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In medias res (band)
Encyclopedia
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Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
band from Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. The band consists of Andrew Lee (lead vocals and guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
), Ash Poon (lead guitar
Lead guitar
Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
), Ryan Flowers (bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
) and Robert Tornroos (drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
). Tornroos replaced the band's original drummer, Steve Watts, after the latter left the band in 2011. After forming in 1999, In Medias Res have released one EP and two full-length albums, Of What Was
Of What Was
Of What Was is the first full-length album by in medias res, an indie rock band from Vancouver, British Columbia. Produced by fellow Vancouver indie act Jonathan Anderson, it was originally self-released on July 8, 2003 and sold out of its initial 1,000 copies within a year and a half. Of What...
(2003) and It Was Warm and Sunny When We First Set Out
It Was Warm and Sunny When We First Set Out
It Was Warm and Sunny When We First Set Out is the second full-length studio album from Vancouver indie rock band In Medias Res. Self-released on January 4, 2011, the 10-track album was initially only available as a digital download. After the band signed with Vancouver label File Under: Music on...
(2011). They have been categorized in the media as alternative
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
, post
Post-rock
Post-rock is a subgenre of rock music characterized by the influence and use of instruments commonly associated with rock, but using rhythms and "guitars as facilitators of timbre and textures" not traditionally found in rock...
and math rock
Math rock
Math rock is a rhythmically complex guitar-based style of experimental rock that emerged in the 1980s and that was very influenced by progressive rock like King Crimson, Frank Zappa, Henry Cow - and 20th century composers such as Steve Reich and John Cage...
, while being stylistically compared to such bands as Pedro the Lion
Pedro the Lion
Pedro the Lion was an indie rock band from Seattle, Washington. Singer-songwriter David Bazan formed the band in 1995 and represented its main creative force, backed by a varying rotation of collaborating musicians. T. W. Walsh is considered to be the sole official band member besides Bazan. In...
, Radiohead
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
and TV on the Radio
TV on the Radio
TV on the Radio is an American art rock band formed in 2001 in Brooklyn, New York, whose music spans numerous diverse genres, from post-punk to electro and free jazz to soul music....
.
Background
Prior to the band's formation, Lee and Poon played with the latter's older brother and another bassist. They won a Battle of the Bands show at Lee's high school, competing against another group that Flowers played in (Lee and Flowers attended the same high school). After Poon's brother left town, Watts joined the band, having known the group's members from summer camp. Playing out of a church basement, In Medias Res formed in 1999. A year later, Flowers replaced the band's original bassist.The band's name, frequently misspelled or mispronounced in the media or for shows, is a literary term
In medias res
In medias res or medias in res is a Latin phrase denoting the literary and artistic narrative technique wherein the relation of a story begins either at the mid-point or at the conclusion, rather than at the beginning In medias res or medias in res (into the middle of things) is a Latin phrase...
that refers to a narrative that begins in the rising action portion of a story; translated from Latin, it means "in the middle of things." Poon has explained that the band "chose the name because the middle is where the real story is, like our music."
During the band's early years, they all lived separately in Richmond, British Columbia
Richmond, British Columbia
Richmond is a coastal city, incorporated in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Part of Metro Vancouver, its neighbouring communities are Vancouver and Burnaby to the north, New Westminster to the east, and Delta to the south, while the Strait of Georgia forms its western border...
, with the exception of Watts, who resided in nearby Surrey
Surrey, British Columbia
Surrey is a city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It is a member municipality of Metro Vancouver, the governing body of the Greater Vancouver Regional District...
. Watts has recalled wanting to quit at one point in the band's beginning stages until they played a show in 2000 with Seattle indie band Pedro the Lion
Pedro the Lion
Pedro the Lion was an indie rock band from Seattle, Washington. Singer-songwriter David Bazan formed the band in 1995 and represented its main creative force, backed by a varying rotation of collaborating musicians. T. W. Walsh is considered to be the sole official band member besides Bazan. In...
, a band they grew up idolizing. Poon has further identified opening for Pedro the Lion as a turning point in the band's career, commenting "It...let us know that we could make this a viable musical endeavor." The show was held at Trinity Western University
Trinity Western University
Trinity Western University is a private, Christian liberal arts university located in Langley, British Columbia, Canada.The school was founded in 1962 as Trinity Junior College, and now enrolls approximately 4000 students and sits on a campus....
, where the band played regularly and subsequently developed much of their early fan base.
Early self-proclaimed musical influences include Pedro the Lion, the Appleseed Cast, and Radiohead
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
, while Lee has cited Scottish poet Robert Burns
Robert Burns
Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide...
as a lyrical inspiration.
Studio releases
After selling out 500 copies of their second EP, Intimacy, In Medias Res independently released Of What WasOf What Was
Of What Was is the first full-length album by in medias res, an indie rock band from Vancouver, British Columbia. Produced by fellow Vancouver indie act Jonathan Anderson, it was originally self-released on July 8, 2003 and sold out of its initial 1,000 copies within a year and a half. Of What...
, their first full-length album, in April 2003 to favourable local reviews. Distributed by Vancouver's Scratch Records, In Medias Res sold out their initial 1,000 copies of the album within a year-and-a-half, before re-releasing it under local label Anniedale Records on May 24, 2005. (By the time of their next full-length release in January 2011, Of What Was sold over 2,000 copies.)
Watts has described the album as a turning point in the band's musical identity, referring to their previous work as more characteristic of their collective stylistic taste in such bands as Pedro the Lion and Radiohead. It was produced by Jonathan Anderson of Jonathan Inc., a fellow Vancouver indie act, who In Medias Res has worked and performed with extensively.
Following their debut LP's re-release under Anniedale, In Medias Res took six years to put forth their next effort, sparking rumours of the band's dissolution during the period in between. Lee later commented on the band's seeming hiatus, stating that they were in "too comfortable" a state that "didn't require [them] to push." He added that "We had to field all kinds of rumours as people wondered if were still together, which didn't help the situation that was brewing internally." In 2006, an article featuring an interview with In Medias Res stated that the band was working on new material. Leading up to their second LP, the band made a new 11-minute track entitled "The Dark Crystal" available for download on Bandcamp.com. Released on December 15, 2010, the band allowed the track to be purchased on a name-your-price basis. "The Dark Crystal" was recorded Mushroom Studios
Mushroom Studios
Mushroom Studios was a music recording facility located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada with a long history in Canadian music. It has now been relocated to Toronto, Ontario, Canada....
(Vancouver) in 2008 and featured cover art re-appropriated from a Norwegian photographer. Watt declared it in an earlier interview as "one of the best pieces [they have] ever written/recorded."
The following month, nearly eight years after the initial release of their first LP, In Medias Res digitally self-released It Was Warm And Sunny When We First Set Out
It Was Warm and Sunny When We First Set Out
It Was Warm and Sunny When We First Set Out is the second full-length studio album from Vancouver indie rock band In Medias Res. Self-released on January 4, 2011, the 10-track album was initially only available as a digital download. After the band signed with Vancouver label File Under: Music on...
on January 4, 2011. The 10-track album was recorded primarily at Mushroom Studios
Mushroom Studios
Mushroom Studios was a music recording facility located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada with a long history in Canadian music. It has now been relocated to Toronto, Ontario, Canada....
and Sapphire Sound in Vancouver, while being produced once more by Jonathan Anderson, who also contributed vocals and instrumentals for the album, as well as Dave Carswell and John Collins. Positively reviewed by local publications, including The Georgia Straight
The Georgia Straight
The Georgia Straight is a free Canadian weekly news and entertainment newspaper published in Vancouver, British Columbia, by the Vancouver Free Press Publishing Corp...
and The Vancouver Sun
The Vancouver Sun
The Vancouver Sun is a daily newspaper first published in the Canadian province of British Columbia on February 12, 1912. The paper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. It is published six days a week, Monday to Saturday...
, the album was categorized as post-rock
Post-rock
Post-rock is a subgenre of rock music characterized by the influence and use of instruments commonly associated with rock, but using rhythms and "guitars as facilitators of timbre and textures" not traditionally found in rock...
, yielding "atypical pop song structures" and stylistic comparisons to Radiohead and Coldplay
Coldplay
Coldplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...
. Tracks "Final Flight of the Bees", "This Could Be The One" and "Tonight I Am New" were consistently singled out by reviewers. On June 23, In Medias Res signed with Vancouver label File Under: Music, facilitating the hard-copy release of It Was Warm and Sunny 18 days later. Several months later, in October 2011, they released a music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for "Hollis", the eighth track on the album.
Live performances and touring
In Medias Res is known for their energetic live performances. After playing a show in a smaller-sized Vancouver venue in February 2011, a concert review declared that the location "could not contain the band's intense sound." Lead guitarist Ash Poon is known to have his eyeglasses fall off of his face, or to inadvertently break his strings as a byproduct of the band's on-stage movement and intensity. Lee's voice has been described in live performances as "broken", yet "emotive". In the years between their first two LPs, they have refined their setlist for acoustic and symphonic arrangements to perform as an alternative to their usual shows. The re-arranged songs, complemented by a violinViolin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
and cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
, are not available on any studio recordings, however.
Aside from playing local venues in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, In Medias Res has toured throughout North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. In the band's early years, they played shows around Western Canada, travelling as far as Winnipeg, Manitoba, on two occasions. In 2005, they embarked on a three-month, North American tour, supporting Of What Wass re-release under Anniedale Records. Spanning from May 21 to July 17, the tour featured 42 dates, including a hometown show at the Pacific Coliseum
Pacific Coliseum
Pacific Coliseum is an indoor arena, at Hastings Park, in Vancouver, British Columbia.Completed in 1968, at the former site of the Pacific National Exhibition, the arena currently holds 16,281, for ice hockey, though capacity at its opening was 15,713....
. After releasing It Was Warm and Sunny under File Under: Music in July 2011, In Medias Res announced a month-long, 12-date Canadian tour, beginning with a show in Vancouver. While the majority of the tour took place in Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, there were dates in Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
and Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
, as well. During a stop in Lethbridge, Alberta, on August 2, the band was featured on Global Lethbridge's Scene and Heard segment. After returning from their tour, Lee and Flowers performed in support of their album on Global BC's Morning News Café on August 22, 2011. They embarked on another tour beginning in November, a month-long, eight-stop circuit in Western Canada
Western Canada
Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces and commonly as the West, is a region of Canada that includes the four provinces west of the province of Ontario.- Provinces :...
and the Northwest United States.
In Medias Res has also participated in such annual summer festivals as the Woodsong Arts and Music Festival in Orcas Island
Orcas Island
Orcas Island is the largest of the San Juan Islands, which are located in the northwestern corner of Washington state in San Juan County, Washington.-History:...
, Washington, and Sled Island
Sled Island
Founded by Zak Pashak in 2007, The Sled Island Music and Arts Festival is an annual independent festival held in over thirty venues in downtown Calgary, Alberta. Sled Island allows many generations of festival goers to gather for four days each year to celebrate the wealth of creative talent that...
in Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
, Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
. They have shared the stage with such notable acts as Pedro the Lion
Pedro the Lion
Pedro the Lion was an indie rock band from Seattle, Washington. Singer-songwriter David Bazan formed the band in 1995 and represented its main creative force, backed by a varying rotation of collaborating musicians. T. W. Walsh is considered to be the sole official band member besides Bazan. In...
/David Bazan
David Bazan
David Bazan is an indie rock singer-songwriter from Seattle, Washington. Bazan was the lead singer and creative force behind the now-defunct band Pedro the Lion and was the lead singer of Headphones, a band he formed out of his interest in synthesizers...
, Stabilo
Stabilo
Stabilo may refer to:* Stabilo , a global maker of writing, highlighting and coloring pens* Stabilo , a Canadian musical group* Stabilo Boss , the self-titled album by Stabilo Boss...
, Damien Jurado
Damien Jurado
Damien Jurado is an American indie rock singer/songwriter from Seattle, Washington. Over the years he has released albums on many labels; today, his primary label is Secretly Canadian.-Music career:...
, Emery
Emery (band)
Emery is an American four-piece post-hardcore band from Rock Hill, South Carolina currently signed to both Tooth & Nail Records and Solid State Records and based in Seattle, Washington. Emery was founded in Rock Hill, South Carolina with the original lineup consisting of Toby Morrell, Devin...
, Deliriou5?, Death From Above 1979
Death from Above 1979
Death from Above 1979 are a Toronto-based Canadian dance-punk/noise rock duo. Their album, You're a Woman, I'm a Machine, was released in late 2004. The band broke up in 2006, but announced a reunion in 2011.-History:...
, Rosie Thomas
Rosie Thomas
Rosie Thomas is an American singer-songwriter, originally from Michigan. It was through mutual friends that she met Trey Many and began playing shows with Velour 100. They recorded one EP together and played a few short tours, where she met Damien Jurado and Pedro the Lion...
, You Say Party! We Say Die!
You Say Party! We Say Die!
You Say Party was a Canadian five piece dance-punk band from Abbotsford, British Columbia. Their album Hit the Floor! was released in September 2005, and the band recently completed their second Canadian tour, an appearance at South by Southwest and a tour of the United States, before touring the...
and Ladyhawk
Ladyhawk (band)
Ladyhawk is a Canadian indie rock band formed on February 27, 2004 from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Their debut album, Ladyhawk was released on June 6, 2006 on Jagjaguwar Records. The lead single on the album was "Dugout", followed by "My Old Jacknife". They are signed to play at the 2008...
.
Personal lives
Providing a background for Lee's lyrics is his education in writing and philosophy, which he received at Capilano College in North Vancouver and Simon Fraser UniversitySimon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University is a Canadian public research university in British Columbia with its main campus on Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby, and satellite campuses in Vancouver and Surrey. The main campus in Burnaby, located from downtown Vancouver, was established in 1965 and has more than 34,000...
in Burnaby, British Columbia
Burnaby, British Columbia
Burnaby is a city in British Columbia, Canada, located immediately to the east of Vancouver. It is the third-largest city in British Columbia by population, surpassed only by nearby Surrey and Vancouver....
. Flowers also attended both Capilano and Simon Fraser, studying film; he has produced short films that have played at the Toronto International Film Festival
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...
. Poon, meanwhile, has worked as a radio producer. After graduating with a Master's in theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
at Regent College
Regent College
Regent College is an international graduate school of Christian Studies, located next to the campus of the University of British Columbia in the University Endowment Lands west of Vancouver, British Columbia, and is an affiliated college of that university....
in Vancouver (on the University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
's campus), Watts left the band following It Was Warm and Sunnys release to further pursue his education in Scotland.
Discography
EP- Demos
- Intimacy (2002)
Full-length
- Of What WasOf What WasOf What Was is the first full-length album by in medias res, an indie rock band from Vancouver, British Columbia. Produced by fellow Vancouver indie act Jonathan Anderson, it was originally self-released on July 8, 2003 and sold out of its initial 1,000 copies within a year and a half. Of What...
(2003)a - It Was Warm and Sunny When We First Set OutIt Was Warm and Sunny When We First Set OutIt Was Warm and Sunny When We First Set Out is the second full-length studio album from Vancouver indie rock band In Medias Res. Self-released on January 4, 2011, the 10-track album was initially only available as a digital download. After the band signed with Vancouver label File Under: Music on...
(2011)b
aSelf-released on July 8, 2003, and re-released under Anniedale Records on May 24, 2005.
bSelf-released digitally on January 4, 2011, and re-released under File Under: Music on June 12, 2011.