Dan Mangan @ The Great Hall (Photo Credit: Michael Fil)
Sally Seltmann @ The Great Hall
Australian songstress Sally Seltmann’s first show back in Toronto since recording her newest, upcoming album Heart That’s Pounding was not entirely the warm reception that I think she was hoping for. A chatty crowd cut into Seltmann’s sugary sweet set of sunshine pop and piano heavy love songs. Even Seltmann, at one point, warned the audience that she was about to play a ‘quiet song’ and that ‘everyone should shush to listen’. Bad manners aside though, Seltmann – formerly known as New Buffalo – played a pleasant and charming show and from those who were kind enough to pay attention, we quite enjoyed it (when I wasn’t trying to chuck my cellphone at people’s heads).
Dan Mangan is simply amazing and amazingly simple. Mangan’s singer-songwriter persona is often overlooked and written off by many as ‘just another one of those guys’ but what those people are missing out on is a truly special voice, a beautiful writer and a genuinely charming man. Mangan’s set at the Arts & Crafts showcase at the Great Hall embodied everything that was great about his music – easygoing melodies, classic song arrangements laced with lush orchestral elements from time to time. All of this is fronted by one of music’s sexiest (yes, I said it) and most compelling voices out there today. At one point, during the crowd-pleasing epic “Robots” Mangan leaps off-stage to sing amongst the audience and even continues after his guitar accidentally unplugged itself. That conviction to jump into the crowd and sing and clap directly into people’s faces – that’s also what makes Dan Mangan loveable. Talented, amazing and loveable – this man has it all.
Everything All the Time, performing fourth on the bill at the Musebox showcase at Sneaky Dee’s, provided the growing crowd with their danceable synth-/soul-pop signature. Playing their full EP and a few additional tracks, the band managed to turn the upstairs-half of Sneaky Dee’s into a boisterous dance club, which is quite a feat for a Thursday night. Frontwoman Alanna Stuart graced the stage with style, swagger and outstanding vocals. Everything All the Time is one fun band you should never miss. Songs like “Lazy Days” and “I Get So Hot” are reminiscent of 80’s/90’s girl pop – delicious and sweet, always leave you feeling good and yearning for the good times.
Newly signed (to Dine Alone Records) Montreal indie pop rockers Parlovr literally throws energy at the audience. From the ominous build up to their opening song “Pen To The Paper” to the various shrieks and screams between sets to the last intense strum of a guitar, fist pound on the keys or struck of the drums, Parlovr grabs your attention by the throat and doesn’t let go till the end – and sometimes even way after their set, as your walking home and humming their tunes and replaying their set in your mind. The band’s set on Thursday night at Sneaky Dee’s was just as consistently fun and energetic as the last time I had seen them and regardless of how much energy is thrown back at them – thankfully there were some that did so at Sneaky’s – they will continue to thrive and build up more throughout their set. Part Malajube, part Lovely Feathers, this band is one that’ll make you smile, dance, sing and occasionally scream, stomp and sweat; what’s not to love? Your new favourite band if they already aren’t.
We all know that feeling – when you’re standing at a show and the thudding beat of the music hits you like an earthquake; you can’t help it but move, whether you’re just tapping your foot or full out busting a move. Good music does that; it grabs you by the hands and pulls you in for a twirl and a spin. To those on Saturday night at the Horseshoe who managed to not move at all – I will never understand you.
No Shame’s last show of January (Lauren Schreiber was one busy bee this month!) featured pop, glitter and an endless night of fun; a cohesively fantastic line-up of bands.
Halifax’s Rich Aucoin opened the night and all I can say is wow. I hadn’t listened to this electro-dance pop artist prior to the show so needless to say, I had no expectations. What I left with after Aucoin’s set though was the biggest smile ever and a lasting impression that I don’t think I’ve felt since I saw the Arcade Fire – only Rich Aucoin was only a three-piece. The stage, blanketed with a screen which projected lyrics to Aucoin’s songs for everyone to sing along to as well as snippets of Who The Grinch Stole Christmas didn’t prove to be as much of a distraction, rather than a charming complimentary to the music. Other theatrics included interactive sing-alongs, dancing, confetti-throwing and the electrifying finale completed with balloons and pure joy. This may come off as a lot of zaniness and absurdity but in Aucoin’s case, this all added to the spectacle of the show. Musically, Aucoin’s beat-heavy layered rhythms are glazed with a layer of sugary sweetness and often sounds bigger than its three-piece setting. Think The Arcade Fire meets Daft Punk – The Arcade Punk? A Rich Aucoin show is more than a simple set; it’s a musical experience that everyone must witness at least once. Definitely one of the most talented musicians I’ve seen in a while and have quite possibly single-handedly secured a place on my best shows of 2010 list.
Lioness followed, bringing their brand of dark disco-rock to the stage. To quickly get this out of the way – yes, they sound like Controller.Controller (two members of C.C are now in Lioness) – but Lioness has grown into its own musical entity in the past year. Bass thumping, electrifyingly distorted rock and goosebump-inducing vocals from lead singer Vanessa Fischer, Lioness continues to be a consistently a growing force in the Toronto music scene. For an added touch of jazz, Everything All the Time’s Joseph Shabason jumped on-stage to assist on the saxophone on a slowed-down version of “You’re My Heart” – strange hearing the tempo of the song taken down a notch but compelling and great nonetheless.
Headliners Everything All the Time ended the night, continuing where the previous bands left off. If you haven’t listened to EATT, I think many people put it this way – imagine Stars fronted by Diana Ross. Seriously. The band, led by dynamically mind-blowing vocalist Alanna Stuart (also one half of Bonjay), breathes new life to synth-pop with catchier-than-ever lyrics, uplifting and cheerful melodies and a beat you can dance to all night long, which I almost did. You can tell when you look at the group of musicians onstage that they’re perfectionists and if their live shows and latest EP are any indication, I’ll bet money that 2010 will be a great year for Everything All The Time. Big money.
Toronto’s Everything All The Time will be playing the Horseshoe Tavern on January 30th, as part of the No Shame-curated lineup, joining Halifax’s Rich Aucoin and fellow Torontonians Lioness. Joseph Shabason, who plays keyboards, saxophone and sings in the band, was kind enough to recently answer some questions via email. Read on to find out what Shabason recommends as a warmup for a EATT show, the challenges of having a band with six members, and more. I also embarrassed myself when it came to a classic song by an iconic Canadian band. Enjoy!
The SingingLamb: Is this your first time playing a No Shame show? Have you ever played with Lioness or Rich?
Joseph Shabason: This is actually our third No Shame show. The first one was with The Magic at Wrongbar and the second was for our EP release at The Drake with Mike Dugay and Whale Tooth. Lauren’s always been such a huge supporter/helper/friend of EATT, so hopefully there will be many more No Shames together. We played with Lioness before at CMW last year and they are fantastic. I actually went to high school with Jeff and Vanessa. The first show I every played was with a punk band called Martini in Jeff’s ex-girlfriend’s garage in Brampton in 1995. We opened for a band called Perfectly Normal which eventually became Moneen. Wild! We’ve never played with Rich before but we’re definitely excited to hear his set.
Joseph, the last time we interviewed you, you said that you started writing rock songs because you hated playing jazz. I noticed that many of your songs incorporate elements of snyth-pop and disco, and I was curious as to where the more “dancier” influences in your music come from?
Joseph: I think that everyone in Everything All The Time is a huge pop music fan, and a lot of our favorite pop songs are also pretty danceable. I mean a lot of the Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Hall and Oates and Madonna songs that we grew up listening to on the radio are also monster dance jams. I think that if your goal is to write good pop music, you’ll inevitably end up writing music that you can dance to.
With Alanna also singing in Bonjay, and the rest of you involved in various other music projects, how difficult is it for you guys to find the time to record and get together to play shows?
Joseph: VERY!!!!!!! The biggest struggle with this band is keeping things moving forward. Everyone has so many commitments/bands/kids/jobs/mortgages that to even lock down one day a week that we can all get together is pretty difficult. What ends up happening is that in the times that we all can’t meet together, different people who are available meet to write and record demos. That way when we all are able to be in the same place at the same time we always have new songs that we can work on.
With six members in the band, do you ever find yourselves without enough room on-stage? Do you guys have a regular stage set-up or do change it up for every show?
Joseph: It’s never been a huge problem, but we’ve definitely had problems/band discussions about what the best stage configuration for us is. Recently we’ve been trying out a “V” configuration with the drums at the back of the stage/”V” and Alanna right in the middle of the “V”. So far it’s been working pretty well. Alanna gets to be the focal point (which she should be) and we can all see each other which is important.
How would you suggest the crowd best warm-up for an Everything All The Time show?
Joseph: Two shots of tequila and some deep lunges.
Who from the band is the most likely to go out to a club and start an epic danceoff?
Joseph: I’m not sure. Back when we were younger I know that Kieran and I used to go dancing at The Dance Cave and have some dance-offs…but that was over five years ago…and we were total losers. I think that I might have even had a studded belt and some ironic belt buckle at the time. I wouldn’t put it past Mary to win a danceoff. …I feel like out of all of us she has the most tricks up her sleeve. These days I think most of us are just content to dance non-competitively. I know that when I used to throw the party “Loving In The Name Of” a lot of the members of EATT would show up and dance together. I think it was more of a positive friend jam than an epic dance-off thing.
You guys have a song called “Those Eyes”. Did you name it that because “These Guys” was already taken by The Guess Who?
Joseph: Do you mean “These Eyes” by the Guess Who? (Note: I did) I think you must, although “these guys” would be a pretty funny title change. The lyrics could be:
“These guys are cryin’
These guys have seen a lot of love
But they’re never gonna see another one like I had with you”
Everyone would be thinking “who the fuck are these sensitive guys who’ve seen so much love and why are they cryin’?”
Tell us about some of your other upcoming shows. Which show(s) are you guys most excited for?
Joseph: We are playing:
Late Night In The Bedroom on the 27th
Peterborough on the 28th w/ The Magic
Toronto @ The Horseshoe on the 30th w/ Lioness (Facebook event)
Brantford on the 5th of Feb
The Steam Whistle Brewry on the 5th of Feb w/ Dinosaur Bones
And an (as of right now) secret CMW showcase on the 11th of March
We’re excited for all the shows, but right now the show on the 30th at The Horseshoe we’re most pumped for. We haven’t played Toronto in a little while and we’ve been working on a bunch of new songs so it’ll be nice to play them to a hometown crowd.
What’s next for you guys?
Joseph: Recording a new album in the spring and fingers crossed doing a big tour come summer/fall. In the meantime we’re just gonna keep writing and playing and hopefully we’ll be able to do our music thang all-the-live-long-day. It’s just a matter of time before everyone realizes that we’re as good as we know we are.
Is that a line-up or what! If you’re interested in catching Everything All The Time, Lioness and Rich Aucoin at the Horseshoe on Saturday January 30, then you’re in luck! The Singing Lamb is not giving away one but TWO pairs of tickets to Saturday night’s show! All you have to do is send an e-mail my way – melodylau.620@gmail.com – with “I Want Everything All The Time!” in the subject line, along with your name (that’s it!) and winners will be notified on Thursday January 28th. Good luck!
As usual, the show will take place at the Steam Whistle Brewery building 255 Bremner Blvd. and tickets will be $5.00 at the door! (Doors @ 8:00PM)
It’s no secret that I love Everything All The Time (and for that alone, you should go) but Dinosaur Bones, who’s new 7″ for “Royalty/Ice Hotels” will be out next month (via the new, kickass label Hi-Scores Recording Library – order the 7″ here!) and this show will double as a release party! Watch the band’s new video for “Ice Hotels” below!
As much as I make a big fuss about writing year-end lists and the joys of compiling your favourites of the year, I actually find it to be a very difficult thing to do. Part of the reason why I found it hard this year was the vast amount of good music I’ve listened to; narrowing down my very favourites became more difficult than choosing which chef to root for on Top Chef (admit it, you kind of liked everyone in the final four). And once that’s decided, the writing process just gets trickier because now that you’ve chosen the best you really want to make sure you can get it across to the readers just how much you loved these albums, shows, bands, etc.
The following 9 shows (yes, I’m going with the oh-so-witty approach of doing ‘Top 9’ lists this year) were the ones that truly blew me away, gave me the chills, and left me wanting more.
1. The Dirty Projectors, TuneYards @ Opera House – November 14
The Dirty Projectors on record hadn’t impressed me much before and it wasn’t till I saw them at Lee’s back in July that I was officially converted into intense Dirty Projectors fandom. Following said show, I had their latest album Bitte Orca on heavy rotation and it seemed like every other word that came out of my mouth was “I love the Dirty Projectors!” So not only was this show at the Opera House one of my most anticipated shows of the year but also the one that delivered the most. Opening for the Brooklyn art-rockers was Montreal’s TuneYards, an act of whom I had been beating myself up for missing since May of this year. Not only did TuneYards front woman Merrill Garbus steal the show but she left me speechless, literally with my jaw down and staring at the stage in complete awe. Garbus’ use of looping vocals and instruments built an incredible room of sound that just blew everyone away, sending the crowd into a paralyzed state of disbelief or in a crazed state of dancing. The Dirty Projectors were equally as mind-blowing, giving yet another amazing performance of unbelievably flawless vocals (delivered by Angel Deradoorian, Haley Dekle and Amber Coffman – hailed as the Mariah Careys of indie-rock) and some of the tightest, most astonishing musicianship today. Can’t appreciate a band like the Dirty Projectors? See them live; almost guaranteed to convert even the coldest of indie hearts. Hands-down, the best show of 2009 from the best pairing of artists.
2. Broken Social Scene @ Harbourfront – July 11
I think it’s apparent from my list last year of best shows that I’m a fan of Broken Social Scene. Always was, always will be. So it really shouldn’t be shocking that my favourite Toronto collective is back on this list this year. Unfortunately I had missed BSS at Harbourfront back in 2004 but thanks to the cancelation of this year’s Olympic Island festival (regularly held by the folks of BSS), the band returned to the Sirius Satellite Radio Stage for a free show…yes, free. Needless to say, the place was packed, all the way to the edge of the water; I’m sure if people were desperate enough, they’d be watching the show on a boat. But it wasn’t because this was a packed show or because it was free that won me over; the spectacle of a Broken Social Scene show that wins me over every time is the band itself. And in this instance, we were all treated to a reunion of the lead female vocalists (Amy Millan, Emily Haines and Leslie Feist) and what ensued was clearly the best performance the band has given in a very long time. Hearing from several members days, weeks, even months after the show, they knew it was a magical moment that night and the most important thing is that everyone had fun. And what’s a show without an equal amount of great musicianship and fun. (video by staff photographer, Stephanie Luong)
3. Yeah Yeah Yeahs @ Kool Haus – August 5
Okay I’ll admit, Karen O is my idol and I kind of worship the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. So yes, I’ve been waiting for this show for many, many years. But don’t get me wrong, if this show sucked, it wouldn’t have made this list. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are known for their highly energetic performances and that is exactly what I got. Lead singer Karen O is one of the most entertaining musicians I’ve ever seen onstage, running frantically around (in her signature Christian Joy costume), even lending the mic to the audience during “Cheated Hearts”. One thing I remembered thinking throughout the night was “Man, she just doesn’t stop smiling. I love it!” Underneath the wild leather jackets, capes and makeup, regardless of where you are in the venue, you can see the sincerity in Karen O’s face. Guitarist Nick Zinner still remains to be one of the best guitarists I’ve ever seen and even though Karen O takes centre stage, Zinner and drummer Brian Chase were the musical gems of the night. Albeit it was at a venue I’m not crazy about but for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, I’d even trek to the Sound Academy. On a sidenote, I went to this show injured; that’s how much of a fan I am of this band. I went with a busted ankle and left limping (for several weeks, actually).
4. Everything All The Time, The Magic, The Balconies @ Horseshoe – August 26
Could that line-up be any more awesome? Three of my favourite local acts under one roof, I’d kill to see this line-up again and again. As much as big extravaganzas at the Kool Haus or Harbourfront were amazing, a show like this one, celebrating the release of Everything All The Time’s EP, was just equally as incredible. It almost goes without saying anymore that I love the Balconies and both live and on record, they consistently blow me away. This show marked the first time I finally got to see them live and they didn’t disappoint. Strong dynamics and vocals between brother-sister duo Steve and Jacquie Neville, backed by the drumming talents of Liam Jaeger, it is almost alarming how talented these guys are for such a young band. I think Bob Battams of It’s Not the Band I Hate Its Their Fans says it best: “Their debut album encapsulates a brave form of ambition that most bands save up for their third or fourth album. This means that, in theory, their third or fourth album is going to be the greatest thing ever.” The Magic, another band I’ve consistently watched throughout the year, is just packed with a ridiculous roster of talent and onstage, they’re a band that I want to see more of every time. Everything All The Time has seriously become on of my favourite bands of the year. Their unique brand of electro-pop meets Diana Ross is infectious and nothing makes me happier than listening to the band’s EP. From playing a headlining show at the Horseshoe to opening for Thunderheist at the Mod Club, EATT never disappoints.
5. Think About Life @ everywhere – throughout the year.
I’m breaking the rules for this one. Think About Life is quite possibly one of the most exciting, most exhilarating and most fun bands I’ve seen in years. These guys are just so phenomenal live that I couldn’t pick out one specific show of theirs I fell in love with because to be honest, I fall in love with them every time I see them. From confetti to balloons, these guys pull out all the tricks live but it doesn’t come off as cliché, in fact it heightens every performance to a new level and you really just feel like you’re part of the party. If you go to a Think About Life show and you don’t dance, you have no soul. Okay, that’s a little harsh – you have a soul; there’s definitely something wrong with you though. How does one not dance to Think About Life? I need some serious answers.
6. No Shame 100 feat. Green Go, Ruby Coast, Pick A Piper, The Skeletons Four @ Horseshoe – September 18
This show was literally one of the best parties of the year. Great music, great people, an amazing and lovely promoter – what more can you ask for? Green Go was, without a doubt, the band of the year for me. I had voted Green Go number one for my list of ‘Hottest Bands in Canada ’09’ for i(heart)music but seeing as how they somehow didn’t make it on the list, here’s my little blurb about them:
“Rarely do I discover a band that I can watch and listen to over and over again without getting sick of but Green Go definitely has a spot on that list. Having seen them seven times in 2009, I’m still left wanting more as the band just gets better with each performance. With the release of their debut album, Borders and a slew of tour dates everywhere across the country, this was clearly the year of Green Go. Simply put, the hottest Canadian band of ’09 – and deservingly so.”
7. Timber Timbre, Emma McKenna @ Church of Redeemer – July 17
I’m a big fan of church shows and you couldn’t get more perfect than having Timber Timbre play at the Church of Redeemer this year. The entire evening was a subdued, relaxed affair and even though energetic shows can be fun and exciting, I find shows like this one equally as exciting and enjoyable. Taylor Kirk’s hauntingly beautiful voice, backed up by a band which included Forest City Lovers violinist Mika Posen filled the room remarkably well. Every song crept around the church in a slow, almost mesmerizing manner. It’s almost impossible for me to Timber Timbre in any other type of atmosphere anymore.
8. Beirut, The Dodos @ Phoenix – July 9
This was my first time seeing Beirut and The Dodos and since this was a last minute opportunity to see both bands, I almost died of excitement. I almost prefer the Dodos live as opposed to on record because seeing the dynamics and musicianship of lead singer Meric Long is great. As for Beirut, I’m still pretty speechless from their live performance. Just watch the video below and tell me you’re not in love with Zac Condon. (You can’t do it!)
9. The Singing Lamb Launch Party feat. Hexes & Ohs, The Winter Gloves, Green Go, Sports The Band, Maylee Todd @ Tranzac – January 10
You didn’t think I’d forget this one, did you?
***
Honourable mentions to: Parlovr, Diamond Rings, Bruce Peninsula, The Happiness Project, Ruby Jean & The Thoughtful Bees, The Rural Alberta Advantage, Thunderheist, Jenn Grant, Katie Stelmanis, The Ruby Suns, Julie Doiron, Ume, Woodhands, and Olenka & The Autumn Lovers.
What are some things that one can never get enough of? Chocolate covered almonds, nice record store employees and of course, pop music. Herein lies my recommendation of the week; no, not the chocolate – Toronto’s Everything All The Time.
Everything All The Time encompass more pop music than a Britney Spears album but unlike Britney, EATT is sane and good for the soul. Their strong electro-indie pop sound is infectious, happy and so catchy that you’ll find yourself singing to their songs for days, if not weeks after listening to their music. Lead singer Alanna Stuart (also of Toronto reggae-soul duo Bonjay) propels the band’s music to a whole new level with her amazing vocals, primarily backed by band leader Joseph Shabason.
Their new self-titled EP contains five explosive tracks that’ll make you smile, dance and sing-along to every chorus. Ranging from an uplifting tune such as “Getting Higher” to full-out dance anthem “Start. Stop”, this EP is phenomenal and addictive from beginning to end; some of the best pop music not just from Toronto but anywhere I’ve heard all year. A must hear for everyone of any age and any musical preference.
To celebrate the release of their aforementioned EP, No Shame has put together an EP release for the band at the Drake on October 23rd with special guests Whale Tooth and Mike Duguay! Tickets are $7.00 at the door! But wait! Want to go for free? And while you’re at it, want a copy of Everything All The Time’s EP as well?! Done! The Singing Lamb is giving away a copy of EATT’s self-titled EP along with a pair of tickets their EP release party! All you have to do is email The Singing Lamb (melodylau.620@gmail.com) with “Everything All The Time!” in the subject line, along with your name + phone number and voila!
The Singing Lamb: So tell us a little bit about the history of the band!
Joseph Shabason: Well the history of the band was that Kieran, the drummer and I went to school together for jazz and a year out of school I had a quarter life crisis and I realized that I hate playing jazz and I didn’t know what to do with myself; I’ve worked all these years towards something that I don’t want to do. Then I started writing rock songs because that’s what I listen more to than jazz, and I started writing rock songs using Garage Band. Then we had a few jams and a whole bunch of permutations of people and we sort of developed from there. Kieran and I were the original members and then Jeremy the bass player and then from there we’ve had a rotating cast but right now we’ve kind of arrived at the line up that we’ve had about a year ago, especially with Alanna whose vocals are just kind of like it for me anyway. But it’s kind of stemmed from me writing songs just at home and we’d just kind of jam them out and kind of took shape and that’s basically it I think.
And the story behind the name?
Joseph: Okay there was a bunch of friends after high school that moved to Montreal and there was this weed dealer named Hydro Stan and Hydro Stan was like a 40-year-old weed dealer. So one day Hydro Stan was like, “I’ll come and smoke you guys up for free,” so they went back to Mike’s house which was kind of a big place to smoke weed at the time and Hydro Stan, after they got high and watched movies, they probably watched the Chappelle Show or something, Hydro Stan left and was like, “You know I really had a great time guys. Thanks; thanks for everything all the time.” They thought it was really funny that he thanked them for everything all the time, this all encompassing thank you so they started saying thanks for everything all the time and we said it for years. We had this original, stupid name for the band called Joseph and the Shabasons and we were like, “This is the dumbest name; this is a joke! We’re a joke!” So after, when we decided to pick a name, we settled on Everything All the Time which is better than what Kieran wanted to call it which was Vinyl Richie.
I love that name!
Joseph: Maybe like DJ Vinyl Ritchie but as a band name, it was a weak call.
Do you remember how your first band rehearsal went?
Joseph: It was fucking weird. It was in the Cactus Rehearsal Studios but when they moved directly beside my house. It was me, Kieran, this guitar player named Thom Gill who is in Thomas, who is like my new favourite band in the city; they’re incredible, and this keyboard player named Dafydd Hughes who plays in the band now but quit for a while. But it was a lot of nothing; a lot of us trying to play songs that I had written and then none of us knew what to do and like fiddling with sounds forever and like Kieran trying to facilitate things and me not knowing how to run a band and it was just all over the fucking place. Nothing came of is and it was super discouraging because it was like “Oh, nothing’s ever going to happen!” It got better after that but it was really bad!
How is it nowadays?
Joseph: Amazing. You see the way it works is I’ll write a song or an idea or a verse or chorus and then I bring it into rehearsal and then like we all work together, we write together, we talk things out like what works and what doesn’t work and then you kind of get into a spot that’s good and maybe I’ll go home and rewrite something or Kieran will write a chorus idea and it’s kind of a really nice dynamic; we all work really well which is kind of rare so we kind of lucked out in that respect.
Are you guys currently recording?
Joseph: We just finished!
Oh! How was that?
Joseph: It was amazing! We just finished an EP, we went up for four days to this studio up north where actually, if you want to see the studio watch the video for “Tom Sawyer” by Rush – that’s where it was! And anyway, we recorded there and there is a 5-song EP that we’re going to officially release, maybe mid-October but will be on sale tomorrow and we all couldn’t be happier. It’s like huge, massive pop songs and like we’re really happy with it, it’s going to be great!
That’s awesome! Are you guys planning on touring in the fall then?
Joseph: Well, we’ll see! We don’t have any money. So we’re going to be playing a show in Peterborough and some small, one-off shows in southern Ontario. We’ll try to do a mini-tour at the end of October like leading up to the 23rd when we’re doing our CD release but we need to find some management and a label and also apply for some grants to help for like facilitate a tour because there are six of us, it’s a fucking pain in the ass. Everyone’s so busy; Kieran plays with Sarah Harmer and Dafydd just had a baby and so everyone’s so busy and unless we can actually get enough money… And everyone’s working so hard on getting this off the ground but it’s hard to get six people to be like, “Okay we’re taking two and a half weeks to drive across the country and lose money.” So it’s difficult. But at least a mini-tour and hopefully something bigger later.
You said you were starting a job in September; what are you doing?
Joseph: I teach music lessons to high school kids; like private schools!
Oh cool!
Joseph: It’s good! And it pays okay that I only have to work three days a week. Yeah, it’s really good so the rest of the time I can spend doing fun stuff. It’s good and it allows me to take time off for tours because I play with other bands and it’s nice to be able to hire one of your friends to substitute for you and take as much of your time as you want.
Well The Singing Lamb may be working on another show soon…
Joseph: Oh cool!
Yeah, our last one had Hexes and Ohs, Winter Gloves, Maylee Todd…
Joseph: Oh Maylee sang with our band for like a minute!
Oh really?
Joseph: We finished recording our first album and things didn’t work out with the original singer of the band and then Maylee sang with us for like two rehearsals and then Alanna came and it just sort of gelled right away and Maylee understood but she is amazing! And did you see her new video? It’s incredible!
I love it!
Joseph: Its like her dancing on Mars and then these weird Brazilian space rock, it’s fucking amazing, super cool!
Tell us more about your show tomorrow!
Joseph: It’s going be great! We’ve got costumes; well not costumes. Our friend Vanessa makes costumes for TVs and movies and called and asked if we wanted to choose a bunch of stuff so we got a bunch of clothing today which is going to be really great and we’ve got the Magic who are amazing and the Balconies are also great so we’re just excited to play. We’re playing a bunch of songs that we’ve never played before! We’re going have a blast and we’re headlining which is kind of rare for us so it’s going to be fun to be able to play more than a half an hours worth of music.
And your EP? What is it called?
Joseph: It’s called EP! It was almost called That Was Zen, This is Wow.
Oh my god, that’s amazing!
Joseph: That’s a good name. Fucking Kieran vetoed it! And the thing is Kieran thought of that name!
And finally, if you were a singing animal what would you be?
Joseph: A singing sloth; like that clip from Saturday Night Live – watch it; it’ll blow your mind!
Don’t forget to catch them tonight at the Horseshoe with The Magic and The Balconies! Tickets are $5.00 at the door and their upcoming EP will be on sale in advance at the show!
