Educate Your Ears: For Esmé

Fronted by Martha Meredith, Dave Thiel, and Nathan Crook, For Esmé seeks to explore the underlying issues affecting an image-conscious generation, embracing beauty while provoking an honest exchange of identity and inner voice. A rare mix of confession and confection, the songs of For Esmé speak a language that is more than just a melody. Theirs is music for this moment, rising up in determination from the downward spiral of the times. Smothered in 80s synths and pulsating percussion, For Esmé hold a perfect hypnotic sound for this summer – KALTBLUT spoke to the synth-pop trio recently to find out just what they have planned for theirs!

KALTBLUT: Who are For Esmé?

For Esmé: For Esmé is Dave Thiel on bass and electronic soundscapes, Nathan Crook on guitar and back up vocals, and myself, Martha Meredith, on vocals, drum machine and synth. We hail form Dryden, Minnedosa and Peterborough respectively but we’re all feeling pretty at home in Toronto these days.

KALTBLUT: How did you all meet? Do you have similar musical backgrounds?

For Esmé: I met Nathan when he first moved to Toronto. He was in a much heavier project called Take With Audio but we hit it off right away and when I was in search of a guitarist he was a pretty obvious choice. Dave and Nate went to school together in Brandon Manitoba and when we found ourselves in desperate need of a bass player to fill in for a few shows Nate said he knew just the guy. That guy turned out to be great… and he seemed to think we were pretty okay too because after our 3rd show together, in Montreal where he was living at the time, he just packed all his stuff into the van and moved to Toronto to become a permanent fixture in the band.

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KALTBLUT: What is your approach to creating your own music? 
For Esmé: The songs begin in my little office/studio. I like to write alone so I can be totally uninhibited and free with my feelings and ideas. Once I have a song that feels pretty ‘fully formed’ to me, I bring it to Dave and Nathan. They are the best at challenging my ideas and finding the weaknesses. Dave adds richness and depth to the production and mixing side, whereas Nathan is really the theory head who focuses on accessibility. As you can hear in any of our songs, the bass and the guitar are transformative elements in our music. The grooving bass lines and euphoric guitar is what takes what I make to the next level. The final step for us is our beloved friend and producer James Bunton… who challenges again all the decisions we’ve made and always help us take those ideas to the next level. He is a master of creating space, depth and intensity… as well as making people want to dance.
KALTBLUT: You describe yourself as “electro organic pop”, what exactly is this? 
For Esmé: The reason for the electro-organic title is because we’re trying to fuse these two worlds. We love the energy and excitement of DJ sets and electronic music, but we love real intricate instrumentation and playing just as much or more. Our music has a lot of electronic elements that come out of the computer, but when the three of us are on stage we’re all playing instruments too. These songs have all been put to the test of acoustic guitar and piano before they were finalized as dance tracks.
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KALTBLUT: I love your video for ‘You’! I hope you actually had permission to film in that school at night.. 
For Esmé: We were very lucky to get permission to shoot in my old boarding school. It was such a trip to be back there and shooting a music video in the halls until 3 in the morning.
KALTBLUT: Is this single on the forthcoming album? If so, when will it be released? 
For Esmé: Our new record, ‘Sugar’ is coming out in September and we’re very excited to share more of it soon!
KALTBLUT: Have you played somewhere recently that really stood out to you? 
For Esmé: We played the Horseshoe the week before last for NXNE and it felt pretty surreal. It was our first NXNE and our first time playing the shoe, and Nathan and I had seen the Pixies play there only a week and a half before. We were freaking out during that show! So two weeks later on the stage ourselves felt really good. I’ve seen so many amazing bands play their first Toronto shows there too… that venue has a special place in my own Toronto history.
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KALTBLUT: Where would you love to take your music? 
For Esmé: I love to travel, so I want to take this project as far and wide on tour as possible. Our ultimate dreams are to play Iceland Airwaves, and then Bonnaroo. We’d also really like to tour in Europe.
KALTBLUT: Who would be the ultimate person to collaborate with? 
For Esmé: Hard to choose between Annie Clark and Dan Snaith at the moment. Or Kevin Parker! I want to collaborate with everyone.
KALTBLUT: Are you touring at the moment? 
For Esmé: We are doing a slew of summer shows! Montreal and then the inaugural Wayhome Music & Arts festival that we’re really exceptionally excited about. Then we’re looking forward to Rock The Coliseum and Arboretum before our official album launch in September.
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KALTBLUT: What is next? 
For Esmé: We’ve got so much to do and to share. We want to make videos for each of the 8 songs on the record, and we’re currently working on exciting visual collaboration with local Toronto artist Philippe Blanchard. There’s tons of exciting stuff in the works!