Kents keep making waves
Lindsay band has a new EP and plans a launch bash at Toronto’s Horseshoe Tavern
If you believe in your song, you just have to get it in the right hands.” Warren Frank
LINDSAY -- The Kents’ vocalist says the Lindsay indie-pop-rock band has done some growing up for their sophomore release, Within Waves, which arrives Friday.
The EP offers a slight change of direction, one that shows the musician’s progression as artists and reflects their life experiences, Warren Frank said.
“We’ve found more of what we want our identity to be,” he said in a recent interview, fresh off performing in front of a hometown crowd before rising country stars James Barker Band at the Lindsay Exhibition.
Being able to open for a band that is “really crushing it right now” was a real treat, said Frank, whose bandmates include guitarist Freddy Kwon, bassist Luke Shauf, also of Lindsay, as well as drummer Tanner Paré, from Peterborough.
The Kents have just finished busiest month of shows yet as they perform on campuses as part of frosh activities – including Head of the Trent. Earlier this year, they also played Peterborough Musicfest and the Big Feastival in Oro-Medonte.
The band is promoting an album which has got significant airplay airplay in the singles Is There Anyone? and Distant, both of which have been rotated on Toronto’s Indie 88, CBC Radio, SiriusXM/Verge and Stingray Canadian Indie.
Within Waves is more collaborative than The Kents’ first album, Waking, which was recorded largely while band members were in different cities.
The year leading up to its June recording was the first where the band, which was formed by Frank, Kwon and Shauf in a Grade 11 guitar class at I.E. Weldon Secondary School in 2001, spent most of its time together – practising and writing a least twice a week, Frank said.
“All of a sudden, music has taken such a prominent role in our lives,” he said.
The added cohesion allowed the guys to move ideas forward right away, instead of recording them and sending them to each other digitally.
“This is the product of a much more communal writing process,” he said, calling the record melodic, accessible – and more mature in subject matter, given that the guys are older. “I think it has more integrity, as a whole.”
Is There Anyone? is a pop song much in the vein of the band’s previous singles, including The Stakes and Something About Her, Frank said, adding how Distant tells more of a story.
So far, the reaction has been very supportive. The bandmates have to sometimes convince themselves that they are still a band because they are still working part-time jobs, but their music careers are progressing well, Frank said.
“Everything we’re doing here is genuine and that means something to us, and that resonates with people,” he said.
The success of Waking – which surpassed one-million streams on Spotify – has taught them what can happen when you work hard.
“If you believe in your song, you just have to get it in the right hands,” he said.
The Kents are now at a stage where they are returning to venues for a second time to find crowds who are already familiar with their music. “That’s totally new to us and ... encouraging in ways we’ve never experienced before.”
The band, which has shared stages with The Trews and Hollerado, will perform at The Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto Nov. 17 for the Within Waves release party. The show, which begins at 8 p.m., will include Toronto band Common Deer, among others.
They played the Queen St. venue in March, too – not bad, considering the historic club has hosted the likes of The Rolling Stones, The Police, Etta James and Talking Heads.
“It’s so storied, you can’t help but be excited to play there,” Frank said.
Tickets for the 19-plus show are $10 in advance at Rotate This and Soundscapes in Toronto, at www.goo.gl/SgdGVW or $15 at the door.
NOTES: For more information on The Kents, visit www.thekentsband.com, www.facebook.com/thekentsband, www.twitter.com/thekentsband or www.thekents.bandcamp.com .