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

iheartthemusic got the chance to catch up with Mat (vocals) and Frank (guitar) from the Montreal band Mobile during Canadian Music Week. This is a band that are considered veterans in the industry having been around since the late ’90s. Their rock-inspired sound has been on constant rotation on both the radio airwaves and on music channels all over the country. Mat and Frank offered us some insight into the music industry by revealing what they thought of the state (or death) of the album, why they love Europe so much and the troubles they have had with our neighbours to the South.

iheartthemusic: Let’s go way back to how Mobile came to be.

Mat: We formed the band about 10 years ago, but we’ve known each other since we were kids. I met him [points to Frank] when we were six years old, so we know each other really well. We started playing music together around the age of 14 or 15 but the band that is Mobile have been together since the late ’90s. Pierre, our drummer, left in December and we replaced him with Martin, the new guy, who is great and it’s a breath of fresh air. 

iheartthemusic: You guys changed your original band name from Moonraker to Mobile, why?

Mat: Well, we were called Moonraker but there was also another band called Moonraker from the United States at the time. They were touring in Toronto so we had problems with people being confused by both bands having the same name. They also own the rights to that name in the United States so we just decided to change the name instead of going into a legal battle and losing time and money that we didn’t have. We were really looking for a record deal so we changed the name. 

iheartthemusic: Was there any reasoning behind choosing Mobile?

Mat: We were looking for a one word name and back then we didn’t know that cell phones were going to take over the world like that! What we had in mind were band names similar to Oasis. [Mobile] comes from a band that we all love, a band called  LongPigs that used to be around in the late ’90s from the UK and they have an album called Mobile Home. We were looking through albums that we all liked and Frank mentioned Mobile  and we all said yes. 

iheartthemusic: Now you are a band that hails from Montreal, where French is your first language, so why did you choose to sing in English?

Mat: I started listening to music at a young age and as I was growing up I was watching all these English bands. That was how I got into music; not by listening to any French music. [French music] just didn’t really touch me the same way that English music did. I wanted to be like Sting or John Taylor more than any other French artist. I also don’t write in French and translate the lyrics in English, which is a personal choice. It’s a lot easier to have an international career when you sing in English as well and personally,  I think the language of rock and roll is the English language.

iheartthemusic: You recently released your second album, Tales From The City. Why did you choose that as an album title?

Mat: I started writing and having ideas about the second album while we were on tour in Europe. We had been visiting all those great cities, like Berlin, and I was really influenced by traveling from city to city. So I tried to write a song about each [city] that we were visiting but it just didn’t turn out well. When I came back [to Canada] I still liked the title. We started writing the record in Montreal when I was going through a tough time personally and so I tried to write songs that were tales from the city and about people that I know that were living in Montreal and going through the same kinds of things.

iheartthemusic: You have also come out with a video for the single “The Killer.” How did you come up with the concept for that?

Mat: Well, we spoke to the directors and they totally got it. When I wrote that song I was trying to create a character because I didn’t want to write only about my personal life. I tried to invent a character that you could follow throughout the record. At some point he [the character] becomes a killer; society made him a killer. When we spoke with the two directors they totally got it and had this vision of a Bladerunner kind of guy running from something. You won’t see him shoot people because that’s not the case and you don’t know if he is going for the chick or for the kill. I don’t even know myself what he was going for but they totally captured what I had in mind as far as the image.

iheartthemusic: It’s a great concept. What has been a defining moment for you as a band?

Mat: When we signed the [record] deal. We were really excited because you strive for that, you want a deal to put your career on the right path and start writing and recording. Probably a personal accomplishment for me was when we got the gold record. That was the proudest moment I had because it comes from the fans and they are the ones that are buying your record and supporting you. We got that right before Christmas so it was really like wow!

Frank: Maybe the day I left my day job so I could say I don’t have to work anymore. That was a great feeling. My boss was very happy for me as well.

iheartthemusic: You guys have been fortunate enough to tour all over the world, so where has been your favourite spot so far?

Mat: Berlin and Dublin. In Europe you feel like people over there are very loyal music fans, whereas here the attention span for people is short. I mean you can be big one day and then gone tomorrow. Look at the UK for example, you get everyone touring there, even people that are dead here. You know that when you go there you have loyal fans that love music and are willing to see and hear new things without being too careful.

Frank: The Strokes and The Killers exploded over there before here and a lot of people don’t know that because people here didn’t care about them at the time. People are more willing to give anyone a chance over there.

iheartthemusic: Do you think that that is changing at all in Canada?

Mat: Not really, no.

Frank: One of the reasons for that is the radio. Stuff that plays on the radio is always the same and it’s very conservative, so I think if the radio all across Canada started to try new stuff, then maybe it would change but right now it’s the same.

Mat: Don’t get us wrong though, we’ve been very lucky as a band to get a lot of radio play here and are very grateful for that.

iheartthemusic: With the invention of iPods and iTunes is there a market for bands to make money off of record sales today?

Mat: I think right now it’s a generation of young kids that don’t really buy albums. For me it’s a really weird transition that I could definitely see coming but I didn’t anticipate it being like this. When I was younger you would actually have a vinyl or CD or cassette which you had to buy in order to have the song you like so much. So even if you only heard the one song on the radio and you liked that song, you would have to go buy the whole record to listen to it. Compare that to now where you can buy one song and that’s usually it. We are also confronted with people who say you should give your music away and I’m like, alright, so you want me to work a year and a half to write an album, invest my own money or someone else’s money, somehow to put the record out and actually make it, and then expect me to survive by giving my stuff away? People then say you tour. But how do you tour if you don’t have a product to sell? I’m really confused sometimes when it comes to that because the reality is that that is what is going on right now. A lot of people are not even aware that you buy or you lose money. It’s weird that people will come up to us with a CD that they just burned and expect us to sign it.

Frank: Very often we get that or we get people telling us, “oh yah, I burned your CD last night, it’s so good.” For example, if a bartender would say that to me, I would then say to him, “ok, so I’m going to help myself to a beer.”

iheartthmusic: Has it affected how you approach writing a record?

Mat: No, it’s affected the sales. It’s scary out there! You talk to everybody, especially in rock, and I think rock fans are probably not as loyal as metal fans. It seems like the metal heads are really hardcore and will buy the record.

iheartthemusic: Well let’s hope that people get out there and buy your album then! After this tour what is up next?

Frank: We are actually negotiating a US deal right now, which is exciting because we have had a lot of problems in the past with our record company in the States. It was a nightmare that kept on going and finally is over. We got out of that deal we signed a few years past and now we are about to sign a new one and hopefully release the record there in June or July. We have also already started writing new material because we want to release another record as soon as possible. It took a long time between our first two records because of all the troubles we were having with the record company overseas. It was just something that has been really tough to go through as a band, and is a reason why a lot of bands break up; because they are owned by the record company who are not willing to let them go but not willing to put the record out.

Mat: We were lucky to have Universal Canada who have always supported the band and are the reason why we were able to have a career and now we will hopefully have the same relationship in the States.

photography provided by Matt Vardy

It is quite unique these days to find a band that is musically talented, performs well AND are all related. Well, iheartthemusic found this all in the form of Winnipeg threesome Inward Eye. Anders, Dave and Kyle are three brothers who are making quite a name for themselves. They have already been on countless tours – including one that had them opening for legendary band The Who - and they were also the headliners for the opening night party of Canadian Music Week at Tattoo Rock Parlour. iheartthemusic took some time to talk with all three of them before that opening night show show on March 11th. Check out what they had to say:

iheartthemusic: Being siblings, do you feel your parents had an influence on your decision to pursue music?

David: It was pretty natural actually. I picked up a guitar when I was about 14 or 15 and just kind of played around and showed Kyle some chords. He, of course, quickly got better than me.

iheartthemusic: I guess that’s why he’s the guitarist now!

David: I guess so. Then I eventually got a bass and Anders eventually acquired some drums and we would always be jamming together. We then realized let’s play in a band together. We were sometimes jamming with our friends, but it just seemed easier this way.

iheartthemusic: You guys also got a chance to venture into the US to play some gigs there. How did that happen?

David: It started during CMW in 2005 when we played and some of the record labels really liked us and so word got down to the big wigs in New York City that they should check us out. They ended up flying us down and we did a series of showcases there which was pretty mind-blowing and we got a record deal out of it! So it was pretty good.

iheartthemusic: You’ve done tons of touring since then, such as Warped Tour, Lollapalooza and a stint with The Who, so  what is it about touring that you love?

Kyle: Playing live is the highlight for us as a band. Everything else about touring is hit or miss; you’re stuck in a van for long periods of time, eating poor quality food and not sleeping much, but in the end it’s a lot fun too and you get to see a lot of different places. The stage is the best part though.

iheartthemusic: So where has been your favourite place to play so far?

Kyle: Some of the best shows that we have ever played seem to be out West. I remember we played at the Pemberton Music Festival and that was a really good one. We played on the second stage. We had the mountains all around us and tons of people who didn’t know who the hell we were, which was good because it introduced us to a whole new crowd.

iheartthemusic: You went from playing on the second stage at a festival to opening for The Who, that must have been an amazing accomplishment for the band.

Anders: [The Who] have always been one of our biggest influences growing up, ever since we got into our dad’s vinyl back in the day, so it was just amazing. We played a show down in Austin a couple of years ago and their promoter saw us. We then ended up playing a couple of shows in Canada with them and then when the American tour came around their name came up again and it was probably the best tour we’ve ever done and ever will do.

iheartthemusic: You guys are now on a Canadian tour with Mobile and Bend Sinister. I actually got to speak with Bend Sinister last night and they gave me some dirt on you boys. Apparently you can hold your liquor quite well!

David: Yah, apparently we can for skinny boys! I mean there is only three of us, right, so we get to divvy up the booze three ways, so we’ve learned how to handle ourselves.

iheartthemusic: You also just came out with your first self-titled EP in January and you have a video out for the single “Shame.” It has an unusual concept surrounding it, can you tell us how you came up with that?

David: The director’s name was Rémy M. Larochelle and he approached us because he was really inspired by the song so we just let him have free reign with it. He drew a couple of pictures of us looking like crocodilians or something, but I think the clincher for us was the baboon beating up the priest. We were just like this is the man for us, we are going to offend some people so let’s do it right.

iheartthemusic: You were aiming for shock value then?

David: Yah, it’s great because it goes with the whole theme of the song which is about rising up against the oppressors.

iheartthemusic: You are also hitting up Warped Tour again this summer, are you excited about that?

David: It’s going to be a tough grind. I mean Warped Tour is awesome, but it’s definitely a grind. We get so much exposure and it opens a door to the whole punk scene, which we aren’t really in. We consider ourselves a rock band, so it kind of gets our foot in that door too.

iheartthemusic: How is it living together, working together and being brothers?

Anders: Well, we have done it our whole lives so we are pretty used to it!

David: We are like an old married couple; bitter and resentful [laughs].

iheartthemusic: So after Warped Tour what is the plan?

David: We are going to be hitting the road pretty hard in Canada and come back to the Toronto area and do the “401 milk run” as we like to call it; all the little areas. We are also going to be doing another little stint in New York City. We are going to be releasing our full length album hopefully in the fall, so the EP is just a little taster of what’s to come from us.

iheartthemusic: Do you want to add anything for your fans out there?

David: Please check us out on our MySpace site and give us your comments! Let us know if we are complete tools, or you like what we are doing. Be honest because we will always be honest with you!

photography provided by Matt Vardy

Hailing from Toronto and often described as the “ones to watch in 2009,” Dinosaur Bones definitely have a lot to be grateful for in the short months that they have been together. The band formed in 2008 and consists of Ben Fox (guitar/vocals), Joel Clifton (guitar), Branko Scekic (bass), Dave Wickland (keys) and Lucas Fredette (drums). Dinosaur Bones, or DB as we dubbed them, released their self-titled EP in 2008 and have since been hitting the Toronto circuit hard, including two shows during CMW. iheartthemusic caught up with Ben and Branko during their afternoon showcase at Trash Palace on March 14^th and were able to experience firsthand why these are musicians that are bringing the talent back to Toronto.

iheartthemusic: Dinosaur Bones is a rather peculiar name for a band?

Ben: We should really come up with a ridiculous story for how we came up with that.

Branko: We were playing with an Ouija board one night and it just started moving and that’s what it ended up spelling out.

 iheartthemusic: So you guys thought why not?

Ben: Just roll with it.

Branko: Well, you can’t question the spirits!

iheartthemusic: That is true! You guys have known each other since high school so how did you decide to form a band?

Branko: Well, he [pointing to Ben] was a guitar player and I wanted to play guitar but he told me to play bass so that he could start a band. That’s basically why I play bass.

Ben: Eight years later here we are.

iheartthemusic: How would you describe your sound?

Ben: Its indie rock music.

Branko: It’s like a party you feel bad about [laughs].

Ben: We like music that will affect you emotional so we try to do that in the music we play. We play upbeat, energetic music but at the same time we hope that it will impact you a little bit.

iheartthemusic: Who does most of the writing?

Branko: Ben does most of the framework and writes the lyrics and then we will put together the song or parts of songs and bring it to the studio.

Ben: We try to trim the fat and bring the best things or aspects to the front.

iheartthemusic: You guys have really only been a band for a little over a year and have already been invited to play Edgefest, what else sticks out for you from the past year?

Branko: Our anniversary show was one of those moments. That was when you sort of realize you get to play the Horseshoe on a Saturday which was incredible, so I think that was one moment for sure.

Ben: It’s also hard to get perspective. I don’t think bands ever see themselves how other people see them, so we are just sort of going along with what feels normal and regular because we are going about our regular day-to-day life.

 iheartthemusic: Who are some of your musical influences?

Ben: We really like The Walkmen, French Kicks, Radiohead, Handsome Furs, Wolf Parade. We all have pretty varied musical tastes, but those are some bands that we’ve drawn on collectively or bands that we would love to see ourselves playing with in the future.

iheartthemusic: Is that an aspiration for you then?

Branko: I think they are bands that would be good to play or tour with.

Ben: One of the perks of playing in a band is getting to play with people that you look up to and people who are making music that you love.

iheartthemusic: Has that happened for you guys yet?

Ben: We played with Handsome Furs last night [March 13^th], which was exciting. I’ve been a Wolf Parade fan for a while.

Branko: Yah, that was wicked and was definitely the biggest one.

Ben: During Edgefest there will definitely be a few that we will be excited about.

iheartthemusic: Your live performance has often been described as “a party on stage,” but how would you describe it?

Ben: Well, [Trash Palace] is an interesting scenario for you to see us perform live for the first time.

Branko: Energy, I guess. We try to keep it lively and just bring energy.

Ben: I think people are usually surprised when they’ve heard our recordings and then see us live because our recordings are on the tamer side and I think our live show bangs harder than what they were expecting.

iheartthemusic: You also released your first EP in ‘08, how was the whole recording process for you guys?

Ben: We’ve all been in bands before so we’ve all recorded before and we actually already recorded with Mike [producer] in that exact same scenario so it was very comfortable. The studio is fun and interesting because it’s a totally different side of music where you get to slow everything down and take the time to focus on the little things.

Branko: It’s interesting being able to sort of hear the songs as well because, I mean, you are constantly playing them. It’s kind of like being in a play; you know what’s going on in the play, but it’s not the same as watching the play as a whole. So it’s weird in that way, but cool to be able to hear how things sound.

Ben: There are a million decisions you can make too, like one song can be heard in so many different ways.

iheartthemusic: Being a Canadian band, how important is it for you guys to be showcasing during CMW?

Branko: It was a big honour for sure. There is a good sense of community and it was cool to get out every night and see so much happening and so many people just going out all over the city.

Ben: The big perk is to be able to catch all sorts of great bands and also be able to play a few showcases in one weekend. It’s a busy, fun time where everyone is running around.

Branko: It’s a week-long party pretty much.

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

Branko: Right now we are focusing on a lot of out of town shows, just trying to get out to Southern Ontario. We will be in Oshawa and Barrie and so once we kind of lay some of the groundwork there I guess we will try and get some kind of a tour going in the summer maybe.

iheartthemusic: Any goals you hope to achieve in the next year?

Ben: We want to release a record and as soon as we do that then just hit the road non-stop, which we are already getting going now. We are really excited and looking forward to working on a record.

Branko: And living in a van!

Ben: Living in a van for a month on end.

Branko: It’s the kind of thing where by the end you are like I want to go home and then you get home and you sit there for a day and you are like what am I going to do now, I want to get back in the van.

iheartthemusic: Anything you want to add?

Ben: Branko right now has a fabulous mustache he is rocking.

Branko: I had a big mountain beard which was my winter beard and as it started to get warmer it was time to trim it down. By the summer I will probably just get rid of the mustache so I don’t end up with a funny tan.

Although the location was reminiscent of your parent’s basement, DB rocked the house on March 14^th. Make sure you check them out on their MySpace for tour dates in your town.

 Photography provided by Kristin M.

« Older Entries

Newer Entries »