Emerging Artist Spotlight

Dec 24, 2013 – We saw Open Air back in October at Indie Week and while they finished third in the official competition, they were the clear winners in the unofficial T-Mak World ratings (followed closely however by their friends from Calgary, Frankie McQueen). We can safely say Open Air is in the upper echelons of rock bands in Canada today and as such will be amongst our Top Indie Bands of 2013 that will be out soon. So of course we wanted to feature them here in an Emerging Artist Spotlight. As always, the questions are introductory in nature, so all bands are asked similar questions. The description on the Open Air’s website reads:

“Revival is certainly an apt term for what Open Air bring to the table. Their sound is like a blender full of Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and Cream with a dash of just about everything else rock from the late 60’s and onward to the mid 90’s. But this isn’t just a bunch of influences and dated genres making for a who’s who listening experience, but more like the glue and glitter that binds the inner seams together. At their core they are five gifted musicians with a love for the craft and their fans.

The band’s newly released Extended Play brings extreme energy with superb production that rocks hard with plenty of sparkle and enough bottom end to kick you squarely in your tender parts.

Open Air’s live performances definitely stand out. With a lot of moving around and involvement in the music, Open Air is a band that honestly enjoys what they do, and this is part of what makes them a bit different. There is a youthful exuberance and a true appreciation for what’s around them, namely their art and their audience.

Life has gotten complicated and intense in the last couple of decades, but any rock fan who has cut their ear-teeth on the grand-daddies of this loud devils music will tell you that true rock n’ roll never dies. And if Open Air is among the next generation of tried and true stadium rockers then the future of this beast is in good hands and will live on.”

Before going any further, click here for the song Preacher Man on Soundcloud.

Here’s what Open Air had to say to us:

Hey Open Air, thanks for taking the time out to talk to us. Let’s start off with the obligatory introductions. Who’s in the band and what instrument does everyone rock?

Open Air: Open Air is Steven Mansfield on lead vocals; Tyler Bourne on bass guitar and backing vocals; Steven Lilley on guitars, keyboards, and backing vocals; Garrett Greenhall on guitars; and Josh Hearnden thumping away in the back on the drums.

How about the history of the band, when did you get started and how did it happen?

Open Air: The band got together about four years ago. The story of how we all came together is an epic tale that rivals the Lord of the Rings, but with a lot less walking and a lot more drinking. The short version is we met through different variations of high school friends, working together, and common circles of friends.

Who are some of your musical influences?

Open Air: There is a long list that is always growing. We each have very separate tastes in what we listen to, which lend well to our own music. There is definitely a core of artists that we all listen to, as well, which include Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Rush, Rival Sons, Monster Truck, our friends One Bad Son, just to name a (very) few.

So based on the above how would you describe your music to someone that has never heard it?

Open Air: A modern take on classic rock. That’s rather vague and can mean a lot of different things, but we tend to think of it as a classic 70’s rock band at the core, with elements from the following decades blended in.

Why do you believe that a music fan should come and see your show instead of all the other choices available to them on any given night?

Open Air: Our shows are honest and full of energy. We’re five guys playing our hearts out on stage, there’s no gimmicks or backing tracks, it’s just us having the time of our lives and I think that comes across to the audience. We like to joke around on stage, move around and have a good time and often the crowd feels that and reciprocates [edit: always in our experience!]. We feed off the crowd and they feed off of us. In that regard it makes for a pretty special feeling, it’s not so much us performing for people, as it is everyone sharing in an awesome experience.

What is your favourite single line of lyrics the band has written and why?

Open Air: Personally, my (Tyler) favorite lyric right now is from an as-of-yet unreleased song called Traveler. The lyric is “Who do you want me to be?” It’s an extremely simple line, but in the context of the song, and Steven’s delivery of it, it invokes opposing notions of agonized introspection and an empowered challenge of the person the question is directed to. I have no idea if that is Steven’s intention, but that’s how I like to interpret that lyric. [edit: “And I still fear the reaper even though Blue Öyster Cult told me not to” is a killer way to start a song!!!]

What does 2014 hold for you?

Open Air: The upcoming future is filled with a lot of smaller Western Canadian tours, mostly focusing on surrounding cities within Alberta, touching on some of the markets closer to home. We’ll be working on a lot of new material, and hope to release another single soon. In May of 2014 we’ll be in Toronto for Canadian Music Week, which we are very excited about. We’ll also be in the studio, probably sometime in the summer, to work on a new release for later in the year, followed by a possible full Canadian tour roughly Fall 2014.

Imagine that you were asked to be the opener for any band’s world tour (both current and historical). Which band and tour would be your dream opening gig.

Open Air: That’s damn near impossible to choose just one. It would be great to be a part of one of the older tours when bands would play massive shows and push themselves way too far. I think opening for Led Zeppelin on a world tour would be awesome, plus they had crazy parties. Who doesn’t want to be that band that has insane parties, red snappers and throw televisions out of hotel windows?

What is the future of the music industry? With the concept of the album and physical CD’s facing extinction, how will we be consuming music in 10 years? Are the economics feasible for emerging artists?

Open Air: This is a really interesting and important question and one that is really hard to answer. Everything’s in flux right now and at the surface, it may seem like it’s not economically feasible for artists to survive the industry. However, the system is just in a transitory state and you can already see it developing into a new form. A lot of artists are breaking ties with their labels, particularly with major labels. Fan-funding projects are on the rise and that’s actually really exciting. At the core of that, you have people who, in a world where free music is easily obtainable, are still willing to pay artists for their craft and pay BEFORE the product is ready (or even started). This means that people still care and that they are as passionate as the artists. I think in the next few years, you’ll see a lot more artists putting out work independently, while major labels focus on the easy sell (pop artists that pump out easily consumable, generic hits). In terms of albums and physical products, it will probably continue to dip, but hopefully it won’t go away. I’ve always been the type of person to buy a physical, lock myself in my room, and listen to the full album uninterrupted, often following along with the liner notes. That’s just how I like to experience albums, so I hope they don’t go away. With the popularity of vinyl making a comeback, I think there will still be a great number of people getting physicals. I think you’ll also see a lot more interesting releases by artists, such as albums accompanied by DVDs, books, comics, etc. to further entice people.

We published our picks for top 10 albums of 2013. Lists like those are always a reflection of personal tastes so if you were making the list what are some albums you would you have had on it?

Open Air: In no particular order:
Arctic Monkeys – AM
Monster Truck – Furiosity
The Answer – New Horizon
Frightened Rabbit – Pedestrian Verse
Crash Kings – Dark of the Daylight
Queens of the Stone Age – …Like Clockwork
Black Sabbath – 13
Motorhead – Aftershock
Clutch – Earth Rocker
Pearl Jam – Lightning Bolt

Any closing remarks for our readers?

Open Air: Thanks to all of our fans for the continued love and support. Love music, it can save lives. Be good to each other. Fuck, drink, and eat cheeseburgers. And we look forward to seeing T-Mak and the rest of our Toronto friends in May!