About Me
Stephen McGruther aka Subway
Born in the small town of Brooks, Alberta in August of 1986..Subway would point his earliest music inspiration to be none other than his own father. With a vinyl collection that included the likes of Jimi Hendrix, The Grateful Dead, Eric Clapton, Pink Floyd, Stevie Ray Vaughn and Led Zepplin among countless others, Subway can recall the sounds of these soulful legends resonation throughout his small house while he was growing up, as well as digging through his fathers crates, secretly hoping that one day, he would be looking at his own records.
He also just somehow knew he could sing..(even though many others at the time may have disagreed), but honing his craft at an early age he found he was able to bend and pitch his voice to adapt to almost any style and genre of music. Taking guitar and drum lessons at the age of 13, Subway's first lesson taught him the chords "E", "A", and "D". And just the very next week he had created a song from scratch using only those 3 chords. And from some basic jamming sessions, he started to write his own songs, with his own lyrics and nothing but an acoustic guitar..giving birth to Subway;s extremely strong songwriting abilities.
Never one to waste time, Subway jumped on every chance he could to stay after school and play guitar and drums in the school's music room. This is where he met a kid named Joe Forest, a dude Subway would cite as being an extremely more talented guitar player then he was, and being a person he really looked up to. Joe would bring a young Subway over to his house, where him and his father had setup a decent studio and jam pad. The fact that the father and son would actually play live and perform in front of other people amazed him, as he kept most of his music to himself, playing in his parents basement..but would look back on those times as cherished memories for the young performer to be.
It wasnt until a few years later that Subway would be introduced to Hip Hop. After meeting a group of b-boys from Nanaimo, Tony Rochette, Mikey Steez and JuneBug (who is now his current manager), the group showed Subway his first real glimpse of Hip Hop, playing the likes of a lot of local BC artists to his virgin ears, and showing him the variety and talent that you dont hear on most mainstream radio.
However at age 18, things took a turn for a spill as Subway had to pull anything musically off the table as a year long drug addiction had caught up with him. He was able to recieve help from the "Launching Pad Recovery House" in WhiteRock, BC. It was here that he started writing his first rhymes with his roomate at the time, and he spent his recovery time recording make-shift songs on a rented turntable, tapedeck, and a microphone. This is where music became his "new drug", and has since made the effort to never waste a minute without it..believeing that he could may well be dead without it.
In 2007, Subway was on a visit to Nanaimo and met back up once again with Mikey Steez, where he met a local group called Sunk City. After talks of collaborating raised, Subway was able to record his first 2 ever recorded songs with the group, and after realizing his strong work ethic,
Sunk City asked him to be a part of the group permanently, to which he accepted, and moved to Nanaimo a week after. After about 6 months the ensemble had recorded a full length CD, to which Subway started to recieve local accolades and his rep grew bigger. He and the group eventually parted ways, to which Subway had met a young female singer out of Nanaimo named Eliza Smith.
The duo created a live hip hop/jazz band called "Allie's Way", which consisted of keys, lead guitars, bass guitars, drums and a 3 piece horn section, which was felt so locally they made 2nd place in Nanaimo's annual "Battle of The Bands". Given the groups large work schedule, they all found themselves working on other various projects and decided to bring a halt to their music collaborations for the time being, but hope to continue working together in the future.
Subway spent his downtime rapping over various beats from Soundclick.com, getting frustrated with it he decided to venture out to the world of Myspace in search of a producer who could craft the beats he was seeking. In doing so he met the acquaitence of Victoria's Guy Woods. Guy's soulful harmonies on the boards matched perfectly with Subways vocal energy, and the 2 linked to make it happen. They named themselves "The Scalebreakers" and after Victoria's The Mighty Apos approached him about bringing him into his camp, the rest is history. Subway and Beer Money Entertainment rounded out 30 shows in 4 months, bringing Subway's soulful voice across Van Isle, across British Columbia as well as Alberta.Branching off, The Scalebreakers along with Cody The Catch have moved on to open up for the likes of , The "God Father of Canadian hip hop" Maestro, Swollen Members, Gene Simmons, Choclair, Jeff spec, with nothing but big things ahead of them. Subway as a solo artist has also shared stages with Moka Only, Josh Martinez, Emotionz, and many more.
Ready to drop his first solo LP "On the Right Track", an ode to creating the good life, Subway's doing it big with guest appearences from Narai Dawn,Guy Woods and Metty The Dert Merchant from Sweatshop Union, as well as production from Rob the Viking from Swollen Members. A die-hard perfectionist at heart, the album is ready to move major units when it drops in May, and is to speak volumes for Subway himself, as well as every person who can relate to his struggle."This is my life now..theres no turning back. I have no regular job other than doing these shows and working on my music. Thats how I want it!"
