Royal Foundry ‘running away’ with alt pop muse

Edmonton band The Royal Foundry don’t want to be constrained by genres.

“We started out as a folk duo  and my band  before that was a pop-rock band, and my dad was in a pop rock band too, so it’s always been there,” said Jared Salte, from Nashville where they are writing songs for licensing purposes before embarking on a Canadian tour which stops in Lethbridge, Tuesday, Oct. 10 with Montreal rock band the Maxwells. The Royal Foundry features the Saltes on guitar, keyboards and vocals plus cellist/drummer Robbie Szabo and bassist Jeremy Dehek. They just released their first full length album, “Lost in Your Head,” which features ‘Running Away’ as well as their new hit single ‘Dreamers.’ which Disney used to advertise their 2017 Wedding Dress Line.

“We entered the Peak Performance competition as a folk duo and didn’t win, but we learned a lot about writing songs and how to release a single and promotion. So the second time we were armed with all of this knowledge to expand on,” Bethany Salte added, noting it was their first attempt at experimenting with synthesizers and pop music. “Jared was in his element trying out all of there new synthesizers sounds,” Bethany Salte  chuckled.

“It was definitely the fastest song we wrote. It was different playing with synthesizers rather than just banjo and acoustic guitar,” Jared Salte added. Bethany Salte noted the album isn’t just pop music.
“We wanted to explore a lot of new genres, so there is alt rock, some folk and  of course pop, ” she said, adding they are already excited about a new project.

“We wrote these songs over the past two years ago and have heard them hundreds of times, so excited for the next thing,” she said. They worked with producer Sam Hanson in Los Angeles.

“We’ve never worked with another producer before, and he listens to a lot of pop music, so it was difficult to let go. But it was a really great experience,” Bethany Salte observed.
‘Running Away,” immediately got placed in commercials including one for Alberta Environment and embraced by the CFL for their theme.

“ That’s literally what it’s about— running away, with the quarterback running with the ball, but it’s still surreal to hear it,” Jared Salte said.
They are excited to make their Lethbridge debut.

“The new songs are a lot of fun to play live. And our drummer (Robbie Szabo)  is a classically trained cellist, so there is a lot of running around and some looping,” Bethany  Salte said.

Though they are in Nashville, they aren’t planning on recording a country album. “ We don’t have enough songs for a new CD,” Jared Salte said.

“We could record a country album, but it probably wouldn’t be any good,” he chuckled.

“ But there is definitely a lot if inspiration here, Bethany Salte added. Bethany, who is also a photographer and artist, is excited about the physical CDs and upcoming vinyl release.

“We’re vinyl getting pressed for the first time. So we’re excited about that. And with CD sales down and downloading, we decided to do something special,” she said. “We have stickers, so we have a platform so people can create their own art. The images reflect all of the different styles of music on the album,” she continued.
There is a $10 cover for the show, which begins at 9 p.m.