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

iheartthemusic got the chance to catch up with Mat (vocals) and Frank (guitar) from the Montreal band Mobile during Canadian Music Week. This is a band that are considered veterans in the industry having been around since the late ’90s. Their rock-inspired sound has been on constant rotation on both the radio airwaves and on music channels all over the country. Mat and Frank offered us some insight into the music industry by revealing what they thought of the state (or death) of the album, why they love Europe so much and the troubles they have had with our neighbours to the South.

iheartthemusic: Let’s go way back to how Mobile came to be.

Mat: We formed the band about 10 years ago, but we’ve known each other since we were kids. I met him [points to Frank] when we were six years old, so we know each other really well. We started playing music together around the age of 14 or 15 but the band that is Mobile have been together since the late ’90s. Pierre, our drummer, left in December and we replaced him with Martin, the new guy, who is great and it’s a breath of fresh air. 

iheartthemusic: You guys changed your original band name from Moonraker to Mobile, why?

Mat: Well, we were called Moonraker but there was also another band called Moonraker from the United States at the time. They were touring in Toronto so we had problems with people being confused by both bands having the same name. They also own the rights to that name in the United States so we just decided to change the name instead of going into a legal battle and losing time and money that we didn’t have. We were really looking for a record deal so we changed the name. 

iheartthemusic: Was there any reasoning behind choosing Mobile?

Mat: We were looking for a one word name and back then we didn’t know that cell phones were going to take over the world like that! What we had in mind were band names similar to Oasis. [Mobile] comes from a band that we all love, a band called  LongPigs that used to be around in the late ’90s from the UK and they have an album called Mobile Home. We were looking through albums that we all liked and Frank mentioned Mobile  and we all said yes. 

iheartthemusic: Now you are a band that hails from Montreal, where French is your first language, so why did you choose to sing in English?

Mat: I started listening to music at a young age and as I was growing up I was watching all these English bands. That was how I got into music; not by listening to any French music. [French music] just didn’t really touch me the same way that English music did. I wanted to be like Sting or John Taylor more than any other French artist. I also don’t write in French and translate the lyrics in English, which is a personal choice. It’s a lot easier to have an international career when you sing in English as well and personally,  I think the language of rock and roll is the English language.

iheartthemusic: You recently released your second album, Tales From The City. Why did you choose that as an album title?

Mat: I started writing and having ideas about the second album while we were on tour in Europe. We had been visiting all those great cities, like Berlin, and I was really influenced by traveling from city to city. So I tried to write a song about each [city] that we were visiting but it just didn’t turn out well. When I came back [to Canada] I still liked the title. We started writing the record in Montreal when I was going through a tough time personally and so I tried to write songs that were tales from the city and about people that I know that were living in Montreal and going through the same kinds of things.

iheartthemusic: You have also come out with a video for the single “The Killer.” How did you come up with the concept for that?

Mat: Well, we spoke to the directors and they totally got it. When I wrote that song I was trying to create a character because I didn’t want to write only about my personal life. I tried to invent a character that you could follow throughout the record. At some point he [the character] becomes a killer; society made him a killer. When we spoke with the two directors they totally got it and had this vision of a Bladerunner kind of guy running from something. You won’t see him shoot people because that’s not the case and you don’t know if he is going for the chick or for the kill. I don’t even know myself what he was going for but they totally captured what I had in mind as far as the image.

iheartthemusic: It’s a great concept. What has been a defining moment for you as a band?

Mat: When we signed the [record] deal. We were really excited because you strive for that, you want a deal to put your career on the right path and start writing and recording. Probably a personal accomplishment for me was when we got the gold record. That was the proudest moment I had because it comes from the fans and they are the ones that are buying your record and supporting you. We got that right before Christmas so it was really like wow!

Frank: Maybe the day I left my day job so I could say I don’t have to work anymore. That was a great feeling. My boss was very happy for me as well.

iheartthemusic: You guys have been fortunate enough to tour all over the world, so where has been your favourite spot so far?

Mat: Berlin and Dublin. In Europe you feel like people over there are very loyal music fans, whereas here the attention span for people is short. I mean you can be big one day and then gone tomorrow. Look at the UK for example, you get everyone touring there, even people that are dead here. You know that when you go there you have loyal fans that love music and are willing to see and hear new things without being too careful.

Frank: The Strokes and The Killers exploded over there before here and a lot of people don’t know that because people here didn’t care about them at the time. People are more willing to give anyone a chance over there.

iheartthemusic: Do you think that that is changing at all in Canada?

Mat: Not really, no.

Frank: One of the reasons for that is the radio. Stuff that plays on the radio is always the same and it’s very conservative, so I think if the radio all across Canada started to try new stuff, then maybe it would change but right now it’s the same.

Mat: Don’t get us wrong though, we’ve been very lucky as a band to get a lot of radio play here and are very grateful for that.

iheartthemusic: With the invention of iPods and iTunes is there a market for bands to make money off of record sales today?

Mat: I think right now it’s a generation of young kids that don’t really buy albums. For me it’s a really weird transition that I could definitely see coming but I didn’t anticipate it being like this. When I was younger you would actually have a vinyl or CD or cassette which you had to buy in order to have the song you like so much. So even if you only heard the one song on the radio and you liked that song, you would have to go buy the whole record to listen to it. Compare that to now where you can buy one song and that’s usually it. We are also confronted with people who say you should give your music away and I’m like, alright, so you want me to work a year and a half to write an album, invest my own money or someone else’s money, somehow to put the record out and actually make it, and then expect me to survive by giving my stuff away? People then say you tour. But how do you tour if you don’t have a product to sell? I’m really confused sometimes when it comes to that because the reality is that that is what is going on right now. A lot of people are not even aware that you buy or you lose money. It’s weird that people will come up to us with a CD that they just burned and expect us to sign it.

Frank: Very often we get that or we get people telling us, “oh yah, I burned your CD last night, it’s so good.” For example, if a bartender would say that to me, I would then say to him, “ok, so I’m going to help myself to a beer.”

iheartthmusic: Has it affected how you approach writing a record?

Mat: No, it’s affected the sales. It’s scary out there! You talk to everybody, especially in rock, and I think rock fans are probably not as loyal as metal fans. It seems like the metal heads are really hardcore and will buy the record.

iheartthemusic: Well let’s hope that people get out there and buy your album then! After this tour what is up next?

Frank: We are actually negotiating a US deal right now, which is exciting because we have had a lot of problems in the past with our record company in the States. It was a nightmare that kept on going and finally is over. We got out of that deal we signed a few years past and now we are about to sign a new one and hopefully release the record there in June or July. We have also already started writing new material because we want to release another record as soon as possible. It took a long time between our first two records because of all the troubles we were having with the record company overseas. It was just something that has been really tough to go through as a band, and is a reason why a lot of bands break up; because they are owned by the record company who are not willing to let them go but not willing to put the record out.

Mat: We were lucky to have Universal Canada who have always supported the band and are the reason why we were able to have a career and now we will hopefully have the same relationship in the States.

photography provided by Matt Vardy

Day four of CMW brought team MKAY back to the Sound Academy to interview and check out two Toronto based bands that have a similar vibe to them, and yet are very different in their sound. We first spoke with the boys that make up reggae/rock group Rebel Emergency. These guys took to the stage and brought with them sunshine, good times and great music. They played a mixture of old and new tunes that kept the audience (and us) wanting more. By the fourth song, lead guitarist Geoff was able to show us all the talent he’s got with an incredible solo that even had him body surfing the crowd while playing! We had never seen anything like that before, but I’m not too sure how the crowd below felt carrying him along. What was also cool to see was that this band had two back up female vocalists that added to their sound. They were very polished and lead singer Roddy’s voice was reggae inspired with a twist. They definitely played to the crowd and by the time their set was over Roddy’s shirt was off and the surfboard was out. You may be wondering why a surf board when we are in the middle of March? The answer to that is to surf the crowd of course! Well, at least that is what the boys from Rebel Emergency did. Roddy got on top of it while the crowd below shuffled him along. It made for a very unique ending to a great performance! Overall this is a band that we are now a huge fan of and cannot wait to see again. Check out our interview with Roddy and Geoff!

After Rebel Emergency came the boys from Down With Webster. This is a Toronto based band that we have personally known for quite some time and have watched them grow in both their talent and fan following. You could tell that the majority of the people who were in attendance that night came to see DWW as the chants for “DDUB” started well before they hit the stage. As soon as the curtains were parted the crowd went nuts and we even caught a glimpse of their good friend Gene Simmons, who was in 

attendance, get super excited when they hit the stage (rumour has it that he has signed the boys to his record label). These guys came on stage with a bang and ended with one too. They are known for their explosive stage performances and they did not disappoint this time. Halfway through their set they started to throw red plastic cups into the crowd that were each branded with their “DWW” emblem. What can we say, these boys know how to market themselves and their merch table was no exception as they sold t-shirts by the truck load. They played some old favourites such as “Grind” and added a few new tracks off their forthcoming album. Keep it up guys, you make Canada proud!

photography provided by Matt Vardy              

On our third night of CMW team “MKAY” ventured out to the Sound Academy to chat and listen to the amazing sounds of Montreal based band Mobile. These guys have been blowing up the charts lately and are currently on tour with our good friends Inward Eye and Bend Sinister. Mobile were not headlining the show (which was a bit of a surprise) but nonetheless managed to outshine their competition. Lead singer Mat’s vocals were incredible and proved that he is a true performer (especially when he was able to continue to play despite some minor mic stand difficulties). The crowd was definitely into it and showed their support when they played “The Killer” and everyone  sang along. They also introduced a new member to their band: Martin Lavallee on drums. He proved to be a great addition as his skill and stage presence that night were unmatched by anyone else. It really felt as though he had been with the band from the very beginning. Mobile ended their set with another popular song off their first album (the one that got them the Juno) called “Out Of My Head.” Once again, everyone in the audience was into it, there were even some mutters in the audience from people who recognized the song but had no clue what the band was called.  Stay tuned for our chat with them!

After Mobile’s performance, team “MKAY” hightailed to Lee’s Palace to catch Matt Mays & El Torpedo. This is a group that have garnered MUCH buzz within the indie rock scene so we were looking forward to seeing what all the hype was about. We arrived in time to catch the end of The Novaks‘ set (another incredibly talented and diverse band). The guitar skills of these guys are out of control and if that was any indication of what’s to come on their album (which comes out next month), we will be the first in line to pick it up!

After The Novaks were our favourite guys: The Waking Eyes. Having previously reviewed and interviewed them, we knew what to expect and 

were (yet again) blown away by their sound and stage performance! These boys just get better and better each time and the fans in the audience all agreed that that was one of their better performances.

Matt Mays & El Torpedo were last to take the stage. As soon as they started to play you could tell that the crowd were comprised of followers and fans and we were right in there with them. We have heard so many great things about these East-coast boys and they definitely did not disappoint. After watching them live and seeing the skill of both Matt Mays and the rest of his band, there is no doubt in our mind as to why they won the Indie award on Saturday. One thing that is quite difficult to do and is often a huge mistake, is when bands take on the challenge of performing a cover song of some amazing classic rock legend. Well these boys were up for the challenge and played a rendition of “Wild Horses” by The Rolling Stones.  We were so pleasantly surprised by their rendition that it felt as though we were hearing that song for the first time as performed by the original writer. At the end of their set (which lasted TWO straight hours) they invited all the acts from the night up on stage to sing with them one last time. It was great to see Rusty from The Waking Eyes play acoustic with Matt Mays and it was an experience that everyone in the audience knew would be hard to beat. It was an incredible show and definitely a highlight of our week. After this night, we can honestly say that we have seen some of the best talent in Canada.

photography provided by Matt Vardy

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