I Heart the Music: Your Online Source for Live Music Reviews and Interviews in Toronto!

On Tuesday, March 2nd iheartthemusic were invited to an exclusive launch party for the newest recording studio to hit the streets of Toronto: WIDEawake Liberty Studios. This was an event not to be missed since not only was it great to be the first to experience such an incredible facility, but it was also a chance to bump shoulders with some of the biggest heavy hitters in the music industry. Labels, booking agents, musicians and journalists were there to explore this unique and luxurious addition to the Toronto music scene.

Guests were greeted at the door with a glass of champagne and promptly whisked into the intimate event space housed within the recording studio. Inside, party goers were provided with some very tasty food (re. poutine and cold duck wraps) courtesy of Marigolds and Onions, drinks to your heart’s content and some incredible freebies. Soos Rocks Designer Accessories were giving away a plethora of amazing jewels to everyone in attendance. We walked away with not one but TWO lovely bracelets that we will be sure to wear during our next interview.

Enough with the party atmosphere, let’s get down to the actual reason why we were there- to check out the space for you music enthusiasts! This space was both modern and functional and offers potential clients a wide range of services including production, composition and arrangements, recording and mixing tools, sound design, video/audio editing and the list goes on and on. It is really your one-stop-shop for all your recording needs. You aren’t a musician? That’s okay, because this space also acts as an event space. Located in Liberty Village it is right in the centre of all the action. I encourage you guys to check it out for yourselves: www.wideawakeliberty.com.

Saturday, February 20th was “Alt Country Rock’N'Roll” night at The Horseshoe and on the bill were four local indie acts: Golden Hands Before God, The Diableros, The Schomber Fair and La Casa Muerte. We missed out on watching openers Golden Hands Before God (sorry fans!) but having previously  heard great things about The Diableros, we decided to venture out early to see if we could catch their set. Having only briefly listened to a few of their tunes on their MySpace page prior to the show, we actually arrived at The Horseshoe somewhat excited to see the live version. We got there just in time to witness five guys on stage setting up their instruments. After grabbing a beer or two, they finally began to play and play they did, but with absolutely NO enthusiasm. They each knew their individual parts well; strumming the guitar and hitting notes on the keys, however this was done with no passion or what appaeared to be any pleasure. Not one of them even cracked a smile during their entire forty five minute performance.

We didn’t get a chance to grab their set list, so it is hard to comment on individual songs, but honestly that didn’t even matter as watching them was THAT painful. The crowd seemed to mimic our sentiments as a few swayed trans-like to the beat of the song and the rest resorted to the bar. A few drinks were what you seemed to need to get through this performance. All wasn’t lost though, the drummer was actually great and eventually started to pull the attention away from the rest of the band.  He was hitting those drums with such enthusiasm and gusto as if he also knew how boring upfront was and therefore tried to make up for it! My verdict? Buy the album, avoid the show.

Next on the bill were bluegrass alt rockers The Schomberg Fair. We were pretty excited for them to take to the stage and relieve us from the comma we were in and they didn’t disappoint. They came on stage and literally rocked the house opening their set with “Angels Wings”; a fast paced song that appears on their latest album Gospel. This song literally begins and ends with a bang with lead vocalist Matt showing off his banjo skills. These guys just really know how to put on a show, and with tons of experience and tours under their belt, it really becomes a treat for those able to catch them live. One thing that really struck me was the contrast between lead vocalist’s Matt and bassist Nathan’s voices. Nathan, or Nate rather, has a voice that literally sounds like the instrument that he plays and when they sang in unison it actually created the most amazing sound that is uniquely their own. From beginning to end the crowd were either singing along or dancing- two key reactions that any musician would hope for.  My verdict? Buy the album AND see the show!

The Schomberg Fair play CMW on March 13th @ Sneaky Dee’s.

photography provided by Nancy Kim.

Canadians are talented people. Yes, I may be somewhat bias saying this, however having travelled quite extensively in my lifetime I can assure you that we aren’t the only people that think this. Ask anyone in the world and they will tell you that we excel in many areas (citing hockey legend Wayne Gretzky as a notable figure). One area that I believe we are particularly adept to “excelling” in is in the music department. Oftentimes it is the heavy hitters such as Celine Dion that have music fans from around the world stirring, however there is another group that appear to be creating quite a buzz south of the boarder recently. Great Lake Swimmers are not a new band, but it is their fourth album, Lost Channels, that have garnered them the most attention on the international circuit. Having recently returned from a plethora of tour dates around the world, the boys are finally coming home to bring the tunes back to (eager) Canadian ears! In anticipation of their sold out show this Saturday at Trinity St.Paul’s Church, iheartthemusic caught up with Tony Dekker and Erik Arnesen of Great Lake Swimmers where they shared with us just a little bit of the inspiration behind their Polaris Music Prize nominated album Lost Channels.

iheartthemusic: You guys recorded this album in a rather unique setting. Can you explain what that was like?

Tony: We recorded on location, most of it in the Thousand Islands where we were able to really get into some unique spaces. There was a castle just over the border on the American side called “Singer Castle” which sits on Dark Island; which is the kind of thing that sounds like it could be fiction but its not, it is real. There was a number of other locations too like a church and a place in Brockville, Ontario called The Brockville Arts Centre which is a theatre that has been maintained by the community for over a hundred years and been beautifully restored.

iheartthemusic: That’s amazing! How did you hear about this place?

Tony: The offer came in from a friend of ours who is sort of a story collector and a photographer in the region. He was the one that invited us to come and check it out. When it came time to record the album, I brainstormed to try and find different locations that would be suitable for us to record and that place just seemed perfect. It [location] has become a really big part of the creative process for us I think. I mean, to be in these places that are charged with the kind of energy that draws your best possible performance, it is really important for us. This one [Thousand Islands] in particular was special because to be in that area and be really inspired meant digging deep-creatively.

Erik: Part of the adventure is getting there too, and figuring out how to work in the space.

iheartthemusic: Were there any sounds that were incorporated into the album that came from your surroundings?

Tony: No, we don’t have any bizarre noises on the album. We are pretty straight up.

Erik: We recorded the bells in the castle.

Tony: That’s true.

Erik: That was kind of just a happy accident. Those bells almost interrupted our recording process and then we decided on our last day to document them and then use it in the record.

If you weren’t lucky enough to get your tickets to this one, don’t worry the boys will be back and hopefully with a new album in hand!

photography provided by Sara Collaton

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