Tina Hassannia
…but with music like the ’90s
The videotape. A plastic box encasing magnetic tape. An obsolete piece of technology. And ultimately, a symbol of the ’80s – a decade in which it was proclaimed to kill the radio star.
The era of the videotape may be over, but its spirit lives on in the Ottawa prog-rock band of the same name. According to guitarist Ryan Patterson, the band picked their name after selecting random words out of a hat. After four months, Videotape was the name that stuck.
“We all grew up in the ’80s,” he explains. “It has some sentimental meaning to us.”
In addition to Patterson, Videotape includes only two other members: Nathan Gara and Adam Saikaley. If their names sound familiar, it’s because of their association with As The Poets Affirm, the Ottawa-based seven-member collective. With only three members this time around, Patterson says the songwriting process is much more focused.
“All seven of us would be in the same room writing from scratch, building different parts and layering,” Patterson describes of ATPA. “With [Videotape], one of us would show up with a song mostly written and we’d go from there.”
Videotape started writing last summer and recorded the results in March. This Friday, the band celebrate the release of their first album, My Favourite Thing, at Zaphod’s.
Videotape may be only a year old, but the band has the admirable quality of already having a signature sound, one that is reminiscent of ’90s progressive rock (which is amusing considering the name). Yet they also avoid
the trap of playing the same song over and over again. The ethereal vocals and catchy melody on Night Lights is nothing like the distorted guitar backdrop in the laidback titular track. Then there are the kicking drums on Smiling Heads, but even in a brisk song like this, the band’s undercurrent is tender, even loving. It conjures images of an audience filled with hand-holding music nerds, swaying side to side. Videotape is sure to be a great show.
Videotape
W/ The Balconies, Hunt Chant
@ Zaphod’s
July 18, 8 p.m.