CREDIT: THE BAXTERS
The Baxters onstage at London’s Call The Office.

The Baxters — Scott Thomas, vocals; Quinton Strutt and Alex Mason, guitar; Justin Lund, bass; and Taylor Lucas, drums — are a band straight out of the Music Industry Arts Program here at Fanshawe College. They are doing the program and the college proud as they are currently nominated for Best Rock Group for Scene Magazine's London Music Awards. The band also has a new full-length album in the works that is due out later this month.

Recently I got to talk to guitarist Mason and talk about what the future holds for The Baxters:

What did you guys do here at Fanshawe, and how did it influence your music?
“Everyone but me attended the Music Industry Arts program at Fanshawe, so that was definitely a big part of how we all met. It helped with our recording process and just the overall knowledge of the industry. I got to sit in on a couple classes and I believe it's definitely been a big help.”

What has the touring experience been like for you all?
“We've mostly toured in London, but we did a random gig in Brantford as well as in Guelph a couple times. It's been kind of minimal, but we are looking to get out and play more places. The shows in Guelph have been great, though.”

You are currently nominated for the Scene Magazine and New Music Fest award. What would it mean to you guys if you ended up winning both?
“I think it would be great! At this point we are just trying to get as much exposure as possible. We have been playing as much as we can in London. We are working on an album release date as well: April 20. Up until that day, I think the goal is to just try to get our name out there as much as we can. We just won the Indie Underground Music contest, so we will be getting our own podcast as well.”

You mentioned your new album, Equinox. Can you just elaborate on it and explain what listeners can expect?
“It is going to feature almost all new songs as we only have a couple we've carried over from our last EP. We are kind of heading in a new direction. The recording sessions have been kind of fragmented because we are all still in school. It's been really exciting so far, though. We are hoping to play some festivals this summer and from there do a tour sometime in the near future.”

Check out the LP release party for Equinox on April 20 at Call The Office. For more info, check out www.thebaxters.bandcamp.com or Like them on Facebook at facebook.com/thebaxtersband.