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

Thursday night was supposed to look like this: head to The Great Hall, chat with the nice people at the door and listen to the sweet sounds of Sally Seltman, Dan Mangan and Timber Timbre. In reality, however, it looked more like this: arrive at The Great Hall well in advance, chat with the door people who inform us that their media list is full and our passes mean nothing, take a look inside the venue and realize how empty it is, see the angry faces outside and realize that it won’t be happening for us that night. Despite being extremely disappointed and VERY surprised at the lack of noteriety our “media” passes gave us (not the first or last time this would happen), we decided to head elsewhere and landed at the Rivoli.

We arrived at the Rivoli only to be pleasantly surprised by what we heard. Halfway through her set was Calgary singer-songstress Jodi King. King is one of those artists that you truly appreciate when you see them live. Taking inspiration from her real life heartbreaks and experiences, King sang with her whole heart alternating between the piano and tambourine while at the same time maintaining her flawless look. Jodi not only commanded the attention of the audience and hit every note perfectly, she was able to hold my attention throughout her ENTIRE set (which rarely happens). It was one of the tightest performances I have seen live in quite a while which, ironically enough, ended up being the theme of the night. Taking inspiration from singers before her, she brought something wholesome and unique to the stage and I can only hope that I will be able to see her play at a larger venue in the near future!

Next up was Windsor band Michou. I have been waiting to see them play for quite some time and with a whole merch table dedicated to their moto itsnicetomichou, what you see is what you get from these “nice” guys. They came onstage and went straight into it with an incredible instrumental introduction. When they hit their second song “Eavesdropping”, Sasha Appler on the keys jumped to the forefront to perform several pushups mid-song and then returned to blow on the trumpet. A great beginning to say the least and a nice addition to yet another incredibly tight band. Everything appeared to be on point for these guys; from the soft vocals of Mike Hargreaves, to the banging of Stefan Cvetkovic on the drums, everyone played their parts perfectly. I have to say, I bought their latest album Cardona prior to the show and rarely listened to it. They play a style of music that is best listened to during the summer at the cottage, but after watching their performance, it is their live show that really showcases their diversity. They were comfortable, mature and just really, really nice! By the time they made it to “Imperfect” I was sold and have since brought their album out of retirement on my iPod.

The final act that we caught that night was probably the most mature or “seasoned” of them all. Saint Alvia is a band that recieved HUGE press after the release of their last album Between the Lines and then they just kind of disappeared. So, as you can imagine, I was surprised to see that they were playing CMF this year. The band performed songs from both their latest album and earlier work such as personal favourite “Blonde Kryptonite” without a hitch. My only criticism was the venue. The Rivoli is a great venue for indie bands, however it is not so great for bands that really command (and deserve) a larger one and Saint Alvia is one such band. With each member of the band contributing to the vocals and no real frontman, a small stage just doesn’t appear to cut it. Although the size of the stage was a factor, these guys are professionals and played as if they were performing to a crowd of thousands. 

photography provided by Samantha Clarke

Tis the season for giving- well at least it almost is and in the world of music, that is no exception. Fucked Up are one such band who are doing their part this holiday season by raising awareness for a group that often go unnoticed in the media. Following their Polaris Music Prize win, the band, which consists of Damian Abraham (vocals), Jonah Falco (drums), Mike Haliechuk (lead guitar), Sandy Miranda (bass guitar), Josh Zucker (rhythm guitar) and Ben Cook (backing vocals), have decided to put together a benefit single to help support the Aboriginal community out west. iheartthemusic spoke with Damian before their Polaris win where he explained what we can expect from what will definitely be in our stockings this Christmas.

iheartthemusic: First off I have to say that I love your shoes!

Damian: Well thank you, I designed them myself!

iheartthemusic: No way! Well I can see that you really dressed for the occasion! [laughs]

Damian: I was like what is the dress code? And they were like “casual” and I guess we all have different definitions of casual. But yeah, I designed these myself and they even say “drug free” on the side! [shows me the letters spelling out "drug free"]

iheartthemusic: Well at least the kids out there will get the message! So I believe a double congratulations is in order-one for tonight and one for the baby!

Damian: Well thank you, he’s here actually! The baby is downstairs right now. I brought him for the “sympathy” vote! I am going to go by the jury room and hold up my son and be like he’s hungry, you have to pick me!

iheartthemusic: [laughs] So where were you guys when you found out you had made the shortlist?

Damian: We were in Croatia actually. It was a great experience. It’s crazy because that’s why we missed the press conference, because we were literally crossing the border into Croatia. It was really bizarre because we were all like celebrating and all the Croatian people were like “what’s a Polaris?” and we were like “it’s a Canadian award, you wouldn’t understand”! [laughs]

iheartthemusic: What does it mean to you as musicians to make the shortlist?

Damian: I think it is validation of a record that you made. I’m not saying that I agree with all the choices. I think that there are great records that weren’t on there, but it seems that everyone that has won so far, have been real artistic achievements in Canadian music and I think being among that elite group is really flattering.

iheartthemusic: Absolutely. I mean you guys are kind of considered the “rebels” amongst all the nominees.

Damian: Yeah, we are the only band to get frisked coming in and out of here. 

iheartthemusic: Well I can somewhat understand where they are coming from based on what you did last time you were here! [at the Masonic Temple]

Damian: I know! I don’t blame them and I’m not trying to be like “poor us” because you reap what you sew but at the same time it is funny to see other bands walk by while you just stand there and get patted down. I made sure they didn’t frisk the baby![laughs] All I could get were some cigarettes in.

iheartthemusic: Where is the rest of the group?

Damian: We don’t really talk! [laughs] I’m the chatter box, everyone else in the band is downstairs or probably eating dinner somewhere. I am the one who has to…

iheartthemusic: You are the face!

Damian: I’ve got the look!

iheartthemusic: You mentioned earlier that you were surprised that a few albums didn’t make it into the list. What albums would you have included?

Damian: I thought that Japandroids Post Nothing was going to make it in there and Bison B.C. could have been in there. Also Women, I was surprised they didn’t make it.  Even more than that there are a lot of  hardcore bands, punk bands and metal bands that have never made it in years past. All these great bands that are kind of underrecognized and its funny because you go over to Europe and there are kids wearing these band’s shirts coming to your show and you are like ” that’s so weird because noone in Canada knows about them”. It’s always been like that in Canada so if anything our nomination, I hope that means that more records like ours are going to make it. I mean we are on an indie label, we are indie dressers, maybe we will open the door for a little more of an aggressive look and sound.

iheartthemusic: What will you do with the prize money?

Damian: I would love to take everyone out for dinner that made this album possible. Like all of the people that guested on it and came on, that we thanked obviously, but we never had a formal celebration for what they had done. I’d love to do that. We are putting on a benefit single for Christmas time and we are going to donate all the money to an Aboriginal Youth Charity in Canada. So we are getting all these guests to go on it and so I think we are going to pay for that. Right now, I don’t think you have heard about the Highway of Tears, but there are tons of Aboriginal women who go missing every year in Canada that are not reported and are just totally ignored by the media. The Pickton case is really interesting because when they reported that in the press, they never really talked about the fact that a lot of those women were Aboriginal women. They are marginalized in these situations, so there is a racial issue to this violence and I think that is so important. If anything else we have a lot of people on this record that are going to surprise people that hopefully can raise more awareness.

photography provided by Sara Collaton

Taking Back Sunday really need no introduction. With four albums and many years of experience and exposure under their belts- these guys have it down! We were able to slide in a few minutes with guitarist Eddie and drummer Mark at the Kool Haus. Check out what they had to say!

iheartthemusic: This tour is in support of your new album New Again, which came out a few weeks ago. Congratulations!

Eddie: Yes, thank you!

iheartthemusic: In exploring the title behind this album, why did you choose New Again?  I’ve read a lot of stuff online about you “reinventing” yourself as a band right now, and you have a new member – is the title indicative of that?

Eddie: Yeah, I think the whole vibe of the band is new; the way we look at each other as people, the way that we write music, the way we interact with each other.  Instead of being nitpicky with each other’s quirks, we’re embracing them and having fun with it and just being good friends. So all of that together is what’s making the whole vibe of the band different and new.

Mark: I wouldn’t really say we’re reinventing ourselves, I would just say it’s us coming back to life again; finding ourselves again.  So it feels new again.

iheartthemusic: So what would you say is different about this album for you? 

Mark: The writing process was way more fun this time around. We were way more open to listening to each other and musically we wrote different parts.  When we started writing, we would just walk into the room and be like “hey, whaddya got?  You gotta part? Yeah, let’s do it.”  We would work on it and have fun with it and listen to each other.

iheartthemusic: The last few albums you have spaced out so that they were released every two years- bang bang. Has the fact that this one has come after three years made a difference?

Eddie: I think the thing about this new record that people are forgetting when they say it’s taken three years is that we’d been touring for two years and we took a year off to actually write the record and have some time to ourselves.  People are like, “why did you take three years?” but they don’t understand that we were on tour!

Mark: We did take a little personal time.  Adam, our singer, had a baby.  He [points to Eddie] was hanging out with his kids and wife.  I got married.  We got a new member.

Eddie: And you had back surgery.

Mark: And I had back surgery.  Things took a little longer.

Eddie: I have two kids at home that I wanted to spend time with.

iheartthemusic: Absolutely! I mean you’ve been touring like crazy and half the band are married with kids!

Eddie: When I came home the kids were walking!

Mark: Before our first album came out we were touring, writing an album, then touring until finally we said “hey, we can chill a little bit”.

Eddie: Yeah, it’s okay to take some time off to get married, have kids…we deserve it!

iheartthemusic: Yes, it’s okay to have a life outside of the band! So what is the one thing that keeps you grounded?  Is it the phone call home or some sort of routine you have that maintains your connection to home?

Eddie: I talk to my wife every single day.  If I don’t, I get yelled at.

iheartthemusic: That’s a smart woman!

Eddie: I do a lot of video chatting with my kids too, they get really excited to see me.

iheartthemusic: Thank god for technology!

Eddie: Yeah, if this was eight years ago I’d probably go crazy.

Mark: I think we’re generally pretty grounded people.  We know what we got and how lucky we are to have it.

Eddie: People are totally shocked when they see us hanging out in a crowd. We wouldn’t be doing what we’re doing without any of the regular people.

iheartthemusic: I saw in an interview that apparently you wrote tons and tons of songs before you put the album together.  How did you choose from all the material you had to work with?

Eddie: We knew which ones we wanted to work with; we could feel it.  Those ones that are really cool that you get and know everyone’s going to like.

iheartthemusic: And do you think the economy kind of dictated that for you because the single is so huge?

Eddie: It’s good to know our singles are doing great but at the same time the record issues are doing really bad.  We’re not selling records anymore like we were six or seven years ago.  It’s really important to write the singles.

Mark: And there are a lot of single worthy songs.

iheartthemusic: Let’s talk about the video for your single “Sink Into Me”. How many showers did it take before you were fully clean?

Eddie: It took six showers!

Mark: We had one day off and went to Europe the next day and all our hands were still black.  It was like Nickelodeon slimy dye, just black instead of green.  At the end of the day I was sitting in a chair all black, after what? [looks at Eddie]

Eddie: 23 hours.

Mark: And it got to the point where I was like “oh God, get me the hell outta here! “

Eddie: And that stuff was ice cold! I can definitely pick out parts [in the video] where each and every one of us kind of gave up. There’s one point where I just fall off the stage and that’s really just me going “what the fuck am I doing?!”

iheartthemusic: It looks really cool though and is such a great effect!

Mark: Eddie and I got into a slime fight for a good half hour at one point.

iheartthemusic: You gotta have some fun when you’re covered in shit! [laughs] So then it was off to Europe right after that which you have been quite fortunate to have been before.  Where has been the best crowd so far?

Eddie: I love Australia, but Canada’s great too! Either Toronto or Vancouver.

iheartthemusic: What is it about Canada that you love?

Eddie: It’s a cool country.  I feel like you guys have it right up here. I don’t want to get all political, I mean I love being an American and I’m proud of being an American, but I just wish that sometimes America would take some advice from other people, I think it would help out.   We also always have a good time up here.  I mean, the shows are great, the kids are awesome, the chicks are hot- I’m not gonna lie!

iheartthemusic: After this whole tour, you guys are going on tour with Blink 182 and Weezer which is awesome!

Mark: Yeah it’s pretty huge!

iheartthemusic: This isn’t the first time you’ve share the stage with some heavy hitters though, does anyone else kind of stand out for you?

Mark: We opened up for Green Day in London, and I don’t know if you know the Bullet in a Bible DVD where they’re playing live in front of 65,000 people? Well we got to open up two of those shows!  Two shows in a row which were sold out to 65,000 people! The second night, Billy Joe Armstrong comes over to our dressing room and is like, “Hey what’s up, I’m Billy!” and then we got to hang out with them the whole night. It was awesome.

Eddie: It made me more humble because they were so down to earth.  Like, Billy Joe was like, “This shirt smells so bad!”  and he took me up to their truck and was like, “Yo dude, come here and check this out!” and showed me the making of their DVD.  I just sort of realized that this is one of the biggest bands in the world, they came from the same city we did and they understand what gets you ahead.  That’s kind of like a big influence.

Mark: There was one point where Mike Dirnt was there and he made me a Jack and Coke and he filled it up to the top and we start talking and my hands start shaking! I was so nervous talking to that guy that my drink started spilling out everywhere!

iheartthemusic: Did he chirp you, [laughs] please say he did!

Mark: He was totally looking at my drink and I was totally like this isn’t happening right now!  And then he was like, “alright man, I’ll talk to you in a little bit…”

iheartthemusic: [laughs] Yes!!  Okay, last question – from someone who’s never seen you perform live, what can I expect?

Eddie: Energy!

Mark: Energy!

Eddie: Yeah and just awesomeness.

Mark: It’s gonna be good!

[editors note: unfortunately this show was cancelled due unforseen circumstances...however they will be back and we are looking forward to catching their live set next time!]

photography provided by James Blake

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