B L U E P R I N T: The Making of EonBomb
May 18, 2009
By BD Marie Hughes
Kyle de Luca – Vox
Ben Healey – Guitar
Matt MacDonald – Bass
Jeremy Smith – Drums
I, literally, ran into EonBomb in a downtown Toronto store. Needing some help, Ben came to my rescue. After some social niceties, talk turned to music. Not to be missed was the next EonBomb show at Clinton’s on March 2. An interview was born…
EonBomb describes its sound on its myspace page as rock-based with influences of funk, blues, and classic rock as well as old school Motown and soul – unique. Clearly their live performance is a reflection of this mix. And, clearly, they are a rare, sophisticated talent of twentysomething’s – astounding at this early stage of the game. They were worth the trek in close to -25C with the windchill.
BD:How did you learn to do what you do and obviously love? Ben, I have to say outright, you’ve got stellar guitar riffs in “Opener” that slay a few lines! (laughs) Damn man! That’s an original piece – where’d you learn to play like that?? You need to get in touch with Chris Bennett, formerly of Ill of Day fame! (laughing) Now that’s a man who knows how to lay it down! He can play laying down, actually – one of the best performances Ill of Day has ever given – at The Elmo. (still laughing) Chris would definitely be impressed! Matt, you’re pretty tight with Ben on that entire song, too!
Ben: My Dad has a lot to do with it when I was growing up! His electric was sitting in the corner gathering dust. I thought, ‘Man, I gotta do something with that’ and it started from there! I was hanging out with Matt, you know. At age 11 or 12. It was really inspiring hanging out with these older kids. They were all playing guitars. And I was the drummer (smiles). So I was curious and I kept working at it, working at it, you know. I just really enjoyed it. It was a different kind of energy playing drums. I learned to play drums first when I was really young. My first kit was pots ‘n’ pans. (everyone laughs) Then my parents got me some lessons when I was 5.
BD: Very young! Your parents saw some promise!
Ben: I always loved music. My Dad got me into Rush. (laughs) He asked me, ‘What do you think of these guys?’ They were playing on the radio. He always introduced me to different bands on the radio. It just grew from there. It was amazing. I was in 4th or 5th grade and hanging out with these older kids from junior high. And before you know it, we’re “in” with this group. They smoked, they smoked pot (laughs). The 90’s – it was really, really cool. I never kinda had that happen to me before. I think it shapes the way we write music and it helps us evolve in that process. My other friends were into sports and I was in the group of musicians in bands.
Matt: Well, I come from a musical family and had the curiosity and wanted to do that, too. There was a huge group of people that played and hung out together, too. No matter what style of music you were into, we all got along.. I played in a ton of bands around town in Truro, Nova Scotia. We call it “Little t.dot”. (laughs) A friend, Ed, left his bass – Ben and I started jamming and it just clicked. I decided bass was more my thing, more my calling. I feel more creative playing bass. After that, I decided to write songs.
Ben: My Dad did some work with Matt’s Dad and that’s how I met Matt – met everybody, you know? Just little coincidences along the way.
BD: Clearly, Matt, you’re an accomplished bass player. How did you learn?
Matt: Still a lot to learn yet. (smiles) I started playing guitar when I was 14, 15. Just banging away to old school, Metallica, Black Sabbath. Then the whole 90’s scene when that got big. There were bands like Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Nirvana of course. What really got me going was this guy who was trying to make money for a school trip to Quebec. He was kinda busking at school, playing cool Metallica. I was thinking that was sooooo cool. That anybody can play and anybody can learn. I started playing bass. One day, me and Ben were both in a band called Feather Plane….
BD: You did not! You didn’t! (everyone laughs)
Matt: I know, I knooow, fucked up name for a band! (laughing) I was actually singing in that band! (everyone is laughing)
Ben: We were really getting into funk at the time!
Matt: Yeah…
Ben: It’s really interesting with Eon Bomb because Jeremy (Eon Bomb’s drummer) started playing on piano, I was on drums then switched to guitar, and Matt played guitar and switched to bass.
Matt: Everything happens for a reason. Things come together when they do for a reason, too.
BD: Staying open to the possibilities…
Matt: Yes! Exactly! One of the main albums, for sure, for me for picking up a bass was Blood Sugar Sex Magik by Chili Peppers. It was 1988. I just wanted to be able to play like that especially on a bass.
Ben: I think with Matt coming into the picture, he brings in his influences – old Motown, the 60’s – from there we kinda progressed. It really opened my eyes musically. Then I really got into The Beatles and that just opened up to…
Matt: … a really organic sound.
Ben: The bass balances it and with Jeremy, Smokey Robinson, and me, The Beatles… If we’re writing a song we go back to the old stuff like Crosby, Stills & Nash. What if we tried this sound? We would then draw up something that we liked.
Matt: You hear the influences (in our music) no matter what. People are going to point out influences that you may not even realize yourself. Even influences for me, and I’m sure Ben, too, even just like simple things like The Beatles, The Doobie Brothers, Steve Miller. Simple things like having a bonfire on the beach at a party with all our friends, you can play music. It creates that feeling. It’s like the perfect moment.
BD: How’d you write “Mr. Midnite”? It’s pretty catchy – “radio ready” in my opinion. (smiles)
Matt: We were jamming in our living room in Edmonton at the time…
Ben: We were living in a house with no furniture on the U. of A. campus. My uncle had this Traynor amp that we were using. We were kinda getting into more blues. I played this lick and Matty came up with this amazing bass line. You wouldn’t expect it to come together but it did. Matt’s sense of groove, the percussiveness of what comes from that, we feed off each other. I use Matt as a guide when I’m on lead guitar. Just basically jamming, felt it in our gut.
BD: What challenges do you face as a band?
Ben: There’s always that we might come up with a riff and it might sound too influenced or too much of a certain song or something, right. We don’t want to do what’s been done. We wanna try and create our own pathway.
Matt: Just always trying to accomplish something whether it be sending an email or makin’ a phone call or workin’ on a new song. Just never being content with what’s going on in any of those departments. Always finding something to do to move us forward.
BD: What about individually?
Ben: It’s always different when you hear the song played back to you. Like in the studio. This has happened to us numerous times where we’ve gone into the studio and finished the parts. On the playback it might sound dead-on how you pictured it in your head and how you hear it. And then sometimes you say, ‘Shit, this doesn’t work at all. It doesn’t really capture what I’m hearing.’ For me, personally, that’s big. That can be a potentially big issue just because it can, if it’s a different tone that you wanted, it can change the whole song. So it’s always a battle to try and make it right.
Matt: Just always trying to accomplish an interesting way to play guitar especially in terms of if I’m trying to write something over an existing riff or, even if it’s something Ben and I have worked on, just trying to figure out a way to play it the right way – rhythmically or melodically – just making sure it suits what I’m playing it to. Sometimes I’ll stress over one note because I want to try to make every note count and make every note have its own important place in the song. I’m always messin’ with my tone. (laughs) I’m constantly tweekin’ my amp. It’s like a side project for me – it’s never-ending! (we all laugh)
BD: It’s kinda like Twitter but with 140 adjustments or less!
Matt: Exactly! You see my ass, then my face, them my ass again while I mess with my amp! (laughing)
BD: You’re both from the east coast. How are you finding the Toronto scene compared to back home? What east coast influences do you bring to Toronto?
Ben: Scene wise, it exists only in Toronto! (laughs)
Matt: There’s places to play!
Ben: Back home, people go on and on that the east coast is thriving. I disagree with that to some extent. Halifax, yes. Booming, no. We were a little naïve coming to Toronto. I thought competition would be a minor thing. Going to people for shows you see how competitive it is. The entertainment industry isn’t half in your face – that’s left us quite humbled. We’re basically open to any place we can be.
Matt: We need to play any where and not give up an opportunity.
Ben: You want to leave a mark, a positive impression, leaving people with a good vibe and impression. That’s what the east coast has given us. You have to put a good vibe out there.
Matt: We want to get our stuff out there on a bigger scale.
Ben: Matt and I think, in terms of communicating, every band wants to do that. To take baby steps but know you are headed somewhere.
BD: EonBomb needs to tap into the Toronto Independent Music Awards showcases this year and, well, the overall program! We love new talent! (laughs) All of the discussion panels are very informative and you get to meet a lot of industry people. And industry recognition is always great!
Matt: The TIMAs are an amazing opportunity. We’ve read about it in NOW magazine. It’s a great way for bands to network with each other, get your music heard, and get out there! The showcases are definitely in-depth.
Ben: Most definitely. It’s an opportunity for musicians to get exposure – a totally positive thing!
BD: What are your plans for upcoming shows?
Matt: We’ve been working on getting our set tight to be able to play as well as possible as a band on stage.
Ben: We want to make it a show, you know? And connect with the people we’re playing for. Get them into it and hopefully get them turned on to our stuff. We want people to feel something. Like, ‘Those guys suck’ or ‘They’re fucking amazing’, you know? That people are affected by our performance. Hopefully, positively!
BD: What are your short term and long term strategies? What’s on the horizon for EonBomb?
Matt: We are working on getting a really solid press kit along with updating our myspace.
Ben: We have the EP thing going on. We need photos, marketing. We need to decide how we are going to present ourselves. We need to bring more image to the band, you know. ‘What do we stand for?’ (laughs)
Matt: Literally and figuratively! (also laughing)
Ben: We’re looking for total communication with people. We want to be one of those bands where you put in an album of a band you love and it totally fills you up with emotion you want to feel.
Matt: … making them feel something…
Ben: … affecting them in some way, shape or form. If our music is potent enough to do all that, we’re on the right track. We want people to be able to relate and identify with our music.
BD, Ben and Matt: garbled audio, something, something Eon Bomb tribute band (more laughter)…
Matt: We can only hope our stuff has that quality to stick around!
Ben: If you’re able to make a living from it, you’re doing something right! You’re making people feel good. There’s nothing wrong with that!
http://www.myspace.com/eonbomb
