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

Considering it was “technically” day three for NXNE, you may find it odd that I should call this post “day 2″. The reason is that “day 1″ was such a write-off (for me it consisted of the opening night party and watching one of the worst acts ever at The Drake, which I refuse to name, before I decided to pack it up and call it a night). Thursday, June 18th was PEACE DOT LOVE, a festival promoting and supporting local anti-violence initiatives in Toronto that consisted of a plethora of amazing Toronto acts. This festival also happened to be  sponsored in part by iheartthemusic, so it was lots of work (but we always have room for pleasure). Thus bringing me to Friday, June 19th, the official start to my NXNE experience. The night went something like this: Yonge & Dundas Square – Hard Rock Cafe – Yonge & Dundas – Lee’s Palace – home. Not that much travel, but I needed to ease into the week slowly.

I decided to start the evening with heading to Yonge and Dundas Square to catch East Coast sensation In-Flight Safety perform. After releasing their latest album, We Are An Empire, My Dear, back in January, I was stoked to be able to see them perform live in Toronto. The crowd in attendance was definitely full of fans and it was nice to see people from all walks of life and ages out to see the show.

Next it was a mad rush across the street to the Hard Rock Cafe (a venue that I was entirely not familiar with) to see Ottawa pop/rock group Benefit of a Doubt perform. These guys just recently came off a tour with Norglen and are a band that I have been personally loving for quite some time. Having not been able to catch them during CMW in March, I made sure I was in attendance for their NXNE appearance. Unfortunately for them (and the rest of NXNE attendees) the venue was a huge hindrance. It was like the Hard Rock was the uncool kid that no one wanted to go near. The only people present were clearly there for the food and not the music. This did not, however, faze the foursome on stage as they rocked out harder than most bands we saw that week who played to sold out shows. They opened the show with what I was told was a band favourite to play, “We Are The Broken”, which saw lead vocalist Chase’s voice hit notes that I wouldn’t dare attempt. The overall feel in the room shifted as they began to play. People became mesmerized by their stage presence and forgot about their plates. Chase played barefoot, the band headbanged in unison and they all looked like they were having an awesome time! This band shows no signs of slowing down and I predict they will only get better and bigger.

After their set we didn’t have to venture too far to see the next act, which was Wintersleep who was playing back at Yonge & Dundas Square. This was a show that could not be missed as they rarely venture to Toronto (since they are too busy touring the world). Although my height caused viewing difficulties, I managed to take note of their keyboardist literally balancing on one leg while he playing (impressive to say the least). Everyone was singing along to the well-known tunes and I literally have nothing else to say except that there could have been a bit more stage presence. After seeing the first two bands of the night perform, Wintersleep was a bit of a let down in that regard. However, it was still great to see them live and we managed to grab some awesome shots for your enjoyment!

The last stop of the night was Lee’s Palace to catch one of the hot ticket acts of the week – L.A. duo No Age. Before they were about to go on we managed to catch the last few songs of Seattle group The Dead Science. They are described as “creative experimental pop” and honestly, that is precisely what you get. With a drummer, a guitarist and a guy that appears to play the cello like it is a guitar, their sound is anything but conventional. The lead singer alternated from a high pitched soprano-type voice to a soft whisper (which was a little bit distracting at times) and managed to sing on his toes! The highlight was their technical skill. The drummer banged on the drums without a hitch and the cello player literally rocked out as hard as anyone could on a classical instrument. I would suggest checking them out if only to see (perhaps) where the future of music is taking us!

There was so much hype surrounding the two guys that make up No Age that I was pretty excited to see what it was all about. I know that this band has a very loyal following so I don’t want to piss anyone off… but, I must confess that I did not enjoy it one bit. Although they were engaging as an act, I could hardly make out what Dean was saying and Randy appeared to be in his own world on the guitar. The crowd were clearly MASSIVE fans and they created probably the biggest mosh pit that Lee’s has seen, which continued for the entire duration of their set. I believe that at one point Dean revealed that he just puked in his mouth and then swallowed it. I’m not sure if that is what turned me off the most or if it was the amount of kiddies around me snorting lines. Two thumbs down from me.

The Phoenix Concert Theatre here in Toronto usually attracts some big name shows and this particular April evening was no different. On the bill were some pretty popular American bands: Shiny Toy Guns, All American Rejects and Ace Enders and A Million Different People – but it was Ace Enders that iheartthemusic was interested in. The band is headed by vocalist “Ace”, who may look familiar as he was the lead singer for pop rock group The Early November. After Early Novemeber ended, Ace took on a new project, which comes in the form of Ace Enders and A Million Different People. With the recent release of their debut record, When I Hit the Ground, notable press coverage for their cover of The Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony”, and touring with huge pop rock act All American Rejects, it appears that Ace Enders are on the right track to success.

iheartthemusic: You guys have been on tour for quite some time now, how do you maintain a healthy lifestyle while being on the road?

Ace: Healthy? I wouldn’t call it healthy at all. In some cases it gets easier, especially the more successful you get, because you are able to stay at nicer places, sleep more, have buses and whatnot. When you drive your own van, it’s just a mess all the time.

iheartthemusic: What do you like the most about touring?

Ace: I guess just playing the shows and its always great playing in a new place. After the first time you feel young again like this is why you are doing what you do. It’s exciting!

iheartthemusic: You did tons of touring with The Early November and are now embarking on more touring with this band, has it been tough to create this new identity as Ace Enders after the success of your group?

Ace: It hasn’t been the easiest, but definitely easier than some bands have had. I had something to build off of and am thankful for that, but it has been a struggle because now the music business is in such a weird place. It’s been difficult but good.

iheartthemusic: You released your first album free for download, was there any reasoning behind that move?

Ace: I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who had been supporting me for so long and do something nice for my fans.

iheartthemusic: You also started your own label called Regular Music.

Ace: Trying to do but unfortunately, financially, everything is on hold right now.

iheartthemusic: Damn the recession! Where do you see the biggest struggles?

Ace: Album sales have been really bad for everyone. You even see the impact at the merch tables. I mean things used to sell a whole lot more when times were a little bit better and you could afford it. Now you buy a ticket to the show and if you want to take the train home then you won’t be able to buy a shirt or a CD. You see that a lot where people are only able to pay for the ticket or even sometimes not even come.

iheartthemusic: Where do you draw your inspiration from?

Ace: Everything. It’s personal and also from just seeing what ’s going on in the world. I don’t really like to do “what sounds good”, I like for everything to at least have something behind it. Not that we are the most artsy bands but I do view it as an art and there needs to be some integrity behind it.

iheartthemusic: Who are the other members of your band?

Ace: Sergio, who plays bass played in my last band, The Early November, and the other two guys are from another band who were on The Early November’s last tour. Both bands kind of broke up at the same time and they weren’t doing anything and decided to come on board with me. It just started like they were going to help me and they ended up sticking around.

iheartthemusic: You get along then?

Ace: There’s definitely a friendship and it’s different from The Early November because we started at such a young age and it was all new to us. Now we have sort of seen it and we know not to be as dramatic and take everything so personally. You know being in close quarters that’s bound to happen, so its been good to play with people who are sort of like you and understand that things get weird a lot so you have to just deal with it.

iheartthemusic: Do you guys have any crazy stories from this tour?

Ace: I’m sure there are some in there. Right now this tour has been non-stop work for us; get to the venue, unload, drive. We’ve been doing a lot of morning shows and in-store appearances during the day and then we drive to the show at night and then leave. So if you consider driving exciting, then yes we’ve got crazy stories.

iheartthemusic: [laughs] How is it with the rest of the bands on this tour?

Ace: They are great! Everyone has been super nice and friendly and supportive. Hanging out a lot-everyone is really close.

iheartthemusic: You recently did a cover for The Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony”. Why that song?

Ace: Its one of those songs that no matter what kind of mood I’m in it will always put me in a safe place and because of that its been one of my favourite songs ever. I wanted to share that with people. Its very rare that you can have a song that has been around that long that you know is a safe place. Everyone has that song or that movie or whatever that makes you feel better.

iheartthemusic: That cover garnered a lot of positive feedbaks, but were you apprehensive about doing it?

Ace: Yeah, I have never really been big on covers.

iheartthemusic: Well at least your fans appreciated it! So what’s up next for you boys?

Ace: Well after this tour we will be heading out again on our own headlining tour and that will take up most of the summer for us. We are really excited about that and it should be a great time.

photography provided by Carl Heindl

**stay tuned for our shots from the show which include: Shiny Toy Guns & All American Rejects!!

A few weeks ago iheartthemusic spoke with a VERY young band from Barrie, Ontario, and when we say young, we are referring to the fact that half the band is still in high school! Despite the age of these young gentlemen, Final Thought put on a show that left us feeling like they were industry veterans. Playing for a mixed crowd at a benefit concert, Punk 4 Parkinson’s, Dustin (vocals), Emmett (guitar), Brandon (bass) and Tom (drums) rocked the house and won us over with their honesty, innocence and sense of onstage presence. With the recent release of their EP, Take This Home, and a bunch of upcoming tour dates in Quebec, it appears that school may have to take the back seat for a while (sorry mom and dad).

iheartthemusic: Your band seems to be made up of a bunch of guys of different ages, so how did you all meet?

Dustin: We met just being friends really. Brandon and myself are the two original members and we are the youngest. We met pretty much from hanging out and going to shows together and then we ended up going to school together. We started being friends about a year and a half ago and then we found Tom, he’s the newest member, we recruited him in September from shows.

Tom: It was December, actually.

Dustin: November. Anyway, around then we were recruiting our new drummer.

Tom: Let’s just say late Fall!

iheartthemusic: Being so young, I was surprised to read that you’ve already shared the stage with Silverstein! How did that come about?

Dustin: Yeah, we did that a long time ago. We won a show and it was at The Playdium in Toronto; there was a bunch of bands there and we ended up getting to pretty much play with Silverstein. It was fun.

iheartthemusic: That’s awesome, and a huge claim to fame! Speaking of fame, how did Gene Simmons hear about you guys?

Tom: He called me up! [laughs]

Dustin: What happened was, basically, one of our friends has a friend who is Belinda Stronach’s son and they [Gene and Belinda] know each other. Belinda was working with Gene Simmons and the demo, in one way or another, got into his hands; he listened to it and liked it. He ended up staying an extra day in Canada because he wanted to see us play so we got this call that we had to play for Gene Simmons in Toronto. We were like, “OK.” That’s not a phone call you get everyday! He’s a good guy and talked to us for about 15 minutes after we played. It was neat and fun to do.

iheartthemusic: Well, he is trying to start a label here in Canada so maybe he will scoop you guys up!

Emmett: That’s what that show was for. He’s making like a reality TV show.

Dustin: I know he’s tried to restart that label more than once, so I don’t know where he is with it, we haven’t really heard back. We just take it as it comes and if we end up hearing from him one day then sweet!

iheartthemusic: Is getting signed the next step for you?

Dustin: Yeah! We are looking to tour this summer and trying to put that together and also work to getting a non-profit organization on board. We are just trying to do everything we can; playing town shows as much as possible. We’ve got our hometown covered.

Emmett: We don’t want to be a local band that just opens shows all the time. We want to take it as seriously as we can while still having fun and let as many people hear our music as we possibly can.

iheartthemusic: You mentioned that you would like to get a charity on board and tonight you guys are here supporting Punk 4 Parkinson’s, why did you want to play this show?

Dustin: I don’t think Parkinson’s has really affected us as a band, but any charity show we try and play as much as possible.

Dustin: You try and link yourself with good publicity as much as possible.

Tom: We do it because we are in a position where we have the power to help something so then we want to do.

Emmett: That’s a quote from Spider-Man, ”with great power comes great responsibility.” [laughs]

iheartthemusic: In terms of your stage performance, what do you hope the audience will get from it?

Dustin: Ideally, I want people to be really stoked about the songs and want to listen to them all the time. Obviously I would love for us to be everyone’s favourite band, but that’s not the case… I think our live show is where it’s at. We do love jamming in the studio, but live is where the most fun happens.

Emmett: I think, especially with a show like tonight where we aren’t necessarily playing to our crowd, if someone comes to the show and gives respect to us – that’s one of our main goals. Also, if you leave the club and have one of our songs stuck in your head I think we’ve done our job.

iheartthemusic: Who is your crowd?

Emmett: Twelve to 21-year-olds are our target market.

iheartthemusic: I don’t make it then, sorry guys! [laughs]

Dustin: [laughs] It tends to be a little bit of a younger crowd, even if it is gentlemen coming out to the show. I think that’s [what's happening] with all pop rock music.

iheartthemusic: Who are some musical influences for you?

Dustin: New Found Glory.

Emmett: Dustin and I are into U2 and The Police and stuff too. I listen to a bunch of different music. As a band, mainly pop rockish bands and even some older bands. We try and pull things from all different genres that influence us.

iheartthemusic: If you could share the stage with any Canadian band right now, who would it be?

Dustin: Ten Second Epic again, maybe. They are good guys.

Emmett: I would be stoked to play with either Living with Lions or if Daggermouth got back together and toured again. Actually, I would love to play with Sum 41 just because they were the reason that I started playing guitar and that was the first show that I ever went to. Not the lineup that it is now though, they would only play songs from their first four albums.

iheartthemusic: Now we are getting specific! [laughs] So you have an EP out now, when was that released?

Dustin: January 27^th of this year. We are now working on shooting a music video for “Take You Home” in June.

iheartthemusic: What’s the concept behind the video?

Dustin: Just a performance video. Us having fun with all our friends and it will be shot in Barrie.

iheartthemusic: That’s exciting! So what do we not know about you?

Brandon: We love McDonalds! Every interview we do we always talk about McDonalds!

iheartthemusic: What’s the typical order?

Emmett: Usually all of us get double cheeseburgers. Can we also talk about how they got rid of orange pop! What’s up with that? See he [Brandon] works at McDonalds and he has a 50% off card so he gave his old card to Tom to use, so we are now working on making fakes for everyone in the band so that when we go on tour we all get almost free food! The only thing that is kind of bullshit is you need a new sticker every month.

iheartthemusic: That’s how they get you!

Emmett: [laughs] We do love McDonalds!

Not only are they super nice guys, but they also lend a hand to charities whenever they can – you can’t beat that! You can check them out next week here in Toronto when they play The Edge Steam Whistle Indie Club on Saturday, May 23rd at 229 Yonge at 9pm!

photography provided by Carl Heindl

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