Along with writing and recording “the beta collection” we’re also drawing up blueprints for a new live show – literally. Dan has already produced at least six different stage plots for us to discuss / try out. We’ve also been discussing lighting setups and other great visual ideas to add to our show. We’ve been away from the live stage for a while now and I can tell the three of us are overly eager to get back at it – but before we do we want to ensure that we are bring out 100% possible best to the stage. And we’re drawing on our long list of past concert experiences for guidance.
After attending the recent Muse concert (which was amazing) Dan and I started a discussion about our favourite concerts of all time – and what made them so. In the end we both were of the understanding that all the smoke and lights and visuals were nice, but it was the showmanship and songs that held our attention long after the concert was over. He spoke vividly of a Pearl Jam concert in a tiny hockey rink in small town Ontario where the band played past curfew and Eddie Vedder “threw his heart on the stage and stomped on it – like here you go, this is rock and roll.” And the Coldplay performance during their Rush of Blood to the Head tour when Chris Martin held so many thousands captive with his every word and movement.
I recalled Silverchair’s Diorama tour, still my favourite concert to date, in which everything, sounds, lights, performers, worked as one to create and amazing sonic and visual spectacle. And of a young upstart band called Say Anything I witnessed play a total of FOUR songs and fell in love. They weren’t even listed on the bill and had just released their debut “say anything…is a real boy”(which if you don’t own it run out and buy it NOW NOW NOW) but were the best band of the night. They had no flashy stage set up or props, but commanded attention, even when falling on patch chords, and had more than enough energy to light the city of Montreal for weeks after that night.
It was the interaction between the crowd and the band on those nights that made them what they were – not the pyrotechnic effects. Sure we’re working on lights and other on stage set ups, but mostly we’re working on our show to ensure that we can create that amazing connection between everyone, every time we hit the stage, with great energy and great music.

I feel as though being a stunt double or a special effects man for movies would take much of the “ooh and awww” out seeing a movie – simply because you know what is happening to really create the moment where a helicopter is ninja kicked in half by the hero.

Unfortunately I have the same feeling with music now. As a youngster (i.e. 16) I was living at concert venues and summer festivals. I just loved being surrounded by the music and being “this close” at the front of the stage to people doing what I only dreamed of. Everything seemed larger than life. But as time passed and I became more aware of things happening on and off stage in the music industry I was less and less impressed. That and a lot of music started to suck…

Anyway, what I am getting at is that there are very few bands that I get excited about when I hear an album is coming out or that they are going on tour. One such band is Brooklyn based White Rabbits. Although I don’t know everything and anything about this band, I do know that from what I have heard and seen (thanks YouTube) I love everything they do. Needless to say I was ecstatic when I realized they would be playing Toronto on October 24. And then I realized the bad news…WE were playing on October 24. What made it even more painful was that they were playing a venue on the same street as us…two doors down.

As the date grew closer I was joking with many people that I was simply going to run next door, watch the concert and sneak back in to our show before anyone was the wiser – which was totally undoable of course. Then this led to joking about both bands loading their gear in at the same because the venues were so close together and getting a chance to bump into them that way. It was all so LOL.

All these thoughts had for the most part left my mind by the day of the show, as I was more focused on our own show that evening. However, as we were beginning to unload our gear into the venue, what should come around the corner but a big white cargo van with a trailer that proceeded to stop two doors down. After our gear was unloaded (and much teasing from the other guys) I finally worked up the courage to go talk to them. Now, I have met my fair share of famous hockey players and musicians in my time and for the most part have kept things cool – but for some reason – mostly my unbridled love for the band, I was more like a 12 year old girl meeting the Jonas Brothers on this day. I came around the corner of the venue, saw the guys all standing around the van having a smoke and just started rambling at mach speed…

”Ummm yeah. Hi, my name is Stephen.” – extends for hand shake.

(Steve from the WR introduces himself as ‘also Steve’)

“Yeah anyway what time are guys on tonight because I REALLY wanted to see the show.”

(I think 11pm)

“Ahhh see cause I am also in a band that is playing tonight two doors down and…”

(Oh what band is that?)

“Winhara”

(Sorry?)

“Winhara, we’re a local band…anyway, that sucks cause I really like you guys and we have you at work on the mixed CD…”

(Sorry?)

“Oh, I also work retail and yeah they are a small Canadian company and it is usually just Britney Spears so when you guys came on I was all like (voice cracks) ‘Ohhhh no way this is on here!”

(Well that’s cool)

“Yeah, well and OH! I saw your performance on Letterman, man that was SWEET!”

(Oh well thanks, thanks a lot)

“Oh, sorry I realize I am rambling, I don’t usually get nervous when meeting people but… (trailing off)…you guys are really good”

(Oh no worries man, we are just dudes)

“Yeah but you are good!”

(Well thanks, anyway maybe cut your set short tonight so you can make it…haha)

“Yeah they don’t really need a drummer…acoustic set tonight boys…anyway, thanks, thanks – extends for hand shake again – and it was super cool to meet you guys, later!”

….And then I ran away…Didn’t leave a business card, didn’t try and pump up the band or mention our “after party”…Nope, I just ran away.

For a moment, I was a 12 year old girl.

P.

Recently a very traumatic thing happened. I was reading Marvel’s Civil War series and was saddened to see that Spider-Man was convinced by (his now mentor…wtf?) Tony Stark (a.k.a. Iron Man) to unmask on national television. I won’t go into details as to why this happened, or why it seemed important to the “cause” at the time (because really, do you care?) but it certainly started my brain in motion. I often relate very closely with the trials and tribulations (okay…so I want to be Peter Parker) of the story line throughout the Spider-Man comics. Not the good versus evil, or the whole super-powers thing, but the life of Peter Parker – the nerdy, scrawny, often maligned by his own good intentions, wallflower kind of guy. I often joke about the fact that no one ever sees me in the back because I am hidden behind the drums / three tall guys, but for the most part I also make myself scarce before and after shows – protecting my secret identity. It’s something I work hard at, much like Peter Parker worked for so long to conceal his identity. The difference is that I intend to continue to play things close to the vest – the fact that this blog is out is almost an unmasking in its own right
For the most part this was just to let people know that if you ever tried to say something or get my attention (pre or post show) and I failed to acknowledge it…it wasn’t a shun or cold shoulder, I was just trying to protect my secret identity

As a young band trying to flush out our sound, the dirty word was always “Coldplay.” Not because we dislike the band, or the comparison to such a successful band, but because it was so easy for people to lump four guys with a piano into that box. Did we (and do we still) take some cues from them? Sure. But we didn’t want to just be a facsimile; rather something different – something unique that encompassed the four quartered pie chart of our different tastes. On the road to achieving this, and as the Coldplay comparisons slowed, the dirty word just changed…to “Linehaul.” (For those unaware, the band was called Linehaul prior to Winhara).

To me, Science is where Linehaul died. And Winhara was born.

Science was one of the last songs for writing / structure to be completed during the HBLS recording sessions and is one of only a handful of songs that did not appear on the final Linehaul record. To me, Science is the song that truly marks Winhara becoming its own entity. Gone were the days of the CP70 piano and blues scales; they’d been replaced with computer driven keyboards along side guitars that sound like…well computer driven keyboards. The vocals had new attitude, the rhythm section sounded deeper and other instruments were added to round out the set up. Dan, a long time advocate of clean piano sounds, now found himself with (and using) a litany of distortion, synth and effects pedals. Not to mention Hugh finally using his many distortion pedals tastefully – and getting full approval to do so. A second keyboard was added to the mix and Kent’s ever expanding stomp-box kit continued to expand. When Science was complete, we had arrived at OUR sound.

If you ever stumble upon an old interview on YouTube done by Studio Q in Kingston you will hear Hugh saying, “it’s a progression, I think you can finally start to hear what we’ve been trying to do on previous recordings” in regards to our final Linehaul album. At the time, although as a band we knew where we wanted our sound to go and could see it happening, we were still using the Linehaul sound-scape. Science was the true catalyst to our progression. Now we are the band we knew we could be.

P.

[Listen to Science]

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If I had to describe A Song Full of Regret, the best phrase would be “sleeper hit”…or “the forgotten song”…or “surprise” would work too.

To be honest I can’t remember how, where, why, or when this song started, or how it came to be as you hear it today – but I know where it almost ended up. And that is on the cutting room floor with all the other tracks that didn’t make the cut for HBLS.
In any of the forms this song took during the writing and recording process it always had a few parts that we all enjoyed, but we could never come to a unanimous sense of confidence around the song. Needless to say, the song toiled on the edge of obscurity for quite some time – the forgotten song.
That is until one day, after weeks of no one even uttering the words “song” and “regret” in the same sentence, we heard a mix of the song and had a “whoa, this is actually a great song” moment. Probably followed by a short session of everyone saying they always knew the song was great and agreeing that we had never really wanted to cut it in the first place…or that if we had, it was only once for a brief moment of absentmindedness.
To this day I still catch each one of us, often under our breathe and to ourselves, in seemingly a state of surprise or amazement after a solid run through of the song whispering, “wow, that is a great song.” This is our twenty dollar bill in the pocket of your winter jacket during it’s first action of the season.
I’ll stay away from inserting any cheesy lines about how we may have possibly regretted not adding this song to the album, but every time I catch one of the boys with a sly smile on their face after we perform this song, I know we made the right choice.

P.

[Listen to A Song Full of Regret]

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