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

This band really needs no introduction considering they are one of the most popular and well known groups to come out of Canada, however Alexisonfire have definitely worked extremely hard to get there. With the release of their latest album, Old Crows/Young Cardinals in June of last year, Alexisonfire appear to be striving for a different sound and feel than their previous records. With this album comes a more tender side to the group- which appears to be working for them! Having recently won a Verge Music Award for Album of the Year, we caught up with vocalist/guitarist Dallas Green to learn a little bit more about how these guys view their success.

iheartthemusic: First off, congratulations on your won at The Verge Awards. You must have felt pretty great!

Dallas: Um, yeah!

iheartthemusic: Well fans voted so that is definitely a testament to your popularity.

Dallas: Yeah, those are the only awards that I truly care about. I just feel like panels of people and associations…I just don’t think that means anything . Music is a very personal preference so when a ton of kids get on their computer and vote for you constantly until you have enough [votes] to win, it shows that they are devoted to what you do and that feels great.

iheartthemusic: Absolutely. This award in particular must feel good since you are being recognized for your latest album Old Crows/Young Cardinals, which has been met with some hasty criticism in the press.

Dallas: Yeah, because it is different for us.

iheartthemusic: It is a little bit different for you so what made you switch up your sound for this album?

Dallas: I don’t know really. It’s our fourth album and I think every record we have made has been very different but this one in particular since George has started to try different things. It has kind of thrown some people for a loop but George spent three whole records screaming his head off and wanted to try some different stuff.

iheartthemusic: And give his voice a bit of a rest I’m sure!

Dallas: Well not really. I mean we just wanted to try something else. We [the rest of the band] constantly get to try new guitar things and use different amps and stuff like that, and George was always just screaming so he wanted to try something different with his voice. I am really proud of him for doing that.

iheartthemusic: Well I guess it is important to keep everyone in the band happy!

Dallas: Yeah.

iheartthemusic: Having lived in the UK myself, I had to ask about your trip to Reading this past summer because I have actually had the opportunity to travel to that place and hated it! What was your experience like?

Dallas: Really? I don’t think we ever played in Reading besides the Reading and Leeds festivals.

iheartthemusic: Okay, well then you are safe! [laughs]

Dallas: Yeah, we’ve played in Leeds a bunch, aside from the Leeds festival, and the shows are always great there.

iheartthemusic: You guys played to something like 45,000 people at that festival in Reading. That must have been incredible!

Dallas: It was amazing. But you know what was better? Because we played two shows that day, one at about 1pm on the main stage and then one at about 7pm on the smaller side stage, it was the latter that was truly incredible. Playing infront of 50,000 people is one thing, but playing for like 5,000 Alexisonfire fans singing louder than the PA means a lot.

iheartthemusic: Was that a defining moment in your career?

Dallas: I think that that Friday night show was the best show we’ve ever played in England. It was just so unbelievable.

iheartthemusic: What has been your favourite place to tour so far?

Dallas: Australia. I love it there! It is actually just like Canada but only hot all the time.

iheartthemusic: I think that Alexisonfire as a band have definitely paved the way for many young musicians trying to make it in such a tough industry. Being able to cross the border and be successful on an international front is a huge feat. Do you see yourself as role models to these young artists?

Dallas: I think that the mainstream looked at us and were like “okay, they are kind of cool and kids seem to like them, so maybe we have to start playing their videos”. Maybe that opened the door for kids to write more than just three and a half minute pop songs for the radio and that’s cool to me.

You can catch Alexisonfire on March 28th when they support Billy Talent at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

One very packed evening in Times Square – not abnormal for the city that literally never sleeps – an up and coming band called Paper Zoo made their New York debut. They played to a sold out Nokia Theater, opening for the legendary Roger Daltrey of The Who. Paper Zoo, collectively and individually, had never travelled to New York City before, but while this was their first time in the Big Apple, they are accustomed to the big, bright city lights, coming from America’s sister city: L.A. Born and raised West Coaster’s, most of the band have been playing together since they were twelve years old. The trio of Billy (William Thomas Wesley II), Alex (Allister Izen), and Monte (Monte Dyaami Najera) were the original band members while Marty (Martin Lopez), is the newest edition to their composition. Even though Marty has only been playing with the band for the past 4 months, you would have thought him to be one of the original members with how well they mesh together both on and off stage. Altogether, their sound is a fresh take on, and inspired greatly by, The Beatles. iheartthemusic got to sit down and chat with the guys right before their New York debut…

iheartthemusic: So how has the tour been going?

Billy: The tour has been great. We actually kicked off the tour in Vancouver and then made our way over to New York. There are only a couple more stops and then we head home. New York is awesome though. It is everything we thought it would be and more.

iheartthemusic: Do you have any favorite places that you’ve played-on or off the tour?

Paper Zoo: Well, when we were younger we used to play on the boardwalk of Venice Beach, which was always a great time and entertaining to say the least. But we also loved playing The Viper Room in L.A. I think our favorite place that we played on tour was probably The Orpheum (also located in L.A.), or The Paramount in Denver, Colorado. Both of those were pretty sweet.

iheartthemusic: What is the music-making process like for the band? How has your music evolved since you have been together for such a long time?

Paper Zoo: There isn’t really a process that’s specific. Alex is the songwriter, for the most part, and we all contribute to the sound. Our influences come from The Beatles, King Crimson, Soft Machine… There has been SO much that has evolved throughout the years. Every day there’s an evolution.

ihearthemusic: What’s the ultimate goal for Paper Zoo?

Billy: Ultimately, we want to make an impression, become a legend [laughs]. I think that’s what every artist, no matter the medium, wants to do.

Alex: The ultimate goal for the music is to be stylistically polished.

iheartthemusic: So how can fans and fans to be access your music?

Paper Zoo: wearethepaperzoo[dot]com is the website where our music can be accessed and info about us is available.

iheartthemusic: Are there any acknowledgements or last words?

Billy: We would like to thank our moms and Linda Perry.

Alex: Goodbye and thank you so much!

Paper Zoo can definitely be identified with a more psychedelic sound/feeling and with Monte’s great beat and unexpected strength for the drums, the music can go from a lullaby’d, orchestral intermission to rocking out in a pleasantly new and unexpected way.  Check them out next time they are in your city!

Photography provided by Troy Paul

Written and reported by Cahdlah Forsythe

Meet The Zolas: a two-piece hark-back-to-70s Rush-esque prog-pop-rock band with a modern, more theatrical twist. The problem? There are a few.

The duo released their highly anticipated debut album, Tic Toc Tic just a month ago, and I’m already bored. At first listen, there was intrigue, but that quickly faded as I realized these guys aren’t as innovative or inspiring as I hoped them to be. The band take steps beyond pop music, but they aren’t quite over the hurdle – The Zolas seem to linger in this middle kingdom between straightforward pop and progressive, but their trendy cabaret-influenced experimental rock album sounds way cooler as a description than it actually is.

As far as pop music goes, these guys have some things to boast: catchy melodies, some interesting hooks, good drum patterns (the drumming is their strong-point), and the overall composition is cool. The instrumentals do elevate the band above your typical pop sound and they certainly carry the music, but the defeat lies within the vocals. Zach Gray’s voice is too standard, too overbearing, and his lyrics provide little to no redemption. Yes, he has the range, but his vocal placement and style just doesn’t jive with the musical counterparts.

Tic Toc Tic sounds like a Cold War Kids/Rush/Gavin DeGraw theatrical hybrid; however, the album has neither the edge nor the tightness of CWK, the musical depth of Rush, and Gavin DeGraw sucks pop. But what’s most interesting about The Zolas is their evident potential.  Zach Gray and Tom Dobrzanski clearly have skill and talent. The instrumentals approach unusual complexity and unconventionality for pop music, but the band doesn’t seem to want to go that extra experimental mile with it. Instead they’ve chosen to plateau at this thinly veiled nuanced interpretation of pop. Sure, The Zolas’ structure departs somewhat from the boring verse-chorus-verse template, and they’ve successfully created some sort of off-broadway-meets cabaret-meets radio-savvy music , but I can’t help but think that their sound is more contrived and vapid than natural or inventive. Yeah it’s fun, fluffy music, but where’s the spirit?

Even with the ability to compose and play music well, talent ultimately depends on the quality of expression and how far the bar has been raised. Again, the potential to go beyond stagy, predictable music is so strong in this album you can hear it, so I don’t know why they wouldn’t use their wherewithal to swerve off the road to commercial and do something greater…or at least use another vocalist.

Reviewed by Brittany Smith

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