Hinterlandband is an apt moniker for this musical force. An oxymoron ascribed to the region from which the one-man-band author Colin Wylie creates his ‘Podunk dream pop’. To coin the parlance of the bygone ‘Hinterland Who’s Who’ commercials of old, this ‘hinterland man’ is indigenous to the Upper Ottawa Valley (‘the Valley’), Ontario, Canada, a rare and sometimes endangered specimen for this habitat. Where maple syrup and country music flows like its abundant whitewater, as equally uncommon is the music being created within a Methodist church home built in 1892 on the plains of a tucked away farming district in the heart of ‘the Valley.’ Drawing influence from a host of sources, musically speaking, some are - boards of canada, Daniel Lanois, Jonathan Wilson & Elbow to The Stanley Brothers, George Harrison, My Bloody Valentine, Mahalia Jackson, Tom Petty, & The Pixies. Somewhere in between there begins the sound of hinterlandband, who has been said to play a cool slice of cottage pop with shades of ethereal art rock. Music was always a presence in his life, but perhaps his earliest music recollections are of being six years old and asking his mom for a Joan Jett & the Blackhearts cassette(of whom he would open for at CBGBs later in life)in which she obliged, but with a Beatles Greatest Hits cassette. Colin’s earliest music education came from accompanying Pentecostal church services and revivalist tent meetings on the drums to old gospel standards. This may serve to explain the love for harmony, soul, and big arrangements evident in his songs like ‘Intelligent Design’. Into his teenage years, he picked up the guitar, started writing songs, renting four track machines and breaking into his church basement to record them, and putting together bands. Freshly squeezed out of high school, Colin moved to Montreal to begin touring and recording formally with childhood friend and music cohort Jordon Zadorozny in the band known as ‘Blinker the Star’- which quickly became a big signing to A&M Records (US) not three months later. Indeed, at the time, this was a distinction not yet known to too many Canadian indie rock bands, save for Sloan, let alone one from a small town in Eastern Ontario. From headlining in a friends basement to opening for Oasis within a year (and subsequently stealing all their beer while on stage). For the next five years, life became analogous to a view from the back of an econoline tour van with no windows – no stake in its direction and more than a little funky. After touring, recording and a doctorate degree in life’s hard lessons, an inevitable and amicable melt down on the road home from Georgia saw Colin’s departure from this project. Two more years, some musical false starts and a failed relationship in Montreal, QC marked a pivotal turning point in his life. Feeling like an old soul at the ripe old age of 27, Colin returned to the Ottawa Valley and the sancitity of a conventional life to complete a degree from the University of Waterloo, start a family, a new career, he remembered how to play hockey and ride a bike again, fell in love with bluegrass music and picked up his Valley accent where he had left it. However, despite his attempts to shake off music, invariably this was not to be. Initially, armed with a Dictaphone and his first car (an 89’ Honda Prelude), he became inspired by the freedom found in the space and solitude of the Valley, the mystery of discovering nature anew and its soundtrack (the Brian Eno ambient series & the boards of canada catalogue). He continued writing and recording snippets of melodies, songs and lyrics that filled binders. The result was 2009’s Leaving Fallowfield, a collection of songs gathered over these years. Self-released, this ethereal collection of rootsy pop songs nonetheless caught the attention of print reviewers, music bloggers and music programmers. The album received glowing reviews from the press, and songs from the album were picked up and played on CBC Radio 2’s “Drive” with Rich Terfry, CBC Radio 3, and campus radio across Canada. In addition to this, other diamonds in the rough came out of the Valley woodwork to support this project with regional touring and the coveted opening slot for headliners The Dears at POP Montreal 2010. It’s funny how things come around. Upon deciding to make a no frills rock record, the decision to once again work with an old friend, a student of producers Rick Rubin & Chris Goss, was a natural choice for this project. In March 2011, Colin went into French Kiss studios in Pembroke, Ontario (owned and operated by Jordon Zadorozny) to cut the last seven songs on Bon Echo. Despite wanting to record ‘bon echo’ live off the floor with a band, life ensued with former members, leaving Colin to write and play everything you hear on ‘bon echo’ – which took three days. Staying pure to the vision of this production as a ‘straight ahead rock record’ – Colin decided upon Andy ‘Hippy’ Baldwin to master the record at the world class Metropolis Mastering studios (Bowie, Interpol, elbow, The Beatles, The Who, Oasis, etc) in the UK. Also an ironic twist was the addition of fellow Pembroke native, longtime friend and drummer Corey Zadorozny (x - Sam Roberts) to the live set thereafter. Bon Echo is a grander, more up-tempo collection of songs with several nods to 90s and present day college radio (Pixies, Band of Horses, Sonic Youth, Wilco, My Morning Jacket, Kings of Leon) built on a strong melodic foundation that harkens the essential influence of Beatles and Brian Wilson. As made unabashedly evident on the album in songs Follow Will and The Marauder for example. The soaring pop of Intelligent Design has already been chosen for a Habitat for Humanity public service announcement. Slated for a May 30, 2012 release, Hinterlandband will be working hard to build a presence in Ontario and Quebec, with national touring also being arranged. 01 intelligent design.mp302 the royal pine.mp303 valley so low.mp304 st. jude.mp305 the great whyte way.mp306 who really knows.mp307 summer of 94'.mp308 snake river line.mp309 fits & starts.mp310 the boy that pride forgot.mp311 far & away.mp312 painted in the colour of the celestial empire.mp313 Plutonomy.mp3