CMW 2016 Preview: The Honest Heart Collective
The Honest Heart Collective is a six-piece Thunder Bay band getting ready to take Canadian Music Week by storm.
The band is made up of Ryan MacDonald on vocals and guitar, Nic MacDonald on bass and vocals, Jay Savage on drums, Kevin Heerema on guitar, Conner Harris on keyboards and vocals, and Keenan Kosolowski on guitar.
We caught up with Nic from The Honest Heart Collective to ask some questions about the band, CMW and more.
Let’s dive into the questions!
Q. Can you tell us how the band came together?
A. I wish there was an easier way to explain the conception of The Honest Heart Collective but there really isn’t – I’ll try to keep this as short and sweet as possible. The band started out as my brother Ryan’s solo project while he was living in Ottawa. The original name of the band was actually RM & The Honest Heart Collective, the idea was that he would write all of the music and then enlist myself, along with a revolving door of friends and musicians to back us once he moved home to Thunder Bay. The only problem was that the “friends and musicians” Ryan recruited had no intention of ever leaving. These people were all of our best friends, we’d been in bands with them before and they were willing to drop everything to dive headfirst into this band. Their commitment was palpable. For that reason, we collectively decided to drop the “RM &” from the beginning of our name upon the release our debut album Liar’s Club. Unfortunately, since then a few members have come and gone but the inspiration behind the band has stayed the same.
Q. You describe your music as “Folk-infused rock with a punk mentality”, can you elaborate a little for us?
A. We chose the words “Folk-infused rock” because way before there were six guys in this band, there was only one, one guy with an acoustic guitar writing folk songs. As the band grew our sound evolved. It became mainly comprised of guitar driven rock but we like to think that it’s still backed by the same honest, sentimental lyrics and songwriting that make good folk music. But we all grew up listening to punk and hardcore bands and they have majorly influenced the way we play our instruments. If you come out and see our live shows it will all make perfect sense.
Q. Was there a “moment” where you knew music was your future?
A. Was there a “moment”? I can’t say that it’s happened quite yet. I remember getting my first guitar when I was ten years old and thinking that it would be a miracle if I could make a future for myself by playing it. A few years later I attempted to start my first band with my best friend Kevin (who now plays guitar in The Honest Heart Collective) – that never even got off the ground. There were a few more bands throughout the years but none ever went anywhere. I guess you could say that the guys in The Collective have been breaking our backs our whole lives trying to earn that “moment”. In truth, I’m still not one hundred percent sure that music is my future, but I’ll never stop trying my hardest to make sure that it’s always a major part of it.
Q. We love CMW for a lot of reasons, what’s your favourite thing about this festival?
A. My favourite thing about CMW would have to be the 4am last call! Not because of the booze (maybe a little because of the booze), but because of the music! The extension keeps the music going well into the night and makes for some pretty excellent late night finds. You never know who you’ll find playing at 2:35AM on a Saturday night at the Rivoli or any other bar for that matter. Could be your new favourite band. I love CMW.
Q. Do you have any advice for bands just getting started?
A. That’s a tough question for me to answer since I myself consider The Honest Heart Collective a band that’s “just getting started”. However, we have had a few small successes in the short time that we’ve been a band. All I can say is never stop having fun with it, or at least trying to have fun with it. I know it can be disheartening to show up to a city you’ve never been to before and play to no one but the sound guy and two drunken idiots who spray beer all over your band (true story). But who knows? Maybe those drunken idiots will try to fistfight a bunch of cops on the sidewalk during your load out (also true). I guess what I’m trying to say is enjoy yourself, enjoy your band and enjoy every show to the fullest. Or else what’s the point?
Q. If we got a peek at your playlists right now, what artists would we find?
A. Oh dear *laughs*. My musical taste is everywhere. In any given playlist you’ll find songs from bands like Arkells and The Gaslight Anthem all the way to Counterparts and Every Time I Die. Right now I’m absolutely hooked on this band called Have Mercy, it’s just really good indie rock with semblances of the emo/post-hardcore music that I loved when I was a little kid. They’re seriously cool in my books.
Q. In 50 words or less, can you describe for our readers what to expect from a The Honest Heart Collective live show?
A. Energy. (I just saved you 49 words) See us live during Canadian Music Week, check out our schedule here!
Find the Honest Heart Collective online at the following locations!
The Honest Heart Collective
Twitter || Facebook || Instagram || YouTube
Bandcamp || iTunes || SoundCloud
Thanks to Nic for taking the time to answer our questions and don’t forget to add these guys to your CMW schedule!
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Toronto Music Blogger
