[NXNE] An interview with Eternal Summers

June 15, 2012 Written by Wini Lo No comments
[NXNE] An interview with Eternal Summers

 

It’s their first time in Toronto as a band and Eternal Summers are doing NXNE. Singer/guitarist Nicole is the only member who has visited before; her sister attended school at OCAD. Also? She’s the only member of the band who’s had poutine before.

Eternal Summers, the three-piece band from Roanoke, VA started out in 2008 as a duo – Nicole Yun (guitar/vocals) and Daniel Cundiff (drums). Bassist Jonathan Woods joined the band last year. Their band name comes from Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 (you know, the famous one that begins with “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”) and unintentionally landed the band into the same genre categorizing Best Coast and Real Estate, to name a few.

“I was very clueless about modern music, as far as what’s happening on blogs and stuff,” says Nicole. “We recorded some songs and put them on the internet, and then we got lumped in with all these other bands that were supposedly ‘beachy’ sounding but I had no idea this was going on.”

“These are small pop songs, done minimally. I think the name really got us into a certain audience realm, which we wouldn’t have gotten into.”

“Nor did we consider ourselves ‘beachy’,” Daniel adds.

The band had a fairly casual start with Daniel laughingly describing that in the beginning, he’d say, “Okay, I’ll play this one show…” which turned into more shows. “’Well, we should record these songs.’ And then we did another gig,” he recalls. “I never thought I’d be in Canada with these two guys. It was not like, ‘Let’s rule the world’ – at all. It was just fun. It just felt good.”

With day jobs and reality looming in the background, the band definitely takes their music seriously but making music full-time is “the dream.” Coming from Roanoke, where the music scene is “random, genuine and unique,” Jonathan says, “People there strive for things, because there’s not a lot going on – I know that’s why I’m making music.”

On the topic of making music, the band’s second full-length album, Correct Behavior, drops July 24 and was mixed by Sune Rose Wagner from The Raveonettes and Alonzo Vargas. Previously, the band recorded and mixed their own music from start to finish.

Of the finished product, Nicole says, “There’s still an aura of it sounding analog but it’s got this like, punch in the face quality to it that’s definitely more modern.”

“People definitely can’t say it’s ‘lo-fi’ because it’s… not,” she adds.

The band’s rapport and friendship seem evident, especially when you consider how long bands spend together in a tour van, traveling from one destination to another for weeks (or months!) at a time. “Going on tour is like vacation, in a way,” says Nicole.

“It’s great to show up and be like, I’ve got something to do here. I’m going to play music. And experience a different place every night,” says Jonathan. “Eight hour van rides can be a bummer. But even then, they’re not bad. Good company.” (Awww!)

“One of my favourite parts is just the constant moving, the constant stimulation, yet anti-stimulation,” says Daniel. “There’s a lot of downtime. It’s like, hurry up and wait. Get here at 6, now wait until 10. Try to maintain energy. It’s strange… but it’s so strange and I like it.”

[NXNE] Volcano Playground @ El Mocambo – June 13, 2012

June 14, 2012 Written by Wini Lo No comments
[NXNE] Volcano Playground @ El Mocambo – June 13, 2012

For a 1am performance, Volcano Playground garnered a fairly impressive turnout of interested and enthusiastic audience members alike. The Toronto-based four-piece band marked their second year at NXNE with a single show at the El Mocambo.

Via Bandcamp, Volcano Playground’s studio recordings are dark, moody, and polished sounding – songs that wouldn’t be out of place on a playlist specifically made for solitary night time listenings, through headphones. In performance, Volcano Playground are still dark and moody, but paired with raw live energy and a larger sound that fills the room, their music felt much livelier and energetic.

Their shoe-gaze stylings and dreamy male-and-female alternating vocals evoked Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine at times, but make no mistake – their strong set showed promise of a band that has many more ideas up their sleeves. At the end of the night, Volcano Playground were the perfect last band to send you home in a dreamlike haze.

 

[NXNE] Eternal Summers @ Drake Hotel – June 13, 2012

June 14, 2012 Written by Kristian Pedersen No comments
[NXNE] Eternal Summers @ Drake Hotel – June 13, 2012

Although there isn’t much information on the Blogspot curated by Eternal Summers, a post put up on April 25th says everything you need to know about the band in only five words (and a lot of exclamation points). “One of my fave songs!!!”

The video posted underneath was a live video for Grinding Halt by The Cure, and as soon as Eternal Summers broke into their first song Wednesday night at the Drake it was clear that they wear their influences on their sleeves.

Hailing from Roanoke Virginia, Eternal Summers took this sound and ran with it. Borrowing from The Cure’s trademark flanged guitar tone, but speeding it up to a cheetah’s pace. Their set was relentlessly energetic from start to finish, and even with a new touring bass player, they didn’t miss a beat.

Although the majority of people in attendance may have been there for other bands, Eternal Summers certainly managed to steal a few fans. If the lineup for vinyl after their set was any indication, this may not be the last time we see them make a stop in Toronto.

[NXNE] Beliefs @ Drake Hotel – June 13, 2012

June 14, 2012 Written by Kristian Pedersen No comments
[NXNE] Beliefs @ Drake Hotel – June 13, 2012

Toronto shoe-gaze revivalists Beliefs seem to subscribe to the My Bloody Valentine school of thought. Sway gently on stage, bare your soul while holding your offset waist guitar of choice. The more washy and reverberant the chords are, the more they’ll hide their otherwise ethereal melodies. After all, nobody in the crowd should actually hear what you’re playing. That wouldn’t be cool. It’s a model that works well, and Beliefs are good enough to pull it off.

With no formal releases to their name and only a two recorded songs to whet my palate, it was hard to know what to expect while entering the Drake Hotel’s Underground venue. Warming up a crowd of eager show goers that arrived early enough to ensure a good view of Porcelain Raft, their forty-five minute set was enough to get me excited about Toronto music again and justify my decision to avoid having poutine for the second time this week.

What started as serene took a turn to raucous as the set progressed. Closing with “Gallows Bird”, a seven minute long cut that goes from their quietest point to their loudest. Ending with all three guitars droning on the same two chords, with enough added reverberation to make the whole set seemingly fade into oblivion.

NXNE: Staff Picks

June 12, 2012 Written by Melody Lau No comments
NXNE: Staff Picks

 

NXNE is probably The Singing Lamb’s favourite music festival. The free shows, the sunny weather, heck, this year NXNE is even offering free yoga classes to wristband holders, musicians and volunteers! Exercise and rock ‘n’ roll — these guys know how to take care of us.

If you’re still planning out your week, here’s a quick list of the top five bands we’re looking forward to seeing and what our favourite part of NXNE is!

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Listen: Dusted – “Pale Light”

June 12, 2012 Written by Melody Lau No comments

Holy Fuck’s Brian Borcherdt has eased up on the electro-dance hits lately and stripped things down on his latest project, Dusted. “Pale Light” is the second single off of his upcoming release Total Dust (out July 10). Hear it below and catch him live this week, as part of NXNE, at El Mocambo (June 14 @ 12AM) or earlier that day on Toronto Island with the Smith Westerns. The latter is free so long as you get yourself to the island somehow. We suggest a ferry but we don’t object to swimming, canoes and/or walking on water.