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

Taking Back Sunday really need no introduction. With four albums and many years of experience and exposure under their belts- these guys have it down! We were able to slide in a few minutes with guitarist Eddie and drummer Mark at the Kool Haus. Check out what they had to say!

iheartthemusic: This tour is in support of your new album New Again, which came out a few weeks ago. Congratulations!

Eddie: Yes, thank you!

iheartthemusic: In exploring the title behind this album, why did you choose New Again?  I’ve read a lot of stuff online about you “reinventing” yourself as a band right now, and you have a new member – is the title indicative of that?

Eddie: Yeah, I think the whole vibe of the band is new; the way we look at each other as people, the way that we write music, the way we interact with each other.  Instead of being nitpicky with each other’s quirks, we’re embracing them and having fun with it and just being good friends. So all of that together is what’s making the whole vibe of the band different and new.

Mark: I wouldn’t really say we’re reinventing ourselves, I would just say it’s us coming back to life again; finding ourselves again.  So it feels new again.

iheartthemusic: So what would you say is different about this album for you? 

Mark: The writing process was way more fun this time around. We were way more open to listening to each other and musically we wrote different parts.  When we started writing, we would just walk into the room and be like “hey, whaddya got?  You gotta part? Yeah, let’s do it.”  We would work on it and have fun with it and listen to each other.

iheartthemusic: The last few albums you have spaced out so that they were released every two years- bang bang. Has the fact that this one has come after three years made a difference?

Eddie: I think the thing about this new record that people are forgetting when they say it’s taken three years is that we’d been touring for two years and we took a year off to actually write the record and have some time to ourselves.  People are like, “why did you take three years?” but they don’t understand that we were on tour!

Mark: We did take a little personal time.  Adam, our singer, had a baby.  He [points to Eddie] was hanging out with his kids and wife.  I got married.  We got a new member.

Eddie: And you had back surgery.

Mark: And I had back surgery.  Things took a little longer.

Eddie: I have two kids at home that I wanted to spend time with.

iheartthemusic: Absolutely! I mean you’ve been touring like crazy and half the band are married with kids!

Eddie: When I came home the kids were walking!

Mark: Before our first album came out we were touring, writing an album, then touring until finally we said “hey, we can chill a little bit”.

Eddie: Yeah, it’s okay to take some time off to get married, have kids…we deserve it!

iheartthemusic: Yes, it’s okay to have a life outside of the band! So what is the one thing that keeps you grounded?  Is it the phone call home or some sort of routine you have that maintains your connection to home?

Eddie: I talk to my wife every single day.  If I don’t, I get yelled at.

iheartthemusic: That’s a smart woman!

Eddie: I do a lot of video chatting with my kids too, they get really excited to see me.

iheartthemusic: Thank god for technology!

Eddie: Yeah, if this was eight years ago I’d probably go crazy.

Mark: I think we’re generally pretty grounded people.  We know what we got and how lucky we are to have it.

Eddie: People are totally shocked when they see us hanging out in a crowd. We wouldn’t be doing what we’re doing without any of the regular people.

iheartthemusic: I saw in an interview that apparently you wrote tons and tons of songs before you put the album together.  How did you choose from all the material you had to work with?

Eddie: We knew which ones we wanted to work with; we could feel it.  Those ones that are really cool that you get and know everyone’s going to like.

iheartthemusic: And do you think the economy kind of dictated that for you because the single is so huge?

Eddie: It’s good to know our singles are doing great but at the same time the record issues are doing really bad.  We’re not selling records anymore like we were six or seven years ago.  It’s really important to write the singles.

Mark: And there are a lot of single worthy songs.

iheartthemusic: Let’s talk about the video for your single “Sink Into Me”. How many showers did it take before you were fully clean?

Eddie: It took six showers!

Mark: We had one day off and went to Europe the next day and all our hands were still black.  It was like Nickelodeon slimy dye, just black instead of green.  At the end of the day I was sitting in a chair all black, after what? [looks at Eddie]

Eddie: 23 hours.

Mark: And it got to the point where I was like “oh God, get me the hell outta here! “

Eddie: And that stuff was ice cold! I can definitely pick out parts [in the video] where each and every one of us kind of gave up. There’s one point where I just fall off the stage and that’s really just me going “what the fuck am I doing?!”

iheartthemusic: It looks really cool though and is such a great effect!

Mark: Eddie and I got into a slime fight for a good half hour at one point.

iheartthemusic: You gotta have some fun when you’re covered in shit! [laughs] So then it was off to Europe right after that which you have been quite fortunate to have been before.  Where has been the best crowd so far?

Eddie: I love Australia, but Canada’s great too! Either Toronto or Vancouver.

iheartthemusic: What is it about Canada that you love?

Eddie: It’s a cool country.  I feel like you guys have it right up here. I don’t want to get all political, I mean I love being an American and I’m proud of being an American, but I just wish that sometimes America would take some advice from other people, I think it would help out.   We also always have a good time up here.  I mean, the shows are great, the kids are awesome, the chicks are hot- I’m not gonna lie!

iheartthemusic: After this whole tour, you guys are going on tour with Blink 182 and Weezer which is awesome!

Mark: Yeah it’s pretty huge!

iheartthemusic: This isn’t the first time you’ve share the stage with some heavy hitters though, does anyone else kind of stand out for you?

Mark: We opened up for Green Day in London, and I don’t know if you know the Bullet in a Bible DVD where they’re playing live in front of 65,000 people? Well we got to open up two of those shows!  Two shows in a row which were sold out to 65,000 people! The second night, Billy Joe Armstrong comes over to our dressing room and is like, “Hey what’s up, I’m Billy!” and then we got to hang out with them the whole night. It was awesome.

Eddie: It made me more humble because they were so down to earth.  Like, Billy Joe was like, “This shirt smells so bad!”  and he took me up to their truck and was like, “Yo dude, come here and check this out!” and showed me the making of their DVD.  I just sort of realized that this is one of the biggest bands in the world, they came from the same city we did and they understand what gets you ahead.  That’s kind of like a big influence.

Mark: There was one point where Mike Dirnt was there and he made me a Jack and Coke and he filled it up to the top and we start talking and my hands start shaking! I was so nervous talking to that guy that my drink started spilling out everywhere!

iheartthemusic: Did he chirp you, [laughs] please say he did!

Mark: He was totally looking at my drink and I was totally like this isn’t happening right now!  And then he was like, “alright man, I’ll talk to you in a little bit…”

iheartthemusic: [laughs] Yes!!  Okay, last question – from someone who’s never seen you perform live, what can I expect?

Eddie: Energy!

Mark: Energy!

Eddie: Yeah and just awesomeness.

Mark: It’s gonna be good!

[editors note: unfortunately this show was cancelled due unforseen circumstances...however they will be back and we are looking forward to catching their live set next time!]

photography provided by James Blake

On Thursday (March 5^th) iheartthemusic decided to venture into familiar territory and attend The Secret Valentine Tour show at The Mod Club. Why was it “familiar territory”, you ask? Well, it seemed like the same crowd that was at the Take Action Tour Toronto show a few weeks back was in full attendance at this one too. It was all ages, which became ever more apparent as we never had to wait for a drink at the bar! We arrived fairly early so as to get a chance to speak with the boys from The Cab, one of the bands performing that evening, and noticed that a lineup had already begun well before the show’s opening act was set to perform (don’t these kids have school?). As we walked into The Mod Club there were a few comments directed at us by the girls in line who appeared to be upset that we were getting in before them! I even believe b**** was yelled at us by a 14-year-old girl. It was an interesting way to start the night!

First up on stage was a band from Florida (which was a theme throughout the night) that go by the name of VersaEmerge. What I loved about this band was that it was headed by a female vocalist. You rarely see that in a rock/pop band and so this was a breath of fresh air! Sierra Kusterbeck is her name and she exhibits maturity well beyond her years (she is only 18!), which became evident when we sat down and chatted with her before the show. The girl can sing too! She commanded the attention of the audience and it was hard to look at anything else (let alone the other band members). VersaEmerge ended their set by adding “even though this is half the crowd we’ve played for, it’s the best we’ve ever seen!” Well thank you, but considering the venue was not even half full, I doubt it was the best!

Next up was There For Tomorrow, another Florida based band that consists of Maika Maile (vocals/guitar), Christian Climer (guitar/vocals), Christopher Kamrada (drums) and Jay Enriquez (bass). These boys started off by doing the sound check that they had missed earlier. I won’t use that against them, however, as I later found out that their absence  during sound check  was a result of wanting to go downtown. Having been their first time in Toronto, you have to love a band that takes the time to enjoy the city they are playing in! So after all the tuning was done I have to say they were pretty amazing and lead singer Maika’s voice was incredible. What really got the crowd going were the MANY references to the fact that Canadian girls are so beautiful. On numerous occasions Maika announced, “I like what I see pretty girls”, which either means that their publicist had prepared them well (considering the entire audience was female) or they truly do believe that Canadian girls are hot (and why wouldn’t they!). Either way, this is a band that I am going to keep on my radar as I anticipate we will be hearing more from them soon!

The Cab was next on the bill and I got the pleasure to sit down and chat with some of the members before the show. You may have already heard of them as their single “Bounce” was featured on an episode of The Hills in the fall. When the band first appeared on the stage I was a bit thrown off by the Michael Jackson glove that lead singer Alex was sporting during the entire set, however, they made up for it with their talent. This band went straight into it, there was no chatting with the crowd or telling them how amazing they were like the predecessors. They played their first few songs without even acknowledging the crowd, which I loved since, let’s face it, it’s all about the music anyway! They also incorporated different instruments into their performance, which you don’t normally see with this style of music. Keyboardist Alex (the heartthrob of the group) added a unique touch to their sound. There was one minor instrumental setback during their set when Ian’s guitar was out of tune, but singer Alex was able to cut the silence by singing an old tune from five years ago and engaging the crowd in the process. They invited Sierra from VersaEmerge on stage to sing with them at one point which was great and the combination of Alex and Sierra’s voices sounded amazing. One thing I noticed that lead singer Alex did that I have yet to see any other bands do was introduce and thank each individual member of the band while on stage. I also appreciated the N’Sync throwback that snuck into their set near the end. These boys have convinced me that they know how to put on a show and were definitely the highlight of the night.

Last but not least was We The Kings: the headliners for the evening. I actually didn’t catch their set as I was engaged in some interviews at the time, but managed to hear a bit. What I heard was great, although it was not all original material. I believe they played a cover of Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours.” I didn’t quite understand this; do they not have their own material? A source close to the tour informed me that that was typical of their performances, so I was a bit disappointed by that. After the show I was able to chat with them and they redeemed themselves in my books. They are really down to earth and truly enjoy what they are doing and all the support that they get from their fans (I still don’t understand the fee  they impose on fans who want to meet them after the show though). I will have to catch them next time they are in Toronto to garner a better understanding of what these guys are really like as performers.

photography courtesy of Jessie Lau