Biography
Since the fall of 2001, Intransition has performed in Kitchener, Waterloo, and Toronto, including the Circus Room in Kitchener and the Renaissance Café in Toronto. Their CD line-up includes Jennifer Ahmed (lead vox), Walter Foddis (rhythm guitar, keyboard), Graham Hearn (bass), and Scott Crockford (lead guitar).
Walter likes to tell the story that he "discovered" Jennifer at house party sing-along. After hearing her fantastic voice, he realized this was an opportunity not to be missed. With Walter on acoustic guitar, he coaxed Jenn into singing at the University of Waterloo's (UWat) Grad House open stage. (Actually, Jenn didn't need coaxing. She agreed right away!) They enjoyed the experience and received a great response from everyone attending. Soon afterwards they discovered that they shared an interest in songwriting.
They've written songs many different ways. One method involved Jenn singing a melody for Walter, who then found the "right" rhythm and chording. For Walter's songs, he'd have the melody and chording, but rarely the lyrics. Jenn loved the challenge of putting words to music, so their creative approaches fit together perfectly.
Their collaboration resulted in compositions on the lighter end of the genre scale. These include the ethereal, power-folk of "Tidal Wave," the jazz-pop fusion of "Don't Ask," the 50s-retro "About You," and the tear-jerking "Regrets."
Scott and Graham brought edginess to the band's songwriting. Their deas gave Jenn and Walter new foundations for building melodies. Through this creative amalgamation, they slammed out the anger-laden rock of "How's it Going to be" and "Liar," the defiant pop-rock of "Betting to Hold," and the rock-ballad "Wild Cherry Tree."
What to know more about these folk individually? Keep reading...
Jennifer is originally from Kilbride, Newfoundland. She began writing songs shortly after first coming to Ontario in 2000, but has been singing for as long as she can remember. The artists she loves singing along to include the Pretenders, Rufus Wainright, and Nina Simone. Her vocal stylings have been compared to Stevie Nicks, Tracy Chapman, and Sarah Harmer.
As of September 2004, Jenn has moved on from Intransition (she completed her Master's in Behavioral Neuroscience at UWat), and has begun medical school in Nova Scotia. Her three years with the band are behind her, but we're sure she'll keep her passion for music alive. And who knows, she may return for a reunion show every now and again. (Let's hope so!)
Walter, a clinical psychology student at UWat, has been involved in the music scene for about 10 years. He's been in a few previous folk-rock bands, including one as far north as Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. In fact, some of the songs recorded by Intransition were originally peformed by one of his northerly bands, "Strange Things Happen to Walter." Well, not exactly; the song structures and arrangements of the recordings have changed, but essentially "the songs remain the same." These include the John-Hiatt-influenced "Hideaway," the philosophical funk of "Mind in Motion," and the folk-rock, almost-love-song "Don't Believe We've Met."
Walter's influences include Neil Young, The Eagles, Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, Sting, and John Hiatt. He would like to say the Beatles were also influential (because it feels like a cool thing to say), but then he finds it hard to hear it in his music. So perhaps the Fab Four are more of an implicit influence.
Graham is a Canadian of English descent, Newfoundland (Newfie to Canadians) origin, Northern Ontario upbringing and global aspirations. He recently completed a BA in Philosophy at U of Waterloo. His major influences include Rush, Grateful Dead and King Crimson. Graham has also moved on...to Cyprus! He assures everyone that he has a job there. He also finds time to play his beloved bass at local jams.
Scott also grew up in northern Ontario and moved to Waterloo after high school. He bounced around various post-secondary educational prisons before becoming a full-time computer geek. He loves beer, books, and cheesy movies (in that order) and has been heavily influenced by a long list of guitar heroes including Pat Methany, Jimmy Page, John McGlaughlin, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and David Gilmour.
Intransition's newest addition is Danu Anthony, also a graduate psychology student at UWat. Who knew the UWat psychology program would draw so many closet musicians? Like Jenn, Danu has a fabulous voice and is getting into writing songs with Walter and Scott. Songwriting and lead vocals for a band is a first for Danu, but she loves to perform.
For upcoming dates and more information, visit their website: www.intransitionmusic.com or contact them at intransitionmusic@hotmail.com
Instrumentation
Danu Anthony, Lead vocals
Walter Foddis, Rhythm guitar / backup vocals / keyboard
Scott Crockford, Lead & rhythm guitar
Discography
Intransition's first self-titled CD was released in December 2004. It can be purchased through our web page, where streaming audio of CD is also available.
Intransition is also featured on the University of Waterloo CKMS Studio Virgins, Vol I, Compilation CD (released June 2004). Their contributions include "Don't Ask", "Tidal Wave" and "About You".
Links
| http://www.IntransitionMusic.com |