Independent artists, if they're really working, don't dream of things like GRAMMY nominations or arena shows; they're too focused on paying their rent, getting to the next gig on time or writing the next line.
For The Record Company, their perception of the GRAMMY's Best Contemporary Blues category changed drastically one morning in the fall of 2016 when they got the news that they had been nominated for an album recorded in singer/guitarist Chris Vos' living room.
"People have asked, 'Was it a dream come true to get that nomination?' My honest answer is I never dreamt of that; I didn't think it was possible," Vos tells Q104.3 New York's "Out of the Box" with Jonathan Clarke. "That would be like saying, 'Was it a dream come true to hit a home run for a major league baseball team?' It's like, I've never even fathomed that possibility because I didn't think it was possible."
Drummer Marc Cazorla adds that the band wasn't dismayed by not winning the award. The experience of attending the event was surreal, he says, and the band didn't lament its loss.
"The category right after ours, Megadeth won," Cazorla recalls. "I was a huge fan growing up and everything. So they go up and [frontman Dave Mustaine] is like, 'Well, 13 is the lucky number,' because I guess they had lost 12 times...Kind of put it in [perspective]."
The ensuring two years have brought about European treks with the likes of Blackberry Smoke and stadium tours with the likes of John Mayer. The Record Company is going to try its luck at a second GRAMMY nomination with its forthcoming new album, All of This Life, due out June 22 via Concord Records.
Searching for more enhanced production on All of This Life, the band ventured outside Vos' home studio to Boulevard Recording in Los Angeles.
"We had never taken the sound outside of the living room," says bassist Alex Stiff. "We had never had any outside people put their hands on this sound. We were ready for it."
Stiff says the band was determined to reach a new level with its sophomore album, and they found likeminded engineers at Boulevard who understood The Record Company's goals.
"We felt pretty comfortable there when we rolled in and it got better and better," he continued. "The more comfortable we got, the more things we did there."
You can watch the full "Out of the Box" interview above!
Get all The Record Company's tour dates here.
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Check out the official music video for The Record Company's "Life to Fix" from the new album.