Alert the Medic

History

A band called Alert the Medic got its start with four friends who grew up together in and around Stellarton, Nova Scotia: Ryan MacDonald, Jonathan MacDougall, Matt Campbell, and Dale Wilson. Their debut self-titled album came out in 2006, with Laurence Currie handling co-production and engineering. MacDougall left the group near the end of 2007, and Jon Landry of The Stanfields stepped in temporarily until Troy Arseneault became the permanent guitarist in early 2008.

By then based in Halifax, the band earned two East Coast Music Award nominations that year, for Rising Star Recording of the Year and Rock Recording of the Year. In March 2009, they headed to Toronto to record their second album, We, the Weapon, again working with Currie at Hallamusic, Green Door Studios, and The Echo Chamber. The album came out independently that September, featuring Rob Crowell of Deer Tick. During the release tour, Crash Parallel keyboardist Rob Bezanson joined them for two Toronto shows, and the band made a life-on-the-road video.

Two more ECMA nominations followed in 2010, for Rock Recording of the Year and Single of the Year for the album's first single "Atlas," and they were up for Fan's Choice Entertainer of the Year in 2011. The third single, "The Weatherman (Pt. 2)," appeared in Season 4, Episode 6 of the TV show Rookie Blue on July 25, 2013. In November 2012, the band started pre-production with Mike Turner, a founding member of Our Lady Peace and current Crash Karma guitarist, at The Pocket Studios.

They continued demo work with Turner through 2013 and into February 2014, then recorded their third album, The Phantom Moves, which came out on May 3, 2014. Promotion for that record kicked off in spring 2013, including a spot on the Marilyn Denis Show and a YouTube video featuring former WWE wrestler Rick Martel.