Blog – Page 2 – Wyntr – Hard Rock from Ottawa

New Release! – Blow At High Dough

Why a cover? Why Blow At High Dough? Fair questions!

As everyone reading this already knows, on October 17th, 2017, we lost Gord Downie. To say that the man was a Canadian icon would be an understatement. Over 11 million of us – nearly a third of the entire population – watched the farewell show at Kingston’s K-Rock Center on August 20, 2016. It was a powerful moment.

So what’s the Wyntr connection? Well, we often bang out little bits of songs we like at our jams, either as warm up or just to goof around. It’s hard to pin down exactly when we started doing this but over time this evolved into us deciding to try doing an actual cover. Just for kicks, we figured it could be fun to do at shows. We established a rule that whatever cover(s) we did would have to be from Canadian bands. Just because.

We had experimented with a Bryan Adams song that turned out pretty cool in the jam room but the hair on the backs of our necks wasn’t exactly standing on end yet. We wanted to try a few more. One day, barely after we’d finished setting up, Lorne just randomly starts tapping on the high-hat and the groove just happened to be right for the bass intro to Blow At High Dough. So I just started playing while Ryan tuned his guitar and by some random fluke of the universe he kicks the tuner off and hits an A chord (to check his tuning) at exactly the point in the intro where the song literally does that…

So we kept going. And going. Ryan making up some of the words he didn’t quite remember, Lorne and I remembering changes literally the measure before they happened. We played the whole song from start to finish without ever having rehearsed it before, just from memory. It was a sign.

We introduced the song into our set to very positive reaction before Covid shut everything down, so we kept the song on the regular set list. There was something about how we played it that we just really, really liked.Some months later we’re at Hillside Audio and we knew we had to record it. It was a (mostly) live take, with Ryan’s insane twist on the guitar solo overdubbed afterwards.We think it came out great. We made it a point to respect the original while still putting a little splash of Wyntr on it. In fact we’d rather call this a tribute to The Tragically Hip than a cover.

Let us know what you think!

New Music! “DOOR” Lyric Video on YouTube!

Our optimism in March may have been a little misplaced – as you all obviously know we were locked down again, this time tighter than before. But that’s not going to keep us from being busy busy busy! The songs we recorded with Cameron Dunn at Hillside Audio were all mixed and mastered during the past month and guess what…THEY’RE READY!

We’re going to let “DOOR” out the door first because we made a really cool video for it. The single is set for a May 7th release on the major streaming platforms, and normally the video would be released on the same day, but were doing something a little different this time…

See, we get that all this waiting and waiting really sucks.Waiting for an end to lockdown, waiting for a vaccine, waiting for an appointment to get the vaccine. It gets old fast. We feel that, and that’s why we’re going to release the video for “DOOR” right away.

Enjoy!

(Cautious) Springtime Optimism?

More of this in the near future? Fingers crossed…

How the heck is everyone? Who’s looking forward to putting the parkas and boots away? Can we get a HELL YEAH!

Looks like we’re in the homestretch with the cold weather and warmer days are finally just around the proverbial corner. But even though spring is in the air, that doesn’t mean Wyntr’s going away anytime soon. With two Covid-safe shows – fingers crossed! – and some time in the studio coming up you might even say it’s a blizzard of activity! (See what we did there? ‘blizzard’ of activity? hehehe…)

So, to kick things off we’ll be recording some new songs – and one surprise – at Hillside Audio this week. It feels like forever since we last recorded and it’s going to be so much fun working with Cam Dunn again in his brand new digs. Did you know he even lets us bring our lamps? Not everyone gets to bring their own lamps, but he makes an exception for us because he just ‘gets’ us like that. If it all goes the way we think it will we should have some new music to show you before summertime hits.

We’re thrilled to be joining Evil Creek and Killed By Karma at the Brass Monkey on Saturday, March 20th. Can we just say we are SO looking forward to getting back on a stage! And then we get to do it again with Sunday Riot Club and Jester Mind in PandaMonium Promotions show at Maverick’s on Saturday, April 10th!

We want to underline that these are Covid-safe shows. Covid safety protocols will be in place, with limited attendance, social distancing, and sanitization norms recommended by Ottawa Public Health in effect. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel but we recognize that we’re not quite there yet and we want everyone to feel safe, healthy and happy. If you can’t make it out, check out the events pages for these shows on our Facebook for live-streaming details.

We really can’t wait to get loud with you all again, and we will. Stay the course. Keep doing the things. Stay safe. Brighter days are coming, and in all the ways that matter.

Beautiful Disaster Available Now!

We had just written this one the last time we were at Hillside Audio. We had plans to release it in conjunction with a gig at some point. When the pandemic made that impossible we just put it aside for what we thought would be a short time until we could get back to playing live gigs. Now that that’s on the horizon, we decided we would just release the song now rather than tie it to a show that may or may not get cancelled due to events out of everyone’s control.

It was inevitable that the events of the past year would play heavily on the themes of the music we were writing, as it was, we think, for most artists. This music is definitely a product of its time. Get it at your favorite platform right now!

Beautiful Disaster
(Lyrics by Ryan Conway, Music by Wyntr © 2021)

Lost in your slumber you miss most of the day 
You are outnumbered, weak and pitiful display
You’re so afraid to be dead 
You’ve lost your life and your head

You wait in lineups for subsistence and pray 
We mask the demons and live life anyway
This song was stuck in my head 
As I lay awake in bed

"It begins so slowly and gradually, it gets to me 
You speak so softly and it lifts me up 
So peacefully..."

Sometimes the world is cruel and strange and pretend 
Watch for the signals as you get near the end
You’re so afraid to be dead 
You’ve lost your life and your head

Have faith in reason, good advice from a friend 
I’m not the devil so no need to offend
This song is stuck in my head 
As I lay awake in bed

We hope you enjoy the song. Please help us spread it around by sharing it on your socials and telling all your friends. We can’t wait to be able to play this one for you real soon!

Peace out 🙂

Ending 2020 On A Positive Note!

Wyntr at The Brass Monkey December 5, 2020

It felt great to be back on stage on Saturday, December 5th at The Brass Monkey in Ottawa. We were joined by our buds in Hard Labour and a new band to the scene – jazz-rock fusion band Finely Tuned Elephant who did not disappoint! These kids are GOOD! Covid-19 restrictions were in effect to keep everyone safe and there was a live stream available for those who didn’t feel comfortable going out or who couldn’t get a ticket once we got the maximum capacity for the club. We want to thank Skotti at the Monkey and Brad at Pandamonium Promotions for all their hard work in making this happen.

We can’t describe what it means for us to be able to do this again. It’s great to have music in the Capital again after having lost a few venues to the lockdowns already, and the Brass Monkey is in real trouble so we were ready to do whatever we could to help out. And we’ll do it again. It’s one thing to claim we’re not essential, and to state that we don’t need bars and music venues – as was heard often and loudly during the lockdown – but we saw the faces, these people were thrilled to be doing something other than Netflix for a change. And the staff at the Monkey was happy to earn a little money right before Christmas.

Music and the arts are essential to our mental well-being and to the health and vibrancy of our communities. It doesn’t take a genius to figure that out. We simply need to imagine what the pandemic lockdown would be like without movies and videos and music…it’s scary just thinking about it. The restaurants, gyms, art galleries and music venues we’re trying to help employ real human beings who have as much right to earn a living as anyone else. No one is un-essential.

It’s important to point out that our support for these fine people and places does not in any way put us at odds with the prevailing guidelines issued by Ottawa Public Health. We believe strongly in the protective measures suggested by those who really do know best, just as we have faith in the amazing music fans in the community to understand and respect them. We all know that if we want shows like these to keep happening we each have to do our part.

We’ll be back at the Brass Monkey on January 9th with Waste Deep and Sunday Riot Club and we hope some of you can make it out, and if you can’t make it out or have COVID concerns, this one will also be live-streamed. We’ve also been working on some new music and we plan to have another single released right around the show date so be on the lookout for that on our Facebook and Instagram!

Better days are coming friends, better days are coming.

As always, peace out.

November Is Here – Wyntr is Coming

What a month. Live venues, along with gyms and restaurants, were put through another challenging lockdown and for a few of them it was a challenge they couldn’t meet. We lost the iconic Babylon Nightclub, as well as other long-established businesses. The local music scene could be forgiven for having low hopes for the future of live music in the capital.

But as they say when the going gets tough the tough get going and we want to send out a massive THANK YOU to Scott Ruffo, Michael Wood and their entire team at OpenSafe Ottawa. Not because they took on the mantle of leading the movement to save small business in Ottawa (which they did), not because they actually succeeded in opening a dialog with public health officials to discuss a plan to get business open again, safely and responsibly (which they did). We want to thank them for reminding us that there is always hope when we come together for a common and just cause. That was outstanding and inspiring gentlemen. Thank you.

In other news…new music alert!! Our next single ‘Steeples’ will be available on Spotify and Apple Music/iTunes on November 21st. We think you’re gonna love it! We also have a few more surprises in store so make sure you follow us on the socials and subscribe to our YouTube!

We will be back on stage – at Scotti’s Brass Monkey no less! – on December 5th with our buds in Finely Tuned Elephant and Hard Labour! Details will trickle out on Facebook shortly along with an official event page. We can’t tell you how much we’re looking forward to this one. Hope to see a bunch of you there!

Finally, we couldn’t leave without mentioning that Bleed was #1 this week on the Sweet Sunday Sounds chart on Valley FM 89.5 in Canberra, Australia! Yup, you read that right! We’re freaking international! Goes without saying that we’re giddy like little kids at Christmas!

Until next time, stay safe, be kind, and peace out 🙂

Rocktober 2020 update

Wyntr live at Mavericks Bar, downtown Ottawa, September 11, 2020

Hey! How the hell are ya’s!

We finally got a chance to hit a stage again back on September 11th and it felt fantastic! We got the call from our buds at PandaMonium Promotions to join Scepter, Eve of Uprise, and Feed After Midnite for the very first show at the newly renovated Mavericks Bar in downtown Ottawa and we jumped at the chance. There were some interesting challenges to deal with regarding Ottawa Public Health COVID restrictions but Brad Lake and his team worked overtime with the new management at Mavericks and got it all sorted out.

The show went incredibly well and we had an absolute blast! Huge thanks to everyone that came out, you made the evening a total success. We even got bragging rights for being the very first band to play in the re-opened venue – our sound-check was the first live music to flow through the new PA. It’s the little things…

The show was recorded by Cameron Dunn at Hillside Audio, and the recordings sound SO damn good! (It’s Cam, so of course they do). Stay tuned, we might even release a few live tracks from it, just because 🙂

Speaking of recordings, we’ve also been busy with Cam at his Hillside Audio studio recording the bed tracks for our next EP. These are killer tracks and we can’t wait to share them with you. We expect to finish up the vocals over the next few weeks and hopefully have a release ready for the holidays…fingers crossed!

On a side note, our recent single Bleed (available now on Spotify and Apple Music) will be on that EP, and we’ve sent a copy of it to the local radio station that says they support local bands, but so far we’re just getting crickets. SOOO… we have a big ask: we need you all to remind them of their mission, so to speak. Text, email, or phone in your requests for Bleed by Wyntr! We’re not naming names but you all know exactly what to do hehehe…..

Oh…one more thing: We’re ecstatic to be back at the Brass Monkey on October 23rd with our pals in Hard Labour, Feed After Midnite, and Finely Tuned Elephant for PandaMonium Promotions’ COVID SHOW #4. TIckets are available online – just head over to the PandaMonium’s COVID SHOW #4 event page on Facebook and have at it! There is limited seating available due to COVID restrictions so get yours quick! The event will also be live streamed and we’ll have more details on that soon on our Facebook and Instagram pages.

That’s it for now. See you on the 23rd at the Brass Monkey!

The Technology of Bleed

It’s 2020, and in order to get noticed in today’s busy digital world, you have to go high-tech. It isn’t always easy and not everyone just ‘gets’ this stuff, so we’re here to help. Check out this cool video where Bob explains some of the technology behind our new single ‘Bleed’ – available on all the digital platforms on August 13th!

“We use, like, technology…”

But what’s the song called?

How the heck is everyone doing? We hope the last few COVID-19 flavoured months haven’t got you too down. Tis really sucks, we know, but we all do what we can and hope for a positive outcome sooner rather than later.

We’ve been really busy during this time (not really), making sure we stayed productive by finding creative ways to work around lockdown (we were bored). The upside is that we can (finally) tell you that we have a new single coming! We’re shooting for a mid-August release on the Spotifys and who knows, maybe a show not too long after that? Keep your fingers crossed…not saying something might be in the works but something might be in the works 😉

Meanwhile make sure you watch Ryan’s PSA from the wilderness…

“But it was Lorne’s fault.”

New Videos on the way!

Just before the COVID-19 outbreak we were fortunate to have worked with Jessy Dwyer and his team at Beyond the Pit Productions to make not one but two videos. Jessy filmed us doing a live play through of Toilet in the studio at Hillside Audio, and later at a BTP-organized show at Babylon Nightclub he captured us playing a new song from our next album called Bleed.

Both videos are in final editing now and we hope to make them available soon. We also have a couple of fan vids from the Babylon show that actually sound pretty good despite cell phone audio and we’ll probably include those too, so keep an eye out!

Finally, all these new vids will appear on a brand new YouTube channel we’re in the process of tweaking. Stay tuned for that announcement!

Peace out everyone, and don’t forget to wash your hands.