Canadian heavy metal band Striker have a new single "Strange Love" out now and have been out opening for Beast in Black.
Unfortunately, due to a positive COVID test within their camp, the band had to drop out of the last few dates of the tour. There is no word yet on their headlining dates this week and next.
Before the cancellations, Rock Life spoke to Striker vocalist Dan Cleary, who was stoked about the tour and looking forward to releasing more new music.
Rock Life: Where are you guys headed to tonight?
Dan Cleary: Tonight we have the day off. We've got this big, long drive that we've got to do into Salt Lake City. I think it's about sixteen hours total so it's nice that we have the day off in between.
RL: You've been on this run with Beast in Black. How has that been going so far?
DC: It's been great so far playing with Beast in Black and Seven Kingdoms. They are both great bands and it's been a lot of fun. Last night we played our home town show, which was a nice, good crowd and it's always great to be back at home halfway through the tour. Yeah, it's been great so far.
RL: And you also have some headlining dates coming up as well. For people who haven't seen you live, what can you expect from a Striker set?
DC: A pretty good time. As I said, the crowds have been really good and on this tour the Beast in Black crowd seems to really respond to our band, which is always nice. Usually by the end of our set, the crowd is really into it.
The Best in Black tour winds up in Detroit and we figured we'd play some headline shows in that area as we work our way back home instead of just driving straight back.
RL: How does it feel to just be back out there on stage playing regularly again?
DC: It's been really great. We had really great plans for 2020 that kept getting pushed back like everyone else. So yeah, it's been nice to get back out there. I mean we had even worried that this tour wasn't going to happen back in late 2021. Luckily, everything just kind of calmed down at least for now so we're happy to be out here doing it again.
RL: And what's next?
DC: After this, we just got announced for Wacken this Summer, which we've known about for a little while, but they just finally announced it. We're excited to go. We'll be doing some additional tour dates around that.
We've been working on new music throughout the entire pandemic so we've got a ton of stuff and just need to sit down and really refine it and figure out how we want to release it. I think we'll likely have a new album ready to go by early next year.
RL: And you have the new single "Strange Love" out, have you been happy with the response so far?
DC: Yeah, actually it's a little different for us. We recorded three songs early in 2020 and we sort of sat on them for a long time not sure exactly what to do with them. We were thinking to just put them out and then COVID sort of delayed that so we're just getting them out now.
At the time when we wrote those songs, we were getting into a little more hard rock with a little bit of a funk mix, which is more in tune with our last album. So far, the crowds have really liked it. I think it works really well with Beast in Black because they have a similar kind of retro vibe to their stuff.
RL: And how did the "Strange Love" video come together?
DC: That one we weren't sure what to do because we were originally thinking to do a lyric video, but then we were like, that's a cop out. I don't mind them, but it's always more fun to see the band.
We actually filmed that at the venue we played at last night, Starlite Room, which is in Edmonton. We filmed it in the backstage areas so if you've been there, especially if you're a band, you might recognize some of that background footage.
We know all of the guys who run the place and they've been supportive of us for so long. Yeah, if you're ever in Edmonton go see a show at Starlite Room and maybe you'll recognize some stuff. It's a special spot for us for sure.
RL: And what do you want to say to those fans coming out to the shows and checking out the new music?
DC: Thanks for coming out. I'm glad that people are still interested in live music and are still down to come out to shows.
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