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

When it comes to music that supports a great cause, iheartthemusic is a huge advocate! So when we saw that STAND Canada – an organization made up of students who got together to raise awareness and champion for Darfur – were throwing a benefit concert at Tattoo, we knew we had to be there. The event took place on April 2^nd and had two incredible bands playing in support of this charity, We Are The Take and Birds of Wales, with all tickets sales going towards the charity.

The night started off with a band that are no strangers to iheartthemusic as we were introduced to them back in February when they opened for the Arkells and The Waking Eyes. We are talking about We Are The Take who played an incredible set that night. These guys never fail to amaze us,  however, it did take the audience some time to warm up to them as the floor was virtually empty until the end of their performance. They played all the songs off of their debut EP, such as “Dreams” and “Tenterhooks”, and they even introduced a new one, “Fire”, which was sung almost entirely by Craig with Kevin coming out from behind his drum kit to sing along (they also had bassist Andrew play some trumpet, which I am told he hasn’t done since high school!) A crowd favourite had to have been “Montreal Love Song”, which vocalist Erik said was pretty self-explanatory and is about falling in love with a girl from Montreal (I wonder who that may be…). This is one of the tightest bands we have seen perform live, and they are getting better each time we see them.

Next on the bill were the four guys from Birds of Wales. Lead vocalist Morgan sang incredibly well and was able to get people on the floor dancing to groove along with their country-rock tunes. Though Morgan had played an acoustic set previously that day at a MySpace secret show, he was still happy and excited to be playing for the second time that evening. They played all the hits, including “Cinderella (has nothing on you)” and a few love songs that were dedicated to various female audience members. The only rather disappointing thing was that the crowd appeared to filter out. We weren’t sure if that was due to the fact that it was a Thursday night and people had to work the next day, or that they were only there to see We Are The Take, either way it was their loss as Birds know how to rock.

Birds of Wales are a band that garnered much hype a few years ago and have since been touring the UK with such heavy hitters as Xavier Rudd. When we sat down and spoke with Morgan he explained to us that they have already recorded their album and are just waiting to release it. Well, after seeing them live we are certainly hoping that that will be very soon!

photography provided by Carl Heindl

One of the perks of being in the music industry is being exposed to all kinds of music and ways of performing. A band that sticks out in our minds as one that has taken performing to a whole new level are the three guys from Peachcake. Peachcake is a band from Arizona made up of Stefan Pruett (vocals), John O’keefe (vocals/keytar) and Mike Mchale (guitar).  iheartthemusic went to check them out during CMW and were surprised to find that their show consisted of them rocking out in rabbit and bear costumes and using sheets and lamp shades as props. Sound interesting? Well it was! (Definitely something that could cure any kind of a hangover!)

iheartthemusic: Where did the name Peachcake come from?

Stefan: It originally came from the Planet Awesome many, many moons ago. It’s an ancient scroll, but it also was transposed onto the planet Earth into the TV show Saved By The Bell. They utilized the terminology as a sarcastic or sardonic tongue-in-cheek term of endearment. AC Slater had actually said the word to Jessie Spano, his sort of pseudo girlfriend at the time, when she had made some snide remark about his chauvinism. His response to her was, “not the way I do it peachcake,” and thus it became stolen from the scrolls of the Planet Awesome.

iheartthemusic: So what exactly is the Planet Awesome?

Stefan: The Planet Awesome is actually a state of consciousness or a state of being that is already among all of us and inside all of us. It’s kind of the same as a sanctuary-like state that we can go to at any given time. If we want to go there and we are in control of it and we can be aware of it, then it fills you to the brim with awesome energy. That’s essentially what it is in a nutshell and we’re just here to sort of propagate that on the planet Earth. We want to bring that to the people and show them that it is already here and it already exists. It’s not anything that you have to be afraid of or inhibited toward or about, it is what it is and it’s important for you to rebel in that and experience that in the highest degree or extent possible.

iheartthemusic: Do you use your music as a way to promote that?

Stefan: I think it’s a conglomerate of several factors. Overall we have kind of our own mini movement that is just an offshoot of a larger, grander movement that is already here and happening all over the world. That movement  is called the positivity movement or at least that’s what we call it. It’s about being positive and realizing that you can choose to be in a certain state of mind or in a certain kind of mood at any given time. We have this tagline that says, “how hard is it to choose to be in a good mood,” and it doesn’t mean that we are trying to negate experiencing the whole gamut of human emotions or of non-human emotions or creature emotions, because that’s important and is what shows us how to feel one way or another.

iheartthemusic: Has this always been your mantra as a band?

Stefan: I think it’s always good to be positive and have a good mindset towards things.

Mike: It’s probably become more and more a mantra for us as we age.

Stefan: I kind of came to that revelation within the last few years myself. I think it’s always been ingrained in my being but I may not have realized it or been aware of it. We all have gone through certain things that some would deem being very negative or dispossessing, but for me I took all of what could have been negative energy and turned it into something that I didn’t want to let go in vain. I really want to allow this to affect others in a positive way.

Mike: I think that is where we came together on this album and we wrote a lot about that because we wanted to get over negative situations and think more positively.

iheartthemusic: What gave you the idea to incorporate costumes into your performances?

Stefan: Again, I think it’s in the fibre of my being. My mom said that since I was in early grade school I was making masks and toying with the idea of dressing up. I had all kinds of costumes that I would wear around.

Mike: I used to wear the Ninja Turtle headbands.

Stefan: I think that might have a little bit to do with it because if you think about the way that you are cultivated and the way we’re kind of acculturated as people. We are surrounded by Ghostbusters and Ninja Turtles that are very baroque and costume oriented and then they have this message of saving the world. I think that might have been instilled in us but I just love the idea of transformation and transforming into something and being transformative in a performance.

John: I think it makes the most sense with our music. I would feel weirder if we were dressed normal. I think that we look at it like we are transforming our music into something different so as to transform our image. Not that we focus on it so much, but it makes more sense to do that with our music.

Stefan: Considering we are from a place that most people are not familiar with, or introduced to, there is a lot of judgment that inherently comes with the way we look, but we like to transform and give them a taste of it and say hey we can live uninhibited and we don’t have to fear and be inhibited in our ways. We are giving them a taste of that, trying to open their eyes to that. We want to permeate the atmosphere with that similar vibe and synergy. That is why there is so much emphasis on involving the crowd and why the audience ultimately becomes the show or at least a main component.

iheartthemusic: How would you define your sound?

Stefan: I don’t think it’s something that can be truly defined because we are always trying to do something different and this is one phase of what we are trying to do. Right now it’s just about bringing greatness and happiness to others.

iheartthemusic: You guys were actually the first band to get asked to play Burning Man, do you have any stories from that experience?

Stefan: I don’t know if that’s true, we might have been. It’s very dusty.

Mike: Our old drummer and I wanted to go on a slip ‘n slide that was going on, so we were riding our bikes and a dust storm just came through and we were driving our bikes through this dust and you couldn’t see ahead of you at all. One of our shows actually got cancelled because of dust storms.

John: During the day it was nice. One of the most interesting things that I saw was a silver surfer that was naked surfing across the desert on a surfboard.

Mike: After seeing so many naked people you are completely immune to it.

Stefan: It’s just that idea of living uninhibitedly.

iheartthemusic: Why did you want to do CMW?

Mike: Canada has really taken to us in various ways. I don’t know if we have a particularly large following or anything but we did NXNE two years ago and that was bad ass and it was weird because we become tight with all the Broken Social Scene people and they were really nice. It was just funny, because Canadians seem to enjoy what we are doing, at least those that are exposed. I love Toronto, we’ve been here before and it treated us great! There’s a veggie dog stand on every corner and that’s amazing. There are good people and good times and we want to bring the greatness.

iheartthemusic: You are bringing that to the UK soon too, right?

Mike: I think so. We are going to Norway for sure. The UK we are supposed to be doing The Great Escape but I don’t know what’s up with it yet, we are trying to figure out all the details. We go to Norway in July which is awesome.

iheartthemusic: Anything you want to add?

Mike: We have a record out and you can get it at most record stores or on iTunes.

John: Thank you for having such colourful money!

Mike: Canada has by far the greatest currency that I have ever seen. All the toonies and loonies are great.

Stefan: Fear is not an option and never be afraid of who you really are. Have fun with yourself!

photography provided by   Kristin M.

Who’s the most versatile DJ in Canada? On Friday, March 13^th, 10 DJs took their best shot at claiming that title at the Redbull 3Style DJ Competition. The event was headlined by the guy who’s worn that belt for years now: A-Trak. In front of a sold out crowd, these guys took to the stage and jammed in as many bangers as possible in a 15 minute set. Each DJ prepped himself for a full-out battle royale as they were eager to give it their best shot.

Arriving in time to catch Halifax’s DJ Cosmo, it was clear that this boy had done his homework.  His cuts were tight, song selection was on point, and provided mash-ups that would make Girl Talk take notice. The guy was amazing and he capped off his set donning a ski mask and dropping an “Ante Up/Simon Says” blend that people went crazy over. Giving him the crown at the end of the night appeared to be a no-brainer. 

Friday also marked date numero three on A-Trak’s North American tour, promoting his new album, Infinity+1. If you follow Trizzy on Twitter, he recently mentioned that he finally had some time to practice and work on some new tricks for his upcoming tour, so the anticipation was exceptionally high for fans of the Montreal native.

After sets by DJ Fin-S and Slipmat, the attention was drawn to centre stage, as Trizzy’s signature beard and bowler cap were seen setting up behind the decks.  There was no build-up needed as he hit the ground running.  Dabbling with blog house hits from Crookers, MSTRKRFT and, of course, his own remixes (his version of Boys Noize’s “Oh!” got a very enthusiastic reaction from the crowd), it was obvious that the practice had been worth it.  His juggling skills were sharper than ever as seen when he cut up Fake Blood’s “Blood Splashing” (something to note: he never needs his headphones, they’re just for show).  His ability to mix in unique battling skills with some choice electro cuts is unmatched. Every scratch brought a louder reaction from the concertgoers, and the occasional “come on, let me hear it” wave of his arms brought a roar that every DJ craves: the approval from everyone in the house. 

Written by Sebastian Galvez

Photos by Damian Simev and the Baker-Cam.

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