Music
Press
Radio Interview & Performance December 4th 2008 - 95.3FM Crave
Radio Interview & Performance December 12th 2008 - 99.9 SUN FM
July 2008
Lana Michelin
Fortune has smiled on The Latency in a real Hollywood-style band-makes-good kind of way.
Brandon Lehti, the lead singer of what started out as a high school rock band, was in a songwriting club at his Garibaldi Secondary School in Maple Ridge, B.C.
When bassist Tommy (Mac) MacDonald of the Juno-nominated group Hedley was invited to speak to club members, Lehti seized the moment and asked him to take a look at his lyrics.
Lehti said Mac liked them so much, he agreed to come see his fledgling band perform.
And now Mac manages The Latency, and the group is opening for Hedley during a tour of B.C. and Alberta. The bands perform a sold-out concert at Red Deer’s Memorial Centre on Sunday, July 13.
“It’s absolutely insane,” said Lehti of his abrupt thrust into the spotlight.
At a time when only a 10-second clip of The Latency’s material is available on the Internet (the first EP, Chomp, is due out sometime in July), the group’s website contains enthusiastic responses from teenagers as far away as New Brunswick.
Lehti and the group’s other musicians — lead guitarist Ryan Stead, bassist Matthew Gendron and drummer Jonny Wiebe — have already performed to screaming throngs at Maple Ridge-area venues.
“It’s probably the coolest feeling in the world to watch people in the audience singing along to lyrics you’ve written,” said Lehti.
“When I see words I’ve written at three o’clock in the morning on my couch being mouthed by people I don’t even know, it’s mind-blowing,” added the 18-year-old singer/guitarist.
Touring as a professional rocker can be mind-blowing in other ways. And Lehti said his mother is a little worried about some of those infamous ways.
“My mom, for sure, is nervous, but she trusts me. She knows I have an OK head on my shoulders, and I’m not into all those crazy things. I’m only here for the music.”
Lehti said he was initially inspired to write song lyrics to deal with his parents splitting up when he was a kid.
“It was sort of like personal therapy. It’s a good vent.”
Now he writes about not-so-heavy topics, such as blowing off your home town in a bid for independence, the theme of his song Breathe.
Lehti believes most adolescents will relate to his song Kids, about breaking away from other people’s expectations and finding the courage to become your own person.
“I was always the quiet one” in high school, said Lehti.
And now he plays with a rock band.
The Latency opens for Hedley at a sold-out concert at Red Deer’s Memorial Centre on Sunday, July 13. - The Red deer Advocate
August 2007
Sophia Kim
If you happen to be sitting down when you start listening to the song "Your Time’s Been Up For a While Now," you’ll probably be up within seconds banging your head, swinging your hair, and shredding your air bass-guitar. This is what it’s like listening to The Latency, and despite the literal meaning of their name, their talent and their energy is as obvious as a dozen spotlights.
“We get a lot of people that, we’ll tell them our name and then we’ll tell them what we think it means and they’ll be like, ‘No, it actually means this,’” says vocalist and drummer Brandon Lehti. The band’s name is based on the word ‘latent,’ which bassist Matthew Gendron explains is “to be present but not physically active.”
Formed in Maple Ridge in March of 2006 from the remains of two earlier bands, Lehti, Gendron and Ryan Stead (guitar, vocals) all agree that The Latency isn’t a band you can easily categorize. “We’re heavy, but melodic!” Stead exclaims.
Influenced by artists such as Alexisonfire, Dallas Green, Underoath, Savage Garden, Hanson and pop music in general, The Latency’s songs are mostly about what’s happening to them in their everyday lives. It is impressive that The Latency uses screamo to complement the songs so well that even an apathetic fan of screamo, like myself, can fall in love with their music.
This local band isn’t all screamo though. “I think the best word for me so far is “alternative.” I really wouldn’t say we’re just screamo, and I wouldn’t say that we’re just rock either.” says Lehti, “Whatever you think when you hear the songs, that’s what we are.”
Latency’s EP, produced by Don McLeod of SASS (Student Alliance of Singer-Songwriters) and Tommy Mac, bassist in Hedley, is scheduled to be released this fall.
Their space: www.myspace.com/thelatency - YouThink Magazine
Radio Interview & Performance July 2008 - 97.5 The River
TV Interview & Performance July 2008 - CFJC Midday News
Radio Interview & Performance July 2008 - 101.3 KOOL FM Bonnyville
Discography
ALBUMS:
Self-Titled Album (2009)
"CHOMP!!" EP (2008)
SINGLES:
Tonight, I Love You
Kids
All You Wanted
Fork in the Road
MUSIC VIDEOS:
Tonight, I Love You - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zba2QQM-nqs
Kids - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoEZV76ENI4
Fork In The Road - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL2-c4IUuZk
Singles are in rotation on the following radio & TV stations:
Much Music
Much More Music
Shaw TV
CKZZ-FM - Vancouver
CHUM-FM - Toronto
CJMG-FM - Penticton
CHSU-FM - Kelowna
CICF-FM - Vernon
CHBN-FM - Edmonton
CJCH-FM - Halifax
CKCW-FM - Moncton
CFBT-FM - Vancouver
CFHK-FM - London
CIOO-FM - Halifax
CKIX-FM - St. John
CKMM-FM - Winnipeg
S085-FM - Sirius Satellite Radio
Photos
Bio
The Latency is the newest breed of band that will make you stand up and notice with blistering riffs and soaring pop-infused melodies. Hailing from Maple Ridge BC, the Latency is Brandon Lehti (vocals/guitar), Ryan Stead (guitar/vocals), Mathew Gendron (bass/vocals) and Jonny Wiebe (drums/vocals). They formed five years ago when Ryan Stead and Mathew Gendron met Brandon Lehti at a local show that featured each of their respective bands on the bill. Jonny is the newest member.
With their recent success, they have been #1 on MuchMusic, sold out the CD pressing of their debut EP, CHOMP!!, attracted thousands of fans to their MySpace and Facebook pages, and, most remarkably, they've already hit the top 30 of Billboard's Hot AC chart — all before actually releasing an official single. Not bad for a bunch of guys who are only just now approached the legal drinking age.
The Latency can pretty much thank the industriousness of their fans for all of this. It was fans who called in to Vancouver, B.C. radio station Virgin 95.3 FM to request they start playing the band. The station called their bluff, cherry-picked the single "Tonight, I Love You" from the band's MySpace page to play, and the rest, as they say, was history. It wasn't long before CHUM FM Toronto, Sirius Satellite Radio and a dozen other radio stations followed suit. When the band put together the video for "Tonight, I Love You," those same fans pushed The Latency to the top on Much Music's top rated Much On Demand countdown as well.
For their part, the band are just thankful for the support they've had so far.
"It's hard to believe," says an appreciative Brandon Lehti. "It's weird. I totally understand it, though, because there are so many bands that I feel the exact same way about. That it's happening to our band — it's amazing and I feel blessed."
Their self-titled 12-song full-length debut was produced by Tommy Mac from Hedley. Released on September 8 through MapleMusic/Universal, the album sounds both completely familiar and uniquely their own. Formative years spent immersed in the west coast all-ages scene means the band know how to throw down the rock, like on the hard-edged "How's It Feel?" or the spiky, Alexisonfire-ish guitar line in "Away." Meanwhile, a studied appreciation for the Goo Goo Dolls and Switchfoot means they know how to back that up with "Still In Love," the sort of ballad which could easily close out a high school dance. The result is a package that distills the best parts of Jimmy Eat World, Foo Fighters and City And Colour into one bold, new force.
If "Tonight, I Love You" was The Latency's coming out party, second single "Kids" is the song that will make them an institution. It's an undeniable call-to-arms with a we're-all-in-this-together chorus that demands singing along to. The song's appeal is pretty simple, says the band.
"It's exactly what it sounds like," says Ryan Stead. "It's by the kids, for the kids. I think our audience will appreciate it because we're coming from the same place as them."
The band isn’t shy about tackling the tougher subjects, either. "Fork In The Road" is about 13-year-old Angie Williams, who went to school with the band and passed away in May 2008 from cancer.
"That song means a lot to us," says Stead. "It's hard to imagine something like that happening. You don't really believe it's real. We felt it was pretty important to say something."
The core of The Latency's songs are generally about different matters of the heart, though.
"They're about relationships," says Lehti. "Relationships and girls. That's the easiest thing for me to write about. And I can try to write about other things but that's always what it usually comes back to — songs about love. It's what makes the world go around."
Next for the band is to actually get out into the world. They've owned high-profile gigs with State Of Shock and Hedley, as well as a wildly successful showcase date at Canadian Music Week 2009, but for all their success so far, the band are only just beginning their rock 'n' roll adventure.
"We love hitting the stage," says Stead. "We can't wait to get out there, to meet our fans and play in front of people."
And we're betting the people can't wait to see them.
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