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

SUNRiSER are asking many questions these days, but the one that stands out the most corresponds with their recent album titled Is This a Good Life?.  Having had the opportunity to do tours across Canada, the UK and Ireland (which was made easier by bandmates actually being from that part of the world) the title of their recent album appears to be fitting for this up-and-coming act. They just played an amazing set at the PEACE DOT LOVE Music Festival during NXNE and are currently travelling to promote the recent addition to their musical accolades.

iheartthemusic: Your band consists of a bunch of guys from all over the world, how did you all meet then?

Davey: It was a lot of things happening at the right time really. We’ve all got our own stories of how we all met; some guys are online, some guys are friends of friends, some guys through other bands. Just the fact that we managed to stick it out this long together, we take pride in that.

Declan: I was online. I came here in 2001 and went online and the  lads were advertising for a bass player so I met the guys and then that was it.

iheartthemusic: You guys got very lucky then! So let’s talk a little bit about this album- what was the recording process like?

Declan: It was recorded in Toronto.

Saam: We did the drums and bass in Toronto. Most of the vocals were done in preproduction.

Darryl: It took about a year and a half- it was a long process!

iheartthemusic: Often times bands find the recording process very  strenuous. Are you a band that are more partial to playing live than recording?

Darryl: I am totally live as opposed to recording. These guys love it, but I love live.

iheartthemusic: In the age of digital downloads; were you apprehensive at all to come out with a new album?

Davey: Yes.

iheartthemusic: So why not just do the download thing?

Sean: Well we have both. I think just old school wise it’s nice if you are going to  a show that you have something to take home with you.

Darryl: At the end of the day you might as well just have both!

Declan: You can’t go home with an MP3! [laughs]

iheartthemusic: How was it touring overseas?

Declan: It’s different in every country for me. In Canada there are so many places  and so the advantage of touring in Ireland and the UK is you can play in a lot more places in a faster time. Canada is just geographically massive and so is incredibly different.

Darryl: St.Johns, Newfoundland is the best place in Canada!

Declan: iTunes and MySpace have made it so accessible for fans from all over the world to research you and get in contact with you which is great!

iheartthemusic: So I am assuming you’ve jumped on the twitter bandwagon too!

Darryl: Yeah we have.

Davey: There are only so many hours in the day to update all these social networking tools! It’s like an hour out of your day sitting at your computer!

iheartthemusic: What has been your favourite venue to play at in Toronto?

Davey: We have a really good relationship with The Horseshoe and the vibe and history of that place is awesome. It’s a great room. We also really enjoy The Mod Club. You know it’s a newer place but its really band friendly which is cool.

iheartthemusic: I love seeing shows at The Mod Club, so its nice to hear that a band enjoys playing there too!

Davey: Yeah, I mean the “dives” are cool and you can’t turn your back on that but when you show up at a really posh place it’s a nice treat too.

Saam: Supermarket is nice as well because it is a more intimate vibe and you get a nice connection with the audience.

Declan: But the history of The Horseshoe is pretty intense- I mean you can feel it when you walk into the place.

Darryl: Everyone gets treated the same too. It doesn’t matter if you are The Rolling Stones or  us- we are all in the same room, walking up the same stairs and getting treated the same.

iheartthemusic: Absolutely! Has there been anyone that you were able to play with that blew you away?

Darryl: French Kicks from New York were pretty cool.

Davey: We are certainly hopeful that with the release of this new album we will be able to play with some of these bands that we idolize. That’s sort of where we are at and the place that we want to go.

iheartthemusic: What made you guys decide to play for  PEACE DOT LOVE?

Saam: A friend of mine had been to a few shows and enjoyed them and her friend was actually organizing the festival and then it turns out that a couple of our friends knew the two guys that got killed. So they basically got in touch with us to play.

Davey: It’s also got some other great bands playing, its at the Kool Haus and we’ve never played there before so that is cool. We are pretty honoured to be a part of it. We feel pretty lucky.

Darryl: It’s one of the best things that musicians can do. They are always the first to answer the call, I think. I believe that musicians have a pretty good social conscience.

iheartthemusic: Tell us something that people woudn’t know about SUNRiSER.

Declan: I think musically we are kind of diverse. There are different elements to our sound that other bands don’t usually have.

iheartthemusic: You have to have some stories along your travels that you can share?

Darryl: Well in Manchester we ruined our rental van.

iheartthemusic: Partying?

Declan: Yeah, you could put it that way! It was the most expensive tour ever!

Darryl: We will just say that we had a band member that decided to get the party going in the van before we got home. The cleaning bill was huge and let’s just leave it at that!

iheartthemusic: After this album release what’s the plan?

Declan: We will be going out East supposedly in July.

Davey: We aren’t able to do it all at once, so we are going to handle the East coast in July and then Ontario/Quebec in August and then take it as it comes for September.

Darryl: Hopefully we can head back to the UK at the end of September.

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.