I Mother Earth
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| I Mother Earth | ||
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 Christian, Brian, Jag & Bruce
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| Background information | ||
| Origin | Peterborough, Ontario, Canada | |
| Genre(s) | Alternative, Rock, Progressive | |
| Years active | 1993–2003 | |
| Label(s) | Universal Music Canada Capitol Records |
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| Members | ||
| Brian Byrne Jagori Tanna Bruce Gordon Christian Tanna Edwin |
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I Mother Earth, or IME, is a Canadian alternative rock band consisting of Brian Byrne (vocals), Bruce Gordon (bass), Christian Tanna (drums), and Jagori Tanna (guitar). The band was at the peak of its popularity in the mid-to-late 1990s, and its members are currently at work on other projects while on a self-described "hiatus". Currently, there is no indication that they will ever regroup.
Contents |
[edit] Beginnings
Brothers Christian and Jagori Tanna (a stage name adopted from their admiration for Carlos Santana) met vocalist Edwin at their shared rehearsal space in Toronto around 1990. Edwin asked the brothers to form a band with him, and the three came together in 1991, taking on the also mono-named Franz as a bass player. The band came up with the name IME, as in "I Am Me", but later decided the letters should stand for something. Jag Tanna plucked I Mother Earth out of the air and insists it has no special meaning. The band, represented by a professionally-recorded five-song demo, played a mere thirteen shows over the next year, and suddenly they were in the middle of a bidding war between labels. They ended up being signed to EMI in Canada, and Capitol for the U.S. and internationally.
[edit] Version One
I Mother Earth headed to Los Angeles in 1992 to record their debut under former Guns N' Roses producer Mike Clink. During these sessions, Franz was fired (see Trivia). He was eventually replaced by Bruce Gordon, whose band Rocktopus was breaking up at that time. With the lineup solidified, the band hit the road in an intensive international tour to support their debut, Dig, in Summer 1993. Considered an anomaly in the "alternative" era and often mistaken for heavy metal, the album combined old-school hard rock with grooves, long jams, psychedelic lyrics, and the Latin-based percussion of Luis Conte and Armando Borg. Dig spawned four singles: "Rain Will Fall" and "Not Quite Sonic", released that year, and "So Gently We Go" and "Levitate", released a year later. All four garnered respectable radio and video airplay in Canada, as well as rotations in the U.S. and Europe. The album itself won a Juno Award in 1994 for Best Hard Rock album, beating out IME's childhood idols Rush for the award. This cemented a long relationship between the two bands, which started with IME opening for Rush the night after the Junos. All told, I Mother Earth's debut ended up a Gold record in Canada and a respected cult item around the world.
After the exhaustive touring ended, the band ended up in different studios in Toronto and Morin Heights, Quebec in 1995. In these studios, they worked on their sophomore effort, co-produced by Jag Tanna and Paul Northfield, who was most noted for producing Rush. Daniel Mansilla replaced Borg on percussion, and became the band's permanent touring percussionist. Alex Lifeson also made a guest appearance (see Trivia section). However, signs of dissension in the band were already showing. For the first time, Edwin revealed to the music press that he had no creative control in the band and that such a situation gave him "no reason to be here" (sic). Still, he remained with IME as they recorded Scenery and Fish, released in Summer 1996. The album, which combined IME's trademark sounds with a slightly softer, radio-friendly approach, was a critical and commercial success. In particular, the singles "One More Astronaut" and "Another Sunday" pushed the band into the commercial elite in Canada, while "Used To Be Alright" and "Raspberry" also made decent showings on radio and video. IME was nominated for a 1997 Juno Award for Group Of The Year. The album itself was nominated for the Best Rock Album Juno, and went Double-Platinum in Canada in its initial run. The band's newfound fame also pushed Dig over the Platinum mark.
[edit] Transition
Around the end of the tour schedule for Scenery and Fish, IME shocked many fans and reporters when it announced that Edwin would be leaving the band. From that point, it was mentioned that Jag Tanna wrote the majority of the band's music (while jamming with his brother and Gordon), that Chris Tanna wrote all of the lyrics, and that Edwin was merely there to sing. This and the usual "musical differences" proved to be sore spots for the vocalist. Citing unmanageable tension, the band "mutually" agreed to part ways with Edwin. The remaining members insisted that they would carry on under the I Mother Earth name, and announced they would be searching for a new lead singer. Edwin fulfilled all his contractual obligations with the band, including the EdgeFest '97 tour, and left in late summer of 1997. IME itself ended up in bitter disputes with both EMI and the band's management (Capitol had inexplicably dropped the band prior), and subsequently broke ties with both.
During this time, the band went through hundreds of demo tapes, all the while maintaining the tour schedule and dealing with the aforementioned business issues. One tape, sent in by Brian Byrne, was instantly thrown in the trash until IME's drum tech, who was in a band called Klaven with Byrne, recommended the singer. IME gave his tape a second listen, and after auditioning Byrne, immediately agreed that he was their new vocalist. However, the band members waited several months to tell him before finally putting an I Mother Earth t-shirt on him in late 1997, symbolizing his having "made the team". David Usher was the one who leaked the word, introducing Byrne to the crowd at a Moist concert in November that year. The "new" IME made its first public performances on Our Lady Peace's Summersault tour in the summer of 1998, and was well-received by the crowds through both old and new material. IME was signed to Universal in 1998.
[edit] Version Two
In late 1998, IME returned to Toronto and reunited with Paul Northfield, who again shared production duties with Jag Tanna on the new sessions. These sessions were chronicled on the internet by Bruce Gordon, long considered the most fan-friendly member of the band. Armando Borg returned in the place of Conte on percussion, though Mansilla remained IME's main percussionist. Geddy Lee was also brought in for a guest appearance (see Trivia). While the Tannas were still in charge, they described the creative process as more "open". The result was Blue Green Orange, released in Summer 1999. It was somewhat of a departure from earlier work, opting for more textured, spacier sounds and less of an emphasis on the band's hard-rock reputation. Still, the lead single, "Summertime In The Void", was a major rock hit in Canada and proved that the band was still commercially viable with a different singer. Subsequent singles "All Awake" and "When Did You Get Back From Mars?" also received solid radio and video airplay, but it was apparent that the band's commercial prime was over. The album's Gold status was seen as a disappointment by many compared to the previous albums. Tanna and Northfield won a Juno in 2000 for Best Recording Engineer, and the album was nominated for Best Album Design, but it received no musical nods.
IME came off the road and in 2001, they settled into their own Toronto studio, The Mother's Hip. However, the new sessions were plagued with problems. Brian Byrne had ruptured his vocal chords and required surgery. Christian Tanna broke his forearm and was unable to play drums. After those injuries healed the band decided to scrap the entire session, which was reportedly filled with radio-friendly material, and start from the beginning. Furthermore, the band was also dealing with the EMI release of Earth, Sky, and Everything In Between, an album of B-Sides and live recordings from the first two albums. The Tannas and Gordon issued a statement insisting the record was unauthorized and was nothing more than a "cash grab". Edwin offered no comment on the album.
IME then got to work on the proper new album in 2002 under David Bottrill (alongside Jag Tanna), taking only a short break to headline the Canadian MTV Campus Invasion Tour, then releasing a song as a preview. The song "Juicy" was pressed as a promo single for the Vin Diesel movie xXx, and despite no push from the label and no video, it received rock radio airplay on its own. It was later included on the Quicksilver Meat Dream, released in Spring 2003. The album was an even larger departure from past works, with industrial elements replacing the Latin percussion (but not Mansilla, who still toured with the band), and a heavier, more progressive sound than ever before. The label was unimpressed with the finished product and demanded radio-friendly singles, so the frustrated band provided some after the fact. "Like The Sun" was another rock-radio hit, but despite its popularity, it failed to sell the record. Due to the dismal sales and arguments with the Tannas over the direction of IME, Universal pulled all support from the band, leaving it to fund small tours and second single "No Coma" on its own. The song failed to be added to rock radio, the video received very limited play, and with that the band decided to end the album's run. Universal officially dropped IME at the end of 2003.
[edit] Epilogue
In November of 2003, I Mother Earth performed a special show in Barrie, Ontario, entitled "Live Off The Floor". Largely considered by those present as their greatest live performance, the intimate, nearly four-hour show featured the band performing in the round of the Georgian College venue, with the crowd on all sides. IME played most of its back catalogue at the show, and it was the band's final performance to date.
As of this writing (July 2005):
- Brian Byrne has embarked on a solo career
- Bruce Gordon is in the current Blue Man Group lineup. He is also playing with both the Funk band Hot Fo' Gandhi and the Garage Jazz band The Tiny Specks
- Jagori Tanna is producing bands such as 'dodger'and Clarknova at 'The Mother's Hip' studio in Toronto with his new label, UpperLeftSide music.
- Christian Tanna has been organizing local Toronto rock/jazz events and is involved with Jagori in UpperLeftSide music in a management role.
[edit] Discography
- So Gently We Go (single) (1994, Capitol)
- Earth, Sky, and Everything In Between (2001, Capitol/EMI)
[edit] Singles
- Rain Will Fall, 1993
- Not Quite Sonic, 1993
- So Gently We Go, 1994
- Levitate, 1994
- One More Astronaut, 1996
- Another Sunday, 1996
- Used To Be Alright, 1997
- Raspberry, 1997
- Summertime in the Void, 1999
- All Awake, 1999
- When Did You Get Back From Mars?, 2000
- Like The Sun, 2003
- No Coma, 2003
[edit] Trivia
- Rudy Leiren (one of Van Halen's guitar techs) contacted Eddie Van Halen when Jagori Tanna was having trouble finding the guitar sound he wanted for the band's debut, Dig. Eddie, after having sent four of his guitars to Jagori, called him on the phone from a golf course to ask if the instruments were okay.
- Guitarist Jagori Tanna, in addition to handling guitar duties, also played bass on Dig. This occurred because the band's former bassist, Franz, had a drug addiction and was fired. Though current bassist Bruce Gordon's name appears in the album booklet, he did not play on the album.
- "No One", the eighth track on Dig, was originally called "Deadman's Caravan". The song was played even before the band was signed to EMI. During the recording of Dig, Christian Tanna re-wrote lyrics and re-named the song.
- On the band's third album, Blue Green Orange, Rush bassist Geddy Lee makes an appearance, playing bass on the sixth track, "Good For Sule". Rush guitar player Alex Lifeson had previously made an appearance on the album Scenery and Fish on the second track "Like a Girl".
- A Dream Theater song, "Just Let Me Breathe", was inspired by I Mother Earth's "Rain Will Fall".
- I Mother Earth plays the theme songs for the MuchMusic TV shows Much on Demand and MuchLOUD.
- I Mother Earth opened the last show of the Rush's Counterparts tour, in Toronto. Rush guitarist, Alex Lifeson,, later asked IME's lead singer, Edwin, to sing the male vocals on his solo project Victor, and it was not long after that Alex performed on I Mother Earth's Scenery and Fish. Other musicians include Bill Bell, Blake Manning, Peter Cardinali, Dalbello, Adrian Zivojinovich (Alex's son) and Les Claypool of Primus (bass on one track).
- Clarknova vocalist Steve Kulba was one of the singers considered as a replacement for Edwin. Jagori Tanna later produced Clarknova's second album, Annexia.
