Nine-piece Canadian band Busty and the Bass have their own word for their brand of electro-funk: bustified. For a song to become fully "bustified," all nine members must collaborate to create a sound that's booming, intricate and as funky as possible. That word is a guiding force in everything they do -- from their writing sessions to their recording process to their live show.
All nine members met at McGill University in Montreal during "music frosh" orientation. Guitar player Louis Stein scoped out musicians he felt had a good vibe and invited them over a big house party. The guys he invited ended up making what later became Busty and the Bass -- Scott Bevins (trumpet), Mike McCann (trumpet), Chris Vincent (trombone), Nick Ferraro (alto sax, vocals), Milo Johnson (bass), Julian Trivers (drums), Eric Haynes (piano, keyboard), and Evan Crofton (keyboards, synths, vocals).
They started off playing mostly house shows, which helped them develop their sound and build up their fanbase.
According to Haynes, those shows were some of his favorite performances.
"It's a whole different feeling to be on the same level as the crowd and have them in front of you," he said. "You feel even more connected and take in more energy off the crowd than you do in a regular setting."
With a loyal fanbase on their side, Busty and the Bass were named Canada's top university band by the Rock Your Campus competition, a country-wide search put on by the CBC to find the best college band in the country.
"It was voting based for the first few rounds, so that's where having our 'Team McGill' helped us out because they were willing to vote several times a day to help us get to the final round," Haynes explained. "Eventually we were able to win it, which was definitely a validation of all the work we've put in so far, and I think that inspired us to take things to the next level."
Since their win, they've had the opportunity to play at established venues, most recently Brooklyn Bowl and Rockwood Music Hall in New York City, and are now prepping the release of their new album GLAM, which is due out June 2.
GLAM marks the band's first cohesive body of work -- a proper debut.
"I'm really excited because it's the first time we've actually concentrated on putting together a body of work or artistic statement," Haynes said. "It's just sort of good to be able to sit down in the studio for a week and record all this stuff with the same engineer, and hopefully it sort of has a similar sound. Whereas the EP we recorded last year was thrown together from various recording sessions. So I hope this one is a good representation of the sound we are aiming for."
They've already released the projects first single "Models" and will be dropping the second single "The Real" tomorrow (May 19).
"Models" explores the idea of creating social media personas and how that affects the way people view themselves and those on their social feeds.
"We wrote 'Models' sort of acknowledging the whole phenomena of social media, just the idea that you create this model version of yourself and broadcast it to the world and try to get this like quantifiable [validation] based off of it," Bevins explained. "You know, we dance on that line too, because we have to present ourselves as a band."
Their next single, "The Real," will have much more trumpet than the first single, and Bevins, McCann and Haynes have all listed it as one of their favorite tracks off the upcoming effort.
"This one is a lot more complex and models more of a journey," Bevins said. "It's a longer song, and it goes through a lot of different feels and stuff."
Fans who've seen the band live recently have already been given a taste.
"More or less, we write a lot of our songs on the road," Bevins explained. "We just start putting them in front of audiences very early in the process."
To get the true "bustified" experience, the live show is the best way to take in their sound.
"There is so much interaction and energy on stage," Haynes said. "The live show is my favorite part of the band. We try to really have a good time and hope the audience does too, and obviously there are some things that you can do in the studio that you can't do live, but I think we're really good at bringing the energy and excitement for live shows. There are five of us in the rhythm section alone, which is about as big as most regular bands, but having those four extra horns really just lets us take it up to eleven."
While at their show, you'll also get to meet the band's mascot, an elephant named GLAM.
"We just think the elephant is the most 'busty' of all animals," said McCann. "We actually bought a whole elephant suit and only took the head, and we all switch off wearing it at the beginning of the show."
"Anyone who happens to have GLAM on them also becomes GLAM," Bevins added. "You embody the glam/busty spirit."
Things are just now getting started for Busty and the Bass, now that school is coming to a close and they'll have time to focus their attention on the band. The group already has plans to release a full-length in Spring 2016.
"Until then, we're excited to start a whole new writing process and apply the things we learned making GLAM so that hopefully things will go even more smoothly and we'll have even longer to work on it now that we're not in school," Haynes explained. "Also, while it's summer and the weather is nice, we're going to do a bunch of touring."
Their next stop is May 22 in Toronto. After that they'll head to Ottawa Jazz Festival June 29 before hitting the month of July hard with stops at Montreal Jazz Festival, Halifax, Antigonish, Montauk, Boston, and Turtle Music Festival in Parry Sound.
Keep a look out for GLAM, due out June 2, and "The Real" tomorrow, and check out the band on tour this summer. For more information, head to their official website and follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
