We Are The City

MAY 30, 2013 – THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT

Violent marks something of a return for We Are the City. The band never broke up, but guitarist David Menzel quit in the summer of 2010. He has since rejoined and this new album, which comes out on Tuesday (June 4) is the trio’s first recording to feature him since its 2009 debut, In a Quiet World. (Interim replacement Blake Enemark played on the 2011 High School EP.)

This is a remarkably assured effort. Its crystal-clear sound owes much to the Zolas’ Tom Dobrzanski, whose CV includes equally impressive records by his own band and Said the Whale. Mind you, if those acts traffic in relatively straightforward indie pop—relatively being the key word—We Are the City does something else entirely. The band, which also includes singer-keyboardist Cayne McKenzie and drummer Andrew Huculiak, has always balanced pop songcraft and unabashed prog-rock leanings. It’s clear right off the top that, in making Violent, We Are the City’s intention was to push itself as far as possible in both directions at once. “Bottom of the Lake” kicks things off with hammering math-rock drums topped with a spiralling marimba figure and later joined by a layer of grinding shoegaze guitar. McKenzie’s vocal melody, however, provides the song with a focal point that is immediately accessible, softening the song’s rougher edges.

We Are the City never really sounded like any other local act in the past, and that’s even more true with this latest batch of compositions. In fact, the band sounds downright Scandinavian. The rising-tide keyboard crescendoes of “Legs Give Out” could have been lifted from an A-side by Swedish dreamtronica duo I Break Horses, while the jagged riff with which “King David” announces its arrival sounds like something Danish prog-poppers Mew might have written. Elsewhere, “Baptism” builds up into something approaching the cathedral-in-the-clouds grandeur of Sigur Ro´s.

In fairness, We Are the City doesn’t actually sound like any of them, either, but it’s a safe bet that if you have anything by the above-named artists in your collection, Violent is going to make you very, very happy. - The Georgia Straight

JULY 4, 2013 - THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT

On playing to increasingly large crowds: “It is encouraging to see people coming out to listen to music that we didn’t necessarily write for radio, or necessarily with success in mind. It’s pretty cool to see that people are willing to come out and listen to our music.”

On writing Violent: “We wrote the High School songs super-quick, but these songs took so long to do, and we would meticulously build the song and destroy it and pick up the pieces, and try to make things out of those pieces and compare it to what we destroyed and see if it had improved, and if it hadn’t, go back to the first drawing and kind of build it from there.”

On trying to not write pop songs: “I don’t know if it’s really the best business decision, per se, for us to be writing songs like this, but it definitely feels good.”

No one ever accused the guys in We Are the City of lacking ambition. Two years ago, the Kelowna-formed but now Vancouver-based band released an EP, High School, along with a 26-minute short film comprising videos for each of the six songs.

This year, the trio has put out its second full-length album, Violent, an effort that it plans to follow up with a feature-length movie. Filmed in Norway. With dialogue entirely in Norwegian. Yes, really.

“We went to Norway,” confirms drummer Andrew Huculiak, reached on tour in Lethbridge, Alberta. “That was last fall. We filmed a full-length film in the space of a month, which was really crazy. We’d be staying up really late, waking up really early, working with actors who in their takes were speaking Norwegian, a language that we can’t understand.”

The as-yet-untitled film is in the final stages of postproduction and should be finished in a month or two, although even the band itself isn’t sure when or where the public will be able to see it.

Huculiak says the movie is about a young woman living through a catastrophic event, and her relationships with the people in her life. The $64,000 question, of course, is “Why Norway?” The drummer confesses that he and his bandmates—singer- keyboardist Cayne McKenzie and guitarist David Menzel—have “a little bit of an obsession with Scandinavia”. That’s obvious on Violent, or at least it will be to listeners who are equally obsessed and can detect the imprint of Finnish art-rock collective Rubik or Danish prog-pop juggernaut Mew.

We Are the City occasionally wears its relatively obscure influences on its sleeves, but at its best, the group is breathtakingly original. Witness how the skeletal bedroomtronica of “Friends Hurt” lurches into a soundscape of detuned synthesizer drones, or the way the viscerally gritty push-pull guitar riff of “King David” gives way to a barely-there verse centred on McKenzie’s unforced but emotive vocals before the song turns into something grand and soaring, propelled by Huculiak’s metronomically precise drumming.

On the whole, Violent is a remarkable listen: masterfully arranged and impeccably mixed, but with enough unsanded corners to ward off accusations of overproduction. The songs are melodic and listener-friendly without ever really swimming very far in the direction of the mainstream.

That the LP turned out as well as it did must be gratifying to We Are the City; it was a long time in the making. The band started writing it as a follow-up to its 2009 debut, In a Quiet World. Then Menzel left, and We Are the City started playing gigs as High School, with Blake Enemark filling in on six-string duties. With its simpler songs and its members’ identities hidden behind masks fashioned out of white T-shirts, High School can perhaps best be viewed as an attempt to take a breather from the more serious business of being in We Are the City. The group’s secret got out, however, and the band ended up releasing the High School material under its own name, to serious acclaim.

By the time Menzel re-entered the fold, several years had passed, and the trio found itself reassessing the material it had been working on before he left. The consensus was that they didn’t fully reflect how the three men had matured, musically speaking. “We listened to them, and it was like, ‘Well, it’s really crazy that we saved these songs, because they’re just not as good as the ones that we were writing right before we went into the studio for Violent,’ ” Huculiak notes.

We Are the City recorded Violent at Monarch Studios, with Tom Dobrzanski at the console. Before that, however, the band set up shop at the Magic House, a former family residence in White Rock that had a date with a wrecking ball.

“We wrote it there, demoed it all there, and then the house was demolished and I feel like it was a true end to that chapter,” Huculiak says. “And then we went into the studio and had all of these demos and these pieces. We had probably five hours of recorded material, like the songs in different formats—different ways to play it, and all these different attempts at play - The Georgia Straight Magazine

JULY 4, 2013 - THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT

On playing to increasingly large crowds: “It is encouraging to see people coming out to listen to music that we didn’t necessarily write for radio, or necessarily with success in mind. It’s pretty cool to see that people are willing to come out and listen to our music.”

On writing Violent: “We wrote the High School songs super-quick, but these songs took so long to do, and we would meticulously build the song and destroy it and pick up the pieces, and try to make things out of those pieces and compare it to what we destroyed and see if it had improved, and if it hadn’t, go back to the first drawing and kind of build it from there.”

On trying to not write pop songs: “I don’t know if it’s really the best business decision, per se, for us to be writing songs like this, but it definitely feels good.”

No one ever accused the guys in We Are the City of lacking ambition. Two years ago, the Kelowna-formed but now Vancouver-based band released an EP, High School, along with a 26-minute short film comprising videos for each of the six songs.

This year, the trio has put out its second full-length album, Violent, an effort that it plans to follow up with a feature-length movie. Filmed in Norway. With dialogue entirely in Norwegian. Yes, really.

“We went to Norway,” confirms drummer Andrew Huculiak, reached on tour in Lethbridge, Alberta. “That was last fall. We filmed a full-length film in the space of a month, which was really crazy. We’d be staying up really late, waking up really early, working with actors who in their takes were speaking Norwegian, a language that we can’t understand.”

The as-yet-untitled film is in the final stages of postproduction and should be finished in a month or two, although even the band itself isn’t sure when or where the public will be able to see it.

Huculiak says the movie is about a young woman living through a catastrophic event, and her relationships with the people in her life. The $64,000 question, of course, is “Why Norway?” The drummer confesses that he and his bandmates—singer- keyboardist Cayne McKenzie and guitarist David Menzel—have “a little bit of an obsession with Scandinavia”. That’s obvious on Violent, or at least it will be to listeners who are equally obsessed and can detect the imprint of Finnish art-rock collective Rubik or Danish prog-pop juggernaut Mew.

We Are the City occasionally wears its relatively obscure influences on its sleeves, but at its best, the group is breathtakingly original. Witness how the skeletal bedroomtronica of “Friends Hurt” lurches into a soundscape of detuned synthesizer drones, or the way the viscerally gritty push-pull guitar riff of “King David” gives way to a barely-there verse centred on McKenzie’s unforced but emotive vocals before the song turns into something grand and soaring, propelled by Huculiak’s metronomically precise drumming.

On the whole, Violent is a remarkable listen: masterfully arranged and impeccably mixed, but with enough unsanded corners to ward off accusations of overproduction. The songs are melodic and listener-friendly without ever really swimming very far in the direction of the mainstream.

That the LP turned out as well as it did must be gratifying to We Are the City; it was a long time in the making. The band started writing it as a follow-up to its 2009 debut, In a Quiet World. Then Menzel left, and We Are the City started playing gigs as High School, with Blake Enemark filling in on six-string duties. With its simpler songs and its members’ identities hidden behind masks fashioned out of white T-shirts, High School can perhaps best be viewed as an attempt to take a breather from the more serious business of being in We Are the City. The group’s secret got out, however, and the band ended up releasing the High School material under its own name, to serious acclaim.

By the time Menzel re-entered the fold, several years had passed, and the trio found itself reassessing the material it had been working on before he left. The consensus was that they didn’t fully reflect how the three men had matured, musically speaking. “We listened to them, and it was like, ‘Well, it’s really crazy that we saved these songs, because they’re just not as good as the ones that we were writing right before we went into the studio for Violent,’ ” Huculiak notes.

We Are the City recorded Violent at Monarch Studios, with Tom Dobrzanski at the console. Before that, however, the band set up shop at the Magic House, a former family residence in White Rock that had a date with a wrecking ball.

“We wrote it there, demoed it all there, and then the house was demolished and I feel like it was a true end to that chapter,” Huculiak says. “And then we went into the studio and had all of these demos and these pieces. We had probably five hours of recorded material, like the songs in different formats—different ways to play it, and all these different attempts at play - The Georgia Straight Magazine

Previously, this B.C. trio put together the wonderfully cohesive In a Quiet World which could have been the soundtrack for anyone living in the city. This time around they’ve put together another cohesive work held together by its peculiarities.

We Are the City were originally going to create a separate band called High School in which they pulled t-shirts over their head (as you can see from the album artwork) and adopt alter egos. Cayne McKenzie would be Lindsey Jone. Andrew Huculiak would be Matthew Curan and Blake Enemark would be Bobby Reynolds. Using these alter egos they would be able to talk about some memories they’d rather not talk about.

Instead, High School is now a six-song EP and represents a different musical direction for the band. The band has toned down the anthemic vibe from their first album and replaced it with quirkiness and the addition of a new instruments. The change doesn’t seem forced or out of character for them.

The band plays around with song structure a lot as well. In the song “That’s It, That’s All” there’s a moment where everything goes quiet for a few seconds. I had to make sure the song was playing properly.

There’s much more experimenting in the last two songs, “1987? and “An Angel in White” which could be one really long song. The former flows so seamlessly into the latter it’s amazing. The two in combination take the listener on a musical trip with all kinds of instrumental solos and crescendos.

“1987? marks the first We Are The City song to feature strings, and the strings work well to complement the sensitive subject matter McKenzie sings about. It also incorporates a drum machine later on.

“Dark/Warm Air” is another welcome oddity which melds (initially) sparse guitar and keys to create a truly unique song that sounds almost tropical. The tropical sound clashes with the name “Dark/Warm Air” with great effect.

We Are The City are planning for the sophomore full-length. Whether they continue with their anthemic rock a la In A Quiet World or with their more quirky stuff from High School (or if they mix both) will be something to see. Either way, this band is giving its fans lots of reasons to keep listening. - Grayowl Point

High School, the followup to We Are The City's debut album In A Quiet World, is an introspective journey into one's past and the growing pains associated with moving on to the next chapter in one's life. The EP consists of songs that were originally supposed to be a side project of the band, which they called High School, but were later recorded as a We Are The City album.

High School consists of six songs of atmospheric, progressive pop songs that on the surface seem straight ahead and simplistic, but are actually complex and intricate compositions. Songs like "That's It, That's All" contain exaggerated breaks of silence that are filled with as much power and intensity as when all the instruments hit their crescendos.

Produced by Tom Dobrzanski (Hey Ocean!, Said The Whale), who also produced their debut and their upcoming album, High School is very reminiscent of their previous material. The album is filled with shimmering guitars, gorgeous piano work and hauntingly beautiful vocals. High School almost has a live feel to it with minimum instrumentation and overdubs. And when the drums kick in, you could almost swear they were in the room with you.

It's hard to pick a standout song from High School since all of the tracks are just as great as the one previous. Bottom line, if you enjoy even one song, you will love this entire album. Fans of We Are The City will not be disappointed. - Toronto Music Scene

June 4, 2013 – EXCLAIM.CA

By Matthew Ritchie

Vancouver, BC-based indie rockers We Are the City have come a long way since their 2009 debut, In a Quiet World, and nowhere is this more evident than in the loud-quiet-loud dynamics of "King David" the third track from the band's sophomore LP, Violent. Expanding upon the foundation laid by 2011's High School EP, Violent offers the most mature songwriting to date from the progressive leaning three-piece. Primarily employing energetic rhythms and evolving tonal ranges, We Are the City's less-is-more mindset succeeds where similar bands like Mother Mother and the Most Serene Republic fail, decidedly focusing on contrasting tones and loud climaxes, rather than borrowing from multiple genres to try and create a unique sound. Because of this, Violent's post-rock-indebted formula doesn't necessarily tread any new ground, evoking Kid A era Radiohead on"I Am, Are You?" Grizzly Bear's haunting melodies on "Bottom of the Lake" and Brian Eno-levels of ambience in "Everything Changes". But by focusing on their rhythmic strengths and broadening their already expansive range, Violent provides a good indication of even better things to come from the young group. - Exclaim.ca

June 4, 2013 - THE VANCOUVER SUN / VANCOUVER PROVINCE

B.C. pop trio We Are The City get Violent

Latest album a challenging experience for band and fans

For the better part of two years, Cayne McKenzie and Andy Huculiak tortured themselves.

The process of creating We Are The City’s new album Violent was harrowing: An exhausting, stressful stretch of introspection where the band second guessed everything they did, holed up in a house in White Rock.

The Kelowna progressive pop-rock trio never had the easiest of times creating music.

There was 2009’s In A Quiet World, which gave the trio of youngsters that also includes guitarist Dave Menzel its first taste of the spotlight, leading to a Peak Performance Project win in 2010.

Then there was High School, a conceptual mini album of tremendous proportions that became a life raft for a band that was already falling apart in 2011. (Menziel left for personal reasons and was temporarily replaced by Northcote’s Blake Enemark before rejoining last year.)

Produced by longtime collaborator Tom Dobrzanski, Violent is as difficult to absorb as it was to create: The album is a sonic tapestry more than a collection of true songs, McKenzie’s lyrics exploring personal demons and anxieties, thoughts that are splashed with religious overtones, with more questions than answers.

A single listen is simply not enough to grasp the full scope of what the band has accomplished.

The sounds are harsh: McKenzie’s keyboard tones are purposefully unpolished and overdriven, Huculiak’s Afro-tinged staccato rhythms and harsh cymbal splashes snap against your eardrums, and Menziel’s bursts of guitars explode as raw rock textures rather than melodies.

“I think it has to do with how much time we spent on the album,” Huculiak said in a recent interview conducted at a bakery in Vancouver’s Chinatown. “We wrote High School and recorded it fast. This album was almost the opposite approach: Let’s dive deep down. We’d go home and our parents would say, ‘You look sick. Something is wrong with you.’” McKenzie and Huculiak still look strung out. The Violent odyssey, though it has already been in motion for two years, is only just beginning.

There is touring ahead (the band wraps its forthcoming Canadian tour at the Vogue July 4) and, because We Are The City is not the type of band to stay on the beaten path, a full length feature movie to be released alongside the album: A full-blown, two-hour long art house film. In Norwegian. With subtitles.

“Made by Canadians who don’t speak Norwegian,” Huculiak said.
No actual song from Violent will be featured on the film, which tells the tale of a young woman as she’s experiencing a catastrophic event, thinking of five people that loved her most. Instead, “stems” of songs — McKenzie and Huculiak explained they had more than they knew what to do with — will be wove into an ambient soundtrack.

“There’s some legitimate stuff in there that, if you heard the album, you’ll recognize,” McKenzie said.

So how does Violent function as a “pop” record? And how will fans of In A Quiet World and of the cathartic material from High School respond to such lofty undertakings?

“It doesn’t really matter to me,” McKenzie said. “Obviously, I would love for people to be ready for it. I was reading Letters To A Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke, and it basically said at one point: ‘The only reason you should create is because you had to.’ That’s how I feel about Violent.

“There’s nothing I can do to make people like it more. It’s just me wrapped so fully in this collection of songs. And if people don’t like that, then they don’t like me and that’s fine. I can’t make someone’s ears ready to hear what I had to say.”

Hearing McKenzie speak so bluntly immediately recalls a line in new song King David where McKenzie asks, “Does it surprise you to hear the truth from my mouth?”

Violent is almost a defiant request to step inside McKenzie’s head, and by the time you emerge from underwater after the catharsis of Baptism and the solitary Punch My Face, you’ve encountered a band that dares go where many will not.

“If you look at the synonyms for ‘violent,’ a lot of them are positive — ‘powerful,’ ‘magnificent,’” McKenzie said. “We wanted to make an extreme album.” - The Vancouver Sun / The Province

How many lists have you already gone through these past couple of weeks for “Top Albums of 2011? or “Top Performances of the Year”? I believe there is one band that should be making most of these lists and they go by the name We Are The City. In The Vancouver Sun’s “Top 40 Albums of 2011”, the progressive pop band’s High School EP was slotted in at number three beating out Dan Mangan’ s Oh Fortune and Adele’s 21. The paper described the album as “a masterful six-song ode to the perils of being young: A dark, brooding collection of musings on hope and fear, isolation and friendship”. Coupled with Amazing Factory Productions‘ video series, it is nothing short of a masterpiece.

I had a chance to see them perform at the Rio Theatre to finish of their fall tour and I can easily say that it was the best performance I’ve seen in 2011. We Are The City‘s set up was simple with all three band members lined up at the front of the stage with their respective instruments. They let their stage presence, mastery of their instruments and incredible energy do all the talking.

The Kelowna-based will be working on their sophomore LP. Even though it is not known what direction the music will take, you can bet that they will continue to push the boundaries and create something that is unique. - Vancity Buzz

Critically reflecting on our own history is tough for the even the most eloquent, so it’s an impressive feat that a couple of Kelowna boys barely out of their teenage years can write a song about the year 1987 and actually sound like they know what they’re talking about. Prog-rockers We Are the City manage that, and more, in their latest release, High School.

Although the events that the album chronicles were originally played anonymously with faces covered and creative pseudonyms adopted, the band unveils the “shameful memories that we’ve previously avoided talking about.” Song lyrics are brief, simple and borderline abstract, but they work reasonably well.

Moments of sincere regret for past sins are expressed in “An Angel in White,” and cries from desperate isolation are heard in “That’s It, That’s All.” Such honest accounting of stained journeys carry the usually oversimplified lyrics into a realm that bands of this experience shouldn’t hit for at least another record.

And that doesn’t even take their developing sound into consideration. Time signatures are thrown around flippantly. Wire fences are plucked. Cleverly written guitar and drum lines lurk in the shadows until versatile singer Cayne McKenzie welcomes to them to rise to the stage with a couple of slams on the keys. That’s all within the first song.

It’s no wonder these boys opened for Braids at Sled Island: High School shows a maturity of sound that certainly deserves a buy. - FFWD Weekly Magazine

Masks have this funny ability to both conceal and reveal. Kelowna, BC-based We Are the City uses this duality to their advantage in their EP High School. On the cover, the trio wear white shirts over their faces, referencing the period of time when they did just that in order to perform this specific material. For a while, they donned aliases and disguises to prevent snarled lines such as “And it’s me you want, not that boy from France or Quebec or something else” from being attributed to We Are the City, better known for their prog-rock introspections on life and existence than pop jams on youthful jealousy.

High school culture demands a lot from those who go through them, much like navigating a career playing music. Certain masks are put on to make life easier, certain stories get muted over time, and certain tensions are put on hold. For Cayne McKenzie and Andrew Huculiak, childhood friends hailing from a small town, masking their faces and bashing out these songs must have been cathartic. After all, accolades such as winning $150,000 and top prize from the Peak Performance Project can make a young band feel the heavy weight of expectations when it comes time for new material. The replacement of guitarist David Menzel with Blake Enemark (Forestry) after five years with the band also marked a moment of transition and uncertainty.

Thankfully, High School does not sound like a band tearing its own sound apart, but rather one pushing and questioning its own image and range. The results are spectacular and demonstrate the increasing depth and strength of these young songwriters, who are barely in their 20s. The compositions contain more variety, such as the Afro-groove of “Happy New year,” and are more fleshed out with the help of strings in others (“1987”). “Dark/Warm Air” is a personal favourite, the title perfectly capturing the mood of the cozy and pulsating track. The abrupt starts and stops that are characteristic of their debut and keep listeners on their toes during live shows are balanced by a willingness to let instrumentation linger (“An Angel in White”), allowing for greater flow and demonstrating more confidence. There’s not a weak track on this EP. - NXEW

JUNE 24, 2013 - HUFFINGTON POST MUSIC – BAPTISM VIDEO PREMIERE

They may not be the world yet, but perhaps it's just a matter of time for Vancouver's We Are The City. At the very least they're aiming international with the video for their single 'Baptism,' which uses scenes from We Are The City's feature-length, foreign-language film "Violent,' which the band — whose members don't actually speak Norwegian — wrote, translated, and directed in Norway.

Sharing a name with their recently released sophomore album, the film "Violent" is due out later this year and revolves around a woman, involved in a "catastrophic experience," remembering the five people who love her most.

"The music video plays like a teaser because the film itself is actually a narrative story and for the music video we chose not to pull any distinctly 'narrative' content like dialogue or any action with actors," says singer-keyboardist Cayne McKenzie. "Instead we used abstract imagery from the dream sequences in the film — people floating, buildings floating, the water ripples, the shot of the young woman on the ferry. We chose to use these shots in the 'Baptism' music video because we felt that the song was asking to be pulling in a cinematic direction, not a flashy one."
But if the music video provides our first glimpse into the universe of the movie, it also inspires the question: Why Norway?

"Well, the simple answer is that we wanted to transport ourselves and our audience," explains drummer Andy Huculiak. "There was a new kind of inspiration, one that we had never experienced before, when we surrounded ourselves with actors speaking a different language and settings that looked familiar but also alien. Canada's similarity to Norway was comforting, but road signs with ø's and a°'s are hard to ignore. When we decided that we wanted to shoot a feature film, the thought of shooting it in Vancouver didn't seem right. We knew Vancouver, we had shot many music videos in the city, and we wanted to leave our comfort zone."
One might even say they entered a discomfort zone, at least when it came to the scene with the sparks.

"Those sparks hurt," recalls guitarist David Menzel. "There's a shot in the music video where a spark lands on Cayne's shirt and instantly burns through it, leaving behind a wisp of smoke, that does a good job of illustrating just how hot those sparks were. There's another shot where one lands just above Andy's eyelid and then stays there — the result was a relatively large burn. - Huffington Post Music

Kelowna prog-pop trio We Are the City’s near-breakup effort High School is a masterful six-song ode to the perils of being young: A dark, brooding collection of musings on hope and fear, isolation and friendship that, when combined with the hypnotic treatment of Vancouver video production outfit Amazing Factory, attains sheer greatness. - The Vancouver Sun

MAY 29, 2013 – VUE WEEKLY

When We Are The City released High School in 2011, the acclaim it garnered was more surprising to the band than to anyone else. The six-song EP was meant to be a stop-gap release, filling time while the band replaced guitarist David Menzel, who was in the process of departing as High School began. With him on his way out, keyboardist/singer Cayne McKenzie notes that he and drummer Andrew Huculiak just wanted to write songs and play shows without the usual concerns of a band trying to make a name for itself. So they created High School first as an alter ego: the band wore shirts over their faces to mask their identities, played shows anonymously (though that didn't last too long), and generally peddled in a scrappier take on its existing, introspective prog-rock sound.
"David started to say, 'I'm not going to be in the band anymore,' and Andrew and I were like, 'We just want to be a crappy band,'" McKenzie explains. "So we made this band, High School, and just wrote songs really fast. And then when David gave his final word of 'No, I'm not playing with you guys anymore,' we were like, 'OK, let's make this into a We Are The City record.'" Since then, on the strength of High School, the band's toured extensively, both here and in the US. And somewhere along the touring line, Menzel rejoined the band.

He'd left, McKenzie notes, for a number of reasons: he'd met the woman he's now married to, he wanted to be a better man— "the wall of manhood, none of the bricks had 'band' written on them," McKenzie says—and his spirituality seemed to be guiding him in a different direction. But with Menzel back on six-string duties, We Are The City finished the proper album that it had started before he left: Violent. It features some of High School's halmarks: stop-start instrumentation, rising squalls of sound paired with more serene melodic hooks, and, lyrically, the airing of hopes and fears, through characters often confronted with things they can't explain or reconcile. "We had a lot of discussions about extremes, when we were talking about what we wanted to make," McKenzie says. "We had this idea of extreme, like the closest thing to silence and the closest thing to your mom telling you to turn it off. We had a lot of discussions on extremes sonically, sounds that were not pleasing at all, sounds that were very pleasing, And I think the sonic direction of Violent is very intentional." On one level, that sense of struggle reflected in Violent seems to parallel what the band members themselves have been grappling with. Beyond Menzel's departure and return, McKenzie notes that, as We Are The City has continued on, all three of its members have had to try and reconcile the idea of selflessness with being a musician. "I would be telling you a large fib if I told you that I made peace about it," McKenzie starts, choosing his words carefully. "I'm not sure where David stands on it, but I know that Andrew also has not made peace with it. It's a continuing thought process. And for myself as well ... I'm not sure it's entirely possible to be selfless. "The way I make peace with being a musician," he continues, "[is] I feel like I have to write the songs. Especially Violent: I feel like it's me so fully wrapped into these little four-minute chunks of sonic whatever. I feel like I have to display myself in that way; that's the only way that I can. I'm not very good at journaling, I'm not actually so good at having conversation—I wouldn't say I'm the most articulate person, but I feel like I can really achieve something of self-explanation when given the opportunity to write it in sonic form. And so I feel like I have to do this, and so, with that, as soon as it's out, it's not really mine to keep and hide away. Because people can so fully relate to people's raw emotion." - Vue Weekly Magazine

MAY 29, 2013 – BEATROUTE

“You OK, buddy?”

It’s a sunny afternoon in Vancouver, and two thirds of We Are the City are relaxing on their back porch, munching on Fudgsicles and an array of fruit. Vocalist and keyboardist Cayne McKenzie breaks an orange open with a thumb and squirts a very generous amount of juice at his face.

“Ah. That got me right in the eyehole,” McKenzie mutters, squinting. Drummer Andrew Huculiak is sitting across him with a grin on his face. Quickly, a recovery ensues.

The pair begin talking about their latest release Violent, which hits shelves on June 4. While being simultaneously beautiful and intense, the album largely departs from more upbeat sounds featured on High School and experiments with darker lyrics, heavier religious undertones, and an almost-sinister vibe that’ll awaken the pit in your stomach.

??“We’ve really created our own universe and our own story with Violent,” says McKenzie. “All of the lyrics discuss the idea of dark and light, or above and below the water. It’s a conversation about null or the in-between, and where to go from there.”

After witnessing guitarist David Menzel’s wife become baptized, McKenzie was quick to sit down and pen Violent’s first single “Baptism”. The song provides a promising taste of the album: the vocals are sombre and soothing, the tempo erratic, and the end thunderous in all of its God Is an Astronaut-esque post-rock glory.

When discussing the video for “Baptism”, the musicians delve into the process that creates molten steel wool in a whisk – and how scary it is flinging it at each other’s faces. “It was a little bit painful. I actually burnt my leg, but not bad enough to be a real burn. David [our guitarist] had his hair catch fire, too. It was pretty wild. Some true men would not be afraid of doing this, but we were,” Huculiak chuckles.

To accompany the album, the band released a 12-part online video series “Magic House”, which captured poignant moments in creating Violent, ranging from taping demos to dumpster diving on Commercial Drive for blackened bananas and stale bread (sounds tasty, yes?) and funky dancing on couches and table tops. The final clip shows a white-boarded home in South Surrey being demolished – a sad moment for the band. “The owner had two houses side by side, and after he had bought a third one, they were all torn down to make room for condos,” says Huculiak. “It was a beautiful little house. We spent a lot of time there waiting for ideas to come to us and also a lot of time or having those ideas already and recording them. The video series is maybe a bit of non-fiction and fiction mixed up. Is it real? Is not real? Is it one house, or multiple houses?”
House destruction aside, We Are the City still have a heavy plate to balance: besides doing a cross Canada tour, the band hopes to release a movie they’ve written exclusively in Norwegian – it’s all the more impressive that they don’t know the language – and compose the music for it.

“The movie is a huge dream for us. We just want to experience what it’s like to show a film that we wrote,” says McKenzie. “It goes hand in hand with Violent, but they aren’t part of the same —”

“— its like they’re talking through a telephone can,” Huculiak finishes. “I’d like to see what happens with Violent, too. It really feels like it clicked, and we’re all very excited about it – maybe not in the same ways, but definitely equally as excited.”

We Are the City releases Violent on June 4. They play at the Vogue Theatre on July 4 - Beatroute Magazine

MAY 30, 2013 – PLANET S

It’s been four years since We Are The City delivered their debut album. Since then, the Vancouver-based band has seen line-up changes, moved from their home in Kelowna and toured several times across Canada opening for the likes of Mother Mother, Sam Roberts and Braids.

Oh yeah, and the band also won the top prize in the 2010 Peak Performance contest, which netted them $150,000.

They’re now finally about to release their followup album, titled Violent, and guitarist David Menzel says that the wait had a profound impact on the band and their sound.

“It’s been a long time coming — it was almost three years ago when we won that contest, and ever since then we’ve been working on the next record. And now we have it,” says Menzel. “This is probably our most definitive work, and it’s who we are now. It’s what we like to play.”

Combining laid back, chillwave synth sounds with densely layered guitar rhythms and offbeat percussion, We Are The City craft surprisingly melodic indie pop anthems. Reaching crescendos before pulling everything back to a whisper, Violent is a highly restrained but hugely entertaining record.

They wrote the album in a condemned house, before the whole thing was knocked to the ground. Menzel says the looming loss of their space was in one way a good thing — because it gave a welcome sense of urgency to the crafting of Violent.

“The whole thing behind the condemned home was that we had somewhere to write where it was an emotional experience,” he says. “It’s the last thing that’s going to happen in that house before it gets torn down, and it makes it special because you can never go back and have that atmosphere again. I really enjoyed everything about it.

“Plus, it was really cheap rent!” - Planet S Mag

SELECT PRESS PULLS — VIOLENT (2013) - Freshly Pressed PR

We Are the City’s sophomore album Violent is a progressive rock opus disguised as indie rock. Since the early days, the Kelowna BC trio always strived to bridge the gap between experimental alt-rock and pop, and with this new collection of materia, they confidently forge a sound that is even bolder and more confident sounding than '09s impressive In A Quiet World. The creative energy could in part be due to the return of original guitarist David Menzel, inspired writing sessions in a condemned house, or it could be the time spent focusing on the music after winning the $150,000 Peak Performance grand prize in 2010. The album opens with the frantic percussive punch of “Bottom of the Lake” and ends with the expansive feedback-laden ballad “Punch My Face”. It's an album you want to have on repeat play. - newcanadianmusic.ca

We Are the City’s sophomore album Violent is a progressive rock opus disguised as indie rock. Since the early days, the Kelowna BC trio always strived to bridge the gap between experimental alt-rock and pop, and with this new collection of materia, they confidently forge a sound that is even bolder and more confident sounding than '09s impressive In A Quiet World. The creative energy could in part be due to the return of original guitarist David Menzel, inspired writing sessions in a condemned house, or it could be the time spent focusing on the music after winning the $150,000 Peak Performance grand prize in 2010. The album opens with the frantic percussive punch of “Bottom of the Lake” and ends with the expansive feedback-laden ballad “Punch My Face”. It's an album you want to have on repeat play. - newcanadianmusic.ca

Along with a few others here at the blog, I’m going through some big life changes. After finishing my undergraduate degree this spring, I (we) look now to the uncertain future and all that it brings. Violent, the new record from the Kelowna three piece band We Are The City comes at the perfect moment for these life changes. Tackling issues of change, the maturation of self, our place in life, and the dreaded need to then adjust, all in a new and confident sound, Violent hits hard.

Fleshed out in a condemned house dubbed the “Magic House,” check out some videos of the band working their in magic in the house, Violent’s sound is a force. Although my calling their sound a “force,” paired with the title of the album, may seem like We Are The City has branched off into the heavy-metal genre or something, their sound combines varying styles and elements further than they have every done before, for ten very intricate, experimental-rock/prog-rock-like tracks.

The swirling background sounds of “Bottom of the Lake” paired with what feels like a new found strength of Cayne McKenzie’s voice immediately catches your ear to begin the record. Effortlessly transitioning to the percussion heavy “Legs Give Out” – thirty-nine seconds of Andy Huculiak’s stellar drumming in “Passing of the Peace” also shows off his skills – and then into the guitar heavy “King David,” Violent marked a return for guitarist David Menzel who briefly left the band during their High School EP (Blake Enemark stepped in during that period). With this, barely the first half of the record, you are thrown into an intensity that is both instrumentally and lyrically felt.

Both “Bottom of the Lake” and “Legs Give Out” touch on familiar feelings of what feels like being beaten by life while McKenzie then asks one of the record’s most powerful questions in the following track, “King David,” asking, “David, am I going to hell?” When feeling lost in whatever the case my be, in a recent interview with CBC Huculiak said that the album is primarily about the band finding their spiritual bearings, asking for guidance and validity from your friends is a personal part of the process which is perfectly captured in this desperate question.

Speaking of friends in relation to the quest in self-reliance and peace, the instrumentally minimal, “Friends Hurt” is lyrically one of the strongest We Are The City songs to date. A simple synth beat guides the song, only briefly interrupted by a more distorted keyboard part, while the repetitive chorus of, “it hurts when friends are hurting, and my friends are hurting,” is a beautifully reflective and simple turn of phrase. Similarly, “Everything Changes,” again, deals with the introspective, diving deeper into the band’s feelings as McKenzie sings, “everything is changed, and I don’t want to change.”

Finally, “Punch My Face” closes the record with an emotional punch. A softly performed piano song centered around McKenzie, it’s in the sprawling final minutes of the record where heavy guitar distortion overwhelms for a perfect representation of how emotionally overwhelming the record truly is.

Violent is available through Hidden Pony on iTunes and at your local record store.

Top Tracks: “King David,” “Friends Hurt,” “Everything Changes”

Rating: Hunting Call (Excellent) + *swoop* - grayowlpoint.com

Along with a few others here at the blog, I’m going through some big life changes. After finishing my undergraduate degree this spring, I (we) look now to the uncertain future and all that it brings. Violent, the new record from the Kelowna three piece band We Are The City comes at the perfect moment for these life changes. Tackling issues of change, the maturation of self, our place in life, and the dreaded need to then adjust, all in a new and confident sound, Violent hits hard.

Fleshed out in a condemned house dubbed the “Magic House,” check out some videos of the band working their in magic in the house, Violent’s sound is a force. Although my calling their sound a “force,” paired with the title of the album, may seem like We Are The City has branched off into the heavy-metal genre or something, their sound combines varying styles and elements further than they have every done before, for ten very intricate, experimental-rock/prog-rock-like tracks.

The swirling background sounds of “Bottom of the Lake” paired with what feels like a new found strength of Cayne McKenzie’s voice immediately catches your ear to begin the record. Effortlessly transitioning to the percussion heavy “Legs Give Out” – thirty-nine seconds of Andy Huculiak’s stellar drumming in “Passing of the Peace” also shows off his skills – and then into the guitar heavy “King David,” Violent marked a return for guitarist David Menzel who briefly left the band during their High School EP (Blake Enemark stepped in during that period). With this, barely the first half of the record, you are thrown into an intensity that is both instrumentally and lyrically felt.

Both “Bottom of the Lake” and “Legs Give Out” touch on familiar feelings of what feels like being beaten by life while McKenzie then asks one of the record’s most powerful questions in the following track, “King David,” asking, “David, am I going to hell?” When feeling lost in whatever the case my be, in a recent interview with CBC Huculiak said that the album is primarily about the band finding their spiritual bearings, asking for guidance and validity from your friends is a personal part of the process which is perfectly captured in this desperate question.

Speaking of friends in relation to the quest in self-reliance and peace, the instrumentally minimal, “Friends Hurt” is lyrically one of the strongest We Are The City songs to date. A simple synth beat guides the song, only briefly interrupted by a more distorted keyboard part, while the repetitive chorus of, “it hurts when friends are hurting, and my friends are hurting,” is a beautifully reflective and simple turn of phrase. Similarly, “Everything Changes,” again, deals with the introspective, diving deeper into the band’s feelings as McKenzie sings, “everything is changed, and I don’t want to change.”

Finally, “Punch My Face” closes the record with an emotional punch. A softly performed piano song centered around McKenzie, it’s in the sprawling final minutes of the record where heavy guitar distortion overwhelms for a perfect representation of how emotionally overwhelming the record truly is.

Violent is available through Hidden Pony on iTunes and at your local record store.

Top Tracks: “King David,” “Friends Hurt,” “Everything Changes”

Rating: Hunting Call (Excellent) + *swoop* - grayowlpoint.com

Vancouver, BC-based indie rockers We Are the City have come a long way since their 2009 debut, In a Quiet World, and nowhere is this more evident than in the loud-quiet-loud dynamics of "King David," the third track from the band's sophomore LP, Violent. Expanding upon the foundation laid by 2011's High School EP, Violent offers the most mature songwriting to date from the progressive leaning three-piece. Primarily employing energetic rhythms and evolving tonal ranges, We Are the City's less-is-more mindset succeeds where similar bands like Mother Mother and the Most Serene Republic fail, decidedly focusing on contrasting tones and loud climaxes, rather than borrowing from multiple genres to try and create a unique sound. Because of this, Violent's post-rock-indebted formula doesn't necessarily tread any new ground, evoking Kid A-era Radiohead on "I Am, Are You," Grizzly Bear's haunting melodies on "Bottom of the Lake" and Brian Eno-levels of ambience in "Everything Changes." But by focusing on their rhythmic strengths and broadening their already expansive range, Violent provides a good indication of even better things to come from the young group. - Exclaim Magazine

Vancouver, BC-based indie rockers We Are the City have come a long way since their 2009 debut, In a Quiet World, and nowhere is this more evident than in the loud-quiet-loud dynamics of "King David," the third track from the band's sophomore LP, Violent. Expanding upon the foundation laid by 2011's High School EP, Violent offers the most mature songwriting to date from the progressive leaning three-piece. Primarily employing energetic rhythms and evolving tonal ranges, We Are the City's less-is-more mindset succeeds where similar bands like Mother Mother and the Most Serene Republic fail, decidedly focusing on contrasting tones and loud climaxes, rather than borrowing from multiple genres to try and create a unique sound. Because of this, Violent's post-rock-indebted formula doesn't necessarily tread any new ground, evoking Kid A-era Radiohead on "I Am, Are You," Grizzly Bear's haunting melodies on "Bottom of the Lake" and Brian Eno-levels of ambience in "Everything Changes." But by focusing on their rhythmic strengths and broadening their already expansive range, Violent provides a good indication of even better things to come from the young group. - Exclaim Magazine

Onesheet with press quotes. - Killbeat Music

http://www.redmillpropaganda.com/ - Issue #2

We Are The City is a shining example of what happens when raw talent and hard work collide. In between finishing high school and working part time jobs, they’ve managed to become one of the most respected bands in the Okanagan. Having just finished their graduating year, they’ve already played at a festival with Sarah McLachlan and Feist and are now ready to record their debut album.

How long have you guys been playing together?
C: About two years now. David and I played together for probably two years longer, so for probably about four years, but the first band we had was very bad. I was on guitar and David was on bass, it was like P.O.D. meets U2 meets Nirvana. It wasn’t very good.

How did We Are The City start?
A: Cayne and David were playing together, their own stuff.
D: Just piano and guitar.
A: That’s when Cayne came looking for a drummer, we took the same film class in grade 10 and I had just stopped playing with my old band and I kinda had to audition.
C: From there we just started jamming... We were first called Cancer... like the constellation.
D: With a little bit of shock value.
C: Then we went to Seraph, like Seraphim [a type of angel] but
Seraph apparently is like a demon or fiery serpent.
D: Yeah it turned out to be the opposite of what we were going for.
C: So we changed it to “The City”. We started with a softer sound and progressed into the sound we have today.

What is the story behind the current band name?
A: Well we were desperately looking for a band name and David and I were sitting in church and we heard a verse. It’s just about the light of God and if you have that in you, it can’t be hidden. The verse is “a city on a hill can not be hidden” and so the name is “The City” because we try to be the light of God.
C: And then the “We Are” came from another band already having the name “The City” trademarked. There’s actually a ton of bands with the name “The City”, so we went through another few names and we ended up with the name “We Are The City”, just because it’s a nice add on and it’s a cool statement rather than just a name you know?

What inspires you to write and play music?
A: The obvious answer would be God...other answers would be bands...
C: Burning desires in the soul to play the piano and rock and roll.
D: Yeah, to have brotherly fun times.
C: I think it’s just what we love to do, like if you ask a basketball player, “Why do you like playing basketball so much?” They just love it.
D: “I love the feel of rubber on my hands.” I love the feel of guitar strings.
A: I love holding sticks.

Who are your main musical and non-musical influences?
A: Let’s do musical first.
D: I’d say an obvious one is Coldplay at one time or another, not all their albums.
C: Yeah Coldplay and Radiohead, a lot of British bands actually like Muse, Muse is a big one.
D: Pink Floyd is in there, we all have different ones.
A: Yeah, for me it’s a lot more like Mew and Mewithoutyou, I take a lot of inspiration from that... and Manchester Orchestra. Bands like that, but it’s different for everyone.
D: Non-musical, I’d say...
C: Well I think probably for all of us... I’m just going to speak for me, I’ll just be in a really weird way and I’ll just think about how awesome our bodies are... or something like that, or how sweet the world is.
A: Yeah like our lyrics, they’re not written randomly, just like, “OK we gotta think of a line that rhymes with that, or matches that.” All of our lyrics pertain to usually how we’re feeling or ideas that have been discussed beforehand, just life.

How do you approach the song writing process?
C: It usually takes so long for one.
D: The easiest thing is when one of us comes with an idea, maybe like a verse done, that’s the easiest thing that can happen. If Cayne or me or Andy comes and is like, “Hey
I’ve got this idea, it’s these chords,” or whatever and then we just build off that.
A: Yeah we usually start individually, then most of the writing after that is done as a group.
D: Yep because it’s very easy to keep going as a group, but to get started is pretty tough.
C: Yeah the lyrics are usually written all together, usually a piece of music will come to the table.
D: It’s either a guitar line or piano line.
A: Or drum lines.
D: No, never that, it could, but it’s much harder.
D: Then we usually write the lyrics together and the rest of the music together.

So it’s quite collaborative?
D: Yeah.

What is the funniest moment you’ve had as a band?:
A: Well probably just how David throws up before every show.
C: This is probably the funniest throw up story. Andrew is a throw up phobe, I don’t know how you would say that.
A: Throwaphobe.
C: He is just terrified of vomit. So I was just walking into the bathroom and there was someone just throwing up in the stall with the stall door closed and I run out and tell
Andrew, “There - Redmill Propaganda

URL: http://www.fazermagazine.com/2009/09/27/we-are-the-city-in-a-quiet-world-review/

We Are The City - In a Quiet World Review
September 27th, 2009
by Mark Millard

www.myspace.com/thecitiesmusic

The following may best be described as the development of a young settlement, rather village with an inevitable result: growth into a town and the concluding formation of a city. It simply requires a little bit of time to achieve the aforementioned state. Sure, that is perhaps not the finest pun, but it is a palpable method of introducing you to independent act We Are The City.

Warm, welcoming, loving and simple; much like a small village, the Kelowna, British Columbia, three-piece possess all the ingredients required in luring, growing, developing, and ultimately becoming a prominent aspect on a global scale. Although simply too young to have achieved said characteristics at the present time, their debut LP In A Quiet World is the ideal introduction of a group that is sure to be anything but quiet; they just need a little more time to grow.

Right from the album’s introduction all the way to the closing track “Now For The Rest”, In A Quiet World forces the listener to embark on the quiet, yet loud journey of a young act whom understands that simplicity is key, but progressive elements are essential. Blending classical, indie, post-rock sounds a la Radiohead, Muse, the Shins and at times, even an act like fellow Canadian rockers, Moneen, It’s evident that We Are The City offers something that everyone may take comfort in.

“There Are Very Tiny Beats In The Ground” is a prime example of the trio’s ability to blend a wide array of musical elements. Cayne McKenzie’s peaceful, yet emotionally luring vocals force the listener to jump in without delay. Wonderfully catchy verses are brought to the forefront, only to transition beautifully into a heavy middle section resembling a less distorted version of Moneen’s “Start Angry, End Mad”.

Beautiful instrumentation and orchestration are key aspects of their growing appeal. McKenzie’s stunning classically based piano blends perfectly with David Menzel’s simple, yet striking rock, Radiohead-like influenced guitar work and Andy Huculiak’s creative, spacey drumming; which can at times be ever so calm, then just as easily adapt to a quick, upbeat, heavy in your face sound, much like in the next track “There Are Very, Very Big Lights In The Sky,” a great example of the bands ability to jam within a song, without straying away from the task at hand. A standout in the track: Coldplay-like vocal chants that are sure to adapt with ease to a live setting.

But perhaps the single “Time, Wasted” is the greatest example of the acts talent and potential. With exceptionally beautiful vocals resembling the likes of Queen, this track is an immediate stand out on the record, taking the listener on a peaceful, emotional, picturesque journey. The band’s hometown setting of Kelowna is written all over this song, showing that their upbringing has influenced what they are all about, especially lyrically.

With other standouts such as “You’re A Good Man” and a definite favourite in “Astronomers”, In A Quiet World is an album that must not be avoided. It is definitely a piece of work that all listeners will find comfort, peace, love and inspiration in. We Are The City are simply artists filled with potential, and it’s only a matter of time before they become a common name, especially in the Canadian music scene.

Now is your chance to grow with them, be sure to check them out on September 30th at Rancho Relaxo in Toronto, just one of many stops on their Canadian Fall Tour. It may also be one of your minimal opportunities to see them in a smaller setting; it’s just a matter of time before they are selling out packed clubs, or opening for large acts on arena tours. To learn more about We Are The City, please visit: www.wearethecity.ca or for more good stuff: www.myspace.com/thecitiesmusic - Fazer Magazine

http://www.blogto.com/music/2009/09/we_are_the_city_on_enjoying_many_firsts/

We Are The City, on Enjoying Many Firsts

Posted by Joe Zabukovec
September 29, 2009

We Are The City are exactly the type of band that I look for. Fresh, new music, coming from a group of guys young enough to be experiencing the grueling industry for the first time. I think that they might even like it.

They recently notched their first full-length, first national tour, first music video, and experienced their first time seeing the country we live in through the window of a Toyota 1988 Land Cruiser. This will also be their first time playing a Toronto venue outside of a music festival.

When I first got Cayne McKenzie (lead vocals, piano) on the line, he didn't even know where he was...

"Yeah, we're in... uh... you know what? I'm not really sure. We're about two hours away from Thunder Bay, if that helps. We were going in and out of [cell phone] service and we knew you'd be calling so we've just pulled over."

The three-piece Kelowna band have known each other for some time. Although all are just 19 years old now, Cayne and David Menzel (guitars) have know each other since grade 3. They began jamming in grade 8, and producing what Cayne calls "bad, horrible music. The worst. Like a cross between POD and U2."

Ugh!

They met Andrew Huculiak (drums) a couple years later and began taking songwriting very seriously, but they were determined to do it well.

"All of us are very stubborn and because we make it a three-part music writing process our songs take a long time to come out. It obviously depends on the song, but here's an extreme case: since we recorded [the full-length, In A Quiet World] we have one new song. And we recorded in October, 2008."

The upside is the resulting debut full-length disc that they are currently touring to promote. The 11-song album is an indie album worth listening to. Cayne's voice is very mature for his age and the songs are crafted beautifully; not a wasted track worth mentioning.

The band took the time and booked an entire cross-country tour and are currently traveling across Canada for the first time. The tour will be West-heavy, with a few Ontario dates, and only one East Coast date scheduled in Charlottetown. Up until now, they have never embarked on any tour so grand.

"We really haven't. This tour has been our first anywhere really. We've done a few smaller one around B.C., but this will be our first time playing in Toronto... well besides Canadian Music Week, I guess."

During this year's CMW, the boys were lucky enough to open for Mother Mother and played to a packed venue.

"The place was at capacity and there were people on the streets even. We're not even sure if anyone will remember us from it, but it was still pretty incredible."

On Wednesday, September 30th We Are The City will play Rancho Relaxo for the first time. But probably not the last. - blogTO

BY DOMINIQUE FRICOT FROM THE PAINTED BIRDS, SPECIAL TO THE SUN, VANCOUVER SUNAUGUST 31, 2009
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/music/peak-performance-project/Peak+Performance+Project+Painted+Birds+share+love/1951666/story.html

Okay, it seems as though amazing events are piling up on me now. We’ve been here since Wednesday, seen 3 groups of showcases of bands but it wasn’t until last night that a group blew the roof off of this place.

Until now, we’ve seen acts follow the pop structure, verse chorus verse chorus bridge chorus, and listened to faculty critique the showcases paying attention to, primarily, if the song was hooky enough to be a hit song.

Three 19-year-olds from Kelowna who are calling themselves We Are The City played a set that made these pop rules seem trivial and almost pathetic. I think Shawn Verrault from Wide Mouth Mason put it best when he said that We Are the City seem to inhabit their own universe.

I’ve seen probably 4 or 5 concerts that were as compelling as their set last night. The songs were passionate, dynamic, other worldly, moving and tossed aside all the rules of common song writing.

Some bands attempt being experimental but I’ve never seen one do it with so much integrity, relevance, power and grace. I strive to be a musician because I love creating music, but my love stems from the powerful emotional experiences I’ve had listening to bands like Radiohead, Tori Amos, Pink Floyd, The Beatles etc etc , the list goes on. We Are The City entered the ranks of such greats in my mind last night.

I guess what I should explain is that great music has transcendental powers, and I was definitely not alone in experiencing the transcendental powers of We Are The City’s music last night. The true greats have such abilities and the ones who are remembered break the molds of common structures. I predict my friends will soon be entering the ranks of such greats.

I know this is a competition, but I must admit that we were all severely outclassed last night. And I’m not even jealous. Just incredibly inspired.

To Cayne, David and Andy, thank you so very, very much.

Peace,

Dom from The Painted Birds - The Vancouver Sun

It takes a few songs, but once this album by Kelowna trio We Are the City gets going, it wins you over. The band dispenses with bass but that didn't hold back The Doors and the unusual trio format hasn't stopped Keane, to which We Are the City has a vague resemblance. The arrangements are bold and emphatic as well as imaginative. You get the feeling that Kelowna was actually a greenhouse for the development of the music, allowing the band to find its focus."

- Tom Harrison, The Province News, July 7, 2009 - The Province News

"extremely diligent blends of post-rock indie-pop bliss...Taking cues from foreigners like Sigur Rós and Múm, and blending them with organic Americana rock spirit (Wilco, the Shins) just might be the perfect combination to reinvent the wheel, and quite possibly the answer to this
country’s stale revolving door of young talent."

- Canadian Music Week 2009 Recession Reviews. Clash scours Toronto for the best breakthrough
bands. www.clashmusic.com - www.clashmusic.com

Studio Financing 101‘
By Chris Stanford
Sunday, May 10, 2009

When the three members of local indie rock band We Are The City needed to come up with $12,000 to record their debut CD, they didn‘t just wish for it, they got creative about it.

“We had about $2,000 saved up from shows over the last year-and-a-half,” explained drummer Andy Huculiak, “But we realized right away that we wouldn‘t have enough money for the album.”

That‘s when Vancouver-based manager Amanda Schweers hit on the idea of pre-selling the album in different packages online and the band jumped at the opportunity.

“A lot of friends and family chipped in and a lot of people we didn‘t even know,” said keyboardist/vocalist Cayne McKenzie. One patron they‘d never met sent $400 and they eventually ended up with some $3,500 to put towards the studio time. People who had pre-purchased the album were rewarded with things like home-made personalized thank you videos from the band and creative craft projects. With each band member also kicking in $1,500 of their own hard-earned money, they were off and running.

McKenzie and David Menzel, both 18, and Andy Huculiak, 19, are set to celebrate the fruits of their labours Friday with a CD release party and concert at the Kelowna Community Theatre. Recorded over seven weeks last fall in Vancouver with up-and-coming producer Tom Dobrzanski, In a Quiet World‘s 11 tracks feature the young band‘s melodic, atmospheric soundscapes and the haunting vocals of McKenzie.

Sometimes likened to Brit-pop purveyors Coldplay and Radiohead, We Are The City formed in the spring of 2006. Band members Menzel and McKenzie knew each other from their days attending Chief Tomat and Const. Neil Bruce schools together in West Kelowna, while McKenzie and Huculiak attended secondary school together at Mount Boucherie. They originally called themselves Seraph, but changed their name to The City in 2007. When they found out another band already had that name, they simply lengthened it to We Are The City.

Despite being a three-piece without a bass player, their sound is not lacking in the bottom end, and the combination of McKenzie‘s keyboards and Menzels guitar layers fill out nicely.

Another thing that sets We Are The City apart from other bands is their approach to songwriting.

“We all share a similar love for music,” said McKenzie.

“And I sometimes come up with the beats and then we‘ll go ‘Maybe we should add that melody or progression‘,” added Huculiak. “Writing is the most strenuous thing we do as a band.”

They‘ve also been busy playing live in front of audiences in the Interior, Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland. For a young band, it has come a long way, sharing the stage with the likes of fellow indie acts Bend Sinister, Mother Mother, Leroy Stagger and You Say Party! We Say Die. With more than 60 live shows under their belts, We Are The City‘s band members will double that number in the next year if all goes according to plan.

In the immediate future though, they‘ve got a few surprises planned for their CD release party. With guest appearances from local artists Matt Vautour and James Balehowsky, along with members of Yukon Blonde, Fields of Green and Treelight Room, they will have plenty of help onstage to make the evening special for all their fans and supporters.

It will be a busy week for the trio as they will also play another Okanagan gig the following night at the Powerhouse Theatre in Vernon.
Not content to just sit on the new CD, We Are The City is hungry to get out and expose its music to audiences that may not have heard them before. They are currently planning more shows farther afield than just B.C. A tour to Toronto and back is in the cards as early as this June, according to Menzel.

Despite their young ages, if they continue to pursue their musical ambitions with the creativity and drive they‘ve shown to get this far in such a short time, you get the impression that We Are The City is heading in the right direction.


What: We Are The City CD release party with special guests.
Where: The Kelowna Community Theatre
When: May 15, doors open 7 p.m.
Tickets: $10 available at Bliss Bakery in Peachland, the Capitol Theatre Westbank, Gorgeous George‘s and Moolix in Kelowna, and online at wearethecity.ca.
More info: wearethecity.ca or myspace.com/thecitiesmusic. - http://eventpub.com/stories.php?id=184184

Thursday March 12, 2009
By: Gabor Pertic (Toronto Correspondent)

Thursday night kicks Canadian Music Week into high gear. Music fans with wristbands flood the city, walking or taking the TTC across the GTA to the 45 various venues boasting some great talent. As was the case with last night, I’m documenting both the music and the overall experience of the festival itself. Thursday, March 12th, I headed over to the Kensington Market area. Here’s what I saw and heard…

...

9:55: Part of the Canadian Music Week experience is the ability to go in and out of venues all across Toronto. As fantastic as the artists were during the early half of the Jaded Rebel Showcase, it was time for me to move on. I take a short walk across the street to Supermarket (268 Augusta Ave.)

9:57: The place is incredibly packed with the majority of the crowd being the young Toronto hipster scene (think girls in neon head bands, guys with ironic 70’s era glasses).

10:00: I manage to make it in time for the second act of the night, a trio of boys from BC, We Are The City.

10:02: The keyboard player wails down frantically on the keys and manically jumps up to get a quick clap going, which instantly gets the crowd going. Right out of the gate, these guys got a ton of spirit and I’m hooked.

10:05: Double egg-shaker alert!

10:06: The guitarist informs us that we are cool. Right back at ya, sir.

10:15: Fifteen minutes into the set, the fellas seem like really laid back guys, making catchy music. They are products of the new wave of garage bands that kicked off with The Strokes debut album. Complete with shaggy hair and printed tees, the trio showcases real frenetic energy and an ear for strong hooks.

10:16: The drummer informs us that Toronto is the best crowd they’ve played for and actually seems genuine about it, unlike most bands who offer out the token phrase for an easy cheer.

10:22: An anecdote details the guitarist’s consistent eating/throwing up habits with pre-show nerves. Apparently, they managed to dodge a bullet this time.

10:39: The band wraps up, proving to be relevant, modern, and a great soundtrack for the youth culture. There’s a great familiarity to them, as they make you want to sing along, even if you don’t know the lyrics.

10:51: The place is officially at full capacity, in anticipation for Mother Mother, a BC band who quickly shot to a strong cult status across Canada.

11:06: The crowd is pressed up, elbow to elbow, as Mother Mother hits the stage to a sea of cheers.

11:11: Two songs in, they’re projecting as being a modern-day Pixies.

11:12: I quickly contemplate whether or not I own the Pixies’ Surfer Rosa album.

11:16: Mother Mother has the crowd completely hooked. The boys from We Are The City hang back, looking satisfied with the reception they received, at the same time enjoying the head-bopping rhythms currently going on right now.

11:22: I talk for a brief moment with the guys from We Are The City. They seem truly excited to be here and are humbled with the turn out and love they got from Toronto. They pass out a download card for a free track from their upcoming album, In a Quiet World.

....

http://www.anevibe.com/headlines/canadian-music-week-2009-day-2.html
- A'n'E Vibe

Thursday March 12, 2009
By: Gabor Pertic (Toronto Correspondent)

Thursday night kicks Canadian Music Week into high gear. Music fans with wristbands flood the city, walking or taking the TTC across the GTA to the 45 various venues boasting some great talent. As was the case with last night, I’m documenting both the music and the overall experience of the festival itself. Thursday, March 12th, I headed over to the Kensington Market area. Here’s what I saw and heard…

...

9:55: Part of the Canadian Music Week experience is the ability to go in and out of venues all across Toronto. As fantastic as the artists were during the early half of the Jaded Rebel Showcase, it was time for me to move on. I take a short walk across the street to Supermarket (268 Augusta Ave.)

9:57: The place is incredibly packed with the majority of the crowd being the young Toronto hipster scene (think girls in neon head bands, guys with ironic 70’s era glasses).

10:00: I manage to make it in time for the second act of the night, a trio of boys from BC, We Are The City.

10:02: The keyboard player wails down frantically on the keys and manically jumps up to get a quick clap going, which instantly gets the crowd going. Right out of the gate, these guys got a ton of spirit and I’m hooked.

10:05: Double egg-shaker alert!

10:06: The guitarist informs us that we are cool. Right back at ya, sir.

10:15: Fifteen minutes into the set, the fellas seem like really laid back guys, making catchy music. They are products of the new wave of garage bands that kicked off with The Strokes debut album. Complete with shaggy hair and printed tees, the trio showcases real frenetic energy and an ear for strong hooks.

10:16: The drummer informs us that Toronto is the best crowd they’ve played for and actually seems genuine about it, unlike most bands who offer out the token phrase for an easy cheer.

10:22: An anecdote details the guitarist’s consistent eating/throwing up habits with pre-show nerves. Apparently, they managed to dodge a bullet this time.

10:39: The band wraps up, proving to be relevant, modern, and a great soundtrack for the youth culture. There’s a great familiarity to them, as they make you want to sing along, even if you don’t know the lyrics.

10:51: The place is officially at full capacity, in anticipation for Mother Mother, a BC band who quickly shot to a strong cult status across Canada.

11:06: The crowd is pressed up, elbow to elbow, as Mother Mother hits the stage to a sea of cheers.

11:11: Two songs in, they’re projecting as being a modern-day Pixies.

11:12: I quickly contemplate whether or not I own the Pixies’ Surfer Rosa album.

11:16: Mother Mother has the crowd completely hooked. The boys from We Are The City hang back, looking satisfied with the reception they received, at the same time enjoying the head-bopping rhythms currently going on right now.

11:22: I talk for a brief moment with the guys from We Are The City. They seem truly excited to be here and are humbled with the turn out and love they got from Toronto. They pass out a download card for a free track from their upcoming album, In a Quiet World.

....

http://www.anevibe.com/headlines/canadian-music-week-2009-day-2.html
- A'n'E Vibe

http://www.ronatron.net/we-are-the-city-at-the-railway-club/

Posted March 24th, 2009 by Ronatron / Photos by Alex Ramon

Growing up in Vancouver is a blessing. I’ve lived here my entire life and even though I’ve travelled overseas, I still call Vancouver home and I can’t picture myself anywhere but here. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of amazing places in the world, but Vancouver will always hold a special place in my heart. We have a great music scene, and even though it isn’t nearly as big as Toronto or New York, talented bands still manage to manifest themselves from obscurity to fame. Musicians travel great lengths to come inhabit our west coast lifestyle, with our laid back atmosphere, and summer patio beer sessions. They find inspiration in our mountains, in our beaches, and even in our rain. I take it for granted, living here my entire life, but when a touring band strolls in to town they instantly remind me how lucky I am to live in such a beautiful place. We Are The City, all the way from Kelowna (I know it’s not that far… but still), was one of those bands who reassured my belief that Vancouver has the potential and ability to explode onto the world stage.

Formed in 2006, this band has already gone through some name changes. They started off as Seraph (definition: the highest known rank of angels), later changing their name to The City (definition: a town of significant size and importance), and finally settled on We Are The City (definition: awesome). This band is anything but ordinary and features three young musicians in Cayne McKenzie on vocals and keys, David Menzel on guitar, and Andy Huculiak on the drums.

Fresh out of high school, this trio already has an impressive resume to boast about. Playing shows with Ronatron favourites like Bend Sinister, Mother Mother, and The Painted Birds, We Are The City are off to a great start. They were even invited to close the Best of BC Stage in Victoria, for BC’s 150 Festival, followed on the mainstage by Burton Cummings, Sarah McLachlan, and Feist. Not only have they played alongside amazing acts, but they’re building up quite the strong fan base. They even managed to sell 500+ copies of their demo, as well as get radio airplay from various radio stations, such as Power 104FM, CBC Radio One, CBC Radio 3, The X in Kamloops,and Evolution 107.9FM.

As soon as I stepped into The Railway Club, I had a hard time making my way to the stage let alone the bar. The place was packed with people from front to back and if you know the layout of the venue, then you obviously know this isn’t the biggest place. It has a “C� shaped floor plan, with the bar right in the middle and I kid you not, I couldn’t even walk to the washroom without rubbing shoulders and squeezing by people.

I was pleasantly surprised by the turnout and the night started off on the right foot. The floor was filled with tall 20 year olds, waiting for We Are The City to make their appearance. As soon as the trio stepped on stage, the room was filled with happiness and joy. They had everything you could want in a set, from sing-a-long tunes to drum solos. They reminded me a lot of Death Cab For Cutie (with a little more edge), Low vs Diamond, as well as Tokyo Police Club.

Each member was well crafted in their instruments, and I couldn’t spot a single weak link. I’m amazed at their talent, not just because they’re all great musicians, but because they’re all great musicians at such a young age. Cayne had an exceptional vocal performance, where he provided energy and charisma that could power any lacklustre band into stardom. David was just as energetic, and at moments quite entertaining to watch. It wasn’t just his guitar riffs, but it was the way he played them. At one point, he started using his teeth in rock star like fashion to provide a unique distortion. In my mind, it seemed like he was making out with the guitar (he must be a good guitar lover because the sounds were thrilling to hear). Andy was no slouch either. Sporting a Han Solo tee, Andy rocked out with his metaphorical cock out and hit the skins with his entire frame. Each beat was crisp and clear, with fillers that weren’t just fillers but more entertaining than anything else.

One song that caught my attention was “Time, Wasted,� where it highlighted all three members singing in harmony. The last time I heard something so beautiful was at a Marianas Trench concert (in which they were a tad bit cocky… something that I DIDN’T enjoy about them). This was one of those “slow build up epic� songs, in which the crowd responded with a loud ovation.

I wasn’t only impressed by their melodic, heartfelt music, but also by the way they presented themselves. They were light hearted, joking at times, but also very grateful for the support they were getting from the crowd. It’s not everyday you hear a band thank the people after each song. I’m not exaggerating when - Ronatron.net

http://www.ronatron.net/we-are-the-city-at-the-railway-club/

Posted March 24th, 2009 by Ronatron / Photos by Alex Ramon

Growing up in Vancouver is a blessing. I’ve lived here my entire life and even though I’ve travelled overseas, I still call Vancouver home and I can’t picture myself anywhere but here. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of amazing places in the world, but Vancouver will always hold a special place in my heart. We have a great music scene, and even though it isn’t nearly as big as Toronto or New York, talented bands still manage to manifest themselves from obscurity to fame. Musicians travel great lengths to come inhabit our west coast lifestyle, with our laid back atmosphere, and summer patio beer sessions. They find inspiration in our mountains, in our beaches, and even in our rain. I take it for granted, living here my entire life, but when a touring band strolls in to town they instantly remind me how lucky I am to live in such a beautiful place. We Are The City, all the way from Kelowna (I know it’s not that far… but still), was one of those bands who reassured my belief that Vancouver has the potential and ability to explode onto the world stage.

Formed in 2006, this band has already gone through some name changes. They started off as Seraph (definition: the highest known rank of angels), later changing their name to The City (definition: a town of significant size and importance), and finally settled on We Are The City (definition: awesome). This band is anything but ordinary and features three young musicians in Cayne McKenzie on vocals and keys, David Menzel on guitar, and Andy Huculiak on the drums.

Fresh out of high school, this trio already has an impressive resume to boast about. Playing shows with Ronatron favourites like Bend Sinister, Mother Mother, and The Painted Birds, We Are The City are off to a great start. They were even invited to close the Best of BC Stage in Victoria, for BC’s 150 Festival, followed on the mainstage by Burton Cummings, Sarah McLachlan, and Feist. Not only have they played alongside amazing acts, but they’re building up quite the strong fan base. They even managed to sell 500+ copies of their demo, as well as get radio airplay from various radio stations, such as Power 104FM, CBC Radio One, CBC Radio 3, The X in Kamloops,and Evolution 107.9FM.

As soon as I stepped into The Railway Club, I had a hard time making my way to the stage let alone the bar. The place was packed with people from front to back and if you know the layout of the venue, then you obviously know this isn’t the biggest place. It has a “C� shaped floor plan, with the bar right in the middle and I kid you not, I couldn’t even walk to the washroom without rubbing shoulders and squeezing by people.

I was pleasantly surprised by the turnout and the night started off on the right foot. The floor was filled with tall 20 year olds, waiting for We Are The City to make their appearance. As soon as the trio stepped on stage, the room was filled with happiness and joy. They had everything you could want in a set, from sing-a-long tunes to drum solos. They reminded me a lot of Death Cab For Cutie (with a little more edge), Low vs Diamond, as well as Tokyo Police Club.

Each member was well crafted in their instruments, and I couldn’t spot a single weak link. I’m amazed at their talent, not just because they’re all great musicians, but because they’re all great musicians at such a young age. Cayne had an exceptional vocal performance, where he provided energy and charisma that could power any lacklustre band into stardom. David was just as energetic, and at moments quite entertaining to watch. It wasn’t just his guitar riffs, but it was the way he played them. At one point, he started using his teeth in rock star like fashion to provide a unique distortion. In my mind, it seemed like he was making out with the guitar (he must be a good guitar lover because the sounds were thrilling to hear). Andy was no slouch either. Sporting a Han Solo tee, Andy rocked out with his metaphorical cock out and hit the skins with his entire frame. Each beat was crisp and clear, with fillers that weren’t just fillers but more entertaining than anything else.

One song that caught my attention was “Time, Wasted,� where it highlighted all three members singing in harmony. The last time I heard something so beautiful was at a Marianas Trench concert (in which they were a tad bit cocky… something that I DIDN’T enjoy about them). This was one of those “slow build up epic� songs, in which the crowd responded with a loud ovation.

I wasn’t only impressed by their melodic, heartfelt music, but also by the way they presented themselves. They were light hearted, joking at times, but also very grateful for the support they were getting from the crowd. It’s not everyday you hear a band thank the people after each song. I’m not exaggerating when - Ronatron.net

http://www.clashmusic.com/feature/canadian-music-week-2009-recession-reviews

Canadian Music Week 2009- Recession Reviews
Clash scours Toronto for the best breakthrough bands...

Over here in North America, as I’m sure you’ve heard, there’s a huge lack of funds, jobs, cheap drinks… However, for the one week of the year that is Canadian Music Week, there is anything but a lack of music in the great big busy city of Toronto. Talent from all corners of the globe are parading around our downtown core schmoozing, rocking, stalking… you name it!

By no means intending to make light of the current economic downward slope (well, maybe a little), I have decided to get in to the recession spirit and write these ‘CMW Recession Reviews’. I have limited myself to only five sentences about each band I saw. Lucky for you dear reader, you’ll save some time getting through my weekend adventures and I’ll get right to the point in most cases and hold off on unnecessary banter. I highly suggest you check out some of the talented artists I touch on below…

<b>We Are the City @ the Supermarket </b>
As part of the Music BC Showcase, Kelowna’s We Are the City made the trek over to Toronto to grace us with their extremely diligent blends of post-rock indie-pop bliss. I really only know two bands from Kelowna, and both of them are truly amazing, which leads me to believe Kelowna is breeding pure indie-rock gold out there in the mountains! Taking cues from foreigners like Sigur Rós and Múm, and blending them with organic Americana rock spirit (Wilco, the Shins) just might be the perfect combination to reinvent the wheel, and quite possibly the answer to this country’s stale revolving door of young talent. If they keep these types of live sets up and manage to translate this energy on to their debut album, there will be no stopping them from all kinds of success!
- clashmusic.com's Sari Delmar

http://www.clashmusic.com/feature/canadian-music-week-2009-recession-reviews

Canadian Music Week 2009- Recession Reviews
Clash scours Toronto for the best breakthrough bands...

Over here in North America, as I’m sure you’ve heard, there’s a huge lack of funds, jobs, cheap drinks… However, for the one week of the year that is Canadian Music Week, there is anything but a lack of music in the great big busy city of Toronto. Talent from all corners of the globe are parading around our downtown core schmoozing, rocking, stalking… you name it!

By no means intending to make light of the current economic downward slope (well, maybe a little), I have decided to get in to the recession spirit and write these ‘CMW Recession Reviews’. I have limited myself to only five sentences about each band I saw. Lucky for you dear reader, you’ll save some time getting through my weekend adventures and I’ll get right to the point in most cases and hold off on unnecessary banter. I highly suggest you check out some of the talented artists I touch on below…

<b>We Are the City @ the Supermarket </b>
As part of the Music BC Showcase, Kelowna’s We Are the City made the trek over to Toronto to grace us with their extremely diligent blends of post-rock indie-pop bliss. I really only know two bands from Kelowna, and both of them are truly amazing, which leads me to believe Kelowna is breeding pure indie-rock gold out there in the mountains! Taking cues from foreigners like Sigur Rós and Múm, and blending them with organic Americana rock spirit (Wilco, the Shins) just might be the perfect combination to reinvent the wheel, and quite possibly the answer to this country’s stale revolving door of young talent. If they keep these types of live sets up and manage to translate this energy on to their debut album, there will be no stopping them from all kinds of success!
- clashmusic.com's Sari Delmar