Preview
MAGNETA LANE
Wednesday, January 19th
Underground
Besides having what could be the coolest name in rock ’n’ roll, Lexi Valentine is also a patient person. She politely listens as I ramble on about my latest musical victory – perfecting the song "Greased Lightning" on guitar. I explain to her that I just started to learn how to play and am quite proud of my recent accomplishment. Valentine offers some advice – forget the music books and stick with playing power chords.
Valentine knows what she’s talking about. The 20-year-old Toronto singer and guitarist has been playing music for a little more than a year, and in that short time her band has already been signed to a record label and released an acclaimed EP, The Constant Lover.
Magneta Lane’s debut has been compared to The Kinks, Pretenders and The Velvet Underground, and while those influences can certainly be heard on the record, it’s the band’s combination of femininity and balls-out confidence that has impressed the pants off critics.
"There was never a rock band out there to show what a female really is," Valentine explains. "We just wanted a band that would balance everything – a vulnerability and what a woman is feeling when she’s confident. It’s true women can be catty and super-sweet at the same time. That’s that female personality."
Valentine formed the band right out of high school with her cousin Nadia King (drums) and longtime friend French (bass). They had only played a handful of shows before getting signed to Toronto record label Paper Bag.
"We played this one show and a woman (in the audience) gave me this article and it said something about Canadian women in girl bands and how Toronto lacks female bands," she says. "So I wrote back to the editor – her name was Nicole Cohen (co-publisher of Shameless, the teen feminist magazine) and responded by saying ‘Hey, you say Toronto is lacking of girl rock bands. Well, here’s my rock band and just listen to this.’"
Two weeks later, Cohen’s friend Steven Himmelfarb (owner of Permafrost Records) responded to the letter and volunteered to book a show for the band. They ended up opening for Paper Bag recording artist Uncut. A rep from the label happened to be in the audience that night and immediately signed the band.
"I didn’t know what to expect," she says, laughing. "I thought this must happen a lot. It was a little overwhelming."
The members of Magneta Lane haven’t had much time to contemplate this twist of fate as they begin their first cross-Canada tour. The band is also releasing a music video at the end of this month and putting out a full-length album later this year.
Valentine is careful not to listen to the hype surrounding their success. She understands that, for the most part, the attention directed at the band’s meteoric rise to fame is fleeting. Instead, she chooses to focus her energy on what’s real – the band, writing new songs and getting winter tires for the tour van.
Magneta Lane has been called everything from the next big thing to a novelty act. However, Valentine doesn’t care what people call them as long as they spell their name right.
"When we were starting to play shows, people would list us as ‘Magenta Blane,’" she says, groaning. "I mean, come on – magenta is such a horrible colour." |
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