My Psycho Ex

My Psycho Ex
www.myspace.com/mypsychoex

My Psycho Ex - a four piece out of Toronto Canada, formed in September 2005, that brought together three people who were deep in the roots of the Toronto bar industry. Formed by members Joe Kelly (Ottawa-Charleston SC-LA-Dallas), Adrian Toulmin (Oshawa-Toronto), Ryan English (St. Catherines-Vancouver). The diversity of music styles and past lives combined to create a unique, long missed, vibrant sound that could only come from a collision of spirits on a desolate dirt road. In the band’s short career, My Psycho Ex has garnered recognition based on their unique songstress style, undeniable identity and stalling of time with every note played. English’s creativity and soul filled beats lay the foundation for the butterfly turn dragon guitar work of Toulmin and Joe Kelly’s hardwood dashboard vibe. The joyfully apocalyptic vocals that wrap around it all making My Psycho Ex the flagship of feast or fast.

“Timing is everything I guess. I wasn’t looking for a band. The thought of being on stage was the scariest thing I could imagine,” says Joe Kelly of his band My Psycho Ex. “A band was never the plan.” he continues. My Psycho Ex was formed when English, Toulmin and Kelly found themselves jamming on stage at a lock down birthday party in a bar Adrian worked at. “We were all bent up on jager and beer and there was a loose jam going down on stage. At that time being on stage was my biggest fear but I guess my inhibitions were at an all time low, all of a sudden there we were. The music just flowed. I remember looking down at my hands and over at the amp wondering where the beautiful sounds were coming from. I knew English and Adrian separately but they didn’t know each other at all. At the end of the night Adrian put it out there that we should get together and see what we come up with, so we did. Now here we are. Crazy.” My Psycho Ex seems to be a band that’s hard to file. Being compared to acts like, The Clash, Modest Mouse, The Red Hot Chili Peppers even The Kinks shows the diversity of their sound and the fans they are attracting. “We have no guideline or sound we’re chasing. We get together and something happens. We let the music write itself. It’s like the music is in the room before we get there.” Joe explains. My Psycho Ex’s self titled debut release on their own Baby My Records label is just that. A collection of songs with such strong individual personality and depth that no two people are effected the same, while there is something present in each song that is uniquely its own.

They played as a three piece for the first year (two guitars and drums) until recruiting friend and bass player Jay Cianfrini (Rise Electric, Lucas Rossi). “J’s ridiculous. He walked in, plugged in and we are now for real,” says Joe of the addition of J to the band. “Just like that”. Guitar phenom Clifton David offered to produce the album, which proved to be the icing on the cake. “His sense of sound and his intense love affair with it is like no other. He’s like Jimi Hendrix, Rick Rubin, Prince, Columbus, and your Grandmother all mixed in one. He is truly one in a…what’s the biggest number out there?”

They spent three days in Studio 1 of Metal Works Recording Studios in Mississauga laying down the bed tracks for the album. The whole album’s bed tracks including the solos were recorded live off the floor. “We’re not pro musicians so recording it any other way would have been a waste of time. We’re mostly about feel so pulling it off live was ideal for us.” Still, the album took a year to build. Overdubbing vocals, then choosing to keep the scratch vocals for a few of the songs because of their raw feel and conviction. Adding color using flutes, melatrons, grand piano and vocal harmonies have moved these songs from gorgeously crafted tunes to pure gems. From first listen of My Psycho Ex’s self-titled debut there is no question that these four succeeded in creating an album that delivers from cover to cover. And if you think that’s something, just play it again.

My Psycho Ex’s single “Brave” was featured on Vice Magazines December compilation CD which in turn attracted Spafax to license their album for in-flight airplay on thirty five airlines world wide. Not a bad start for a group of guys hanging out at a party one night.