With the recent breakup of My Chemical Romance and the reuniting of the Jonas Brothers, the dynamic of sibling bands has been frequently on my music radar these days. Sometimes the family relationship can strain a band and other times, it aids in keeping an outfit intact. Whether the rivalries occur or not, the music industry has undeniably been affected by the in-sync ways of these blood bonded bands. Oasis, The Kinks, Bee Gees, ACDC, The National, Tegan and Sara, Beach Boys, Jackson 5, and The Black Crowes have family connections within them and despite some notable tension (cough, cough Oasis), I believe their nature has been a key factor in their persistence simply because no one knows you better than family.
It should already seem painfully obvious as to what my opinion is of the brother band, Canto. Consisting of Seamus Blackwell (vocals, guitar), Aidan Blackwell (bass) and David Blackwell (Drums), Canto, who are all under the age of 20, grew up surrounded by musicians and classical music. This ingrained knowledge has allowed them to craft their own sound, which is heavily influenced by the rock music of the ‘60s and ‘70s. The Blackwells recently released the official music video for their cover of the Standbells’ 60s hit, “Dirty Water”.
The trio dropped their debut album, HA HA HA, last year and released their EP, “Ride Away”, on April 9th, which can be downloaded for free by clicking here. Comprised of five tracks, “Ride Away” embraces the unpolished sound of authentic rock music, which has lately been subjected to the crude ways of auto-tune. With the EP’s cohesive and promising sound, Canto have officially arrived and it’s rewarding to know this young band has many more years ahead of the fan because it’s about time to save rock n’ roll.
Check out my interview below with Seamus and gain some insight as to why this family affair’s fairy tale is unlike that of Noel and Liam Gallagher.
What made you and your brothers form a band together and make music your careers?
It started with a bunch of buddies in high school. Before I played guitar, I had a friend who played and he is really the one who got me into it. Basically we had this little circle of friends who all knew how to play either the drums,guitar or bass. So, we all jammed around and then my brothers came in. We would sort of switch around the instruments. Sometimes I would play drums or bass. It just sort of coagulated. We figured we all knew how to play these instruments and lived in the same house that we might as well start writing our own songs.
Do you three have similar music influences and tastes?
It is pretty much the same across the board. In all of our upbringings, we had classical music influences, which sort of affected us subconsciously because we were really young when we listened to it. We grew up with it. When we got older, we started developing our own interests, like rock and old school hip-hop.
Do you listen to current music on the radio or stick to “older” rock?
We are always listening to new music and tons of bands, but just to name a few, The Arctic Monkeys, The Killers, Muse and Queens Of The Stone Age. The list goes on and on. There’s not too much we don’t listen to, but those are definitely the bigger influences.
How does the creative process work amongst the three of you?
For the most part, it’s jam-based. We’ll just throw around ideas. We all know how to play each other’s instruments. My brother David will play the guitar part, even though he is the drummer, then he will show it to me and then I will come up with something. We sort of just mess around and play with it for a while till we finally come up with something we like. Generally, the instrumentals are written first then I will write lyrics on top of that. It tends to vary. It could be the other way around.
Have any sibling fights in the studio?
There is three of us. So, it is a pretty easy democracy. One cancels out the other, but we get along pretty well. We never really fight. In fact, I think it is better we are brothers as opposed to friends because I feel like if I was in a band with a friend, it wouldn’t be my place to tell them, “Hey, that sucks”. When you are brothers, it’s easy to say, “Hey, knock that out”. It’s a helpful critique that we give each other, but there aren’t really any fights.
Recently, you released the video for the song, “Dirty Water”. Why did you guys choose to cover this track?
To be honest, I never really heard that song before, but a television show asked us to cover that song. [The Standbells] It’s a band from the ‘60s and we are really into that. So, I am glad we did cover it, even though I never heard it before.
Where did the album title, “Ride Away”, come from?
Our friend, Brian, who was the producer for the EP, loved old films. There is this old western and it has this song called, “Ride Away”. It was his favorite song.
How does the EP differ from your debut album?
I think we finally understand the kind of music we want to play. Our first album is sort of disjointed because we were just experimenting with all these different things. This time around we defined our sound a little bit more. It’s edgier. We finally cracked the shell.
Any song off of your “Ha Ha Ha” that would fit into the styling of your EP?
Probably, the last one, “Desert” fits. The EP sort of has this western, old-school and American vibe. It is a cross between a western and a 50s biker, James Dean and Steven McQueen. I think “Desert” also has that same feel to it.
You guys are also releasing webisodes for each track off of the EP. Any particular reason why you chose to show “Canto In The Studio”?
It was a great process for us. It’s the kind of bond you want to show people. We had a lot of fun doing it. We want to share that joy.
I love how unrefined your sound is. How do you think your sound fits in with today’s auto-tuned industry?
There is a time and place for that stuff. I enjoy trash pop every once in a while, but I also like rawer sounding stuff and that’s starting to die out a bit. There is a handful of bands still playing old school stuff, but there isn’t that much. We want to keep it alive.
Do you have an album in the works?
Ya, hopefully it will be released not too long after the EP. We have some more material that will probably come out maybe as early as this summer, but we have nothing defined yet.
Any fun fact about Canto that people wouldn’t know?
Well, we are three siblings, but we also have six other siblings. We are the three oldest of nine and we come from a huge extended family. We have around 150 cousins or more than that. So, I guess that’s something that normally shocks some people.
Do your other siblings feel left out that they aren’t in the band?
[Laughs] Well, I guess so. They are still pretty young, so you know.
Does music talent run throughout your whole family?
It mostly comes from my mother’s side. My dad is not particularly musical, but every one on my mom’s side is, especially with classical music. The contemporary rock influence is our own devising.
