Thursday, March 28, 2024

Victoria hard-rockers Spiritbox make the cover of Revolver Magazine’s spring issue

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An iconic hard-rock band that was born out of a husband and wife’s love for music has landed them on the cover of the most prominent heavy music magazine in North America, Revolver Magazine

Courtney LaPlante and Mike Stringer played in a Victoria metalcore band called Iwrestledabearonce prior to the formation of their own music endeavor. The engaged couple decided in 2015 to quit their band and set out on their own, thus forming Spiritbox.

Matt Dell, a live music advocate and enthusiast as well as Victoria city councilor says that he used to watch LaPlante and Stringer as they were “cutting their teeth” at all-ages hardcore shows in Fernwood Community Centre during the 2000s. 

No big deal – a band from Victoria BC on the cover of Revolver magazine! These guys cut their teeth at Big Fernwood…

Posted by Matt Dell on Tuesday, April 4, 2023

The duo married in 2016 and immediately began investing their money into their music. Stringer wrote a handful of demos that he planned on eventually recording on an EP as a three-piece band fronted by his newly-wed wife.

LaPLante and Stringer worked jobs in Victoria to help them get the funds to record the songs in a home studio and properly release their EP.

In 2017 they released a self-titled EP and a single, The Beauty of Suffering. Following these releases they had to put the band on hold for some time to reassess their situation. 

They took two years to find a bassist and drummer to commit to the band and found management representation as well as a label to release their music going forward. In 2019, they released a second EP, Single Collection.

In 2020, they found a new drummer in Philadelphia-based Zev Rose. Spiritbox had planned to release an album and supporting singles through 2020, but COVID-19 had other plans that put everything on hold for the band.

Then, they released Eternal Blue into the world in 2021 which instantaneously skyrocketed to #1 on American and Canadian rock and hard rock charts.

The first single, Holy Roller, catapulted to #1 on SiriusXM and rose to #25 on the Billboard Hot Hard Rock chart. As of this publication, the song has over 22 million listens on Spotify.

Kerrang!, an esteemed punk rock and hard rock magazine, gave Eternal Blue a perfect 5/5 review and called their album  “the debut of the year”.

Now, they’ve risen to the top of their genre by being featured on Revolver Magazine’s latest cover. LaPlante was featured alone.

“What we have with Eternal Blue is something I hold dearly,” LaPlante once said in a media release. “I’m incredibly passionate about what we’ve created, but becoming the biggest band ever isn’t my aim.” 

“For people to find hope and comfort in this music is far more important. As long as this album continues to find its place with people who truly connect with it, I’ll be happy.”

Spiritbox has done Victoria proud by representing the lands and its people through their music and they’ll continue to do so going forward. 

Their next show is their sold out tour kick-off at Vancouver’s prestigious Commodore Ballroom on April 10th. Following their headlining tour across the United States and Canada, they’ll be joining Ghost on tour through Europe.

mm
Curtis Blandy
curtis@victoriabuzz.com

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