Over the years, The Opera House has been a pit-stop for many bands like Nirvana and Alexisonfire, and the venue is on its way to graduating from the ranks of grimy all-ages clubs and into the legitimacy of theatre tours. It’s raining hard on my way to the venue. As I arrive, I notice a line around the block of kids who are unfazed by the thought that the weather might ruin their stupid haircuts. The kids are here tonight to see Abandon All Ships, southern Ontario’s latest contribution to the screamo canon.
The band claims to “hail from Toronto’s club district,” but their audience shares nothing with the GTL set. The band’s music is a dichotomy of sound, blending standard metal riffs with Euro-style synths and T-Pain-style auto-tuning. The bizarre confluence of influences is no doubt shaped by their hometown, and their allegiance to their Italian heritage. With an Italian-Canadian population of almost 500,000 in the GTA, the Golden Horsheshoe scene that has produced some of screamo’s most successful acts (most notably Alexisonfire and Silverstein), it’s hard to imagine them coming from anywhere else.
As the band hits the stage, vocalist Angelo Aita is charismatic. The drinking section had to be reduced to make room for the under-19 market the band has cornered. As AAS (as they are known to their fans) hit the stage, the over-capacity crowd is fist-pumping in unison — without the slightest bit of irony — chanting the band’s intro hook louder than the six guys on stage possibly could. I survey the crowd and there isn’t a juicehead or a “Situation” anywhere. Nonetheless, the band has ingratiated themselves. Abandon All Ships are at the right place, at the right time.
I meet with Aita and the band’s heartthrob, Martin Broda, at the Starbucks across from Muchmusic. Aita, the gruff screamer, raves about the new record and how “dark” it is while Broda, his melodic counterpart, gushes about his earliest memories of being inspired to be in a band (via Blink-182 videos on Much Music). Broda — whose last name means “beard” in Polish — has achieved heartthrob status, with Facebook groups popping up like “Broda Not Bieber Fever.” Bieber is a fitting rival, since Broda seems to be able to grow approximately as much facial hair as his teen-idol counterpart.
The band has a strong relationship with MuchMusic from their time on the glorified gong show Disband. For most bands, their time on the show climaxes with the judges squashing their musical hopes forever, but AAS managed to parlay their appearance into a record deal with star making indie label Underground Operations as well as extra financial backing from the biggest label in Canada, Universal. Underground putting their resources behind a burgeoning metal band isn’t newsworthy, but the band is certainly a bizarre choice for Universal. Traditionally, major labels in Canada have shied away from niche bands, but Dan Hand, assistant manager at Underground, notes that “the people at Universal 100 per cent support the band. In today’s industry you have to focus on careers, and not just one-hit wonders.” Hard to argue, considering the band’s first full-length debuted at 27 on the Canadian Billboard charts and the band has been rumored to have received a six-figure advance which, by today’s standards, is unheard of.
Beyond their fan base’s reverence, the band’s polarizing sound hasn’t been well received. Local critics hate them, with Eye Weekly’s Dave Morris referring to them as “painfully oblivious.” Message boards mock them, referring to the band as “Auto-tune All Ships.”
The band, however, is completely indifferent toward the criticism, curtly responding with a simple “fuck ‘em.” But the band’s long time producer, Anthony Calabaretta, is more candid and confused by the vitriol: “We don’t use (autotune) to correct vocals — that’s the biggest misconception. Ninety per cent of vocals on records in the world have auto-tune on it; just because you can’t hear it doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Martin’s a great singer — we just use it as an effect. Just shows how little people understand the recording process.”
The band is on their way to premiere their new video for the track “Megawacko.” The song is one of their oldest, having appeared on their original self-titled EP. I inquire whether the song went through any changes: “It’s more structured [and we] added a chorus,” Broda says nonchalantly, not worried the scene police might be listening.
For a band that came out of a scene obsessed with the idea of selling out, they are unusually cavalier and comfortable with all the trappings of rock “stardom.” They’ve managed to sign to a major label, star on a reality show and openly discuss adding a “chorus” to previously recorded material. The band hasn’t even shied away from the Jersey Shore references, with shoutouts to Pauly D and references to the show’s popular one-liners on their t-shirts. I ask Aita what’s next for a band that has clearly found themselves riding a wave.
“The guido thing will fade,” says Anita. “But I’m not worried. We aren’t a gimmick band.”
Abandon All Ships plays The Phoenix Concert Hall on October 27th.
