Persistence Pays Off. Interview with The Rising Few
The Rising Few
Egyptian born, Karim Terouz from The Montreal local band The Rising Few sits down with us and tells us a little bit about his history and that of his band, The Rising Few.
As a singer and guitar player Karim loved the freedom Canada and especially Quebec offered to creative souls. Karim fully immersed himself in the musical field a couple of years ago by attending every “open mic” that was happening in the city. Eventually he met his main guitarist Hubert Tremblay and they started working and shaping Karim’s already written songs. Out of Hubert’s phone book came the other great musicians: Harvey Bien Aimee at the drums, Isaac Gesse playing the trumpet and taking up back vocals and the bassist Andrew Sudlow. They are all now part of The Rising Few family.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKuTme6WpRU
As a kid, Karim grooved to the sounds of popular bands such as the Beetles, the Bee Gees, and Phil Collins. Some of Karim’s nicest family moments were spent listening to these famous sounds. A decade ago in Egypt, Karim’s cover band played for the famous and distinguished Cairo Jazz Club. The band also had songs released on the radio, therefore he certainly isn’t a newbie in the industry.
Terouz was interested in coming to this land of opportunity and writing songs in English. He says that Montreal has inspired him a lot with all the multiculturalism that can be found here. Among his most well-known songs are Sinners on St. Laurent, I Want You Know and The Start.
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When asked how the name The Rising Few came to be, Karim answers that his cover band back in Egypt was called The Rising. When he kept on attending the open mic nights he was told that very “few” people have this sort of persistence and it somehow clicked and created the name of today’s band The Rising Few.
Sinners on St-Laurent is also the name of the Rising Few’s first album and is making its debut this April. This album and the songs in it are a tribute to Montreal’s hospitality that Karim has felt fortunate enough to enjoy. He really wants Montrealers to be able to identify with the songs in the album.
The Rising Few make beautiful and inspiring soft rock music influenced by blues, folk, and country. It is the kind of music that motivates and keeps the day rolling. Karim describes the groups style in the following way, “Imagine Bruce Springsteen had a baby with Dave Mathew’s band and that baby was adopted by Kat Stevens and then passed on to Leonard Cohen who somehow abandoned that baby… and then some people years later saw that baby walking on St. Laurent with a t-shirt saying Living on a Prayer”.
The Rising Few are performing Tuesday April 8th for their CD launch at the Galerie 203 (227 Notre Dame West) 10$.
