Take a look inside new local band The New Hires

By: Jack O’Sullivan

I first discovered The New Hires on Instagram when looking for more local artists and happened to be promoting their single “Save First & Foremost”. 

I heard the snippet and was instantly interested. The song sounded like an instant indie-rock / pop-punk hit. The song came out and was followed by their next single “Get Out” which was a great song in a similar style and it was just as catchy as their last song. Both songs had great structure, lyrics, and overall instrumentals, and the recordings were really well done. 

The band lived rent-free in my head not only because I loved their music but they seemed to be taking the scene by storm. It was refreshing to see a new local band come out of the gate swinging like they were. Their promotional skills seemed very strategic, their band image was organized, and their music was epic.

I arrived at the jam barn after finishing work. The sun was setting as I got out of my car and I could hear music coming from the second floor of the building. I texted Max to let him know I had arrived and he came to let me in. I was a little bit shocked when I first saw him because he was in a full burgundy suit, dress shirt, and dress shoes. That’s when I knew this was going to be good.

We went into the small practice room and I met the rest of the band. After our short introductions were over, I started to set up my camera and they explained how this was their first time playing for anyone. 

They began playing as I finished setting up and the performance was electric.

I began taking photos as they ran through a full set, which included the two singles that were released at the time, some unreleased songs and some covers. 

Each song was just as good as the last and the band’s energy was contagious. You could tell by the way they played together and interacted while jamming that they were not only a band but good friends. 

They finished the last song of the set and I stood there in awe. My expectations were honestly quite high but they still blew right past them. They decompressed, cracked some beers, and we started talking about their band, The New Hires.

The roster consists of their dynamic frontman Max Trepanier, harmonizing dual guitarists Phil Hulan and Aidan Morris, Arthur Araujo holding it down on bass guitar, and Christian Lascelles on the drums.

Max, Phil, and Christian originally met when they were in a local band called Almost Kennedy. Phil Moved back to Ottawa from Calgary and wanted to start playing in the local scene again. He came across Max and Christian who needed a bass player so Phil started jamming bass with them. The group played together for about a year until Christian ended up moving away to Montreal and the group disbanded, but Max and Phil stayed close friends.

Max and Phil tried pursuing a couple of different projects after Almost Kennedy but they never amounted to anything serious so they took some time to re-evaluate. They did not want to give up on the music dream, but they were unsure of how to go about it, so, they just continued writing and playing together which led them to drunkenly start Save First & Foremost in a closet studio. 

“But like yeah, Save First & Foremost we were hammered in his closet,” said Phil.

“At my place, I have a studio, and by studio, I mean a walk-in closet with a microphone and garage band,” explained Max.

“Walk-in? Easy,” responded Phil.

“Well, I can walk into it,” said Max.

The two of them put a help wanted ad for their band on Kijiji which helped them to get in contact with Aidan, who joined the band after sending some demos back and forth. Since a drummer still needed to be found, Aidan got in touch with his friend Dexter and the 4 became the first version of The New Hires. 

When it was time to name the band, Dexter brought up the idea “New Hires”. The whole group liked the idea but Max was adamant that it had to be “The New Hires”. The band continued to practice when allowed by COVID regulations, but Dexter eventually moved away and The New Hires were back to three.

The ever-changing lockdowns caused a real slump in their progression but it also gave them plenty of time to write and fill their google drive with ideas. The only issue was the short spurts of creativity caused some of them to have a short shelf life.

After seeing their ad on Kijiji Arthur reached out to the band. The first step was for everyone to go out for drinks and get to know each other. The “most important” part of a good bandmate is a good personal connection. The connection was natural and he became the bass player allowing Phil to move over to guitar, his main instrument.

After a long search, they still could not find a drummer so, they decided to move forward to the studio anyways with the plan to hire their friend, Taylor, for the recordings. The band had scheduled to record at Pebble Studios, in Nepean, with Cory Bergeron in October of 2020. 

The 3 singles they chose to record were Save First & Foremost, Get Out, and WHISPER since they were ones they managed to finish during the lockdowns. These songs would go on to set the scene and create the first impression of The New Hires. 

A week before they went to begin recording, Christian, who had just moved back to Ottawa, messaged Max after seeing the ad on Kijiji. He asked if Max would be interested in playing together again and Christian quickly became the band’s new drummer. Since they had already planned to record with Taylor, they stayed true to the plan and recorded their 3 singles.

They had a great time with Cory at Pebble Studios recording. He produced their singles and pushed the band to be their best in order to capture great moments in the studio. He created an environment that fostered creativity, experimentation, and comradery. 

“I think what makes a good producer is someone who knows when to really drive and knows when to say ‘okay we’re gonna take a minute. Let’s go for a walk,’” said Phil. “You know, we would have our daily walks or we would just go for a beer to debrief. We would talk about what we did that day or maybe not talk about music at all.”

Once the recordings were done they continued to play together as a 5 piece band and worked on being better all around. Over COVID, they have developed a natural process for their meetings in order to be productive with their time. They worked hard on their discography, writing different parts and marketing themselves as a band. Their combined organizational skills, motivation and professional mindset helped create the great foundation they have now. 

“There’s no like ‘strong-arming’ either,” said Aidan. “In other bands, some people try to really force an idea because it’s their baby, but we always say ‘you gotta kill your darlings.’”

Despite their various influences, they have created a signature sound while also still feeling able to experiment. 

Their set has many different songs of different styles but the overall feel is the sound of The New Hires which some have compared to Mayday Parade, All Time Low, The Killers, and Kings of Leon. Their collective influences include The Strokes, Arctic Monkeys, Catfish & the Bottlemen, Cage the Elephant, 1975, and The Hives but the inspiration changes from song to song. 

“I think it’s predominantly rooted in garage indie-rock… but you know I would say you guys (Christian and Arthur) have more of a jazz background,” said Phil.

“We dabble in the chaos,” responded Christian.

“We also have our emo sides. We’re emo night regulars,” joked Phil

The band felt that an indie rock sound was sometimes hard to find in the local music scene and thought it might give them an opportunity to stand out. By finding each other and developing their signature style they were able to get the sound they wanted. During their time in Almost Kennedy, Max, Phil and Christian would go to plenty of shows featuring bands from the local indie rock scene so they wanted to jump back in to be a part of it.

“That’s how you meet people. That’s how you get people to give a shit about your band. You give a shit about them. They’ll give a shit about you,” said Aidan

I packed up my things and said goodbye to the band. The music continued as I walked down the stairs. After speaking with them in February they went on to release a music video for their single Get Out, they played their first show on March 20th and released their third single WHISPER.