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

Taking Back Sunday really need no introduction. With four albums and many years of experience and exposure under their belts- these guys have it down! We were able to slide in a few minutes with guitarist Eddie and drummer Mark at the Kool Haus. Check out what they had to say!

iheartthemusic: This tour is in support of your new album New Again, which came out a few weeks ago. Congratulations!

Eddie: Yes, thank you!

iheartthemusic: In exploring the title behind this album, why did you choose New Again?  I’ve read a lot of stuff online about you “reinventing” yourself as a band right now, and you have a new member – is the title indicative of that?

Eddie: Yeah, I think the whole vibe of the band is new; the way we look at each other as people, the way that we write music, the way we interact with each other.  Instead of being nitpicky with each other’s quirks, we’re embracing them and having fun with it and just being good friends. So all of that together is what’s making the whole vibe of the band different and new.

Mark: I wouldn’t really say we’re reinventing ourselves, I would just say it’s us coming back to life again; finding ourselves again.  So it feels new again.

iheartthemusic: So what would you say is different about this album for you? 

Mark: The writing process was way more fun this time around. We were way more open to listening to each other and musically we wrote different parts.  When we started writing, we would just walk into the room and be like “hey, whaddya got?  You gotta part? Yeah, let’s do it.”  We would work on it and have fun with it and listen to each other.

iheartthemusic: The last few albums you have spaced out so that they were released every two years- bang bang. Has the fact that this one has come after three years made a difference?

Eddie: I think the thing about this new record that people are forgetting when they say it’s taken three years is that we’d been touring for two years and we took a year off to actually write the record and have some time to ourselves.  People are like, “why did you take three years?” but they don’t understand that we were on tour!

Mark: We did take a little personal time.  Adam, our singer, had a baby.  He [points to Eddie] was hanging out with his kids and wife.  I got married.  We got a new member.

Eddie: And you had back surgery.

Mark: And I had back surgery.  Things took a little longer.

Eddie: I have two kids at home that I wanted to spend time with.

iheartthemusic: Absolutely! I mean you’ve been touring like crazy and half the band are married with kids!

Eddie: When I came home the kids were walking!

Mark: Before our first album came out we were touring, writing an album, then touring until finally we said “hey, we can chill a little bit”.

Eddie: Yeah, it’s okay to take some time off to get married, have kids…we deserve it!

iheartthemusic: Yes, it’s okay to have a life outside of the band! So what is the one thing that keeps you grounded?  Is it the phone call home or some sort of routine you have that maintains your connection to home?

Eddie: I talk to my wife every single day.  If I don’t, I get yelled at.

iheartthemusic: That’s a smart woman!

Eddie: I do a lot of video chatting with my kids too, they get really excited to see me.

iheartthemusic: Thank god for technology!

Eddie: Yeah, if this was eight years ago I’d probably go crazy.

Mark: I think we’re generally pretty grounded people.  We know what we got and how lucky we are to have it.

Eddie: People are totally shocked when they see us hanging out in a crowd. We wouldn’t be doing what we’re doing without any of the regular people.

iheartthemusic: I saw in an interview that apparently you wrote tons and tons of songs before you put the album together.  How did you choose from all the material you had to work with?

Eddie: We knew which ones we wanted to work with; we could feel it.  Those ones that are really cool that you get and know everyone’s going to like.

iheartthemusic: And do you think the economy kind of dictated that for you because the single is so huge?

Eddie: It’s good to know our singles are doing great but at the same time the record issues are doing really bad.  We’re not selling records anymore like we were six or seven years ago.  It’s really important to write the singles.

Mark: And there are a lot of single worthy songs.

iheartthemusic: Let’s talk about the video for your single “Sink Into Me”. How many showers did it take before you were fully clean?

Eddie: It took six showers!

Mark: We had one day off and went to Europe the next day and all our hands were still black.  It was like Nickelodeon slimy dye, just black instead of green.  At the end of the day I was sitting in a chair all black, after what? [looks at Eddie]

Eddie: 23 hours.

Mark: And it got to the point where I was like “oh God, get me the hell outta here! “

Eddie: And that stuff was ice cold! I can definitely pick out parts [in the video] where each and every one of us kind of gave up. There’s one point where I just fall off the stage and that’s really just me going “what the fuck am I doing?!”

iheartthemusic: It looks really cool though and is such a great effect!

Mark: Eddie and I got into a slime fight for a good half hour at one point.

iheartthemusic: You gotta have some fun when you’re covered in shit! [laughs] So then it was off to Europe right after that which you have been quite fortunate to have been before.  Where has been the best crowd so far?

Eddie: I love Australia, but Canada’s great too! Either Toronto or Vancouver.

iheartthemusic: What is it about Canada that you love?

Eddie: It’s a cool country.  I feel like you guys have it right up here. I don’t want to get all political, I mean I love being an American and I’m proud of being an American, but I just wish that sometimes America would take some advice from other people, I think it would help out.   We also always have a good time up here.  I mean, the shows are great, the kids are awesome, the chicks are hot- I’m not gonna lie!

iheartthemusic: After this whole tour, you guys are going on tour with Blink 182 and Weezer which is awesome!

Mark: Yeah it’s pretty huge!

iheartthemusic: This isn’t the first time you’ve share the stage with some heavy hitters though, does anyone else kind of stand out for you?

Mark: We opened up for Green Day in London, and I don’t know if you know the Bullet in a Bible DVD where they’re playing live in front of 65,000 people? Well we got to open up two of those shows!  Two shows in a row which were sold out to 65,000 people! The second night, Billy Joe Armstrong comes over to our dressing room and is like, “Hey what’s up, I’m Billy!” and then we got to hang out with them the whole night. It was awesome.

Eddie: It made me more humble because they were so down to earth.  Like, Billy Joe was like, “This shirt smells so bad!”  and he took me up to their truck and was like, “Yo dude, come here and check this out!” and showed me the making of their DVD.  I just sort of realized that this is one of the biggest bands in the world, they came from the same city we did and they understand what gets you ahead.  That’s kind of like a big influence.

Mark: There was one point where Mike Dirnt was there and he made me a Jack and Coke and he filled it up to the top and we start talking and my hands start shaking! I was so nervous talking to that guy that my drink started spilling out everywhere!

iheartthemusic: Did he chirp you, [laughs] please say he did!

Mark: He was totally looking at my drink and I was totally like this isn’t happening right now!  And then he was like, “alright man, I’ll talk to you in a little bit…”

iheartthemusic: [laughs] Yes!!  Okay, last question – from someone who’s never seen you perform live, what can I expect?

Eddie: Energy!

Mark: Energy!

Eddie: Yeah and just awesomeness.

Mark: It’s gonna be good!

[editors note: unfortunately this show was cancelled due unforseen circumstances...however they will be back and we are looking forward to catching their live set next time!]

photography provided by James Blake

Releasing an album can be nerve wracking and exciting for anyone; releasing an album and doing it independently magnifies that feeling even more. But for the guys in Toronto-based band Arietta, they appear to have a calm, cool and collected attitude towards the whole process. Meeting and chatting with the six-piece at The Hideout on a Sunday afternoon left everyone laughing out loud and excited for what’s to come for this young group of guys. The band is made up of Tyler Johnston (vocals), Sean Ramesbottom (guitar), Brian Craig (guitar), Kyle Smith (bass), Shehzaad Jiwani (drums) and Patrick McCormack (multi-instruments). Their sound is something that really can’t be defined, nor do they want it to be. Having formed a tight-knit relationship with fellow Toronto musicians, these guys have surrounded themselves with a musical community that consists of some of the best talent this city has to offer. Arietta is on the forefront of many music critics’ radars. iheartthemusic spoke with all six (yes ALL six) members about the release of their debut album, Migration (which is out TODAY), and how they are one of the hardest working bands out there.

iheartthemusic: How did Arietta come to be?

Sean: A few of us grew up in Scarborough, and Brian, Tyler and I more or less started the band because we knew each other in high school but we were never in the same friend circle – we were just acquaintances. In the latter years of school we started to play and jam together and thus formed the start of Arietta.

iheartthemusic: How long have you been this six-piece for?

Sean: This six-piece is pretty new; I’d say just over a year.

iheartthemusic: So with six people in the band what is the writing process like?

Tyler: Originally, when we first started, Sean brought the main chunk of a song to the table and then we all kind of welded it down, switched some stuff around and everyone put in their parts. With reviews for the album so far, everyone is saying that it sounds really eclectic with regards to instrumentation and genre. I mean, we’ve got so many different instruments on this album, and I think with the new members, and a lot of them being song writers from different bands, that’s going to be good and a little tricky. But we will have a lot more to work with and I think it might come a lot quicker than we would think it would at this point.

Shehzaad: It’s also kind of cool because everyone plays, or at least attempts to play, different stuff. The last few times we’ve jammed, we’ve all done switches. It’s a lot more fun!

iheartthemusic: That’s so cool!

Sean: I think it has helped my writing style a lot, having other guys to depend on who can fill in the gaps and that I trust because their writing is just on par. I know that if I’m stuck, they are right there to fill out the space. We work really cohesively.

iheartthemusic: That’s pretty incredible that you guys are all on the same page in that way.

Shehzaad: It also helps that we are not on the same page a lot of the time. It sometimes takes a while to kind of make everybody see.

Tyler: I think we understand where everyone comes from, yet we all come from different places. Whereas one guy might play a riff to one drum beat, another guy may sound totally different playing to the same riff and it all depends on who picked up the guitar.

Shehzaad: It’s like a gradient from being Sean, on the one hand, who is really technical and then me and Pat being the opposite and having no musical theory background.

iheartthemusic: With this album, you spoke about how the reviews have been all over the place with regards to trying to fit you into a certain genre or sound, but what would you like people to take from this album musically?

Shehzaad: The big thing is equal balance of melody and technical musicianship. The reviews so far have nailed that and everyone who has heard the record has honed in on that too, which we were surprised with.

Tyler: Yeah, that was surprising because it’s quite easy to write it off as pop. We come from a place where being slightly different or technical goes a long way. A lot of us listen to music that isn’t even in the pop genre at all. We listen to all that kind of stuff and have such an appreciation for it, but at the same time we also have a very big appreciation for pop music all the way up to Fall Out Boy. So I think trying to mesh really technical parts where everyone [listening] is satisfied as a musician, with parts where we’ve taken it to a level that has challenged them, has worked for us and a lot of people are picking up on that. They hear that we’re testing our own limits, but at the same time we aren’t catering to one specific market.

iheartthemusic: Do you think catering to all these different sounds and styles will confuse people or turn them off?

Sean: I think right now we’ve definitely come across a long road of proving to people that we can have a very wide spectrum of songs and influences and I think, at first, it is one of those things that a lot of people don’t know how to take. Then once they do, they really enjoy it. So I think people may be hesitant at first, but so far with reviews we couldn’t be happier and people have understood that we are a progressive pop/rock band. Since we started doing this, people were finding it hard to swallow and not really getting it. However, with [the release of] this record, people are falling into it right away and understanding it. If things go the way they have been, I don’t think we’ll have a problem.

iheartthemusic: I was told by a close source that I am supposed to ask you about Weezer?

Shehzaad: We don’t know what you are talking about!

iheartthemusic: All I heard is that I have to ask you about Weezer, so come on, spill it!

Patrick: The Waking Eyes were coming through town and they are known for every now and then playing the Blue album in its entirety. So, Travis Porter came to us and said that they were going to come this night and play and asked us if we wanted to do Pinkerton. For quite a few of us, that is one of our favourite albums, so there was no question that we were going to do it.

Tyler: However, we had how many days of practice before we were going to perform!? Travis called us and expected Arietta as a band to go up on stage and play the Pinkerton album. Well, instead of doing that, we kept it a secret and decided that four of us in the band would, instead of coming out and playing the instruments we normally play, switch instruments and learn the album front to back in three days with only three three hour practices. We’ll say we had about 10 to 12 hours of learning an album on instruments we don’t play.

iheartthemusic: That seems like a really smart idea! [laughs] Did people enjoy your rendition?

Shehzaad: People liked us more than The Waking Eyes.

Tyler: Not me!

iheartthemusic: Well good for you for braving that crowd! You guys aren’t signed to any label, so what was the process like getting this album out without any major backing?

Tyler: Hard and extensive. We had help from different sources; from ourselves and the bank, but at the same time it also benefited us. There are positives and negatives to being on a label or not being on a label.

Patrick: Part of it is money and part of it is legwork.

Tyler: Right now we are self-sustaining; we book all our own tours, we get press, we’ve done everything ourselves, which isn’t as hard when you have six guys in the band. We are our own label, band, management company – essentially we are everything.

Sean: It makes you understand the industry and the process. We’ve been doing this for a little while now and, through different bands, have been part of the industry. Without everyone’s hard work and determination it never would have happened. That literally is the only thing that got us through. With finances, if you work hard enough you will find it and you can work with someone that will support you. If you don’t do it yourself then it’s not going to happen.

Shehzaad: Right now, more than ever, there have been opportunities for bands to do that, whereas before it was really hard to succeed without a label.

iheartthemusic: It seems like you almost don’t need one now.

Shehzaad: Yeah, exactly. You can totally just do it on your own. Bands that we know can get by on their own with maybe just a publicist or a booker for tours.

iheartthemusic: Are you striving to get signed though?

Tyler: Yeah totally. It helps when you have a lot of friends in the industry too. So we do have an advantage in that way in terms of hookups with a lot of promoters, bookers, publicists, managers, a lot of these people who may not necessarily be able to help us at this point in time, but will point us in the direction or put in a good word for us, whatever they can do which is really great.

iheartthemusic: Speaking of friends, there seems to be a love triangle going on between Arietta, Dinosaur Bones and Great Bloomers. Where did that come from?

Tyler: And Oh No Forest Fires!

Sean: We are trying to start a new community.

iheartthemusic: Actually?

Patrick: It’s not a conscious effort.

Tyler: Essentially, what’s happened is this city has had for a while now this cross-armed, look at the ground, unless-you-make-it-big-somewhere-else-piss-off kind of attitude, which is fine because it happens in big cities and you can’t let it get to you. At the same time, through having a lot of friends in bands that are very talented and seeing them push really hard and getting no response, we’ve almost created this community. Usually these communities start where it’s like five bands and they are all hardcore or metal or punk rock. But with us you’ve got like a prog/pop band, you’ve got a country/alt band, all these different bands that are doing very well in their respective genres, which is very odd to see.

iheartthemusic: Did you guys all know each other before the bands started?

Tyler: Yeah, I’ve known Branko, the bassist in Dinosaur Bones, since I was about three years old. That’s probably the oldest friend I have. I met Ben, the singer, through him years ago because we used to go to concerts together.

Sean: Two of the Great Bloomers members, the drummer Andrew and the bassist Ty, used to be in our band. They were our original members.

iheartthemusic: No way! So that’s why there is so much love there! Do you think that sense of community is a Toronto thing?

Tyler: I think it’s a big city thing. The whole idea of making it somewhere else and then coming back rings very true, especially in this city. I’ve seen bands play here for years, pushing tons and then all of a sudden someone in Japan likes their band so they go over there and tour for a few months and then come back and they are the biggest band ever here. We are a very ‘turn your back on your own kind until someone else shows some interest’ city, which is a very vicious thing to say, but I think Toronto has been like that for a while now. So we will be going to the UK for a few weeks!

iheartthemusic: [laughs] I was going to say that! Have you guys had any performance mishaps?

Sean: This band is notorious for faulty gear. Brian’s amp blew up once!

iheartthemusic: What do you do when that happens? Smile and hope no one notices?

Tyler: He sings all the guitar parts!

Sean: We’ve had friends lend us gear. I couldn’t even tell you the number of times that we’ve had to share gear. We run a pretty large pedal board, so if something goes wrong with that you are spending like 10 or 15 minutes trying to figure out where the problem is. When you have a band with six people and a lot of gear, it poses a lot of issues!

iheartthemusic: I can imagine! So you guys play Horseshoe this Thursday for your CD release, will this be your first time playing at Horseshoe?

Tyler: Yeah, actually it is.

iheartthemusic: That’s amazing! After the album drops what’s up next?

Tyler: Ontario/Quebec/East Coast tour in the summer. We are pretty much ongoing for the rest of our lives.

iheartthemusic: Where can people get the album?

Tyler: All those online retailers like iTunes or Amazon. You can also get it at Sunrise Records and all the local stores. Hopefully you come out to a show and see us and then you can get it there. That’s the best way to do it and you can get it cheaper and a high five!

iheartthmusic: I’m sold on the high five! If there was one thing we should know about Arietta, what would it be?

Tyler: We are very handsome.

Patrick: When you’ve got six guys in a band there is probably more than one thing you need to know!

Brian: You have to know your Simpsons references!

Well there you have it! Be sure to check them out this Thursday, May 7th at the Horseshoe, pick up the album and of course get that high five!

photography provided by April Day