Orillia's Adrian Mitchell left town to study marketing at Ryerson University, but during his third year at the Toronto school, he realized his interests were more musical in nature.
“I was invited to a party and ended up meeting Jed (Brewster), who was in a band with Nathan (Brown),” said the 23-year-old, talking about when he first met the young men who would become his bandmates.
“We got talking and we liked the same music and the same activities. Jed was already producing music in his basement studio and I asked him if I could come by the next day to sing with the two.”
Mitchell wrote and sang the songs and Brewster produced them. A week later, Brown joined them and the three struck a chord. And so they formed the band, New City.
After that, Mitchell said, they spent weeks on end producing songs.
After producing hundreds of songs, the three cherry-picked five of their favourite ones for a CD and walked into Universal Music Canada’s office.
“I thought they were going kick us out,” said Mitchell, talking about their first meeting with the record label officials. “We weren’t big singers, we'd just made songs in a basement.”
In an attempt to look more presentable, he said, “I'd thrifted a jacket the day before that I thought was cool and we just threw on clothes that we thought would make us look like big stars.”
But it wasn’t the clothes that impressed the company, it was the trio’s pop rock and electro genre music.
“We're working on putting out a full-length album for next year,” said Mitchell.
The time the three spent in the basement was mostly consumed producing tunes, to the point that they didn’t have a moment to stop and dwell on failure.
“There was a little fear, but there was so much optimism, too,” said Mitchell. “We were only 20; we didn't have anything holding us back. There was a lot of excitement in us.”
The three had dropped out of school and weren’t making any money from the music they were producing, but they had each other and support from their families.
“They're a big influence in how we can stay so sane to do all of this,” said Mitchell.
They’ve now played in big arenas and festivals, such as the Cavendish Beach Music Festival in P.E.I. and Festival d’éte de Quebec in Quebec, and have also toured North America, opening for a DJ.
Having performed for large audiences, Mitchell said, has moulded his approach to the kind of music he will produce in the future.
“The last two months (especially) have changed my perspective on what music does to people,” he said. “Being in an atmosphere where people are engaging with music directs how I want to make more music, kind of like what Queen was doing.”
His own personal musical influences include Michael Jackson, The Temptations, The Rolling Stones, Queen, DJ music and choir music he sang at Notre Dame Catholic School and Patrick Fogarty Catholic Secondary School.
New City won the Canadian Radio Award this year for best dance urban rhythmic song for their song, Dirty Secrets.
“Our singles went gold,” said Mitchell, “We have no Junos or anything yet, but in the near future for sure.”
He hasn’t let fame get to his head. Rather, it's made him more confident in his own music.
“It's all about the mindset and keeping yourself straight,” said the 23-year-old. “There are temptations in anything you do in life. But music takes a lot of focus and drive and tenacity. So we drive each other to stay focused on that.”
His musical journey has made him realize one lesson: “Take things slower.”
“You can speed through anything, but there's a lot more grace in taking your time with things and letting them be,” said Mitchell. “Just enjoy the process and the journey. We've learned to take things slow and making the excitement last and working hard at the same time.”
His advice to younger musicians is to trust their gut and follow the music.
“It'll take you exactly where you need to be,” said Mitchell. “If you just focus on the music the whole time, it'll be your safe zone.”
For him, having two other guys around during the process was useful.
“You work hard but then you relax and let off some steam,” said Mitchell. “Stress is the biggest demon, you have to stay away from it.”
