The Saint Alvia Cartel Are In "Baby Stages" Of Making Second Album

The Saint Alvia Cartel are winning awards, popping up on year-end best-of lists and appearing on magazine covers. But after speaking with the group's Rob Pasalic, you get the sense that he and his bandmates are oblivious to it all.

"It's been pretty cool," he says. "We toured our bags off throughout the fall.

"The last big run that we finished was the coast-to-coast deal with Bedouin Soundclash. We got back just after Christmas. That was a fucking riot, to say the least."

The Burlington, Ont.-based six-piece are currently in the midst of a mini-tour with Hamilton's The Reason, but the appearances are localized enough that Pasalic and his comrades (Ben Rispin, Greg Taylor, Matt Richmond, Greg Fisher and Brandon Bliss) are able to keep up a regular practice schedule.

"We've just been hanging out, jamming, demoing and getting together some new stuff," Pasalic explains. "I really dig the writing process and recording. That's definitely my favourite part…

"Myself, Brandon, our organ player, Fisher, our bass player… we all live together in Hamilton. It's just a bunch of shit-heads hanging out non-stop. It's a house of music with a lot of recording coming out of it 24 hours a day."

Pasalic reveals that a new album is definitely underway, but he's reluctant to give many details about a project that he says is still "in its baby stages." One thing he knows for sure about Saint Alvia's next disc is that it will be as unpredictable as their self-titled debut, which incorporated aspects of punk, pop, reggae, country and more.

"Everyone's a writer," Pasalic says of his bandmates. "Brando might have a riff, or I might have a complete tune done. It's a whole stew of ideas coming from everyone and everywhere. We all bring it to the table and pick it apart and do what we will with it. In terms of what we can try and we will do, it's still anything goes."

Here's where you can catch The Saint Alvia Cartel and The Reason:

Feb. 6 Kingston, ON @ Time To Laugh
Feb. 7 Toronto, ON @ Mod Club
Feb. 8 Montreal, QB @ Les Saints
Feb. 9 Ottawa, ON @ Zaphod Beeblebrox