Go For The Eyes

The first thing Go For the Eyes’ guitarist and vocalist Jeff Turner wanted to hear when he bought his first record was the Smiths’ “How Soon Is it Now?,” off one of their most notable albums, Meat is Murder. Immediately, his favourite song felt different to him.

Jeff Turner and Elise Roller are easy to chat with, sitting on the steps off Memorial Drive by the Bow River. Go For The Eyes are releasing their first 7” this month with two tracks they worked hard to perfect. “What Up October” and “If You Don’t Mind” are pressed and ready for the world to be heard in the way music should be listened to. Both Turner and Roller are huge music buffs and know that vinyl feels and sounds different.

The tracks sound bigger then their previous work. “I have to admit we aren’t the best musicians out there, so what we try to do now is include other things. For this [project], we got a violinist and cello player. Kirill Telichev, the producer, expanded our sound with a new arrangement. We aren’t try to be better than another band, we are just trying to be better than ourselves,” Turner explains.

Roller adds, “We are really good at asking for advice: all of the success we have had is by not being afraid to ask people’s opinions. We want to be better and a lot of our work is a product of people’s input.” This will be Go For the Eyes’ first venture into the analog world as a medium and they have every right to be excited about releasing a 7-inch, as vinyl will always be a timeless way to enjoy music. - Beatroute

Stepping out of the digital sphere takes a lot of courage these days, especially for independent musicians. Go for the Eyes have long graced Calgary with their aggressive/passive blues stutter, but had yet to release anything on vinyl, which is surprising considering how perfect analog reproduction would suit the band’s sexy grooves. Now, finally, the wait is over. Comprising two nearly-forgotten tracks that didn’t make it onto the band’s Six Through Twelve EP, this 7” takes steps in a few new directions without losing sight of the band’s pentatonic riff-rock. “What Up October” is fantastic, but “If You Don’t Mind” is worth listening to forever, building from a rhythmic fuzzy bassline and cross-stick groove into easily the catchiest chorus of 2013. Heavy reverb and dizzying arpeggios lend the guitar character while string arrangements fill out the spaces; by the time Go for the Eyes let loose, the tension has grown nearly unbearable. Then, the crescendo drags itself out across two full minutes. It’s brilliant and unexpected, given the “all systems go” blues rock of Six Through Twelve. Go for the Eyes’ music has always felt like it was made for vinyl, but they really outdid themselves here. - Beatroute

Go For The End Zone? Go For A Field Goal? Go For It On Third and Long?

Nah, local band Go For the Eyes has no intentions of changing their name to pander to the city’s football faithful when they perform during Monday’s Labour Day Classic at McMahon Stadium.

That doesn’t mean their above pandering, though.

“Well, I’ll wear my leather pants if that helps,” says singer Elise Roller sitting on the Ship patio, sharing nachos with guitarist Jeff Turner.

Couldn’t hurt. The quartet will, after all, need to do all they can to win over what should be a sold-out, sudsed-up and rowdy afternoon crowd assembled for the Stamps-Esks matchup. As part of a promotional contest, Go For the Eyes have been given the opportunity to perform two songs prior to kickoff and another pair during the halftime show when the fans should be well into it.

And they’re looking forward to the challenge.

“That’s exactly where we belong,” Turner says. “If there’s going to be a drunk football party, we’re going to be a part of it ... We play rock and roll, so, sports and rock and roll, they’ve gone together since the dawn of time.

“It’s not like we’re going on the field and returning kickoffs. We can’t screw the game up.”

Roller agrees, happy merely to get the chance to play for 30,000 people who may not have even heard of them or are “outside of our regular demographic.”

“We’ve done music festivals, we’ve done all kinds of shows throughout the city,” she says. “But this is the first show where we can really reach an audience that we haven’t been able to reach before.”

The band’s stock has certainly been on the rise on the local and national scene of late, thanks to a recently released EP titled Six Through Twelve that shows off the refined but raw rock sound they’ve been working toward for the past half decade.

They’ll play two of those tracks as well as showcase a couple of new ones — What Up October and If You Don’t Mind — which they’ll release later this fall on a limited edition 7-inch vinyl.

And to make sure they keep the fans around to see that halftime set, they’ll be pulling out all of the stops — leather pants, aside — with Roller’s husband and local hip-hop hero Transit joining them for one of the songs.

“He’s been there for us, so we’re finally in a position to repay him,” Turner says.

That position actually comes thanks to a contest that could see them in a greater position. It’s part of the SiriusXM Rock the Grey Cup promotion which has one band from each of the CFL centres competing for the opportunity to perform during this year’s Grey Cup week festivities.

A friend had tweeted them a link to the contest and they, without great expectations, submitted a video they’d shot during their release party show. A week later they were informed that they would be the Calgary representative competing against other acts from across the country, including Edmonton’s Alterra and Montreal band Gazoline.

Fans can vote for their favourite by going to rockthegreycup.siriusxm.ca, and Go For the Eyes are hoping they’ll land a whole lot more votes after their McMahon appearance.

If not, again, there’s also the added incentive of getting your name thrown into a contest to win a trip for two to this year’s Cup.

And where is that again? Oh, yeah. Regina.

Yet, still, Go For the Eyes are hoping that come the week of Nov. 20-24 they’ll be in the heart of Rider Nation where they’ll get “rock star treatment” and a high profile show.

“We’ve actually made a little home there,” Turner says of the many tour stops they’ve made in the city that rhymes with fun.

“We have some really great friends out there,” Roller says. “So apart from it being Regina, we’re actually happy because we’d get to see our friends and party with them.”

“And if you vote for us,” Turner says, “we’ll think of you the entire time we’re there.”

If recent history is anything to go by, the four-piece — rounded out by bassist Scott Perrin and drummer Nathan Raboud — may just get their wish. They are, after all, celebrating another contest win, one that saw them earning $25,000 from local alt rock station X92.9 as well as an opening spot during Said the Whale’s concert during this year’s Stampede.

They admit that winning contests isn’t necessarily the most artistically satisfying or validating thing, but when you’re a struggling independent act you have to take advantage of every opportunity to come your way.

“A lot of us are trying to get away from the competition of everything and express ourselves, but you get pulled back in by something like this,” Turner says.

Besides, he notes, it’s the Grey Cup, something he and his family have watched and celebrated for years, and what he considers to be the one truly Canadian sporting event.

When it’s suggested the Briar is equally as Canucky, Turner concedes the point.

His singer, on the other hand, senses another opportunity.

“I wonder if they have a contest for a ro - Calgary Herald

The circus has left town, metaphorically speaking. And that’s a very good thing.

For years and on a pair of prior releases, Calgary band Go For the Eyes prided themselves on being purveyors of a style dubbed “circus rock,” to characterize how many influences and sounds they could pack inside of the project, even inside of one song. It made for a listen that, true, unique and often impressive, was also at times unnecessarily challenging.

Now, though, the quartet has packed up the big top, put the aural acrobats out of work and given the clowns their walking papers, producing a straight-up rock record with the recently released Six Through Twelve.

“I’m calling this our coming of age album,” says vocalist Elise Roller on the road back from Canadian Music Week. “We came together coming from different genre influences and, at first it was just sort of a mosaic, just slapping genres in places in our songs, and now it’s more of a melting pot.

“We’ve really come into our own and figured out or own sound from that and I think it’s a lot less confusing now. . . . We’re really striving to be one of those bands that anybody can relate to in some way. We want to be unique but we don’t want to be confusing.”

There’s no confusion, just rich, deep, heavy, velvet red rock that leaves a catchy lasting impression like a lipstick kiss —like Paramore or Evanescence with a little more punch.

Roller credits the new-found sound and focus for the band, which also features guitarist Jeff Turner, bassist Scott Perrin and drummer Nathan Raboud, as being the result of a combination of factors over the past two years.

One is that they’ve gotten to know each other as musicians and found more of a middle ground with those influences. A bigger part, though, Roller says, was the departure of bassist Eric Svilpis in late 2011, which required everyone to step their game up a little more.

Roller calls him “a musical genius” and says not only did the other band members rely on Svilpis to produce their records but direct them as well.

“Jeff and I really relied on him to tell us what to do,” she says. “When you have somebody who’s really musical in your band, you can get lazy and you’re like, ‘What should I play here?’ So we had someone coming in and writing certain parts for us and being the main influence there, but when he left it forced Jeff and I to step up to the plate ... to research and to get better.”

They also, she says, put a great deal more work into the songwriting for Six Through Seven. While she says the previous two efforts were put out quickly to get something out there to sell on tour, this one saw them actually taking time off from the road and locking themselves away in the basement to write.

And when it came time to bring them to life, they hit the studio with producer Kirill Telichev, from local band The Suppliers, who had just opened his new studio and also brought to the project his own ear and expertise.

The result, again, was a Go For the Eyes record that captured their best at its best.

“The difference is there’s no filler on the album and we worked so hard on the writing,” Roller says. “We just really wanted a good product so we’re not wasting our time and money any more.”

That product will be available as the band gets set for its CD release this Saturday at The Gateway.

And not only will that show find Go For the Eyes confident that they’re putting their best effort forward, but with that confidence reaffirmed thanks to what was, by all accounts, a pretty great showing at CMW.

A Toronto publication listed them as one of the Top 25 acts of the hundreds who performed at the industry showcase, and Roller says their gigs were packed and remarkably well received even by the promoters and bar owners who made it clear that the new focus has worked and the band has reached another level.

“You get off stage and you’re told that you just blew everybody away, that,” she pauses, “that’s a really good feeling.

“I think we’re all the happiest we’ve ever been right now.”

Go For the Eyes releases their new EP Six Through Twelve with a show Saturday at The Gateway.



Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/Eyes+their+stride+with+record+Through+Twelve/8223852/story.html#ixzz2WLAfC8lv - Calgary Herald

Style: Postpunk/Indie Rock

Release Date: March 31, 2013

Produced By: Kirill Telichev

Label: Independent

Let’s be honest – the best rock bands in Canada are tumbleweeding out of the prairies, getting bigger and bigger by the time they hit Toronto. The last time I wrote for The Scene, I had the pleasure of reviewing Learn and Burn by Saskatchewan’s The Sheepdogs – one of the few albums in recent years to blast out of my stereo all summer (and you can bet your shaggy ass it’ll be rattling my bbq grill come this May). Upon making my triumphant return, I expected to be greeted by a standard effete faux-autistic hipster ensemble whose record I would have to pick through like a turd so I could praise the “consistency” (of their shit, pun intended) and praise the occasional golden nugget of corn. But low and behold, as the balls-out blues riff of Go For the Eyes’s first track “Can’t Quite Leave it Alone” flooded my headphones, I breathed a sigh of relief. Alright, who’s this unsucking my world now?
Turns out that Go For the Eyes are a Calgary quartet, comprised of vocalist/guitarist Jeff Turner, vocalist/keyboarder Elise Roller, drummer Nathan Raboud, and Scott Perrin on the bass. Active since 2008, the group rushed out a couple of albums, the first of which they now openly disown (takes balls). Evidently, they decided to make their third time the charm. The band went about it the right way – rehearsing and prepping their six song Six Through Twelve EP for half a year, before laying down all of the tracks in a basement recording studio over the course of four days. Now I am told Go For the Eyes have great onstage energy and theatricality, but so do Cirque-du-Soleil and I’d rather watch a bullet soaring at my head. So let’s stay focused on what this is about: the MUSIC. I’ll be very clear: it’s excellent. Go For the Eyes is a band who truly understands the concept that it’s not what you play it’s how you play it.

Between the rocking guitar riffs and thundering drums, the verses of “Can’t Quite Leave it Alone” have an unaffected Zeppelinesque quality which actually benefit from the contrast of Turner’s more-subdued-than-Robert Plant approach to singing. The terrific thing is that just when you think you’re locked into another Sheepdogian early-seventies homage, the chorus transforms the number into something reminiscent of heavy pop rock. “Can’t Quite Leave it Alone” sticks with you (so far it has passed the 24 hour forgettability test), owing to the clever counter-melody in the backing vocals. This is similar in approach to Tom Petty’s “Swingin’”, though melodically and stylistically the two songs are completely different.

Track two “The Birds and Birds” opens with Roller’s piano before the ferocious rhythm section and electric guitar kick in. This song follows in the footprints of its predecessor, though it’s lyrically more interesting, with allusions to the changing nature of romance in the 21st century (I think). Yet “Birds and the Birds” lacks “Can’t Quite Leave it Alone’s” staying power. Nevertheless, the drum breakdown and guitar experimentation keep things fresh.

In “One Left Behind (Not in a Hurry) we are introduced to Elise Roller’s soulful vocals and impressionistic lyrics. The pace slows, with piano arpeggios punctuated by an electric guitar hitting the 2 and 4 beat. Nice. A classic misstep would have been to repeat the formula of the first two songs, but these Calgary cats know better. Admittedly, on the first few listens, I didn’t think the chorus did the verses justice, but upon the fourth I found myself fully converted. The guitar solo is notably good – starting out slow and steady, then oozing blues as we transition to the sparse piano finale of the final verse.

Track four “When the Lights Come On” – my personal favourite – is vaguely reminiscent of Amy Winehouse in the introduction. The lyrics are particularly sultry: “I just wanna make you happy/hear you scream as you stare back at me” and ‘Whatcha gonna do when you feel my heat/how you gonna move when our rhythms beat/I will shake you, keep you sweating/so you’ll go home without forgetting when you felt my heat.” Around 1:40, as we realize that we are on the receiving end of a particularly pleasing act of aural sex, the tempo suddenly quickens and sonic copulation begins. A Chris Isaak-like electric guitar croons appropriately in the background. Everything seems perfect. Then at 3:30 things step up AGAIN, and there’s so many right things happening that we can’t even pinpoint why it’s working. And then it’s over! A musical orgasm. That takes some pretty special talent.
Coming off its heels, “Whatever Thrills You” has its work cut out for it. But again the producer makes the right choice in track order, as we return to Turner’s vocals: “I think I liked you better when we were strangers.” Just about anybody who has been in a series of relationships can relate to that line – a fitting conclusion to the fleeting passion of “ - The Scene Magazine

Who: Go For The Eyes

From: Calgary, AB

Where: Rancho Relaxo

When: Saturday, March 23 – 10pm

The Crowd: The crowd at Rancho noticeably increased. People were there to see “Go For The Eyes”. The room was 3/4 full with half of the people standing attentively towards the stage. Every song received applause and cheers. When Go For the Eyes played the room transcended into a mini rock festival for a moment.

Style: White stripes meets Metric. Very melodic hard driving rock.

Technicalities: There were slight irregularities in the guitar volume, but nothing noticeably wrong.

Memorable Moment/ Song: “This song is about saving up your money to fly to Toronto to see Radiohead and then the stage collapses” said singer Elise Roller as she announced “October”. The song had heavy hooks, a solid breakdown, a tight bassline which broke into a solo run at one point. “October” had me bobbing my head back and forth, that’s a winner in my books! There was a moment when Elise drank a shot, stole the guitar from guitarist Jeff Turner and proceeded to use the empty shot glass to do her best Ben Harper impression, it’s amazing what you can do with a shot glass and a delay pedal.

Sex Appeal/Image: Elise Roller has long blonde hair and a sex appeal that resembles Emily Haines, which is fitting because her voice matches the description as-well. It didn’t hurt that drummer Nathan Raboud played shirtless, it added to the “we are rock n roll” vibe.

Comments: I had the opportunity to meet fan Loryn Taggart who made a memorable comment to me: “one of the greatest rock shows I’ve ever seen!”. Also met Elise Roller and she was a first class act! I highly recommend you put Go For The Eyes on your must see list for 2013!

Review By: Darrell Shelley

Photos: Andrej Ivanov

THE SCENE - The Scene Magazine

Go For the Eyes are an up-and-coming band from Calgary, Alberta. Well, that isn’t entirely fair — in Calgary, they’ve already up and came quite a bit. Now they’re ready and willing to take the next step. Instead of resting on their successes, they’ve setting their sights on something much bigger: the country as a whole!

The band made their first trek out across the country to play Canadian Music Week last year and they left that experience hungry and wanting more — and to be honest, Toronto definitely wanted to see more of them as well. When you leave an impression like Go For the Eyes did, it is important to get back before they forget about you. So, next Tuesday Go For The Eyes release their new EP, One Through Four, and TWM’s second ever First Listen Monologues feature has an advance stream of the entire album! This is the first time you can hear it, anywhere.

This band is a fascinating combination of styles that just keeps evolving and changing as they grow. They aren’t quite indie-rock — just a bit heavier than what I would classify as that. But they aren’t hard-rock, far too catchy and the songwriting doesn’t quite fit into that packaging either. Then you add some surprising electro elements and the ability to mix in poppy hooks and choruses, and what you have is a band that doesn’t want to fit into whatever package you want to put them in. They just want to rock and leave you to decide how to explain what they sound like! And I haven’t even mentioned yet that one of their singers, Elise Roller, has to be one of the most talented Indie musicians going in Canada right now.

Their hometown CD release is set for September 10th at The Marquee Room w/ support from Bronx Monster, Everybody Left and Taylor Cochrane. Then they’ll be touring their way out to Toronto, where they will do their release party on September 24th at Rancho Relaxo w/ Surviving the Zombies, the Ooh Baby Gives Me Mores and U.R.V. Khan closing it out. Go For the Eyes will take to the stage at around 11:30, and you will want to make absolutely certain you do not miss it.

There’s your details; there’s your lead in. Now, please do enjoy our exclusive stream of the excellent One Through Four EP courtesy of First Listen Monologues. Much thanks to the folks in Go For The Eyes for allowing us to do this! - Two Way Monologues

Better late than never.

It’s something that the slow and dim say to make themselves feel better for always being tardy (giggle), and could also be substituted with, “You’re lucky I was able to remember how to dress myself this morning and not get hit by a bus or stabbed by street people as I stumbled through the worst neighbourhoods attempting to remember where exactly I was going and who are you again and are these my pants and hands sure are funny.”

Or, it’s a cliche used by people who know they’re late but think they’re better than you so they’re not even willing to offer any kind of even half-arsed apology and, in that case, may as well be replaced with, “Here’s a big bag of late for you to suck on, loser — you’re welcome.”

Either way, it’s a pretty sad, empty statement. And besides, as it doesn’t take into account things such as, say, the diagnosis of many cancers or Christmas.

That said, better late than never.

That goes for a coupla different things, such as this, my first blog posting under the new communal (i.e. communist) Calgary Herald blog situation, which came about after the filthy borscht-eating editorial peasants in the news room rose up, overthrew the old digital regime and demanded equal opportunity to display online their illetaracy. Hence postings such as “My dinner was yummy,” “That squirrel in my yard did something sooo cute — it thinks it’s people!” and “The crusades really weren’t a Christian thing.”

Anyhoo, let them eat whatever the Internet version of cake is (porn, presumably) and let’s get back to doing what it is that we used to do when we did it back when things were being done.

And that is being late but not never.

Which brings us to the release of the new four-song EP One Through Four by up ‘n’ coming Calgary quartet Go For the Eyes, which the band dropped with a release party on Saturday. Last Saturday. So. You know. That whole late thing.

Recorded with producer Chris Fawcett in the house all four members of Go For the Eyes share (more filthy pinkos), the album takes the group’s “circus rock” sound (note: the elephants and lions are not mistreated and none of the clowns are crying on the inside) and pushes it into more polished and dynamic terrain: big chiming guitars, ultra-phonky percussion and vocals that range from stadium-sized to cabaret calm.

The disc is now available for purchase on iTunes here or from the band at any one of their many local live shows, including last Saturday’s, which if you showed up for now, either to see them play or buy the disc, you’d look pretty stupid.

Not only because, well, because it’s already happened, moron, but because now, the band — Elise Roller, Jeff Turner, Nathan Raboud and Eric Svilpis – have taken their tunes on the road for a tour which will see them showcase in a number of eastern locales including Brandon (Sept. 16 at Double Decker), Thunder Bay (Sept. 17 at Crocs), Toronto (Sept. 22 at The Peacock and Sept. 24 at Rancho Relaxo), Ottawa (Sept. 28 at Live Lounge) and Montreal (Sept. 30 at the Playhouse).

If you’re in one of those places and want to sample what it is they do, click here to hear the first single Leave Me With Today .

And if you’re one of those people who were going to go see them play last Saturday, OK, go ahead, you can click and listen to it, as well.

It’s never too late.

Well, rarely. - The Calgary Herald

This is adorable…

Local gypsy rockers were featured on OK GO’s website with their new video for their tune “Leave Me With Today”

It’s all part of OK GO’s Summer Camp Series which you can see here

It’s great to see Local Bands pop up around the world. Proud of yoooou! - X92.9 Xposure Blog

The cover of The Darcys' celebrated track, "Shaking Down The Old Bones" is re-sung through female-fronted vocals with some added masculine screams and howling guitar shreds. Speed it up to the half-way mark to listen to the instrumental interlude, which features a guitar solo that is incredibly enjoyable to take in and watch the recording in the making. All profits from the recording goes to the Women In Need Society. - New Canadian Music

Acts of kindness, large and small, are worthy of our attention.

And worthy of a reaction.

It’s a realization that Elise Roller has come to over the years, as those around her, those who believe in her and her local rock act Go For the Eyes, have gone out of their way to help them get ahead, to see that they have all of the opportunities to help them succeed in the music biz. And it’s why they’re about to pay it forward.

“We get a lot of support from our friends and the community, so we really want to give back,” says vocalist Roller. “We just feel like we don’t always deserve the help we get even though people want to.”

That’s part of the reason Go For the Eyes participated in the Concert of Hope last summer to support the victims of the Slave Lake fire, and it’s why they’ll do something on a somewhat smaller scale and for a just as needy cause with a show Friday night at Broken City.

The band, along with fellow local acts The Rocketeers and The Suppliers, will be giving part of the proceeds from the gig to the Women In Need Society. It’s a Calgary organization that works with women and their families who find themselves in low-income situations without the support system others might have.

Roller, the lone female member of Eyes, says on a number of levels it was a no-brainer that the quartet would put its talents behind WINS, which operates resource centres and donation-driven thrift stores in the area.

“A big part of that is that I’m a single mother and I have a ton of support from my friends and my family,” says the artist, who has a four-year-old son, Finlay.

“I’m friends with a single mom who doesn’t have that support so I help her out, and I know that there are a lot of single parents — not just single moms, but parents — who need support from elsewhere.

“A charity like Women in Need, it hits close to home. And the guys in the band, because they’ve lived with me and have seen the things that I have to deal with, it’s the same thing, they totally understand that there are women out there who need that help that don’t have bandmates to babysit for them.”

Besides the show on Friday — where there will also be a donation jar for fans willing to bypass one extra cocktail to do some good — Go For the Eyes are also releasing a song on iTunes next Thursday, which all of the proceeds from which will go to the charity.

Originally they’d also hoped to release a professionally shot video — dependent on winning a competition, which they came up just short on — to accompany the song, but instead will now put a friend-shot clip up on YouTube, also Thursday, with links to donate to WINS.

As for the song they chose, it’s actually one of the first covers they’ve ever attempted, a version of Shaking Down the Old Boys from Toronto band The Darcys, whom Roller counts as friends of hers, having known them since before The Darcys were signed to Arts & Crafts (home to acts such as Feist, Broken Social Scene and Dan Mangan).

“I was always saying, ‘You guys are going places,’ ” Roller says. “So now they actually are going places, they’re touring the world. . . .

“We thought if we’re going to do a cover, let’s do The Darcy’s before they get huge.”

And, more importantly, put it to good use.

Go For the Eyes perform Friday night at Broken City with The Rocketeers and The Suppliers. Part of the door proceeds will go to Women In Need Society.

mbell@calgaryherald.com

Twitter.com/mrbell_23
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/entertainment/music/Local+rock+Eyes+giving+back/6850687/story.html#ixzz27k4bQGJ3
- Calgary Herald

Take a look at a collection of photos from the Concert of Hope to benefit Slave Lake.

Elise Roller of the Calgary rock band Go For The Eyes performs at the Concert of Hope. - The Vancouver Sun

SLAVE LAKE, ALBERTA JULY 2, 2011-Jeff Turner and Nathan Raboud (drums) of the Calgary rock band Go For The Eyes; perform at the Concert of Hope site in Slave Lake Ab on Saturday July 2, 2011. Nathan is from Slave Lake himself. ( Photo by John Lucas/Edmonton Journal)

Read it on Global News: SLAVE LAKE, ALBERTA JULY 2, 2011-Jeff Turner and Nathan Raboud (drums) of the Calgary rock band “Go For The Eyes” perform at the Concert of Hope site in Slave Lake Ab on Saturday July 2, 2011. Nathan is from Slave Lake himself. ( Photo by John Lucas/Edmonton Journal) - Global News

Elise Roller admits it can be a little frustrating being the only woman in a house full of dudes.

Even if those roommates are also members of her band.

“They’re like my brothers,” says the singer and keyboardist for Calgary alt. rock band, Go For The Eyes.

“You have that love-hate relationship. Sometimes it’s like, ‘I don’t want your friends over right now, they bug me.’ Or, ‘Can you clean up your dishes?’ I’m kind of like the big sister ... But it’s nice sometimes. I always feel protected.”

Roller says living in the same Millrise home as her three bandmates has helped Go For The Eyes become a much tighter live band.

“We’ve had other musicians tell us, ’Wow, we can tell that you live together because you’re all really connected,’” she explains.

“We did it on purpose in order to grow as a band.”

The band’s living situation also proved advantageous while recording their debut album.

GFTE borrowed $10,000 worth of recording equipment from a friend, set it up in their basement and recorded for several weeks with bass player Eric Svilpis producing.

“We really got to make this album sound exactly how we wanted it to,” says Roller.

“We would just come home from work and play around with something. This album is exactly the way we wanted it to sound like. It wasn’t rushed.”

The group - which is rounded out by singer-guitarist Jeff Turner and drummer Nathan Raboud - is celebrating their new CD with a show at SAIT’s The Gateway on Friday night.

Go For The Eyes’ sound is hard to pin down, although the band has dubbed it ‘circus rock.’ The undulating, bass-heavy rhythms and unusual melodies have also drawn comparisons to Queens of the Stone Age, Arctic Monkeys and Jack White’s The Dead Weather.

“The Dead Weather is great because they have male and female vocals,” says Roller.

“I’ve listened to a lot of Dead Weather and a lot of what (Dead Weather singer) Alison Mosshart does and Jeff has been compared to Jack White a lot.”

Though Go For The Eyes has been going since 2008, the current lineup has only been together for about a year.

Roller had been gigging around town as a solo artist and kept bumping into GFTE at shows.

“Jeff and I just started collaborating,” she recalls. “We thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if Elise Roller and Go for the Eyes could just merge?’

And I was like, ‘Why can’t they?’”

With Roller in the fold, Go For The Eyes caught the attention of a New York-based label. But after months of recording demos, both parties decided they weren’t right for each other.

Still, the band remained focused and continued to write songs.

“I think once they added me to the picture, it kind of softened things up a little bit,” says Roller.

“They’ve always made it known to me they wanted to keep that hard edge. That was probably their biggest fear when they added me, that I couldn’t sing rock and roll. But it’s actually made a really unique sound for us. Even just adding the keyboards in.”

After Friday’s CD release party, GTFE will be gearing up for a tour that will eventually take them to Toronto to showcase at this year’s Canadian Music Week.

“I’m kind of nervous,” says Roller.

“We don’t have a van yet. So we’re not sure how we’re getting out there. But we’re sure it will work itself out.

Our parents will probably come through for us in the end. I’m more excited than anything. It’s a huge opportunity.”
- The Calgary Sun

Ever heard the phrase, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going”? Your annoying high school gym teacher, or maybe a douche bag boss, has used the expression and you’ve just brushed it off as another patronizing phrase. This saying has held true, however, for local indie rockers Go For The Eyes, finding motivation and a D.I.Y. attitude out of the ups and downs of today’s music industry. Vocalist/ keyboardist Elise Roller explains via e-mail how she and her fellow bandmates - vocalist/guitarist Jeff Turner, bassist Eric Svilpis and drummer Nathan Raboud - have managed to escape unwanted label drama for some sexy rock ‘n’ roll karma.

“We had a New York-based record label interested in signing us, but this prospect put us through a couple months of high stress writing and demoing everything we possibly could,” explains Roller. “The stress acted as a filter and we lost a couple of our members... In the end, going our separate way from the label allowed us the freedom to do our own record the way we wanted to do it without having suits nitpicking at details like production value or the number of hooks in a song. Without them, though, we wouldn't have wound up with the really solid line-up of dedicated musicians we have, with a unified goal of living music full time. We haven't looked back since.”

Rock ‘n’ roll and sex are inseparable and this is not lost on GFTE, who have often had their sound described as “sex-rock” and have perhaps one of the hottest leading ladies to grace the local stages.

“Sex is the beginning of life and we decided we hate the genre question as it is, so this is us trying to begin carving our own niche into the mountains of rock — plus it grabs attention. To be honest, we prefer sexy circus rock, or even just circus rock, mostly because our lives play out like the big top most of the time,” describes Roller.

Tied into the sex-rock vibe that GFTE brings both in sound and stage presence is the undeniable chemistry found between vocalists Roller and Turner.

“The idea we had was to have that juxtaposition be a key element to our vibe simply because it's something you see everyday, not just as a male/female thing but, from a broader perspective, more about the fact that relationships between opposites are always necessary to provide balance within a structure,” states Roller. “To be honest it's hard to describe the chemistry without a PhD - you've just gotta see it and get whatever you can out of it.”

GFTE are releasing their debut album this month and Roller claims the album gives fans a great summation of the trials and tribulations of the band. With a highly anticipated CD release show, a great deal of buzz surrounding the band and a proven work ethic, GFTE see nothing but great things for their band in the near future. Don’t let the name fool you: Go For The Eyes are after more than your gaze of attention. They plan on conquering audiences’ minds, bodies and souls nationwide. - Beatroute Magazine

This is the second installment in my ongoing preview of the bands who will be gracing the stage during Canadian Music Week at Rancho Relaxo. Today’s band is Go For The Eyes from Calgary, Alberta.
The Band: Go For The Eyes (http://www.myspace.com/gofortheeyesband) from Calgary
The Timeslot: Weds March 9th at 10:00 PM
What To Expect: Go For The Eyes come on the strong recommendation from my good friends The Darcys. There are definitely some great Albertan bands, but not as many as you might expect, so it is always refreshing to hear a cool band coming from the town of my birth. The band defines their sound as “circus rock,” an instantly intriguing label to put on any style of music. Go For The Eyes features a perfect blend of female/male lead vocals combined with huge driving guitars and some stellar drumming. They’ve been tearing it up in Calgary and now aim to taste some of that success across the country. It’s heavier than most indie-rock but never treads near hard-rock territory. I hear a fair bit of Jack White in the vocals, personally. The band is releasing an album just before the end of February, so they’ll be hitting Toronto and CMW with new music in tow. Remember, this festival is very much about seeing bands you can’t see the rest of the year. Keep that in mind when filing your schedule.
Below is a video of a special acoustic performance of their song “Tambourine,” done for an interview in Calgary. Take a listen and hear for yourself. - Two Way Monologues

"Their circus, pop, punk, rock sound, is undeniably unique." - Drea L - It's All Happening

"The Strokes meet The Vines meet That Cool Band You Heard Once On The Radio, Having Been Out Way Too Late But Strangely Feeling Still Lucid Enough To Register “God Damn, That’s Good Music” — But The DJ Never Came On To Say Who They Were. However, unlike The Strokes, Go For The Eyes care, and unlike The Vines, they’re actually generally pretty good. (Sorry, Vines fans.)”" - Aurgasmicalgary

"I love this album soo much I dubbed it to cassette and glued it in my tape deck." - Darren Ollinger X92.9 fm

Our latest Front Page Band answers to the name of Go For The Eyes. Fronted by the lovely Elise Roller (Vocals/Keys) and the fantastic Mr. Jeff Turner (Vocals/Guitar), Go For The Eyes delivers a sumptuous auditory sandwich of alternative pop-rock to their listeners that will wake up your libido, no matter how comatose it may be. GFTE's sounds have been described as "Sex Rock". We can't get into my crush on Elise here, but I would definitely second that. Their instrumental section contains the sort of wild precision you usually only get from progressive-rock bands.

I've been talking with Elise quite a bit lately, and one thing that stands out is her passion for her band, and her dedication to music. Where some bands book as many shows as humanly possible, Elise tells me they spend painful amounts of time in rehearsal and designing their show around the next venue. This is the reason we'll all be waiting a little longer to see them play. Make no mistake, these guys are a massive ticket, and their most recent show at the Marquee room on February 6th had completely sold out. I can't say enough for this band, so quit reading this article and listen for yourself! - Calgary Underground

Just after midnight on February 6th, Go For The Eyes tore up the stage at the Marquee Room to a drinking and dancing crowd. Elise Roller and Jeff Turner brought unified vocals and equally stellar individual instrumental performances. Nate Raboud on drums, Eric Svilpis on bass, and Dylan Santimeau on guitar also brought kick-ass execution throughout the night.

They played crowd favourites such as Whiskey Cocaine, Best Friend’s Ex, Pills and Doctor.

The multi-faceted event, that featured Go For The Eyes models fashioning band merchandise, giveaways and a variety filled silent auction, was geared towards raising money to record a new album, a milestone which the band hopes to accomplish independently with their new line-up.

Daniel Bennett, a rapper better known as Transit, was the show’s opening act, followed by The Dead Hands and Calm Asa Coma. Transit joined The Dead Hands on stage and rocked a duet, proving his popularity with the audience. Both The Dead Hands and Calm Asa Coma performed strong sets.

Roller joined Bennett on stage to sing Reason To Stay, a track that will be featured on the rapper’s newest full-length album due to drop in September of this year. All photos by fourfourbeat. - fourfourBeat