Known for their loud stage performances and unique sense of style, London, Ontario band Mean Tangerine are heating up the Toronto music scene with their reggae-inspired sound. The band consists of Max Off (guitar/vocals), Jesse Wilks (guitar), Brett Weber (bass) and Mike Carrey (drums) who’ve been playing together since they were 14. Now only 19, their sound far surpasses their age. Having played with the likes of Finger Eleven, illScarlett and The Trews, these guys definitely prove that they are a force to reckon with. They opened up to us before their show at Tattoo Rock Parlour and revealed exactly why they love Toronto (ladies) so much…

iheartthemusic: So guys where exactly did you get the name Mean Tangerine?

Max: Well I was actually born with this birthmark on my chest [lifts up his shirt and shows us a very legible tattoo of the band's name]. No honestly, we have been hanging out since we were 14 and we were in my basement one day just jamming and shit, being 14-year-olds. We were into classic rock at the time and we misheard a lyric and thought that it said “mean tangerine”.

Jesse: It was The Beatles “Savoy Truffle” and its apparently “green tambourine”.

Max: We were smoking a lot of weed back then.

Jesse: Now we just do speed balls which are kind of like heroin and crack. The high is just fucking incredible! [laughs]

iheartthemusic: Well that would explain a lot then! So you guys are originally from London, Ontario and now you are living in Toronto and going to school. What has this transition meant for you musically?

Jesse: Right now we’ve been self-managing and doing everything independently. Since we’ve moved to Toronto we’ve gained a greater understanding of the industry simply through meeting and talking to other bands and industry people.

Max: We’ve got a ton of hook ups here so it’s been actually pretty good. You just meet a shit ton of people…I can say shit right?

iheartthemusic: Haha! Oh yeah this is a very liberal website!

Jesse: Now that we live in Toronto it makes recording a lot easier. We were able to record in a big Toronto studio which we would not have been able to do had we still been in London. I mean if we still lived in London we would have had to rent hotels and so living here just makes it that much more convenient for us.

Mike: It’s really nice just because now we are learning more about the business side of the whole scene whereas before it was more the musical side. Now we are getting a better understanding of both sides.

iheartthemusic: It must be tough though being in school and also trying to pursue a career in music. How do you prioritize your time between the two?

Max: I’m missing every single class next week and the week after I’m going to be missing a whole bunch too.

Jesse: The degree is just a back up plan to have, but our plan after the next record is hopefully get signed to a label and find a solid manager.

iheartthemusic: So you mention you have a new record coming out. What is it going to be called and when can we expect to listen to it?

Max: We don’t know yet-what do you think we should call it?

Mike: We have had some names floating around but I don’t think we really have focused or zeroed in on one yet. I would shout some stuff out right now but I don’t want to ruin it.

Brett: It should be out early March in Toronto, London and Montreal.

[editor's note: since this interview the band has revealed that the new album is in fact called Peels and will be out this March.]

iheartthemusic: You guys have also been pretty lucky to play with some amazing bands in the past. Who have been some of your favourites so far?

Max: The coolest band to us in terms of being our friends as well has definitely been The Johnstones. The lead singer and drummer Ryan Long produced this album that we just recorded.

Jesse: We got to play a big show in the summer as well with Finger Eleven, The Trews and Sloan.

Mike: Yah it was in Chatham and it’s called Rock Stock. It was the first of a soon-to-be annual festival. Next year they are pushing the show to a few days-like a two day event.

Max: Warped Tour was fucking wicked too!

iheartthemusic: So you guys sound like you have done pretty well for yourselves so far, so what does the future hold for Mean Tangerine?

Mike: Ideal situation would probably be us just dropping school and getting paid for gigs. Living comfortably and making music.

iheartthemusic: Now we can’t let you guys go without asking you some Toronto-inspired questions. What is your favourite bar in Toronto?

Max: I loved The Brunswick House that one night- we got thrown out. Jesse beat up a bouncer actually. The Horseshoe is awesome as well.

iheartthemusic: Well we won’t go into too much detail with that one! What venue to do aspire to play at in Toronto?

Max: Opera House or Mod Club.

Mike: This is our first time playing at Tattoo and it seems pretty sweet.

iheartthemusic: Favourite place to listen to music?

Jesse: Horseshoe Tavern.

Max: Air Canada Centre for sure!

iheartthemusic: Favourite Tim Hortons order?

Mike: My typical order at Tim Hortons would be a sixer of donuts. I’d get two boston creams, a vanilla with sprinkles- only on one half and I like the long sprinkles not the round sprinkles because they get stuck in my teeth! Then I would add apple fritters just to fill the void. My favourite thing to do is to take a boston cream donut and a vanilla dip and put them on top of each other so that the icing touches because its really dry in your mouth but the cream from the boston just lubricates it.

Max: The saddest thing about that whole explanation is that that’s true. It’s disgusting!

Mike: It kind of gets sad sometimes because I’ll find myself at a Tim Hortons eating six donuts all alone and people will be looking at me as I eat all six donuts to myself.

iheartthemusic: Well next time you are trying to “fill the void” you can invite us along! Speaking of filling the void- what is it that you love about Toronto girls?

Max: The way they hold their microphone when they’re interviewing me.

iheartthemusic: That’s the best answer I’ve ever heard!

Jesse: The booty.

Max: I like staying up all night having a conversation with them, talking about our likes, our dislikes, the economy, the recession.

Jesse: We are big fans of the recession.

Mike: I like to talk about feelings and expressing them.

Max: What we are really trying to say is that we are really good guys!

iheartthemusic: So there you have it- Mean Tangerine are young, talented and “really good guys”. You can check them out on their MySpace page:

http://www.myspace.com/meantangerine