A Volkswagen coupe is parked outside a Burger King. Inside the coupe, an alien slides a CD into the car’s stereo. The sound system begins to play a cappella harmonies, soon joined by fuzz-saturated guitar. Images of two blond young men playing guitar and drums flash by on screens in imaginary pod houses until they are replaced by two rainbow-hued bears holding their instruments. Welcome to the world of Tonstartssbandht, as envisioned by artist Jason Harvey in his video for “Big Day Today.” The band will be bringing this strange and wonderful mindset to Toronto on Saturday March 3.
Tonstartssbandht is composed of two Orlando Florida brothers, Andy and Edwin White, and it started in 2007 when the brothers were separated between Montreal and New York for university. Their sound, a combination of heavy psychedelic rock, buoyant sampler-and-vocals pop, and minimalist boogie, slides on a spectrum from release to release. Like many underground bands at the moment, the White brothers released a slew of low run (uniformly excellent) tapes and CD-Rs before making their official debut last year with Now I Am Become on Montreal’s Arbutus Records. These elements may seem to be the ingredients for obscure, reference-based music, but that’s not the case: Tonstartssbandht bubbles with euphoric energy, the brothers’ sheer enthusiasm for playing music and living life hardly contained when they step on stage.
Accordingly, Tonstartssbandht have toured incessantly, frequently crossing North America, and in an unexpected turn last year, Russia, Ukraine, and Georgia. “The only reason it happened was because of very hard work on the part of our Russian friends and a trust and openness that was very inspiring,” explains Andy before jumping into stories about being cajoled by Russian fans into playing Spacemen 3 covers and performing to Georgian schoolchildren.
Currently, the band is on a slightly more normal tour, running through the United States and Canada with Jason Harvey coming along and providing visuals. “[His art is] funny and also beautiful and maintains a healthy level of sadness” Andy says, describing Harvey’s digital animations and processed video.
In anticipation of playing at east end venue Polyhaus on March 3, Andy reflects that their friends from Montreal are increasingly moving to Toronto. It’s an interesting observation from a member of a band intrinsically linked to Montreal, or at least to the more open-minded members of the McGill/Concordia community. Through connections to numerous informal venues, McGill radio station CKUT, and countless other artists, Tonstartssbandht offer an example of creative cross-pollination found in the best music from Montreal. While it’s not too difficult to find stylistic kin to the band in Toronto, intermeshed in similar communities, somehow Andy and Edwin stand apart.
It may just be a question of their dedication and personalities. A fascination with Hindustani classical music or Swedish psychedelia doesn’t manifest itself in the use of facile samples like it might for some of Tonstartssbandht’s peers, but rather a concentrated effort to understand and then re-express what they find most inspiring about the music. The result is something wild, joyous, and vital.
Tonstartssbandht play Polyhaus (388 Carlaw), Saturday March 3 with Tropics and Wyrd Visions. Visuals by Jason Harvey.
