Freshly Pressed – The Lookout Service “Moving Away”

Toronto rock duo The Lookout Service have been keeping busy ahead of their  forthcoming debut album release on March 1st. They released their single “I Am The Dragon” in November, booked an Ontario tour (happening throughout March), and they’ve just released their latest track, “Moving Away”. We caught up with the band to chat about the new music, the best and worst parts of playing live shows, and the highlights of their musical career so far.

From The Strait: Tell us about the new single, “Moving Away”.

The Lookout Service: Moving Away is a song about accepting the reality of losing a loved one who is starting a new life in a very distant place.  I wrote the song after a close friend of mine told me that she was leaving Toronto after college to live in BC.  The song came together very quickly, and the lyrics were written about a day or two after she told me she gave me the news.  I wanted the song to have a happy-sad feel musically because I wanted it to reflect that while I was losing a close friend, I was also happy that she was pursuing her dreams of heading out west.  The song has got an upbeat feel to it with a real driving beat, and hopefully a relatable message.  It’s a song for everyone who gets left behind, to sing along to and keep their head up high.  

From The Strait: You’re headed out across Ontario for some shows in March – what are some of the best (and worst) parts of playing a live show?

The Lookout Service: The best part about touring and playing live is getting to see everybody in the crowd, dancing and singing along to our tunes.  Meeting other incredible musicians and bands as we go from town to town is always a great experience, and we always try to bring a little bit of new music back home to share with our friends and family. For us, one of the biggest challenges of playing live shows is carrying hundreds of pounds of musical equipment up and down multiple flights of stairs, and then packing it all into our car all over again at the end of the night.  As a two-piece, we have quite a lot of equipment, and pack 3 amps, a drum kit, and guitars into a single car.  Sometimes it can get a bit tight in the car, and the gear is very heavy, but it’s nice cause we get to save money on gym memberships!   

From The Strait: Which bands or artists are you listening to most right now? Are there any under-the-radar acts that our readers should know about?

The Lookout Service: I recently got into the music of Tyler Childers, and I’ve gotta confess, I’m completely hooked.  He’s got a couple of his songs on YouTube that he did for Red Barn Radio, where it’s just him and a guitar, and it’s mesmerizing.  Real and raw vocal performance matched with really powerful lyrics.  In terms of under-the-radar artists, Toronto’s very own Moondoggy (who we’ve played with before) is great to watch live. They released their album in November and I just saw them play at Lee’s Palace a few weeks ago and they had the whole place grooving.  

From The Strait: What has been the highlight of your musical career so far? 

The Lookout Service: This is something that happened quite recently – Alan Cross from 102.1 The Edge in Toronto picked our track “I Am The Dragon” (from our forthcoming album “The Gambit”, as his “Undiscovered Gem of the Week”. It’s an online feature that gets picked up by all the Corus Entertainment rock stations across Canada, so for us, this was our first real national exposure.   It was a really special moment for me when I got to tell my father, who has been listening to Alan on the radio for a few decades, that he picked our song. I could tell it meant a lot to him.

From The Strait: If you could curate a festival (with you headlining, of course), who would you want on the bill and what would it be called?

The Lookout Service: I would love to do a festival in Toronto showcasing some of the city’s up-and-coming musical talent.  We’ve been fortunate enough to play with some great bands on the come up and it would be a dream to have everyone play together somewhere in the city! Christie Pits Park always has a vibe in the summertime, and I think it would be a cool place to throw a music festival!

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Check out “Moving Away” from The Lookout Service, and watch the video for “I Am The Dragon” below!

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