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

With the rapid success of their debut album, Say Us, Toronto rockers Zeus are quickly becoming the band to watch in 2010. We here at iheartthemusic were lucky enough to sit down with Mike O’Brien of Zeus during CMW to discuss the bands breakout success, new album release and their latest performance at SXSW.   Here is what we were able to learn from the Zeus front man:

iheartthemusic: First off, congrats on the Now Magazine cover, that must have been really amazing for you!

Mike: Yeah it was really exciting especially because we are from Toronto.  We have a really great publicity company, Canvas Media, that works at the label and they are just really on top of their shit.

iheartthemusic: Well it’s been a crazy time for you considering your album just dropped last month!

Mike: Yeah, actually on February 23rd. So it’s all been a bit of a whirlwind since then.

iheartthemusic: Fill us in on what your life has been like since the album was released.

Mike: Well we didn’t really get a chance to party that much because we were so busy, but it was really exciting for us.  We had been keeping the album to ourselves for so long that it felt great to put it out and hear feedback and share it with everyone.

iheartthemusic: We think it’s a really incredible album with a totally unique sound and we are interested to learn how you would describe your sound?

Mike: Basically its Rock and Roll or “Pop and Roll”. To me, Rock and Roll has always meant a synthesis of different music and that’s what we are trying to do: we are drawing from all of our different influences and trying to mix it up to make our own little stew.

iheartthemusic: Who are your influences?

Mike: When Carlin and I first met in high school we bonded over Nirvana from the beginning, along with NOFX and other Punk bands that were around at the time.  And then a little bit after that, we were really into the Halifax pop explosion like Sloan and all those bands we were super into as young teenagers. But throughout all that there are also some classic influences like the Beatles, the Stones, the Kinks and the Zombies that were our bread and butter.

iheartthemusic: We read on your website that you guys aim to make “timeless songs”, so what are the elements of a timeless song? How do you try to put that together?

Mike: A “timeless song” can be in any genre and presented in any way. I don’t know if we have succeeded in making timeless music but the main thing to focus on is the songwriting and that comes first. We take a lot of care in the arrangements and the construction of our songs. That’s our benchmark—to  make sure the song is solid—and then we add all of the frills.

iheartthemusic: What’s your favourite song off of the album?

Mike: All of them have been my favourite at different points in time. We recorded the album over the course of almost two years. They’re all so much fun to play and totally feel fresh every time we play them.  But a personal favourite of mine is “At the Risk of Repeating,” because I really love to perform it.

iheartthemusic: We have noticed that your album bears a strong connection to nature, especially the video for “Marching Through Your mind.” How does nature connect to your music?

Mike: Well the video came about through Adam Makarenko’s vision.  We had seen his photographs and found out that he makes little models like the ones in the video. He builds really realistic things from nature like a ribcage of a deer with birds feeding on it. He builds them out of all these different things like pill bottles. The video came about because we loved his work and thought the video would be great using his visual style. I had the idea to take our EP artwork (a picture of our boots) and envisioned that our boots would come to life and have a journey up the mountain.  We brought that to Adam and he fleshed that out and also introduced the nature sounds to the beginning of the video.  It was really fitting because we are from North of Toronto and grew up cottaging and camping so it really is an extension of our experiences.

iheartthemusic: What sets Zeus apart?

Mike: We are a band that has three songwriters, which is important to us.  I don’t think that’s an easy thing to pull off but I feel like we have the people within the band to be able to do that.  It’s tricky to balance, to incorporate three different artistic visions and make it cohesive at the same time.  But hopefully we are doing that and I feel that we have achieved that on the first album.

iheartthemusic: Rapid Fire Round, ok?

Mike: Ok (laughs)

iheartthemusic: What is your favourite Toronto venue to attend or perform at?

Mike: The Magpie.

iheartthemusic: Favourite Breakfast Cereal?

Mike: Um…Cinnamon Life

iheartthemusic: Favourite Romantic Comedy?

Mike: Before Sunrise and its sequel After Sunset. They were both really natural and realistic.

iheartthemusic: Favourite Woman?

Mike: My girlfriend Andrea Wilson

Enough said. Great band. Great sound. Go check them out now!

interviewed by Victoria Kuketz

photography provided by Aaron Alleyne

One very packed evening in Times Square – not abnormal for the city that literally never sleeps – an up and coming band called Paper Zoo made their New York debut. They played to a sold out Nokia Theater, opening for the legendary Roger Daltrey of The Who. Paper Zoo, collectively and individually, had never travelled to New York City before, but while this was their first time in the Big Apple, they are accustomed to the big, bright city lights, coming from America’s sister city: L.A. Born and raised West Coaster’s, most of the band have been playing together since they were twelve years old. The trio of Billy (William Thomas Wesley II), Alex (Allister Izen), and Monte (Monte Dyaami Najera) were the original band members while Marty (Martin Lopez), is the newest edition to their composition. Even though Marty has only been playing with the band for the past 4 months, you would have thought him to be one of the original members with how well they mesh together both on and off stage. Altogether, their sound is a fresh take on, and inspired greatly by, The Beatles. iheartthemusic got to sit down and chat with the guys right before their New York debut…

iheartthemusic: So how has the tour been going?

Billy: The tour has been great. We actually kicked off the tour in Vancouver and then made our way over to New York. There are only a couple more stops and then we head home. New York is awesome though. It is everything we thought it would be and more.

iheartthemusic: Do you have any favorite places that you’ve played-on or off the tour?

Paper Zoo: Well, when we were younger we used to play on the boardwalk of Venice Beach, which was always a great time and entertaining to say the least. But we also loved playing The Viper Room in L.A. I think our favorite place that we played on tour was probably The Orpheum (also located in L.A.), or The Paramount in Denver, Colorado. Both of those were pretty sweet.

iheartthemusic: What is the music-making process like for the band? How has your music evolved since you have been together for such a long time?

Paper Zoo: There isn’t really a process that’s specific. Alex is the songwriter, for the most part, and we all contribute to the sound. Our influences come from The Beatles, King Crimson, Soft Machine… There has been SO much that has evolved throughout the years. Every day there’s an evolution.

ihearthemusic: What’s the ultimate goal for Paper Zoo?

Billy: Ultimately, we want to make an impression, become a legend [laughs]. I think that’s what every artist, no matter the medium, wants to do.

Alex: The ultimate goal for the music is to be stylistically polished.

iheartthemusic: So how can fans and fans to be access your music?

Paper Zoo: wearethepaperzoo[dot]com is the website where our music can be accessed and info about us is available.

iheartthemusic: Are there any acknowledgements or last words?

Billy: We would like to thank our moms and Linda Perry.

Alex: Goodbye and thank you so much!

Paper Zoo can definitely be identified with a more psychedelic sound/feeling and with Monte’s great beat and unexpected strength for the drums, the music can go from a lullaby’d, orchestral intermission to rocking out in a pleasantly new and unexpected way.  Check them out next time they are in your city!

Photography provided by Troy Paul

Written and reported by Cahdlah Forsythe

The first thing iheartthemusic noticed about Matthew and Nathan Leone from rock and roll super group Madina Lake is that they look exactly alike! Twin brothers, actually.  Throughout the whole interview it was hard to tell which one was the bassist (Matthew) and which one was the lead singer (Nathan). However, what we do know for sure is that these two brothers from the Windy City are probably two of the nicest, most genuine people. These brothers are not only jovial people, they are passionate about music and about pleasing their throngs of fans. Interviewing these two gentlemen before their show on April 23^rd at the Phoenix was like talking to a good friend you hadn’t seen in a long time. We talked about our favorite band – Smashing Pumpkins – Warped Tour and eating shit on Fear Factor.

iheartthemusic: Matthew, in your bio you say that you guys had more life and experiences under your belt making the new record, Attics to Eden, than you did when making your first album, From them, Through Us, To You.  What experiences did the band go through between the first album and the second that made you guys grow?

Matthew: I think one was just sort of the touring cycle. We spent two and a half to three years on the road in different countries under different circumstances and with different egos.  Lots of wonderful surprises, like Linkin Park and My Chemical Romance, they wound up being the nicest, most down to earth inspiring people ever while some of the mid-size bands to lower-size bands had huge dramatic egos and would wage these little drama wars ; and when imposed upon you it kind of creates a reaction and I think that reaction came out a little bit on the second record.

Nathan: And I think, musically speaking, one of the big inspirations too was that on the first record we got a little bit categorized in this emo or pop/punk thing, which is fine, to each his own, but it’s nothing we ever listen to and it’s nothing we ever saw ourselves as.  I think we maybe had a little bit of animosity about that or something, but it ended up great because it caused us to push way further and I think we finally found our identity with this one.

iheartthemusic: In being a Chicago-based band and growing up there, were you inspired at all by that music scene in particular?

Matthew: Yeah, and I don’t know necessarily if it was a conscience thing, I mean, it is now but at the time it wasn’t. I think it’s just a blue collar town, a lot of electronic music stems from there, a lot of house music and then bands like Smashing Pumpkins. All that is subtly ingrained in you and it actually took our producer David Bendeth, who we worked with on the second record, the one we just put out, to sort of bring that to life. He was telling us that, and we didn’t realize it until that moment, but yeah, it influenced us for sure.

Nathan: It’s really cool, I’ve grown a much bigger appreciation and respect for Chicago as of late. I mean, Chess Records is one of the most infamous blues labels based out of there; a lot of their artists are based out of Chicago, it was a huge blues city. Now it seems like every couple of years Chicago turns out huge bands, it’s really cool. I really respect and appreciate that about Chicago.

iheartthemusic: I feel that Chicago and Detroit have their own style and their own scene more than anywhere else.

Matthew: More genuine and honest music comes almost from a necessity. They make music to give them something.

iheartthemusic: Your music is very big sounding.  Was the whole band drawn to this big sound when forming and making the first record?

Matthew: I think it’s a result of the four of us having pretty diverse taste in music, but all of us having in common that we like bands like Paul Simon, The Beatles, all the staples right on through to Metallica, NIN and Smashing Pumpkins. So, like, we were fans, we didn’t grow up listening to hard core punk per say. Our parents were listening to Paul Simon and Fleetwood Mac and we were loving that and I think that’s where we became fans of big chorus and dramatics in music.

iheartthemusic: So you guys were on the same page musically from the get go.

Nathan: It’s weird because I feel like we’ve been in bands in the past and it always felt like we were trying so hard to get something we liked. With this band it seems like when we’re working on something we all kind of know when we love it right away and we all like really love it.  It’s a weird thing, whatever it is, between anybody in a creative environment, there feels like there is some magical click or something. I’m not saying that it ends up the most amazing music but for us it’s so fulfilling, it’s easy and it’s satisfying and rewarding.

iheartthemuisc: You say in an interview that Smashing Pumpkins and Refused revolutionized music, in what way do you think they did that?

Matthew: I think honesty and integrity applies to both bands. Refused, for example, had no ulterior motives with their music, they had a statement and they were going to make it no matter who was trying to stop them, no one would be able to. The Smashing Pumpkins came out in a time when this new thing was burgeoning called “grunge” and they got thrown into that category right away, and they were not grunge! So they especially had to articulate themselves, you know, to set themselves apart; their music and subject matter and lyrics distinguished them and made them pioneers.

iheartthemusic: Well, I definitely agree with you on that, Smashing Pumpkins are my favorite. Well, back to your music and your new album, what do you want fans to take away from it, what is your message?

Nathan: Well, I think music for us has always been this kind of escape, like anything that is going on in your life that is stressful or otherwise, happy or sad or whatever, music was always a way to escape that reality. [Music] created this imaginary world for us, which is one reason why we kind of created this town and story behind the album, to get that across.  So I think it would be incredibly rewarding if someone was inspired in any way, shape or form, like if anyone felt better about their life or themselves, felt connected, relieved, anything like that, it would be really rewarding. We hope our music incites enthusiasm or provokes thought, you know, maybe  get people thinking about something from a different perspective.

iheartthemusic: Other than this tour you will also be on Warped this year! How different is it traveling with a ton of bands all at once?

Matthew: Night and day, it’s very, very different. Warped is an amazing tour but it’s a really arduous tour because your set times change every day; you never know what time you are playing until that morning and you have to get there at like 7am. The drive and the traveling is pretty brutal, there aren’t many days off, but with so many bands it’s awesome because a lot of your friends are on it and you get to hang out.

Nathan: Some people like drama, I suppose, we don’t, we like to kick it on the sidelines and enjoy ourselves. I heard that the bands on it this year are going to be just awesome, laid back, cool vibes, no egos… then the tour will be amazing.

Matthew: It is vastly different, what is important to us when we play live is to really create this full-on cerebral experience. You can accomplish that in a club where it is dark and you do your own thing with lights or whatever, however you want to present your show. [However], there’s only one way to present a show at Warped: get on stage, sweat your balls off, get off.

iheartthemusic: Tell me about your stage show, do you have any pre- and post-show rituals?

Matthew: Yes and yes. Pre-show rituals: we do some yoga and some meditating, try to get on the same wavelength. We all have our nervous things that we do while we’re pacing around and muttering little mantras to one another that I won’t disclose because they are embarrassing… As I was saying before, a concert experience for us has always been that escape; when the lights go off and the doors close and everyone is packed in, it’s like nothing else in your life matters and that’s how we feel when we’re on stage, so hopefully that is conveyed and you can get a break, a little mini vacation from all the griefs in your life and all your dramas, people judging people and all of that crap. None of it matters in that time, you can just let go and cut loose.

Nathan: We’re not about any scene bullshit, popularity, or haircut or what clothes your wearing. We’re about an uninhibited environment where everyone can absolutely be themselves and can be in a judge free zone and don’t have to worry what other people are doing, or saying or thinking about them.  So that’s what we try to convey from the stage.  The truly great shows are when the audience gives that back and you can tell it’s uninhibited.

iheartthemusic: I have one last question I have to ask. You boys were on twin Fear Factor and won! Did you use all those winnings to record and produce your first EP, The Disappearance of Adalia?

Nathan: I bought a flat screen TV, which is one of the best purchases, I love television. I love watching like Curb your Enthusiasm, Weeds, Lost, 24, I love those series. So, yeah I think that was one of my better investments. But that was it, otherwise it was all pretty much the band.

Matthew: We had so much debt going into that thing, we could pay credit cards off and make a demo that was about it.

iheartthemusic: Was it a good experience?

Matthew: It was an interesting one… we thought it would be hilarious! We were going to go on there, make fun of the jocks, get kicked off and by the time it aired we we’re going to invite our friends over and just happen to turn the TV on and be like, “look what happened!”  We thought that would be awesome. It didn’t go that way.

Nathan: It kind of became a big deal. As far as the experience, it was miserable, to be honest… The shit we had to do and the actual stunts plus it was cold.

Matthew: Dealing with those meatheads and the people that go on that show, but it was kinda funny, I guess… We invited all of our friends to this bar and had them play it and that’s when we watched it and that was about it.

Nathan: That was fun as hell that night!

iheartthemusic: Getting drunk and watching the show?

Matthew: Yeah, and a friend of ours from high school threw up in his glass just watching it!

Interview by Kristen Tignanelli

Photography by Joyce Wong

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