The world is turning faster so we gotta turn it on. Gotta keep up, there’s no time to fake it

The lyrics to the chorus of Calgary’s The New Electric’s hit song Life’s What You Make It seem to be fitting. Formed in 2013, singer Kyle McKearny (lead vocals), Shade "Indy" McKearney (bass & vocals), Chris Doi (bass & vocals) and Adam Casey (drums & vocals) have been making the most of the opportunities that they have earned. Their debut album, Living Loud is released October 28th.

"It was a lot of legwork and connections and time we had spent previously in other bands. My brother Indy and I have been playing together since we were kids. Our first band in Calgary was 10 years ago," Kyle McKearny told GayCalgary.com. "Since that time we’ve been grinding, touring, making connections, having managers come out and see us, working with different producers and people in the industry. By the time the New Electric formed we’d already built up a nice team and a contact list. That team helped develop The New Electric right from the start. It’s our first EP and release so it’s very exciting and a little scary. We are super proud of it and can’t wait to get it out there. It is going to be really cool to have a hard copy, something about that feels like it suits our vibe and retro quality. It will feel really nice to be able to hand that over to a fan."

Singles Life’s What’ You Make It, Inside Out and Ride This Feeling have become staples on Canadian radio. McKearny recalled the moment he heard his song on the radio the first time.

"I was sitting in my apartment on my couch and Life’s What You Make It came on. I smiled and smiled and it got bigger and bigger and by the end I was jumping up and down and running around. I knew the song was added to the station so it was definitely a matter of time. The cool thing was I flipped to the station and it was the next song that came on."

As someone who grew up watching MuchMusic, having the bands videos added to the rotation was also pretty special.

"I was a little kid who would come home and watch the MuchMusic countdown and you could watch the station all day long. The first time we saw our video on there it was another jumping up and down thing. Videos are not the same as it used to be, but it’s great for YouTube and for fans to just see your face. It is cool in a way; the internet is really honest and organic. If you advertise and get lots of views and attention on your songs, but the ones that go viral and get a lot of numbers are the ones that people like and spread around. That is a really cool thing, is the DIY feel, almost like people are the record label now. They decide what happens and they don’t even know it," he recalled, adding that he loves making videos. "It is so fun. It is one of the most fun things ever and I love it. There is a lot of work, a grind but I like the grind and grit and suffering that goes along with making something great. It’s like any art. It is so fun to see back what they cut and how it looks so neat."

Alberta has a lot of amazing musicians that have made their name in the world. It seemed like for a while Albertan’s weren’t getting recognition or opportunities. In recent years’ bands and artists like The New Electric, Michael Bernard Fitzgerald. Hello Moth, Reuben and the Dark and many others are seeing their careers start to take off.

"It is very cool and neat. Lots of those people we have been in the scene with for a long time, grown up with watching people like them and Jocelyn Alice and Hello Moth do well is incredible. We have known them for a long time and it’s amazing to see your friends doing amazing things. Calgary is underappreciated but it has taken time for it to develop and things come in waves. Back in the day there was a few bands that made a name for themselves here, there is definitely a new wave right now."

A sign of this was the inaugural YYC Music Awards, held September 25th at Studio Bell. The band took home the Group of the Year award.

"It means a lot. It was really cool because it is the first award we have won as well. To win our first award ever in our home city was amazing."

The band is quickly building a fan base with their fun videos and catchy songs. The internet and social media allows them to grow and develop those fans. On the Life’s What You Make It lyric video on YouTube comments like "this is my pick me up song when I am down" and "you are my favourite band" show the impact the group is making.

"That is the stuff that when it first happened I didn’t know what to do with it or how to feel. It is pretty heavy, there is a lot backing that up. When people tweet you, and call us their favourite band, that is a heavy statement especially for a new band that is not used to that. It has taken awhile to process it and get used to it. We definitely try to make an effort to appreciate those people because it means a lot to them and they are being very sincere. We make an effort to reach out to them. We try to do what we would dream our favourite band would do if we said that to them. It gets hard because when you have bigger bands they get it so much and so often it would be hard to keep up with it but we do the best we can. We have never really known any different, the internet has always been there for us. It is how we made our first fans, how we had requesting contests for radio stations and so many other things. The internet is probably the most important thing other than the music. "

The band’s first official tour post-release will be across Canada opening for Backstreet Boy Nick Carter on his solo tour.

"The Backstreet Boys have a legacy especially from when we were kids. To be opening for Nick, who was one of them is incredible. It means a lot to us because of a few different reasons. We haven’t been out east for a while and fans out there are really itching to see us so we can’t wait to see them. The Cowboy’s show will be special because we haven’t played in Calgary since May, so it has been a long time. We have been playing other parts of Alberta so much, to come back to Calgary opening for Nick Carter when we just won the YYC award for group of the year, it’s going to be a really epic night.

Nick’s fans are the perfect demographic for our music so we are looking forward to it. We are going to put on our best show and try and do the best we can with the opportunity we’ve been given.

You can expect a lot of fun and be involved and sing and clap and maybe even be pulled up on stage. We will be jumping and running around like madmen and having a lot of fun. It definitely will be special."