Photo Credit: Daniel Hadfield
Canadian rock quintet Rarity are back with brand new music, marking their first new material since their 2019 full-length The Longest Lonesome. Recent singles, the catchy Leave It Alone and emotion-fuelled Worn Down, show two different sides of Rarity, but both are equally captivating in their own way. We caught up with vocalist/guitarist Corbin Giroux to talk about his first musical memory, the band’s influences, aims and more.
Firstly, tell us a bit about yourself and your band.
Hi! My name is Corbin Giroux and I sing and play guitar in Rarity. We’re a post-hardcore band from Hamilton that’s been together for around seven years, going through many different permutations which eventually led us to the group we are now.
How did the band form and how long have you been together?
The band formed from Evan and Loeden playing in a past project together on the cusp of finishing high school. A new group was formed recruiting Adam to the band. Cole and I were in different bands at the time and ended up joining a few years after our other respective projects ended. This line-up now has been the same for the past three years, and Rarity has existed for about seven years at this point, if you include the beginning era around 2013.
Can you remember the first time you realised you wanted to make music?
The first time I realised I wanted to make music came from seeing so many bands at my high school and feeling inspired by it. When you’re young you try out different projects and sometimes they collapse, sometimes they blossom into something great from the get go. I went through a number of high school bands before playing shows outside of my school after I graduated. From that point, after playing shows outside of my high school and getting a taste of playing at actual venues, learning the ins and outs of how to book a show, I knew I wanted to take music further.
Who and what are the band’s main influences?
As a group we listen to a bunch of different music and are inspired by a bunch of different music, but some bands we collectively all like include Alexisonfire, Crooks, Bring Me The Horizon, and Underoath. Aside from these similarities, our music listening is quite eclectic and unique from one another.
What do you aim to achieve as a band?
As a band I think it’s safe to say that the one thing we want to achieve is simply consistency. Continuing to create quality music that is important to us is always first. Anything else that comes aside from that is an added bonus, but making songs we are proud of is always goal number one.
For those who are yet to see you live, what can they expect from a Rarity show?
A Rarity show is always a high energy ordeal. You can expect Adam to do crazy pedal effects and lots of dancing, you can expect Cole to do lots of big kicks, and you can expect to have an attention grabbing thirty minutes of fun. Playing a Rarity set takes a lot out of me, a lot out of all of us, but its always been about reciprocating that shared energy of those watching the band vs those performing. Shows are always more fun when EVERYONE is having fun so that is why we always give it our all on stage.
What’s next for Rarity?
Next steps for Rarity include writing the most music we’ve ever written and drinking at least 2L of water a day.
