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So I was sitting in the media lounge at Montebello’s Rockfest. The chalet was beautiful, the staff was welcoming, and the iced coffee had the perfect amount of pep and kick. I was charging my phone battery and preparing for a second day of incredible live music, when who should walk in to charge their phones but punk rock icons Good Riddance.

It was a rainy Thursday in the capital, but The 1975 was lighting up the stage.  First to hit the stage was London, UK band,  COLOURING. Their fresh sound, and stage presence got the crowd on their feet, and singing along. With tunes such as, Symmetry, Heathen, and About You blaring through the arena, not one person were still on their seat.

There were a room full of people who braved the rainy, stormy Ottawa weather on Monday night and gathered to Maverick’s to see the infamous Supersuckers, and mesmerizing The BellRays, who haven’t performed in Ottawa since 2009.

Arnprior’s John Street Pub was pounding with hard rock music on Friday night, presented by four bands bringing different but complimentary rock genres to the venue. 

The National Arts Centre is a really spectacular venue for a concert of any size and magnitude. Even more so when the musical artist on the stage is pouring their heart out and the audience is electric. That was just the case this past Friday night, as a capacity crowd of passionate Canadian music lovers arose from their seats and ignored the sitting room guidelines to celebrate the ever-evolving indie dream-rock sounds of Mother Mother.

Thursday night at The Dakota Tavern was by far the most diverse instalment of the Four Chords And The Truth series. Really getting to the “kernels of the popcorn”. The songwriters featured at each confession have the opportunity to get back to the roots of each of their songs and give us (the audience) some vulnerable insight into the origin of their art.

This past holiday weekend, Newmarket hosted the annual Newmarket Jazz+ Festival. And what a treat for this town!

It was a sweltering weekend in Oro-Medonte and the weather wasn’t the only thing that was hot. With an attendance upwards of 40,000 people (a 5,000 person increase from last years inaugural event) WayHome was the place to be.

The Lad Classic are an energetic rock foursome out of the Toronto area and I was able to catch them in Hamilton at This Ain’t Hollywood.

Cast in Cadence is a solo project which morphed into a touring band. Originally just Ryan MacIntyre in Toronto the now four piece call Ottawa home. We had a chance to chat with the band before their Hope Volley Ball Show where they opened for Sam Roberts. HOPE is committed to raising money for local Ottawa charities and over the years has donated more than 3.5 million dollars to over 110 charities. HOPE,  “Helping Other People Everywhere”. Thanks to Sean Sisk for shooting this one for me!

SC: How’d the Hope Volleyball show come together?

CIC: The Hope show is one we’ve wanted to play for years, as does any local Ottawa band. Sunshine, beer and jams with over 20,000 people….who wouldn’t want to play it!? However, the organizers have kept the opening slots available only for local bands who have taken a winning place in radio station, Live 885’s “Big Money Shot” (a battle of the bands). We were fortunate to take second place this year along side our friends Lemon Cash and the Lionyls.

SC: Can you tell me about the first show you played together?

CIC: So Cast In Cadence actually started as a solo project by myself (Ryan MacIntyre) in which I was writing and recording pretty well everything myself in the studio. Our latest album “Vocation” was my second release and I decided I no longer wanted to be a “one man wolf pack” nor did I want to be perceived as a solo project. So I searched Ottawa and surrounding cities for solid musicians who have similar tastes in music and want to do this seriously. I found the guys (Nick Marson – drums, Skyler Radmore – bass/vocals, Adam Traversy – lead guitar/vocals) just before sending the album off for post production and just in time to throw a show together have group pics taken for the album. Our first gig was at Zaphods (in june of 2014). I think we rehearsed maybe twice before that show but the boys killed it anyways and I remember having a smile the entire set. I hadn’t had that much on stage in a long while.

SC: Last show you attended as a fan?

CIC: Well technically the very last show I attended as a fan would have been at Hope watching Sam Roberts (whom we had the chance to sit down and have a beer with coolest dude in the biz!). Before that would have been a ton of my all time fav bands at Montebello’s “Rock Fest” last Month in June. I caught Sublime with Rome, Deftones, Offspring, Rancid, Mad Caddies, The Pixies and a ton of other bands I can’t remember for reasons we’ll leave unspoken. It was an amazing weekend and I highly recommend checking out this fest to any rock fan who hasn’t been yet. Take a nap before you go though, you’ll need it! 😉

SC: Where did you record Vocation?

CIC: All of Vocation was tracked at Drive Studios in Toronto with Flatliners’ producer/former manager, Steve Rizun except for “Coming Down” recorded here in Ottawa @ Pebble Studio (mainly because I wanted real people to track the violin/cello part vs. using synth) with engineer extraordinaire Mike Bond and “Slacker” which was recorded at The Armoury Studio in Vancouver in 2012 with engineer Paul Dutil as a sort of spontaneous/last minute recording session on my drive to Los Angeles.

SC: This started as a solo project, how did working with a band change the writing process?

CIC: Immensely! Normally I’m just chill’n out alone in a quiet room with an acoustic guitar and whatever I can scribble lyrics onto (if my lyric book isn’t on hand). Ill come up with a few ideas and the song is written. With these guys there are ideas musically I never would have conjured on my own. Of course there are times when collaborating where we’ll reach a disagreement on a certain part or idea but through this process we always come out with a final product better than any of us would have created otherwise. This has happened for songs like “Out The Door”, our latest single “On Your Way” and a brand new song not yet recorded “A Million Miles” which was pretty well written in an hour and started with Sky and Adam repeating a simple/cool little riff on their guitars.

SC: Did the 88.5 contest change the opportunities available to the band?

CIC: Absolutely. For one we wouldn’t have had the opportunity to do this show with Sam Roberts, or even this interview for that matter. Its given us the clout required to say we’re not just a hobby garage band, we’re serious about this and we’re writing songs which we believe rock fans want to hear and are now slowly being able to thanks to Live and other stations now spinning us. Plus, it’s pretty rad to turn on your car and hear yourself on the radio.

SC: When are you coming back to play Toronto?

CIC: Well considering our guitarist just moved there (and is making the commute for rehearsals) sooner than later is my guess. 😉 We’re in talks with the guys at The Horseshoe and will hopefully be lining something up before the summer’s out. I’ve seen many shows there, love that bar!

SC: And I have to ask… what’s the origin of the band name.

CIC: Unfortunately there’s no awe-inspiring story behind the meaning of the name “Cast In Cadence”. Quite simply, I always loved the name Cadence and was originally going with that until I searched it on Youtube and Myspace and realised how many other artist were under this alias. So I wanted to find a name no one on the planet had ever used before. Something completely original. I then came up with “In Cadence” but still found other musicians using this. It was in Beijing China 2010, I was playing a festival with a band I was drumming for. I was showing them and fellow bands from the festival the mixes of the first CIC album “Serotonin” and telling them about my quest for originality name dilemma over a few drinks in a hotel room. Somewhere in the mix of Chinese beer and rusty trombone jokes (delivered by the good fellas in an amazing Swedish punk band, Los Polados, check them out!) I blurted out “Cast” In Cadence and we all loved it. I made a Facebook page the very next day, and we all know when you make anything Facebook official now a days it’s a done deal. So here we are, Cast In Cadence. 😉

Thanks to Ryan for talking with us and I’m hoping I get a chance to see them live myself, soon.