A couple years ago now we covered Precious by Depeche Mode on battery powered instruments, shot a video and posted it on YouTube. Since then it’s been, by far, our most popular video, climbing to over 3000 hits (I know, I know, not Beiber numbers but what can you do). It’s also been re-posted and discussed in a couple Depeche Mode fan forums.

So we thought we’d follow it up.

We decided to cover Joy Division‘s haunting tune Love Will Tear Us Apart. We found a cool location (climbed into an archway under a bridge by Mount Pleasant), set up our un-plugged instruments (yes, Steve is supplying the air for the Hohner Melodica keyboard) and went to work. We did it in one take – mainly because Kent couldn’t feel his hands by mid song – got some shots of the surroundings and headed home to warm up.

We sincerely hope you like it!

Last night we had the honour of playing Toronto’s North by Northeast music festival as part of the Random Science showcase. We had the opportunity to share the stage with some of Toronto, Montreal and New York’s best artists including: The Clear, Hexes and Ohs, NLX, Airheart and Purrr.

We met a heap of great people, sold some Hold Back Light Show albums and got some great press (more on that still to come).  Thanks to everyone who came out, lent us your energy and made the night a huge success!

We sat down with Graeme of OntheGOinTo, an excellent Toronto entertainment blog, to talk about everything from writing to releasing new songs to the state of the music biz.

Click this link to see Winhara’s chat with excellent entertainment blog, OntheGOinTO.

Free Download:

Come On Over – Download

Or visit: winhara.com

Behind the Scenes Video:

Lyrics:

Tom Thomson's famous painting The Jack Pine. Oil on canvas. 1916.

It’s the stuff of Canadian legend.  Artist and avid outdoorsman, Tom Thomson, paddles out into Canoe Lake just as he has done countless times before.  This time he disappears.  After days of searching, his body – bloated and bruised – surfaces.  It doesn’t make any sense.

More on the extraordinary story after these extras we’ve put together for you.

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Official Version:

Download the full studio version of Tom Thomson at www.winhara.com.

Additional Blog:

After researching the painter’s mysterious death I had to see the locations for myself.  Click here to read about my solo trip on Canoe Lake along with pictures of Tom Thomson’s Algonquin park (including the cairn and totem pole that are now standing at his favourite camping spot).

Behind the scenes video:

Acoustic version:

Lyrics:

While the official coroner’s report claims that Thomson’s death was accidental there are many conspiracy theories – and for good reason.  Tom was a strong swimmer and experienced outdoorsman, he even had a license to guide in Algonquin.  It seems quite unlikely that he just fell out of his canoe and drowned on a clear day.  In addition he had a bruise on his temple and there was a piece of fishing line wrapped around his ankle no less than seventeen times!  There also wasn’t any water in his lungs, an indication that he died before he drowned.  These facts, and many others, have raised questions surrounding his death.

Tom was just entering his prime as a painter and was starting to get recognition for his work.  He grew up in Owen Sound but had moved to Toronto to pursue his career.  He spent his summers in Algonquin park doing small oil sketches that he would transfer into larger works at his studio in the section of Toronto now known as Rosedale.

The best site I found for research is Death On A Painted Lake if you’d like to do some of your own digging.  For a more entertaining read you can check out ‘Canoe Lake‘ by Roy MacGregor.

Go to winhara.com

Winhara in mid Hugh-hazing about to hit up Toronto's Resevoir Lounge

Last weekend we took our best friend and bass player of over 5 years out for his exit hazing.

Hugh dropped the bomb on us as soon as we had all regrouped from New Years. He told us that while he loved making music, for many reasons (all of which make complete sense), he is moving on. I can’t say we weren’t shocked. The four of us sat around our kitchen table in complete silence until Steve said “I feel like you guys are listening to me chew.”

It is one of many massive changes that has happened in the last month, and while we’re sad to have Hugh leave, we are extremely excited for what is coming up.

So what is coming up?

• A new website is live right now.  Go to winhara.com to check it out.
• A new album that we’re going to give to you while we write it!  (More on that later, make sure you sign up for our mailing list at the bottom of this post to get updates).
• We’re putting the finishing touches on the first song, Tom Thomson, which will be available for download next week.  (Again see winhara.com).

Needless to say, Kent, Prevost and I are going to continue fighting the good fight.  We won’t be getting a new bass player – the dynamic wouldn’t be right and we don’t have money to hire someone.  So how are we going to play live?  We’ve done it once already and let’s just say we get pretty creative with samplers and trading instruments!

We’re about to head up to Kent’s cabin, nestled into the woods beside the Muskoka River, for a focused four day writing session.  One thing’s for sure… moving forward won’t be the same, but we absolutely wish Hugh all the best with his future endeavors.

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In life we all have good days and bad days. It can be affected by weather, like a rainy sunday afternoon will leave you bummed out and feeling like shit.  Sometimes your feelings can be the direct result of a change in your day to day life such as a new apartment or a vacation somewhere warm.  Sometimes you will hear a song that takes you back to when it meant everything to you and you’ll have a little three minute flashback of the “good old days”. Your feelings and emotions might not be what guide you down the long term path of life but they sure as hell fuel the tank that moves you on a day to day basis.

Some people go through life trying to enjoy every moment and appreciate what they have.  Bad times are often softened with good family, kind friends and lots of distraction. Some people go through life sad or angry and often pointing out the obvious flaws in our messed up world, only elongating the down time.  Many of us are both of these people and we’re just trying to make sure that we steady the wings on this f$#%ed-up plane so that we don’t fly off into the atmosphere or crash into the ocean.

Writing music is not one of my favorite things to do.  I enjoy the end result of writing a song and I even enjoy moments of putting a song together.  For the most part writing a song can be mentally and emotionally draining, that is if you’re working hard on it. Where your head is at when you’re creating and assembling a song usually directly effects what you’re doing with the song and where you want to take it.  Writing a song with another person or a group of people is really a helpful way to bounce ideas around and reassure each other about vocal melody, drum beat, key changes, song structure and all the rest of it. The downfall to writing with other people is pride.  Good constructive songwriting comes from working together, knowing how to approach suggesting change to the song and knowing how to accept change to the song. Pride enters the picture when one person is unwilling to change something or they want something done there way.  Good songwriting chemistry is hard to find…overly proud songwriters are not hard to find.

Some say music is art but what’s art if the artist is the only one who wants it?  If a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear, does it make a sound???  If a shitty song is written and no one listens to it, is it really art???

I’ve spent my Sunday (the first day off with no obligations in two weeks) working on my Pro Tools chops.  They’re still not good but damn that program is fun.  If you’re one of those people who don’t like Pro Tools I’m sorry…but damn it’s fun. I haven’t been working on Winhara songs because we’re not yet to the recording stage with any of our new stuff.  I did mess around and come up with a terrible “Hip Hop-ish” song I’ve entitled “pajamas” because it is the least “Hip Hop-ish” name I could think of.  OK well I’ll let you know if this makes it on the next Winhara album…that was a joke…seriously, even if I joked Dano would hit me with a blunt object, haha.  Well enjoy!

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I’m reading a book on being in an Indie Band.  It reads:

Not everyone is cut out to be an independent musician.  Before making the decision to go after an independent career, you-as a musician-must ask yourself:

*Have you done everything you can to be as good as possible?

*Can you trade dreams of being a star for the reality of making a living from your music?

*Are you willing to bend with suggestions from others?

*How much time are you willing to devote to your music career, including touring?

*How big are your balls?

Indies should never assume anyone will do anything for them that they aren’t willing and able to do for themselves.  No one will ever care as much about your music and career success as you do.  The only helping hand you can truly depend on is connected to the end of your arm.  Don’t expect others to do it better than you can do it yourself!

“I Don’t Need A Record Deal!-Your Survival Guide For The Indie Music Revolution”

I’m just listening to Fleetwood Mac’s greatest hits and it blows my mind how many songs I recognize but had no idea that it was a Fleetwood Mac song. As much as Fleetwood Mac got it’s name from the original rhythm section of Mick Fleetwood and John McVie I think most people think of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks when they think of the band.  I did a little reading and didn’t even realize that FM had a lot of life long before Buckingham and Nicks even entered the picture.  Led by guitarist Peter Green in the 60′s who was a famous blues guitar player they had a few hits and he actually wrote a little song called Black Magic Woman…you know that song that made Santana famous…no big deal.  Anyways he left the band in 1970 approx. 13 years before I even existed and faded away, which I think is totally Rock and Roll. After that there was a bit of a transition period and then between ’75 and ’87 is when FM did the most damage.  Most people know the drama of this version of FM and how everyone was sleeping with everyone and the crazy tension between the band members especially during the Rumours album.  That shit aside because I really don’t know that much about FM (or care to know), the thing I find most fascinating is that they were one of the few bands that survived through two very vey different era’s.  After listening to the Greatest Hits it’s amazing to hear Hit Songs from the same band that sound so very very different.  If you take a song like Landslide and play it side by side with Little Lies there is a 10 year difference in the songwriting not to mention there were 3 different song writers in the band during this period…not to mention 3 main singers.  What the hell is that!  I guess it just goes to show that if you have a hit song, it’s a hit song.  It doesn’t matter if Stevie Nicks is singing it or Lindsey Buckingham (or the the writer of “Little Lies” herself, Keyboardist Chistine McVie).

Fleetwood Mac, you have some wicked little tunes!

Songs to listen to:

Name-Songwriter

Rhiannon-Stevie Nicks

Sara-Stevie Nicks

Don’t Stop-Christine McVie

Little Lies-Christine McVie

Go Your Own Way-Lindsey Buckingham

Tusk-Lindsey Buckingham (this song is wicked)