If you listen to rock radio, you have probably heard Monster Truck’s newest single Don’t Tell Me How To Live. The bands second full length album Sitting Heavy dropped February 19th and the band immediately is on the road with The Temperance Movement. The tour brings the 2 popular bands to MacEwan Hall in Calgary February 27th and Union Hall in Edmonton March 1st.

Guitarist Jeremy Widerman chatted with GayCalgary a few days before the album’s release, and it was evident that he was excited to have their latest effort out to fans.

"It has been a long process over the last year getting it out there. The fans seem excited so everything is on the up. It started out a couple of years back almost as soon as we finished releasing curiosity. We started recording riffs on the iPhone and keeping it in the back of our mind. Last year we started piecing it together a lot of the ideas and even had one or two songs we were playing live. Production started the beginning of last year really bearing down on all the ideas we had and putting them into complete songs. We started tracking in February and were still writing more. We were supposed to be wrapping up the recording in the summer and we came to the conclusion that the record wasn’t as strong as it could be. We added another recording session in and continued songwriting to get the record to where it is today," he said, adding that the band is excited to play the new songs as well as tracks off of 2013’s Furiosity.

"We are excited to play these new songs on the road, that is always what you are excited most for with a new bunch of material. Our fans are so supportive and excited about new material and they know they can expect not to be surprised or jilted out of what they were comfortable with. The old material is reflected in the new material; we aren’t going to suddenly change direction. We like to feel that any song from any album could be comfortable on any other album. The best part of playing these new songs live will be that people will embrace them quickly."

Widerman is both humbled by the success thus far of the band, and recalled the first time her heard Monster Truck played on the radio.

"There are 2 ways to hear it on the radio. When you are a new band starting out you know you are going to be featured on a playlist or you did an interview and they are going to play a song. That is the way I had already heard my bands on the radio since I was 17 or 18 years old and started having recorded music out there.  It’s not as exciting as the way I remember most, when I didn’t know it was going to be on. It was probably 2013 on Edge 102 in Toronto. I specifically remember driving the van through Hamilton running errands and it popped up on the radio. It was a moment I had been waiting for my entire life, hearing the song in the rotation and happened to be on at that time. It was pretty exciting."

The band has made a long list of high profile fans along the way. Artists like Dee Snider have praised them and they have gained respect of their peers while opening for bands like Alice in Chains, Nickelback and Slash. The iconic former and soon to be reunited Gun’s n Roses guitarist especially is a huge fan which means a lot to four guys who started a band as a fun project.

"In the moment itself you are trying not to lose your cool and be a part of it. When we were opening for Slash and actually at the show it is important for us to feel like we are supposed to be there and his peers rather than how we are really feeling – Holy shit we’re opening for Slash! Or We are opening for Alice in Chains! Any of those moments are pinch me moments before and after but in the moment you have to shake that feeling off so you can do your job. We are there to play well and interact with fans. I remember the first time we met Slash, we had finished our first set on the first tour with him. There was a knock on the door, we didn’t know who it was. We opened the door and there he was. The real moment was saying Hey Slash and hearing yourself say his name to him in the moment. He told us we had a great show and he loved the songs and then left. We all just looked at each other like what the fuck just happened? It was like we were sharing a lucid dream together. It is something that has bonded the band together forever. No matter how tense it gets trying to work with your three best friends and as much as we can get at each other’s throats we are held together by those experiences.  The whole experience is juxtaposed against itself. You are taking this thing that has been created by music videos and interviews and things you have seen on TV. You take that against what we got to experience backstage which is he is just a regular dude. This guy that has been built up as a legend in your mind and we get the other side of it and he is so down to earth and such a regular guy. It’s an interesting contrast to wrestle with in your mind. He is just another guitar player that plays fantastic music. It is weird because I think that is how he wants you to see him. He really doesn’t want to be kneeled down before and prayed upon. He is so happy to be playing music every day and on the road. It is hard to force myself to see him like that because he is so iconic. I was never able to have a conversation with him where I wasn’t nervous. I knew that is not what it was all about it was just one of those things. I think other members of the band were able to do it but I was never able to get there."

Being a fan himself has given him perspective when Monster Truck fans meet the band.

"I know (these hugely famous artists) feel because when we meet people and they go crazy I don’t understand. I think back to me a week earlier playing X-box in my underwear and thinking if they could only see that maybe they will relax a bit and realize I am just a regular guy. That is probably why I attempt to look at it that way. It is such an odd statement for me to hear when someone says I can’t believe I am meeting you. We haven’t ever felt like we are at that level and I don’t think anyone does unless you are an egomaniac rock star. That is one of the things we can say about the bands we have opened for they haven’t bought into the mentality that they are important or better than you. Even in our highest moments like winning a Juno or having an amazing festival spot, you remember you are just a regular guy who plays X-box in his underwear."

Widerman is passionate when he speaks about what the fans have meant to him and the band.

"For the most part whether it is exposing the band or trying to gain popularity we have always had a steady climb. It has always been healthy and linear, never that big swing or jump. There have been little ones like being in a movie or just finished a big tour. There has never been a big spike that has been attributed to one big thing. It is a healthy way to grow your band you aren’t risking having a large group of fans that are just in it for the moment and are going to disappear when they find something else that they like. Our fans are the best and a lot of bands say that but I mean it. I feel like they are with us until the end and have bought into the group and its music. They are always backing us and willing to buy merchandise and preorder the album. It is because of that demographic of people that are not changing their minds about what they like. It’s not a passing fad it is something they have latched onto and are not letting go of. That is part of the reason we continue to have success and go forward."

Some other highlights for Monster Truck including breaking into foreign markets. Especially in the UK and Australia there seems to be a lot of Canadian bands that establish a big fan base.

"It is a case by case basis really. There aren’t a lot of parallels you can draw between Canadians having success internationally. It’s not a foregone conclusion and many Canadian bands have struggled to get outside of Canada especially in the united states. Europe and Australia is really a trial and error kind of situation where you have to go and see how it works. A band like Billy Talent is as big or bigger in Germany then they are here. That is something we looked up to and they gave us a lot of advice. It is that much more encouraging to know it is possible. It was a goal of the band once we decided this was going to be our full time job we knew it would be important to build things overseas. Playing Download Festival, touring Europe, playing festivals in the US – it is all things that we never fathomed in the creation of a band that was supposed to be a side project for fun in Hamilton. Almost everything since we started getting played on the radio is a pinch me moment."

If you are noticing a lot more Canadian music on the airwaves, it’s not a coincidence. There has been a resurgence of amazing Canadian artists in recent years. One of the downsides of focusing on your own material for a while is being disconnected from the scene, something Widerman is excited to reconnect to.

"I wish I knew more about the Canadian music scene. It is rough sometimes especially when you are writing a new album and you are kind of sucked into this vacuum of focus and really concentrating on what you are trying to do. In the process of doing that you are almost attempting to not get to bogged down in what anyone else is doing. I am definitely well aware that the Canadian music scene is probably stronger than ever right now. I am definitely aware of a lot of great up and coming bands like The Glorious Sons, One Bad Son and The Wild which are all friends of ours and glad to see on the up. I haven’t been paying a lot of attention to it for a while because I have been focusing on making sure our album is up to standard and we are doing all we can to promote it and market it. It is something I am looking forward to getting more into once I am out of my apartment and studio space and back on the road. I am also really excited about the worldwide rock scene. There are a lot of great bands out there that we are looking forward to crossing paths with at festivals this summer."

In the meantime the dual package of Monster Truck and the UK’s Temperance Movement promises to be a memorable evening.

"You can expect one of the best rock tours to come through all year. We have been working hard to make sure our new record is good live. You have a band from the UK that hasn’t toured as much in Canada as they will with us. We are so similar and different at the same time and both fighting for the same cause of keeping rock n roll moving along but have such a different approach to it. When we toured with the Rival Son’s the fans enjoyed both acts for different reasons. It was a feeling of camaraderie and a lot of fun and it will be like that with the Temperance Movement. People are going to feel like they get their monies worth and will remember it for a long time."