Toronto pop-rock breakout Rosedale is coming through Cincinnati to play Mad Frog on Sunday March 20th! Rosedale is the solo project of alternative musician Mike Liorti. Combining influences from alternative, pop-rock and punk, Rosedale’s sound is awash with catchy hooks underpinned by Liorti’s deft vocals, intuitive song-writing and palpable honesty.
Having already toured the UK and Europe this year, Rosedale is now about half way through an expansive North American run. Rosedale has become a mainstay at The Vans Warped Tour over the past few years & combines alternative, pop-rock and punk influences for exceedingly catchy new LP.
We sat down with Mike Liorti prior to the Mad Frog show this Sunday!
Give us some background on Rosedale…
Rosedale is my music baby. I started the band in 2004 with some neighborhood friends. We played shows, went through some member changes, did some touring, then it slowly became just my solo project with new fill-in guys coming and going. In 2012 I ran out of options entirely so I went out on Warped Tour as a one man show and played in the parking lots of the festival every morning and evening. After a couple of weeks word was getting around about my one man DIY show and I was invited to play on some stages. Since then I've been more open to developing the one man show while also expanding my fill-in roster across North America. I was also lucky enough to go to Europe in January/February 2016 with Rosedale and my friends in Time and Distance as my band. Rosedale's sophomore album came out right after that tour. It is self-titled because most of the album is about the events and people in my life that led Rosedale to what it is today.
What can one expect at a live Rosedale show?
The dynamic of Rosedale's show is kind of always changing, but in a good way (so I've been told), mostly due to the line-up always changing along with the fact that I have a hard time hiding my emotions. So you never really know what to expect other than it being a 100% honest effort every night. I'm also a production junky so I set up a fully programmed LED light show and have some automated FX on my vocal, guitar, and keys.
What determined your band name?
There was a street next to the local music store we all grew up in. Our drummers never wanted to practice as much as us (and it was unfair for their families to have a 2-hour earthquake every night) so we'd walk, skateboard, or bike 2 miles to jam out at Long and McQuade Musical instruments. Rosedale Avenue was kinda the final stretch on that journey and it just had so many stories so the name stuck.
What is next for Rosedale?
Watch out The Beatles! No, but I really have no clue what the future of Rosedale will be. Hopefully more people check out the new album and start coming to shows so I can party again. I'm on a "no substance until I draw a crowd of 1500" plan. It’s rough. Help. Haha