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.

Post-hardcore band Pierce The Veil stopped off in Toronto on the last leg of the Taste of Chaos Tour. These twenty-something guys consist of two brothers who are both musically talented and business-savvy having formed and cultivated the group themselves. Older brother Mike is a self-taught drummer and younger brother Vic has done most of the writing for the group. With the recent addition of Jaime Preciato on bass and Tony Perry on guitar, Pierce the Veil appear to be on the right track. With the hopes of garnering more exposure in Canada and taking time off to write their third album, these guys are set to explode!

iheartthemusic: Is this your first time in Canada?

Tony: We were here for Warped Tour.

Jaime: On Warped Tour we hit the major cities but we didn’t really get to see them because [the location] was always in a parking lot. This tour is cool because we get to see the actual venues and clubs and people.

iheartthemusic: What has been your favourite stop in Canada so far?

Vic: I think Edmonton was amazing, the crowd was nuts.

Mike: The crowd was awesome and it felt like we were at home there for some reason. So much love and it was fun.

Jaime: It was surprising because I don’t think any of us expected it to be the way it was. We were thinking that only 10 kids would know who we were, but it turned out to be the opposite. Very pleasantly surprised!

iheartthemusic: Let’s go back to the beginning. Vic and Mike, you guys started playing together a long time ago, right?

Vic: We didn’t start this band until a few years ago, but Mike and I have been playing since high school.

iheartthemusic: With your last record Tony and Jaime had not joined the band yet, so how has it been playing songs that you weren’t directly involved with?

Tony: At first it was kind of overwhelming. I mean, Vic explained everything that we were going to do and what we were up against, and Jaime and I had done smaller tours together but nothing like this. So Vic tried to explain how to take it seriously, like it was our job. We were practicing everyday and we weren’t used to that.

Jaime: It was definitely a different kind of vibe as far as starting a band, hanging out, writing songs and stuff like that since all of that stuff was already done. It’s cool to look back and see all the fun stuff, what with playing the shows, but now, starting to actually write the next album, which is going to be for Tony and I our first one, it’s kind of all coming back into place.

iheartthemusic: You must be pumped to write the next one then!

Jaime: Absolutely!

iheartthemusic: Vic, you have done most of the writing up to this point right?

Vic: Yeah, me and Mike just kind of jam at home. It’s going to be cool to see everyone contributing and I think it will be a nice change of pace for our band to move from an RV to a regular house again.

iheartthemusic: I know! You guys have been touring for the past few years!

Tony: As much as I stress out and get nervous before the shows, when I finally walk on the stage, that half hour makes everything you do worthwhile. It’s so much fun.

Mike: A lot of our fans have just actually become our friends now. I mean, we had no idea who they were before we started touring, and now we can get into every city and they can actually call us or email us and hang out like normal friends; that’s probably my favourite part.

iheartthemusic: They can call you, eh? Is there a communal phone that everyone uses?

Vic: [laughs] No, that’s a good idea though!

iheartthemusic: What has been highlights and lowlights of Taste of Chaos so far?

Vic: A lowlight was getting snowed in Rhode Island where Thursday was supposed to play. They set that date as the only day they were going to play Full Collapse all the way through and it got snowed in so we couldn’t get to the venue.

Jaime: A highlight was the first Canadian show in Vancouver because we had a signing afterwards and there were only two kids there; we were still stoked though. It was awesome! We thought that was the way Canada was going to be, and then the next day it was like 10 times the opposite.

Vic: Vancouver was a 19 and up show.

Jaime: It was a fun show because not a single person had any idea who we were, so it was awesome because those are the shows that we were used to before this band started.

iheartthemusic: Do you go into those shows with the mentality that you’ve got something to prove?

Jaime: I personally feel more comfortable playing those shows just because there are no expectations whatsoever. I had a lot of fun that show and that’s why it was a highlight, because every person was like “who are you?”

Vic: When the crowd puts out that vibe where it seems like they don’t like you or aren’t interested, then that’s when I feel like I can do whatever I want. You’ve got no one to impress.

Mike: I just kind of get in my own zone and don’t really care what happens.

iheartthemusic: What was a defining moment for you guys as a band?

Vic: I think the first time I saw a kid with a tattoo of our lyrics. No one had ever done that for any band I’ve ever been in. The fact that kids are feeling that connected to the lyrics and gaining a deeper connection to the band is pretty surreal.

Mike: I was super stoked when we were on Warped Tour and Kevin Lyman brought us on his bus to offer us this tour. We were on Warped Tour freaking out already, and then he offers us Taste and we were like shitting out pants.

iheartthemusic: Speaking of shit, I was speaking with Liam from Cancer Bats and apparently Vic and Liam are on the same pooping schedule?

Vic: [laughs] You guys don’t know this, but every time I am walking into the bathroom, Liam is walking in at the same time. It’s been like three times already. We talked about holding hands in stalls next to each other just to say that we did.

Jaime: Not only is that weird but that should never happen… ever.

iheartthemusic: Come on, it’s all about the band-on-band love!

Jaime: If I walked in and saw two guys holding hands, I would walk right out!

iheartthemusic: Vic and Mike have a side project going as well called Isles and Glaciers with members of an assortment of other bands. You just showcased for the first time during SXSW, how did that go?

Mike: Yeah, Vic and I had to ride with Bring Me The Horizon to Austin because we were playing there that same night. So we got to ride with them for 20 hours, which was interesting. Those guys are crazy, but cool guys. We played the AP party, which was outside underneath a huge tent and tons of kids lined up. Some of the songs are actually illegally out, so some of the kids were singing along. It was fun though. It was our first practice ever and it was on stage!

Vic: It went better than we thought it was going to. We thought it was going to be a disaster, but it was fun. We are hoping that the album for that will come out in the next few months so while we’re not touring we have new music with the Isles and Glaciers project. We also have a new video for this band coming out for “Chemical Kids, Mechanical Brides”, which is the first song on the last record.

iheartthemusic: Do you want to tell us about the concept behind that video?

Jaime: It’s an adult film in this RV! [laughs] We shot it in L.A. with the same director as the last video in a house and the house is meant to look like it’s alive. On our first video we had Vic acting and for this one we have two little kids. It was a little boy and a little girl and they were both awesome and trying to escape from the house. It’s a cool vibe, visually stunning.

Mike: It’s kind of creepy.

Vic: I wanted zombies but that got shot down.

iheartthemusic: So when will that be out?

Vic: Soon. It will be on our MySpace.

iheartthemusic: Anything you want to add for your Canadian fans?

Vic: We just want everyone to know that we are really excited about Canada and want to come back. The first thing I am going to do when I go back [home] is tell everyone that I want to book more shows here.

Jaime: I was definitely pleasantly surprised and impressed by the kids here.

The video for “Chemical Kids, Mechanical Brides” is now out on the band’s MySpace. Be sure to check it out!

photography provided by Patrick Moore

Cancer Bats need no introduction. Originating in 2004 with Liam (vocals) and Scott (guitar), these guys have since toured all over the world, shared the stage with the likes of Alexisonfire  and even won some awards in between. Their debut album, Birthing the Giant, was met with huge acclaim and now with the release of their second album, Hail Destroyer, there appears to be no stopping these guys! iheartthemusic caught up with Liam while he was in Toronto for the Rockstar Taste of Chaos Tour and asked him how he felt about being the only Canadian band on the tour.

iheartthemusic: So how’s the tour going so far?

Liam: I really just want it to be over. I mean, we played two and a half months of tour and we finally get to our hometown only to have to leave the next morning? Boo! Although, Montreal is going to rip! The last time we played there it was crazy.

iheartthemusic: Really? A good fan base there then?

Liam: Montreal is a tough city. We started the band when I was living there, actually. Originally the band wasn’t supposed to be full time at all because Scott was playing in another band and I was obviously living in Montreal, so we thought that there was no way that we were going to make it happen. Then the band started to do really well, so I was taking the bus and the train to Toronto every weekend. The good thing was that it didn’t deteriorate my pocketbook since Scott was working for VIA at the time, but it did deteriorate my relationship. In the end my girlfriend broke up with me because she hated the fact that my band was so important to me. Fast forward to now, and my band rules and I have a girlfriend who is amazing!

iheartthemusic:  Well it sucks to be the ex-girlfriend then! Being the only Canadian boys on this tour, what was the response like in the U.S.?

Liam: There were definitely a lot of kids who had never heard of us before, or maybe just listened to our MySpace, so in a way we took on every night trying to impress people and really put the word out.

iheartthemusic: When you returned to Canada it must have felt like a huge homecoming then?

Liam: It was so wicked because we were getting hometown response in every city, so for us it was really nice to even just show the other dudes on the tour that our band is worth something. We also did a bunch of off-dates too, like Thunder Bay a few nights ago, that weren’t part of the tour. So for those dudes to see us in the smaller towns and still have a good following, I’m just like, “ya, we own Canada”. It’s wicked because it makes all that hard work that we put into it worthwhile so I’m stoked.

iheartthemusic: Having toured quite a bit, what place has surprised you the most?

Liam: I will say that the craziest thing that happened was on our last tour, we went to Helsinki, which we had never been to. You have to take a 10 hour ferry to get there and we show up and it ended up being the best show of our tour.

iheartthemusic: Why was that?

Liam: Kids knew the words to the songs and were super psyched that we were playing and didn’t even care about the headliner. They bought tons of merch too, so all over the place it was a great show.

iheartthemusic: How did you decide on your style of music?

Liam: When we were starting the band we were really into a lot of rock, hardcore stuff. So there were a lot of bands that were doing this kind of thing at the time. It wasn’t like I wanted to copy those bands, but I was getting really excited about that style. We were seeing all these bands doing the hardcore thing, but none of it was done in a way that we wanted to have it. So we had all these ideas for our band to begin with and then we started jamming and it worked and it went from there.

iheartthemusic: You have mentioned before that from your first album to the one you recently released, you have matured a lot. Care to elaborate on that?

Liam: I think from touring so much everyone had really stepped up their game. Also, the fact that we were playing with so many amazing bands and were looking at these dudes thinking that we wanted to play just as good as or better then that. I mean, all across the board, Mikey, Scott and I had that same vibe without even talking about it. I wanted to step up with my vocals, not only just singing, but writing-wise too. So all of us were super excited to prove what we could really do it, which I don’t think we had done with the first album.

iheartthemusic: Well, the first record definitely garnered a lot of attention and you ended up winning two awards: one at the Indies and another at the MMVAs!

Liam: That’s the thing. I don’t discredit that album at all. I think there are some really great songs on it and am psyched on how it turned out, but I think if we were to rerecord that record now I would probably be a lot happier with how it sounds. I know that there were parts on that record where I couldn’t yell as loud as I wanted to or even when we got George [Alexisonfire] to come in and do “Pneumonia Hawk” he blew me away! So he dominated and I was just like, “fuck me, really dude”. I love him and was so psyched and if anything that really made me want to step up even to the point where we are finishing our record and I already want to get better. I’m stoked now because I feel like I can hold my own as singer against those dudes.

iheartthemusic: So was there any reasoning behind getting all these guest spots on your album?

Liam: They had been such a big part of our band. Obviously the Alexisonfire guys have helped us out so much in terms of where we are now by just always throwing us a bone. They took us on tour for three months when Birthing the Giant came out. At the same time you want to have your friends come along and be a part of it because you are excited.

iheartthemusic: Do you feel that there is a sense of community amongst bands?

Liam: I would in Southern Ontario for sure, but also more so in Canada in general. There aren’t a lot of full-time bands in Canada so everyone wants to help each other out as much as possible. It’s tough everywhere right now. I mean, we benefited from the help we got from other people so we want to help out the friends that are doing the same thing or want to be a serious band.

iheartthemusic: With this  new record Hail Destroyer, you mention that you were writing about a lot of personal things, so did that make it easier for you to write?

Liam: To realize that when you write something intensely personal how much other people realate to it is incredible. So many people have come up to me and been like, “that song ‘Regret’ means so much to me”. That’s a really intensely personal experience that I had, so the fact that all these other people had a similar thing is cool.

iheartthemusic: There seems to be a lot of death associations in the lyrics and song titles, is this indicative of the style of music you play?

Liam: I think there is going to be a lot of darker aspects and that is something that I am definitely stoked on. Thinking about it, I wonder if that is something that always goes along with it. Like look at the fact that a lot of punk rock kids skateboard, it’s just like something that happens to go along with it. I think that that’s just a part of the genre that you just classically write about without getting cliché or hung up on it. I do realize that I’m guilty of it as well.

iheartthemusic: So what’s up next for you guys?

Liam: We are going to write our new record this summer because, basically, once we get finished touring we are going to come home and write it for the next few months and put it out sooner than later and then keep touring.

photography provided by Patrick Moore

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