GREEN DIVISION
Who: Jeff Clarkson (drums), Alex Guthrie (trumpet), Harlan Guthrie (saxophone), Jon Lane (bass), Jeff Sweeting (guitar/vocals)
History: Bunch of high school friends from Pickering got together last year to form the band. Name comes from Douglas Coupland’s novel Generation X.
U of T connection: Sweeting is in first-year Political Science.
The others: All students-some go to Centennial College, while the rest are still in high school
Their sound: “We’re a ska-punk band, a punk band with horns,” says Sweeting. “It’s good that punk is big right now because lots of people come out to shows, but it can be a bad thing because people who don’t know a lot about it just hop on the bandwagon.”
Common influences: Reel Big Fish, Mad Caddies, Planet Smashers, The Specials
Biggest show to date: Crowds starved for live music tend to turn out in a big way in Oshawa (where Green Division plays most of their shows)-they once played to about 300 at a club there.
Claim to fame: They’re young, they’re cute, they play ska… In a glut of indie-rock bands, it helps to set yourself apart musically.
School vs. the band: “Trying to do all my essays and play shows at the same time can be hard. But as a young band, you have a lot of time to grow,” says Sweeting of the campus life.
Promoting their band on campus: “We try to promote ourselves on campus-we did a lot of flyers for our El Mocambo show, but it didn’t seem to work too well, there weren’t a lot of people. But we’ve had good and bad shows in Toronto-it’s just a matter of timing, usually. We’d definitely like more students to come out to our shows, have some fun.”
What’s next: More gigs! It’s all about the upbeat live show for these guys.
Final words: “We have a really good time playing, and I think it comes across in our live show.” – Sweeting
Next gig: March 27, Le Scratch in Oshawa.
Website: www.greendivision.net
E-mail:[email protected]
REBEL EMERGENCY
Who: Rod Coimer (“golden vocals”), Neil Deciantis (“ankle-twisting bass”), Evan Ferguson (“belly-button lint-eating drums”), Adam Halim (“ass-ripping rhythm guitar”), Geoff Willingham (“mind-altering lead guitar”)
History: “The band’s been together for 40 years,” Coimer deadpans. Actually, it’s been about a year. Their name comes from a newspaper headline: “Columbia declares rebel emergency”
U of T connection: Adam Halim’s in Political Science (“because there’s no right answer-put year , so people will think ‘three-quarters?'”)
The others: Jazz musicians from Humber College
Their sound: “It’s the opposite of the worst music you ever heard,” Coimer offers. “Its a sonic assult on your testicles-or ovaries.” Seriously, though, it’s a high-energy blend of alt-rock.
Common influences: Pearl Jam, Beatles, Queens of the Stone Age… and Yanni
Biggest show to date: ‘We played for my sister’s birthday party-she’s three,” Halim offers with a totally straight face. “The crowds have been getting bigger and bigger-in fact, I think the people are physically getting larger and larger,” chimes in Coimer. Er, right. Actually, they’ve been selling out the ‘Shoe lately, which is a decent-sized crowd of over 200.
Claim to fame: “Sam Roberts’ guitarist was at one of our shows, the guys from Billy Talent…” Halim begins before he’s cut off by Willingham: “My sister was at one of our shows…” And Coimer: “My girlfriend was at one of our shows.” Did we mention they’re incredibly hilarious? And two major labels have been sniffing around.
School vs. the band: “It wouldn’t be hard if he [Adam] wasn’t such a Nazi about everything,” Willingham snorts. “The way we study for our classes, these guys [the jazz students] are playing music,” Halim says. “Yeah, you should be, too,” retorts Willingham in return. The Humber guys say that studying jazz helps them and be better musicians and improve their onstage performance.
Promoting their band on campus: “The show is a great party-we try to make sure all our shows are free, so students can come out… The booker at the Horseshoe has told us that we’re ‘the’ band there right now,” Halim declares. “And there’ll be punch and pie. Put that in-punch and pie.”
What’s next: The way things are going, we’ve been selling out the ‘Shoe, getting press, people actually like our music,” Halim says. Their mailing list is currently at 3500 subscribers, and they’re recording a new EP.
Final words: “He could sell a fridge to a polar bear,” says Willingham of Halim, who’s managing the band himself. “Are you saying our music is a fridge and the people are polar bears?” Halim deftly counters. Next gig: Jan. 31 at the ‘Shoe (opening for current buzz band the Trews)
Website: www.rebelemergency.com
E-mail: There’s a mailing list on their website (where you can get on the guestlist for their shows as well)
THE JULY 26th MOVEMENT
Who: Ian Fosbery (guitars), Jordan Melchiorre (drums), Luke Melchiorre (bass), Ben Spurr (vocals and guitar)
History: Formed four years ago from two sets of best friends (and a set of brothers), they learned their instruments for the band. Have been playing for two years “seriously”. The band name came about when Luke was reading the autobiography of Argentinian rebel leader Ché Guevara (the July 26th Movement was Fidel Castro’s revolutionary group that stormed into Mexico City). They’re not a political band, but say it’s cool if people think they are.
U of T connection: Jordan, Luke, and Ben all go to U of T, while Ian is in Engineering at Ryerson.
Their sound: “Restless,” offers Fosbery. “It’s kinda New Wave-ish… We think it’s really good,” quips the bass-playing Melchiorre. “That’s one of the key elements of being in a band,” chimes in Fosbery, “If you’re not behind your own music, you’re in trouble.”
Common influences: Paul Simon, The Verve, U2, New Order, the Smiths.
“I’m not reading (Brit rock bible) NME every week or anything, but it is frustrating because it’s kind of ‘in’ right now,” Luke says about Toronto’s current mania with all things British. “We were listening to New Order three years ago, and we’d get, ‘New Order? You mean ‘Blue Monday’? Do you guys go to clubs and paint your face purple?’ but now it’s kind of hip…”
Biggest show to date: 150 people at the Horseshoe. As for their most interesting show, Luke laughs that the band’s first gig ever was opening for five 10-year-old girls doing a Spice Girl routine. “They were really good, though,” deadpans Spurr.
Claim to fame: One of the hardest-working bands on the Toronto scene. You’ve probably seen the band’s posters around town, they’ve got a listing on CBC Radio 3’s influential New Music Canada website (if you search for “The July 26th Movement” on Google, it’s the band that pops up first, not the political group), and they play regularly in the clubs.
School vs. the band: “We don’t take being students very seriously,” Luke points out. “I mean, I enjoy lectures, I go to all of my classes, but I don’t sit at home doing all the readings or anything. The band always comes first with us, always. I think with every great band, it’s rarely the songs that come through-it’s that juxtaposition of wide-eyed self-belief and total desperation. I don’t want to be Coldplay, I’m not interested in being on TRL, but I do want to be heard.”
Promoting their band on campus: “If anyone’s going to like us, it’s people similar to us, around our age, so we’re definitely going to try to garner a student fanbase,” Luke says. He adds that despite juggling school with music, one good thing is that “you can still tell people you’re a student. Because there’s this horrible look people give you when you tell them you’re in a band: ‘Oh, really? Good for you. Good luck with that.’ It’s like you’re on welfare or something. So you just say, ‘I’m a student,’ and it makes you look like an upstanding citizen.”
What’s next: The band is recording an EP (last March they received a FACTOR grant to make a professional demo) that they hope to release very soon. With bigger gigs at key venues like the Horseshoe, they feel that they’ve finally got the forward momentum they’ve been looking for.
“We’d like to obviously get a good following in Toronto, and hopefully sign with someone that likes our music,” Fosbery says, “But the business side is very draining. There’s a lot of politics involved, and it’s tough to get a second look. It helps if you know people, but the best thing to do is get a buzz going.”
Final words: “The thing about good music is that it should say something to you about yourself.” – Fosbery Next gig: Feb. 4 at the Horseshoe
Website: www.j26.org
E-mail: [email protected]
THE DAYBREAK
Who: Pat Bramm (bass/vocals), Mike Dawson (drums), Rob Domagala (guitars), Sumon (“Shoe”) Mukherjee (vocals/guitar)
History: Formed in Nov. 2001 on campus (they all met in various classes). All big music fans, decided to parlay that into making their own music. “It’s a punk-rock ethic, really-none of us played our instruments before the band,” Domagala explains. “All we had to do is start making our own sound. We didn’t have any pre-construed notions of how to do whatever… It was all experimental, which is why I think we have a pretty unique sound. Plus, we had to ‘save’ music.”
U of T connection: As you could probably tell from seeing their posters plastered all over campus, The Daybreak are U of T boys through and through.
Their sound: “Rock’n’roll heavy on groove,” declares Mukherjee. The band urges uptight T.O. indie kids to get down and dance. “They’ll have more fun if they participate, and so will we,” says Domagala. “Let all those layers do their thing, and then shake your ass!”
Common influences: Stone Roses, Oasis, Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead, The Verve.
Biggest show to date: See below. They’ve also played the major festivals like North by Northeast.
Claim to fame: Were invited by mega concert promoter House of Blues to opened for UK buzz band The Music last year at Lee’s Palace-it was only their seventh gig ever. “It was an amazing experience-the place was at capacity when we took the stage, and we had such a great response,” recalls Domagala. As it turns out, their future bassist Bramm was at the show, but not yet in the band. “So he didn’t get to enjoy it with us,” grins Mukherjee.
School vs. the band: “It’s really hard,” moans Domagala. Mukherjee notes that they have to be careful about scheduling shows around exams. “It’s working out-we’re finding a good balance, or trying to, anyway.”
Promoting their band on campus: Wondering why there’s so many Daybreak posters on campus? Well, aside from wanting to cultivate a fanbase of their peers, they insist that local promoters aren’t doing enough to work with indie bands to adequately push gigs. So the musicians are left to do it themselves.
“We’re the band, we’re the manager, we’re setting up the bill for the show… with us doing all that work, we’re spread really thin,” explains Domagala. “Promoters need to help us out and really get behind the shows.”
What’s next: They’ve had some label interest from the UK, some radio play on Edge 102.1, and a full-length and an EP under their belt already, so they’re well on their way to a breakthrough.
Last words: “Everyone hates the British press, but they make stars and break stars-let’s develop our own star system and stop looking elsewhere and support our own talent.” – Mukherjee
Next gig: Feb. 5, Lee’s Palace; Winterfest at the Cat’s Eye, Feb. 26
Website: www.thedaybreak.net
E-mail:
DEBASER
Who: Jordan Bimm (bass), Nevin Douglas (guitar), Luke Higginson (vocals), Bill Turnbull (drums)
History: Old friends who met at the Etobicoke School of the Arts in the late ’90s. Formed the band three years ago, but have been in their current (“more serious”) incarnation as Debaser since last fall.
“Other people are together because they see a sign in a rehearsal space or whatever-there’s a very loose connection,” says Bimm. “But with us, there’s more-we’re best friends. Stuff like music and girls is not going to tear us apart.”
U of T connection: Bimm (who happens to be a theatre writer for The Varsity) is in second-year American Studies.
The others: Higginson is a film student at Ryerson, Douglas is working at an art store and saving up for school, and his bandmates quip that Turnbull is living off royalties from his recent appearance in an Arby’s commercial (he’s the guy with the oven mitts).
Their sound: “Hooky and dark and rocked out,” declares Bimm. “Recently, we’ve got a lot of people telling us that we sound sort of like the Manchester scene with guitars.”
“It is necessary to compare yourself, but I think it’s really important to find a new sound and not just re-hash what other people have done,” notes Higginson.
Common influences: “We all bring our piece to the same common ground,” Bimm explains, but cites The Pixies as a band they can all agree on.
Biggest show to date: With nearly 20 shows under their belt to date, Debaser are still building a fanbase, but a recent Sneaky Dee’s gig attracted a solid crowd of over 50.
“It’s a total geometric learning curve,” says Bimm. “Every show, even if we play one that we don’t think is our best show, it’s still better than the two previous ones.”
Claim to fame: Infamous club booker and man-about-town Dan Burke (remember the El Mocambo fiasco?) is a supporter. To hear the band tell it, they were doing one of their first rehearsals in their current practice space, and when they came out, Burke, slumped into a sofa in a dark corner, beckoned them over, told them they had a good sound, and even though they hadn’t played any gigs to date, offered to set up some shows for them.
“We just thought he was some cracked-out dude-and I guess he is,” laughs Bimm. “Everyone in the city has an opinion about this guy, but so far he’s done good things for us.”
School vs. the band: “The band comes first,” Higginson says simply. Recently, he had an essay due the night after a show, decided not to do it, and ended up getting an extension on the paper anyhow. “I figured it was a sign.”
Promoting their band on campus: “Even just networking on campus-you have a large group of people who are in the demographic to check out new bands and like indie music,” says Bimm. “You have a huge target audience just within a few blocks. It’s so much easier than if we all lived in Etobicoke. It’s such an awesome network to abuse… er, use.” The band sees a lot of Higginson’s fellow Rye High students coming out to shows, so they’d like to see more U of T folks as well.
What’s next: They’re taking their time to record a demo, which they hope to have completed by the spring. They’ve applied to the North by Northeast festival, and hope that the demo will serve as a calling card for potential management, indie radio, and press.
"We want to send it to anybody that has ears," says Bimm. "The more people that hear our music, the better-that's our philosophy. We don't want money to get in the way of hearing our music. At the same time we would like to make money doing this one day, but that's not a priority at this point at all. The fact that we didn't think we'd make it to here gives us that much more inspiration to get to the next level."
Next gig: Jan. 29 at Clinton’s.
Website:
www.debasertheband.com
E-mail:
