They may share a name with Leonard Cohen’s second album, but the band Songs from a Room claim that though they’re fans of the great artistic Canadian, the name actually came from a friend’s suggestion and is not an homage. Before Songs from a Room took the stage at the Horseshoe Tavern, iheartthemusic got to chat with brothers Brayden and Dustin who help form the rocking hard pop, punkish quintet with David, Nicholas and Craig.

iheartthemusic: How did Songs from a Room form?

Brayden: Me and him [pointing beside him to his brother Dustin] have been playing together for forever. We played in lots of bands in Windsor and toured a lot in the States. After 9/11 hit we slowed right down on going over because of all the security reasons and things so we decided to move to Toronto; that was about two years ago. We met up with these guys [pointing across to the bench where the rest of the band was sitting], funnily enough, a lot of them were from Windsor originally. We never really hung out with them there but kind of fell into them along the way and the rest is history.

iheartthemusic: There was momentum building for you guys, and then tragedy struck…

Brayden: The weekend of Virgin Festival [where they were to be the first act on the Oh Henry! Stage] I decided to have myself offered up to the gods or something and was hit by a Sea-Doo which took me off my feet. It’s been six months now, so I’m glad to be back and playing and not in a wheelchair the rest of my life. I try to stay positive that way. It can be a little tricky with your mind when you go through something like that; to stay positive and keep your main goals in mind. When you become crippled and can’t work anymore all you think about is how to survive, so music sometimes was put on the back burner when you know you have to pay a bill. But luckily enough my wife makes enough money to keep me going.

iheartthemusic: You have a sugar mama!

Brayden: [Chuckles] Yah, I do. The tables have turned. It’s good that way, I’m lucky.

iheartthemusic: You have a second EP out now, did you record that before the accident?

Dustin: Yah, that was before the accident. It was actually supposed to just be demos but we ended up releasing it.

iheartthemusic: Can you tell us a little about the album?

Dustin: We did it all ourselves in our rehearsal space and recorded it ourselves. As far as sound goes it’s a collaboration of ideas, there was no real theme or vibe, we were just going with it.

iheartthemusic: I liked the quote on your MySpace, “it’s always been about writing a solid rhythm and melody.” Is that still the case?

Dustin: Exactly. We weren’t trying to nail a certain genre or a certain sound. Whatever worked we went with.

iheartthemusic: Do you have a favourite place in Toronto to play?

Brayden: You’re sitting in it right now. The sound is always great, it’s a good vibe and there’s parking out back, which is huge for a band with a massive van.

iheartthemusic: Hopefully it won’t get towed like The Waking Eyes‘ a few weeks back.

Brayden: Yah, I heard about that, that was a bummer.

iheartthemusic: Have you had any interesting stories or mishaps while touring?

Brayden: Probably our biggest one wasn’t even while touring. We’ve always had a studio, always recorded ourselves; we enjoy that whole experience of writing the music and having nobody over our head looking at their watch and charging by the hour. So anyways, we get back to the studio space and the doors are totally beat down. We had no insurance at the time so took a huge loss and bye-bye studio. It was one of the last major things for us before we left for Toronto. You tend to lose your spirit quite a bit. The last thing you want to do is steal from a starving band, you know? It’s like taking money from a homeless guy on the street, you just don’t do it!

iheartthemusic: Oh dear, you guys have certainly had your run of bad luck, but hopefully everything’s on the up and up.

Songs from a Room have two CMW shows so try to check them out either when they hit Tattoo Rock Parlour on March 11 with Inward Eye, Isle of Thieves and Bury the Bully or at the Bovine on March 14 with Ubelievers, Sinkin’ Ships, Hell Yeah Fuck Yeah, Farewell to Freeway and The Artist Life.

Photography by James Blake