Moncton's Marco Rocca is set to release his debut solo album next week.
Marco Rocca is perhaps best known to most as one-quarter of longtime Moncton punk band Hope.
But the guitarist and singer has busied himself with several other projects in recent years. In addition to serving as guitarist and backing vocalist in The Monoxides, Rocca formed a four-piece rock band The Nuclear with Hope bandmate Tommy “T-Bone” Antle, Sour Grapes’ bassist Pascal “Pak Twisted” Toussaint and Monoxides axeman Derek Robichaud. The band has one album out, released in 2008.
And now he’s branching out even further. Next week, Rocca releases his first solo record, Hopeless in the Haze, an album that blends folk, rock and a touch of punk. The album is available for streaming now here.
Rocca joins us this week to fill us in on what he’s up to, his new addition to video games and why he can’t let himself buy Pepsi.
1. What are you up to these days, musically or otherwise? (Feel free to plug whatever you’ve got coming up.)
I’ve got an album coming out very soon with a release show in Halifax at Gus’s Pub April 15th and The Paramount in Moncton on the 16th. (Rocca will also perform at The Boulevard in Miramichi on Saturday, April 17). I recorded it on my own in various basements around Moncton and Riverview. Took a while to finish as I didn’t intend on releasing it….but now that it’s finished I think it’s worthy of a proper release.
2. How did you get into the music business and what was the first major lesson you learned once you got your feet wet?
I guess my first step in the direction of “the music business” would have been around the age of 15 when our band The Disowned would sell tapes of albums we recorded. A few years later I joined Hope and we started touring Canada to promote our albums. By the time of our third album together we toured the USA with Vans Warped Tour.
The first major lessons I learned was to be very careful about who you trust. You have to take risks and there will be losses so make decisions as a band; let everyone have their say. Also, do what you want with your set, but don’t go over time and get your stuff on and off as stage as fast as you can! It doesn’t matter if you have fans screaming for one more song. Respect the other bands. If it’s not your own headlining gig and you play an extra five minutes, you’re taking time away from another band.
3. What song or album have you been listening to most lately?
I have The Traveling Wilburys Vol.3 in my car right now, and I think it’ll stay there for a while. Before that I was listening to the latest Rancid and Paul McCartney’s RAM quite a bit. I just asked my girlfriend what else I’ve been listening to lately and she said, “yourself, yourself and yourself”…..so yeah, I’ve been listening to my new record quite a bit as well. It’s more like analyzing it.
4. What’s your favourite way to waste time or relax?
Playing music, and playing video games. The latter is new to me. I haven’t played video games like this since I was 10 years old. I bought an xbox 11 months ago and haven’t looked back.
5. The Internet and social media are allowing artists to get closer to their fans than they ever were in some respects. What are your thoughts on this?
There’s a long list of pros and cons to this. If the artist remains in control of the content and how he/she reaches his/her fans then I think the pros outweigh the cons. If artists lose control of their work, what do they have left? All in all, from an independent and pretty much unknown musician’s perspective the Internet is obviously one of the greatest tools we have in reaching new fans. From a nostalgic perspective … it hurts a little.
6. If you weren’t in the music industry in some capacity, what would you be doing today?
I love science, but was never good in math … so would that make me a philosopher? I have a friend who majored in Philosophy. I should ask him what he does and then get back to you.
7. What’s the most interesting thing you’ve learned recently?
Ozone is created when UV Rays hit Oxygen.
Hemochromatosis is a hereditary disease that disrupts the way the body metabolizes iron. Although it can be fatal, it helped many Europeans survive The Bubonic Plague as well as others. If your macrophages lack iron it makes it hard for viruses to spread infection and that gives the body more time to defend itself. Also, bloodletting is a simple treatment for people living with the disease today.
8. If you could hit the “delete” button on anything related to music (a song, artist, trend, whatever), what would you delete?
Without a doubt Cowboy Troy’s “I Play Chicken With The Train” would be deleted.
9. What’s your favourite thing to drink (alcoholic or otherwise)?
I drank way too much Pepsi as a kid. These days I try not to buy it at the grocery store because I’ll drink unhealthy amounts of it morning, day and night. As for alcohol, I like all kinds of whiskey. No mix. Ice is fine though.
10. Finish the sentence below and please elaborate on what you mean:
The east coast music scene is … huge. There are so many musicians and styles of music here. I think a lot of people don’t realize just how many working musicians there are on the east coast. We have it all, from punk to bluegrass, metal to hip-hop, classical and traditional. There are always going to be groups that form their own little niche based on similarities and even camaraderie, but the music scene here is more than that. It’s all walks and styles. It’s indie and pro. It’s full of talent.
11. What’s the next thing you want to accomplish, musically or otherwise?
I’ve just started working with a booking agent; a long-time friend who’s decided to put his talents to even more use. So I’m really looking forward to playing more often and to new places. The record I’m about to release was recorded over a year ago, so I’m ready to start work on my next record. By the time the next record is done, I believe it will be time for The Nuclear and Hope to get to the studio once again. We’ve had some down time recently, but the next few years are going to be busy.
Check back to EastCoastNoise.com next Friday for a chat with: Diminished Fifth Records’ head Josh Hogan
