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

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

It is quite unique these days to find a band that is musically talented, performs well AND are all related. Well, iheartthemusic found this all in the form of Winnipeg threesome Inward Eye. Anders, Dave and Kyle are three brothers who are making quite a name for themselves. They have already been on countless tours – including one that had them opening for legendary band The Who - and they were also the headliners for the opening night party of Canadian Music Week at Tattoo Rock Parlour. iheartthemusic took some time to talk with all three of them before that opening night show show on March 11th. Check out what they had to say:

iheartthemusic: Being siblings, do you feel your parents had an influence on your decision to pursue music?

David: It was pretty natural actually. I picked up a guitar when I was about 14 or 15 and just kind of played around and showed Kyle some chords. He, of course, quickly got better than me.

iheartthemusic: I guess that’s why he’s the guitarist now!

David: I guess so. Then I eventually got a bass and Anders eventually acquired some drums and we would always be jamming together. We then realized let’s play in a band together. We were sometimes jamming with our friends, but it just seemed easier this way.

iheartthemusic: You guys also got a chance to venture into the US to play some gigs there. How did that happen?

David: It started during CMW in 2005 when we played and some of the record labels really liked us and so word got down to the big wigs in New York City that they should check us out. They ended up flying us down and we did a series of showcases there which was pretty mind-blowing and we got a record deal out of it! So it was pretty good.

iheartthemusic: You’ve done tons of touring since then, such as Warped Tour, Lollapalooza and a stint with The Who, so  what is it about touring that you love?

Kyle: Playing live is the highlight for us as a band. Everything else about touring is hit or miss; you’re stuck in a van for long periods of time, eating poor quality food and not sleeping much, but in the end it’s a lot fun too and you get to see a lot of different places. The stage is the best part though.

iheartthemusic: So where has been your favourite place to play so far?

Kyle: Some of the best shows that we have ever played seem to be out West. I remember we played at the Pemberton Music Festival and that was a really good one. We played on the second stage. We had the mountains all around us and tons of people who didn’t know who the hell we were, which was good because it introduced us to a whole new crowd.

iheartthemusic: You went from playing on the second stage at a festival to opening for The Who, that must have been an amazing accomplishment for the band.

Anders: [The Who] have always been one of our biggest influences growing up, ever since we got into our dad’s vinyl back in the day, so it was just amazing. We played a show down in Austin a couple of years ago and their promoter saw us. We then ended up playing a couple of shows in Canada with them and then when the American tour came around their name came up again and it was probably the best tour we’ve ever done and ever will do.

iheartthemusic: You guys are now on a Canadian tour with Mobile and Bend Sinister. I actually got to speak with Bend Sinister last night and they gave me some dirt on you boys. Apparently you can hold your liquor quite well!

David: Yah, apparently we can for skinny boys! I mean there is only three of us, right, so we get to divvy up the booze three ways, so we’ve learned how to handle ourselves.

iheartthemusic: You also just came out with your first self-titled EP in January and you have a video out for the single “Shame.” It has an unusual concept surrounding it, can you tell us how you came up with that?

David: The director’s name was Rémy M. Larochelle and he approached us because he was really inspired by the song so we just let him have free reign with it. He drew a couple of pictures of us looking like crocodilians or something, but I think the clincher for us was the baboon beating up the priest. We were just like this is the man for us, we are going to offend some people so let’s do it right.

iheartthemusic: You were aiming for shock value then?

David: Yah, it’s great because it goes with the whole theme of the song which is about rising up against the oppressors.

iheartthemusic: You are also hitting up Warped Tour again this summer, are you excited about that?

David: It’s going to be a tough grind. I mean Warped Tour is awesome, but it’s definitely a grind. We get so much exposure and it opens a door to the whole punk scene, which we aren’t really in. We consider ourselves a rock band, so it kind of gets our foot in that door too.

iheartthemusic: How is it living together, working together and being brothers?

Anders: Well, we have done it our whole lives so we are pretty used to it!

David: We are like an old married couple; bitter and resentful [laughs].

iheartthemusic: So after Warped Tour what is the plan?

David: We are going to be hitting the road pretty hard in Canada and come back to the Toronto area and do the “401 milk run” as we like to call it; all the little areas. We are also going to be doing another little stint in New York City. We are going to be releasing our full length album hopefully in the fall, so the EP is just a little taster of what’s to come from us.

iheartthemusic: Do you want to add anything for your fans out there?

David: Please check us out on our MySpace site and give us your comments! Let us know if we are complete tools, or you like what we are doing. Be honest because we will always be honest with you!

photography provided by Matt Vardy