ESCAPING THE CLICHES OF
CANADIAN ROCK
Toronto quartet Turn Off the Stars
walk the line between indie and rock stardom

by James Keller

In many ways, Turn Off the Stars is the clichéd picture of Canadian pop-rock – from their guitar-driven made-for-radio sound to their enjoyably simplistic songwriting, to their newfound airplay on MuchMusic. At first glance, very little on the surface of this band seems unique.

But Turn Off The Stars is by no means a faithful replica. For starters, the band's seemingly standard style meanders about, delicately balancing somewhere between the polished sounds of the Canadian mainstream and the edgier, more inspiring ones of indie rock. Even though their debut album, Everything Is OK , is more pop than not, they don't fit comfortably into either extreme.

The musical schizophrenia of Turn Off the Stars must be a difficult balancing act, playing to two different audiences that rarely agree with each other. It's a reality guitarist Andrew Walker is perfectly aware of, and one that he doesn't seemed too concerned with, either.

"We get some people saying that we're the same as any old Canadian pop (band), and then we get other people saying we're more than that," says Walker. "We're on a thin line between mainstream and hipster, and I don't mind being there."

For Turn Off the Stars, that line is particularly thin and, if they have their way, it may not exist for much longer. The band began nearly three years ago, when Walker and his brother Mike, then collaborating in the acoustic duo Simple Roots (with Andrew on guitar and Mike singing lead), were joined by drummer Max Kennedy and bassist John Dawson. The new additions led to a new name and an about-face in their music. And although Walker is still careful to distinguish the band from bubble gum pop, (to borrow another cliché from him), he readily acknowledges the band's illustrious ambitions for success.

"We'd love to have a No. 1 hit. That's not something we wouldn't like," he says. "We're not all about staying indie or being a hipster band. We're not trying to please any certain market."

This sort of success doesn't seem too far off. The band is receiving increasing radio play across the country (Walker notes with satisfaction that audiences as far west as Vancouver are singing along during performances), and their newest single "Please" is now in rotation on MuchMusic. Not bad for a band that, not long ago, was two guys and an acoustic guitar.

These inklings of stardom began even before the release of Everything Is OK, born out of another Canadian rock cliché: the hard-working live band. Even without an album to support, playing and touring across the country is familiar territory. Although the bulk of their performances over the past three years have been in Ontario, mostly around Toronto, their current tour marks their third time out West.

"The crowds out west seem pretty receptive and all the venues are welcoming," Walker says. "We put on the same show and do the same thing and it's kind of neat because it's a totally fresh audience that hasn't heard you."

Perhaps in this case, the image of the live band is more than just a stereotype. Walker insists this strategy works and hints that, regardless of how far their career takes them, this is one cliché they are more than happy to embrace.

"At this point I definitely think it works. We've seen a lot of progress just through touring," he explains. "It obviously helps to have radio helping you out, a video and someone behind the scenes directing the band, but touring is when people see what the band is like live. Those are the moments that hold people to the band and keep fans."