by Lindsay Gibb: TG's co-op darling
When you hear the words Canadian Music, what
comes to mind? Brian Adams, Celine Dion? Contrary to popular
belief that is not all there is to the Canadian music scene. When
I used to think "Canadian music" I would always think, there's
nothing special going on there but "au contraire mon
frère". There is a lot going on. There are thousands of
bands floating around our provinces, some going virtually
unnoticed. 
Talent is popping up everywhere. The club and concert scene is bursting with bands from rock/pop to ambient to jazz and blues. We've got it all, and independent is becoming a keyword in today's society. From music, to zines, to businesses; the independent scene is becoming recognized more and more.For example, independent record labels are a big help in exposing the talents of indie bands to new audiences.
Take Hayden
for example. He is one of Toronto's own budding musicians
who used to be an independent recording artist until he was signed
to Outpost
records (a branch of Geffen). Now he
not only circulates through
Canada, on the independent label Sonic
Unyon, but he can be
found
worldwide through Outpost. Sonic Unyon as well as
Murderecords
are two of the more known independent record labels. What makes
these labels independent is that they are not funded by "big name"
labels (like Sony for example). All the money that goes towards
the bands comes straight from their pockets. These labels have
spawned out of bands who know what it's like to try and make it in
the competitive world of music. The band Tristan Psionic are the
founders of Sonic Unyon, an independent label who have
housed bands such as The New Grand, Poledo,
Kittens, and Hayden. The label puts on shows and releases albums
for the pleasure of the growing number of fans who love those
Sonic Unyon bands! Murderecords, on the other hand,
is the love child of Canada's super group Sloan! Bands who have
been in Murderecords discography would include Local
Rabbits, Hip Club Groove, Thrush
Hermit, and The Super Friendz. The last
mentioned of the four happens to be one of my favourite bands of
all time. Recently, while they were in Toronto to play a show and
visit family, I had the chance to talk with Matt Murphy
(guitar/vocals) about the band and where they're headed.
They're some Super guys those Super Friendz:
First and foremost introductions are in order. The band originated with three songwriters: Matt Murphy, Drew Yamada (guitar/vocals), and Charles Austin (bass/ vocals). Lonnie James arrived later and is now the permanent drummer for 'The Friendz'. Having three songwriters in the band I wanted to know what differences they notice in each others work. Matt says that Drew's songs tend to be more narrative while Charles' have more of a focus on setting.
His own? Well that's a tougher question. After help from Drew's brother and laughs all around, Matt finally decides that he "uses images in his lyrics to provoke reactions from his audience". One thing that all of them have in common is a focus on nature. Even though they all grew up in the city, they still have an appreciation for the great outdoors. And if you listen to their music, you will notice that they all like a good melody.
I gave Drew Yamada a call one night in hopes
that I could schedule an
interview with the band before they took off again to play a show
with Sloan in Vancouver. To my good fortune the guy couldn't have
been nicer, and he offered to call me back in half an hour to do
the interview, since Matt was there with him. When they called
back I had a chat with Matt about the details of The Super Friendz
way of life.
|
The Super Friendz: Left to Right: Drew Yamada, Lonnie James, Charles Austin and Matt Murphy |
In the local music scene, which I would include
'The Friendz' as a part of, a lot of the bands seem to be friends
with one another. I wonder if this is due to the fact that they
work along side of each other as bands or if they befriended each
other before becoming Canadian music stars. Matt Murphy explains
that when it comes to Sloan he has known them since childhood. He
went to school with Jay Ferguson from grade one to eleven and then
after that he attended University with Chris Murphy of the band.
It was actually Chris Murphy who coaxed him into doing something
musically. Chris was one of their temporary drummers when they
were on their quest for a permanent drummer, but now they have
Lonnie James behind the skins and everyone seems quite happy with
that arrangement.
So since Chris Murphy had forced Matt's hand at music, how did The Super Friendz come to be? I'm always curious to know why different people decide to do what they do. He satisfies my curiosity by telling me that he always felt that it was something he could do but he felt that it was a bit of a long shot for him to actually make a living playing music. He wasn't really sure as a youth what he wanted to do with his life but he started off by getting into journalism. Once he and the fellas (who met up with each other while attending Kings College in Halifax) got the band to take off he gave up on the journalism thing and pursued his career in music. Being brought up to believe that you're going to train through a lot of schooling to become a doctor (or something like that) it takes awhile to realize that what you want to do means something. He assures me that he is now quite confident in himself, and the band, and realizes that this is something he can make a living at.
I imagine that it must be strange to see
yourself on the tv or hear yourself on the radio. It seems that
they are not all that excited by the tv. While making their videos
they saw themselves on screen so often that they got used to it.
"I get a bigger charge out of radio," Murphy confides in
me.
"Hey Drew, on a scale of one to ten how famous do I think I am?" Matt calls into the background after I have posed this question to him. About a 2 is the consensus. This is because Canada is small, the alternative music scene is even smaller, then their band is even smaller than that and he only makes up one quarter of the band. "So maybe I'm a one?!" We have quite the discussion about this question. "No, maybe a bank robber would be a one," Matt ponders this. He has decided that no one would be ten. Maybe Madonna would be pretty high up there and Beck would be about a four.
I tell him how Josh from Poledo said that he
sees himself at a negative two. Matt laughs and says that no one
could be a negative number. Only if you died without anyone ever
knowing you. Then I suggest that there is always the possibility
that someone might strike oil beside their grave stone and then it
would be all over the news. He then points out the likelihood of
oil drilling next to a grave sight. Hey, it could happen!
After about forty five minutes of chatting with Matt I decide that I have taken up enough of his time and we say our goodbyes. After I hang up the phone I reflect on what has just happened. I think about going to shows and seeing my favourite bands play and then being able to walk up to them afterwards and tell them how I felt about their show. I feel that this music atmosphere, which many indie bands find themselves in, is much more user friendly than others. For both the bands and the audiences since the bands are able to get their feedback and the fans are able to feel like a part of the experience instead of just being a spectator.
Photo Credits:
Hayden: courtesy of Hayden's Outpost
website.
Sonic Unyon logo: courtesy of Sonic Unyon's website.