Minto

Minto finally gets serious
By Adrian Mack
You’d have been forgiven for not taking them entirely seriously, back when Minto started appearing around town under the name the Smokes. The five-piece was chiefly a country-folk proposition, but a slightly ripe gothic edge and a habit of slipping into sunshine pop made it feel as if you were hearing the Gun Club one minute and Arthur Lee’s Love the next (minus the smack, madness, and death). With unkempt gang vocals that swelled with inebriated energy, the Smokes furthermore came off like a bunch of tanked-up Atlantic fishermen attempting gospel.

Their 2006 debut album, Fields and Factory Floors, was a low-budget charmer with a couple of mix-tape classics tucked inside, in the shape of “Mountain Tree”, reminiscent of Magnolia Electric Co., and a breezy samba-based concoction called “Microphone”.

What made the Smokes faintly ridiculous, if lovable, was vocalist Ryan “Wally” Hoben’s tireless determination to establish himself as one of Vancouver’s drunkest frontmen. Equally silly were some of the group’s extracurricular activities, like drummer-filmmaker Jimi Cuell’s Legion of Impact, a lunatic series of shorts about an underground fighting league.

But things have changed for the Smokes along with the name, which itself reflects a new attitude inside the group, according to Hoben and guitarist Kalvin Olafson.

“We’re a bunch of actors and writers and stuff,” Hoben tells the Straight, over coffees at JJ Bean on the Drive. “And we were just playing music for fun, to get friends together and party and hang out.”

“But we got to a certain age,” Olafson continues, “and it was like, ‘Are we gonna be in a band or are we gonna be in a band?’ And we started practising hard-core. We improved our work ethic, and this time we ain’t fuckin’ around. Last time, we recorded with a friend, for cheap—very lo-fi. This time, it was balls-out.”

Hoben and Olafson are days away from the release of their second full-length, Lay It on Me, recorded by Steve Albini in Chicago last February, under the name Minto Chipman. While working on the record, Albini mentioned that Minto Chipman sounded like a “college band that didn’t make it”, and thus it became Minto. Beyond that, the legend who recorded Nirvana’s In Utero didn’t interfere too much.

“He just hard-wired stuff,” Hoben recalls. “Like Ma Bell in the ’20s. There was no Pro Tools, just tape. And he’d cut it sometimes.”

“So fast, too. He’d be back within two minutes,” Olafson adds, after describing Albini and his coverall-sporting engineers as “farmers of tape”.

“He helps with things like amp choices,” continues the guitarist, “but they’re our songs in the end. That’s his thing.”

Hoben mentions that a few friends of the band questioned the wisdom of spending $25,000 on a recording expedition—“All of our savings, and then some,” he says—but his and Olafson’s animated recollections of the “dream trip” suggest that it was money well spent. Not to mention that Lay It on Me is a pile-driving progression from Fields and Factory Floors, on which the band’s big ideas were undermined by thin sound.

Olafson neatly characterizes the difference. “With this one, we’re a rock band. I went from playing acoustic guitar all the time to playing electric guitar all the time. I went from clean to fuzzy.”

It’s also the work of a better band with a tighter grasp on songcraft, not to mention a defiantly live-sounding effort that pushes and pulls in all the right places.

Opener “New Bones” signals the change, with Cuell and bassist Suzy Easton’s hard-hitting foundation setting everybody up for the one track remodelled from the first Smokes record, where it was titled “Bones”. Gritty pounders like “Tonight I Lay My Head” and “Bird’s Eye View” further the agenda, while “Train Bridge Blues” mirrors the airiness and charm of “Microphone”. But Minto also breaks the mould on “City Folks Dream”, with its sideways rhythm, snaky Meat Puppets guitar line, and breathily downcast vocal. Ditto for the pretty piano interlude “Tiny Terror”, and the mandolin lullaby that closes the album, “Home Away” (written in tribute to their friends in the Hotel Lobbyists).

There’s no reason the triumphant sophomore record shouldn’t aid Minto in fulfilling its not-unreasonable ambition of climbing aboard a Secretly Canadian or Dine Alone–sized label and then touring its ass off. “That’s all we want,” says Hoben—although there’s still some unsettled business, apparently.

“We need a cover,” the vocalist idly mentions, as the interview wraps up. “I’m thinking ‘Crimson and Clover’, ” he says.

After a thoughtful beat, it seems to dawn on Hoben that his roommate, best friend, and ever-inventive lead guitarist Evret Tucker isn’t around to defend himself. “And then Evret, of course, wants to do ‘Sister Christian’ by Night Ranger,” he snorts. “So he’s been transposing the organ solos to electric guitar. I hear him late at night, working so hard. For like, three months he’s been trying to do it. ‘Motorin’…’ ”

Hoben shakes his head and sighs. “He’s passionate about his shit.”

Minto plays the Biltmore Cabaret on Friday (July 31). - The Georgia Straight

The excitement in MINTO lead singer Ryan Hoben’s voice is clear as he tells Tandem about the band's upcoming first national tour. “Just 12 days to go! I can’t wait. We’re tying up loose ends, getting our finances in order, chasing a B.C. musicians’ travel grant, keeping in touch with all the venues. A busy time!” In turn, lovers of literate yet fiery guitar-based rock ’n’ roll should be getting excited about MINTO hitting their town. Their recently released album, Lay It On Me, is certainly impressing this writer as one of the best records he’s heard all year.
Officially, it is MINTO’s debut, given that an earlier record, 2006’s Fields And Factory Floors, came out under their previous band name, The Smokes. MINTO comprises original Smokes members Hoben, guitarists Everet Tucker and Kalvin Olafson, and drummer Jimi Cuell, plus a more recent addition, bassist Suzy Easton.
According to Hoben, MINTO is “shopping the record around, looking for a small label perhaps. I’m excited about the future but I’m just proud of the album. We took a big risk financially and personally by going down to the States to make it – but it couldn’t have worked out better. It was the time of our lives.”
Attracting attention is the fact that the record was made with legendary producer/engineer Steve Albini, a key figure in alternative rock who has worked with artists such as Nirvana, The Pixies and P.J. Harvey. How did this link come about, we asked.
“We put together a dream list of people we’d love to work with, and I mentioned Steve Albini,” says Hoben. “I called down to his studio in Chicago, and we found out that even with all our expenses and flights, it was just twice as much as making the record in Vancouver. And what a treat to work with him. He’s a low-key fun guy, with a bit of an attitude. We played a lot of poker!”
While observing, “there’s a real cachet to the Albini name,” Hoben stresses that “we just liked the way his records sounded. We were at a point in our lives and writing where we were getting really fuzzy and heavier, not so folkie anymore. Even a little grunge-y and definitely rock ’n’ roll-y. Who could do it in just 12 days, put in the long hours and suit our sound? We couldn’t think of any better engineer to do this with.”The sessions at Electrical Audio went very smoothly. “We did minimal takes,” says Hoben. “We’d jam out a while, then just go for it. A lot of one-take vocals. We got in the zone. It was such a treat to be there, in this wonderful city too. It felt like everything was falling into place.”
Albini is known for his passion for analogue recording onto tape. Nothing digital or Pro Tooled about this record, another point in its favour.
“Steve has a giant mixing board from England, and he’d have all these wires around. It was like watching that old footage of Ma Bell telephones and the operator, plugging one thing into another. I just couldn’t wrap my brain around this stuff!” says Hoben. “I think the product you get from recording on analogue like that is just more honest. We’re a live band. When we play live, we have a bunch of beers and we’re sweating and screaming and rockin’ out and having a helluva time up there. Recording on Pro Tools just doesn’t suit us. We wanted to get across the kind of drunken gospel feel we have going at our live shows.”
The band’s creative process finds Hoben acting as the primary lyricist. “I live with Everet, so we’re always jamming, screwing around with lyrics. We’ll get together with Kalvin, write something, take it to our jam space and jam it out with everybody. Start working on harmonies and everything else.”
In their career as The Smokes, MINTO was termed a folk-rock band, but that’s less audible on this album. To these ears, comparison points include the likes of The Gun Club, Dream Syndicate and The Constantines, while Hoben’s own preferred phrase is “arena folk.”
“We take all these aspects of rock ’n’ roll, but the songwriting is all stories, all based on the folk tradition. That’s where we came from, from starting to play together in [film] school. That’s where our hearts are with the songwriting. It’s a rock ’n’ roll album, but it’s coming from a bunch of people with folk in their hearts!”

Lay It On Me is now out. Go to www.myspace.com/mintominto.MINTO play Rancho Relaxo on Oct. 27. - Tandem, By Kerry Doole

The many faces of Minto
Vancouver folk-rock band talks name changes and unlikely influences
Jared Story

The many faces of MintoOn its MySpace page, Vancouver's Minto lists Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young and The Grateful Dead as influences - not incredibly surprising for a fuzzy, folky rock 'n' roll band. However, one name on the list stands out: Manowar.

"That's Evret's influence," says guitarist Kalvin Olafson who, along with guitarist Evret Tucker, is joined in Minto by vocalist Ryan Hoben, bassist Suzy Easton and drummer Jimi Cuell. "He likes the long-haired metal."

Listening to Minto, it's safe to say Tucker is the only Manowarrior in the band. The five-piece started about five years ago as an alt-country act called The Smokes. The band released one album, 2006's Fields and Factory Floors, under that moniker before delving into more rocking territory and changing its handle to Minto Chipman. The new name was a reference to two small towns in New Brunswick, Hoben's home province. But the band ended up dropping the 'Chipman.'

Why? Because Steve Albini said so.

In February, Minto travelled to Chicago to record its second full-length, Lay it on Me, with the former Big Black singer/guitarist and producer behind Nirvana's In Utero.

"We lived in his house for a little over two weeks," Olafson says. "It felt a little weird when we first got there, we're like 'Oh, I think that's him,' but then halfway through the first day he had this puffer gun and he just started shooting us with it. He's like, 'Chill out and make some rock 'n' roll.'"

Minto did chill out and will be taking its latest creation across Canada. The Oct. 10 show at the Pyramid Cabaret will mark Minto's first in Winnipeg, a fact Olafson is particularly excited about as he's originally from not-so-far-away Morden.

"This will be the first time my parents have seen my band," Olafson says. "I've lived in Vancouver for about eight years and they've never seen my band. I'll give them ear plugs and hopefully they'll enjoy."

Just don't expect any Manowar. Perhaps Night Ranger, though. In a story on Minto, Van City weekly The Georgia Straight recently disclosed that Tucker thinks the band should cover the cheesy classic Sister Christian.

"He still wants to do that shit," Olafson says. "He's still practicing. He'll force us to do it, eventually. I'm growing my hair long though."

That's half the battle in achieving hair-rock supremacy.

"Exactly. 'We're halfway there,'" Olafson sings.

MINTO
Oct. 10, Pyramid Cabaret - Uptown Magazine

Despite boasting a native New Brunswicker in their lineup, Vancouver band Minto is about to make their maiden trip into the province for a couple of shows on their current national tour.

Ryan Hoben, vocalist of the Neil Young inspired group, originally hails from Fredericton and is looking forward to finally getting his band "home."

"I spent about 18 years in Fredericton before moving to Calgary to pursue acting courses," Hoben says via cell phone.

Hoben would leaving Calgary in favour of Vancouver in the pursuit of additional acting opportunities and while in acting school, he met a couple of people who would eventually join him in Minto.

The band is currently on the road in support of their second record, the multi-dimensional Lay It On Me.

To help make their visions of their new record a reality, the band trekked from Vancouver to Chicago where they had the opportunity to work with legendary indie producer Steve Albini.

"We had assembled a dream list of producers that we wanted to work with and he was at the top of the list," Hoben enthuses. "We really looked up to him for his work with The Pixies and the Magnolia Electric Co., and then through a mix of phone calls, e-mail, good luck and good timing, we made it happen."

The band spent just under two weeks in the Windy City, recording at Electrical Audio (Albini's studio) during the evening and spending their days eating a lot of pizza, taking in some live music and happily getting lost walking around the city.

"We actually booked the studio time before we even had the money to pay for it. We were that excited about the prospect of going to Chicago to work with him. We worked our asses off as a band to make sure that everything came together."

Upon hearing a collection of the tracks from Lay It On Me, observant listeners will notice a distinct lack of one particular style of music dominating the record.

Like their hero Neil Young, the band can change gears from rootsy-country inspired songs into grungy foot-stomping tracks at the drop of a dime.

"We like to be able to keep our musical styles open. Musically, we can be very mixed up," Hoben happily confesses. "We don't go into writing songs with any pre-conceived notions of what the song should sound like. We let the song dictate where it ultimately leads us."

Of the 20 dates the band is currently scheduled to play across Canada, no one in the band is more excited at the prospect of playing in New Brunswick than Hoben himself.

"We are very excited to finally come out east. Then again, everything east of Alberta will be new to us as a band.

"Leading up to the tour, we were meeting and planning and making sure everything is falling into place and there is a real undercurrent of excitement in all of us about this tour."

But the real reason behind the band finally coming to New Brunswick for shows is revealed as our interview winds to a close.

"My parents would kill me if we didn't get to New Brunswick to play shows," Hoben laughs.

Catch Minto (presumably with vocalist Ryan Hoben's parents in attendance) at the Paramount Lounge in Moncton on Thursday October 22 and at the Kinsmen Centre in Fredericton on Friday October 23. - Here

"Lay It On Me"
MINTO
By RJ Joseph

Chicago is a very inspirational city. It inspires visitors to eat more red meat, watch more sports, and listen to more blues. And in the case of Vancouver arena folk-rock aficionados Minto, it can even inspire a change of name.

Formerly known as the Smokes, Minto adopted the new moniker while staying in the Windy City ti record their latest release, Lay It On Me, with famed engineer Steve Albini. The band renamed itself in honour of Minto, New Brunswick, a small town which, according to their press release, plays host to dirty bars and shotgun weddings. If thats the case, this is one damn appropriate name a Lay It On Me could serve equally well as the soundtrack for either venue.

Band members Ryan Hoben, Kalvin Olafson, Evret Tucker, Jimi Cuell and Suzy Easton Manage to smoothly pick up right where the bands previous release, the much acclaimed Field and Factory Floors, left off. Featuring 11 tracks stuffed full of dark harmonies, hard hitting hooks, and deep gritty groove, Lay it on me manages to pay homage to the power folk of the past, while strong arrangements and even stronger lyrics ensure there is no mistaking this recording as mere soulful imitation. No, with Lay It On Me, Minto do that which has been expected of every artist down through the ages: make it new.

The Opening track, 'New Bones' wails with CCR-like passion while still managing to take it to a place that harkens more similarities to 90's indie genius than the bayou; the haunting 'Tonight I Lay My Head' feels like it would be right at home in a CSYN album (as a Neil Young song, not any of that other filler); and the brawler 'In The Water' just screams "Crazy Horse for the new millennium"

A great album, yes, but what else would you expect from Steve Albini. And it would appear that after two consecutive homeruns that statement may apply to Minto as well. - BC Musician Magazine

Lay it On Me
Self-distributed

Waa-BOOM! With an album title ripped from frontman Ryan Hoben’s muscleman tattoos, indiefolkrocksters Minto punch it open with sludgy dirge, “New Bones” – formerly a chooglin’ alt-country number in Minto’s prior lifetime as The Smokes, but now a bruisy beacon of changing times: Kalvin Olafson tossing his acoustic for big-watt ampage, Hoben’s voice three-fold improved. The loss of bassist/back-up vocalist Graham Myrfield didn’t drop the band a beat, as lead guitarist Evret Tucker swaggers into Minto’s trademark wall of vox harmonies. Suzy Easton’s bottom-thump bass is simple but suitably grungy, and gone-but-back drummer/cover artist Jimi Cuell’s tight, tight chops are smacking away with bigger, greasier balls. THE BIG STORY is that Steve “recorded The Pixies” Albini cut this thing in Chicago, and, naturally, Lay It On Me’s live-off-the-floor grit sonically stomps Fields and Factory Floors, the band’s amateur but compositionally shit-hot debut. Here, treats are numerous: the roaring tinkle-tinkle-BANG into “Fisherman’s Wife”, the slinky mellow dope-smoke of “Tiny Terrors”, the winking chorus of “Train Bridge Blues” (“OOOO0000oooo, the lawyers will get me off”), the lingering, gentle, porch-front finish of “Home Away” – an about-face from FAFF’s bring-the-house-down finale “Microphone”, re-recorded with Albini (and posted on MySpace), but not included here. “City Folks Dream” is a studio winner, a soul-tuggin’ head-noddin’ groove, guitars a-trillin’, delicate vocals a-weavin’… okay, the big rave-up is too much, but fuck it. Smokin’!
Nathan Pike - The Skinny Magazine (Jul 9, 2009)

- The Skinny Magazine, Nathan Pike

1. Tell us about the band?
We are five friends who get together and make music. We love to play, tour, and give each other presents. Sometimes we drink too much.

2. Have you ever been fed up with playing music or with band members, why?
I think anyone that has been in a band for five plus years gets fed up with the music industry and each other from time to time. We’ve wanted to say fuck it a few times, but at the end of the day we still love making music even if our band mates are being assholes, which they usually are.

3. What was your first concert experience? Do you remember how you felt once the concert was over?
(Kalvin) Embarrassed to say it but it was the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, what can I say I was 9 and grew up on a farm. (Ryan) mine was Beatlemania, a Beatles cover band, then Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

4. Did you grow up wanting to play music, or when did the whole making albums thing come about and how?
Music is and always will be a huge part of our lives.

5. What qualifies you guys to be in a band?
We are pals and we play and write music together.

6. Do you have a favorite song you have ever written? Why?
“Tonight I Lay My Head” from our last album “Lay It On Me”. It’s a good one.

7. What is your greatness weakness as a band?
C.R.E.A.M, Cash Rules Everything Around Me.

8. What qualities should a successful label or manager have?
Someone that cares at least half as much as you do about your band.

9. What’s the scariest thing that has ever happened to you in your life?
Our first tour we were driving back to Vancouver from Edmonton, high on pills, in early December and hit some ice going over a bridge and was almost struck by a 16 wheeler twice in a row. We thought it was the end and nearly shit our pants.

Minto – Tonight I Lay
0:00 / 0:00DownloadRight-click and save as to download.

10. What’s the first thing you do when the band arrives in a new town while on tour?
Venue, Hotel, Liquor Store. Hotel. Venue. Hotel. Venue. Leave.

11. Have you ever had an audience member give you the willies because they kept looking at you all weird?
Every show there is at least one strange person.

12. Have you ever cried while listening to music? If so what were you listening too?
Songs:Ohia. Bonnie “Prince” Billy. Wu Tang.

12. If you could re-record, or re-write any song of yours what would that song be?
Every song we’ve ever recorded.

13. What’s the worst place you have ever played a show at, and why?
Peterborough, Ontario. Just a note, don’t dress up as the Golden Girls and play a show. We got outta there so fast we left our snare and mandolin behind. Also a few cardigans.

15. In a perfect world how many albums would you have to sell to be happy?
One, to just the right person.

16. What do you guys have planned for the future?
More sweaty shows, another album and hopefully being friends until the bitter bitter end. Also rehab.

17. What music do you listen to when you are having a bad day?
Bob James, Rick James, Rick Astley, Ashley Simpson. Wu Tang!

18. If you had your life to live over again, what one thing would you change?
(Ryan)Don’t get arrested in Montreal and don’t take a lot of acid in High School.

Visit Minto - www.indierockreviews.com

6] Minto Lay it on Me Minto Music Meet Minto. Formerly called The Smokes, Minto are a Vancouver five-piece who got their name from a mining town in New Brunswick. It’s a fitting moniker as they’re a hard- working band whose brand of rock has a distinct blue collar Canadian feel to it. Think of it as the aural equivalent of Tim Horton’s coffee. Lay
it on Me was recorded and mixed by Steve Albini who’s famous for being at the helm for Nirvana, The Pixies, Low and, most importantly, Bush X. Their trek to his studio in Chicago proved to be worth way more than the cost of plane tickets and lodging as this is a damn fine rock record. When it’s loud it rocks. When it’s quiet it’s soothing. The guitarmanship is ridiculously catchy and lead singer Ryan Hoben, easily Vancouver’s most huggable frontman, comes across as your friend, your coworker and your preacher. Better listen to the man and accept Minto into your heart. -Michael Mann
Micheal Mann - Ion Magazine (Aug 6, 2009) - Ion By Micheal Mann

It’s easy to assume that after the success of Ladyhawk, bands in East Van would start trying to rehash the proggy, dirty, lost-in-the-woods-drunk-off-your-ass, huge sounds that propelled the band to some nice National exposure. That;s just how scene build and music works these days, and I guess if you heard the sludgy guitars and sing/screamed vocals Minto offers up on Tonight I Lay My Head as a one off, you might be tempted to lump the Vancouver band as a sounds alike, but this Vancouver band has been at it for years.

The thing is, they cut their teeth under a different name. They were originally called The Smokes and the band was on their way to being one of the city’s best kept secrets. They’ve been at it for five years and after the success of the Fields and Factory Floors - a lo-fi gem that was as charming as an English gentlemen, but enough grit to make you sit up and take notice – a name change might seem like an odd choice, but Minto was born from the ashes and falls more in line with their new goals as a band.

I think the band realized it was time for a change - in sound and commitment - and Lay It On Me is just that. Thanks to the help of super producer Steve Albini, the band was challenged to get every ounce of sweat and emotion out of every note. I know it’s easy to heap praise on the man who produced bands like Nirvana and The Pixies, but I think a lot of the credit has to go to the band. Years of gigging and practice really helped them evolve into a band that can melt your face off (Bird’s Eye View and Somepeople Gotta Learn), make you dance and still catch your ear with a tender secret (Home Away, Darlin’).

Sure, the songs sound much better and no doubt Albini plays a big role in that, but it’s also because (even as good as Fields and Factory Floors was) they ARE much better and the band is much better.

Their riffs are stronger, and their vocal work is tighter but you get the feeling they know what it means to be a good band now. Lay It On Me starts strong, but the band has enough punch and impact to keep you listening happily for all quick hitting, eleven tracks. A band is more than being a studio session and overdubs. Your songs are born and grow after hours on the road and countless gigs and it’s pretty obvious that some of the songs on Lay It On Me were written for the stage. Sure the super tight harmonies on the opener New Bones and the surging power of the pseudo-spiritual Fisherman’s Wife sound great on record, but if you don’t think that will either become a seven or eight minute noise fest once the drinks and shots are flowing and the boys start having fun, you may be one of the unlucky people that's never seen a country rock band play live.

But fear not Halifax readers. You will get your chance as it looks like Minto was accepted into HPX and will be playing on October 24th. Where? Well, with the fact the schedule still hasn't been released I can't tell you.
- www.herohill.com

Life on the road for an independent touring band was never meant to be easy. But when Vancouver’s Minto set out at the beginning of October, they didn’t know what they were in for.

The five-piece beer-swillin’ gang tore the roof off the Ship & Anchor in Calgary on the first stop of their tour with their soulful rock gospel sideshow at the beginning of October, but after a couple weeks playing shows across the country their van was stolen right from under their noses the night before their anticipated Toronto showcase. While this would usually mean the end of the road and a plane ride home, because of a pact made at the beginning of tour to never leave their gear in their van overnight Minto managed to come out fairly unscathed.

“We’re a mess, but it’s awesome,” says frontman Ryan (Wally) Hoben from his hotel room in Ottawa where a water main has just broke leaving the band unable to shower. “All they got out of that van was like ten empty Doritos bags, a bunch of Mr. Noodles packets and our Sirius satellite radio. I also had this Chip & Pepper sweater that I got at this place in Thunder Bay, which is now gone. That’s what I’m most concerned about.”

Since it’s illegal to rent a van with a tow package, the band was forced to leave all of their gear in Toronto and take a rental van with their guitars and what little luggage they could fit inside to continue on their way with the tour.

“It was pretty crazy man. We had a really shitty day but then we had an awesome show in Toronto and Montreal the next day with everyone lending us their gear,” Hoben says. “The real silver lining to all of this though is that a friend of ours who is on tour with us has parents in Peterborough who are selling us a van tomorrow that is in good shape with a tow kit for like 1200 bucks.”

After returning the rental van to Toronto the band will be ready to go back west, playing a string of shows in the prairies along the way before stopping back in Calgary for the final stop of their tour.

“We’ve had some really successful shows though so it looks like we’re going to break even after all,” Hoben says with a lighthearted chuckle.

Van perils aside, it’s been a successful tour in terms of spreading the Minto name and people and critics alike have been extremely receptive to the band’s sophomore effort, Lay It On Me.

Released independently in July with the intentions of shopping it around to try and spark some label interest, Lay It On Me boasts 11 solid tracks that were recorded in early 2009 in Chicago by the infamous engineer Steve Albini. A familiar name in music circles, the Shellac guitarist is best known for his work engineering big name acts like Nirvana, the Pixies and PJ Harvey. Turns out, a two-week stint with the analog wonder wasn’t that much more expensive than recording at home in Vancouver, so the band jumped at the chance to work with someone in the industry who they admired.

“We made the plans to go down there before we even had the money to pay for it and then we just worked our asses off. It was the best experience ever,” Hoben says. “When we first met him we were like ‘Oh my god, should we talk to him? What should we do?’ but after a day of doing bed tracks it was awesome. We got along great and we were all laughing and bugging each other. There’s even a photo of me with him in a headlock.”

The final product was definitely something the band can be proud of. Somewhere in between party rock and anthemic gospel sung from the heart, Minto finds a place to serenade you with ease. The one track that jumps out in particular from the record is “Burnt Down Trainbridge Blues (Lawyers),” a poppier lo-fi number that recalls a sound similar to early Kings of Leon. The best selection for a first single and music video, you can catch their humorous pseudo-instructional music video online filmed and edited by drummer Jimi Cuell on “How To Record A Music Video.” According to Hoben, MuchMusic has expressed interest in the video as well and it will soon be featured on the Wedge.

“The day we shot it we went to Value Village and got the most eighties costumes that we could get and then we just improvised in front of a green screen at Jimmy’s school,” says Hoben. “We shot it on a Thursday and by Sunday it was on the Internet.”

A testament to how fast they can work when they want to get something done, Minto is a hard working band but they know how hard they have to work to get it. With plans to ride the Olympic shit storm in their hometown come February and a tour of the southern US towards Austin, TX for SXSW in March, you can bet that you’ll be hearing a lot more out of Minto.

Catch Minto online or on November 7 at Vern’s Taven (Calgary) alongside Key to the City, The Paperbacks and guests. - BeatRoute By Glenn Alderson