“Its just going to gas stations and peeing and getting to a show,” said Brian O'Reilly guitarist for The Meligrove Band. The veteran Canadian indierockers have been on a crazy North American tour promoting their critically acclaimed album, Shimmering Lights, and they have no plans of stopping any time soon.

“(We've) experienced every kind of weather there is possible. First it was like, scorching hot, 30 degrees (Celsius) every day … whatever that is in Fahrenheit. Seven hundred, I think,” O'Reilly joked. “It was hot down there, and now I just bought a hat and gloves, mittens, because it's only going to get colder from here on out.”

On the next leg of their tour, The Meligrove Band will be bringing its poppy, garage-y Strokes-meets-Stills sound to familiar Southern Ontario territory as they play Call the Office on November 13 before heading off to Europe.

“To the dissatisfaction of our significant others, I think hardcore touring is more or less what we're going to be looking at for the mid-to-long-term future because we're kind of in that mind-frame that that's all there is to do now to support (Shimmering Lights).”

That wasn't the case for the last four years, during which The Meligrove Band saw the collapse of their former record label, V2. The label (which previously housed artists like The White Stripes to Moby) was sold to the Universal Music Group in 2007 and soon thereafter underwent major restructuring, meaning the shutdown of its Canadian division.

“The only people that knew what was going on were the higher-ups, so the bands didn't even find out in this case. The Meligrove didn't even know what the fuck was going on. Darcy (Rego, the band's drummer) told me a story where they called the office and it had just emptied out. It was more or less one week everything was kind of trucking along and the next week it was empty.”

That shift in management left the band's fate in peril. With an album finished but contractually not able to be released, The Meligrove Band was forced to put their equipment in storage for a little while. Their friends in bands Tokyo Police Club and DD/MM/YYYY, meanwhile experienced waves of success. But rather than drowning in selfpity, The Meligrove Band took the high road, and encouraged and congratulated their friends and fellow artists.

“I don't know what kind of friend would take anything except pleasure in seeing their friends succeed, so it's a matter of pride. We're all cut from the same cloth so when we see that stuff happen, it's always because they work hard and they deserve it and that's all there is to it. Wondering what's wrong with the world, it doesn't really get you anywhere.”

Now, released in September on Nevado Records, O'Reilly and The Meligrove Band are taking their new baby, Shimmering Lights, on the road. It reflects more of the band's live show (perhaps ironically, since they haven't played all too many shows in the past few years), but critics seem to think The Meligrove Band have finally paid their dues. And though O'Reilly and the boys have high hopes, they still know not to count on miracles.

“You can work your ass off, but sometimes it's just something that's out of your hands, like right-place-right-time or like a pinch of good luck here and there. It's just a matter of being tenacious and having strict resolve and believing in it. It kind of separates the pussies from the real men, so I guess we're real men.”

Check out these real men at Call the Office on November 13 with Ruby Coast. Tickets are $7 at the door.