Tough Lovers are an immense alternative rock/pop band from Vancouver. Their sound is so appeasing and experienced, one which is incredibly rare for a new upcoming band such as these. I gave their EP's a listen and was blown away by the tone. I really enjoyed the astutely named, Good Morning EP because of it's easy going, wholesome sound. My favourite track, Starting With a Spark, is full of carefully scripted lyrics with an amazing back drop of powerful vocals and perplexing accompanying music.
Give Starting With a Spark a listen here, trust me, it's extremely good for the ears.
After listening, I had to know more about the impressing Tough Lovers, in doing this, I needed to get an interview for you all to read and fall in love with their electrifying music.
I recently listened to your new EP, Kids Go Out, and I heard possible influences of musicians such as Two Door Cinema Club and Eugene McGuinness. Is there anyone out in the music industry now that you take note of and incorporate into your own music?
I think each of us have a few certain artists that we really enjoy and a lot of the time it's a bit of a mashup of influences when we are writing or jamming. Individually we all listen to something a bit different from each other and I think it's helped our sound grow into a unique blend of those different musical tastes that we are into.
How did you all start out in music, was it always 'the dream'?
We definitely didn't think as kid's that playing and writing music would be as rewarding as it has been. I think that every kid at one point in their life dreams about being on stage of some kind and puts themselves in the shoes of their favourite artist. Jamie and I began playing music together in high school but took a break to pursue some other goals post-grad. From there Jamie came across Graham after listening to Graham's solo project and not too long after they invited me to join them on their new project. After that we posted a "Drummer Wanted" add on Craigslist.com and the first one to answer was Ryan. We've since been jamming happily ever after.
What inspires you when writing your music?
Our inspiration differs for each song and in a lot of ways it differs for each member. Everyday stories, thoughts and feelings are easy targets to draw from when looking for a bit of inspiration, but at the end of the day I think we all live for the moment when the inspiration comes and finds you. The reflective and lonely moments one has when they are alone with a guitar is often the most inspiring time a writer can have.
How has the year been like for you as a band?
One word to describe it would be Whirlwind. We recently completed a tour of Western Canada and in early November we completed our involvement in a challenging artist development program for BC musicians; and between all that we are constantly trying to write new material for an album we are looking to record in the new year. For indie musicians content is king and we've really been focusing on our social media presence on Twitter and Facebook.
Do you have any rituals you do before a live gig?
Our pre show rituals have changed over the last year. They used to involve a lot of alcohol, and they still do, but it's definitely not about going out and getting wasted pre show like it once was. Everyone kind of does their own thing, we aren't superstitious at all. Occasionally before an important gig we huddle up to gain an extra bit of focus just before hitting the stage.
Where do you hope to be in the future, still making music?
Of course. We make music for ourselves for self fulfilment. Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in thinking about what fans or the public will think. In 5 years if we are still making music that we enjoy I'd be just as satisfied as ever.
If you could go back in time, what part of music history would you witness and why?
One of my favourite movies is Midnight in Paris and I'm in love with the sound track. France in the 1920's would be amazing. The song "Bistro Fada" by Stephane Wembel sets the tone. It wasn't written in the 1920's but it should set the mood for an evening in Paris during that era!
Is there anything exciting happening for you in the next year that we can hear about?
We are writing new music! We will be putting updates on our social media outlets as well as our website so stay tuned! Aside from that we will be touring extensively across Canada and back for various festivals and such.
After listening to your music, I feel really upset that you're from Canada, any plans to come over to England, possibly for the festival season?
Getting a bigger following in Canada is a priority for the Spring but you never know what the future holds… The faster you spread the word about our band in the UK the faster we can get there. Either that or maybe The Music Manual would help us fund the flight!
How would you describe your music and music taste, are they similar at all?
I think each of us would have a different answer on this one. I think it a lot of ways they would be but by the same token our musical tastes vary heavily. Right now I'm really digging Chilly Gonzales new Solo Piano album and you'd be hard pressed to find any similarities between our music and his. Our drummer loves metal and theirs definitely not any of that in our sound either.
I'd like to thank Tough Lovers for this interview, I'll be definitely looking into funding these flights to England as soon as possible!
Definitely give these guys a listen, you will honestly not regret it.
http://music.toughlovers.com/
http://toughlovers.com/
http://www.facebook.com/toughlovers/
http://twitter.com/toughlovers
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