TSUNDIAL

Tsundial, a Teenage Indie Rock band, new to the underground scene in Toronto showcases some incredibly poignant songwriting and musical talent. Young, Loud and Proud, Tsundial knows how to draw a crowd. In their second-ever venue show, this young indie band filled  Tail of The Junction with a vibrant and invasive sound, with songs that get trapped in your head for long after hearing them, impeccable musical talent and a knack for filling a venue with tens of their dancing and singing peers. These talented high school students are a treat to hear live. This band seemingly can draw support from multitudes of their peers, creating seemingly irreplicable energy in the music and those dancing around and moshing. At the time of our interview with Tsundial, the band consisted of 4 members, Meesha, Kasper, Jordi and Isaac, during our interview tsundial welcomed us into their rehearsal space to talk with us and to let us and our readers get to know them and their music better. Without further ado, The very first interview by What Planet is This? Magazine; The incredibly talented local Indie Rock Band, Tsundial.

To begin our interview we simply asked about the band's origins, how they got started and friends they’ve made in the scene. We learnt that they first got into playing venue shows with Just July, another indie band in the Toronto scene. They told us that they started with a small show for their friends, in their rehearsal space, the garage of the house in which we were currently interviewing them, they said they wanted to play venues and eventually Just July offered for them to play a show opening for them. This first show was at Bar Orwell on Dundas West just west of Dufferin Street, we asked how they enjoyed playing their first venue show and they said that while it was an amazing experience and a great show, “I guess the people were moshing in front of the vocal monitors.” This caused the band to have trouble hearing themselves during their set.

Next, we asked about the inspirations behind their music and their music taste in general, Kasper said he likes playing music and that's why he does it. Jordi said he enjoys a lot of older music and has recently been getting into prog rock, even though he feels it's too complicated to play. Misha said that he likes to play a lot of different styles and that he enjoys a lot of music, especially older music, mentioning Nirvana and Sonic Youth. Isaac agrees that he enjoys playing a lot of different types of music “I just kind of play and make whatever.” He also mentions his love of the Australian Rock band, King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard, to which I  reply by sharing my love for the band too. Next, we asked about how their personal music tastes influence their music, the band gave several answers as to the influence of music they enjoy on their music as a band, answers such as how their music taste covers a lot of genres, how they simply enjoy the way the music sounds and how they put some of that sound into what they as a band create, they also mention how they like to experiment with different writing styles inspired by bands they enjoy. Meesha says he likes the feeling of a lot of songs and wants to carry that into what he makes. Isaac mentions that while he enjoys a lot of music, there are some he doesn't try to emulate in his music, reasons such as requiring very specific setups, or a multitude of musicians. He says that however, he does sometimes like to branch out and experiment with other genres and styles of music, he says he writes based on the environment of the band, sharing that this leads to a lot of noise in their music and some improvisation.

When asked what genre they identify with most as a band we received many answers from the band, Indie Rock, Alt Rock, Grunge, Psych Rock. They tell us that their sound is in a way constantly evolving, not wanting to be tied down to a single genre, having gone from metal-based at the beginning, doing some pop and settling at their current indie rock sound, stating that genres are a spectrum and not necessarily binding. Next, we asked if in the future they would like to experiment with or explore different genres of music, they said that there's a lot they'd like to play and that they'd like to continue exploring different styles and genres of music. We asked some questions about Toronto, learning their favourite and least favourite subway stations. Some stations that come up as favourites are Dufferin because of the nice tiling, Castle Frank because they go to school next to the station and for the open area of the subway over the Don Valley, and St. George because it's the nicest of the line 1 and 2 interchange stations. My least favourite stations come up as; Union Station, due to its confusing design, most east-end stations for being far more boring than they need to be, Sherbourne for being gross, and Pape Station, because they never go to Pape. As for Me and Kian, Kian’s favourite subway stations are Dupont and Old Mill, and mine is also Old Mill. We agree that our least favourite station is Christie. We asked about favourite places to eat in the city, and we once again received many answers; Pepper’s Food & Drink off of Lansdowne, Mother’s Dumplings on Spadina, near College, the Korean restaurant Yummy on Bloor near Christie station, Sea Witch Fish and Chips near St. Clair and Bathurst and finally Island Oysters near Bloor and Dufferin.

After this, we asked about their likes and dislikes in the Toronto Scene. They cite that renting out venues for a show can be quite expensive with all ages shows, costing $500 at the lowest. The favourite fruits of Tsundial consist of many different selections: Red Delicious Apples, Granny Smith Apples, Pink Lady and Honeycrisp Apples, aside from apples the band enjoys Pomegranates and Oranges.  The band mentions Jordi’s love of tomatoes, saying that he has often shown up to practice with a tomato in his hand. At this same moment, I pull a tomato out of my bag and begin eating it, to the shock of the band.

Next, I asked about their thoughts on daylight savings time, because it made Kian 40 minutes late to our first interview. They agree with me when I say it's dumb.

For my final four questions, I asked my dear old dad for some support. The first of my dad’s questions was “What direction do you see yourselves, the band and your music headed in the future?”  The band members say that they see themselves heading in different directions, that they know of other groups and people they might be interested in working with, stating that they might take a break in the coming future to further hone their skills and learn more about the music they want to make. They told us that they took a break last summer and revamped their sound with all that they had learnt.

The next question from my father was “Where do you see yourselves in 20 years?” This was a tough question for a band consisting of such young people, two 15-year-olds, a 16-year-old and a 17-year-old. They share their desire to pursue music in their lives and that while not having an issue with being a session musician, they'd rather play in a band.

The third question from Noel (My dad) was “How do you think social media has affected newcomers to the music industry, especially in the underground scene?” The band says it has a huge impact, that they get to advertise so much more and that advertising shows on social media is much more efficient at pulling a crowd than having to put up posters around the city.

My dad’s final question is “Do you believe your music will have or leave an impact on somebody?” The band says that they think an impact is just having people attend their shows and having people enjoy their music. Kian jokingly asks about Isaac’s Che Guevara shirt and asks if he draws any inspiration from him in his music, he sarcastically says that he does so every day, and mentions that Kasper is a communist. I ask what political issues concern them the most, with a band member saying that capitalism is the biggest one, with another member correcting them that capitalism is a societal issue and not a political one. Kian asks them to dig deeper into their dislike of capitalism, “I don't like the way our society is set up. I think that there's too much emphasis on money and consumption, People should just be able to exist.” Another band member brings up that Isaac’s dad was a member of the first band to play the Air Canada Center, By Divine Right.

I ask if the band has any questions about the magazine and they ask about the inspiration behind it. I replied by saying, “I recently started my band, and I was like, ‘Well, this is pretty cool, but it's going to take a while to get off the ground and I want to bring more exposure, more light to the underground community of music in Toronto. So maybe I'll start a magazine to help inspire people and help expose people more to what's happening in the underground. Because unless you're in the loop, it's very difficult to find shows.” The members of Tsundial then asked my band’s name, “A Band Named Dishwasher”, “What do you Play?” “Vocals'', they then asked if Kian was in the band to which he responded by saying “Nah but like, I will be walking with this guy,  Just Swaggin.” 

With that, we concluded our very first interview as What Planet is This? Magazine. Thank you Tsundial for allowing us to interview you and get to know you and your music. Look forward to another interview with Tsundial and their new members in our second issue of the magazine.

By Zachary Lidster, 2023