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

The Phoenix Concert Theatre here in Toronto usually attracts some big name shows and this particular April evening was no different. On the bill were some pretty popular American bands: Shiny Toy Guns, All American Rejects and Ace Enders and A Million Different People – but it was Ace Enders that iheartthemusic was interested in. The band is headed by vocalist “Ace”, who may look familiar as he was the lead singer for pop rock group The Early November. After Early Novemeber ended, Ace took on a new project, which comes in the form of Ace Enders and A Million Different People. With the recent release of their debut record, When I Hit the Ground, notable press coverage for their cover of The Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony”, and touring with huge pop rock act All American Rejects, it appears that Ace Enders are on the right track to success.

iheartthemusic: You guys have been on tour for quite some time now, how do you maintain a healthy lifestyle while being on the road?

Ace: Healthy? I wouldn’t call it healthy at all. In some cases it gets easier, especially the more successful you get, because you are able to stay at nicer places, sleep more, have buses and whatnot. When you drive your own van, it’s just a mess all the time.

iheartthemusic: What do you like the most about touring?

Ace: I guess just playing the shows and its always great playing in a new place. After the first time you feel young again like this is why you are doing what you do. It’s exciting!

iheartthemusic: You did tons of touring with The Early November and are now embarking on more touring with this band, has it been tough to create this new identity as Ace Enders after the success of your group?

Ace: It hasn’t been the easiest, but definitely easier than some bands have had. I had something to build off of and am thankful for that, but it has been a struggle because now the music business is in such a weird place. It’s been difficult but good.

iheartthemusic: You released your first album free for download, was there any reasoning behind that move?

Ace: I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who had been supporting me for so long and do something nice for my fans.

iheartthemusic: You also started your own label called Regular Music.

Ace: Trying to do but unfortunately, financially, everything is on hold right now.

iheartthemusic: Damn the recession! Where do you see the biggest struggles?

Ace: Album sales have been really bad for everyone. You even see the impact at the merch tables. I mean things used to sell a whole lot more when times were a little bit better and you could afford it. Now you buy a ticket to the show and if you want to take the train home then you won’t be able to buy a shirt or a CD. You see that a lot where people are only able to pay for the ticket or even sometimes not even come.

iheartthemusic: Where do you draw your inspiration from?

Ace: Everything. It’s personal and also from just seeing what ’s going on in the world. I don’t really like to do “what sounds good”, I like for everything to at least have something behind it. Not that we are the most artsy bands but I do view it as an art and there needs to be some integrity behind it.

iheartthemusic: Who are the other members of your band?

Ace: Sergio, who plays bass played in my last band, The Early November, and the other two guys are from another band who were on The Early November’s last tour. Both bands kind of broke up at the same time and they weren’t doing anything and decided to come on board with me. It just started like they were going to help me and they ended up sticking around.

iheartthemusic: You get along then?

Ace: There’s definitely a friendship and it’s different from The Early November because we started at such a young age and it was all new to us. Now we have sort of seen it and we know not to be as dramatic and take everything so personally. You know being in close quarters that’s bound to happen, so its been good to play with people who are sort of like you and understand that things get weird a lot so you have to just deal with it.

iheartthemusic: Do you guys have any crazy stories from this tour?

Ace: I’m sure there are some in there. Right now this tour has been non-stop work for us; get to the venue, unload, drive. We’ve been doing a lot of morning shows and in-store appearances during the day and then we drive to the show at night and then leave. So if you consider driving exciting, then yes we’ve got crazy stories.

iheartthemusic: [laughs] How is it with the rest of the bands on this tour?

Ace: They are great! Everyone has been super nice and friendly and supportive. Hanging out a lot-everyone is really close.

iheartthemusic: You recently did a cover for The Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony”. Why that song?

Ace: Its one of those songs that no matter what kind of mood I’m in it will always put me in a safe place and because of that its been one of my favourite songs ever. I wanted to share that with people. Its very rare that you can have a song that has been around that long that you know is a safe place. Everyone has that song or that movie or whatever that makes you feel better.

iheartthemusic: That cover garnered a lot of positive feedbaks, but were you apprehensive about doing it?

Ace: Yeah, I have never really been big on covers.

iheartthemusic: Well at least your fans appreciated it! So what’s up next for you boys?

Ace: Well after this tour we will be heading out again on our own headlining tour and that will take up most of the summer for us. We are really excited about that and it should be a great time.

photography provided by Carl Heindl

**stay tuned for our shots from the show which include: Shiny Toy Guns & All American Rejects!!