Talk In Blue
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Talk In Blue

St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada | SELF

St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada | SELF
Band Rock Folk

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"Stage Away Show"

outdoor performance of Talk In Blue playing their song Deep Rest - BrockTV


"Talk in Blue til you're red in the face"

Barrie, Brock University and St. Catharines all have one thing in common - Talk in Blue. Five friends from various musical backgrounds have come together to create one of Niagara's newest, up-and-coming bands.

Friends and members of Talk in Blue from Barrie, ON - Barsin Aghajan and Nathan Heuvingh - have been playing together for years. They started their first band together while they were in high school. The two friends then went on to play in another band while at Brock University. However, neither bands have received the exposure that Talk in Blue has.

"Our first ever band was called Sir Rupert of MacLean and our distinguishing feature was to wear Birkenstocks and blazers to every single show. It was a lame gimmick, but we were in high school, so what can you expect right?" said Heuvingh, the drummer for Talk in Blue.

"I then played in a band that started [while we were] in second-year of University in the St. Catharines area called Help the Houses - also with Barsin. We played a few shows around St. Catharines, an Isaacs Battle of the Bands, but [we played] most [of our shows] at the famed DIY venue, 73."

The three other band members that round out Talk in Blue - Ben Pearson, Dave Allen and Brian Cliffen - all have musical backgrounds of their own, which is one of the aspects that helps create their unique sound.

"[Pearson, Allen, and Cliffen] have also all played in bands and made music in some form. [Allen] played in a band called Gershwyn in high school, [Cliffen] in a solid cover band called Kicked U Out, and [Pearson played] in a few musical projects," said Heuvingh.

In regards to Talk in Blue, it was Brock University and the City of St. Catharines that brought them together.

"We first came together about two years ago while [we were] all attending Brock. We all lived fairly close to each other in off-campus student housing, and met through some mutual friends and musicians," said Heuvingh. "After a few spontaneous jam sessions, we decided to put something together with the five of us. Then we began working on some original material and developing some sort of direction for the band."

Since the conception of Talk in Blue, the group has played roughly 20 shows, including everything from stripped-down acoustic shows, to art festivals and have even performed at venues such as The Mansion House and The Merchant Ale House.

Playing in so many shows has exposed Talk in Blue to some other up-and-coming indie bands, like The Balconies, Forest City Lovers, Sandman Viper Command, Teenage Kicks, Grey Kingdom and Language Arts. Performing with so many different bands has helped strengthen their fan base in the Niagara Region.

"Slowly, but surely, people in the community are starting to recognize us - which feels so good as an indie band who started off in a leaky basement [in a] house on Jacobson Avenue, with little-to-no intentions of ever playing shows at all," said Aghajan, a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist.

"Just the other day we got a comment from a random girl on our Twitter who wasn't even a friend of ours saying '"Masse" by Talk in Blue is officially my new favourite chill-out song, seven minutes and 10 seconds of heaven'."

Gaining exposure and growing as a new band are not the only obstacles Talk in Blue has to overcome. They are all full-time students in University, which can create a need to balance life and music.

"It can be fairly difficult to mix school and playing in a band on top of all the little things you need to do to get ready for the 'real world'," said Heuvingh. "Especially when creating, playing and performing music is significantly more enjoyable than sitting down with a big stack of books and writing a paper on art and philosophy. Don't get me wrong - I do enjoy art and philosophy - but personally, making music feels more natural and gives me a greater sense of accomplishment."

Although the guys in the band understand that school is an important aspect of their future, when they are in the studio, it is all about making great music.

"When I'm in the jam room with the guys, music is the only thing on my mind, everything else seems to disappear when the creative output is turned on," said Aghajan.

Talk in Blue has entered the studio to record their first album, an EP that is being overseen by audio engineer, Giancarlo Feltrin, who works out of a studio at Fourgrounds Media Inc. in St. Catharines.

Talk in Blue is playing with First Rate People and Born Ruffians at L3 Nightclub on Sunday March 27. Tickets are $15 in advance and $18 at the door. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. Check out Talk in Blue at myspace.com/talkinblue. - The Brock Press


"Morning Geography"

"Talk In Blue's debut EP is too good to be free"

Maybe it’s all the sunshine and bright skies from this past week, but I’ve been feeling very upbeat, almost jubilant, as of late. Now, lest you start thinking I’m bipolar and suffering from violent mood swings (because of this post from June) let it be known that my mental fortitude is as solid as granite. Yet, even the dourest of disposition can’t stand the dual-attack charms of summer and good music, so along with all this sunshine, I’ve been indulging in some fine aural pleasures, like St. Catharines’ Talk In Blue.

I don’t remember just who it was that pointed me in the direction of this five-piece, but I do know that it was a wall post by one of my local yokels that tipped me off to their recently released self-titled EP (Bandcamp it). It has become the soundtrack to mornings sitting on the back porch, coffee and paper in hand, birds in flight, sun in shine mode. They sound like a cross between Broken Social Scene and Hey Rosetta! peppered with dashes of Belle and Sebastian. The animated “Scratched Grass” has quickly become a favourite, but there really isn’t a disappointment among the four tracks on Talk In Blue. I love the subtle details, like the barely audible finger-snapping on “Masse”, that make this a very accomplished debut. the more I listen, the more impressed I become.

As mentioned before, the EP is available via Bandcamp on a pay-what-you-can basis, and I urge you to shell out a couple clams for these guys and actually buy a copy. Talk In Blue is too good a record to get for nothing. - Quick Before it Melts


"Talk in Blue Mellow Out In The Soil"

Something interesting is going on in the south–end of St. Catharines. It’s not a kegger, or a beer pong tournament, or even some kind of backyard ‘herb garden.’ Five Brock University students have been taking time away from their studies and school commitments to make some truly beautiful music together. Barsin Aghajan, Ben Pearson, Nathan Heuvingh, Brian Cliffen and Dave Allen are Talk in Blue, a rock group with a penchant for folk, and in some cases a folk group with a soft spot for electric instruments.

The band formed last summer when Pearson met Aghajan and Heuvingh. “We met as neighbours, I was playing in another band (the Jacobson Family Band) with Dave and Brian. While Barsin and Nathan were playing in a different band (Help the Houses). We joined forces with similar interests and similar styles,” begins Pearson.

“Our playing brought us together. We knew we were talented and we just needed someone to facilitate. And Ben did that,” explains Aghajan.

“It was like a dating service for compatible musicians,” adds Heuvingh.

“Ben was our e–Harmony.” laughs Aghajan.

Since the band’s inception they’ve played as both a stripped down folk act and as an electric version: think classic Devendra Banhart with rumblings of a Jeff Tweedy sort of vibe. Their earlier shows found the band reaching out to the arts community and playing gigs during Downtown St. Catharines’ Art City as well as the James Street Night of Art. During this years’ In the Soil Festival the band gets to showcase both sides of Blue. They played a warm folky set during the festival’s launch on Tuesday and plan for a more electric set this Friday. “There’s two things to master with a band, how to play an unplugged set and playing a full electric set,” explains Pearson.

“We’re working on both, we all have different preferences and we kind of met in the middle. Dave and I come from a folkier stripped down background, Brian and Ben were in more electric bands. Amp bands,” muses Aghajan. “We’re aiming now to meet with a happy medium.”

“We want to be dynamic and fit into different atmospheres, express ourselves in the art scene or the music scene,” notes Heuvingh.

At the moment, Talk in Blue’s recorded output has all been done by the band with the exception of their song “Bluebird” that was produced by Jordan Hrycyshyn. “Bluebird” is a sunny number, chock full of foot–stomping drumbeats, frolicking piano lines, lovely melody and just a few short blasts from a melodica. While my personal favourite, is the haunting seven–minute “Masse.” The songs begins with some light droning guitar and finger snaps and never takes time out to breathe. Hushed and whispered vocals intermingle between warped bass sounds and echoey tom beats. The song gets so hot it takes almost two minutes to fade out and then once it finishes you’re ready to hit play again. Pretty impressive stuff, especially when you take into account that “Masse” was self–recorded in a leaky basement. “We say by the end of the summer we want to have an EP, and if I say it in print, it has to happen,” concedes Pearson. “We also want to start meeting a bunch of orchestra players and other friends to collaborate, horns et cetera. We have a lot of big picture stuff where would need a lot of help from other musicians.”

“We want music to really give us a sense of community. We’re really interested in collaborating and hopefully In the Soil gives us the chance to do so,” says Aghajan. “It’s really flattering to be involved with In the Soil – It’s like the bee’s knees of all the arts festivals in St. Catharines. It’s something we fit into more. It’s our demographic and it’s an honour to be a part of it.”

- View Magazine


Discography

Talk in Blue EP (2011)
- CBC Radio 2 - The Signal Podcast
- CKUT
- CJLO
- CFBU - #14 on charts

Photos

Bio

Talk In Blue was conceived in St. Catharines, Ontario by five students tired of the same old sounds coming from their sleepy college town. Aiming to create a more spontaneous, organic niche in the local music scene, stripped-down folk sets soon evolved to incorporate a full-band and more textured sound. Opening for the likes of The Balconies, Forest City Lovers, and Born Ruffians (to name a few), Talk In Blue has performed countless shows to enthusiastic crowds, from small and intimate coffee shops to highly regarded local festivals. Having just recently released their debut self-titled EP to overwhelming positive fanfare (receiving airplay on CBC Radio 2 and campus radio stations CKUT, CJLO and CFBU), the band is poised to embark upon shows around Ontario to expose more eyes and ears to their infectious indie-pop numbers.