Ritual Nightclub held a release party for Zoo Legacy’s second EP, City Light Glow, on Sept. 7. The release party was intended to celebrate the band’s determination and commitment to developing their own unique sound, which the band says has been compared to the likes of Kid Cudi, The Weeknd, and M.I.A.
Seen live, the band plays striking guitar riffs that characterize a rock show, but with the addition of passionate rap and smooth vocals, the songs fall easily into the indie-rock and hip-hop genre that can have listeners of either taste grooving to their music.
The quintet consists of former Carleton student Nick Pouponneau on vocals, Mark Milloy on drums, Dominic Goss on guitar, Sam Goss on piano and vocals, and Jake Ting on bass. The addition of synth and heavy rap make Zoo Legacy’s sound a fair balance between indie-rock and hip hop.
Dominic Goss feels that City Light Glow is a definite improvement from their previous EP. “From day one we had an idea of where we wanted to go with City Light Glow,” he said.
“We developed our sound and our direction,” Pouponneau said.
Andrea Desjardins, Carleton alumna and current event promoter, described the band’s sound as “edgy, innovative, and crowd-pleasing.”
The band faced challenges of their own while producing the EP.
“Sam [Goss] was in Kentucky while we were recording, so we had to do correspondence,” Pouponneau said.
With the help of Skype and countless e-mails sent back and forth, the band was able to complete the EP within one year, Dominic said.
Their correspondence by distance continued as the EP was mixed in England by mastering service company Fix your Mix.
While the process was back and forth, arguments were kept to a minimum.
“It’s about getting the music to the best level . . . it’s nothing personal,” Pouponneau said.
“Everyone has such diverse tastes,” Dominic said.
“We work off each other and debate, and [the music] comes pretty naturally,” Pouponneau said.
“There will be people that love hip hop and people that love rock but both will be able to find a common ground and enjoy themselves.”
The unsigned band formed in Ottawa in 2010, and since then have released two EPs.
They have performed around Ottawa, Toronto, and Montreal, and played alongside Lauryn Hill, Classified, and Kardinal Offishall at the Ottawa Bluesfest, something that Milloy described as “mind-blowing.”
“One day hopefully people will one day compare themselves to us cause we’re going in our own direction,” Pouponneau said.
On stage before Zoo Legacy, Fire and Neon favoured the indie-rock genre with strong drums that made their sound very similar to classic rock. However, the use of piano and electric piano made the songs unique and hard to compare to another band or sound. Fire and Neon is a sound you would expect to hear on your local university or college radio with their upbeat mix of rock and pop, with vocals that sound similar to that of Kings of Leon.
Big Dreams Team, a larger rap group from Montreal, produced many of their own beats to their songs. While the members seemed young, their rhymes sounded very mature and developed. Their stage presence was very commanding and had the early crowd very hyped and excited for their own songs and the talent coming up.
When asked for a final comment for Charlatan readers, Pouponneau laughed and gave a supportive response.
“Go Ravens, get another basketball championship like we always do.”
