Tryg Strand Faces The Fire On “Love & War”

Some artists write about conflict. Others have lived it. On his upcoming single “Love & War,” Tryg Strand makes it clear he’s done both.

Hailing from British Columbia’s Columbia Valley, Strand’s story does not read like a typical “bedroom-to-Spotify” arc. Before the streaming era grind, he was touring BC and Hawaii in a middle school ukulele band. While most kids were figuring out stage fright, he was already chasing applause. That instinct for performance never faded, even as hockey took center ice. A university scholarship, high-level competition, and eventually professional play in Sweden could have been the full story. But songwriting kept running parallel, waiting for its moment.

When the pandemic sidelined hockey, Strand did not spiral. He pivoted. Hard.

He doubled down on open mics, tightened his songwriting, and refined a sound that now blends rock, blues, country, and folk into something that feels less genre and more identity. “Love & War” is the result of that sharpening. It is gritty without being performative. Emotional without being dramatic. The guitars carry weight, not flash. There is texture in the way they swell and pull back, mirroring the emotional tension in the lyrics.

At its core, “Love & War” explores duality. Passion and pride. Vulnerability and ego. The quiet battles inside relationships and inside yourself. Strand does not overcomplicate the concept. Instead, he leans into honesty, letting the hooks do their job while the storytelling adds depth. It is the kind of track that feels built for both a live stage and a late-night drive.

And make no mistake, this is an artist who understands the stage. With performances across Western Canada and festival slots at Flats Fest, Snowflake Festival, and Steamboat Mountain Music Festival, Strand is building a reputation that goes beyond a single release. You can hear that confidence in the delivery. Nothing feels rushed. Nothing feels accidental.

“Love & War” does not sound like a gamble. It sounds earned.

Tryg Strand is not reinventing roots-driven rock. He is refining it through lived experience. And if this single is any indication, he is stepping into a chapter where heart and grit are no longer at odds. They are working together.

You’ve lived two very intense paths: competitive hockey and music. What did hockey teach you about pressure and discipline that now shows up in how you approach songwriting and releasing records? In regards to songwriting, the biggest thing that I feel like translated well was knowing you gotta show up and do the work. Not every practice, not every song I write is going to be good, or even something that anyone will hear, but it's part of the process. When it comes to releasing songs, I think the most important thing I've taken with me is being comfortable with failure, understanding that it's part of the process vs a final outcome, there will always be something positive to take and learn from it. 

“Love & War” leans into emotional duality. Was there a specific real-life moment that forced you to confront that push and pull in yourself? There wasn't a specific moment when I automatically sat down, and the song poured out. It was more a series of events over a period of years, where I learned that anxiety and the highs and lows of life are something universally dealt with and not isolated. Realizing the best way to take away the control and effects it can have is by acknowledging it, turning to face it head-on, versus suppressing it or neglecting it, where it can fester. 

When the pandemic shut down your hockey career trajectory, did music feel like a backup plan at first or did it immediately feel like the thing you were always meant to double down on? I wouldn't say it felt like a backup plan, cause I never thought hockey would be my whole life forever; it was more like "okay, that was an amazing chapter of my life, now what's next!" Really, let me be excited about throwing myself fully into my creative side, my love for the arts (songwriting and performing). It's cliche but I do believe we only grow in places of discomfort vs comfort. So to dive into something that I loved, but that kind of scared me (which was sharing my music), really laying it all out there just seemed like such a natural thing to pursue. 

Your sound blends rock, blues, country, and folk. Do you consciously shape that fusion, or does it just happen naturally when you sit down with a guitar? I never write songs with the mindset of ok, this has to fit 'x' genre. I have a hard time defining my genre, to be honest, which is why when people ask, I always list so many. I actually wrote Love And War on the piano (where I write about a third of my songs), but it was really more of a ballad when I first wrote it than it is now. The switch to the guitar, with more of the rock and driving beat, happened fast when I started to play it on the hollow body with the band, and it just clicked like "ahh, this is where this song is supposed to live" from a sound perspective. 

You’ve been building momentum through live performances across Western Canada. What do you want people to feel when they walk away from a Tryg Strand show, especially after hearing a track like “Love & War” live? I mean, really, all I can hope for when people leave our shows is just that they feel like they were part of something real. What drew me to perform and share my music in the first place was really just about playing a role in that shared energy in the room, where there's a connection between the band and the crowd, just feeding off each other. To me, it's just one of the coolest things. With Love & War specifically, no different than any of our songs, is that people resonate with the honesty, the vulnerability, but with the kick of that bass drum that really drives the song, we want people dancing and really adding to the energy in the room!