Uncommon synths

>> Waterloo’s Bocce is one of Canada’s
best rock bands, no guitars required

DELIRIOUSLY SERIOUS: Bocce

by RUPERT BOTTENBERG

Always a bridesmaid, never the bride. “Nik [Must], Ben [Ong] and I,” says Bocce’s Tony Salomone, “we’re all keyboard players by trade, and at least Nik and I have been keyboard players in rock bands. It’s strange, because no matter what, you’ll always be the keyboard player in the guitar band. When you go to a venue and they see a guitar, bass and keyboards, the first thing the sound guy does is make sure the guitar and bass come cranking through the P.A. The keyboards are always an afterthought.”

Second-class citizens no longer, the Waterloo, ON quartet—rounded out by drummer Mike Bond who, ironically, founded Bocce as a desktop solo project two years ago—is solidly about the synths, no strings attached (if you’ll excuse the pun).

“We do have this rock background, that’s how we got into music, but Nik and I are more classically trained on keyboards, and the first music I was making, when I was 13, was on a ghetto blaster with a little Yamaha keyboard and a drum machine or something.

“Rock shows have a lot of energy live, and dance shows do too, but I get frustrated when I go to see, say, a guy up there with a laptop. I don’t feel the same connect. The other thing is, you know the traditional image of a guy rockin’ on guitar—we get up there and play synths on stage, there’s still the same energy to it.”

The lazy man’s touchstone here would be the electro-rock of LCD Soundsystem, mirrored in Bocce tracks like “Disco Juan,” a high point on last year’s excellent Hi Birdbear album (on Salomone’s own Dadmobile label), or the cheeky takeoff title “Bahai Cassette Is Playing at My House.” At the same time, when Bocce ease off the dancefloor activation and unfurl one of their more sublime synthesizer jams, like the sparkling “Ping Pong Pixel,” they’re following a line back through New Order to the rich, macroscopic melodies of Krautrockers Harmonia and Tangerine Dream. The final product is among the finest presently happening in Canada, and as serenely beautiful as much of Bocce’s music is, their live shows are exhilarating to the point of absurdity.

“That’s almost a struggle we have. We want to write… I don’t know if it’s the right word, but serious music. The point is, we’re four guys who are pretty relaxed, fun-loving people, and we like our live shows to be a lot of fun for people who are watching. That’s why things sometimes come across a little goofy.”

Who’s complaining? In any case, the shows have allowed Bocce to workshop and road-test material for their next album over the course of the last eight months, reversing Hi Birdbear’s studio-to-stage equation and allowing their crowds to arbitrate the track listing by way of applause and woo-hoos.

“Every single song has been performed live before any work was done in the studio,” says Salomone, “and that’s had a profound effect on the sound. We don’t want to deviate from where we were going with Birdbear, but just from playing them, the songs have more energy.”

With Telefauna, Dance Hall
Free For All and Greenbelt
Collective at My Hero Gallery
on Friday, Oct. 5, 9 p.m.,
all ages, BYOB