The not so smutty C-word

Toronto four-piece The Ethers prove country can be cool, just don’t confuse their alternative brand of Canadian croon with Toby Keith

The Ethers claim country soul trickles down into every genre
Image supplied by: Supplied
The Ethers claim country soul trickles down into every genre

A self-described rock/roots music/indie act, Toronto-based band The Ethers are sometimes described by reviewers as “alt-country,” a label lead singer Tom Dole doesn’t dispute.

“I mean, I don’t want to be lumped in with Toby Keith,” Dole said with a laugh. “It’s a pretty polarizing genre, it definitely makes some ears turn off.”

What Dole does appreciate about country music is its instrumentation; something he said effects his music. Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen and Wilco are all strong influences.

“If you remove the voice from some of Neil Young’s songs and play them next to a country song, you wouldn’t know the difference,” Dole said. Country, it seems, is not a dirty word for Dole—provided, that the “alternative” is included in front of it.

The music that The Ethers create could more properly be known as “Canadiana”, folk-music in the style of Springsteen or Dylan with a distinctly Canadian edge.

“I think that, as Canadians, we are especially aware of winter and of the changing seasons,” Dole said of the titular thematic thread that runs through the band’s debut album, Early Winter. “Winter was definitely a huge influence on the album … these are definitely Canadian songs,” he said.

And what makes a ‘Canadian’ song, other than winter? Well, as Dole reminisces, 15 years ago, it would have been a really awful song. “Some terrible song would come on the radio, and you’d just know that it was Canadian—like Max Webster,” he said.

Now, the new generation of Canadians bands that Dole hears playing local shows and on university radio stations show a definite shift in quality: “It’s a lot easier to make a professional sounding record with less money these days,” he said.

In fact, that’s exactly what The Ethers did. When they describe themselves as ‘indie-rock’, they’re not comparing themselves to the likes of Death Cab for Cutie or The Strokes; rather they are indicating their place in the long line of bands that have produced their music independent of major corporations.

When asked about that experience, Dole said that he “can see why people hire companies to do the work … it’s a lot of work, it’s difficult to manage. Obviously, there’s a whole industry that is focused upon music production and promotion.” But, their album doesn’t sound like it was recorded in someone’s basement.

“We wanted it to sound like a 1970s rock album, but still be polished,” Dole said.

However, it’s hard to be a businessman about something that you love, and Dole feels that they’ve learnt a lot of important lessons.

“Our next album,” Dole said, “is going to be less polished, less perfect, more experimental. Maybe we’ll use a synthesizer.” But will they be trading in their indie card?

“It depends on the company … we’re not actively looking to be signed to a company, but if the right one came along, we’d consider it,” he said.

The band has something of an interesting history, with the four members coming from very different backgrounds. Jeff Quirk (vocals, guitars, synthesizers and organ) spent nine years in a punk band; Dole (vocals, acoustic, electric and pedal steel guitar) got his musical start playing the harmonica in a blues band at age 13, Jamie Habkirk (drums) played the drums in several different bands and Anthony Bullock (bass and synthesizer) honed his bass-playing talents as a four-time World Guitar Hero Champion.

Dole said he feels that this diversity has strengthened their sound, because it allows them to “bring more to the table musically. When you listen to stuff, it sits in your consciousness and then resurfaces years later, and allows you to create a richer sound,” he said.

That rich sound is certainly present in Early Winter, an album packed full of jangling guitars, pounding drums and strong vocals. Dole is particularly proud of the titular track, as they “really pulled out the stops on that one. We wanted to make it an anthem about resilience,” he said with pride.

The album, he said, is about life, death, rebirth and living in Canada, through yet another winter.

I don’t know about you, but that sounds like music I could use as I slip-n-slide to my 8:30 a.m. classes, in the middle of another Kingston blizzard.

The Ethers play The Mansion tomorrow night with Matthew Hornell at 9 p.m.

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