The Awesome Team Get Mugged, Get On The Road And Get Really Cold

Joey Clement sounds a little tired of having to justify his greatness. On the other hand, he willingly named his band The Awesome Team.

"We get a lot of people saying like, 'What the fuck? You think you're all awesome?,'" conveys Clement.

"They'll come up to us like it's a snob kind of thing, like we're bragging, but it's meant to be more tongue-in-cheek or ironic. Because we're all pretty cool, down-to-earth people, and to have just a super-cocky action nickname — we just found it kind of funny. But I don't know, we think we're awesome because we're just a tight, rockin' band with really great songs. That sounds really cocky, too, I guess."

Clement and his A-Team are calling from prairie flatlands after embarking on their first cross-Canada tour. With the goal to "break even or die trying," the frontman is happy to report that they're closer to the former, thanks both to some larger gigs opening for The Trews and the generally receptive audiences across our home and native land. In fact, he sounds overwhelmed by the warm response they've received far from the band's adopted hometown of Toronto.

"We've been noticing people everywhere else are just incredibly, insanely nice. And you know, it's such a slower pace, and they're really appreciative of our stuff. We're actually selling shirts to people that have never seen or heard of us before. It's ridiculous. It's a little rougher in the city, you know, there's a little bit more of a jaded attitude there, being such a bustling city. So one thing I'd like to say about the rest of the country, as far as people go: they're insanely nice."

Clement is a little less clear on why they picked frigid February to make their first national road trip.

"Maybe it's because, like when you start out on a tour with such crazy elements involved, the next one will seem even cooler, you know, like our summer tour will be like 'Holy shit!'"

Despite The Awesome Team's newfound love for Canada, Clement says they're excited to return home to Toronto for Canadian Music Week. They appreciate Toronto, even though the city has thrown more than tough crowds their way. In the few years that they've lived there, the band have faced a gunpoint mugging in an alley and the theft of a car full of guitars.

"Well, that was kind of a rude awakening," says Clement. "But I'm just really thankful that that didn't prompt everyone to move somewhere else.

"That would have been really brutal, because we were just starting to get our legs at that point. Like the songs were coming together, we were all excited, and then we were dealt that shitty hand. But you know, things have a way of coming back around and working out."

You can check out The Awesome Team's good karma when they play at 10 p.m. on March 2 at the Horseshoe as part of the Chart/CMW showcase.