In the year since its release, Hello Fiasco‘s debut, Find The Shoreline, has reached over 5 million streams, with more than 1.8 million unique listeners, many returning to listen again and again. The lead-off singles “Hold Me Close” and “Gorgeous Girl” alone have combined for over 2 million streams. Including album tracks selected by DJS, Find The Shoreline, is currently at 40,000 trackable radio plays in over 40 countries worldwide, with several top 30s and number ones at US College stations.
How does an up-and-coming indie band grow in this day of scattered media, reduced radio listenership, and playlists driven by word-of-mouth?
“A massive part of today’s music game is doing anything you can to get your song, as well as the videos of your song, into the hands of the right distributors, playlisted in front of as many people possible,” explained Hello Fiasco’s leader Eric LaBossiere, “and ultimately, anywhere and everywhere you can online.”
Album Cover Art: Ivan Arenas
LaBossiere is the singer and rhythm guitarist of Can-Am band Hello Fiasco, whose name is in part about running headlong into your challenges rather than away. While there are more challenges in the many-faceted music world today, there are also more opportunities, from placement in movies, television shows, webisodes, and playlists on multiple platforms, to satellite, internet radio, and podcasts. From the ashes of newsstand magazines, many more internet music blogs have risen.
That’s the band’s job, getting their music into as many hands (and ears) as possible, rather than relying solely on traditional media and radio outlets.
Photo Credit: JSenftphotography
“Our mission is to stay healthy (physically and mentally) and to continue creating music that will remain relevant in both the eyes of our band and the fans for years to come,” remarked LaBossiere.
“We know that to make this happen, we need to keep a big vision,” he continued, “This is why we keep our sights on someday soon playing for 20,000 people and having our music placed in a Hollywood movie.”
The vision is the band’s as a whole: strive for success using only choice cuts, and no fillers.
The depth of Find The Shoreline is verified by Hello Fiasco’s fans. In one online comment thread, every song was someone’s favorite.
While Labossiere is the leader and songwriter, his bandmates, Joel Couture (bass), Joel Perreault (lead guitars/backing vocals), Ivan Burke (drums/backing vocals), and Guy Abraham (keys/Ableton/backing vocals) bring a broad foundation of skills and talents to the table, binding the words and music into a cohesive group sound that straddles the line between earworm pop and technically brilliant rock, much like The Killers, Muse, and Aldo Nova.
Photo Credit: JSenftphotography
Another key ingredient is co-producer John Paul Peters whose accomplishment list is a mile long. Peters, along with everyone in the band, receives equal songwriting credit as a testament to teamwork and solidarity.
Hello Fiasco’s sense of duty starts with the colloquialism, “To thine own self be true.”
“And our fans,” LaBossiere adds.
With 23 songs recorded for the album, the band reached out to fans for their input as to which tracks should ultimately make the album. In 1987, Bon Jovi did the same thing with high school students, resulting in their mega-hit album Slippery When Wet.
LaBossiere, Perreault, and Couture came together in a popular Winnipeg band, The Mailman’s Children, known for longer narratives and a more prog sound. A real teat for audiophiles, but like most of their fans, they agreed the simpler, poppier, and more personal, relatable songs was the path to take. With the addition of Burke and Abraham, Hello Fiasco was born, along with a new sound that clicked for both old and new fans.
Having the fans that involved in the process, creates a delicious cycle, with fans feeding off the band’s enthusiasm, and then the band feeding off the crowd’s energy. This launches a well-made studio album into the live music experience we want to have; one climaxing in a wall of sound from the stage and a roar of excitement from the floor.
Photo Credit: JSenftphotography
And probably why one of the band’s first live shows took place at one of Western Canada’s largest winter festivals, Festival du Voyageur, where they now seem to be the traditional closing concert.
That event in turn earned them an opening slot for Canadian icons Bif Naked, I Mother Earth and The Watchmen. Nearly 2,000 concert-goers opened their ears for the boys, and then their wallets, snapping up almost as much Hello Fiasco merchandise as the headliners.
“We felt so blessed to be recognized right out of the gate,” LaBossiere gushed. “Sharing the stage with such great musicians makes it all so worth it.”
If a debut album and first handful of shows are any indication, it seems a foregone conclusion that Hello Fiasco’s brand of pop-rock is here to stay. The sky’s the limit for this hard-working band.
