Can Grade Become Bigger Than Our Lady Peace?

Grade's Kyle Bishop has been battling strep throat and other aliments since they recorded their brilliant disc, Headfirst Straight To Hell, in April.

"No doctor can figure out what the hell I have," he told ChartAttack this morning.

They still have plans on tearing down the present rock 'n' roll conventions in Canada, though. Taking a broad look at the musical landscape it, would seem that Canuck music fans are loving the loud and the punk. With inroads made by American bands such as At The Drive-In, And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of The Dead, their Victory Records/Koch Canada disc falls into the same creative vibe.

Headfirst Straight To Hell has the potential, much like those two groups to propel them too much larger audiences and Grade have the desire and work ethic to accomplish just that.

"We're ready to destroy everything. You have to build from the bottom up to make things better. We just did 68 shows from May until now. We're willing to do whatever we possibly can to make this record [popular]."

Those in the incestuous punk scene where the band has laboured away for the last eight years are probably going to recoil over that statement and shout "sell-out," but Bishop has bigger targets on his mind then punk infighting.

"It would be nice, because right now in Canadian music — Christ, I'm going to kill myself if I hear another Edwin or Our Lady Peace song on the radio. There is only so far you can go with the same bands over and over. I do think we need to have a bright future in the Canadian music scene. Finger Eleven are doing a great job and now, with Sum 41's pop coming out, aggressive music is out there."

While Grade has only been across our country twice, they've toured extensively in Europe and the U.S. This has, of course, created a larger following in those countries than in their home and native land. Bishop doesn't believe this is a problem in conquering Canada.

"I think I'd rather have done that [make name for self overseas] then get trapped as one of those 'Canadian' bands."

He stresses the word Canadian as if it's a reference to inferior music. As an example, he added, "Hey, these are the Canadian music awards and we're going to have the same band for the next 10 years and they're not going to go anywhere else in the world."

Grade isn't single handily going to change the thinking in boardrooms in the Canadian music industry. Bishop, who recommended that Victory Records sign Thursday, has a great knowledge of who else is kicking ass in the great white north. Combined with these acts they just might begin to make people think differently about our music scene.

"Just think of it, there's The Black Halos, Danko Jones, Jersey, who are from around here. Amazing bands that need to come up and hopefully with this idea of aggressive music coming to the forefront, these bands will get noticed for their talents."

With Headfirst Straight To Hell dropping next week, the band are gearing up to back up Bishops words with action.

"We want what any band would want, success. On an individual basis we've already gained a helluva lot of success. We've toured around the world and made money and had people like us. Now the goal is to step up to the plate and say, 'Hey this is us.' We're happy with what we've made and we're proud of who we are. We want to sell as many records as we can. We put in the groundwork. We've paved the way for ourselves and we want to be recognized for that. It's not people patting us on the back, but people who want to expose themselves to different music. We've always been about that. With this record we could have easily gone the pop route. Under The Radar [their last disc] was gearing towards that and everyone was, like, 'You guys are going to be the next Sugar Ray.' We're like, 'Fuck you guys.' We want to do what the hell we want to do."

The fact that they haven't attempted to make an album that would be considered by record industry executives as a commercial hit by staying true to their creative pursuits will probably be the reason Headfirst Straight To Hell could be a catalyst in exposing them to more people.

Will their groundwork lead to super-stardom and headlining main stages at Canuck festivals? Well the potential is there and deep down doesn't everyone want a new music revolution.