Obvious
Take a road trip across Canada with Obvious, and have a little pie.
339
plays
"Junk the punk and dose the do, before you knew you know it grew." - LeaveBand/artist history
BY ALEX ERASMI
"Our first gig was as an opening act in Waterloo and our sound guy taped it to DAT", explains Adam Ostrosser about how his latest project Obvious gained a cult following before they released any albums - or even played their second gig.
"We took the recording and put it on a CD. Some people got a copy of it, and to our surprise, by the time we played our next show; there were people who were singing along to all of the tunes.
"It's the ultimate compliment," continues the musician over a drink at a west end bar about the popularity of the bootleg. "We want to start encouraging it. It's a great way to get your songs out."
Best known as half of local folk duo Adam and Annette, Ostrosser decided that he wanted an informal outlet for the songs he was writing that he felt were inappropriate for his duo work.
"It was about the time I was just finishing up the Adam and Annette album, " adds the musician, "and I wanted something a little different. A back room band to goof around and write and play songs in any style."
The first calls made were to a couple of fellow Mohawk College music program grads, bassist James Gannett and drummer Adam Fielding. Then, after seeing singer/songwriter Jeremy Binns perform one night, Ostrosser invited him over to participate in these informal jams, planting the seeds for what would become Obvious.
"I thought Jeremy was a great player, " Ostrosser recalls. "There are a lot of great players around town, but he had a really interesting vibe and I invited him to jam and it was great. He brought in a bunch of good tunes and complimented the whole thing."
After a period in which the foursome gelled both as musicians and as friends, they decided on a whim to "see what happens" and perform in public to gage what people thought of the sounds that had been created in private. One bootleg later, a band was born. Now, after several months and an increasing number of gigs, the group is pleased to celebrate the release of its first album.
The self-titled debut is a collection of tunes penned by either Ostrosser or Binns featuring their duel vocal attack and guitar interplay which is augmented by the steady hand of drummer Fielding, and the jazz influenced sounds of bassist James Gannett. The whole thing is underpinned by a folk and rock inspired pop sound that supports lyrics that walk the line between inspiration and spirituality.
"If you had to pick a theme to this CD, " muses the musician, "it would be about traveling but with a little bit of heartbreak and redemption along the way."
Early response to the album has been favorable as it continues to receive airplay on various campus radio stations around southern Ontario (even debuting at number three on CFMU last month). That, combined with a growing audience and a rush of creative inspiration has the band already thinking about album number two which may possibly surface later this year.
"We have enough songs right now to do two records, " smiles Ostrosser as he glances over the song list to the groups debut effort. "First we want to take this one and do some traveling and let other people hear it. Maybe even soak up some ideas from other musicians.
"Once we get back though we are hoping to head into the studio," he adds excitedly. "I don't like the idea of playing songs until the don't mean anything. I like to get them out while they are fresh."Have you performed in front of an audience?We love playing our music. We have played for 30 seater clubs to big theatres. One of my favourite shows was a rainy thursday with no one in the bar. We turned up a little and rocked out. One of my favourite shows from anyone -- ever.
Your musical influences
Hmm... probably The Rheostatics, Starling, Plasticine, Mike Daley, S.G. Sinnicks, Adam and Annette, Jacob Moon, Mike Trebilcock, Chris Eckart and Michael J. Birthelmer.
Hamilton,
Canada
ID
1825
Contact
Sorry, this artist currently doesn't accept email messages.
