They might be ‘Born Losers’ but listening to their new album feels like winning.

Altameda from Toronto, Canada, deals only in the serious matter of the human experience dressed in a folk-rock attire. Their new album, ‘Born Losers’ talks big themes of love, loss and self-reflection as written over a formative and turbulent last couple of years.

Before the bands will take off to tour live their newborn baby record and support The Zombies, we caught Altameda’s Troy to talk inspiration behind the tracks, TV reality obsessions and the state of the music industry.

Can you tell us who you are, where you’re from and about the music you make?

I am Troy, from the band Altameda. We are currently based in Toronto, Canada. We make spirited & thoughtful music about the human experience, that we hope other people can relate to.

How are you feeling about the release of your upcoming album ‘Born Losers’?

I am feeling very proud of this record, and am excited to finally have it out in the world.

What are some themes behind your new album?

The writing process for this record took place over some very formative years for me, and for the band. A lot of personal growth took place, and a lot of things changed. I would consider some of the themes to be love, loss, self-reflection, heartbreak, falling in love, hope, life & death. A lot of big questions, addressed in plainspoken simplicity, hopefully.

What is your songwriting process like?

I always keep a lot of notes. If I come across anything that feels poetic, I’ll write it down. Which helps get the ball rolling when I sit down to write a song. I’ll usually start with a guitar riff, and a vocal melody, and then search through my notes to find an idea to get lyrics Flowing.

Do you have a favourite track from the album?

I’m quite happy with all of the tracks on this album, but perhaps my favourite would be the song ‘Sweet Susie’. I’m really happy with the way that the arrangement turned out for it. I like the groove and the extended horn-section outro.

Can you tell us more about how you produce your music?

The band has a studio space that we rent, which is where a lot of the ideas first get formulated. We do a lot of demo’ing, and self-recording. Then once we have a batch of songs that we feel are strong, we typically go to a more “professional” studio setting to get the finished product. It helps to have the songs as fleshed out as possible before stepping into the studio, so that we can get the core of the song down and leave time to experiment with additional sonic elements.

Do you have any gigs planned for 2022?

We will be playing at SXSW festival in Austin in March, followed by some western Canadian shows later that month. We’ll be in the UK at Liverpool Sound City festival, and some other UK shows. And then we will be touring the USA &

Canada with The Zombies in June and July, which we are extremely honoured and excited about.

Can you tell us something interesting about your band that doesn’t have anything to do with music?

This is more about me, than the band, I suppose. But somewhat recently I found out that my grandfather (who passed away before I was born), worked for the rodeo in Canada. And was good friends with a rodeo clown by the name of Slim Pickens. Slim Pickens went on to become an actor, and starred in the Stanley Kubrick movie Dr. Strangelove Riding The Atomic Bomb, and Pat Garett and Billy The Kid alongside Bob Dylan, and Kris Kristofferson. My mom found a bunch of letters they had written back and forth, and I found that to be pretty interesting.

If your music were a film or TV show which would it be?

I like to think that each song on this record is a sort of vignette, and that we hopped around a bit genre-wise. So there might not be one specific movie that I could pin it down to. But our song ‘Nightmare Town’ is loosely based on the Terrence Malick film Badlands. And I think that film encapsulates some of the spirit of this record.

Name an album you’re still listening to from when you were younger and why it’s important to you?

When I was a kid I was really into the James Bond movies, which got me really into Paul McCartney and Wings because of their tune Live And Let Die being the theme of one of those movies. So their greatest hits album was the first CD I ever purchased. I didn’t even listen to The Beatles yet really at that time. My car is a bit older, and so I’ll often still listen to CD’s in it. I rediscovered that Wings greatest hits album and it’s been on repeat in my car for the past few months, and has some really great deep cut hits on it. That’s one example, though there are many albums from my youth that I still listen to frequently.

What do you hate right now?

I’m frustrated by the state of the music industry, and how difficult it is to make a living wage because of streaming services paying artists so little.

What do you love right now?

I got embarrassingly into reality TV throughout the pandemic, as I think a lot of people did. So, I guess I love that.

Is there any new music from 2022 you’re enjoying?

Our friends’ band Ghost Woman from Canada are great. Our friend Evan Cheadle is great, and our friends Kacy & Clayton are also a great band.

What comes next in the Altameda’s story?

We are excited to get our new record out and to be able to tour again finally. We’ve been writing non-stop since we made this new record, and so we have a lot of material to make a follow up soon as well. Essentially just trying to stay as busy as possible.

Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?

You can Find our tour dates and additional info on our social media pages, and on our website Altameda.net. We hope people check out the music, and that it connects with them. And we can’t wait to come to the UK for some shows in May.

Start Listening To: Altameda