Interview with Ian Graham of Eye Rhyme
Although having released two albums already and working on their next, Canadian band Eye Rhyme are not known very well. DPRP's René Janssen has interviewed Ian Graham to talk about the band and their music.
René Janssen
René Janssen (RJ): Ian, because Eye Rhyme is maybe a little bit unknown to most of our readers, can you please tell us something about the history of the band?
Ian Graham (promo photo)
Ian Graham (IG): "Eye Rhyme is a Toronto area-based rock trio. The band is composed of educated, experienced musicians who put a strong emphasis on professionalism in their playing, writing, recording, and live performances. Our original material is intelligent and challenging, yet very listenable and current. Though it is classified as rock, the band's material carries influence from music of many genres and eras.
Having opened for groups such as Big Sugar, King's X and Rusty, Eye Rhyme has had much acclaim for their accomplishments. These include being the first and only independent band in Canada to promote and organize their own "Live-to-Internet" concerts. The last "Live-to-Internet" concert boasted an online viewing audience of over 400 people.
Jay LeRoux (promo photo)
Eye Rhyme has played many shows and was part of the Canada Rocks festival in Mexico. They were the top selling group for this tour and had medium rotation on RadioActivo in Mexico City. As a result, Eye Rhyme was able to reach many new fans.
Two albums (Life Control and Soul) and a video for Stab 'Em All are currently in the Eye Rhyme catalog. Life Control is a concept album based on a street youth mindfully controlled by a drug lord. The album features guest performances by Ian Chrichton of Saga and Steve Shelski of Coney Hatch. Soul boasts a multimedia track which presents the video for Stab 'Em All and samples from Life Control.
Dan McGovern (promo photo)
Eye Rhyme takes a great deal of pride in their work. All three members (read more info about the individual members on our homepage) are well-educated musicians and graduates of major music institutions. With a wide variety of influences, a strong songwriting partnership, a high-energy live show, and a shared love for music, Eye Rhyme is a talented recording act, ready for today's music industry and audience.
RJ: As you already said, Eye Rhyme have released two albums so far, Life Control and Soul. What are the reactions on these albums so far?
IG: Excellent to average... Different tastes, of course, but we are happy with the response. We recently got described as a band who's sound can only be described as Eye-Rhym-ish. Another article will say that the sound of Eye Rhyme is hard to pigeonhole. I find that diversity for a band is great. It also makes for a great live show. If an album has only one good song on it then they didn't work on the album to appeal to the listener. Just a quick buck. Nothing worse than hearing all the songs run in to each other because they all sound alike.
RJ: At the moment you are writing new material for the upcoming 3rd album, can you tell us already a little bit of what we can expect?
IG: We're getting away from the keyboards being used too much. I wanna have more fun with just bass and guitar and explore the textures of the bass a bit more. Using a six-string bass, there's lots to choose from. Although because it's fretless and I'm singing I have to be careful as well. We are also developing the album with more radio potential tunes. Not to say that we're gonna forget about the technical stuff but we would like to see an accessible album with cool riffs and tricky parts that lots of people can listen to. I think prog rock sometimes gets too technical and forgot about the song!"_
RJ: Will this album again be released on your own label Small Dog Records, or are you looking for a more known record label to release the album?
IG: In the works. Small Dog Records has helped develop a professional image for the band. We are looking but not holding our breath on anything. We have come along way on our own and would hate to lose control and see the group get messed up because of false promises by another label. In come the lawyers!
RJ: At the moment you are not a well-known name in Europe yet, do you guys have some plans to change that in the future? And do you have plans to explore the market even further, for example, Japan?
IG: Definitly. Internet promotion, magazine ads, etc. But I think the biggest promotion we could do would be to tour Europe, Japan etc. That word of mouth travels very fast. We need to get the contacts. I think that is the biggest setback of any group. Again, word of mouth helps alot.
RJ: You guys are touring a lot lately, especially in Canada, can you guys make your living with the music or do you all, or some of the bandmembers have a regular job besides Eye Rhyme?
IG: Of course! But you gotta compromise abit. Original gigs pay next to nothing except the door and are one night. But if you're willing to do some covers, you get paid well, fed, and usually play from 2-6 nights. Some bands have this attitude about never 'lowering' themselves to playing covers. But covers make you a better musician. Different songwriting styles, playing feels...and I would much rather play cover tunes to pay the bills than any factory job. We also teach. I run a recording studio, record piano or karoke accompiament tracks for singers, and play for a church on Sunday. Gotta repent for my sins on the weekend, ha!
RJ: You are from Canada, just like bands such as Saga and Rush. What do you think of the prog scene in Canada? Is it really that good as a lot of people think? And can you see any difference with the scene in the USA?
IG: Prog scene... what prog scene? It's terrible. I sometimes question if there is any scene of music at all. Pop Media frenzies is what the scene is and are just that. Frenzies. It's hard enough to get people to listen to an unknown band at all. People who know us come out and are spreading the word. But there is so much dance and rap. I never should put down another style of music. It all has its place, but how people can listen to the same beat over and over and some rapper "rhyme" about nothing is beyond me. The media makes them big and people eat it up. I sometimes think people don't know how to make wise decisions. All peer pressure...what's in and cool... Not smart! I know that Ricky Martin is a big sensation and a lot of people love and hate him. I'm not a fan, but at least he uses real musicians. Pop music from any time period is fluff, but at least it had real musicians! You would think with all of today's technology that we would be doing some really cool stuff. The media definitely does not help, but it's the sheep, I mean peoplem, who support it. As for the US, I'm not sure. Probably a bit better.
RJ: I would like to know what you think of the internet. A lot of bands tell us that internet is a great promotion media. Do you agree? And what do you think of websites like DPRP?
IG: DPRP is an amazing vehicle for bands everywhere. You're an exposure machine. As you said in one question, people in Europe may not know of Eye Rhyme but through you more people are hearing of us. They can now go to our website eyerhyme.com, read about us, download audio clips, see the video etc. And if they want they can now order the CD or T-shirts online without having to worry that it isn't in their favorite record store. It's great! And we can keep in touch with them over email through our newsletters.
RJ: Ian, thanks for your time, it was a pleasant conversation. Is there anything I haven't asked you, but you will tell all our readers?
IG: We are currently working on the third album and might be having the possibility of using a big-name engineer who's done some huge bands. We'll be doing our best to get to Europe to tour and get known!
RJ: Thanks and good luck in the future, hope to see you live once in Europe!
For more information, check out the Eye Rhyme website or Eye Rhyme on Facebook. You can find both albums on the Eye Rhyme Bandcamp page. And for music, check out the band's YouTube channel.