The song Next Life, which may be the lead-off single from the new album by Niagara Region alternative rockers In My Coma, is a breathtakingly powerful track, full of lush melodies, insistent riffs and an emotional intensity that can`t help but evoke powerful reactions from music fans.
It could also be said to be emblematic of a band that has had its spirits renewed, has a new focus and which has rededicated itself to their sound, their songwriting, their mastery of onstage artistry and themselves as individual musicians.
When the new, as-yet untitled album comes out later this year, it will be the culmination of a true emotional roller coast ride that has seen In My Coma endure the fickle vicissitudes of the music industry, including the blunting of their creative and commercial momentum, the integral addition of a talented fourth member and a Phoenix-like rise to where they are poised to possibly be one of Canada`s next big rock bands.
“It’s a relaunch of sorts for us. And I think that’s why the song Next Life resonates with us so much is that it has multiple meanings for those of us in the band. It’s been a while since our first album [2011s Magnets and Miracles] and we thought at the time we were on our way to something pretty good. But without getting into the whole unpleasant story, it ended up not being what we hoped it would be. We were prevented from really doing anything with the album for about six to nine months and by then it was old and the spark had gone out of things,” said band founder, primary songwriter, guitarist and vocalist Jasper James.
“We put a lot of work into it, but it came across as a false start and all the press leading up to the release was good and people like Alan Cross were talking about it like crazy. There were some great songs on that album including Losing Sleep, and things were building, but then we kind of got halted and we weren’t able to do much. We were all pretty dejected for a while.”
The difficulties were on the business side of their career and did stifle the band for a little while until they could extricate themselves from the situation. Basically starting from scratch James, long-time collaborator and bassist Laura Doll, now joined by drummer Mike Paterson decided to soldier on, working from the ground up to rebuild that which had been unjustifiably and unfairly taken from them.
“It took a lot for us to come back and start building things on our own through sheer power of will. We set up tours on our own and landed a slot opening for Sum 41 a few years ago. And then we really worked on building our fan base through constant touring and building up our social media numbers. We went from about 500 fans on Facebook, mostly made up of immediate family and friends, to nearly 13,000 in a pretty short period of time,” James said.
“And part of what kept us going was having some truly inspiring moments with fans, who were coming out of the woodwork and saying that our songs helped them through a difficult time and that has really helped drive us forward through all of the challenges and darker moments.”
In 2014, the band had one of those moments like a sports team rallying together before the big game. Paterson, James and Doll literally huddled up and decided to begin the process of creating new music where they would expend all of their resources, talent, energy and effort in one, potentially last push for the proverbial brass ring.
“We put our arms around each other and said, ‘you know, if we’re going to do this again, we’re going to put absolutely everything we have into it. We’re going to find the right people to help us and whatever will be, will be.’ And we agreed that we would regret it for the rest of our lives if we didn’t so something. And then we landed the opening slot on some shows for Moist and things started to build from there.”
That was in the fall of 2014, and by that time a few new songs had been written. In My Coma got to know the Moist band and crew and eventually landed a deal with their management company Kharma Management. Moist guitarist and producer Mark Makoway also signed on to produce the new album, and sensing that he had a tiger by the tail, pushed In My Coma, now expanded to four members with the addition of the musically gifted keyboardist Linz Clark, to not just record what was supposed to be an EP but a full album.
“Having Mark and Moist’s management in our corner really helped to cultivate this environment of excitement and passion that can easily fizzle away when you’re an artist struggling to get out there and struggling to get people to listen to you. Bringing them on board just livened up the group so much to the point where, and I don’t know how else to describe it, but there was a rejuvenated excitement amongst the group and that continues to this day,” said James.
“So we did the first seven songs, which is all we planned. We recorded them all and they’re pretty much all mixed and ready to go. Then Mark and I chatted and it was decided that we wanted a full album, so he sent me off to go write some more songs. Next Life was already done and people were really excited about it, saying it was probably going to be our signature song – the defining song of this new In My Coma that we’re trying to develop and grow. So Mark told me to go out and write another Next Life.
“About four weeks ago, I wrote this tune and sent it in to him, and this always happens to me where I don’t think a song is necessarily great but maybe just okay. I sent it in and he Mark writes back saying, ‘dude, you’ve written your next Next Life.’ So we’re working on that one and polishing up a few others.”
James started of life in England, having been born in Guilford, and he was raised on the pop and rock music of the 1980s and 1990s. He and his family moved to Florida as a youth and eventually to Ontario. Interestingly, he has no British accent, not even a hint, saying he lost it in puberty.
“My parents are British and I grew up listening to music that they liked, so that ranged from my dad being a huge Depeche Mode fan, but obvious things like the Rolling Stones too. My mom was a little more on the pop side – Pet Shop Boys and stuff like that. So I grew up listening to a lot of these pop melodies in the car on the way to school. But then you couple that with Nirvana, Soundgarden, The Screaming Trees; all those grunge bands that came out at that young, impressionable age when I was really discovering music,” he said, adding that Doll and Paterson brought their own intriguing influences into the In My Coma mix.
“Laura grew up in the 1990s as well, so had some of the same influences but she picked up on the bands that came a little bit later like Hole. I think for her the idea of a woman like Courtney Love up there and rocking out and acting like a dude appealed to her. Laura loved the idea that women can do what men in rock had been doing for years and years. And I know she became a huge fan of [hole bassist and Canadian] Melissa Auf De Maur. She’s met Melissa a couple of times and even Mark has said that Laura reminded him of Melissa Auf de Maur.
“I think Mike would be Tommy Lee if he could and play in a hard rock band like Motley Crue. He is a big fan of drum driven, riff driven music which you hear a bit in his style of playing. When I write, I program in drums for the demo and try to make it as lifelike to what the recording is going be, but when Mike comes to the table he puts his own spin on it and changes things up a little bit and really drives the song with more energy than what I come up with on my own.”
James and Doll met randomly in a recording studio more than a decade ago, not long after he moved to Ontario. Finding they had a common desire to create original music, and with the same drive, determination and focus to make it happen, the pair went through various lineups, configurations and musical identities before things coalesced into what would become In My Coma.
“We were sort of figuring out what it meant to be in a band and it didn’t really go anywhere but we needed to go through that phase. Then we got serious and realized what our vision would be, so we brought in a couple of members trying to get things started before we even had a name for his new project. But I don’t believe In My Coma really started until Mike joined up. He just had that element that we were missing, and we really jelled both in the studio and on stage,” he said.
In My Coma wrote, recorded and released the first album and then went through all the rigmarole outlined above. Wanting to fill out their sound for the new record, the band cast their nets out looking for a keyboardist who not only had the musical chops, but the right attitude for the ambitious plans that were on the horizon.
“We were changing our approach and changing the way we were writing. Mike, Laura and I would use sample tracks in the background to make some of the keyboard sounds. We had a rule that there would be no vocals or no guitar in the samples though. It made us sound pretty big for a three piece but at the same time it also cramped our style. We were imprisoned by these samples so there was less freedom, less opportunity for individual expression in how we were performing the song. So the suggestion came to find a keyboardist to actually play that stuff live with some emotion, to actually feel moments and bring those moments to life,” James said.
“Bringing Linz into the band allowed us to strip away all of those samples and focus on our playing together as a group and what parts felt genuine to us. It allowed us to capture these new feelings and sounds in the studio, and once that door opened the room it led to seemed endless because now we knew we could replicate anything we did in the studio in a live setting in a more organic way and create something special.”
As artists, James said he and his bandmates continue to grow and progress, unafraid to challenge themselves or even to challenge the music listening public.
“We have matured, there’s no question about it. The thing we don’t like to couple with maturing is loss of creativity. A lot of the time, when you hear bands talking about this maturing process it tends to come with a loss of some of that spark which comes from actually still being a little ignorant as to what is perceived as right and wrong musically. We want to make sure that element is always a part of our music – that almost naïve desire for experimentation – in wanting to create something that is ultimately meaningful to us,” James explained.
As with every aspect of the band since its inception the name took a great deal of thought. James said some may see it as insensitive – making light of a serious medical scenario.
“It was an excruciating process to pick the name for this band. Eventually I came up with In My Coma because what I want to be able to create musically is something that evokes or brings out emotional images – something you can picture or words that paint a story for you. And the reason I went with the name is because a coma takes you into this dreamlike world. When you think of a coma you think of someone that is alive, but someone who is distant, almost like bring in another world. You really don’t know what is happening in their consciousness at the time,” he said.
“And that really leaves the door open to all kinds of philosophical and musical interpretations. So whether it’s a heavier song or a more acoustic song, that name In My Coma offers potential for all kinds of music, and it doesn’t really shut any doors. And we don’t see it as insulting, we see it as almost respectful because we’re fascinated with the idea of still being there and that there’s still hope for anybody who is in that type of situation.
“And the song Next Life also kind of speaks to that too, which is why I think it’s such an important song for us. In one way the lyrics speak of finality, of endings of death, but then there’s the whole underlying aspect that there’s still something more, it’s not over. And with another new song, We Are One, there is a hopeful message that no matter what happens, everyone is in this together, which maybe goes against the way the world seems headed right now, but I think it’s an important message that at least I believe even if others don’t.”
What is believable is that fans having the opportunity to see and hear In My Coma live are in for a treat, with a dynamic show full of passion, drama, emotion, memorable songs, lyrics with haunting, mesmerizing imagery and enough hard rock crunch to satisfy anyone looking for great music with a steely edge.
In My Coma is playing the venerable Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto on Saturday, July 16, followed by Café Dekuf in Ottawa Aug. 4, Petit Campus in Montreal Aug. 5 and The Mansion in Kingston on Aug. 6. For more information, visit www.inmycoma.com or their Facebook page.
* Jim Barber is a veteran award-winning journalist and author based in Napanee, ON, who has been writing about music and musicians for a quarter of a century. Besides his journalistic endeavours, he now works as a communications and marketing specialist. Contact him at jimbarberwritingservices@gmail.com
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