//Jonas Bonetta of Evening Hymns for Little Death Machines.

To put it simply, I adore Jonas Bonnetta. And Im happy to say that it I’m not alone. Bonetta just finished recording the second full length of Evening Hymns a couple days after this interview was finished.

Jonas is extremely talented and the music he has been creating recently with Evening Hymns is spell binding, as captivating as the Cedar of Lebanon. It’s easy to loose yourself in his music and thats the attraction.

So Jonas, whats new with Evening Hymns?
We start making a new record in a few days so I’m gearing up for that. Lots of editing, writing, re-writing, thinking. We’re heading up north to record in a log home near Perth, Ontario so there is a lot of planning as far as gear, people, food, beer, etc. goes. So that is taking up my time.

It seems that right now is a fantastic time to be around Canadian music, it’s gaining momentum and creating a unique identity internationally. Has it always been like this, or has this changed in recent years?
I can’t speak so much on Canadian music gaining momentum historically but I know that when we were over in Europe in September there seemed to be a decent buzz about Canadian music. Canadian folk music seemed like it was in demand, but maybe I just noticed that because of the circle we were running in. We did feel like we were touring there at a good time for the type of music we were playing.

You grew up in rural Ontario, a town called Onoro. I have friends that live within 2 hours from Onoro (Beeton) and swear the town doesn’t exist. What was it like growing up there?
Where the hell is Beeton?!?!?! Growing up in rural Ontario… my upbringing was great. I know that when we were in high school we were bummed sometimes that we didn’t live in town and couldn’t go skateboarding all the time but instead we built forts and walked through creeks poking fish out from under the banks. In retrospect I’m glad for it. It totally shaped who i am now and when I first left the fold and left Orono I was excited to get out but now I’d move back there in a second, or at least would like to down the road when things simmer down a bit for me. It’s funny how that changes. In a lot of ways I think it’s because of losing dad. I find a comfort in going back to all those old things. Or trying to live how he lived. I could go on for days about growing up in Ontario.

Have you been able to visit recently?
I was actually in Orono on the weekend. Ha.. stopped at an antique store and bought 15 double-LP’s of classical music. It was this really beautiful set of all different composers, and two LP’s for each dude. In mint condition, for $.75 each. Like $.75 for each double-LP!!! Pretty happy about that. This was my first time back in Orono since November, when I popped in to have breakfast at the Orono Country Cafe. I miss that town.. I try and get back there every couple months, at least to drive through the downtown.

What else besides Evening Hymns keeps you busy these days?
I guess besides Evening Hymns… I’ve been cross-country skiing, and waiting for more snow to fall. And I’ve been reading a friend’s draft of his new novel. It’s amazing. Chris Eaton, who has a great band called Rock Plaza Central, also happens to be a super-talented writer and he sent me the draft of his next novel, which is a monster read, and so far a really enjoyable one. Wait for it…!!!

Whats Chris’s book like?
Chris’s book is so good man… you should check out his older stuff if you haven’t before. The Grammar Architect and The Inactivist, and he just published an e-book if that’s your jam. The new one is crazy. It’s about all these other Chris Eatons around the world and how all of their worlds intersect. I can’t really explain it. It’s great so far though.

I heard you were the tour manager for Timber Timbre?
I was just tour managing them last year for a month or two before my record came out. I was out of work and it seemed like a good way to get out of town and see some countryside. Taylor and I did our first tours ever together, many moons ago, and now because we’re both so busy we don’t get to hang out as often and so it was just really nice to travel together and catch up. Not to mention that band is untouchable and any opportunity to see them I would jump at so the idea of getting to see TT every night for a month was perfect!

Out of curiosity, you spent a lot of time in the saw mill that your Dad ran. What was the lumber used for after it was sawn?
The milled lumber was used for all sorts of stuff. I mostly did cutting for other people. I had to cut a bunch of wood for a friend of mine who had built a cabin north of Peterborough. That was pretty great. I was cutting floor and roofboards for her and then sleeping in the cabin at night. Really peaceful. The wood I did cut for myself was used on a few different things. We built some fences, sheds, mini-cabins, etc. It was a hobby mostly.

For me it’s home, as hippy and cheesy as that may sound. I grew up on a big property with tons of forest and that’s where I spent all my time. In a lot of ways, running the sawmill wasn’t so much about how many board feet I could cut but more about the smell of the wood, being in the outdoors, and getting exhausted from the manual labour. It’s a pretty hi-tech piece of machinery yet the whole process is very old-fashioned and traditional. I try and find as much of that in everything I do because it’s comforting. Sitting at a computer or working in an office is just gross in comparison. One of these days I’ll man up and move out but for now I will sit at my computer and dream of drinking my coffee on a porch in the woods.

Thanks Jonas.
-Whalebones.
http://www.littledeathmachines.com/homepage/?p=1603

Writer’s block is a common plague of the wordsmith. But small-town Ontario musician Jonas Bonnetta, better known as Evening Hymns, feels blessed by the excruciating experience because it led to the creation of his current album, ‘Spirit Guides.’

Distraught over his father’s lengthy illness — he passed away last February — throughout 2008 the writer’s block was preventing Bonnetta from expressing himself as he usually did, through his music. So his friends stepped in. First, members of Toronto band the Wooden Sky lent him their apartment when they went on tour — with the caveat that he had to present completed songs to them when they returned.

It helped, but not completely. Soon after, Bonnetta was chatting with with Casey Mecija of another “Bellwoods Scene” band, Ohbijou, and he made a bet with her that they would both write new songs.

From that conversation came Mecija’s Ohbijou bandmate James Bunton, who signed on as producer. While recording ‘Spirit Guides’ at an art gallery, Bunton boosted Bonetta’s confidence and helped him find a new, less stripped-down sound as seventeen musician friends chipped in on the album.

“The record turned out to be loud for Evening Hymns,” Bonnetta tells Spinner. “I thought it was going to be this quiet, lush record and instead it became these heavy drums and electric guitars.”

Released late last year, ‘Spirit Guides’ offers beautiful lyrics and music about life, romance and, ultimately, the death of his father. Bonnetta found that speaking metaphorically through nature was the perfect antidote to his writer’s block.

Bonnetta retreated to his cottage for the bulk of the writing on ‘Spirit Guides’ and worries that his future writing might lose that fresh air vibe since he has now moved to downtown Toronto. So he’s very conscious about spending a lot of time in neighborhood parks, the area near his mother’s house in Cobourg, a sawmill he runs part-time in Orono and his cottage at Mazinaw Lake, where he now plans to go for annual writing retreats.

He was excited to go to the cottage to write last month, despite arriving amidst a terrible snowstorm. He managed to write and record a demo of one song, ‘You Could Be a Cabin on the Burn,’ but was forced to go back to Toronto when the power went out. But at least he’s found a cure.

“I isolate myself so I can work,” he says. “I know what I need to do now.”

http://www.spinner.ca/2010/01/28/evening-hymns-beat-writers-block-with-spirit-guides/

At the heart of Evening Hymns is Jonas Bonnetta, a soft-spoken songwriter from rural Ontario. “Spirit Guides”, Bonnetta’s first release under the name Evening Hymns, is a heartbreakingly beautiful record. Its no surprise that not only the blogosphere has caught on to this excellent act, but his praises are sung by more than just dudes with macbooks – look no further than the CBC, who predict that Evening Hymns will “break” in 2010.
[Special thanks to SouthernSouls.ca for the live footage!]

http://www.andpop.com/2010/01/29/evening-hymns-interview-on-side-b-destined-to-break/

Fri, Jan 22 at the Garrison

Local indie label Out of This Spark had a lot to celebrate at their third anniversary. Not only have they put out some great records this year, but they’ve also enjoyed a significant profile boost thanks to the success of Timber Timbre, who helped snag them international distribution through Arts & Crafts. No wonder the gig was sold out well in advance.

And it looks like 2010 is already shaping up nicely. Their first release of the year, Evening Hymns’ Spirit Guides, has garnered rave reviews all around. The band’s moody, intricately arranged tunes translated amazingly well onstage, and were easily the highlight of the night.

Not that the other acts were letdowns. Jenny Omnichord’s quirky one-woman band (featuring inventive use of her namesake instrument) was indisputably charming, and the D’Urber-villes put in an energetic, crowd- pleasing performance. Indie folk band Forest City Lovers sounded a lot less twee at high volume, and the rock power suits them better than you might expect.

At night’s end, remaining audience members were treated to a few songs by an Out of This Spark supergroup made up of members of each band (which makes sense, given how many OOTS bands share members) – a great example of the musical community developing around this label.

http://www.nowtoronto.com/video/story.cfm?content=173463

CD REVIEWS: Evening Hymns: Spirit Guides

Ryan Taylor | Published: 1/12/10

http://media.www.mcgilltribune.com/media/storage/paper234/news/2010/01/12/AE/Cd.Reviews.Evening.Hymns.Spirit.Guides-3852537.shtml