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

Saturday, March 13th was met with many challenges for anyone looking to jump from venue to venue during CMF. With tons of rain and fierce winds, we were grateful to take refuge at the Rivoli for The Nova Scotia Showcase.

We unknowingly walked into the private party just as Paul Murphy (Wintersleep guitarist & vocalist) graced the stage. The performance featured Paul’s most recent musical endeavor, Postdata. Collaborating with his brother Mike Murphy, Postdata is a culmination of songs inspired by the recent passing of the pair’s grandparents. That said, Murphy gave a somber and subdued performance conveying his message through his powerful voice.

Taking the stage next were The Stanfields. With a blitzkrieg of blue grass, Celtic, heavy metal and rock and roll melodies, the band delivered a performance powered on high octane energy. Playing a combination of old and new tracks (“The Boston States”), they created total anarchy. For audience members new to the band, they were in for a rude awakening if they were standing in what quickly became a crazy mosh pit of Celtic dancing. In attempt to dodge the insanity, I moseyed on over to the other side of the stage where I was greeted by the energetic front man as he jumped into the crowd for his guitar solo. Just when I thought I was safe, a Celtic dancer went down and launched his entire pint onto me. That being said,  it was well worth it! Their debut album comes out in two months on Ground Swell Records.

Transitioning from rock to hip hop, Three Sheet took ownership of the stage. Although difficult to define, this powerful five member band is reminiscent of Black Eyed Peas and Swollen Members. This group knows who they are and with a little work, they should have a label in no time. When you check out Three Sheet, keep in mind that they don’t use samples or synthesized drums. They are a rare combination of strictly beatboxed percussion courtesy of EMC, female vocals courtesy of Vanessa Furlong, O’Quinn’s electric and classical guitar, bass by Kev, and relevant story telling lyrics by band MC Expedyte. Like so many acts seen and heard during CMF, the true brilliance of Three Sheet can really only be realized when you see them live. “At the End of the Day” was a standout track which they delivered with insurmountable passion and intensity.

Stumbling across this showcase turned out to be a serendipitous occasion as i heart the music was introduced to the genius that is Rich Aucoin. Along with Joel Waddell (drums), Erik VanLunen (bass), and Darryl Smith (“other stuff”), Rich had our attention from the get go. There are many moving parts to their set up and watching it brought back memories of panic during school presentations. To their credit, they were faced with a greater challenge; projecting images onto a screen throughout the set. Rich conveyed messages such as “SMILE”, “DANCE”, and “EAT MORE VEGETABLES.” He performed songs from his Personal Publication EP, which was recorded over a year with one microphone and holds more than 25 different instruments. It was written to sync with Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas (1966) which he also projected on the screen using hollow neon images. Listen to “It” on their MySpace page and picture the entire crowd kneeling on one knee and subsequently jumping up in unison for the chorus. Everything about this performance was invigorating and inspiring. You can’t help but want to tell everyone you know to stop what they are doing and check this guy out. So please, do yourself a favour and check this guy out! They are back in Toronto on April 24th at Studio City Toronto for Alternative Fashion Week.

as reviewed by Catherine Russell

photography provided by Renee Rodenkirchen

So once again Canadian Music Week, or Canadian Music Fest rather, has hit the streets (and venues) of Toronto. With so many acts to see we here at iheartthemusic figured we would make it easier for you by showcasing one artist in particular who caught our eye. For our CMW preview meet The Schomberg Fair:

iheartthemusic: Welcome guys! You are somewhat veterans now since you have produced a few albums, however inbetween your last album and your recent one, Gospel, I believe it was about a year and half time. That seems fairly quick?

Matt: The difference between the last record and this record was that I would come in with a song and it would come out pretty close after that. Now we have been working with the arrangement a bit more and Nate and Pete have really come in to shape the sound quite a bit. I think that came from confidence and playing.  It is now a very collaborative process.

iheartthemusic: For this last album didn’t the lyrics and overall feel of the album really came from your own experiences Matt?

Matt: Yeah, so I am the lyricist and I do street outreach with the homeless.

iheartthemusic: That must be incredible and give you quite a bit of writing inspiration, which is kind of an awful thing to say given the circumstances.

Matt: [laughs] Well there is no shortage of material!

iheartthemusic: This album definitely has a darker, well I guess I wouldn’t say darker side but…

Pete: I would say darker! [laughs]

iheartthemusic: Which is so odd to say because if I watch any YouTube clips of you, the energy is so uplifting! It is like a disconnect but in a really great way.

Nathan: I mean that is the kind of energy that we want to bring to the stage. Matt and I talked about it when we were naming the album because we weren’t sure about the name Gospel and the religious connotations behind that.

iheartthemusic: I didn’t even think of that!

Nathan: Yeah, we aren’t a Christian rock band or anything like that. We wouldn’t say we weren’t gospel music by any stretch of the imagination, but the true meaning of the word gospel is the good news and I mean that really shows in our live show because you know the message, the actual literal meaning, is not a positive thing but we are delivering it in a way that is fun and uplifting. We are kind of saying that in spite of bad things we are going to have a good time. You push through the tough times and have great times.

Peter: We have always said that the overall message is one of hope and I think that no matter where it [your material] comes from, whether it’s a dark place or a light place, at the end of the day when people pay money and see you live you put on a show. That definitely is in the back of our minds.

Matt: Hope and the idea of a future. The work that I do is trying to achieve that same goal for those people: to help them find hope.

iheartthemusic: Is it then an outlet for you?

Matt: I would drink a lot more if I didn’t write songs. It’s a pretty challenging job, I mean it’s rewarding but emotionally draining. The band is emotionally uplifting. I love playing music and I love playing music with these guys.

iheartthemusic: Is there a big difference for you, in terms of enjoyment, between the live show and recording?

Matt: They are very different beasts. [laughs]

Nathan: Every time that we go into recording we’ve had this idea that we are going to make a studio record, and then the engineers are always like “we are going to make this a real live sounding album”. They try to make it so that that same energy from our live show is transferred to the record, and I think they succeeded on this one. It’s definitely a different animal and we’re a lot more nervous when we go into the recording studio.

Peter: I think that with a live show, we are really used to playing live and we feed off the audience, so a recording studio is a very dry and can be stale because it is dead silence and we all went in with that feeling. So I think that’s why we feel recording is a little more challenging than live shows. I think we are getting a lot better.

Matt: I really enjoy both a lot. They are different beasts, if you played several hundred shows you would probably be pretty good at the live shows than only putting out two records right? [laughs]

iheartthemusic: Absolutely!

Matt: We were really lucky to work with the guys at Chemical Sound, Dean and Jake, they  were just so great and really helped to bring out the best performance and stuff. Again it’s a new collaboration with the engineers than with let’s say the fans.

iheartthemusic: So what’s up next then?

Matt: The road. Keep playing Ontario for a while and then go back and forth across Canada and the States hopefully before the end of the year. I would like to try and get back in the studio before then end of the year. That’s the long term plan.

10 March, 2010 marked the kick off of CMW and iheartthemusic hit Lees Palace to see the Zeus, Jason Collett and Bahamas show. We were pretty pumped to find out that all three bands were playing as a collective backing up each other’s songs… it was definitely going to be interesting to see what they brought to each other’s music.  From having checked out Zeus’ wicked debut album Say Yes, loving Collet’s Rat a tat tat, and craving Bahamas’ sweet sound… our expectations were pretty high and they didn’t disappoint.

Jason Collett started the show with material from Rat a tat tat that gave way to a super intimate, vintage vibe.  His songs had a great folksy, Dylan-esque quality to them and looking around you could see that the sold-out audience was full of true fans that knew EVERY song and were so appreciative to be the recipients of Collett’s mellow, eccentric yet sexy melodies. We especially loved High Summer, Love is a Dirty Word and Cold, Blue Halo.

In the next number, the men of Zeus, who instantly brought an upbeat and classic rock n roll feel to the stage, joined Collett. Zeus have a wicked stage presence and are even better live—if possible.  They are really consummate performers as each band member can sing, and play every fucking instrument possible.  It was incredible to see them rotate from the guitar and vocals, then pick up the base, then shove a peer off the keyboard and just kill every song.  Their lineup of songs like “Kindergarten”, “How Does it Feel”, and their first single “Marching Through Your Head” show just how versatile and skilled they are at creating lush, soaring harmonies and layering sound.  We have to highlight the fact that Neil Quin from Zeus definitely pulled out a mandolin while backing a Collet number… duly noted and totally appreciated. 

Bahamas breezed his way in next and we must say he totally blew everyone away.  This was truly a breakout performance for Bahamas who is just as smooth and warm as everything that his name evokes. His brand of soulful, blues based love songs basically had everyone turned on by the end of the show.  It was a little reminiscent of the Black Keys… but Bahamas definitely carves out his own lyrical, rich and distinctive sound.  His song “Already Yours” was a big crowd pleaser.

We have to comment on how well the show was structured as each band took turns performing and backing each other. There was an incredible organic quality to this collaboration and to be honest, each band brought a distinct personal element that resulted in an unbelievable counterpoint. In essence, Zeus, Collett and Bahamas are at their best when they are playing together—it’s really something you have to see for yourself. Our verdict? Buy the albums, go see the show… FOR SURE.

reviewed by Victoria Kuketz

photography provided by Aaron Alleyne

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