To most The Evidence is a young band in the throes of recording a debut record; that band with the singing drummer, bombing between suburban halls and downtown dives and carving their way through the local sub-pop… Below the surface is a tale of crashed vans, broken hands, and more glorious notches in the ethereal indie-cred belt. But before we explore this iceberg analogy any further, allow me a musical preface. In an effort to spare you the hyphenation and unconventional word compounding akin to musical descriptors, it will suffice to call The Evidence an alternative rock band. As individuals they draw upon influences as diverse as Queen, Rush, Refused, Pedro The Lion, Aphex Twin, and The Cure. When all is written and recorded, a listen is recommended to fans of Bad Religion, Brand New, Coheed and Cambria, Mission of Burma, and even AFI. Now, back to the iceberg: Guitarists Tyler Pickering and Dean Rudd (highschool chemistry classmates) banded together with fellow punk rock scenester and drummer Casey Lewis under the moniker ‘The Failure’ in late 2000. In parallel to a whirlwind of Canadian tours, Canadian Music Week showcases, and Warped Tour stints, Rudd and Lewis launched local indie imprint Meter Records and Echo Base Studios as resources for the band and their peers. After wrapping up another tour in late 2005, the band took a step back – They had a video in rotation on Muchmusic and MTV Canada, and had sold through the pressings of a self-titled album and the sophomore …of reason, but needed to recharge and were running into troubles with their name. “My mom never liked that name,” adds Dean. Refocusing while writing this year brought bassist Randy Burton into the fold and broadened the group’s songwriting pool. With the time away from the road, the quartet has reinvented itself while building on their original vision. These sub-surface trials and tribulations have been a source of both pride and perspective, and Rudd is quick to point out that the band’s objective is more modest than it might appear: “We really just want people to enjoy our music as much as we do. I want our songs to be the ones that make your day when they come on your iPod, and give you the goosebumps. Yes, there is social and political perspective there, but our first agenda is to light up the dance floor.” Look for The Evidence’s debut, Polarity, to be released in 2009.