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Staggered Crossing: The ups and downs of a Canadian rock band

A band that has become much more than the music they are putting out. (part 1)

Founded way back in 1996 in High School, the band members of Staggered Crossing have gone through thick and thin together. They have become a family over the years that they have been playing and experiencing music together. At the very beginning of their musical career they used to play every week at a bar in Toronto. “We were all underage at the time but the owner let us store our gear in the basement which is also where he allowed us to rehearse.”

In 2001 their first album was released, being played on Canadian rock channels over and over again. But the album release unluckily coincided with the rise of Napster and their record called “Staggered Crossing” that everyone put their hopes in, was only sold 14,000 times, a number that had nothing to do with how many people really owned their songs and listened to the music. “Back then we weren’t mad. Just confused,” singer Julian Taylor explains. Drummer Jeremy Elliott adds “I remember sitting in the office of our A&R guy telling him that we wanted to put songs on our website and he told us that it would be insane to consider such a thing. And that we shouldn’t worry because they had a couple lawsuits pending that would take care of the whole downloading thing.” Of course, nothing happened. “When people hear our music that makes us happy but we still have to make a living.” Julian states. Their record label Warner Music Canada probably thought the same and disappointedly led the band down, leaving them without a company to support them.

And what do you do in a situation like this? Found your own music company, of course. Julian explains that it was done out of desperation because they did not know what to do at the time, so they did what they could to help get the band out there again. And they did it successfully, so successfully that they even shared the stage with Nickelback in 2001.

To be continued next week with Staggered Crossing talking about their experiences with Nickelback, their inspirations for songwriting, their breakup in 2007 and their reunion in 2009.
Read the second part of the article now!

Discover Staggered Crossing's album Burgundy&Blue on CultureLoad.

Nora Frei
Editorial Team