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5 Questions With Familiar Strangers

Familiar Strangers Familiar Strangers (Ryan Peters, Josh Gladstone and Daniel Draper) put on a great show Sunday night at Drums N Flats. Their set list included original songs like Bar in Seattle, as well as covers of Avicii’s Wake Me Up, Barenaked Ladies’ Pinch Me and The Lumineers’ Ho Hey.

Which band do you want to reunite this year?

Ryan: Groove Street

Josh: On The Rocks

Daniel: Dispatch

Who would you like to see win big at the Grammys?

Ryan: Taylor Swift

Josh: Mumford and Sons

Daniel: Daft Punk or Robin Thicke

Do you think music videos are still important?

Ryan: Videos are a good way to get to know the band’s personality. OK Go have a really cool music video with them walking on a treadmill, which showed off their quirkiness. I think [music videos] are still important.

Josh: I think we’re in an age of visual people because of YouTube etc., so if people want to get famous, they have to go down that route, or else they won’t have a presence. But in my opinion, music should always be primary.

Daniel: I don’t think they help artists sell music, but they’re good for artists that want to make a statement. I like Lupe Fiasco and Macklemore because they recently came out with some interesting videos. What Beyoncé did by putting out a video for each song was incredibly unique and made a statement. They’re not just dancing videos; they’re telling stories.

January 20, 2014 by Sarah Prince

Behind The Band: Familiar Strangers

After studying at different Canadian universities, Ryan Peters, Josh Gladstone and Daniel Draper are reuniting to perform old favourites at an acoustic show. To call Sunday night a reunion would be an understatement because some of their high school friends haven’t seen each other in over four years. The low-key concert (promoted through a Facebook event) will offer a chance for Familiar Strangers’ fans to reconnect over drinks at an uptown bar in Toronto.

In honour of #FlashbackFriday, here are some exclusive insights about Familiar Strangers’ music and the band’s aspirations. Consider this a commercial-free digital spin-off of E! True Hollywood Story and enjoy.

Ryan (piano and vocals) plans to become a teacher, so he’s studying education at U of T and Daniel (guitar) is travelling for eight months before moving to Calgary for a consulting job. Meanwhile, Josh (guitar, cello, recorder and oboe) is a Project Specialist in Bell’s rotational program for new graduates.

Ryan Peters (2011)

Daniel Draper (2011)

Daniel Draper & Josh Gladstone (2006)

Growing up, they enjoyed playing music at summer camp. “We wrote a couple Familiar Strangers songs by the campfire,” explains Josh. Likewise, Daniel’s counsellors influenced his taste in music and they introduced him to some of the tracks he plays on repeat today.

In high school, they liked listening to Billy Joel, Dave Matthews Band and John Mayer. Back in the day, Daniel sent Ryan music via MSN Messenger, but now that’s merely something they’re nostalgic about. Ryan mainly listens to Top 40 and show tunes, “as nerdy as that makes me.” Josh discovers new music through streaming apps like 8tracks, as well as satellite radio. If you subscribe to SiriusXM, Josh recommends listening to The Pulse and The Blend. He’s also a huge fan of Mumford and Sons. “Opening for Mumford and Sons in front of a big crowd at the Molson Amphitheatre is the dream.”

If their dreams come true, then Familiar Strangers’ music will be featured on primetime TV. Ryan believes their “music would take any HBO show to the next level.” If a Game of Thrones producer includes their music in an upcoming episode, “it would be the greatest thing ever,” adds Josh.

January 17, 2014 by Sarah Prince

Back to School Inspiration

When a teacher encourages students to pursue their passion, their influence deserves to be recognized and shared. The Our Kids Private School Expo blog hop provides a great opportunity to express why my media studies teacher, Alice Trachimovsky’s classes are among my best high school memories.

Once I saw how Mrs. T handled a group of immature boys while substituting for one of my grade ten classes, I knew she was a woman from whom I wanted to learn. The following year in grade eleven, her exciting creative assignments ranged from a shopping mall analysis to a full-fledged public service announcement campaign, for which I learned how to create a teaser. Leading enjoyable discussions is one of her specialties, especially when it comes to Lady Gaga and Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty. Her observational humour always piqued my friends’ interest in how the media industry operates, making it unsurprising that many of my high school classmates study MIT at Western now.

Smaller classes make it easier to form meaningful bonds that promote keeping in touch post-graduation. Three years later, Mrs. T and I still meet for coffee every summer to catch up (most recently at Aroma).

Mrs. T always supported my ambitions to ensure Hot On The Street lived on after its print editions and I’ll never forget when she challenged us to summarize an article in 140 characters.

A magical formula doesn’t move private school students from school A to first choice university B, and then onto dream job C – teachers play a fundamental role in helping students get there.

September 6, 2012 by Sarah Prince

Red Bull Supports Musicians

While Red Bull’s commercials tend to be cheeky with simple colour schemes, their interest in supporting aspiring musicians through innovative partnerships is very clear this summer. First on my radar was the Red Bull Soundstage Facebook contest, thanks to which my friends’ band Of Gentlemen and Cowards will appear on The Late Show with David Letterman in September.

UPDATE: Here’s the clip from Of Gentlmen and Cowards’ September 17 performance:

Then today I learned about an interactive billboard Red Bull created in London, England to promote Jessie Ware, who recorded her latest album at Red Bull Studios. Red Bull invited locals to colour in dots on the billboard until the advertisement was completely visible. Below is the final product:

August 23, 2012 by Sarah Prince

A Name is Not a Number

After re-watching Up in the Air, I realized that it is such a powerful film because it emphasizes how frequently people are undervalued. Corporations need to make cutbacks in order to stay afloat, but rarely have time to give personal attention to their terminated employees. People aren’t numbers, they matter. My high school classmates like to joke about how each of us was another statistic who was accepted to their top choice universities, but beyond that, we are all individuals.

Prom season is upon us again. I wonder how many seniors are ranking their friends on a scale of 1 to 10. I remember everyone whispering to their friends about who looks surprisingly decent in a suit and which girl in a mini dress looks the hottest. Then once everyone uploads their photos, the rating process continues. Some people are taken, others are suddenly higher in demand and majority are scrutinized solely based on appearance.

How I Met Your Mother also effectively portrays how judgmental we all are. One night in McLaren’s, Barney draws the Hot-Crazy scale and explains that hot girls are more likely to be nuts. Maybe that’s why employers become disappointed with their workers – sometimes people are hired based on looks rather than their resume. Regardless of whether they are willing to admit it, Abercrombie stores hire models because sex sells and modelling agencies hire salespeople. Far too many agencies are paying representatives to tell potential clients that they are beautiful in order to make a nice profit. Their intention is that the young and naive will be so satisfied with their boosted ego, that spending over $1000 on a beauty and runway boot camp (which will likely bring them little success) seems like no big deal.

Finally, Up in the Air is really great because it examines how face-to-face communication cannot always be replaced by machines. After accompanying George Clooney’s character across America to tell people they’ve been let go, the optimistic recent grad realizes why telling people ‘it sucks to be you’ shouldn’t be done on a Skype date. Technology is no doubt taking over our lives, but there needs to be a limit.

May 31, 2010 by Sarah