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

Eleven years is a long time for any band to stay together these days, but for the guys in Down With Webster (who have a combined average age of 24) those eleven years have culminated into a recipe for success. Their story is a success story not merely because of their recent signing to Universal Motown, but because they have been able to build up such a loyal following over those eleven years that it really feels like they were destined for stardom no matter what. The band consists of about ten “sometimes” members  and seven “constant” members who each have their own unique style and sound that they bring to the stage; which always results in a live show that cannot be beat! iheartthemusic caught up with four of their members: Tyler, Cam, Bucky and Pat right before their set at the PEACE DOT LOVE Music Festival- which was good timing for us as they have since been touring in the US on Warped Tour. Haven’t been to a show yet? You ARE missing out!

iheartthemusic:  We need to start by recognizing the fact that you have been together for SO long!

Tyler: Yeah, it was our eleventh anniversary last week.

iheartthemusic: Did you celebrate at all?

Tyler: We did! It was also Pat’s birthday.

Pat: It was my birthday and I was kind of overwhelmed with the birthday and the eleven year anniversary.

iheartthemusic: So fastforward eleven years and you have just recently signed to Universal Motown- congratulations!

Tyler: We did, thank you.

iheartthemusic: After hearing about your signing, I was really curious to find out what the process was like deciding to go the major route and why Universal Motown was your choice?

Tyler: The initial conversations that we had with them were really comfortable: we trusted them and they got the vision of the band. We talked to them a few times probably in the fall, they came to see a couple of our concerts and then just hanging with them in the studio we got a good feeling that if we are going to let someone on our team, that they would be good teammates.

iheartthemusic: Did you always know that you wanted to go with a major label?

Tyler: It’s definitely an unknown time in terms of whether that will be the right way to go and up until a month or so before we signed, we were still contemplating going independent and retaining more control of our career. That being said we were able to structure a deal where it wasn’t just sign a dotted line and let the big machine run your bed. We cut a deal that allowed us to keep control of our website and the relationship with our fans and our songs for that matter.

iheartthemusic: Well eleven years of having full creative control of your band would have been a huge shock for not only yourselves but your fans if you were to just give that all away.

Tyler: And if I were the guy at the label I would be pretty afraid of telling ten people at any given moment that he didn’t like what we were doing!

iheartthemusic: [laughs] Your numbers totally work to your advantage!

Tyler: It does!

iheartthemusic: I really feel like your live show is key to Down With Webster. From the props, to the clothing you wear- it is all uniquely “Webster”. So where did the whole live “act” originate from?

Cam: It originated from the idea of trying to make our shows more like parties than actual shows because from my experience kids want to party more than they want to just sit at a show. Our reasoning was why not try and fuse the two together and make it a great experience for you and the audience! I mean I want to party while I’m on stage.

Bucky: Exactly!

Tyler: Most concerts we go to, the band is off by eleven thirty and then everyone is wondering where they should go next. So we basically just tried to do a one stop shop and combine the music and the party.

Pat: It’s also fun for us! We think about what we want to be doing on stage which is not to just stand there and pour our heart out into the song and that is it. We can have Kap running around with a flag throwing stuff out into the crowd. It’s great!

iheartthemusic: Do you still get nervous at all when you go up on stage?

Tyler: I get nervous and our drummer gets butterflies pacing around half naked.

Bucky: That’s my home! That’s where I live.

Tyler: Part of being in a band is listening to your music so much during the recording process, so that by the time we are on stage we are so familiar with the material that we can totally have fun with it and not have to worry about the parts or the chords and all that stuff.

iheartthemusic: It must be a nice change to be recording new material. What has the recording process been like for this next album?

Tyler: To be honest we haven’t changed our recording process from before. We had a few meetings [with the label] and they asked us how we wanted to make this album: do we want to get a ranch by the lake or do we want to go to New York and do it there? We were like no we are going to keep doing this and at different moments if we want to step the recording process up a little bit we will go rent some better equipment. We were so happy when, the day after we signed, they came up to us and asked us how we wanted to do it and we told them and they gave us the thumbs up. They actually said we were the easiest band they had ever worked with because they didn’t need to rent out crazy studios or blow hundreds of thousands of dollars making music. So now we can spend more on touring and marketing and stuff.

Pat: And partying too!

Cam: We’ve always really been involved in the recording process. We’re not one of these bands who write a song, then rehearse it a bunch and then go into a studio and record it in one day.

iheartthemusic: Don’t you have your own studio?

Tyler: We kind of have a bunch of studios amongst the band.

Cam: A lot of guys will produce the music as we write the song so they will start off the recording and then it will be brought to an acceptable level. We like to be hands on and don’t like people telling us what to do every step of the way.

Tyler: What we’ve realized is that its not the case where you sign a deal and you get hooked up with a superstar producer and all of a sudden they are operating at this different level than you are. We’ve realized that if anything we have to stay in more control now because that’s how stuff starts to deviate.

iheartthemusic: From your first EP to the new album yet to be released, have you noticed any difference in your sound or are you sticking to the “tried, tested and true”?

Tyler: I think everyone just keeps stepping it up. In terms of the lyrics, one guy will bring a new thing to the table and then all of a sudden the bar just gets put higher and higher.

Bucky: It’s still Down With Webster, its just what we are doing now.

Cam: It’s a matter of a lot of us coming into our own and what exactly it is that we do; what our strengths are. A lot of our older stuff was experimental. It was all of us getting together in Tyler’s garage and just going at it. People have now found what their strengths are and it’s much more of a piece now with guys doing what they do best constantly.

iheartthemusic:  So you are more of a unit now?

Tyler: Exactly.

Pat: I think if you had played some of the newer songs to us three or four years ago when we were playing, we would have been in awe that we were actually going to grow that much and become that type of a unit.

Tyler: I guess that’s why you don’t see many teenage bands out there who write their own music because it takes a while to form exactly what you are doing. It’s a lot of trial and error.

iheartthemusic: So being such a large band, how does the writing process work for you?

Tyler: It really changes a lot of the time. Everyone is extremely musical so one day it will be one guy bringing it and then everyone adds their part. It changes all the time.

iheartthemusic: What is your musical background?

Tyler: Some are more classically trained than others and some are self-taught. Myself, Marty, Bucky and Pat are more classically trained. Cam taught himself how to produce and make beats and rap. A few of us went to music school together. I studied music at University, Pat’s done a bunch of conservatory stuff.

Pat: I just kind of hung around music a lot and read a lot of books and enjoyed it.

iheartthemusic: You are definitely the most unique and fashionable group of guys that I have come across and it almost seems like you each have your own unique style that represents your personality, but it all works together cohesively. So how does fashion play a part in Down With Webster?

Bucky: From our own characters we wear what we like to wear.

Cam: Our stage clothes are our street clothes. We dress like this all the time; this isn’t a stage getup. Personally, I’ve always been into fashion. In high school I was obsessed with what was coming out and when. When you hang out a lot with a group of people then your taste, its not that it changes, sort of meshes together so that you look like you are from the same “team” but we are still able retain our individuality.

Tyler: We used to think that all that matters is the music, but that’s not the case. It’s the total package.

iheartthemusic: Well you seem to have that down to a tee!

Pat: A lot of time when you talk to A&R people they say “it’s great because they don’t look like they hang out together” but I think a lot of bands take that the wrong way and think that they all have to dress the same. You see a band and they all look the same and you can’t really tell the characters and we are very diverse characters and so we have to show that in the way we dress ourselves. If there is something that I don’t want to wear, but the rest of the band is wearing, why should I wear it. Everyone kind of respects each others styles.

Tyler: Sometimes if we don’t like  what someone is wearing we just steal it and hide it from them!

iheartthemusic: [laughs] That’s the best way to rectify that “problem”!

Tyler: Things disappear all the time in this band.

iheartthemusic: So only US dates for Warped Tour, was that done by choice?

Tyler: Basically it was kind of in alignment with our deal. We were the last minute addition and I guess Canada had already filled up all their Canadian dates with Canadian acts so that’s the only reason we aren’t on it. We are so excited to finally get south of the border and play in front of some different kids and see how it works down there because from our MySpace we know that we have a US fan base so it will be neat to see what the turnout will be like in different cities. We have a lot of disappointed fans in Canada unfortunately.

iheartthemusic: Well I am sure they will still all be in attendance at your next Canadian date! Anything else you want to add?

Pat: For all the fans that will miss us on the Canadian Warped Tour dates: we will probably put on a big Down With Webster show at some point this summer that is not in a parking lot at three in the afternoon!

There you have it guys- a group who look out for their fans no matter what! Make sure you keep an eye out for when their album drops this fall across Canada!

photography provided by Matt Vardy & Carl Heindl

Congratulations to Evan Scott for winning our “The White Tie Affair at Warped Tour 2009″ contest! Evan and a friend will be off to Arrow Hall on Friday, July 10th to watch some awesome bands rock out! He will also get to meet the boys from The White Tie Affair before their set (and scored a pretty sweet prize pack)! iheartthemusic will be there to capture everything that goes on, so don’t worry if you don’t get a chance to make it this year…we will be sure to snap your favourite bands onstage and backstage!!!

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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