THE ALMIGHTY RHOMBUS ROCKS THE RELEASE

The dankest, dampest, dandiest boys in town are back at it again! The Almighty Rhombus has a new single out for us all to enjoy as the summer sun starts to make its appearance. CHANCES – their latest single, is a dreamy pop track perfect for whiling away a day on the water. The accompanying video was filmed at Canadore College and captures a dark, gritty, 70’s aesthetic. We caught up with Clayton Drake, for the details on upcoming Rhombus releases and live music post-COVID!

Your brand new video for Chances was just released. Talk to us about the new track!

The vid was shot at Canadore College with a 12-person crew. We loaded up all our gear and all 6 damp boys in the F150 at the crack of dawn and hauled ass to North Bay, where we spent 14 hours in a dark room playing Chances over and over. Mike was hungover AF. Patiences were tested, pizza was consumed, but ultimately, thanks to the direction of Alec Jordan and the energy of our awesome crew, we got all the shots we needed, packed up the F150 and drove back to Sudbury in complete silence, wondering if that was the end of our band.

With the video, much like the song itself, we were trying to achieve a 70s-inspired aesthetic. A big inspiration for the look of the video was Panos Cosmatos’ Mandy, which is an absolutely BONKERS movie that everyone should watch immediately where Nic Cage murders an entire cult with a homemade ax while high on cocaine.

Since your last album Swish in 2018, and certainly your first self titled release in 2013, plenty has changed for the Rhombus crew. Tell us about your evolving approach to making music? How has life influenced art?

We’ve had a few lineup changes since 2013, but we have never given up because we are too stupid and stubborn and don’t know what else to do with our lives. It is clear now that not even a catastrophic global event can stop us. We are like 6 cockroaches scurrying around in the circuit boards of the Canadian music industry, trying to find a way out but constantly getting shocked and causing minor malfunctions.

We haven’t had a new album from the Almighty Rhombus since Swish in 2018. Will we have some new tunes to jam to soon?

We have recently moved to releasing singles over full albums, and have put out 3 singles since SWISH, with 2 more on the way. We have a buttload of songs that are ready to go beyond that, and hopefully, people will get to hear those soon as well. The newest stuff that hasn’t been recorded yet is like Tame Impala meets the Weeknd.

How are the Rhomus boys keeping busy during isolation?

During isolation, myself and Carter (the Drakebros) have been playing a lot of golf. We try to share our golf adventures to our Instagram story. Personally, I wrote a screenplay, started a video series that I’ve let languish, wrote some grants, and have been trying very hard not to get fat. Michael I think has been playing Call of Duty and writing tunes. Dylan built a new computer and he and Mark have been working on demos for a new side project of theirs. Keegan is a health professional and has been working throughout this thing, so I guess he’s a hero. As a band, we’ve been writing remotely and recording demos and generally just trying to get our shit together.

If isolation where over tomorrow, what kind of party would Rhombus throw to celebrate?

If isolation were over tomorrow, all 6 of us would go to a cabin in the woods and take mushrooms together to expand and unite our consciousnesses, in an effort to become one powerful entity.

Times are certainly unsure for all of us but especially for artists, music venues, and festivals. Talk to us about where you see the future of live music going post-pandemic?

The collapse of live performance as a revenue stream for artists has underscored how exploitative the compensation arrangement is for musicians with respect to all other revenue streams (ie. streaming).

Without that meager amount of money coming in to sustain us, we are starting to wake up to the fact that other people are profiting far more from our art than we are. It is inevitable that musicians will organize and form some sort of collective bargaining group that will negotiate with the music industry to improve working conditions and compensation arrangements for artists. The only reason that music doesn’t pay is that the people currently in charge set it up that way. We can change it if we work together.

As far as live music, obviously people are doing streaming concerts, but that’s clearly not the same thing as live performance. I am of the perspective that live performance is a special, unique form that cannot be captured on video and requires you to be present in person. I have no interest in watching a live-streamed concert, but I guess there are people out there who are into it.

I think artists should use this time as an opportunity to hold the entire world hostage and refuse to perform until we are all compensated fairly. People have forgotten how special and magical live performance is. Artists need to stop viewing their art as “content” and treating their own art with the reverence it deserves. We’ve been brainwashed by a music industry that pretends to be our ally when in reality every single person involved in music who is not an artist is an adversary looking to make a buck off our labour.

Ultimately, venues will reopen, and live performance will return to the way it was before. Maybe there will be fewer venues. Hopefully, only the venues that actually care about creating a good space live music will remain.

What are some of the best ways we can support Rhombus and other local acts right now?

You can’t support us directly financially, other than to buy our music on Bandcamp (which people will not do because it is available for free elsewhere). Just click “follow” on our profile on whatever streaming service you use, and watch our new vid on youtube (follow us there too please). Share our art with your friends. Follow us on social media and say hello.

Where can readers stay up to date on Rhombus news and shows (one day)?

Here’s a link where people can find all our social media accounts and streaming profiles: https://almightyrhombus.contactin.bio/