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

It was by chance that we came across Welland, Ontario band Street Pharmacy, but boy are we glad that we did!  Forming in 2006, the  band consists of Ryan Guay (vocals/guitar), Nate Triano (guitar), Brandon Ventresca (bass) and Danial Fretz (Drums). The sound? Infectious hip hop-reggae-rock that contains a little something for everyone. We caught up with lead singer Ryan and drummer Dan right before they went onstage at Tattoo Rock Parlour on January 15th to discuss music, collaborations and a character named Rudy…

iheartthemusic: You have two albums out already: Self-Prescribed Feel Good which was released in 2006 and Free Delivery which was released in 2007. You are about to release your third album which was recorded in Cuba. What can we expect from this one?

Ryan: We actually plan on releasing two albums this year: a full length

album called A Perfect Convenience and a reggae/rock concept album called The Legacy of Rudy that we did in Cuba. The Cuba album is very different from anything we have ever done – it’s all acoustic with Cubans playing horns and bongos. I wanted to tell the story of the original rude boy through song and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to explore this concept. We’ve created this story about what made this guy, Rudy, such a dick. The first song on the album is called “No Major” and it is about how Rudy’s mother (who is a prostitute) puts him on the doorstep of a drunkard to be raised.

iheartthemusic: So essentially you have created a soundtrack to what could be the musical of Rude Boy?

Ryan: Yah, exactly! I don’t know where it really came from, I just thought it would be a cool idea. You see, in the 1960’s the term rude boy, or rudy, was used to describe juvenile delinquency, so my idea was that there must have been an original person who was named Rudy who had all these problems that made him who he was and that’s what this album is about.

iheartthemusic: When can we expect these next two albums to come out?

Ryan: We’re hoping to release The Legacy of Rudy in the spring sometime. A Perfect convenience has been put on hold because we just did a track with some old school hip hop artist.

iheartthemusic: That’s right, you guys recently collaborated with A-Plus from Souls of Mischief.

Ryan Guay

Ryan: Yah, it was totally unexpected. I was in university and then all of a sudden I have A-Plus’s cell phone number in my phone which was crazy to me! I remember when I got their album 93 ’till Infinity and it didn’t leave my CD player for a good eight or nine months. I could recite every line off of it. I love hip hop, which is odd because I’m a guitar player and a singer but I have always had a soft spot for hip hop. That’s where the lyrical flow comes from – just old school hip hop which is primarily what I listen to.

iheartthemusic: So when A-Plus approached you about working together, how did you feel?

Dan: Well we use a hook from The Pharcyde in the song “Welcome to the Street Pharmacy” so our original thought was that we were going to get sued. So when Ryan called and said A-Plus called I was thinking, “Oh crap!”

Ryan: We got a sample cleared from The Pharcyde – that’s all legal and shit. So what happened was A-Plus saw the video for “Welcome to the Street Pharmacy” and decided to contact us. It was his publicist Dayna who found my number and called to let me know that A-Plus wanted to work with us.  I was like, “you’re full of shit.” I’ll never forget

Dan, Ryan, Kimberlee & Emer

that moment because I was having a really shitty time. I was in my fourth year at university and had all these credits and it sucked, and this girl totally screwed me over. I mean this one was bad – all the other ones were bad but this one was the worst. Then I get a call on my cell phone and I look at it and it’s a 510 or 232 number, something out of California, and I’m like, “what the fuck?” So I pick it up and the next thing you know it was A-Plus’s publicist and then there it was. Boom!

iheartthemusic: So lets get this straight, you see an ex and then A-Plus is calling you on the phone? I’m thinking this girl should be kicking herself!

Ryan: Their publicist, Dayna, called actually, and then from there it took off. I was in complete shock. I was actually sitting in my van when he called writing a 30-page thesis for history. The first time I ended up meeting A-Plus was in New York City and I was actually shaking! He said the coolest thing to me though. He said,  “I see myself working with Street Pharmacy, therefore I will work with Street Pharmacy.” So that was when I was like, “oh my god this is really happening!”

iheartthemusic: What’s next for you guys?

Ryan: The single with A-Plus is supposed to be coming out soon – he’s working on getting it done right now. Souls of Mischief are actually on tour right now and we are hoping to go on tour with them at some point. I would love to get with an agent and just fucking tour. It’s so hard to get out of where we are from [Welland] because it’s so small. I also want to make another five records because I have them pretty much done. A Perfect Convenience, this new record we have coming out after The Legacy of Rudy, is I think one of the better ones, it’s got more edge.

iheartthemusic: Ok now for some Toronto-oriented questions. What’s your favourite place to listen to live music in Toronto?

Dan & Ryan from Street Pharmacy

Dan: I really like Horseshoe TavernEl Mocambo. but my favourite place to play so far has been

Ryan: Yah Horseshoe is cool. My favourite venue to play has been Lee’s Palace because it felt like we were playing at a venue in Welland – we also were able to ship a busload of people to the show!

iheartthemusic: Favourite place to eat in Toronto?

Ryan: I would like to call attention to the greatest place I’ve ever eaten a sub, its called Bon’s Submarine, the greatest turkey sub ever. Bon I love you, I don’t know who you are but you make the greatest subs!

iheartthemusic: That’s a great plug, maybe you will get subs-for-life! So what are you listening to right now?

Dan: Right now I’m listening to Slightly Stoopid and Jason Aldean – I like country.

Ryan: Yah, we are one fucked up band. None of us listen to the same music. Right now in my CD deck is probably Smashing Pumpkins Siamese Dream, which Dan hates! That’s my favourite album of all time actually.

iheartthemusic: If you could collaborate with anyone who would it be?

Dan: Rage Against the Machine has always had a huge influence on me so probably someone from Rage.

Ryan: I’m a Smashing Pumpkins fan and he’s a Rage fan. Actually, working with Wu-Tang would be dope, if I could work with RZA I would be fucking stoked. Those guys are unreal! Also if I could work with A-Plus, Billy Corgan and somebody from Sublime all in one shot I think I might die.

iheartthemusic: Any Canadian collaborations?

Ryan: I would like to do something with Alex from illScarlett. We just opened for them and they were really nice guys. Jay from Bedouin Soundclash would also be up there.

iheartthemusic: Well there you have it: hometown boys, with a sound that will surely leave you wanting more. Check them out on their MySpace:

http://www.myspace.com/streetfarmacy

The guys before the show!

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