Winnipeg, Canada - or 'Chicago of the North' as it is affectionately nicknamed - isn't the most obvious place you think of when it comes to thriving North American indie music communities. But, it does have an incredible one, and some of the current crop doing well locally are starting to make tracks internationally. The likes of Micah Erenberg, Warming and Yes We Mystic have all flown over for European tours this month; and even played The Great Escape over the weekend.
Gigwise's appreciation of four-piece synth rockers Warming, however, stretches furthest back out of any of these new artists that have recently caught out ear. On a trip to Breakout West in October last year, we named the band top in a list of five artists that slayed the Western Canadian showcase. At the time, Warming only had one track available online: the snappy, tuneful synth-laden banger titled 'White Lies'. Since then, Warming have released their self-titled debut album independently, and the below streaming single ‘Did It Again’ is plucked from it.
Asked about the composition of the cut, singer and album creator Brady Allard says: "I was playing the bassline to Yo La Tengo's 'Sugar Cube' when I came up with the guitar part. I just doubled the top voicing of the chords. I was also playing around with the idea of having a song in a "one feel" like not 4/4 but 1/4. Songs like 'Benny and the Jets' [Elton John]. It feels like every beat is its own measure."
As for the video itself (streaming above), we were left wondering what it was like getting battered by invisible MMA Fighters for it and so gave the singer a call earlier today.
Gigwise: Morning Brady. How did you make him or her invisible?
Brady Allard: There was two of them. They were in green morph suits. We shot establishing shots and edited out the green piece-by-piece to look like they weren't there.
GW: Did it hurt and was it hard to keep singing?
BA: I couldn't close my jaw all the way for the following month. One of the guys is an amateur MMA fighter. It really fucking hurt. We did five takes. And yeah, singing became impossible in the choruses.
GW: Who is the other guy?
BA: I know him from work.
GW: Ha, ok. Was there a reason this song was calling out for that visual concept?
BA: I guess the song is about not letting your life's regrets get the best of you and move on. I think the fighters were sort of a physical representation of that, while I'm trying to perform especially. Also, I think in the long run, I regret making the video, which is a bit ironic. Or poetic or something.
GW: You regret it because your jaw hurt?
BA: Yeah, I didn't think it was worth it for a long time. I'm over it now though.
GW: Great. Cheers Brady. And all the best with the rest of your tour. How is it going?
BA: Great actually. We're in Munich right now our show was really good. We played Cucurucu last night and it was great. Well attended. The owners don't put on shows on the weekend, only Mondays because "otherwise people don't listen". It's a great philosophy. Totally opposite of Canada. Everyone was just sitting and paying attention and it was really nice.
GW: Yeah we hear great things about touring on the continent from UK bands too. Hope to see you back here in the UK some time. All the best!
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Discover more about Warming:
Bandcamp
