The Radio Starmaker Fund has been extremely supportive of the Monster Truck Furiosity album campaign, not only in Canada but also around the world. Having been granted Starmaker support on a debut album was an integral part of the growth of the band in their home country and abroad. It enabled us to strengthen the marketing plans around their Fall/Winter 2013 tour. It was also instrumental to our radio promotions as it allowed us to extend our campaign. This extension resulted in two consecutive number one singles at active rock radio in Canada, for both “Sweet Mountain River” and “The Lion”. These two active rock singles, placed Monster Truck in the #1 position for a total of 16 weeks in 2013.

Radio has played a major role in helping get the band to where they are today. Monster Truck has become a household name in this country through extensive touring, great press coverage and national radio support. The band has also had the opportunity to tour Canada with some of the biggest names in rock, opening for bands such as Alice in Chains, Slash and the Sheepdogs.

Through the support of Starmaker, we were able to expand our efforts around the world and put publicity, radio, and project management teams in place in the USA and Europe. This resulted in a very successful debut album campaign for the band abroad with amazing support on the press side from the likes of Classic Rock, Metal Hammer, Visions, Rolling Stone Germany, Slam, Guitar World, Revolver and much more.

The early interest from the US market was an amazing surprise for Monster Truck. There was strong support from radio early on with “The Lion”. Active rock radio in the US spun the track over 1,100 times, gaining an audience of over 1.18 million and peaking at #55 on the chart. For a brand new international band, this was a great achievement and something we feel we can build on in the future. The press was also very strong around this record and each time Monster Truck returned to the US market, great reviews followed. The band also had some fantastic touring opportunities there, opening for the likes of Buckcherry, Alter Bridge, Sevendust and Alice in Chains.

The first chance we had for the band to play live in Europe was the Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg, Germany. They played two showcases at the festival and both times the rooms were filled to capacity with lineups outside. This was a precursor to their Fall 2013 European and UK tour dates opening for Vista Chino (members of Kyuss). The Reeperbahn Festival plays helped to showcase the band to European media, industry and radio. Following the tour dates with Vista Chino, Monster Truck co-headlined a run of dates in the UK and Europe in March 2014 with Scorpion Child. This was dubbed the initial Lords of the Riff tour, presented by both Classic Rock and Metal Hammer magazines and was a great opportunity for the band to align themselves with two of the biggest rock publications in the UK. The band’s fan base has grown quickly overseas and in November of 2014, Monster Truck has another tremendous opportunity to tour European markets as direct support for Slash on a tour of arenas.

Without the support of the Radio Starmaker Fund on the touring, international, and domestic marketing fronts, these successes would have been much harder to achieve. On behalf of the band and Dine Alone Records, thank you for all the support and helping all of us build a successful future for Monster Truck around the world.

Ryan Spalding
Director of Global Marketing
Dine Alone Records