Rockets Red Glare make music for musicians. Complicated, detailed and perfectly executed, their songs are sure to provide a real challenge for the average music fan. Traditional structures and patterns are all but abolished in favour of RRG's unique songwriting approach, a style that relies on singular themes, varied and manipulated throughout each song.
Through their forward-moving compositions and the sheer force and sensation each member thrusts into their playing style, Rockets Red Glare have gained a reputation as three of the most skilled musicians in Toronto. Seeing guitarist/vocalist Evan Clarke, bassist Jeremy Strachan and drummer Gus Weinkauf in the flesh will change the way you look at every other band you've ever seen. After just minutes absorbed in the perfectly harnessed interplay between the musical robots on stage, most audience members are left collecting their jaws from the floor. Loosely classifiable as math rock, most of the things RRG are doing are so uniquely theirs that it's hard to lump them in with any other bands.
"First impressions with this music more often than not generate an excited response from people who've seen a lot of other bands," says Strachan, "But I think that our music takes repeated listening to really sink in; we ourselves dissect and reconstruct the music on a fairly meticulous level until it makes sense to us."
The band is currently finishing their fifth North American tour in support of their most recent full-length, Moonlight Desires (on Blue Skies Turn Black). And while they may be old hats at the touring game, it seems the band is still weary of alienating audience members with their frantic live shows. Perhaps this disconnect is one reason for the band's recent dissolution this tour will be the band's last.
"When people are not familiar with our material we get a lot of blank stares. At least there's a level of engagement we can introduce to a crowd by virtue of the volume and style of music. People seem to pay attention one way or the other."
Through their forward-moving compositions and the sheer force and sensation each member thrusts into their playing style, Rockets Red Glare have gained a reputation as three of the most skilled musicians in Toronto. Seeing guitarist/vocalist Evan Clarke, bassist Jeremy Strachan and drummer Gus Weinkauf in the flesh will change the way you look at every other band you've ever seen. After just minutes absorbed in the perfectly harnessed interplay between the musical robots on stage, most audience members are left collecting their jaws from the floor. Loosely classifiable as math rock, most of the things RRG are doing are so uniquely theirs that it's hard to lump them in with any other bands.
"First impressions with this music more often than not generate an excited response from people who've seen a lot of other bands," says Strachan, "But I think that our music takes repeated listening to really sink in; we ourselves dissect and reconstruct the music on a fairly meticulous level until it makes sense to us."
The band is currently finishing their fifth North American tour in support of their most recent full-length, Moonlight Desires (on Blue Skies Turn Black). And while they may be old hats at the touring game, it seems the band is still weary of alienating audience members with their frantic live shows. Perhaps this disconnect is one reason for the band's recent dissolution this tour will be the band's last.
"When people are not familiar with our material we get a lot of blank stares. At least there's a level of engagement we can introduce to a crowd by virtue of the volume and style of music. People seem to pay attention one way or the other."