The Tourist Company (or Tourist Company) is a Canadian,

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

-based

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band formed in 2013 by Taylor Swindells.

History

Tourist Company formed after meeting at summer camp in 2013. After that they teamed up with singer-songwriter Jordan Klassen to produce and record their EP ''Space Race'', which they released in May 2014. In June 2014, the band was accepted into the Peak Performance Project. In November of that year, they won the $50,000 3rd place prize. The band toured and recorded throughout 2015. Their debut single "Shouldn't Believe" was released and sent to radio on September 14, 2015. On April 29, 2016, the group released ''Mercury EP''. The band's second single "Pedestals" was released on August 16, 2016 ahead of their debut record, which was announced for an October 21, 2016 release date in North America. "Pedestals" broke into the Top 30 of

CBC Radio 3 CBC Radio 3 is a Canadian digital radio station operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, which plays a relatively freeform mix of indie rock, indie pop, alternative hip hop, folk, country and electronic music. The service, which la ...

that September, reaching a peak of #21 on the chart. It then crossed over into the Top 20 of

CBC Radio 2 CBC Music (formerly known as CBC FM, CBC Stereo and CBC Radio 2) is a Canadian FM radio network operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It used to concentrate on classical and jazz. In 2007 and 2008, the network transitioned towards a ...

at #20 on October 28, 2016. It peaked at #8 on December 1, 2016. The group's full-length debut LP ''Apollo'' was released on October 21, 2016. It was placed on

The Georgia Straight ''The Georgia Straight'' is a free Canadian weekly news and entertainment newspaper published in Vancouver, British Columbia, by Overstory Media Group. Often known simply as ''The Straight'', it is delivered to newsboxes, post-secondary schools ...

's Best Albums of 2016 list. Their third single "Apollo" premiered on The Strombo Show on February 12, 2017, and was sent to radio on February 13, 2017. It debuted at #22 on the

Top 30 on March 13, 2017, and peaked at #5 on April 10, 2017. ''Apollo'' was released across Europe on October 20, 2017, and featured as a

NoiseTrade NoiseTrade was a global online audio and book direct-to-fan distribution platform. It was based in Nashville, Tennessee. It enables its users to upload original music and books and give away for free without digital rights management to anyone ...

"New + Notable" for the same week. On May 18, 2018, the band released a standalone song entitled "Spokane" and announced they were recording their sophomore record. Tourist Company released "Conflicted/Restricted", the lead single from their forthcoming sophomore record, on January 25, 2019. In late June 2019, the band announced they had signed with Fierce Panda Canada and S-Music Argentina. The band released the single "Fractured State" on July 26, 2019. Their single "'Til We Disappear" was released October 11, 2019. On May 15, 2020, the band released their sophomore record ''St.Helens''. An ambient accompaniment to the record was released on December 4, 2020. The band announced a hiatus on January 25, 2022, and that Taylor had signed with

Nettwerk Records Nettwerk Music Group is an independent record label founded in 1984. The Vancouver-based company was created by principals Terry McBride and Mark Jowett as a record label to distribute recordings by the band Moev, but the label expanded in Ca ...

under his solo project Neighborhood Libraries.

Touring

Tourist Company toured across Canada in 2014 and throughout 2015. In the fall of 2015, they opened for

Dear Rouge Dear Rouge are a Juno award-winning Vancouver-based alternative rock band formed in 2012 by Drew and Danielle McTaggart. History Formation and early years Drew and Danielle McTaggart were both touring musicians under separate projects. They met ...

and Rah Rah on select dates of the Black to Gold Tour. In the fall of 2016, they toured from Vancouver to Charlottetown, supporting their debut record ''Apollo.'' Over 2017 and 2018, the band performed select dates and festivals, and showcased in Hamburg, Germany, and Guadalajara, Mexico. They capped off 2018 as the headliners at Vancouver's New Years Eve. The band then toured across Canada in early 2019, and throughout Mexico in July 2019, before heading east to play

Festival d'été de Québec The Festival d'été de Québec (FEQ) is the largest music festival in Canada in terms of number of artists (more than 200), largest stage (100,000), largest number of days (11). A total number of passes of 140,350 (130,000 standard, 3,000 gold ...

. They've also opened for artists like

Said The Whale Said the Whale is a Canadian indie rock band from Vancouver, British Columbia. The band was founded in 2007 by the group's primary songwriters, guitarists and lead vocalists, Ben Worcester and Tyler Bancroft. Their current lineup consists of Worc ...

We Are the City We Are The City was a Canadian rock band based in Vancouver, British Columbia and formed in 2008 in Kelowna, British Columbia. The last known line-up included singer-keyboardist Cayne McKenzie, drummer Andrew Huculiak, and guitarist David Menzel. ...

The Zolas The Zolas are a Canadian indie rock band based in Vancouver, signed to Light Organ Records. The band was formed by duo Zachary Gray (vocals/guitar) and Tom Dobrzanski (piano/keyboards/backing vocals), with various session musicians supporting ...

, and

Dragonette Dragonette is the stage name of Canadian singer-songwriter Martina Sorbara. Originally an electronic music band from Toronto, Ontario, formed in 2005, the band consisted of Sorbara with her then husband Dan Kurtz as bassist and producer (also i ...

. and played numerous festivals such as

Canadian Music Week The Departure Festival + Conference, formerly known as Canadian Music Week, is an industry conference and music festival held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.David Friend"Canadian Music Week buyers rename event Departure Festival, expand its scope" ...

in Toronto,

Reeperbahn The Reeperbahn () is a street and entertainment district in Hamburg's St. Pauli district, one of the two centres of Hamburg's nightlife (the other being Sternschanze) and also the city's major red-light district. In German, it is also n ...

in Hamburg, Germany, Upstream Music Fest + Summit and Bumbershoot in Seattle, Washington, and Rifflandia Music Festival in

Victoria, BC Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...

Awards and nominations

, - ! Year ! Organization ! Award ! Work or author awarded ! Result , - , rowspan="1", 2014 , Peak Performance Project , 3rd Place $50,000 , The Tourist Company , style="background:#90FF90", Winner , -

Discography

Studio releases

*''Space Race (EP)'' (May 6, 2014) *''Mercury (EP)'' (April 29, 2016) *''Apollo'' (October 21, 2016) *''St.Helens'' (May 15, 2020) *''St.Helens (Ambient)'' (December 4, 2020)

Singles

*"Shouldn't Believe" (September 14, 2015) *"Pedestals" (August 16, 2016) *"Apollo" (February 13, 2017) *"Conflicted/Restricted" (January 25, 2019) *"Fractured State" (July 26, 2019) *"'Til We Disappear" (October 11, 2019)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tourist Company Musical groups from Vancouver Musical groups established in 2013 2013 establishments in British Columbia