records than expected. We're number seven on MapleMusic out of the top 10."
MapleMusic, the website through which Soft Science is available, has helped the band sell their music across Canada, the U.S. and overseas.

Sproll are charting on campus radio and already have extensive touring experience under their belt, but they're gearing up for another trek that will take them from New Brunswick to Ontario. Playing 10 straight days of shows doesn't faze MacLean.

"We're well-conditioned [to touring] now. We exercise, keep in shape, eat the right food while we're away, get the right amount of sleep. We're healthy and we take care of ourselves.

"We're serious about this. We're enthusiastic. We mean what we're doing, and we're happy on stage and it shows."

Sproll shot their first video for "Eyes Have Spoken," the first single from Soft Science, between shows. The band are also nearly finished pre-production on their first full-length release, which is due in 2007. MacLean says the songs will be more mature and the band will experiment with different instruments on the album.

Here are Sproll's tour dates:

June 2 Fredericton, NB @ The Capital
June 3 Bathurst, NB @ Megalodon Pub
June 4 Montreal, PQ @ The Green Room
June 5 St. Catharines, ON @ Mansion House
June 6 Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe
June 7 Guelph, ON @ The Albion Hotel
June 8 Cambridge, ON @ Fiddlers Green
June 9 Windsor, ON @ Phog Lounge
June 10 London, ON @ The Alex P. Keaton

—Mandy Savoie

- Chartattack

Some of the highlights include Everywhere You Turn and In My Room. Both tracks had bits and pieces spread throughout the songs which respectively reminded me of tracks from the first Coldplay record and Radiohead's album The Bends. More Than You, Nobody's Fault and In My Room sound like they could be second cousins to any number of Travis songs. Corey Hachey's vocals are powerful throughout the six songs here while drummer Thom Cooke and bassist Austin Farquhar lay down a solid but restrained backbeat.

I have a feeling these guys could very well be destined for bigger and better things. In the meantime, you can't go wrong picking up this EP if you're a fan of British guitar pop rock. Well done indeed.

-Ken Kelley - HERE Magazine

"This Brit-Rock inspired band from Moncton have finally released their long awaited EP. The wait was well worth it. We've got six mellow, Brit-Rock inspired tunes with plenty of hooks and thoughtful lyrics...Great, atmospheric tunes that only leave you wanting more, and lush production by Halifax's Laurence Currie (Sloan, Wintersleep) - this is 25 minutes of solid pop-rock. I see big thing happening with Sproll."

- Eric Lewis
- Times & Transcript

"Moncton's Sproll releases their first EP, and it's an all around winner. Impeccably engineered and produced by Laurence Currie (Gandharvas, Cool Blue Halo, Sloan), the six songs flow seamlessly into each other to create 25 minutes of atmospheric rock."

- Ray Violette - BOOM Magazine