Tall Trees recently released their first EP, launched their new website, and have been generating some positive buzz. Despite their musical achievements, the band has yet to graduate from high school—all of the members are 17 years of age.
Tall Trees have a killer sound, a great stage presence, and are as hard-working as any contemporary local band. The act consists of three Canterbury High students: Jad Hammoud, Peter Klaassen and Josh Wynnyk. All trained musicians, they demonstrate an enormous amount of skill on their chosen instruments. Hammoud’s vocals, reminiscent of Wide Mouth Mason in their heyday, are especially striking.
And they put on an excellent show. They released their EP (titled “Tall TreEP”) at Cube Gallery on Tuesday, and the place was packed. Featuring more young talent from the likes of Young Offenders and Suzy Pankhurst, the night was a showcase of the future of the Ottawa music scene, and the future looks bright indeed. Tall Trees closed the night with a tight, hard rocking set. These guys know how to play to an audience; there was even some Gord Downie-esque microphone stand antics.
“We draw from folk and indie sounds,” says Klaassen, the bassist of the band, “and Josh [Wynnyk, the drummer] and I anchor that with a bit of groove, something you can move to.”
While the band has a two-year history, its current form has taken shape only over the last few months. It began as a two-man project: Hammoud and Klaassen wanted to start a band, and so they did. “Peter was working some magic doing harmonies, drums and bass all at the same time,” Hammoud recalls.
Now a threesome with Josh Wynnyk on drums, the band is working hard to propel the band to stardom. “Personally,” says Hammoud, “a band career has been something I’ve wanted since I was a kid. I don’t have a backup plan! I’m relying on this!”
But it’s not always easy for a young band. Often, they get, as Hammoud says, “the short end of the stick.” “Unless people have met us or seen us, they have a tendency to say, ‘Oh, well they’re just 17.’” Wynnyk chimes in: “I’ve been in bands that are in the 14, 15 year old age range, and looking for shows at that age, often people just laugh at you. But now that we have a CD out and a website up, I find that we’re getting a lot more respect from promoters.” Hammoud agrees. “I think when people meet us and deal with us, they see that we try as much as we can to remain professional and mature in what we do.”
The band plans to continue to refine their set and sound, all while constantly pushing for more and bigger shows. “We’re on a high from this release and we want to keep that going as long as possible,” says Klaassen. They tell me they’re currently working a new album, a full-length possibly titled “Girls, Fiends and Monsters.”
Expect to see a lot more from this young band in the coming years.
Check out Tall Trees’ website and Bandcamp for information on shows and to listen to their music. To hear my full interview with the band, check out this week’s Apt613 Live Podcast.
