For teen band Kingdom of Birds, channeling energy into music feels natural

--taken from: The Globe and Mail (read more here)

by Josh O'Kane

Kingdom of Birds is the product of unbridled teenage ambition in an opportune context. They’re a generation raised by eager parents in the creative enclaves of Toronto’s West End; it’s not uncommon for them to brush elbows with bands such as the Hidden Cameras, Cowboy Junkies and Sloan. For Ása, Brighid and bandmates Zeul Mordasiewicz and Sam Heggum- Truscott, channelling their energy into music feels as natural as any other Canadian channelling it into hockey.

After seeing the band at a street festival and chatting with Ása, Chris Murphy of Sloan and TUNS has taken to wearing a Kingdom of Birds shirt on tour. “I was learning Louie Louie when I was in Grade 10. They’re already way more sophisticated than I was,” he says.

--taken from: The Globe and Mail (read more here)

Canadian rock band Sloan to perform at Markham Flato Theatre

--taken from: York Region

by Amanda Persico

Canadian pop rock band Sloan celebrates the 20 anniversary of their No. 1 album One Chord to Another by going on tour.

And the Flato Markham Theatre is one of the stops.

Sloan performs at Flato Markham Theatre Jan. 27 at 8 p.m.

“This is not a reunion tour; I want to make that clear,” band guitarist Chris Murphy told the Markham Economist and Sun. “We’re still together.”

The life cycle of a band isn’t supposed to be more than five years, Murphy admits.

So to go on the road again and tour an album released 20 years ago is something of a novelty.

“There’s novelty in playing songs we haven’t played in a while or songs we retired,” he said.

Reissuing an album is like publishing a concert set list, Murphy said.

“It’s a guarantee for fans, they will know the next song coming up,” he said.

But that doesn’t mean band members tire of playing their classic hits.

“I’ll smile through anything,” Murphy said. “For me, playing our music never gets old. We’re one of the few lucky ones who own our own content.”

Sloan sold more than 80,000 copies of the album One Chord to Another and the album remains the band’s bestselling album. One Chord to Another, released in 1996, also won the band a Juno Award for best alternative album of the year.

“Nostalgia is powerful,” said the father of two. “Playing a recognizable song live gets a better reaction. The power of nostalgia can’t compete with the weight of music.”

The elaborate 20 anniversary of One Chord to Another boxset includes other fun items, such as demo recordings, unreleased songs and a history of each song.

“We are the stewards of our own legacy,” he said en route to pick up his kids. “We’re responsible for preserving and keeping it.”

On the notion of being a father and a rock star, Murphy said he has it all.

“My Sloan world is small, maybe 50 to 60 shows a year,” he said. “I’m home 300 days a year folding laundry and washing dishes.”

--taken from: York Region

TUNS are like Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young – except not at all

--taken from: BeatRoute Magazine

by Mike Dunn

The label “supergroup” gets tagged onto any band whose members have been successful with other acts, but most often, the formation of such groups happens when old friends get together when they’ve got time away from their respective projects, and decide to make music with each other, drawing on their experience and friendship to create the chemistry a great band requires. For TUNS, including Matt Murphy of Superfriendz, Mike O’Neill of The Inbreds, and Chris Murphy of Sloan, putting a band together was simply an opportunity to reconnect with each other on a more regular basis, write some songs, and play together.

“It’s just fun,” says Matt Murphy over the phone from his home in Toronto. “We haven’t had a lot of opportunity in the last several years to all hang out together solidly, so it’s been really fun to reconnect in that way. There’s a part to making a band really fun that involves setting appropriate expectations for it. No one’s living or dying by this band, we’re not paying our rent by playing gigs with this band, so there’s very little pressure on what we’re doing, and that really creates an easygoing relationship for us.”

TUNS got together in 2015 to play together after the two Murphys backed up O’Neill at a Superfriendz reunion which Sloan was also a part of, and Chris Murphy suggested they get together and do it more often. “We just thought, ‘let’s get some songs together, and play some stuff that’ll be really fun to sing with each other,’” says Matt. “The humorous model would be like, Crosby, Stills, & Nash or something, but we didn’t set out to make a record like them. We wanted to keep it really simple as well as not adding a bunch of extraneous instrumentation. Chris even had a bit of a furrowed brow when I wanted to play acoustic guitar on a song.”

That simple and straightforward sound is instantly catchy, favouring some classic California pop vocal harmony, with a giddy bounce that feels like Big Star-flavoured Pop Rocks in a shaken up can of cola. The bass is softly overdriven with a midrange bite, which is a nice counterpoint to the slinky, high voicing clean guitars. The songs on their eponymous debut, released this past August, ring out with saucy hooks that nearly pogo out of the speakers. The beats, Murphy explains, were a result of Chris Murphy starting off the jams from behind the drum kit.

“Knowing each other for decades, to suddenly be standing in front of each other was giddy, and funny. It was surprisingly easy and fun. We don’t have a lot of experience in our other work where we create in front of other people. So Chris would start off with a beat, and from there, Mike or I would start to react to it. So there were a number of cases where the drums were the starting place for what the songs turned out to be.”

TUNS have already begun working on some new material, “Some louder stuff. Every time we rehearse, we spend a bit of time goofing around with riffs and we’ll come up with a bunch of new song ideas, or riffs.” The band is mostly happy though, says Matt, to be able to play together after years of being pals. “The way I look at it, it’s like the first time we ever played together. At that time, we had no idea that it’d be possible to be in a band that could tour. Everything that’s amazing with this band is that we’ve been able to do everything we’ve ever wanted to do with it so far. It’s been the best thing.”

--taken from: BeatRoute Magazine

Five bands to see at Big Winter Classic

--taken from: Calgary Herald

by Lisa Wilton

TUNS
The term ‘supergroup’ gets thrown around a bit too often perhaps, but for those whose musical tastes were shaped by ‘90s college radio, TUNS is a legitimate dream team.

Formed in 2015, the band features Sloan bassist and singer Chris Murphy, as well as Matt Murphy (no relation) of The Super Friendz/ The Flashing Lights fame and Mike O’Neill of The Inbreds.

Fans of the trio’s other projects will find lots to love in TUNS’ tight harmonies, big riffs, catchy hooks and overall power pop goodness.

Check out: Mind Over Matter, Look Who’s Back in Town Again.

--taken from: Calgary Herald

Maclean’s picks the best albums and songs of 2016

--taken from: Maclean's (read more here)

by Adrian Lee and Michael Barclay

8. TUNS – s/t. It’s never too late to start over. Veterans of Haligonian ’90s indie rock—Sloan’s Chris Murphy, Super Friendz’s Matt Murphy and the Inbreds’ Mike O’Neill—form this power trio, in which the three frontmen effortlessly weave their melodies and riffs together in joyous, harmony-rich, three-minute pop songs that twist and turn but never fall off the rails.

--taken from: Maclean's (read more here)