In Features...White-Hot Diamond Rings

Since his debut album Special Affections dropped this past October, glamour demi-god Diamond Rings (aka John O’Regan) has been one of this nation’s hottest musical acts.

But the songs populating Special Affections weren’t always the way we know and hear them.

The bulk of the record was written over a year, in two phases. O’Regan originally penned the songs on an acoustic guitar with the intention of performing them exclusively for friends at private events. And this is exactly what he did for a winter until deciding the songs needed flat-out reimagining.

“I wanted to reconceptualize (the songs) in a way that was a little more populist and exciting and engaging,” he explains over the phone from his hotel in Vancouver. “So that’s when I started teaching myself rudimentary electronic music production.”

This self-directed apprenticeship eventually led him to Special Affections: a warm and enveloping set of lyrical electro-pop numbers galvanized by O’Regan distinctive baritone and knack for writing highly personal, idiosyncratic tales.

The buzz surrounding the debut coupled with his incomparable, glammed-out one-man live show eventually earned O’Regan the opening slot on Swedish indie-pop sensation Robyn’s North American tour. And O’Regan took full advantage of this coveted opportunity.

“I haven’t played consistently to that many people before in my life,” he admits. “It really forced me to reevaluate the way I perform and the way I compose my music. It was a positive thing.”

For O’Regan though, this prime opening slot wasn’t just a chance to introduce Special Affections to large, unfamiliar audiences. It also allowed him to watch and learn from one of the world’s pre-eminent live performers each night as she took the stage.

“I’m always trying to grown and develop and improve,” says O’Regan. “Getting to watch an artist who has been doing this for quite sometime, night in and night out, was a real privilege. Hopefully I can put all that experience to good use.”

The experience O’Regan gained on tour with Robyn is currently being harnessed on his co-headlining tour with PS I Love You, another Canadian band whose stock has been rising exponentially since the fall.

“We both kinda started out making music together. Diamond Rings was new and when I put out my first 7 inch, they were on the B Side. I really believe in them as artists, and the feeling is mutual, so it only made sense…that we team up.”

And once the tour winds up, O’Regan plans to return home to Toronto for some much desired downtime. But only a few days worth.

“I want to keep working hard and improving, so I’ll be right back at it.”

Catch Diamond Rings this Friday night at the Lo Pub w/ PS I Love You and the Cannon Bros.

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In Features...Yukon Blonde Hit The Road To Test Drive Some New Material

For Yukon Blonde, it’s hard to top 2010. But the band – comprised of core members Jeff Innes, Brandon Scott and Graham Jones – are sure going to try.

In February last year, the Vancouver-via-Kelowna indie-rockers released their self-titled debut, a palatable batch of songs heavily influenced by lo-fi 60s rock, music that just teems with familiar harmonies and irresistible, can’t-miss hooks.  The 11 song LP received praise from critics nationwide, even earning the band a place on the highly coveted Polaris Prize longlist.

But it’s their incendiary live reputation that’s brought Yukon Blonde into the consciousnesses of many a music fan.

“Ending in early December, we played 158 shows last year, so it was a super busy year,” admits drummer Graham Jones over the phone from Vancouver. “We’ve been taking a breather.”

By “breather” Jones means travelling to and fro Vancouver and Kelowna and sitting down with his bandmates to pen some new material, a collection of untested songs that may raise a few eyebrows amongst fans.

“The songs are coming along really well,” he explains. “But, it’s all a little different than the older stuff and people might be surprised. I think it’s all a little faster, a little grittier.”

Their upcoming coast-to-coast tour of Canada (literally) sees Yukon Blonde play a string of dates from Vancouver to Winnipeg with Montreal rockers Plants & Animals; then, the bands will part ways post-Winnipeg and Yukon Blonde will seize a headlining position for their Eastern Canadian leg.

But whether opening or headlining, one thing is guaranteed: new music will be played and heard for the first time.

“We’re going to basically be testing out a bunch of new stuff,” Jones says, “and it’s going to be really fun to play some material.”

And after that tour wraps up in late March, it’ll be back home for a week or so to write before the guys return to the studio and begin recording their still-to-be-named second album. Then, armed with even more material, the plan is to, you guessed it, hit the road for the summer.

“We’re not really the sort to sit around,” Jones confesses with a laugh.


Catch Yukon Blonde at the Pyramid Cabaret this Saturday night with Plants & Animals.

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In Features...Twilight Hotel Return Home. For A Day.

For Twilight Hotel, you can take the band out of Winnipeg, but you can’t quite take Winnipeg out of the band.

A few years back, Twilight Hotel, the folk-roots musical partnership of Brandy Zdan and Dave Quanbury, up and relocated almost a full 19 degrees south latitude from here to Austin, Texas, making them, quite possibly, the first Austin-via-Winnipeg band in existence.

“We had toured down to Austin a few times and the town just kind of caught our eye and sparked interest,” explains Brandy Zdan over the phone. “Maybe it’s the weather, the food, the culture, but there’s lots of creative stuff happening. They call it the music capital of the world – I don’t know if that’s a true thing – but it’s definitely a place that nurtures the creative soul.”

Now officially calling Austin home, Zdan and Quanbury ventured to Los Angeles in late 2009 to record a follow-up to their WCMA award-winning and Juno award-nominated debut, Highway Prayer. Joining them in studio was engineer John Whynot (Lucinda Williams, Blue Rodeo) and drummer Stephen Hodges (Tom Waits, Mavis Staples).

The studio in-time was remarkably quick, with the entire album recorded in about three days.

“We always take a lot of care in the arrangements, so that when we go into the studio we are ready. We pick our dream musicians, and we record a record,” Zdan says, before adding, “There’s definitely a magic that can happen when we’re recording live off the floor. Some of these tracks are literally the first take with the band, in that room. All you need to do is make sure you get an awesome, awesome engineer to capture that.”

The result: When The Wolves Go Blind, a record teeming with unadorned production, dusty rhythms, and those oh-so-enviable vocal harmonies, the latter made possible thanks to the one-two vocal complement of Zdan’s earthy pipes and Quanbury’s modest delivery.

Lyrically, When The Wolves Go Blind represents a decided shift in storytelling. Gone are the third-person narratives found throughout Highway Prayer; this time around, Twilight Hotel spin their introspective, thoughtful tales in first-person, an effective narrative shift that brings a further level of closeness to their already inviting stories.

“It (the narrative shift) wasn’t necessarily a conscious effort. It just kind of happened. When we moved to Austin and, even before that, we weren’t road dogging it as much and then when you take that time to reflect, that’s when you start thinking ‘what did we just do over the last few years? I think there’s some stuff inside that we can pull out and write about.’”

It’s these alluring stories that beat at the heart of the record, musings that wouldn’t be possible if it weren’t for, well, the unique influence of Peg City (the feeling of returning to Winnipeg after some time on the road helped shape album standouts “Frozen Town” and “Mahogany Veneer.”).

Now that When The Wolves Go Blind has entered the world (#1 on the Earshot National Roots Chart for the second week running), Zdan and Quanbury are out and about promoting the record in full touring force, a three-month Canadian and European tour which sees the pair (joined by drummer Pat Phillips for the Canadian leg) roll through town in a few days from now.

Expect other special guests to materialize on stage, as well. Just don’t expect the band to stick around too long – they’re due in Saskatoon the next night.

“It’ll be interesting to just pass through the hometown and spend 24 hours there because we really haven’t done that before. We’ve always kind of lingered for a few days,” Zdan confesses.

“But it’s always nice to play for people who’ve seen you so many times and they can see how you’ve grown and how the songs have grown.”

Catch Twilight Hotel at the West End Cultural Centre this Friday.

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