Vancouver alt-rock troupe ready to bring party mix-tape vibes to stage
Charlie Kerr has two rules for art: it must come from the heart and shouldn't repeat.
It's these cornerstones that contribute to Hotel Mira's terminally unique sound and emotional lyrics - both badges of honour for the vocalist of the Vancouver-based quartet.
However, the band's transition from a garage sound to a lusher landscape has been a Catch-22, with promotors often wondering what bill to place them on.
"We can turn it up and play with a hardcore band or turn it down and play with a pop band. We just love playing live," Kerr said ahead of the band's 'I Am Not Myself' cross-Canada tour landing in Kelowna on Jan. 20 at Revelry Food + Music Hub.
The tour comes behind the September album release of the same name. That album has included a pair of top 20 alt rock radio hits in Canada: Fever Pitch and Dancing With The Moonlight.
The album has been praised for its emotionally charged lyrics. Kerr said the band workshopped about 60 songs, recorded 17 and cut that down to 12 to piece it all together.
The result is a record Kerr describes as sounding like a party mixtape.
"I grew up as the younger brother and I’d go to my older brother’s friends parties and they’d be playing amazing music and it didn’t really matter what genre fed into the next song," he said. "It would be Modest Mouse into Daft Punk, into Montreal, into MGMT, into Led Zeppelin."
The band has become known for energetic and engaging live performances and Kerr points to simply getting out what you put into a show.
While he consciously wanted to avoid sounding too bohemian, Kerr acknowledged an exchange of energy that flows between the audience and the band during performances.
"I feel so happy to do this thing that is a combination of entertainment and story telling," he said. "There is nothing quite like stripping myself bare on stage and explaining a time I didn’t think I was going to get out of, and then I have hundreds of people reflecting that same moment to me and the consensus is that we are all going to make it."
Revelers can anticipate a show with tracks from I Am Not Myself, rounded out with some deep cuts and fan favourites from their first full-length album Perfectionism.
"We are just trying to craft a set list no one gets bored of," Kerr shared, aware many fans have already attended four or five of gigs. His goal is to keep the show fresh and invigorating, even for their most loyal followers.
Hotel Mira will have support from Vancouver al-rockers Fake Shark, as well as homegrown talent, Windmills.
