Il Attire
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Il Attire

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Music

The best kept secret in music

Press


"CMW 2006 Roundup"

It’s tough to pigeonhole Il Attire. The Toronto-based quintet seems a bit of a cross between Duran Duran (when the Durans were good) and something much more modern and sinister all at once. Sexual innuendo oozed forth while Il Attire was on stage.

The group delved out ample and equal helpings of industrial-strength grooves and electronic wizardry without ever losing sight of that one lynchpin to any decent rock song: A melody.

Il Attire easily proved to be the most artful of the bands performing on this night and without looking out of place in a guitar-driven, post-grunge rock world.
- Liam Lahey
- Scene and Head


"Il Attire"

Lowlight's Liam Colburn tracked down three out of five members of Il Attire, the Toronto band that has kept the city alive through a sleepy winter. They have created a massive buzz with their unique approach to synth rock, and are preparing for the release of their first EP. OE, Jamie, and Sasha tell lowlight about burmese piano music, organizing a proper electronic live show, and the advantage of smaller labels.

LC: How did Il Attire first start out? Tell us where it all began. How many members have you had? Past names?

OE: The Band Began with a sequencer and a bass guitar. Bryan and I built a very minimal but effective set for live shows and I added some guitar in areas where the songs required it. We started peforming in Toronto under the name Tepid Lust.

Jamie: Sasha and I were only on-stage dancers then.

LC:Where did you get the name Il Attire? What is the proper pronounciation?

OE: "eel at eye er"
Jamie: "ill attire"
Sasha: "eel at ear"

LC: What are the current members and their positions?

OE: Bryan-Bass Sasha-Drums Mark-Guitar Jamie-Keyboards, Sequencer Myself-Vocals and Wine Tasting

LC: What are the musical backgrounds of the band members like?

Jamie: We come from kind of a wide range of backgrounds. I think most of us have been playing for quite a while.
OE: I'm not very well versed as far as technical or traditional music is concerned. The reason we connect as songwriters is because our musical backgrounds don't really show. We have a common musical interest/ear and musical training/experience just takes a backseat.
Sasha: I started writing experimental post-punk on guitar, then the drummer got drunk in the Russian municipal orchestra I was a part of, so I had to play drums. I just kept drumming from there.

LC: You guys definitely have a very unique style. We are all really enjoying it here at lowlight. What would you describe it as?

Jamie: We call it push button rock. It's a bit trip-hop, its a bit rock, its a bit industrial. because we come from such a wide scope of musical influences it ends up as something quite different. we usually just tell people to listen to really get a feel for it.
LC: Where would you say your main influences lie individually?

OE: I've always been attracted to the darker side of music. There's just something of a certain tension that makes a piece seem more brutally honest. Not just with music, but with art, film and everything...
Jamie: As piano and keyboard have always been my main instruments, I have acquired a real taste for the synthetic. I find it even more interesting when used in conjunction with more organic instruments. Because of that i've always listened to a lot of electronically afflicted music like trip hop, breakbeat, and industrial genres etc. I find the hardest thing for most bands to achieve is to find the perfect balance between the two elements.
sasha: Richard "Pistol" Allen and Charlie Watts have always inspired me.

LC: When can we look to see an Il Attire release? What can we expect?

OE: our plans to put out a release were put on hold when we finally woke up and realized we need an outside ear involved in the project. We brought our mess of unorganized tracks to a friend and fellow musician Michael Rainbow. We were lucky enough to catch him when he wasn't neck deep in his band "The Birthday Massacre."
Jamie: I'm actually selling bootleg singles with happy hardcore remixes from the side of the stage at live shows. Other than that.. We are putting out an EP with Rainbow producing, and it should be out by sometime early this year we are hoping. We are currently planning to follow that up with a full length release, but we may turn to drugs and burn out by then.

More of this interview can be found at www.lowlightonline.com .
- Lowlight Magazine


Discography

Il Attire - Don't You Look Pretty EP (May 2006)

Photos

Feeling a bit camera shy

Bio

It's not surprising that the French translation of Il Attire means "to attract". Instead of prying on the cliché of sensuality in music as the seedy underbelly, the band wears its lustful heart on its sleeve while allowing more complex emotions to dwell within the subtext. In doing just this, the band evades the gimmicks of typically sexy music (empty beats,brash lyrics, and constant pining) in exchange for clever wordplay, a genuine lucid style, and a hint of vulnerability. Imagine Beth Gibbons being unsuccessfully wooed in the back of a polyester-clad Ford.

Taking kudos from the likes of Sneaker Pimps, Massive Attack and 1990's era U2, Il Attire has constructed alternative grooves that settle into your body. Too infectious to be mellow, there is still a mature ease beneath the most grinding tracks. Hints of random influences such as The Pixies, The Flamingos, and Nine Inch Nails add some unpretentious experimentation to the otherwise trip-hop infused music - along with some tongue-in-cheek.

Il Attire was formed in Toronto in 2001, when "The Bands" were still migrating from gritty New York City clubs to the national airwaves.

Vocalist OE wanted to offer a secondary option to the hipster set, and worked alongside bassist Bryan to create a fuller-sounding alternative. Mark was added to the mix in 2003 on guitar to evolve the line-up into a live act, and OE soon dropped his stint as a live drummer to focus on the acts development full-time. In 2005, after 2 years of recording and live shows to test the strengths and weaknesses of the outfit, Jamie (keyboards) and Sasha (drums) were added to complete the ensemble, and Laurie came on board to replace Bryan on bass in the beginning of 2006.

The complete line-up, as opposed to the early incarnations of Il Attire (then known as Tepid Lust) added an eclectic rock energy to the trip-hop vibe of the band, giving them a distinctive crossover appeal. The band proudly unveiled their 6-track EP “Don’t you look pretty� to a sold out crowd at The Drake Hotel in May 2006, followed by many local showcases and intensive writing for their first LP.

Il Attire will be playing select shows in Canada and the US in the Winter of 2007, before following up with their full-length debut in the Spring of 2007.

For more information on the band, visit: www.myspace.com/ilattire