Billy Talent drummer Aaron Solowoniuk is in a good place. The band, fresh from celebrating their 15th anniversary, has just returned from a invigorating 2 ½ week swing through Germany, Finland, Norway, Russia and Poland that has left everyone in the group feeling great.
“We had sold 400 albums in all of Poland, yet 800 people came to see our show. Maybe it had something to do with my last name,” he says with a quiet smile.
After selling more than 600,000 copies of their first two albums, Billy Talent has earned the right to take some time recording their next CD. At this moment, though, demos are being assembled, producers are being considered, studios are being scouted and the group is in the process of finding a building to serve as the new BT HQ. And while that third record won’t be ready until next spring, Aaron let it slip that fans will be rewarded with a new song called Turn Your Back in the fall.
Then there’s F.U.M.S., Billy Talent’s crusade against multiple sclerosis, a disease that’s on Aaron’s mind every day because he’s had to live with it himself for more than a decade. Thanks to three weekly injections of a hideously expensive drug, Aaron’s MS is under control. Aaron realizes he’s blessedly lucky, which is why he and the band are behind the MS Society of Canada’s Scholarship Program. It provides post-secondary education support to young adults 25 and under with MS or those who have a parent living with the disease.
“My goal for this program,” he says, “is for young people to have the opportunity to follow their dreams, regardless of the presence of MS in their lives.”
Next Friday’s Second Annual F.U.M.S. Open at Lionhead in Mississauga, organized by Aaron’s brother and sister-in-law, will see more than 100 golfers — including some of BT’s musician friends — is expected to raise at least $25,000.
This year, 80 scholarships valued at nearly $80,000 are being distributed to students across the country. In a few weeks, some of the essays written by scholarship winners will be posted at mssociety.ca/scholarship. You can also make a donation at the site.
“These kids write things that bring tears to my eyes,” says Aaron. “To be able to help them is amazing. I want to keep this up until there’s a cure.”
