The Kents: Making "Waves" On Canada's Indie Scene
By David DeRocco
The band may have started as a high school class project. But with the release of their sophomore EP WITHIN WAVES, THE KENTS are clearly ready to school their Canadian competition on how to make deeply compelling indie rock.
The Kents are a four-piece indie band from Lindsay, Ontario, that has earned some early career milestones. They were featured on Apple Music’s 2016 Rising Stars, Spotify’s Best of 2016 Viral Hits, Hockey Night in Canada, and been named as one of Canada’s Walk of Fame Emerging Artists. They’ve also been aggressive road dogs, sharing the stage with the likes of The Trews, The Strumbellas, Serena Ryder and The Sheepdogs. But the important thing to note about The Kents is that they make good music, and their most recent release is another example. Songs like “From The Start,” “Caroline (I Can’t Explain)”, “Is There Anyone” and “Distant” showcase the band’s penchant for writing intensely personal and emotionally mature lyrics that mesh seamlessly with their lushly textured music.
Their new video for “Low Light” is a typical example. The video features actor Raymond Ablack (seen on Netflix’s Narcos and Degrassi) in an emotional performance that perfectly reflects the song’s haunting storyline.
Says lead singer Warren Frank, “We wanted to have this music video act as an accurate visual for “Low Light.” There is a lot of mystery in these lyrics, but they come from a true story and we wanted to try and capture and portray the experience as simply as we could.”
As any rising indie band knows, writing and recording the music is just a portion of the process involved in achieving success in the Canadian music industry. Marketing your music is equally important, and Frank says that The Kents have been working collaboratively with their publicist team at Listen Harder in Toronto to promote their new EP and its latest video.
“It’s a mix really, a lot of preliminary planning and meeting with our promotional team at Listen Harder. You definitely have goals you’re hoping for and working toward. But there are a lot of meetings. You learn a lot about the business end of things during the process.”
While their 2016 debut EP Waking encapsulated lyrical explorations of family, loss and separation from the comfort of adolescence, their new EP Within Waves sees the band in the midst of a musical transition as members grow and mature with each new experience. For Warren, becoming a touring musicians has helped teach him some very valuable lessons.
“First, you should sleep a lot. A lot of bands want to party all the time. You have to sleep. Next, you can’t eat McDonald’s constantly. A lot of the lessons are based on personal health. Finally, when you’re touring you should go look around the city you’re in. It’s part of the benefits of touring. You might as well enjoy yourself while you’re on the road.”
The Kents perform January 14th at The Casbah in Hamilton and January 18th at The Warehouse in St. Catharines.
