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

If you haven’t already heard of The Envy don’t fret, it may be because when they played Toronto last they went by a completely different name: Crowned King.  Now under their new moniker they’re currently on a cross-country tour with good friends and label mates The Midway State. Having seen The Envy when they played under the name Crowned King, we were anxiously awaiting the new lineup and killer tunes that their recently released EP, Don’t Let Go, has been blasting from our stereos over the past few weeks. Their sound is a mixture of rock and pop and their live performance is anything but boring. These guys brought the house down at Mod Club on April 17^th and we were front and centre to get in on some of that action. Lead singer Shaun’s vocals were flawless, and with their rock star look and West Coast attitude, everyone appeared to be extremely excited to have them on stage.

iheartthemusic: So the band as The Envy has only been around for a few short months, but Shaun, you played in another band for quite some time, right?

Shaun: I played in another band for the last eight years called Crowned King, which taught me a lot about the music industry and touring. We toured all around the world -we went to Asia, Australia and all over North America – and I learned everything that I wanted to know about how to do this. Then when I started this band, it was just like here is what I learned and let’s take it to the next level. Some of the songs that I had written at the end of Crowned King are now The Envy songs. It’s a new band with hopefully a good future ahead of us!

iheartthemusic: You guys just released your debut EP as The Envy, that’s exciting!

Shaun: The EP came out about a month ago. We launched our EP by playing at a bunch of high schools in Toronto. It was really cool.

iheartthemusic: So how did you meet the rest of the band?

Shaun: Near the end of my old band I was doing a lot of songwriting and working with a producer named Gavin Brown in Toronto and he introduced me to Steve [guitar].

Steve: We’ve been working together for about two and half years now.

Shaun: We started working together way before The Envy, and then when it came time to start this band, myself and Steve just kind of headed it up and found some really amazing guys from Toronto. Our drummer Izzy just moved over from France and he’s a total prodigy on the drums and Bodan, our bass player, has played in bands forever. Johnny, our keyboard player, was in Crowned King with me so it feels like a really strong group. I’ve never had this much inter-band charisma.

Steve: We all have one goal.

Shaun: We all have our heads in the same place and I’ve never really been in any situation like that in my life, where everyone is like here is what we are going to do and let’s do it. Everyone is so on board.

iheartthemusic: That’s awesome! You are now on tour with The Midway State, which is your second tour with them. How did that relationship form?

Shaun: We are actually labelmates and I had been writing with Nathan a lot, so when it came time for a tour it just seemed like the obvious choice, and then when it came time for this tour we were like let’s do it again.

Steve: It worked really well before.

Shaun: This is our first tour as The Envy, though.

iheartthemusic: What do you hope people will get from your EP?

Shaun: I was saying to the guys the other day that right now I really love the new Kings of Leon record and everyday when I wake up I just want to turn it on, like I have to hear it. So I guess I hope that people out there who have our EP, or eventually our album, will, before they go to bed or when they wake up, have it in their head and they need to hear it because they just love it. That was the goal and hopefully it connects with people like that, which would be amazing!

iheartthemusic: You guys just came back from a trip to Vancouver for the Junos and apparently you had some bus troubles south of the border. What happened?

Shaun: We toured across Canada with The Midway State and went out for the Junos and did all the Juno fanfare stuff. Then they went to Halifax for this Death Cab For Cutie show and we decided to take the shorter route home, which is drop down over the border and head across the interstates. We ended up breaking down like five times and by the fifth time we broke down it was in Billings, Montana, which is this amazing little town. It’s about 200,000 people and is a total up and coming town with clubs and casinos.

Steve: Nurses, doctors, scientists.

Shaun: Just a weird, weird place and we knew right away when we got there that it was the friendliest place we’ve ever been. So when we found out that our bus repairs were going to be over four grand US, which is like five grand Canadian, we were like shit we’ve got to put on a benefit concert on to raise some money. So we called our manager and told him that we were going to throw a concert. We went to Kinko’s and made tickets and fliers and started to go around town distributing them. We went to all the happy hours at all the bars and started to talk to everyone.

Steve: People just started latching on all of sudden.

Shaun: The newspaper even ran an article, and then the next morning the main radio personality guy was pounding on the bus while we were sleeping. He told us to go with him and we ended up doing the morning show. By the next day every radio station was telling the story and promoting the show and when the show finally came around, it was packed!

Steve: While we were promoting it people were telling us that they were already coming to it.

Shaun: The whole town showed up and it ended up being this unbelievable show and we raised a ton of money to fix the transmission.

iheartthemusic: And get yourselves home!

Shaun: Exactly, and here we are!

iheartthemusic: Do you think it was easier because it was a smaller town?

Shaun: Absolutely, it was also a small town in North middle America, just starving for something to do. We stood out; I mean, we don’t look like the average Billings, Montana homeboys.

iheartthemusic: You guys also recently shot a video.

Shaun: Yes we did. We are still putting the pieces together and will be probably putting it out with the album. The album isn’t out yet, but should be out in the fall. The video is for a song called “Don’t Let Go”, which is on the EP and should be on the record.

iheartthemusic: Do you want to divulge anything about the video?

Shaun: It’s a really dark video. A guy named Frank Borin did it, he actually did some of The Midway State videos, but he also did Red Hot Chili Peppers, Good Charlotte, Eminem – some big bands. He came up with this idea and it’s all about how the band is lit. His videos look so slick and it was shot at night in this old abandoned shipyard, which has since been torn down. It was shot in North Vancouver so it’s a bit nostalgic for me because it’s where I am from.

iheartthemusic: What’s going to happen next?

Shaun: We are going to the Maritimes this summer, then to the middle of Canada for all of August, and then September we will be touring Ontario non-stop.

iheartthemusic: Out of everyone that you have been able to share the stage with, who has been your favourite and why?

Shaun: Well, as The Envy we have mainly played shows with The Midway State and on our own.

Steve: Mobile was pretty cool.

iheartthemusic: What is your favourite venue to listen to music and why?

Shaun: This venue, The Mod Club.

Steve: It has the best sound and the best vibe.

Shaun: I just heard The Midway State sound check and I can’t believe how good the sound is. For me, that’s such a big part of it.

Steve: So much impact.

iheartthmusic: Favourite bar in Toronto?

Shaun: I love The Gladstone, go out for some karaoke. I’m new to Toronto so I don’t know if that’s the cool answer. Where I don’t like is The Drake. We had the worst night there the other night.

Steve: In a matter of five minutes I was told that I couldn’t stand in a certain place because they will loose their license.

Shaun: It was also full of people who I wouldn’t normally want to hang out with. No more Drake for us.

iheartthemusic: No Hideout action?

Shaun: The Hideout, where’s that?

iheartthemusic: It’s across the street from Tattoo Rock Parlour and is probably one of the best grungy bars in Toronto and it plays live music most nights.

Shaun: Well thank you because that’s where we will go. I also went to Wrongbar the other night, which was pretty sweet.

iheartthemusic: If you could share the stage with any band, who would it be and why?

Shaun: I would love to open that Kings of Leon show on Tuesday night!

Steve: If we could open for U2 that would be pretty sweet as well.

Shaun: U2 has always been one of my staple favourites, I love Coldplay, Kings of Leon, Foo Fighters, the new Kanye West record or have him do something on one of our tracks.

iheartthemusic: Any crazy fan moments?

Shaun: Sheri Love from Billings, Montana. I can’t really divulge too many details, but let’s just say that we hung out with her for a night and the next day we got a call from the Billings Police Department and she was claiming that we stole her wedding ring. Which was absolutely impossible, like how do you steal someone’s wedding ring?

Steve: She wrote this lengthy letter to the police.

Shaun: For a day she was telling everyone that we robbed her.

iheartthemusic: And she was a fan?

Shaun: She was someone we met, pretty much a 45-year-old cougar.

iheartthemusic: That’s crazy, you have to watch out for the cougars! Has the recession affected your writing style at all?

Shaun: When we made this record, it was made over the last two years, and every time we wrote we were trying to make what we wrote the best song. It was never about the fact that we needed an album track and I don’t know if I’m going to regret that, but it’s an album full of songs that were written to be singles.

Steve: We don’t like filler.

Shaun: There is a lot of pressure on bands these days and it’s tough to succeed nowadays. We have a really good team right now though: fans, friends and writers.

iheartthemusic: Anything you want to add?

Shaun: You can listen to our songs on the MySpace.

Steve: My favourite website is iheartthemusic.com!

Great tunes and clearly charmers as well! Be sure to check out their MySpace for tour dates near you!

photography provided by Matt Vardy

Tattoo Rock Parlor was the destination du jour on April 16th if what you were looking for was an exciting, fun night combined with stellar music.  AfterpartY, Senor Kasio and The Framework were the perfect line up, proving they are all great songwriters, musicians, and entertainers.

First out was AfterpartY, an up and coming pop rock quartet out of Toronto. Throughout the whole performance my eyes were peeled on lead singer Kristina who I feel is destined to become a pop rock icon with her confidence and stage presence. I can just picture it… instead of every little girl emulating Avril and Gwen Stefani, in a couple of years they will be singing AfterpartY songs at the top of their lungs, pretending they are Kristina. Not only did she have a great energy, she also had a powerful voice, not necessarily unique in any way, but boy could she belt out a ballad. The sound mirrored the punk/pop music of the moment – non pretentious, just catchy and fun. Everyone in the band looked like they were having a great time on stage, but hands down the lead singer stole the show for me. If the stars align, they will be the next Paramore in a couple of years.

What can I say about the next band that hit the stage? There are a lot of words to describe Senor Kasio, but I’m going to have to go with FUN, FUN and more FUN! This trio from Toronto was one of the most exciting bands I’ve seen… ever!  Their energetic stage show paired with their eccentric musical stylings made for a great time that transcended to the audience. I had one huge grin on my face throughout their whole set and I know I wasn’t the only one. Their music is indescribable – you cannot pinpoint or categorize it into a genre and there are no words to describe it other than it’s a little bit new wave, with a hint of musical theatre, mixed with a whole lotta love. Their groovalicious dance moves combined with their unique and sometimes outrageous tracks like “I love it,”  “I Wanna F,” and a song about Febreze that could make anyone fall in love with Senor Kasio.

Last, but certainly not least, was headlining band The Framework who finished off the night with an amazing, high-energy set. This band has major star quality, they looked the part and, more importantly, their songs are comparable to (and in some cases even better than), some mainstream music out there. It is definitely catchy with some major radio-friendly tracks, but don’t be fooled, they are not your average pop group – they have depth and substance, which is seen in their song “Wasted”, which is a personal favourite of mine.  The melody and lyrics combined with the mysterious yet soothing sound of Chris’ voice equals pop at its finest. If I had my way, it would be a single off their new album. Musically, they remind me of The Killers and Bloc Party with a little bit of ’80s Prince goodness. It’s the music I would put on at 3am on a Saturday night, inebriated with a bunch of friends to keep the party going and to dance like no one is watching. All in all, this band is a must see! Their high-energy performance and up-beat dance tracks will make you want to boogie down… I know I will next Saturday night!

reported by Kristen Tignanelli

photography provided by Carl Heindl

When it comes to music that supports a great cause, iheartthemusic is a huge advocate! So when we saw that STAND Canada – an organization made up of students who got together to raise awareness and champion for Darfur – were throwing a benefit concert at Tattoo, we knew we had to be there. The event took place on April 2^nd and had two incredible bands playing in support of this charity, We Are The Take and Birds of Wales, with all tickets sales going towards the charity.

The night started off with a band that are no strangers to iheartthemusic as we were introduced to them back in February when they opened for the Arkells and The Waking Eyes. We are talking about We Are The Take who played an incredible set that night. These guys never fail to amaze us,  however, it did take the audience some time to warm up to them as the floor was virtually empty until the end of their performance. They played all the songs off of their debut EP, such as “Dreams” and “Tenterhooks”, and they even introduced a new one, “Fire”, which was sung almost entirely by Craig with Kevin coming out from behind his drum kit to sing along (they also had bassist Andrew play some trumpet, which I am told he hasn’t done since high school!) A crowd favourite had to have been “Montreal Love Song”, which vocalist Erik said was pretty self-explanatory and is about falling in love with a girl from Montreal (I wonder who that may be…). This is one of the tightest bands we have seen perform live, and they are getting better each time we see them.

Next on the bill were the four guys from Birds of Wales. Lead vocalist Morgan sang incredibly well and was able to get people on the floor dancing to groove along with their country-rock tunes. Though Morgan had played an acoustic set previously that day at a MySpace secret show, he was still happy and excited to be playing for the second time that evening. They played all the hits, including “Cinderella (has nothing on you)” and a few love songs that were dedicated to various female audience members. The only rather disappointing thing was that the crowd appeared to filter out. We weren’t sure if that was due to the fact that it was a Thursday night and people had to work the next day, or that they were only there to see We Are The Take, either way it was their loss as Birds know how to rock.

Birds of Wales are a band that garnered much hype a few years ago and have since been touring the UK with such heavy hitters as Xavier Rudd. When we sat down and spoke with Morgan he explained to us that they have already recorded their album and are just waiting to release it. Well, after seeing them live we are certainly hoping that that will be very soon!

photography provided by Carl Heindl

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