Purveyors of: Sci-fi pop meets industrial rock
File next to: A massage
train between Sneaker Pimps, Garbage and Broken Bells
Playing: WL 579 a.k.a.
“Halloween You! Sexy Monster: A Slow Scary Riot for New Zombie Kanada,” Thursday Oct. 31 at the Monarch Tavern.
The connection between Wavelength and the Guelph music scene seems to shine on. WL has found another hidden Guelph band, Adverteyes, who have moved to Toronto with loads of festival experience. Playing Hillside, NXNE, and Pop Montreal has allowed the band to musically evolve from their debut album into their new psychedelic / electronic sophomore record entitled Cultures. Frontman Colin Harrington has steadily been an in demand mixer/ producer in Guelph; Tyler Belluz caught up with him just before their debut at Wavelength’s Halloween show.
What’s the story behind the name “Adverteyes“?
One dark and stormy night, many years ago, I was visited by a two-headed, benevolent multi-dimensional entity by the name of Jerry. After hours of deep cross-eyed staring into and through my pink-paisley living room wallpaper, he appeared to me, and with a soothing droney tone he spoke. “Colin! You weak and feeble minded human! In order to achieve greatness in life, and to help steer your miscreant species in the right direction, you must do these two things: Stop eating so many packets of morning glory seeds, and start a rock’n’roll band called Adverteyes.” I had no choice but to comply.
There seems to have been a substantial gap in time between the releases of Myopia (2011) and Cultures (2013). Was this a methodical delay, or what caused it?
Myopia was a pretty typical “best of” type record that bands tend to release as their debut. We collected our strongest songs from the previous years of recording on our own, which we had been tinkering around with as a live band, and finally took the opportunity to track them in a proper studio setting, with real gear and a actual producer/engineer. Our latest release, Cultures, is a return to recording things on our own with minimal equipment and loads of time. We also enlisted many outside musicians to perform on this record, taking the time to pick the right people for the right parts, more in the vein of casting for a movie (or more like Steely Dan). With minimal external pressure or deadlines, we were able to get down into the
fine neurotic details, and make the type of introverted and experiential record that we have always loved listening to.
Unlike the first album, your new record has the use of electronic drums. Why the change?
Adverteyes started out as an electronic-based solo project of mine. The very first show was in 2003, by myself with a large clunky desktop PC (running a DOS based program called “Impulse Tracker”), a giant keyboard and an acoustic guitar, opening up for metal bands. Still, all of our demos are written with electronic drums and keyboards first, and later replaced by real humans. With electronics, we find its easy to make “sonic” cultural references: everyone has their associations with 808s or classic sampled drum loops from over the years, and we wanted to use as wide a palette of instruments as possible. We really didn’t want the record to sound like a band, but more like a recording project.
What is next on the horizon for Adverteyes? Are we expecting any lengthy tours coming our way?
We are going to be self-producing a couple of music videos in the coming months, and potentially a short film based on a few of the tracks from Cultures. Followed up in the spring with an East Coast tour, with
dates in Ontario and Quebec sprinkled throughout.
Halloween shows always seem to bring out the party animal in us. Which artist on Wavelength 579 are you looking forward to seeing the most?
Light Fires for sure! I saw Regina perform at SappyFest two years ago in a dark small town bar that was half filled with an older local drinking crowd, and half with city scenesters. It was quite the mix, and a very memorable show. We feel honoured to be sharing the stage with the Gentle Lady. It will be a party indeed.