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.

Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker (or USS) consists of one part vocalist/guitarist Ash Bucholz (“Ash Boo-Schultz”) and turntablist/hypeman Jason Parsons (“Human Kebab”). Don’t ask us where these names came from, just know that it IS an indication of how crazy and out there these two guys are! Having garnered acclaim through being “hearted” by Toronto radio station 102.1 the Edge, this duo have taken Toronto and Canada by storm. With the recent release of their album Questamation gaining more and more attention from music lovers alike, we felt like it was time to for us at iheartthemusic to delve deep into the minds of the duo and get serious about who they are…well as serious as we could get!

iheartthemusic: The past two years have been pretty nuts for you two eh?

Jason: Yeah, going from being left to obscurity, to how do you catch up, to how do you get bigger now.

iheartthemusic: That’s true. I mean you did win the CASBY awards last year!

Jason: Yeah it was amazing.

iheartthemusic: Can you pinpoint at all one defining moment for you in the past two years?

Ash: I was actually in Texas and that’s when I found out that our music was on the radio, but not even just on the radio but getting played like seven times a day!

Jason: Also the fact that he [Ash] was in a different place mentally doing some incredible things for himself and I was working in Alberta at the time; that in itself was a pinnacle! It is actually true that the little band that could, without major label support or any label for that matter, could actually still find its way into that realm. Most bands would think that you would have to sign with the four majors and spend all this money and stuff, but we just stayed positive.

Ash: We are in total alignment with the idea that if you truly love something, you let it go. You can push so hard and you can try so hard to make something work and at the time we both were just like “let’s just let this go man”. We were driving ourselves nuts.

iheartthemusic: I truly believe that if you are meant to do something or be somebody then you will and I feel like you guys are a true testament to that.

Jason: It’s like Ben Kowalewicz from Billy Talent has a tattoo on his collar that says never give up and when I saw that I was thinking that I didn’t know if I’d ever get that tattoo but he was basically saying  that no matter what happens, it’s going to happen- which is totally true.

Ash: I mean if we weren’t here having a good time and laughing and telling jokes, we’d be on a roof somewhere digging ditches and dirt.

iheartthemusic: But probably still having a good time and joking around!

Ash: That’s what just kicks our asses!  You know you can dream about something your whole life, but you have no clue what its going to be like until it actually happens. Its hilarious because I still wake up in the morning and my instinct is to put on my work boots but its actually like no, I get to put on these colourful shoes that don’t need to have a big hunk of steel in them because hopefully nothing is going to fall on my toes today!

iheartthemusic: And now you have the cash that if you ruin one pair you can get five more! [laughs]

Jason: [laughs] Exactly!

iheartthemusic: You have had such great success which, I’m assuming, meant that major labels were knocking on your door, so what made you decide to not go the major route?

Jason: We started  our own label basically. We realized that we had a good grip on a business model, but we also had a good manager and an excellent team behind us that we felt that we had found the pieces to start putting the puzzle together. Right now the puzzle is almost complete; we’ve taken it as far as we can take it now based on what we have currently. We financed the whole operation, made all the management and creative calls.

iheartthemusic: It must be nice to retain that control over what is ultimately your future success.

Jason: That’s the compromise you have to make. If that [signing to a major label] is your goal then that’s what is going to happen for you. Like Avril Lavigne signs with SONY in New York, but her only interest at seventeen years old was probably to be taken care of for the rest of her life and be an absolute superstar.

iheartthemusic: And where is she now? [laughs]

Ash: Actually I was listening to Avril Lavigne this morning in my kitchen on top of my fridge next to a sweet potato…I really should not have that sweet potato anymore. I’ve had it for a really long time and it’s got to go in the green bin. I have this habit where instead of putting stuff in the green bin, I just throw it out the window into my backyard. Like if I have a pit of an avocado, I’ll just think that that can just go in the bushes.

iheartthemusic: I feel like that is totally fine!

Ash: I don’t want to hit a squirrel!

Jason: I still have a problem that I can never number two outside. Even if I had to, I would just hold it until the next fifth wheel or something.

iheartthemusic: Far too much information for this interview! [laughs] So how has the process been from self-releasing your first album Welding the C://, to now having a label (your own) backing your recent release of Questamation?

Jason: Creatively, the process seems to work in Ash’s favour no matter how random it gets or how focused it is. The business side of it, which I’m more involved with and our manager, we just try to plug in as many resources and networks as possible for the three of us to make it all happen in sync. It is really hard to maintain deadlines when there is only three of you, but you are still trying to maintain that level of control and of course creativity while at the same time create future opportunities, play shows, do interviews, be places, try to live a normal life and be healthy. I mean it’s a balancing act!

iheartthemusic: And a lot of musicians definitely cannot do that.

Jason: No they can’t and its unfortunate that it happens, but we’ve been through enough emotionally already that this is kind of easy compared to that.

Ash: Yeah, when we were recording our EP, I was roofing for fifteen hours a day, six days a week and then bringing my laptop to work and I was on a roof covered in tar and dirt and it was like ninety degrees and I would have my headphones on thinking I’ve just got to finish this drum part because we have to get it done by tonight. So the process was a bit different because we were still under pressure with this album in terms of getting it out, but in totally different circumstances. It’s just one of those things where its like; life on the road is such a grind, but roofing seventy hours a week while trying to record an EP is a grind. So it makes us very greatful if anything.

iheartthemusic: I wanted to ask you about your “Laces Out” video. How did you guys come up with the concept for that?

Ash: I had been talking about the idea of this neo-vaudeville, so it kind of came out of that. There’s the circus thing, but then there is just randomness: question marks on parachutes falling from the ceiling, etc. Then we kind of put it into the hands of the production company after planting the seed and we showed up day-of and were just like “nice growth”.

iheartthemusic: So the dude in the video isn’t actually a guy that comes to all your shows?

Jason: Yeah we know him. The film company is called Brook Street Pictures and they are from Ottawa and they are incredible dudes. They did their first feature with the guy who played Freddy Krueger.

Ash: Because they mainly make horror movies.

Jason: But they were absolutely inlove with our sound and then came out for a bunch of shows and the director saw something that Ash was talking about and then through the phone between Toronto and Ottawa put together the storyboard and then we went to the Sound Academy and the production company hired like sixty people and it was a full-on production.

iheartthemusic: One thing that I found pretty cool with this new album was that you guys use something called a “z-card”. Can you explain why you decided to use it for your album?

Ash: The ironic thing about that is that I worked in a factory on a machine that made the z-card. I worked there when we [Jason] met during a time when I was not really that accessible or available to society. It’s okay though because Jay kind of helped guide me back to relating to the rest of the world which was really great. It was handy to meet a person to do that.

ihearthemusic: He’s a good husband eh? [laughs]

Jason: [laughs] Exactly!

Ash: Father, son, brother…

Jason: Idiot.

Ash: Yeah, whatever you want. Putz! That’s a good one.

Jason: I hate that word!

Ash: I know eh, who likes that word!? So when the album came along I was like “we should make something that is like a map” and then it kind of came back to where it started.

iheartthemusic: What’s on the horizon for you guys?

Jason: Hopefully we will see Canadians at their various post-secondary institutes in the fall!

The guys from Toronto band Isle of Thieves describe themselves as “a fusion of energetic rhythm, textual riffs, driving power chords, catchy synth leads and memorable vocal melodies.” What was memorable for iheartthemusic, though, was their passion and drive. These are musicians who have set a goal and are going after it with full force. Japeth (vocals/guitar), Mike (guitar), Justin (synths/vocals), Charles (bass) and Matt (drums) came together to form Isle of Thieves in 2006 and self-released their debut album, Only Human, last year. Did we mention that it is a debut ALBUM as in no previous EP? That’s right; these guys skipped the opening step and decided to give fans what they think they deserve: a well orchestrated, catchy disk that emanates with their determination to succeed in a tough industry to break.

iheartthemusic: CMW showcase opening night is pretty impressive. Have you guys ever played CMW before?

Japeth: Never, this is our first time. We tried to get into it last year but it didn’t happen.

iheartthemusic: How did you come together as a band?

Japeth: Justin, Charles and I have known each other since we were in high school, we didn’t have a band though. I was working downtown at a hardware store and Matt came in and wanted to get something for his drums. My thinking was, “wow, you are really cheap and so am I, let’s start something.” So we started jamming and Justin went and got some super old Casio from the ’80s. We did open mics for a while, as cheesy as that sounds. Finally I met Mike at another job, and Charles I knew from high school, and that’s how we just formed. The interesting thing about this band is that all of us got together as friends first before we were musicians. It was more about the fact that we got along with each other and we could grow together as opposed to let’s have an all star year.

iheartthemusic: It probably helps move things along when you have known each other for such a long time.

Justin: We actually started recording only six weeks into being a band; it was really something that was very spontaneous. We wanted to go in and we wanted to record something off the floor, and our producer thought that we had something even though we were rough around the edges.

iheartthemusic: That’s amazing that you have already released an album in such a short time!

Japeth: It was around maybe January of last year that we released the album, it was not an official release; it’s not under any label. We just basically decided to make an entire album because there are so many other bands that are giving out these EPs or demos and we wanted to give our fans a real product. When a band charges $10 for six songs I feel kind of ripped off. I mean if you look at HMV, they sell CDs that cheap for big name artists. So we thought, why not make an album, which is a lot more impressive. I mean we’re independent but we’re not going to give you this half-ass product to show you how real we are – fuck that shit! We wanted to give them something that was tangible and respectable and we went with that. It destroyed our wallets, but it was worth it.

iheartthemusic: Have you received a good response since?

Justin: Pretty good. I mean, we are here playing the opening night of CMW, so that says something.

iheartthemusic: Any musical influences for you guys?

Matt: The Jimmy Swift Band I think is the most influential band for us. They are from Halifax.

Justin: Billy Talent for sure.

iheartthemusic: How would you define your sound?

Justin: I would define our sound as a mix between The Killers, Foo Fighters and Jimmy Eat World.

Japeth: We’ve started to refine our sound to be a bit more edgy. We originally wanted to be a garage band, but that didn’t end up very well. It just became more polished and poppy and it was just the direction that everyone was going. It’s strappy, but at the same time it’s clean enough that mainstream won’t think it’s stupid. I think there is that balance.

iheartthemusic: What can we expect from your live performance?

Japeth: Pandemonium! There is this drop-kick that is going to happen at some point [laughs].

Justin: We try to give it our all up there; we’re sweaty so stand back!

Japeth: We are energetic and I think it’s just part of our presence and persona. When we first started we were really boring and just stood there and regurgitated the album, so we decided to practice and play like we were playing for 10,000 people. We loved it and it changed our whole performance style. At the end of the show, whoever we play for really feeds off of our energy and they also see that we care even if we are playing in front of 10 people.

iheartthemusic: Any crazy fan moments?

Japeth: We got $100 worth of sex toys once and the cock ring vibrated my balls.

iheartthemusic: [laughs] So you are admitting to actually using the toys?

Japeth: I used it with a partner because you just flip it around and it’s a clitoral stimulator as well! She said she was my number one fan and the worst part was I was feeling around the bag and I pulled it out and I was like, ohmygawd, it’s a cock ring!

iheartthemusic: [laughs] On that note, what’s up next for you guys?

Japeth: Right now this is our life and I never thought it would happen like this. I mean, I always thought I would have a steady income and do it on the side and some guy with a big fat cheque would discover us. That’s not the way the industry is unfortunately. Those days are gone and at the same time that’s kind of an urban legend. We decided we love it enough that we are willing to rough it out and have our parents hate us for quitting school.

photography provided by Matt Vardy

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