It’s not every young band that can give Gene Simmons the kiss off, but when Down With Webster said no to his record deal, the Toronto act took their blockbuster status to a new level.
Originally formed for a high school talent competition in the well-heeled Toronto suburb The Beaches, the group honed their talents playing block parties, then small clubs before selling out major T Dot hot spots to a fan base developed largely by word of mouth.
Over the course of a decade, the seven-member team gradually fine-tuned their hip hop act, fostering a reputation to see DWW pegged as a guaranteed money-maker, whose 200-song catalogue allowed them to play for hours, energy stores out-pacing major recording acts.
“We were selling a 1000 tickets with no songs on the radio,” said Tyler Armes, who took it upon himself to play a management role in the group early on.
Now signed by Motown Records—the same label as Michael Jackson—their first EP (issued in 2009) and follow-up full-length album (Oct. 2011) contain a string of hit singles, making their rise to fame seem effortless. From She’s Dope to Rich Girl$, Your Man, and Big Wheels, each DWW hit strikes a unique chord with more spins on radio than seems possible given their overnight rise from obscurity.
But this break-out success story was no accident, according to Armes who says it was well-planned and took significant sacrifice.
“We have a very dedicated, persistent group of guys who put school aside to do this,” Armes explained. “It’s like a small company. It’s perfect.”
Whether on social media or writing songs, the old adage more hands makes light work seems to be key to their success. Behind the scenes they’re busy working every angle—Twitter, Facebook, rewriting old songs—to an extent not possible for a single singer/songwriter or duo.
The approach has them climbing the charts, raking in Juno nominations, a Canadian Radio Music Award for Best Group or Solo Artist and a MuchMusic Video Award for Pop Video of the Year (2010) along the way.
When asked what they’re secret is, it would appear this hard work and persistence pitch comes up time and again, but Armes admits there was a little luck involved as well.
He was in another Toronto indie act, The Midway State, early on in their development and got a look inside the music industry and how it all works. It was enough to give them the motivation and lay-of-the-land needed to see the DWW project through, though getting seven people to turn down university and college, a virtually unheard of decision in their neighbourhood, took some serious confidence and parental placation.
“I think a really big moment for us was in 2006. We released a 13-song CD that we really invested in. We took out a small loan to buy some lights and a backdrop banner, a couple of really small things a lot of young bands don’t do, to match the aesthetic of the major acts,” Armes said.
That business acumen won them management attention which, combined with their ever-growing fan base, ultimately earned them a record deal. (Simmons showed up offering to sign them as his first act on Simmons Records as Motown was drawing up the papers).
Armes said he would like to see the band take on a modern-day Beatles persona, constantly changing and writing about new things and pushing their own boundaries.
“I still think, to this day, the best thing is to really just write about what’s going on in your life. So I’m sure that’s what is going to come out in the future,” he said. “There’s so much more we haven’t seen. There’s no time to be chilling out.”
Musically, the band now meshes easily, having put in the work up front on developing material to an extent only bands like Kings of Leon or Hanson might be able to match.
“Most of the bands we meet on tour, when we tell them when we formed, their jaws kind of drop,” Armes admitted.
“It certainly didn’t happen over night and it wasn’t easy.”
For now, they’re still basking in the glory of having played Toronoto’s Massey Hall with a 10-piece string section and 7-piece horn accompaniment.
Down With Webster plays the Kelowna Community Theatre on Friday, Feb. 24 at 8 p.m. Tickets are available through Select Your Tickets running $35.28.
jsmith@kelownacapnews.com
