Right now – 2013 – is an exceptional moment in time for The Trews.
As the dynamic, dogged rock foursome strides confidently towards the 10th anniversary of their debut studio album (2003's celebrated House of Ill Fame) while ramping up efforts for their fifth, the Trews – singer Colin MacDonald, guitarist John-Angus MacDonald, drummer Sean Dalton and bassist Jack Syperek — can actually take stock and breathe.

There's a lot to tally. The Toronto-based band's last full-length studio recording, 2011's Hope & Ruin, racked up accolades including but not limited to charting Top 10 in Canada, domestic release in Australia and the U.S., critical nods by England's Classic Rock Magazine, and nonstop touring to rapturous crowds the world over.

That was followed in 2012 by the stellar ...Thank You and I'm Sorry EP which prefaced an acoustic tour recalling 2009's Friends and Total Strangers acoustic live release, tour and accompanying DVD.

Let's not forget that the 2012 EP also boasted Black Crowes guitarist Rich Robinson and Small Faces/Faces keyboardist Ian McLagan as marquee guests, was co-produced by John-Angus MacDonald (as was Hope & Ruin), and soared on the single "The Power of Positive Drinking," which reached number 1 on the CBC rock chart, complementing 13 Top 10 rock radio singles in Canada overall, including two #1s.

There were also stages shared with some artists you may have heard of (the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Guns N' Roses, KISS), a truckload of Juno Award nominations and East Coast Music Award and Independent Music Award wins, two more studio albums (2005's Den of Thieves and 2008's No Time for Later) a couple of gold records and a spot aboard Kid Rock's fourth-annual sold out Chillin' The Most Cruise (they became friendly with the Detroit rap-rocker during a 2011 tour).
 
Oh yes, and they have performed somewhere in the vicinity of 1,000-plus live shows. Exhausting just reading about it, huh?

"The last two years - 2011 and 2012 - felt like one long year, one long album cycle," offers John-Angus MacDonald. "Hope & Ruin came out in so many territories and we followed it up extensively in all those territories. This was one long run. We saw lots of the world.

"We did four tours of Australia in about two-and-a-half years. When things start to roll, the last thing you want is to not be around. But it's amazing that music can take you places like that. I am still kind of shocked by those things."

Adds band mate and brother Colin MacDonald, "I don't know if we're a bunch of neurotics or what but we tend not to take too much time off. After a few days we get fidgety and want to start playing and doing things again. We get bored easily. And in the music business there's a fine line between taking some time off and having to scramble to get busy again, so we like to always keep working."

This brings us to the above-mentioned exceptional moment, a place John-Angus MacDonald deadpans "the 15-year-old version of myself would never have believed could have happened."

With little left to prove, a dedicated global fan base secured, a clear sense of direction and the rapport that comes from living in each other's back pockets since childhood (and playing together since high school) in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, The Trews are ready to write the next chapter in their awesome career.

And that, naturally, hinges on writing and recording their next record – due later this year - while keeping things limber with some live shows along the way.

"We don't write on the road. I really admire bands that can but we don't," John-Angus MacDonald says. "So for the next couple of months we're just going to be getting together several times a week to bring things together. It's an interesting process.

"Every time you finish a tour, you sort of feel like, ‘How do you write songs again?' It feels like a foreign thing. Starting is the hardest part. Then all of a sudden it becomes natural again. We're a band that has always found inspiration in routine. It sounds counterintuitive but it works for us."

"Whatever shape or form the best songs come into kind of dictates where the record is going to go," adds Colin MacDonald. "We like to follow where the best music and lyrics are going. We never come in with a big concept... or if we do," he laughs, "it never works out."

John-Angus MacDonald admits he has a mental wish-list of potential producers to join the esteemed ranks of past collaborators such as Gordie Johnson (see also Gov't Mule, Taj Mahal, The Joel Plaskett Emergency), Jack Douglas (Alice Cooper, Cheap Trick) and Tragically Hip bassist Gord Sinclair.

But while he's understandably reluctant to name names at this juncture, he confirms that "producers are still going to be an important part of the equation for us; people who can challenge and push us.

"It's really great having a fifth party in the room we trust and can defer to," the guitarist explains. "Working with different producers has helped us maintain an edge because all they're hearing is the strongest idea or the strongest song."

One thing is certain: whatever the Trews cook up next, it will at once bear their raucous, rump-shaking rock thumbprint while boldly pushing forward in new, potentially unexpected directions.

"I know the idea with rock and roll is to be spontaneous and not to plan things too much," John-Angus MacDonald says, "but we've always looked up to bands like the Tragically Hip that are playing the long-term game. That's the kind of band we aspire to be. And the key to that is creativity and forging new ground and not becoming some kind of self-parody.

"The anniversary of our first record this summer is kind of scary. I mean, you always feel like a new band and then suddenly a decade rolls around. But we totally feel as though our best work is ahead of us and there's still room to grow.

"That's the part you've got to relearn between every record; to dream it all again and be as excited as you were making your first record. It's a discovery process and it takes a willingness to be adventurous and to try new things."