Vinyl Heart

A change of heart
September 20, 2010
By Jason Schneider, for NightLife

Tyler Schwende describes himself as a “late bloomer” just because he didn’t start playing music until age 15. In today’s dog-eat-dog music scene that may qualify as a belated start, but now with a decade of experience under his belt, Schwende seems poised to take his career up a notch.
Getting there has required a slight change in direction, the creation of a new group called Vinyl Heart, essentially an amped-up version of his previous Tyler Schwende Band. Vinyl Heart has just released a self-titled EP that contains elements of the last four decades of rock ’n’ roll.
“Vinyl Heart was formed about a year ago because I wanted to be in a project that didn’t have my name on it,” Schwende says. “I wanted to involve the guys that were in my old band and start something where we’re all writing together.”
Getting the other members — guitarist Matt Elder, bassist Rob Hughes, and drummer Tyler Smith — on board wasn’t a problem, Schwende adds.
“Everyone in the band grew up listening to heavier, guitar-driven rock, so it was only natural that it inspired the creation of our sound.
“I did have some new, more rock focused songs written and that was another factor in forming Vinyl Heart — I wanted to go in a different direction musically. The songs definitely came to life once everyone started contributing their ideas on how to improve them. Even though each of us have pretty diverse musical influences, we are all drawn to great pop songs, so we really tried to combine all of our ideas to make a cohesive modern rock sound with pop sensibilities.”
Indeed, Schwende bristles at any suggestion that the band is following any musical path other than its own. Mostly, he says he wanted to get away from his image as an acoustic troubadour. Vinyl Heart’s sound is certainly melodic, but the muscle that the rest of the band provides adds an entirely new dimension.
“I always wanted to be in a rock band opposed to continuing to dabble in the lighter, acoustic side of things,” Schwende says. “The other guys in the band have quite a bit of experience playing in a multitude of different projects from metal to grunge so their past history really helped cultivate the musical direction of Vinyl Heart. In all honesty, I’ve never felt more comfortable than when I’m playing this type of music.”
The band decided to focus on the five songs that comprise the EP, rather than making a full-length album, simply because they felt the shorter blast would be more effective. Now, after playing a handful of out-of-town gigs this summer, Vinyl Heart is ready to establish not only a hometown presence, but a national one as well.
“Our goal right now is just to get our name out there and build a fan base,” Schwende says. “To start, we are planning on doing a Western Canada tour in November and also hoping to get some of our songs on commercial radio. Honestly, we’ve set our goals high. We want to be a full-time touring act. We realize that being in a band nowadays is difficult with so many other quality musicians trying to make it, but this is the only thing we can see ourselves doing.”
- K-W Record, Guelph Mercury