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

One of the bands that I was really pumped to see perform on the Take Action Tour was Every Avenue. Now I have to admit, before they came to Toronto I had never heard of them.  How could I be excited to see a band I’d never heard of before?  Because I did my research and my ears were pleasantly surprised by what they heard. The band which formed in Michigan in 2004 consists of David Strauchman (vocals/piano), Josh Randall (guitar), Jimmie Deeghan (guitar/backup vocals), Matt Black (bass/backup vocals) and Michael Govaere (drums). They released their first full length album last year entitled Shh…Just Go With It and have been on countless tours since, including a recent trip to the UK opening for Boys Like Girls. I was lucky enough to catch up with Matt and Josh backstage after the show where we shared some fan moments and a nice CANADIAN beer.

iheartthemusic: How’s the tour going so far?

Josh: It’s been great so far, it’s only day four so we are still early in the tour, but all the other bands are really nice.  We’ve actually toured with Breathe Carolina before so it was great to see them on the bill as well.

Matt: Usually on a tour there’re like maybe five days to a week where there is this awkward period between the bands who don’t know each other and then you kind of get to know them and then you’re good after that first week. But with this tour it’s been like that from the first night, everyone was just best friends so it’s been going great.

iheartthemusic: Have you been to Toronto before this tour?

Matt: Yah, we played here a couple of months ago with All Time Low, which was awesome, and then last summer we did Warped Tour here. So this is our third time to Toronto.

iheartthemusic: Any crazy tour stories you want to share?

Josh: Nothing that we can put in print because my mom will read this.

iheartthemusic: Off the record maybe??

Josh: Let’s just say it’s been crazy…

iheartthemusic: Ok we’ll leave it to our imaginations! So explain how Every Avenue came together.

Josh: That’s an interesting question. We’ve been around since maybe 2004, but we’ve had a few reincarnations of the band over the years.

Matt: Josh and I were in a band in the summer of 2004 and Every Avenue was kind of just starting. At the time it only consisted of two people:  Mike and Dave. They were playing shows around the same area where we were and so we started playing shows with them and when our band broke up they grabbed Josh up and it went off from there.

iheartthemusic: Has touring helped introduce you to some new bands?

Josh: Pretty much every tour we end up being pretty impressed with a lot of bands that we are out with. You learn to appreciate all different kinds of music as well. Like Breathe Carolina is a band that is kind of different from the stuff that I normally listen to but I love them now.

iheartthemusic: Any particular musical influences?

Josh: We each have our own personal influences but as a band I would say The Police, The Cars, Elvis Costello, Jimmy Eat World.

Matt: Its kind of weird because I feel the five of us have artists that we listen to that are similar but for the most part we kind of branch out into different musical genres. Like, what I would sit down and listen to is probably completely different than say what Jimmie would sit down and listen to.

Josh: Matt is like the rap guy, I’m like the folk guy. We’re all over the place, but we appreciate everything.

iheartthemusic: Being on all these tours you  have to at leat have one crazy fan moment that you can share with us?

Matt: Not really from this tour, I mean sure, give it some time and something crazy will happen. Although in the past we have had some people give us some weird gifts and we were just like, “what is this?” Like last Valentine’s Day we were in Philly and these girls, who honestly couldn’t have been over like 14, made us these very sexually explicit Valentine’s cards. One for each person in the band!

Josh: They wrote things that made even me blush! I’m not offended easily and I was even just like, “this is awkward!” Another kind of weird fan moment  is when people know so much about you and you’ve never met them. Like at Bamboozle last year, I had just broken up with my girlfriend at the time and so many people were asking “what’s going on with you and Ashley?”

iheartthemusic: Well that’s what happens when you are famous, I guess! Speaking of fame, has there been a defining moment where you felt like you had made it?

Matt: I’ve had a few moments when I’ve been like, “wow we are at a place we’ve never been before where people know our songs.” I think for me I kind of got the “whoa” feeling when we went to Japan and just walking down the street people knew our name and would come up and talk to us and know stuff about us. My thinking was, “how does anybody in this country know who we are?” To me we are still this tiny band…I don’t get it.

Josh: I think personally there are a lot of small steps to fame and it’s so gradual but when you look back you really appreciate it. We look back and appreciate everything. Like we can’t even believe we are in Toronto and playing to this many people! Our mentality is like “we are just a band from Michigan and write songs in a garage.” We still appreciate everything and can’t believe we’ve come even this far.

iheartthemusic: So then what would that next step be for you guys?

Josh: In a year I’d like to see Elvis Costello and The Police opening up for us. I’d like to be more along the lines of Elton John and Sean Connery and be knighted [laughs].

Matt: Yah, I’d like to be knighted and be Sir Matt.

Josh: We have a new album that will be coming out this year. We’re just in the process of writing that right now and so far we have, like, 14 songs done so it should be out by this summer. We’re really excited about that.

Matt: In the next year I’d like to see us have a successful headlining tour. I think that that would confirm a lot to me. I mean every tour we’ve done we’ve always been the opening band. Even if a lot of people are actually singing the songs, you don’t know if they are coming to the show to see you or if they came to see the headliner and just happen to know a couple of your songs. So that for me would be something that I would hope we could get to.

iheartthemusic: Anything you want to tell your Canadian fans out there that they might not know about you?

Josh: I snore pretty bad sometimes.

Matt: In like the last week people keep saying, “you were snoring pretty loud last night” and I never snore! So my advice to our Canadian fans would be don’t drink and then sleep on your back because apparently that is what causes you to snore. It’s a recipe for disaster!

Josh: I want to say to our Canadian fans honestly thank you so much. That’s all I can really say. I can’t believe I’m playing in Toronto and a lot of people in the crowd know our songs. Songs that we wrote in my basement! It’s surreal that anyone knows our songs. Kids come out to shows and buy our merch and that’s just awesome!

iheartthemusic: If you want more of Every Avenue then be sure to check them out on their MySpace:

www.myspace.com/everyavenue

photography provided by Matt Vardy, www.mattvardy.com

Breathe Carolina is composed of  Kyle Even and David Schmitt, however, listening to them perform you would think there were  way more players involved. Often referred to as screamo, Breathe Carolina have made a name for themselves in the industry with their unique sound. They recently released their first full length album entitled It’s Classy, Not Classic and have garnered a dedicated fan following of young  girls who pretty much faint at the sight of them (trust me I witnessed this myself). I got the chance to speak with them after their set at The Phoenix in Toronto and asked them a few questions on the particulars of their band name and what they really thought about Canadian fans.

iheartthemusic: Let’s begin with your name, there’s a rumour that it came to you in a dream…

David: Yah, I was in ninth grade and I had one of those dreams where you wake up and are like “what the fuck just happened?” So it was this crazy dream where I saw this older lady whose name was Carolina and I was watching her as an outsider living my life – hanging out with my friends and shit. I started to notice that she was freaking out all the time, which made sense because I was going through so much shit back then. So I just had to say to her “you need to just calm down and chill out, just breathe Carolina.” At the time I was  in another band and when I got out of high school that band broke up, but I always remembered that dream so vividly. So then when Kyle and I started this I was like, “dude, you wanna call it Breathe Carolina?” and it stuck from there.

iheartthemusic: That’s a very unique story,  how did you two link up then?

Kyle: David was actually living with me and three other people at the time. One day he asked me to come and scream on this track just for fun. We ended up recording the whole day and then we had a party that night where we played it for some kids and they liked it a lot. So we basically started by just playing our songs at parties that we had until eventually kids wanted to hear more and more.

David: It was kind of weird asking people to check out our songs, but people were just down. We’d have the craziest parties too because we had this big house in downtown Denver, and we would throw huge parties and turn our songs on and people would start to dance. So we were like, “this is cool, maybe we should go with this.” That’s how it came together.

iheartthemusic: Let’s talk a little bit about Warped Tour. You guys are playing the tour this summer, that must be exciting!

David: They sent us an offer forhalf of it at first and we were really excited. I mean, I went to Warped Tour when I was like nine and saw all these crazy bands that I loved and then to have them ask us to join- it was crazy to me! They then  sent us another offer for the whole tour  and we were like “ok yah, sign me up and see you there!”

Kyle: Definitely an amazing feeling.

iheartthemusic: Have you been starstruck by any bands that you have met?

Kyle: Pretty much everybody that we have played with we have looked up to. Playing with those kinds of bands that, genre-wise and band-wise, we have listened to is incredible. Some we look up to more so after we tour with them, but we for sure know every single band that we have played with. Definitely a really cool experience.

David: That’s the best thing about touring: making good friends.

Kyle: I mean we are four days into this tour and I don’t think that any of us have been this comfortable on a tour.

David: You feel like you can walk up to anyone on the tour and give them a hug. It’s really cool.

iheartthemusic: So is it weird to think that you guys are this “big thing” now?

Kyle: Yah, I mean you’re still a regular person like everyone else, but there have been moments where you are like “whoa, that’s really happening to me.” There is one moment in particular that I have never told anyone before. It was even before we had a MySpace page I think, which is kind of weird to say. Our music had been put on at one of our parties and I was coming down the stairs and then the song suddenly changed and everyone that was in the room screamed for some reason and started singing the song. I remember thinking “what the fuck just happened?” I mean these are our friends! At that point I was like I’m ready to push this, I’m ready to do it, work my ass off to try and tour and do what I can on the other side. David produced and wrote the whole CD, so it’s been great to work with him.

iheartthemusic: That’s incredible, and you are so young!

David: Yah, I’m 20, which I guess is pretty young.

iheartthemusic: Well, you are at least legal drinking age in Canada!

David: Yah I know, that’s why I was so pumped to come to Canada. This is our first time here. I’ve never stepped foot in Canada so we are pretty stoked.

iheartthemusic: Well we are happy to have you! What’s in store for you guys next?

Kyle: After this tour we’re actually going to be in the studio recording our second album which we are hoping to release at some point this year, either during Warped Tour or afterwards.

David: Yah we are planning on releasing it in August. After recording we do the Warped Tour which comes to Canada twice, so we will be back!

iheartthemusic: Anything you want to add for your Canadian fans?

David: Just thank you guys for everything. We love everything that you have done for us and we wouldn’t be anywhere without your support. We love you a lot.

Kyle: It’s funny because we definitely remember Toronto as being the place that kind of struck us when we first started. People were hitting us online everyday and were like, “hey, I’m from Toronto.” We were like, “what is the deal with Toronto?” It was almost like they were the ones that found us. It’s cool that they are digging it. So it’s always stuck in our heads as a really great place to be and play. It’s cool to actually come here and meet the fans that have stuck by us for so long. So thank you to all those kids who followed us for two years. Thank you!

iheartthemusic: Well there you have it, talented and they love Toronto. Be sure to check them out when they hit a city near you on Warped Tour this summer, in the meantime check out the sounds on their MySpace:

www.myspace.com/breathecarolina

photography provided by Matt Vardy, www.mattvardy.com

Celebrating their 14^th Anniversary, Stomp Records put on an electrifying show at The Opera House on Saturday night (February 14th) featuring The Creepshow, The Snips and headliners, The Planet Smashers. For those of you who haven’t heard of The Planet Smashers shame on you – these guys are veterans in the industry having been around since the early 90’s and toured all over the world. Originating in Montreal, Quebec, this ska punk band consists of Matt Collyer (guitar/lead vocals), Neil “Lonestar” Johnson (saxophone), Andrew Lattoni (trombone), Dave Cooper (bass) and Fred Benton (drums) and together are the most-toured ska band in this country. I was lucky enough to catch Matt Collyer (who also happens to be the founder of Stomp Records) in between shows and we talked music, Stomp and how Planet Smashers came up with their unique name.

iheartthemusic: I wanted to start off by wishing you a happy anniversary!

Matt: Oh thank you that’s very nice! Yah it’s been 14 years and still going strong, so it’s been a good run.

iheartthemusic: So this anniversary kind of coincides with the band’s anniversary too, right?

Matt: It kind of does, I mean The Planet Smashers are more like 14-and-a-half right now – our real anniversary for is in October if you want to get technical.

iheartthemusic: How did you guys come up with the name for your band?

Matt: It’s a good story, basically we were stoned in October of whenever that was that we started the band, and really drunk and people were shooting names around and one guy, probably the drunkest, was talking gibberish and was like “oh, eh, spaceships and smashing planets” and we were like “oh that’s a great idea.” So that’s how it happened.

iheartthemusic: Well thank you drunken slang! You guys have had quite a few members come and go since the beginning, has this affected the band at all?

Matt: This is actually the longest running line-up we’ve ever had. It’s been like this for five years now. It’s been hardest to keep the horn players. Normally our horn players are professional, good musicians and they have other things that they want to do so they are the hardest to keep, I find. We’ve always had good turnouts though and we get along and everyone knows us. That’s what The Planet Smashers are: a good time band. We aren’t here to save the world or anything so as long as we keep that in mind everything is fine in smasher world.

iheartthemusic: So being someone who has never been to a Smasher show, what can I expect to get out of it?

Matt: Drink a lot of water because you are going to need it! You are going to be dehydrated and we’re just going to party and dance a lot. Enjoy it, have fun and it’s not a lot of moshing, it’s more dancing but there is a pit. It’s not like a punk rock show, people want to have fun, dance and get pretty loaded. It’s high-energy and we’re just going to try and play a fun set.

iheartthemusic: You’ve been fortunate to be able to be recognized internationally and toured all over the world. What has been your favourite moment while touring?

Matt: It’s hard to say because we’ve done a lot. If I had to choose between going to Moscow and going to Japan, I don’t think I could. It’s hard to judge which one was better because they are both so different. Concert wise we just played in Montreal and there were 22,000 people there. I was blown away, I was like this is ridiculous, so intense. That was the biggest show we had ever played and it was a real kick.

iheartthemusic: You’ve also been able to share the stage with some heavy hitters in the ska scene, any favourites?

Matt: Actually, a lot of our favourite bands that we’ve toured with are smaller and more unknown. In the world of ska I loved Mustard Plug who we toured with and who are such good guys. Back in the day we toured with The Flashlights who we played with a lot and were fun. There are lots of smaller bands that we also get a long with very well – Billy Talent, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones – tons of great bands.

iheartthemusic: Any crazy fan moments that you care to share with us?

Matt: There isn’t one that beats them all because every show is different; something hilarious happens all the time. Most recently, though, was last night there was this girl who had a crush on our trombone player and was pretty much chasing him around on stage. It was very funny because he was like “get off, I’m married leave me alone!” Stuff like that comes up all the time, I could go on forever.

iheartthemusic: Where do you see the whole state of ska music right now?

Matt: Ska is going to remain a subculture for another good 10 years or something so right now I would say it’s pretty healthy. There’s always a good support for it within the subculture, you know. There are tons of different takes on ska styles, like the whole reggae thing, similar to what One Night Band are doing, is definitely a little bit more,  I don’t know what you want to call it, it’s more marketable. Ska punk is definitely up and down right now. We’ll see more scenes of ’ska this’ and ’ska that’ over the years.

iheartthemusic: What does the future hold for The Planet Smashers?

Matt: Some more touring, we just started again so this is the first little bit we’ve done. We did Warped Tour last summer and there is always talk of what we are going to do next. We’re going to write some songs and discuss – if they suck we will throw them in the garbage can.

iheartthemusic: So after having now officially been to a smasher show, I have to say it was well worth it. The crowd was intense, but intense in a good way and everyone seemed to know the words to all the songs. Having been the only non-tattooed person at the venue, I definitely stuck out. As soon as they hit the stage I got lost in the shuffle and heavy dancing that accompanied each new song. Matt was right, water was definitely needed! I am now a true fan and will be sure to check them out when they hit up the T.dot again!

www.myspace.com/theplanetsmashers

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