Toronto, Canada - A few weeks back, LOUDTO.com announced that we were proud supporting media for Indie Night In Canada, an annual event dedicated to our independent music artists. 18 bands will be performing on June 6, 2023 at Toronto's iconic El Mocambo and we are thrilled to be bringing you some detailed coverage on a number of these artists. On Star Wars Day, we highlighted Toronto's Live Animals. Next on the docket? Rose Cora Perry & The Truth Untold.
Rated as the best rock band in their hometown of London, Ontario, and a Top 10 band in Canada's indie scene, The Truth Untold has played live in front of hundreds of thousands of fans. Supporting acts like 90s giants Smashmouth, and Canadian legends Platinum Blond, Rose Cora Perry and the rest of the band are completely honoured to have been selected as one of this year's 18 bands to perform at Indie Night in Canada. The Truth Untold will hit El Mocambo's Stage 2 (Under The Neon Palms) on Tuesday June 6 at 8:00pm. With the buzz around this rock trio (in my opinion, there is nothing cooler, or more raw than a 3-piece rock band), it's an act you'll be sorry to miss. So don't!
On a great Saturday afternoon in Toronto, I had the pleasure of catching up with frontwoman Rose Cora Perry:
LOUDTO: So we're here with the Rose Cora Perry of Rose Cora Perry & The Truth Untold. How are you today?
Rose Cora Perry: I am enjoying the beautiful beautiful weather. How are you doing Jay?
LOUDTO: I’m good! Same thing. I love the summer and there’s nothing like it for me.
RCP: I quite agree. I am an August child and so I think coming out of the womb I just knew that that was my season and anything else was unacceptable frankly.
LOUDTO: Interesting, cuz I’m June.
RCP: There you go! That’s exactly it. You just naturally gravitate towards the warm weather. Even the child in you knew!
LOUDTO: So why don’t you just give a little bit about yourself to start us off.
RCP: Sure! That’s always such a broad question and a hard one to try and summarize but essentially, I am a rock musician and I’m the frontwoman, the singer/songwriter and guitarist for a rock trio, “The Truth Untold”. We are based out of London. We are an original rock and roll band heavily 90s influenced and really kind of what we’re all about is we like writing songs with meaning and you know stuff that really kind of reaches people and makes a difference and impacts them and cool ways and pretty melodies but still very very hard hitting instrumentation. I've been a musician since I was 4 years old. I started vocal lessons when I was a wee little child and then I started writing songs when I was about seven and I'm a self-taught guitarist started playing guitar in my teenage angst years and that’s kind of a short summary so to speak.
LOUDTO: I actually noticed that your resume is quite extensive with some modeling, journalism, broadcasting, publicist. What is it do you think about music that your other talents I'll call them, can’t compete with?
RCP: And that is an awesome question and a totally fair statement. So I’m somebody who firmly believes that if there is something that you really want to do in life you should just do it. The worst that could happen is if you fail but if you fail, better that than to live your whole life in regret always wondering what would have happened if you didn’t try this kind of pursuit. So I’ve done as you’ve said, I’ve done some publicity stuff, I’ve done some modeling, I’ve hosted a couple television shows, I’ve written multiple articles and editorial pieces for a variety of magazines and what-not and I enjoy all of those things. They're all various ways of kind of expressing myself creatively and artistically and they all kind of you know check a box of who I am you know as a holistic person but music is something that's, it's almost intangible and it's hard to describe. Like even if I didn't want to be a musician anymore, I don't know if the universe would allow that because I really have no control over when I'm inspired to write a song. It’s just like I have this beautiful natural gift that I would never take for granted, that I’m able to sing and that I get these moments of inspiration where melodies just come into my head and it’s just this natural ability that for whatever reason I was gifted with. I found through the power of music that I’ve been able to connect with people in really really meaningful ways. You know, both fans and people who have actually become my friends through my musical journey. So I see it as a really really important way to kind of break down barriers between people cuz you can have a whole room full of individuals with different back grounds, different beliefs but then they all sing in unison when they hear their favourite song. And that’s a really really cool experience to witness as an audience member but also to be a part of as a musician. So I think it’s hard to compete with something that's just inherently a part of who you are to be honest. Not to say that I don't think I have gifts in those other pursuits and again I’m grateful for those abilities and grateful for the individuals who’ve allowed me to pursue those passions, but something about music I just, I can’t kick.
LOUDTO: I love your comment about different people being able to come together and enjoy the same music for what the music gives to them specifically.
RCP: Mmm hmm… it’s really cool thing to witness for sure.
LOUDTO: Obviously the pandemic was pretty devastating for a lot of industries but I'm a big advocate that the live music industry had one of the worst impacts.
RCP: 100%
LOUDTO: How has life been for you in the band since the pandemic? I mean I guess maybe Covid's never going away but now that things have opened up and we're kind of back to normal life how have things gone for you in the band since then?
RCP: It’s exciting but also a bit intimidating to be honest because we were building up all this hype, we're playing these really awesome shows in the states. Like we had showcases at Summer NAMM in Nashville, we did a showcase at The Whiskey A Go-Go in Los Angeles. At late 2019 we had released our debut EP. We had a lot of buzz behind us. We were planning on going and doing this massive tour in 2020 and then the world went caput! Obviously, all of those great ideas and great goals we had, completely were eradicated from even you know our conscious living at that point for about two and a half years. So essentially coming back we released our first single back since 2019, November 2022, so just about 5 months ago. And essentially it what was like starting from scratch again because all that momentum and all that buzz and all those awesome things that we had done were kind of a distant memory because so much has changed the past couple years. Not just as far as the live music scene and people's relationship to that, the growth of live streaming but also frankly a lot of venues and festivals that we used to play don't even exist anymore. They’re just gone. And I mean as I said we are kind of basically starting from scratch and wondering are we still going to be relevant. Are people still going to dig it. And all I can say is my God, I am beyond grateful for the enthusiasm and just enjoyment that people have gotten out of our new single and we’re really excited to be able to continue to work on new material and hopefully have some killer shows this year and it’s a pretty huge honour for us to be starting out our season kicking things off with a showcase at Indie Night In Canada. So really really appreciative and certainly as I said, we’re definitely feeling a bit intimidated given that it’d been a couple years, we hadn’t done anything. It’s like is anybody going to care anymore but they did, so we’re thankful for that.
LOUDTO: I kind of see, going to shows photographing shows and stuff that I do like pretty much every show that I've gone to is packed and I think people are just starving for some live music.
RCP: Well, it’s not just, and I do not say this to be derogatory by any means towards live music but it’s not just about the music. It’s about the whole social connection. I mean it's one thing to not be able to go to a venue and then you know, be able to hear musicians perform but it's a whole other thing to not even be able to physically interact with people. To have literally lived a couple years where we're seeing people through masks and not having that genuine human connection. So, I think it goes beyond just enjoying a kick-ass (pardon me) but kick-ass rock and roll experience. I think it’s just about people feeling like they can get back out and socialize and have normal human experiences. I think that perhaps we’re a little bit diluted as far as how much that’s affected us on a psychological level but it absolutely has. Like our whole lives were changed for the past two and a half years so as I said, we’re just grateful to be back out performing again and grateful for everybody who wants to be a part of that experience for sure.
LOUDTO: Awesome. Great points there. Certainly, there's challenges that have come after Covid. I think one of the biggest things is inflation.
RCP: Yeah
LOUDTO: There are a lot of bands that are having to cancel like whole legs of tours because it's just not feasible for them to do it and I think that's it's a bit bothersome to me knowing that no there's a possibility that North American bands won’t be able to go over to Europe and conversely, European bands won’t be able to come across here. What are your thoughts on that?
RCP: Well, and I, this is going to sound super old school, I think that if fans want to be real fans in the age of social media they have to understand that putting you know when you put something out artistically not only does it take a lot of time and energy and blood, sweat and tears but it also costs a lot of money. To record things, to put together videos, to put together merchandising, and to tour. Like logistically, even if you are just doing a smaller kind of tour like what we typically do, there’s still a lot of planning and there’s a lot of logistics and there's a lot of financing that goes into that. So if a fan truly wants to consider themselves a fan of the band you have to support them monetarily. Liking a post on Facebook or Instagram or making a comment is not sufficient as far as I’m concerned. Like I know that we’re kind of all obsessed with this social media model but I had no problem back in my day… I’m going to sound so old (laughs), but back in my day buying the same CD of my favourite band five times in a row because I played it so much that it was so scratched it wouldn't play anymore and guess what I kept their careers going because I had no problem putting my money where my mouth was. If I want to be a fan I would go and pay to see them live. I would go and pay to have their merchandise. I would pay for their music. And if we live in a society where everyone is just expecting everything for free all the time and then disappointed that you know not everyone's millionaires and able to fund their own dreams well that's really as I said kind of deluded thinking. So, if you want to see your favorite bands then support them financially. Buy their merchandise. Go see them perform. Buy their music. Don’t just expect it to be free on streaming platforms. Don’t just expect you know, a like on a Facebook post to actually prove that you’re a fan. I mean being a fan means as I said putting your money where your mouth is.
LOUDTO: Yeah, I definitely agree with that. It's kind of unfortunate where we're in an age where kind of everybody wants everything for free.
RCP: And if they don’t get it they throw a hissy fit? (laughs) Doesn’t really make sense now does it? I mean, it would be the same thing, you know, let’s say that their day job their boss all of a sudden whether they're working Tim Hortons or they’re a construction foreman their boss now tells them “Okay so Jimmy you're going to come in, you're going to do your 8 hours and we're going to count it as volunteer time”. Well how's an Entertainer any different? If they are professional if they've you know really honed their craft. If they’re going out and they’re trying to give people this little piece of their heart in soul, that is worth money. It absolutely is.
LOUTO: 100%! So I see The Truth Untold has played with some legendary Canadian talent. Do you get to, like learn from them like through chatting? Is there any artist or band that you learned the most about life on the road from?
RCP: You know that's a really great question. I’ve had the privilege of actually opening for quite a few people that I looked up to in my youth which is pretty darn awesome. It’s definitely a humbling experience and quite an honour to be able to open a show for somebody that you remember seeing when you were an ankle biter up there on stage rocking out. I would say probably by far, and this would be particularly relevant to my home city of London but probably by far one of the biggest mentors that I had growing up, because I'd see literally every single show that she ever played in London, and then we became friends was Nicole Hughes formerly of “Scratching Post”. She now actually does music management, and she was managing the band “Courage My Love” who now go by the name “Soft Cult”. She was a tremendous influence on me as far as just kind of mentorship and encouraging me and she even helped me figure out the kind of the grant process a little bit for factor, and you know just kind of being able to see her grow and develop and you know looking up to her and kind of figuring out my performance style from seeing so many of her shows when I was a child. So it was really really cool to be able to meet somebody that you really really respect and to have a dialogue with them and you know to be able to kind of learn and grow as an artist because of that. So I’m very very honoured to have had her in my life for sure. And we are super super excited to actually be opening for “The Killjoys” again in London just days before our Indie Night in Canada music show. That is going to be so cool and it's hilarious because I've had the Give Me Five record probably since I was a teenager, listened to it countless times. I will legit know the lyrics to every single song they’re playing and will totally be fan-girling and probably embarrassing myself but that's all right, I'm allowed.
LOUDTO: Do you ever get kind of like cold, well maybe not cold feet but do you ever get embarrassed, or tongue tied and not know what to say to some of these musicians you play with?
RCP: The stupidest example I have of that (laughing), and I’m fully going to embarrass myself now in this interview by sharing this story is that when my band, this was in the Anti-Hero days, so this would have been in the early 2000s, my band had the privilege of playing Warped Tour a couple of times which was so awesome. And one of the years that we performed; Joan Jett was one of the headlining artists. I’m like Oh My God! Like when it comes to women in rock who have truly been pioneers, she is 100% the top of my list. Joan Jett is a force! My God seeing her performance just, it's electrifying. She's incredible! So I had the privilege of being able to meet her in person because we all had backstage access as performers and I felt like an idiot because I didn't know the heck to talk to her about, I’m like it’s Joan Frickin Jett! But the weirdest part about the whole scenario is that with the addition of like heavy black eye liner and you know, like leather jackets and stuff, she actually is the spitting image of my mother. Like it’s weird! They look so similar it was like an uncanny resemblance and I remember just kind of like blubbering a bit saying “This is so weird but you look like exactly like my biological mother” and she turns back to me and says “Biological mother? Well is there any other kind of mother?” (both of us laugh). And I was phrasing it that way cuz I also have, my parents have been remarried so I also have some step-parents, but of course Joan Jett doesn’t know who the hell I am and wouldn’t know my family history. And so I phrased it really awkwardly and I'm like yeah I just made myself out to be an idiot. So that was probably the best example of that but you know she was really really cool and humble and gracious towards me as she is with all of her fans. So even though I know I made an ass of myself I don’t think she held it against me so to speak.
LOUDTO: Awesome! That's an awesome story!
RCP: Yeah it was really embarrassing and now the whole world is going to hear that story! (both of us laughing again)
LOUDTO: Funny! So, do you have any other passions when you're not writing or playing music?
RCP: Other passions? Yes! I love animals! I absolutely adore them. I love travelling in general. I love watching really silly action comedy movies and of course most importantly I love spending time with the people that are important in my life as everybody should. Never take those moments for granted.
LOUDTO: Very good! Well I really enjoyed chatting with you. I do have one last question. Is there anything on the horizon for the band that you can share with us?
RCP: Yeah I mean, my understanding is that the big push with this article is to promote our Indie Night In Canada performance so obviously I want to make sure that that is drawn attention to. Especially with you being a Toronto based magazine. But as far as kind of what's on the horizon well I always try to keep people guessing and I'll say you'll just have to wait and see but we do have plans and we are going to be hitting the road this year this summer so keep an eye out on our website and our social media for when you can catch us live because we’d love to meet you and rock your socks off in person.
LOUDTO: Thanks so much Rose!
RCP: No, thank you Jay!
Rose Cora Perry & The Truth Untold Online
Indie Night In Canada Tickets can be had HERE!