You may not have heard of them yet, but get your headphones on and break out your music streaming apps because this is a band you do not want to miss out on.

That’s right, we’re talking about none other than Canada’s own Selfish Things.

Hailing from Mississauga, Ontario, Selfish Things is a four piece pop rock band, consisting of lead vocalist and pianist Alex Biro, rhythm guitarist Cam Snooks, lead guitarist Michael Ticar, and drummer Jordan Trask.

With two EPs currently available, and a debut album in the works, Selfish Things has been slowly gaining mainstream attention as support on the “Virtue” tour featuring William Ryan Key and Cory Wells.

Before their Boston set earlier tonight, we were fortunate enough to sit down and chat with their frontman, Alex, about all things Selfish Things and get a little bit of the scoop on their upcoming album.

Check out our interview below, and keep an eye out for our show review and photo gallery coming soon.

So to start, we know you are all from Canada originally, but do you still all live in Canada when you aren’t in Florida recording or on tour?

Yeah, we all still live in Canada. Cam, Mike and I all live close by and Jordan lives about forty minutes away in Burlington. It’s like the sister city to Burlington, Vermont.

How long have you guys been a band? Where did you all meet?

We’ve realistically been a band for about two years. I did the first bit solo, because I started the band by myself. Then I met Cam, who was actually an intern at our Canadian booking agents’ office and he played guitar.

Mike we met after he attended our first show, which was Cam and I and three random guys who were just our live band. He had just quit the police academy- which was funny because of all people he is definitely not meant to be a cop- and we asked him if he wanted to fly to Florida to join us in recording our EP “Vertical Love.” He said yeah, so his first flight ever was to Florida to record with us.

Jordan worked with my wife, actually at the restaurant I met her at, and we asked him if he wanted to give it a go at playing drums. He said sure, and shortly after we played our first show as a full band in February 2017. Then, the next day the BBC played our song and it was set from there.

Do you guys ever fight or need a break from each other after being on the road for long periods of time?

No, never. If we do it’s all like brotherly fights. But we are all very close. They were the groomsmen in my wedding, and I’m sure after tour we’ll all still hang out and have family cookouts.

Speaking of family, I know you are all away from family and home for a long stretch of time when touring. Is it hard being without them? If not, what is the hardest part of touring?

The hardest part is going home and seeing that your kid is bigger. I have an eight year old daughter, and not being there is really hard, but at the same time I feel like by pursuing my dreams and passions I am showing her that she can do whatever she wants when she’s older. And her and my wife get to come visit, and I go see them on days off.

Has your family been supportive of you pursuing music as a career?

My parents are very supportive. It took my dad, who is a Hungarian immigrant, about two months when I was 18 to accept that I didn’t go to university. But then one time he was driving me to the airport on my way to go record and he looked at me and said “you made the right decision. I’m proud of you.” And to have someone who is a Hungarian immigrant and who’s survived the revolution say that to you.. it meant a lot.

And recently, my wife broke her ankle at the start of the year and still can’t walk on it, and my mom stepped up and said “no, you’re not going to cancel anything, you’re going on tour,” and is taking care of her and my daughter now. It’s awesome.

What is your favorite and least favorite song you’ve ever written?

My favorite is “Hangman,” which is also actually our most tattooed song.

It’s funny because my least favorite is actually our most popular. It’s “1435,” which I wrote for my wife, and it stands for “I love you,” like the number of letters in each word. But it’s not a representative of what our band is today, so we don’t even play it live.

But I revamped it for the album so I’m excited for that, and I guess it’s good that our most listened to song is a love song and not a depressing one.

What can you tell us about your upcoming album? Do you have a title or release date yet?

We do not have a release date yet. I’m hoping it will be out in late spring or early summer though.

For the title, we do have one. It’s going to be called “Logos.”

I’ve been incredibly fixated by Carl Jung, the psychoanalyst and his grand interpretation of life and the world. To achieve logos is to truly ascend. The whole album revolves around that idea and concept.

I had been having a hard time coming up with a name and then I was reading “The Red Book” and came across that. it just stuck.

We know you just released your latest single “Drained” with your tour mate William Ryan Key last week. Is it difficult to write songs with someone who isn’t part of your band, or an outside entity?

The hardest part is getting the song out of the demo stage.

Ryan is such an incredible voice and I’m such a weird nasally vocalist [laughing]. You’re so used to singing and hearing a song a certain way that having someone else add to it or change it is weird. You have to give it space to realize it’s better. And he added his own flair in a really cool way.

It was also actually added to the Alt Rock radio station in Houston today too, which is super cool.

Does he join you on stage when you play it live? I’m guessing yes.

We actually haven’t played it on tour yet because since we don’t have a bassist it’s really hard to play live. We haven’t been able to get the tracks finalized to back it up, but we have a few days off in Toronto coming up so we hope to get it set then and start playing it in the next week or two.

But it’s cool that people are asking about it because then they’ll have to come back to our shows to see it live. Which may be a little messed up [laughing] but whatever.

Speaking of tour, what have been the best parts so far?

So far Philadelphia has been the best show. It’s very weird there because 70% of the crowd is in Flyers gear. It’s very scary but awesome. They’re lovely people and are so passionate. It was our third time in a year playing there and we’ve noticed it’s a lot of people seeing us for the first time but also for the first time we’re seeing a lot of retention, which is cool. Like obviously we can track that with views and listens on Spotify and stuff, but we’re now seeing it at live shows.

Baltimore was the biggest surprise on the tour so far because we had only played there once before but this time we had at least 15 to 20 kids screaming our lyrics.

What bands have inspired you?

Brand New for sure. Not to say I endorse that behavior- I’m glad he got called out, and now I’m hesitant to go back and re-listen to their albums. But they got me through high school.

Also Taking Back Sunday and Dashboard Confessional. I think I definitely look up to songwriters more though, like I love Max Martin, Oli G, and definitely Ryan Tedder is one of the greatest of our generation.

Switching gears for a minute. I noticed you talk a lot about mental health on your twitter and the band’s old blog page. Do you feel it’s important for you as a public figure to talk about mental health?

It is important. I’ve really struggled to come to terms with the new integration of mental health and music, like in “emo rap.” We shouldn’t be teaching people they can find help in drugs and addiction if they are struggling. That’s why our songs are about looking in the mirror and finding yourself. Not turning to substances to fix your problems.

I have an obligation to tell people that one, you’re not alone, and two that there’s a way to deal with your problems that’s not drowning in them.

I hope the culture shifts in a positive way and that people stop telling kids to turn to drugs. There’s nothing good about telling kids to use xans.

Do you ever experience backlash from being so vocal?

I do but I don’t really fucking care. If kids are getting our lyrics tattooed on them or sending us 500 word messages telling us how we helped, that’s all that matters. Just one of those cancels out the 500 negative comments. I just don’t care.

So 2018 was obviously a really big year for you guys as you toured a ton and performed at Slam Dunk Festival. If you could sum up your favorite parts, what were your highlights of 2018?

Definitely on a personal note, we played Slam Dunk with Jimmy Eat World, almost three years to the day after I officially named the band, which is named after lyrics from their song “23.” So to hear them play that for three days was really cool. And to have our name on the same marquee. It was surreal.

As for other highlights, I realized the world is a lot kinder than people think it is. 90% of the people would give you the shirt off their back. Even in the deep Trump supporter/Republican south.

Once we broke down the Saturday before Easter in Mason City, Iowa, which was scary, and this guy who was the epitome of a Trump supporter, kept his repair shop open an hour late to help us get going again and said if he couldn’t fix the truck he would have us over for Easter Sunday dinner.

Humanity of the world is a lot more palatable than people think.

If you could create your dream tour who would you play with? Besides Jimmy Eat World.

My dream tour lineup besides Jimmy Eat World… How many bands? Can it be a big bill?

Yes, as many as you want.

Okay- Taking Back Sunday, Dashboard Confessional, Glassjaw, Something Corporate, Valencia, and then Selfish Things.

We’re definitely the openers though [laughing].

What can we expect from 2019?

The new album, and we have a few tours that are 90% confirmed. We’ve played 100 shows so far, so we hope to break 150 this year. Nothing I can speak to officially, but I’m excited.

Would you say you guys have “made it” as a band? If not, what would you want to do to achieve that status?

I don’t subscribe to the idea of “making it.” It’s a dangerous rabbit hole, because once you start you’ll always want more. You have to go through things thinking “this is enough and I’m happy with it,” or you’ll never be in the moment or enjoying it. You’ll always be looking for what’s next.

Beyond the album and tours, what are your goals of 2019?

I’d love to get into the best shape I can on tour. It’s hard when you’re out on the road, but we all try to find time to go to the gym and we use workout apps and try to do situps and pushups as often as we can.

Musically wise, I’d love to chart but that also goes against my “I don’t subscribe to the industry” beliefs [laughing].

Okay and lastly, how do you unwind in your free time besides trying to become super fit?

Cam loves coffee shops. He spends a lot of time finding new places to get coffee and then also he has a dark and eerie obsession with horror movies. Like he’ll be huddled up with a cup of coffee watching someone get murdered in an 80s slasher film, and it’ll be 8:30 in the morning. Like what the fuck is wrong with him?

Jordan loves skateboarding. He’s a proper punk.

Mike is the super handsome and jacked one in the band so I think he actually enjoys relaxing by working out.

I like hanging out with my kid. Like when she wants something my world stops and revolves around her.

Awesome, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us!

Absolutely, thank you.

You can catch Alex and the rest of Selfish Things on tour with William Ryan Key now through April 2nd, and be sure to keep an eye out for their debut album “Logos,” coming soon.

And, in the meantime, be sure to follow the band on social media, and listen to their EPs “Vertical Love” and “Six Songs,” on Spotify.

Alex: @selfishthings | Jordan: @jtraskk | Cam: @camsnooks | Michael: @mike.ticar