There’s something refreshingly honest about a band that names itself The Damn Truth. The Montreal powerhouse has been pounding stages across Canada and beyond for 12 years, yet they still attack each show like it’s both their first and last. This contradiction—seasoned veterans with the hungry energy of newcomers—perfectly encapsulates the band’s ethos as they prepare to release their self-titled fourth album on March 14 via Spectra Musique.
Sitting down with the band—frontwoman Lee-La Baum, guitarist Tom Shemer, drummer Dave Traina and bassist PY Letellier—there’s a quiet excitement about their upcoming release. They’re clearly eager to share their work, though they admit to the familiar nervousness that comes with putting new music into listeners’ hands.
“It’s exciting. It’s nerve-wracking. It’s stressful. It’s frightening,” says Baum about the album release. “It’s kind of like giving birth. It’s a big thing happening. You go through all of the stages of turmoil and creating it, and recording it, listening back to it. It’s a trip.”
The new album marks not only the band’s fourth full-length effort but their second collaboration with legendary producer Bob Rock, known for his work with Mötley Crüe, The Offspring, and Bon Jovi. This time, Rock took full control of both production and mixing duties.
“To be able to step into the studio with a guy like Bob Rock is amazing,” Traina, who is also a producer himself, explains. “A guy like Bob Rock, whether we chose him or he chose us, he’s in there for a very specific reason and to do a very specific job. We could just do the best that we can to handle the music side. For me, it’s really exciting. I’d love to have a guy like Bob Rock producing us forever.”
Traina is quick to dispel any notions of creative tension with such a renowned producer though. “I don’t think we really butt heads. It’s a fully democratic situation to be into recording studio, especially with a guy who has so many years of experience. He knows how to avoid the fires or put out the fires or steer clear of them before anything. There’s never a debate or an argument. Ultimately, whoever has the best idea leads and a guy like that, he can recognize when the right idea is being proposed, and so can we.”
“The thing is that there’s a thing that happens in the studio where you try an idea or whatever,” Shemer continues. “There’s this thing where the speakers never lie. What I mean by that is that you do something, then you come back into the control room and you listen and everybody knows right away if it’s good or not. It doesn’t matter. It could be Bob’s idea or ours. But the speakers never lie. If it’s good, we keep it. If it’s not, we move on.”
Baum jumps in emphatically: “Just to say, Bob is not this egotistical character. He’s an incredible person that we have really, really been nothing but fortunate to meet and work with and now become a part of our family. He’s a fantastic person. We only have great things to say about Bob. He’s amazing.”
The band recorded the album at Bryan Adams’ Warehouse Studios in Vancouver, a space frequented by some of rock’s biggest names. “We got a little tidbit about their session,” Baum says about the fact that rock royalty AC/DC had just finished recording there before The Damn Truth arrived. “The studio was completely re-upholstered because they smoke when they make their records,” Shemer says. “Even though it cost them an obscene amount of money to redo the studio, they do that because they can’t make a record without a smoke in the studio.” Baum adds, “As long as they’re willing to pay the cleaning bill, then they get to do it. It’s AC/DC, man.”
Fresh off an appearance on the Legends of Rock cruise alongside acts like Alice Cooper and Blackberry Smoke, the band seems equally energized by both playing with their heroes and exposing their sound to new audiences. “It’s a great experience to be on the ship because it’s a rock and roll festival out at sea and it’s just condensed down,” Traina explains. “Instead of 50,000 people, we’ve got 5,000 people, we’ve got a lot of room to get around and brush elbows with all the artists and stuff. For us, it’s a good opportunity to play, make friends, and it’s a hell of a party.”
Baum even got to perform with Blackberry Smoke during an onboard jam session. “We did Zeppelin’s Rock and Roll and that was awesome. We did Honky Tonk Woman,” she recalls.
One standout track from the new album, “The Willow,” has an origin story that speaks volumes about the band’s organic approach to songwriting—and Rock’s intuitive understanding of their sound.
“We’re writing songs for this album and in the process of writing the songs, I got a new computer for my studio, and I was going through my old hard drive and I found this voice memo that Leela and I made years ago,” Shemer explains. “And it was kind of just a jam. It was never written down on paper, the lyrics or anything, but it was all there. It was The Willow and it was just an acoustic guitar and vocals. We didn’t have the chorus, like, the heavier part and all that, but we had the song.”
Despite Shemer’s initial uncertainty about the track, Baum insisted they send it to Rock. “So I sent it to him, and he called five minutes later.” ‘What the fuck is that?’ was his immediate response.
The song had been sitting on Shemer’s computer for “at least eight years” before becoming what is arguably the album’s standout track. “We were really worried that it had no chorus. There was no hook, you know? And you think you’re trying to write songs with a hook, with a chorus,” Baum explains. “And he was like, ‘Don’t even think about it. I know exactly what to do.’ And it just put us at ease. And we were like, ‘All right, cool. Bob knows what to do.'”
Another emotionally resonant track, “If I Don’t Make It Home,” stands out for its raw vulnerability, though Shemer is reluctant to decode its specific meaning. “I don’t really like getting into my specific lyrics and what they’re all written about because I think it takes away from the magic of this song,” he says. “I mean, obviously it comes from a very personal place. That’s where the song triggered these lyrics for me. But it’s interesting to read some of the reviews and see what other people make of it and whatever. And I’d like to keep it that way. I feel like sometimes if you put a very specific meaning to the song or you give it away, it takes away from the experience.”
Letellier does, however, express anticipation about performing it live: “I think I’ll have some tears in my eyes when we all start singing, ‘Take Me Home, Take Me Home,’ and it’s going to be beautiful.”
The decision to self-title this fourth album wasn’t taken lightly. “That name is so powerful. I’ve been really drawn to that name,” says Baum. “And I almost feel like it should have been the first album, should have been The Damn Truth, the self-titled. But we had other title names and whatever, and this one was just, there’s no doubt about it. It’s The Damn Truth. It’s number four, The Damn Truth.”
Traina adds, “I think it’s one of the few occasions that we’ve really just aligned, you know, because we’re four such intense people and sometimes we fall in different directions but this was one of the occasions where it’s like it was really, really, really clear and easy for us to make that choice.”
What truly sets The Damn Truth apart is their commitment to authenticity, both in the recording process and live performance. They recorded the album together in one room, a rarity in today’s music industry.
“I don’t know how many bands still do that that way. But what’s the point of being in a band if you’re not going to play as a band?” Shemer emphasizes. “Leela could be a solo artist, but if you’re going to be a rock and roll band, then… Be a band. When I was a kid, I didn’t dream of being a studio musician. It’s like, I want to be a rock star. I wanna play with my band.”
In an era of increasingly digital music production, Shemer sees a potential shift back toward authenticity. “I think right now we’re in a weird place maybe in the music industry or whatever. But I think it’s going to come back where people are like, especially with the rise of AI, where everything can be created with just typing it into a program or whatever. It’s like, people are going to want to listen to some authentic stuff that’s being played together as a bunch of humans in a room.”
The band’s reputation for intense live performances stems from their all-or-nothing approach to performing. “I think each one of us treats every show like it’s our first and our last ever,” Baum explains. “We never hold anything back. We’re always giving 150% for the good or the bad. Sometimes things do not work out. Sometimes, I kill my voice screaming, and by the last song, I have nothing left to give, but I’m still there on the floor giving because I just love it so much. I have so much fun.”
This commitment to performance sometimes comes at a physical cost. “We’ve seen Tom greener than an army soldier standing on his amp almost fainting playing a solo,” Letellier reveals. Shemer adds, “The last European tour that we’ve done, I totally pulled my back and I had to lie on the van’s floor the whole tour and just get up for the shows. Somehow, it happened.”
“Sponsored by Advil,” Letellier jokes.
Despite these challenges, the band’s unwavering dedication to their craft has built them a passionate following. They’ve weathered significant hardships together, including a devastating van fire during a Canadian tour several years ago. “That was a crazy tour for us. That was very, very powerful,” Baum recalls. “That was the moment where I think we really, really understood the power of the rock and roll community. It was fans around the country that donated for us to have a van- to continue the tour. It was absolutely mind-blowing.”
This sense of community extends to their live performances, where the collective experience transcends any individual song’s emotion. “In a live setting too, when everybody’s singing together, it’s almost like there’s a joy to do something together in a world so divided when people don’t really do anything together anymore,” Letellier reflects. “Even if it’s a morose kind of song and it could sound sad, when everybody sings together, it just brings joy.”
The Damn Truth will launch their self-titled album with shows at MTELUS in Montreal on March 26 and l’Anti in Quebec City on March 28, followed by a Quebec tour this fall and appearances in the UK. If their track record is anything to go by, these performances will be electrifying demonstrations of rock and roll in its purest form—raw, communal, and above all, truthful.
After twelve years together, The Damn Truth continues to embody their name with unflinching honesty, passionate performances, and a steadfast commitment to the essence of rock and roll. In an age of artifice, sometimes the damn truth is exactly what we need.
Watch the full interview below:
Interview by Annette Aghazarian
Video/Audio by Brenden Friesen
Photography – Steve Gerrard
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