Interview with The Elwins who open for Tokyo Police Club

Ottawa Ontario — Indie music invades Ottawa Ontario on November 1st when Juno nominated band The Elwins open for Tokyo Police Club at Centrepointe Theatre.

The Elwins are an exciting up and coming band from Keswick Ontario, just north of Toronto, who are making waves across Canada and the globe. The band consists of Matthew Sweeney (vocalist/guitarist), Travis Stokl (drummer), Feurd (guitarist/keyboardist), and Frankie Figliomeni (bassist).

The band released their sophomore album ‘Play for Keeps’ in 2015. It was a follow up to their 2012 debut full length ‘And I Thank You’. The sophomore album shows how The Elwins have evolved.

“It’s different from ‘And I Thank You’ in a number of ways for sure. Drums were recorded last which was the exact opposite to what we did on “And I Thank you”. More attention was made to filling out songs sonically. Basically we didn’t want to have any limitations to the recording,” said drummer Travis Stokl.

The 12-song collection builds atop the foundation of fun pop music they established with its predecessor. “We tried to take everything up to the next level, sonically speaking,” said guitarist and keyboardist Feurd. “We wanted to be really open and try a bunch of things we hadn’t done before,” Feurd added.

The hit song “So Down Low” charted for six months and hit #12 for alternative music on Canadian radio. The song was also used in a Canada-wide advertisement campaign for Fido.

“Having support like that is awesome. Everyday we realize how fortunate we are to receive such love. We’re glad that people are liking it. The FIDO ad has been amazing really, they came to us and we were like “sure! why not!?”. So many people have told us that they’ve heard or seen it. It’s super neat,” said Travis Stokl.

The Elwins deliver a dose of dancy bliss that appeals to virtually anyone. “We definitely like making songs that make people want to move,” vocalist and guitarist Matthew Sweeney said.

The band draws inspiration from a variety of places – including comedy.

“It could be anything really. We all like to laugh so comedy is a big one – Nathan For You, Tim & Eric, Maria Bamford, John Mulaney and so on. Musically we like a lot of old and new stuff which is probably one of our strengths when it comes to songwriting. Cool production in songs will forever be fascinating to us as well as any simple song that’s just a guitar and voice for example,” said Travis Stokl.

The Elwins have played major festivals and they have shared the stage with noteworthy bands like The National, St. Vincent, The Flaming Lips and X Ambassadors. The band has toured Canada, the United States, Western Europe, and Japan. Now they are opening for Tokyo Police Club in Ottawa.

“Shows are different in some places, yes. Overseas more often than not the audience will sing along to the songs. Like almost everyone will. It’s sweet! From touring around a lot we’ve learnt that in general people are very hospitable. We can’t wait to go to more places and experience their culture and what not,” said Travis Stokl.

What can fans expect from the Elwins live show?

“Fans can expect a super energetic live show from four relatively young gentleman,” Travis Stokl concluded.

The Elwins also played the Strombo Show on CBC with George Stroumboulopoulos and made his 2015 list of bands to watch.

Headlining the show are Tokyo Police Club, an indie rock band from Newmarket, signed to Dine Alone Records.

Tickets are $46.25. The show is all ages, it starts at 8pm, and it takes place at the Centrepointe Theatre located at 101 Centrepointe Drive.

The show is being promoted by Spectrasonic and Centrepointe Theatre.