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

Releasing an album can be nerve wracking and exciting for anyone; releasing an album and doing it independently magnifies that feeling even more. But for the guys in Toronto-based band Arietta, they appear to have a calm, cool and collected attitude towards the whole process. Meeting and chatting with the six-piece at The Hideout on a Sunday afternoon left everyone laughing out loud and excited for what’s to come for this young group of guys. The band is made up of Tyler Johnston (vocals), Sean Ramesbottom (guitar), Brian Craig (guitar), Kyle Smith (bass), Shehzaad Jiwani (drums) and Patrick McCormack (multi-instruments). Their sound is something that really can’t be defined, nor do they want it to be. Having formed a tight-knit relationship with fellow Toronto musicians, these guys have surrounded themselves with a musical community that consists of some of the best talent this city has to offer. Arietta is on the forefront of many music critics’ radars. iheartthemusic spoke with all six (yes ALL six) members about the release of their debut album, Migration (which is out TODAY), and how they are one of the hardest working bands out there.

iheartthemusic: How did Arietta come to be?

Sean: A few of us grew up in Scarborough, and Brian, Tyler and I more or less started the band because we knew each other in high school but we were never in the same friend circle – we were just acquaintances. In the latter years of school we started to play and jam together and thus formed the start of Arietta.

iheartthemusic: How long have you been this six-piece for?

Sean: This six-piece is pretty new; I’d say just over a year.

iheartthemusic: So with six people in the band what is the writing process like?

Tyler: Originally, when we first started, Sean brought the main chunk of a song to the table and then we all kind of welded it down, switched some stuff around and everyone put in their parts. With reviews for the album so far, everyone is saying that it sounds really eclectic with regards to instrumentation and genre. I mean, we’ve got so many different instruments on this album, and I think with the new members, and a lot of them being song writers from different bands, that’s going to be good and a little tricky. But we will have a lot more to work with and I think it might come a lot quicker than we would think it would at this point.

Shehzaad: It’s also kind of cool because everyone plays, or at least attempts to play, different stuff. The last few times we’ve jammed, we’ve all done switches. It’s a lot more fun!

iheartthemusic: That’s so cool!

Sean: I think it has helped my writing style a lot, having other guys to depend on who can fill in the gaps and that I trust because their writing is just on par. I know that if I’m stuck, they are right there to fill out the space. We work really cohesively.

iheartthemusic: That’s pretty incredible that you guys are all on the same page in that way.

Shehzaad: It also helps that we are not on the same page a lot of the time. It sometimes takes a while to kind of make everybody see.

Tyler: I think we understand where everyone comes from, yet we all come from different places. Whereas one guy might play a riff to one drum beat, another guy may sound totally different playing to the same riff and it all depends on who picked up the guitar.

Shehzaad: It’s like a gradient from being Sean, on the one hand, who is really technical and then me and Pat being the opposite and having no musical theory background.

iheartthemusic: With this album, you spoke about how the reviews have been all over the place with regards to trying to fit you into a certain genre or sound, but what would you like people to take from this album musically?

Shehzaad: The big thing is equal balance of melody and technical musicianship. The reviews so far have nailed that and everyone who has heard the record has honed in on that too, which we were surprised with.

Tyler: Yeah, that was surprising because it’s quite easy to write it off as pop. We come from a place where being slightly different or technical goes a long way. A lot of us listen to music that isn’t even in the pop genre at all. We listen to all that kind of stuff and have such an appreciation for it, but at the same time we also have a very big appreciation for pop music all the way up to Fall Out Boy. So I think trying to mesh really technical parts where everyone [listening] is satisfied as a musician, with parts where we’ve taken it to a level that has challenged them, has worked for us and a lot of people are picking up on that. They hear that we’re testing our own limits, but at the same time we aren’t catering to one specific market.

iheartthemusic: Do you think catering to all these different sounds and styles will confuse people or turn them off?

Sean: I think right now we’ve definitely come across a long road of proving to people that we can have a very wide spectrum of songs and influences and I think, at first, it is one of those things that a lot of people don’t know how to take. Then once they do, they really enjoy it. So I think people may be hesitant at first, but so far with reviews we couldn’t be happier and people have understood that we are a progressive pop/rock band. Since we started doing this, people were finding it hard to swallow and not really getting it. However, with [the release of] this record, people are falling into it right away and understanding it. If things go the way they have been, I don’t think we’ll have a problem.

iheartthemusic: I was told by a close source that I am supposed to ask you about Weezer?

Shehzaad: We don’t know what you are talking about!

iheartthemusic: All I heard is that I have to ask you about Weezer, so come on, spill it!

Patrick: The Waking Eyes were coming through town and they are known for every now and then playing the Blue album in its entirety. So, Travis Porter came to us and said that they were going to come this night and play and asked us if we wanted to do Pinkerton. For quite a few of us, that is one of our favourite albums, so there was no question that we were going to do it.

Tyler: However, we had how many days of practice before we were going to perform!? Travis called us and expected Arietta as a band to go up on stage and play the Pinkerton album. Well, instead of doing that, we kept it a secret and decided that four of us in the band would, instead of coming out and playing the instruments we normally play, switch instruments and learn the album front to back in three days with only three three hour practices. We’ll say we had about 10 to 12 hours of learning an album on instruments we don’t play.

iheartthemusic: That seems like a really smart idea! [laughs] Did people enjoy your rendition?

Shehzaad: People liked us more than The Waking Eyes.

Tyler: Not me!

iheartthemusic: Well good for you for braving that crowd! You guys aren’t signed to any label, so what was the process like getting this album out without any major backing?

Tyler: Hard and extensive. We had help from different sources; from ourselves and the bank, but at the same time it also benefited us. There are positives and negatives to being on a label or not being on a label.

Patrick: Part of it is money and part of it is legwork.

Tyler: Right now we are self-sustaining; we book all our own tours, we get press, we’ve done everything ourselves, which isn’t as hard when you have six guys in the band. We are our own label, band, management company – essentially we are everything.

Sean: It makes you understand the industry and the process. We’ve been doing this for a little while now and, through different bands, have been part of the industry. Without everyone’s hard work and determination it never would have happened. That literally is the only thing that got us through. With finances, if you work hard enough you will find it and you can work with someone that will support you. If you don’t do it yourself then it’s not going to happen.

Shehzaad: Right now, more than ever, there have been opportunities for bands to do that, whereas before it was really hard to succeed without a label.

iheartthemusic: It seems like you almost don’t need one now.

Shehzaad: Yeah, exactly. You can totally just do it on your own. Bands that we know can get by on their own with maybe just a publicist or a booker for tours.

iheartthemusic: Are you striving to get signed though?

Tyler: Yeah totally. It helps when you have a lot of friends in the industry too. So we do have an advantage in that way in terms of hookups with a lot of promoters, bookers, publicists, managers, a lot of these people who may not necessarily be able to help us at this point in time, but will point us in the direction or put in a good word for us, whatever they can do which is really great.

iheartthemusic: Speaking of friends, there seems to be a love triangle going on between Arietta, Dinosaur Bones and Great Bloomers. Where did that come from?

Tyler: And Oh No Forest Fires!

Sean: We are trying to start a new community.

iheartthemusic: Actually?

Patrick: It’s not a conscious effort.

Tyler: Essentially, what’s happened is this city has had for a while now this cross-armed, look at the ground, unless-you-make-it-big-somewhere-else-piss-off kind of attitude, which is fine because it happens in big cities and you can’t let it get to you. At the same time, through having a lot of friends in bands that are very talented and seeing them push really hard and getting no response, we’ve almost created this community. Usually these communities start where it’s like five bands and they are all hardcore or metal or punk rock. But with us you’ve got like a prog/pop band, you’ve got a country/alt band, all these different bands that are doing very well in their respective genres, which is very odd to see.

iheartthemusic: Did you guys all know each other before the bands started?

Tyler: Yeah, I’ve known Branko, the bassist in Dinosaur Bones, since I was about three years old. That’s probably the oldest friend I have. I met Ben, the singer, through him years ago because we used to go to concerts together.

Sean: Two of the Great Bloomers members, the drummer Andrew and the bassist Ty, used to be in our band. They were our original members.

iheartthemusic: No way! So that’s why there is so much love there! Do you think that sense of community is a Toronto thing?

Tyler: I think it’s a big city thing. The whole idea of making it somewhere else and then coming back rings very true, especially in this city. I’ve seen bands play here for years, pushing tons and then all of a sudden someone in Japan likes their band so they go over there and tour for a few months and then come back and they are the biggest band ever here. We are a very ‘turn your back on your own kind until someone else shows some interest’ city, which is a very vicious thing to say, but I think Toronto has been like that for a while now. So we will be going to the UK for a few weeks!

iheartthemusic: [laughs] I was going to say that! Have you guys had any performance mishaps?

Sean: This band is notorious for faulty gear. Brian’s amp blew up once!

iheartthemusic: What do you do when that happens? Smile and hope no one notices?

Tyler: He sings all the guitar parts!

Sean: We’ve had friends lend us gear. I couldn’t even tell you the number of times that we’ve had to share gear. We run a pretty large pedal board, so if something goes wrong with that you are spending like 10 or 15 minutes trying to figure out where the problem is. When you have a band with six people and a lot of gear, it poses a lot of issues!

iheartthemusic: I can imagine! So you guys play Horseshoe this Thursday for your CD release, will this be your first time playing at Horseshoe?

Tyler: Yeah, actually it is.

iheartthemusic: That’s amazing! After the album drops what’s up next?

Tyler: Ontario/Quebec/East Coast tour in the summer. We are pretty much ongoing for the rest of our lives.

iheartthemusic: Where can people get the album?

Tyler: All those online retailers like iTunes or Amazon. You can also get it at Sunrise Records and all the local stores. Hopefully you come out to a show and see us and then you can get it there. That’s the best way to do it and you can get it cheaper and a high five!

iheartthmusic: I’m sold on the high five! If there was one thing we should know about Arietta, what would it be?

Tyler: We are very handsome.

Patrick: When you’ve got six guys in a band there is probably more than one thing you need to know!

Brian: You have to know your Simpsons references!

Well there you have it! Be sure to check them out this Thursday, May 7th at the Horseshoe, pick up the album and of course get that high five!

photography provided by April Day

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.