What do the categories Best Indie Rock and Best Live Acoustic have in common? A Certain Symmetry — the band, not the concept. The Toronto-based five-piece walked away from the third annual Toronto Independent Music Awards (TIMA) with both awards in the bag. The guys are delighted with their wins: "It tells us that the fans are listening and relating to our music," says pianist James Taylor, surrounded by all his bandmates but the drummer, Benjamin Weymouth.
Tony Margani has a laugh while waiting for the rest of the band
Tony Margani, who plays bass and acoustic guitar, describes ACS' sound as "vocal-based
harmony between Ferg and Tony"; the love child of acoustic
and rock. "We're like Simon & Garfunkel in the sense that
we have the harmony and the intimate acoustic sound, but we're
also a full band, which likens us to Cold Play." Winning in
both categories is a clear indication that the audience and
judges agreed with them.
Matt Sherping holds up our photog's now defunct flash while Margani looks on and Fergus Hyde looks out
The TIMAs (held annually in October) was full of ups and downs. "We won our first award before we took the stage for our performance. The follow up and camaraderie backstage were excellent," says Margani. Presented by
SoundProof Head Honchos, Chris Stevenson and Scott Mckean, the award for Best Indie Rock was the first award ACS had ever won.
Their surprise performance after winning the Best Live Acoustic award was followed by some technical difficulties. Fergus Hyde, vocalist and bass player recounts, "At one point, my bass amplifier had stopped working. A gentleman on the sound board helped out by making a quick adjustment. To fill in the time, I just started dancing and everyone thought it was part of the show!"
The guys lounge before the show. (l-r) Margani, Sherping, James Taylor and Hyde
Besides winning two out of the three awards they were nominated for, ACS had a great night. "When it comes right down to it, playing at the TIMAs was a luxury. We've played in much smaller venues with worse conditions. We enjoyed ourselves and had a great time," said Mattieu Sherping (electric guitar).
Sherping and Taylor hang out in the VIP section at the Phoenix
And it only gets better. What's on the horizon for A Certain Symmetry? "This winter we'll be performing many shows, going back to the mixing house, etc.," says Margani. And they certainly aren't ruling out playing at the Junos in the near future. "We enjoy what we do and the sky's the limit!" Surely the elusive Weymouth would agree.
- by Tanya Vaillancourt-King -
