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

The Burning Hell is not like any band you have ever heard. I can almost guarantee it. The collective, from anywhere between two and 12 members playing on any given song, centred around Mathias Kom and his ukulele… That’s right, you heard me. Mathias has engineered a sound that some have called folk-rock, some have called apocalypso and almost everyone is impressed. For a live audience the strongest impression they give is fun. The band members never look like they would rather be anywhere else, and watching a show is like being let in on the kitchen, backyard or living room jam session. iheartthemusic spoke with Mathias to find out a little bit more about the band and what they’ve been up to….

iheartthemusic: When did the band get together?

Mathias: Well, I guess it would have been 2000.

iheartthemusic: And the term “band” is pretty loosely applied here. There can be anywhere between two and 12 people playing with you at any given time. How do you decide who plays when?

Mathias: Well some of us have jobs, and most of us have other projects on the go and stuff like that, so it all depends on who’s available and when.

iheartthemusic: Have you had everyone with you since 2000?

Mathias: No. People come and go. A Lot of people have gone on to other things and we are getting new people all the time. So it’s a total varying cast. I think we have had over 40 people in and out of the band over the years.

iheartthemusic: Wow! So who do you consider to be the band?

Mathias: Whoever’s on stage.

iheartthemusic: Alright… so tell me a little bit about your new album, Baby.

Mathias: We ended up recording it in three sessions while we were on tour. We did that because we didn’t really have time to go into one studio for a long time. So we just decided we would make the best of it and record it all while we were on tour.

iheartthemusic: And do you find that made a difference in the album?

Mathias: Well, there were lots of surprises and definitely the environment that we recorded in affected the way it came out, but it all came together.

iheartthemusic: Totally… So, where were the three places you recorded?

Mathias: We recorded in Vancouver at Brian Barr’s house, just in his living room there. We recorded in Port Greville at the Quarantine, the studio of construction and destruction, a great band and great friends of The Burning Hell. And then in London we recorded at House of Miracles.

iheartthemusic: Do you think that this new record is a departure from your last album, Happy Birthday, or is it an extension on what you started there?

Mathias: It’s both a departure from the last album, sonically, and also an extension of the same themes. Lyrically the themes are similar, but in terms of the way the band sounds it’s very, very different.

iheartthemusic: Speaking of lyrics, there have been comparisons of you to Leonard Cohen… do you think that’s an apt description?

Mathias: [laughs] No, I don’t think so. Of course I am very flattered when I hear that. But I think that it usually comes from the fact that I sing in a baritone and so does he. But that is where the similarity ends, as far as I can see. I am no where near as talented at writing lyrics as Leonard Cohen.

iheartthemusic: Well, you both see the dark humour in the world.

Mathias: Yeah, that’s true, but you could say that about a lot of other songwriters. Leonard Cohen is the distinctive Canadian poet, first and foremost, and I am nothing like that.

iheartthemusic: You don’t think of yourself as a poet?

Mathias: No, not at all

iheartthemusic: Well, people who read your lyrics may beg to differ, but let’s move on. You just finished the album release tour for Baby. How’d that go?

Mathias: Mostly really well. We had a van break-in incident in Montreal that cost us a lot of money, but other than that dark spot it was pretty great. We only lost a laptop, but it was a rental van, and that really screwed us over… Other than that it was a lot of fun.

iheartthemusic: And you’re not done with being out on the road yet, you are headed back out to play at the Pohoda Festival in Slovakia!

Mathias: I am super excited about that, and not least because Patti Smith is headlining.

iheartthemusic: And you aren’t even done then! You keep touring through Canada this summer!It makes me wonder, when do you get to the songwriting? Do you need to be home and settled in order to write new stuff?

Mathias: Well, writing sort of just happens when it happens. And I’ve tried to sit down and write before but it usually never works. So it just happens when it happens, and when it’s on the road, it’s on the road. But usually it’s not, i’ts just a matter of time and stuff.

iheartthemusic: So who’s traveling with you this summer?

Mathias: There is gonna be six of us this summer. We’ve got our bass player, Nick Ferrio, Mike Duguay who plays keyboards, Adam DeMarsh our drummer, Jill Staveley our guitar player and our newest member Dave Hartley, who plays harmonica.

iheartthemusic: And that’s for the whole summer?

Mathias: No, that’s just for the Europe portion. When we get back it’s reverting back to whoever shows up.

iheartthemusic: Do YOU always know who’s coming, or have you ever been surprised?

Mathias: Sometimes it’s a surprise. Usually we know at least a day in advance, it’s fairly standard. There’s usually six or seven of us, with sometimes two or three others.

iheartthemusic: That must get crowded on some stages.

Mathias: It does. It depends on the stage, but we have definitely played some tight spots before.

iheartthemusic: One more question…. On iTunes, your genre classification is “singer/songwriter”, if you could make up a genre to add to the list that described The Burning Hell, what would it be?

Mathias: Hm… well, once we got classified as stoner cartoon rock. And I really like the sound of that, even though none of us are stoners. And I haven’t yet seen that in any record stores or on iTunes, but I really like it.

iheartthemusic: For sure.. I definitely see that taking off. Thanks so much for taking the time to chat with me! And good luck with the summer shows….

Check out The Burning Hell when they return to Toronto on July 25 and August 21, both shows at Sneaky Dee’s.

Written by Sam Banack

Photography by Justin Cutler

As I left my house to head down to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on the Exhibition Grounds, a storm rolled into town like Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry, tumbleweeds and all. Dads with strollers were running down the sidewalks, seeking shelter, women clutched their children to their chests, “Sally, close your eyes, storm’s coming.” … But I just smiled to myself. Great Lake Swimmers could not have planned a better backdrop to the soundtrack they provided that night, even if they paid the entire cast of Stagecoach to ride by on covered wagons. Fresh off the release of their new album Lost Channels, and in between the American and European legs of their tour, Tony Dekker and GLS rolled into their hometown of Toronto for one night only.

“It’s great to be home,” Dekker said as he opened the show. The audience was more than happy to have them, and showed it with enthusiastic cheers as GLS launched into a set list that blended songs from their new album with those from the previous three. It’s a solid catalogue they have to pull from, and their distinctive folk-rock alt-country style remains constant through all their songs, which they perform impeccably.

The thing about GLS that makes them such a great band is that they are true musicians. Even when they record they are performing. Lost Channels was recorded in abandoned grain silos and churches, not studios with Ashlee Simpson music magic machines. You can hear the earnest love and passion behind the music that the Great Lake Swimmers play, and you feel lucky to be in on the secret.

I have to say, if there was one thing I could have changed about the show it would have been the venue. The Queen Elizabeth Theatre, opened only recently and packing in audiences with a great line-up, is a soft-seated theatre. Personally, I hate that, the whole point of going to rock shows is to move, to interact with the music, and you just can’t do that when you are sharing an armrest with a stranger. But GLS was worth sitting still… they are truly mesmerizing performers. Tony Dekker commands the stage with his quiet confidence andquirky banter, Julie Fader is the perfect compliment with her sweet backup vocals and quirky stage presence (she curtsied and ran off the stage early, only to have to return, red-faced and shy!), and a strong core of friends and guests that kept the show moving, varied and interesting.

If you missed the show you are outta luck, as the band is in Europe for the next couple of months… like they don’t have enough already! But downloading the new album from iTunes or getting the CD should keep you tied over… I suggest getting it on vinyl. The woodsy robust sound of the record is perfect to experience the soft harmonies and natural beauty of the bands music. But I am sorry you missed the show. It was great!

Leaving the theatre, the rain had broken and everything felt fresh. Or maybe it was just the show.

Review by Sam Banack

Photography by Justin Cutler

Originally from Manotick, Ontario and currently living in Montreal, Hollerado is a fun group of guys making a fun kind of music. The four-piece band is comprised of Menno (guitar), Dean (bass) and brothers Nick (guitar) and Jake (drums). Seeing one of their shows or hearing the album makes you want to smile and dance… ihearthemusic learned that having dinner with them has kind of the same affect when we all met to feast at New Ho King in Toronto, the night before they left for their tour of China.

iheartthemusic: How did you guys get together as a band?

Jake: Over beers…

Menno: Summer 2007…0r 6… One of those summers living in Manotick, we were all just kinda living on our street. They were our neighbours.

iheartthemusic: Where did the name Hollerado come from?

Menno: It’s imaginary. We had a moving company called Haulerado, it’s true, and that’s where it came from.

iheartthemusic: Your iTunes genre tag is alternative, what’s with that? If you could create a genre tag that speaks specifically to your music, what would it be?

Menno: Alt.Alternative

Jake: Lame. Purple Monkey Dishwasher, classic answer.

Menno: Progressive Christian Rap… or…

Dean: Newskool Funk Opera

iheartthemusic: So who does the songwriting for you guys?

Menno: It’s collaborative. Nick and I do the most, but there are different ways we go about it. No two songs are the same.

iheartthemusic: Do you guys want to talk a little about your album, Record in a Bag?

Nick: We’d love to. We made it last summer…

[At this point we were interrupted by the waiter who came to take orders: a couple Tsing Tao's and a round of waters. Then Menno takes charge and orders up a Chinese feast; his eyes were bigger than his stomach. We ended up with seven dishes! Luckily there were four hungry band boys to meet the challenge]

iheartthemusic: So, you were telling me about recording your album last summer.

Menno: We recorded it in a bunch of different places, so we got to travel a lot. That was awesome! Recording is like the funnest thing in the world. Better than touring.

Nick: Really?

iheartthemusic: Well, you have been doing a lot of touring lately.

Menno: And that’s also fun.

iheartthemusic: Tell me about the Residency Tour you guys just finished.

Menno: We played a different city every night of the week and did that for four weeks. We basically lived in the van.

iheartthemusic: Who came up with it?

Menno: That was us…

[Everyone laughs]

Jake: Sorry to interrupt, but does your recorder have a built-in lie detector? No way we came up with that idea.

iheartthemusic: Would you do it again?

All: Yeah!

Nick: We want to real bad!

Menno: We are actually toying with the idea of doing it in Hamburger…I just said Hamburger… I meant to say Hamburg. In the fall; but just in the one city, and play three sets a day.

Nick: Just to be more like The Beatles. We love them.

iheartthemusic: Do you have other musical influences?

All: Nope… [laughter]

iheartthemusic: Alright then… You were recently at SXSW, how was that?

Menno: Awesome… We were just talking about that in the van on the way over here. It was quite debaucherous….

Dean: But we don’t need to go over it again.

Jake: But we will. There’s this band we were hanging out with there called Magneta Lane; they’re cool and they’re girls. They put up our pictures on the website for SXSW, but the album title was Drunk by More Drunk. I guess that’s how it was for them… It may or may not have been the same for us.

iheartthemusic: So did you find some time to play at all, what with all this debaucherousness?

Dean: Yeah! We got to play three times.

Nick: So that was really fun, and we played a PopMontreal showcase and that was really fun too. We played with some really great bands.

Menno: Really great bands. I love Gentleman Reg, The Boats too.

iheartthemusic: And your next trip…

Nick: China. It’s certainly the furthest away we have ever gone.

Menno: It’s our first time on an airplane as a band.

Jake: I am getting bumped up to Business Class. I am calling that right now.

Menno: That’s fine, as long as you send back that free champagne… [in his best british accent] “excuse me, can you send these flutes back to that scraggly blonde guy, the dark haired gentleman… and Dean.”

iheartthemusic: You’re going with The Stills right?

Menno: No, that’s not happening, they just pulled out last week. They’re all too tired from jet-setting around the world. We’ve played with The Stills a lot in Canada, and it would have been fun, but it will be fun to make new friends while we are in China.

[At this point someone elses dinner goes by.]

Menno: Whoa, pineapple full of beef! Why didn’t we get that? We should have named our album Pineapple Full of Beef. Maybe the next one.

iheartthemusic: Speaking of which, will the next one come in a bag like your EP did and first album?

Menno: No, we’re thinking of moving on.

Nick: …but we’re not sure yet.

Menno: Maybe we’ll put it in a pineapple… with beef.

iheartthemusic: Is there a particular brand of bag you like using best to package the discs?

Nick: Ziploc, seriously… Ziploc are the best. We go to dollar stores some times and we believe that sometimes we’ll get a good batch of dollar store baggies. But they’re never as good.

iheartthemusic: Are you seeking out some kind of sponsorship?

Menno: We would really be down. If anyone out there reading this who works for either Cold-FX or Ziploc, come talk to us.

You can listen to Hollerado’s album Record in a Bag or download it COMPLETELY FOR FREE on their website www.Hollerado.com

Interview by Sam Banack

Photography by Justin Cutler