Young Galaxy Get Out Of Montreal

Things move fast in 2009, especially in music industry circles.

The sheer volume of tunage available online is overwhelming for music fans and music makers alike. As a result, yesterday's buzz band is today's dog food.

It's a fact of life for bands like Young Galaxy. The Montreal outfit have been in a steady stream of writing, recording and touring for the last two years and yet it seems like the band have been M.I.A. for good chunks of the past 24 months. But it's through no fault of their own, as they have a new full-length in the can and a string of tour dates on deck.

"For us, it seems like we never went away, but with such an amazing amount of new music being released these days, it's not surprising that it seems like we've been off the radar for a long time," vocalist and Young Galaxy co-founder Stephen Ramsay concedes.

"The hardest part of being a musician without a doubt is gaining any level of notoriety and continuing to maintain, and hopefully grow, awareness in your music. Even the smallest steps take a great effort so beliefs have to be reset on a daily basis."

Invisible Republic is the band's latest album and, if tracks available online are any indication, the disc definitely builds upon the dreamy goodness of their 2007 eponymous debut. A firm release date and label are still to be determined. Just don't expect an encore via Arts & Crafts Records.

Young Galaxy and their New York City-based (and former Interpol-handling) manager Brandon Schmidt are shopping for the best fit, which is important considering that Young Galaxy have always been a studio band first and a live entity second.

"Getting signed to Arts & Crafts really early in our career had its advantages," says Ramsay. "There was a bit of a built-in audience, which was amazing, but also a bit scary once we started to play live.

"It worked out very much to our advantage and now, with a second album completed, the focus is finding a label that's going to stand behind us, allow us to tour and really complement what we're trying to do here."

What they're trying to do is tour their songs, further their following... and eat some tasty food along the way. Young Galaxy play the Horseshoe Tavern on Saturday at 11:10 p.m. as part of the annual CHARTattack/Horseshoe/Canadian Music Week showcase. They'll follow that with some U.S. dates, culminating in a return engagement at the annual South By Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas.

"South By Southwest can definitely be an overwhelming experience, but if you go in with the right mindset, it really can be an amazing time," Ramsay says about the sheer insanity the annual music fest has become.

"For a band like us, it's a chance to get out of Montreal in late winter, eat some barbecue, check out some bands from around the world we'd never hear of otherwise, and play a few shows. It's all about expectations and keeping your goals in check."

Catch Young Galaxy live at these dates:

March 13 Ottawa, ON @ Babylon w/Malajube
March 14 Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern w/The Hundreds And Thousands, Rebekah Higgs, Vancougar, Dave Marsh And True Love Rules, Two Hours Traffic, The Golden Dogs and Hexes And Ohs (CMW)
March 15 Newport, KY @ Southgate House w/Edie Sedgwick and Medications
March 18 Denton, TX @ Dan's Silverleaf w/Disappears
March 19 Austin, TX @ Buffalo Billiards w/David Martel, Herman Dune, Emily Wells, The Tallest Man On Earth and Benjy Ferree (SXSW)
March 20 Austin, TX @ Radio Room (SXSW)