British blues-rock band The Temperance Movement is returning to Canada! Touring with Hamilton’s Monster Truck the tour hits MacEwan Hall in Calgary February 27th and Union Hall in Edmonton March 1st. It’s a perfect match up of two bands that are in a similar vein but with different sounds. The Temperance Movement recently released their second full length album White Bear, which shot to #1 on the UK’s Rock Albums chart.

"It really does feel nice. I didn't think about it too much to be honest because I'm not sure how much it really matters to us," singer Phil Campbell told GayCalgary. "It is strange because the people that work with us like our agent and management get very excited about the chart position of an album in a time when there is less music being bought than ever before. I didn’t even see the record until somebody handed it to me and asked me to sign it. I was so out of the production of the album I didn’t even see what it looked like until then. I could shake their hand and thank them for buying it, that is what I enjoy more."

We caught up with Campbell while on tour in Germany. They have been on the road consistently, playing large venues in their home country and smaller clubs throughout Europe. It’s been an interesting experience transitioning the new songs to the varied venues.

"I’ve had 2 different experiences. We did a UK tour with big audiences in 2000 seat venues. We have a great time and a tour bus and nice riders and the stage is massive. It was great to play the new album in front of UK fans that have been there since the start. Then we immediately came to Europe and played on the smaller stages we have played in places like Germany and some of the songs don’t work. We haven’t figured out how to play them in a small low key way. So we changed one or two of them. Some of them settle down in the smaller venue, and what we get in the smaller venue is to hear the actual music again and the actual amplifies and drum kit instead of the monitors. When you are on the small stage you get to hear everybody’s individual playing. That has a unifying and thrilling effect on the band. So now by the time we have gotten to Germany we have our chops up and are enjoying playing in front of audiences right in front of you."

White Bear was a year and a half in the making, with the process starting while wrapping up touring behind their 2013 self-titled debut.

"We were touring around Europe and during that tour every time we set up for the sound check in the afternoon we would play something we had been working on. That is how a few of them got written. There were also conversations about the 5 of us being jointly responsible for the writing. That was a very important conversation and it inspired everybody to come up with whatever they wanted to. The rest of the band lives in London and I live in Glasgow so there were a few songs that they sent up to me and that is how they were written was me singing over what they had come up with. The third part was me and Paul and Luke sitting down over a table. There are different ways of writing and on White Bear it was a more eclectic style."

The bands bluesy soulful sound doesn’t seem initially like something to come out of the UK. However, there is a long history of groups like the Rolling Stones that have a similar sound.

"I am Scottish, the rest of the band are from England and our drummer is from Australia. So the band is not really from anywhere but London is where we met and the band started. I don’t sound Scottish or English I sound like Mick Jagger did when he was trying to play with a black American band. It’s a sound I like to show off with. I have tried to sing in my accent it is a completely different arrangement and not as much fun, I want to be someone else when I am singing. We are a blues based band that started off being influenced by The Faces and the music they made and camaraderie between them. The normality of people not trying to be anything other than a group of players having fun on stage. We have blues rock, soul, funk and try and pick up on different grooves we haven’t tried. Let’s try and make some music from feeling it. That is how we operate."

The influence of The Stones is evident, and the band had the incredible experience of opening for them in Berlin and Vienna in 2014.

"It was a complete dream come true for a band that all love the Stones and got together on a steady diet of them. I used to play piano or guitar I had never been just a stand-alone singer. So I started listening to my heroes like the Stones and albums like Sticky Fingers tried to get into that mindset. Three years later we are playing with them and they were playing selections from Sticky Fingers. What was weird was being a club band that played in front of 400 – 2000 people and suddenly there are 50’000 people in front of me. It was a strange experience. There is a reason there is a catwalk, so he can walk down there and feel like he is in the middle of it because it is a very isolating stage. They are so popular they have to play these massive stadiums and you have to rely on the screens and do things to stand out. I wore a big tassely coat because I wanted to be noticed. It made me hungry. Imagine having this? Doing a tour like that would be amazing."

Whether in front of 50,000 people or 500 Campbell has a larger than life stage presence that is captivating to watch.

"I have learned that the best thing to do is to perform the songs as best as possible. It you get yourself in the character and play that character, it is a story about someone else it’s not really about me. You have to remember there is a character to be played and by the time songs play I have gotten into that state. People want to be entertained so you leave your shit off the stage. It is nothing new, the show must go on. People have paid for their ticket and don’t want to see a miserable fucking bastard on stage. It is a great thing because I am a showoff. I want to dance and sing and people to laugh at what I am doing and be impressed by it. It makes people happy and allows us to keep going."

Although Campbell doesn’t drink, the band’s name stems from it sounding like a cool name rather than the 19th century social movement against the consumption of alcohol.

"It was suggested to me by a friend of mine who just said The Temperance Movement that is a great name for a band. This was a couple of years before the band formed. It made me think of bands like Creedence Clearwater Revival – a big sounding name. We have had to grow into the name. It has nothing to do with booze, it’s about lifestyle. What we have made it into is that we are a band that works hard and doesn’t get completely fucked up endangering the possibility of doing what we love. We keep our heads together. So from that point of view it is the perfect name for a band."

Kicking off the tour in Victoria the band will likely experience many of the different weather patterns of Canada this tour, but for Campbell it is evident that being here is something he loves.

"I love that synergy and opportunity. I love Canada, it is an easier place to be than America. No matter what aspect of your life there are always issues there. Canada is different. There are lots of Scots and Irish there, a lot of people that fled America. We are friendly with a lot of musicians that have been very friendly with us. Monster Truck came to our first show in Toronto and brought a bunch of friends and it was a great gig. With bands like Monster Truck and Sheepdogs, we’ve opened up for the Sheepdogs in Canada and they opened for us back home," he said, adding that he was preparing for the weather. "I think everybody has got a big coat ready for Canada. The last time we were there it was freezing. I come from Scotland I am always freezing anyway. The thing about North America is it is slightly bigger than where we come from. A lot of Canada looks like Scotland but the cities are different and the cold is different. Scotland is cold but also very wet but in Canada it is not so wet but it is biting. I was like a kid in a candy store being in Canada, we waited 20 years to get there from when I started playing music so I enjoy every minute of it. I love it and it is always a warm welcome we get the people are amazing. We have such a great time. You may want to talk to me after this tour and make sure everything is ok because Monster Truck is a fucking riot."