A week yesterday, we spent some time at Kensington Sound. We can't tell you why yet, but we can tell you it happened.
There's also some rumblings happening about something to do with the New Rules EP here at Fonfur HQ. We're keeping quiet, keeping busy and really excited about all of it. ~Fonfur
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4/9/2019 0 Comments Good Kid - SlingshotFollowing the release of their self titled 2018 EP, energetic Toronto act Good Kid have dropped their much anticipated first follow up single. I've seen Good Kid play this song a few times under the title Hot Fire, which I think perfectly captivated all the wild unruliness, tension, and energy that the song delivers. The new title Slingshot has the same effect, but adds a dimension of childlike shenanigans into the mix. If you know them as people, you know how accurate and important that element is; Good Kid is a quintet of jovial, goofy, talented and truly likeable individuals. They're fun people to be around, with unmatched enthusiasm and an unbelievable amount of endearingly mischievous charm. Even more on brand for them, song is accompanied by an 8-bit arcade style music & lyric video made by Gabriel Altrows and Gergana Peeva. Check that out below. In case you couldn't tell, I really like these dudes, both as musicians and as people. They're developed and confident in their sound, and they genuinely love what they do. In their several years as a band now, Good Kid shared the stage with Little Junior, Max (ft. Dave Monks of TPC), and Peach Pit, just to name a few. Slingshot is the next in a continuing line of impressive as hell upbeat jams from them. I know I haven't talked a lot about the actual song, but I think the music should speak for itself here. ~Fonfur.
4/7/2019 0 Comments The Mic StandEarly on, when Mike and I were recording the original demo for Denim Dogs we did a lot of carting gear back and forth, from Mike's in Mississauga to my parents' place in Burlington. On one of these journeys, it was already getting late and so we loaded the car in a rush in order to have as much time as possible to do vocals, and took the usual 403/QEW route down the highway.
Half an hour later, we were unloading the car in Burlington when Mike turned to me and asked, "hey where's my mic stand?" To wich I replied, "Oh, shit." While we were loading gear into the car, I shuffled some things and I had placed the stand on top of my car. I admitted the mistake to Mike, who nonchalantly said, "yeah that's probably gone forever." We cut our losses and just recorded with my half broken stand for a few hours. THEN. While we were loading out, we found it. Still on top of the car, clinging on for dear life. The stand had gotten hooked onto the roof rack of my car, and made it all the way to Burlington at highway speeds. What a champ. Today, I'm very paranoid and overly cautious about leaving things on the roof of my car. ~Fonfur 4/4/2019 0 Comments Tales From The 'ShoeI still feel invigorated.
I just want to take a few moments here to say a huge thank you to everyone who came out to the Horseshoe on Tuesday. Personally I think it was the best we've ever played, and that can entirely be attributed to all of you. The energy all around the room was fantastic. We felt like we were surrounded by friends new and old, and it was incredibly surreal to see you all dancing around to Denim Dogs while standing up on the legendary stage of the Shoe. Huge thanks to Ryan, who did sound for the evening. Huge props to Olivia Rose, The Steves, and The Squeegees for sharing the stage. Finally, of course, huge thank you to Craig & The Horseshoe for hosting the show. We look forward to gracing that stage again in the future. This is the last show we have on the horizon for a little bit; we're going to hole up and do some writing, but we'll keep you updated on things. We're doing some preliminary drum work at Kensington Sound next weekend. If you wanna be in the know, keep an eye on our Instagram. ~Fonfur 3/31/2019 0 Comments Painting The BackgroundI had a very unusual upbringing with music, having never listened to any contemporary pop hits at all as a kid. I was raised on predominantly 80's music, and was introduced to acts like Duran Duran, A Flock Of Seagulls, and Thomas Dolby very early on. My dad was the main guide to these early musical tastes, and often took me to see these bands when they were around. My first real concert was Duran Duran, in 2005. Around the same time, he also introduced me to more current alternative music like The Killers, The Bravery, and The Cinematics. And that's where my pursuit of music really began was when I discovered this explosion of alternative. Music could be anything.
I always say that based on my upbringing it's a wonder I never played keyboards, but something about the guitar caught my interest very early on. Above all else, there are ultimately two people that influenced my journey into playing, in very different ways. The first is Gord Depp, of a band called The Spoons. The group formed in my hometown of Burlington, Ontario in 1979, and I think that this is what instilled the idea of truly 'local music' in me. Having that personal connection to something can really help to strengthen the bond you have with it, and that might be why I latched on to them so heavily in my youth. I saw them play repeatedly because they were always in the area. But the music was also a huge factor; even though the band is known as an 80's synth band, Gord's playing has always been formidable. My dad pointed out and constantly reinforced how the melody of his guitar can sit beautifully within a song, even when it's not the main focus. Even though the band is known for their synth work, their biggest album Arias & Symphonies is a beautiful balance of keys and guitar. The band has also stood the test of time, and being able to meet a childhood hero multiple times is something I got the chance to experience because of their longevity. The other is Brian Aubert, of Silversun Pickups. Brian Aubert was the guy who made me realize the true extent of possibilities on the guitar through pedals. Silversun's first album Swoon was one of the first albums I bought on vinyl at the age of 14, and I would play along to it endlessly in my bedroom. It's also the first time I really took a look into the kinds of gear any artist was using, purely because of the variety of sounds on the album. He made a guitar into something way more than it was, with a huge board of effects; massive amounts of fuzz, delay, distortion, and octavers. This led me to purchase my first pedals of my own, two Boss digital delays, much like the ones featured on his board. From there my collection grew to what it is today, where I have a gigging pedalboard of around 13 stompboxes, in a collection of close to 30 effects units. My playing, and overall sound wouldn't be what it is today without his influence. I've seen them three times to date, and they never disappoint. ~Fonfur 3/26/2019 0 Comments Wallows - Nothing HappensIf you're going to listen to an album that's been released so far this year, make it this one. It proves the album isn't dead. It starts with Only Friend, and the transition into Treacherous Doctor is absolutely seamless. The tracks exist to blend together in one moment of wild realization of what's happening. The album themes are relatable and the melodic content is so smoothly digestible. Nothing Happens bounces back and forth from energy to melody in brilliant fashion. It's like if COIN took inspiration from Surf Rock. The same anthemic indie pop, but more drowning in soft reverb. The frantic, romantic antics of Remember When are stellar. The brooding mood in Are You Bored Yet? screams the sentiments felt by a generation of reluctant lovers. Do Not Wait is a world all of its own; it's the band exhibiting full creative freedom in a six and a half minute poem depicting reluctance and struggle, and they draw the listener into every second of the story. Wallows is a band that has been destined for stardom since day one. It's the dreamy nature of soft 50's music, launching into the reverb-laden surf of the 60's, cascading into 70's punk, melting into soft 80's keys, and capping it all off with modern themes and production. It's the best of all worlds. ~Fonfur 3/24/2019 0 Comments ***First off, ignore this post. Don't read it, just move on. It's too vague.
I've been considering songwriting; thinking about how and why I write lyrics, and I've realized that half the time it's barely a conscious effort. It's like reading a horoscope you didn't write, and finding yourself thinking 'hey this applies to me in so many ways.' But I can't decide what I put on paper. It just happens, and I interpret the aftermath. I feel like I'm a conduit for something bigger than myself, something I don't fully understand. I just have to keep writing things down as they come. ~Fonfur Our crazy fall season of 2018 began when our friends in Big Lonely offered us the strangest show we've ever played: The Bad Magic School Bus. The premise was brilliant; A listening party for their forthcoming album Bad Magic, on a school bus, as it drove down to Port Colborne where they had assembled a long list of friends to play in a barn. Yep, a barn. We released our first ever single to streaming platforms through Distrokid, to coincide with the show. It was nuts, but it was a good day. We settled on October 19th as our official released date, a week after Big Lonely's album Bad Magic was set to come out. A few days after we set the date, a music promoter company called A Minor reached out to us about booking a show with them. It was really cool because they gave us the opportunity to play Hard Luck Bar, a venue where I've seen some of my favourite acts like An Horse and Surfer Blood. Since then we've played Sneaky Dee's with them several times, and they've been really easy to work with. That more than anything has kept us with a steady string of shows in Toronto. The reception to the EP has been really great. This is the first music I'd ever released into the world, and it's amazing to have it out there. I'm a big perfectionist, and I'm rarely happy with anything so the fact that I'm happy with the EP astounds me. We're currently working on a physical copy for later this year, along with beginning work on whatever comes next. We played what were probably our most and least successful shows in the last month and a half of the year. Our most successful was with our friends in Honesty, for their EP release. We were the first band, the show was at The Bovine Sex Club which is a wild name for a venue, and based on all the scrap metal protruding from the walls, it's a lawsuit waiting to happen. But it was a really fun night nonetheless. Less than two weeks later, we played Mill's Hardware with a band called Look Vibrant from Montreal. Now, according to the 8 people we brought out, we played a great show. But at the same time, there were only 8 people in attendance besides the bands themselves. There were a couple reasons for this; first, we were filling in for another cancelled opener and had only been asked to play about two weeks beforehand, which didn't give us a lot of time to promote. Additionally, the usual people I would invite out were A) at the sold out Dirty Nil show in Toronto that night, and B) playing a show of their own. But even more than that, we assumed that the headliner, being the headliner, would have at least some draw in the area. Unfortunately we were wrong, but we didn't let it dissuade us and took it as a lesson for future shows. When all was said and done, we rounded out 2018 with 10 gigs, which doubled the amount we'd played in the 2 years prior. It's progress for us, for sure. The band feels more complete than ever, and 2019 is sure to hold even more. We'll keep you updated. ~Fonfur There's something that sets The National apart from any other band in existence; a 'je ne sais quoi' factor about them that puts them in a world of their own, and it's the summation of many things. Matt Berninger's anomalous lyrics and smooth baritone voice. The production strengths of Aaron Dessner. The compositional talents of Bryce Dessner. They're a force like no other, and their albums from 2010 onwards are downright groundbreaking to me. Now, that's not to say that their catalogue before that isn't great too, but it's definitely more streamlined as guitar based indie rock music. This past decade has shown a side of them that is extremely experimental and new. Their last album, Sleep Well Beast was only released a year and a half ago and they're already back with a new single. In this day and age that's sort of a rarity, with albums being spaced out at a 3-5 year rate. But the quick turnaround time definitely shows the creative well is flowing for the New York quintet, and this first single is a good indication that they're keeping things extremely fresh. You Had You Soul With You is vibrant and energetic. It's uptempo; it's airy; it's cathartic. It's a three and a half minute realization of everything you hope you can be in life. It's impossible not to find it inspirational, in spite of the macabre theme of the lyrics. The song cries out, 'I had only one thing left, and I couldn't see it yet,' but the music says, 'I see it now and I want to be better.' It's a beautiful dichotomy. The track is rounded out by Gail Ann Dorsey's vocal feature on the bridge. A long time collaborator with David Bowie, touring member of Tears For Fears, and a contributor to many other acts, her status among session musicians is among the utmost legends. While 2017's Sleep Well Beast featured a dark cover, and almost broodingly ominous sounding song titles, this new album I Am Easy To Find seems like it's going to be the complete flipside. The cover is light, and the song titles are soft and moving. Quiet Light, Roman Holiday, and Dust Swirls In Strange Light, all capture my attention as light and comforting. I have no way of confirming this until the album is released on May 17th, but my instincts tell me it will be something along those lines. ~Fonfur See that guy to the left? That's Camille. Camille is a multi instrumentalist, studio engineer, and all around fun dude, and in 2018 he became a permanent fixture in Fonfur. Camille grew up in Trinidad & Tobago, and spent years playing violin in a wedding band before moving to Mississauga to attend Metalworks. He has since graduated, and now works there. After recording the EP, we took a break from live shows because we had no bassist to play shows with. There was one attempt, a Hamilton show with Oh Geronimo, but it ended up being cancelled last minute due to Oh Geronimo's singer Ciaran losing his voice. Recently, I built up a spreadsheet of every show we've played together, and there's a big gap from August 2017 up to February 2018 that perfectly illustrates this post-studio dry spell. That doesn't mean we were being lazy, though. In the fall I reached out to Chrisy Hurn of Basement Revolver to ask about artwork. She's done all of the cover art for her own band and I love the style of it, and she's someone I have the utmost respect for in the Hamilton musical community. What you see on the cover of the New Rules For Classic Games EP is all her doing; I sent her the title and a rough mix of Denim Dogs, along with a few examples of art we like, and left it very open ended. I loved it at first sight, and as a band we really couldn't be happier with how it turned out. More and more pieces of the puzzle were falling into place, and around this time is when Camille came into the picture as well. Around the beginning of November, Mike presented the idea of his housemate Camille playing bass for us, so we brought him in to see how it went. After a few practices we all agreed that Camille clicked with us really smoothly, and added a whole new realm of possibilities with his variety of instruments, so we took him on as a permanent member. His inaugural show with us was at the Rockpile on February 25th, followed closely by his second: the finally rescheduled show with Oh Geronimo on March 23. Both of them were really successful shows for us, and playing with Oh Geronimo was a huge step for me. I know most of the band from high school; they were a few years older and I've always considered them musical inspirations. I walked away from that show feeling that I'd really become a peer in the music community, and they continue to be absolutely wonderful friends of mine. The spring sort of lulled as we waited for mixes, but we toyed with new ideas and worked on re-learning the songs to incorporate Donny's production. We delved into the world of booking gigs ourselves that June, by doing a fairly successful show at the Piston. That was with Blue Mantra and Milhouse, and it was an interesting experience because we were running the show. I think if I could go back and do it differently, I would have added a 4th band to the bill to fill out the night more, but other than that I'm happy with how it went as a first attempt. By the beginning of July, we received all the final mixes for the EP, and had everything mastered by the end of the month, and we sat on it for a bit as we decided on a release date. This is when things really began to pick up. More on that next time. ~Fonfur |
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