Edmonton band Striker nominated for JUNO award
"You can't not be excited to be nominated. It's an honour at the end of the day," Tim Brown, the band's guitarist says.
Dana Zuk Over 15 years ago, Edmonton-based heavy metal band Striker formed. And while the group has had various members come and go over the years, the band has had an impactful career. In 2018, their album Striker was nominated for the JUNO award for Heavy Metal Album of the Year. Then, in 2020 they were nominated again, and won the award for their 2018 album Play to Win. Now, they’ve been nominated for the third time for their 2024 album Ultrapower for Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year.
“You can’t not be excited to be nominated. It’s an honour at the end of the day. It’s the highest commercial music recognition you can get in Canada,” Tim Brown, the band’s guitarist said.
Brown explained how because there have been different members over the years, for some current Striker members, this is their first JUNO nomination. The band currently consists of Brown, Simon Fallon, Pete Klassen, and Dan Cleary.
“Ultrapower has been really good for us,” Brown says
Brown said the band found out they were nominated while on tour with Unleash The Archers in Europe.
“I thought that Unleash The Archers would get nominated. They [were] the headliner band so 1,000 people a night are coming to see them,” Brown said. Despite his surprise, he explained how the members of Striker and Unleash The Archers “had a couple beers” and celebrated together.
Ultrapower was the band’s second release after the COVID-19 pandemic. With their 2018 album Play to Win, Brown explained how they wanted to “explore some music or emotions that [they] hadn’t explored in previous albums.” However, with Ultrapower they “wanted to get silly and have some fun.”
“At the end of the day the music industry [and] especially metal, that’s really the only thing you can get out of it is fun.”
Along with finishing their European tour at the beginning of March, the band has more upcoming tour plans.
“Ultrapower has been really good for us. We’ve signed new management [and] new booking agents. It only took 20 years but we’re finally assembling a team that can properly release an album and get it done. So hopefully we’ll move on to bigger and better things.”
Striker will be attending the JUNOs in Vancouver on March 30. The JUNOs will be available to watch live on CBC and CBC Gem.
