Toronto’s Harm & Ease are up for a JUNO in March

TORONTO, Mar. 1, 2023 – It’s no wonder the Toronto-via-Argentina band Harm & Ease named their Juno-nominated 2022 EP “Camino Loco” (Spanish for “Crazy Road”).

In 2010, Rylan Whalen (vocals) and Danny Lopez (guitar/vocals) started this up as an acoustic duo while still in high school in the relatively sterile suburb of Burlington, before relocating to the vibrant arts mecca of Buenos Aires (after Danny’s family moved down there).

They’ve since ricocheted home to T.O. And, now they’re up for Breakthrough Group Of The Year at the JUNO Awards show, March 13 in Edmonton.

“We lived for four or five years in Argentina, and three years back here,” Whalen explains. “To be considered against the heavy hitters means the world to us.”

While in Buenos Aires they busked on the subway trains, before building a band and a sizable indie following – only to see the album they were working on go up in smoke, along with the studio they were recording it in!

“I literally ran back in, grabbed my guitar, that’s all. I forgot to get my shoes,” he recalls, with a laugh.

While they appeared to be SOL, the sympathetic studio owner intervened to get the record recut at another venue – for free.

While in Argentina, Harm & Ease went through several configurations. Whalen and Lopez are now joined by drummer Alex Hamnett (who dates back to their high school days), and bassist/guitarist John Goodblood. While terming themselves an International Modern Rock Band, H&E has some Classic Rock influences, and, of course, what Whalen likes to call “the spice”.

They caught a break when Gianni “Luminati” Nicassio of the Juno-award-winning Burlington group Walk Off The Earth saw their live show and offered to be their manager.

They’ve benefitted from his contacts, and from his ear for harmony.

“That’s been great,” Whalen comments. “He’s a household name, here. Growing up, when we were in high school they were already pretty big.”

“He has helped us write better music…He made us more melodic. (It’s) just the production aspect. We look at the song a little more objectively, more consciously.”

The chic H&E members liken performances to going into battle.

“We try to have a lot of energy on stage,” he explains. “You just put it all out there. It’s a bit of a spectacle.”

They were more than a little surprised when an acoustic version of the song “Cut Me Loose” (recorded live at Toronto’s Trinity Bellwoods Park last July) went viral on TikTok. They rushed it out as a single, and it cracked the Top 10 at Canadian Rock radio.

“It’s funny,” he says. “We had that song for a while. We didn’t know what our next step would be. That was just one song, and overnight it was (being viewed by) 2 million people. Within a week we recorded it and put it out.”

Produced by an all-star crew including Luminati, Socan award winner Tawgs Salter, Justin Koop, Tokyo Speirs, and Mike MacAllistar. “Camino Loco” also includes the dance pop single “Lemonade” (featuring popular singer Fefe Dobson), and the rocky, hooky “Steady Roll”.

Their next single is entitled, “Meet Me At The Riot”.

“We’re going to release an album, probably later on this year,” he adds. “We’re sitting on a ton of music.”

Harm & Ease just opened for ‘70’s hit-makers Trooper at the Biltmore Tavern in Oshawa, and will support The Damned Truth at Montreal’s Theatre Corona on March 3.

by Mike Beggs

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