CMW 2010 Hot Acts: Amos The Transparent

On the surface, Ottawa's Amos The Transparent appear to be doing fairly well for themselves, but they recently posted this plea on their website: "We need a hit song. Help us! We write slow, sad songs. Send your ideas."

Frontman Jonathan Chandler filled CHARTattack in on his fascination with Alanis Morissette and outlined the fastest way to tick off The Weakerthans.

Hometown:
Ottawa, ON

Members:
Dan Hay (guitar)
Katie Cooke (vocals, tambourine)
Jonathan Chandler (vocals, guitar)
Christopher Wilson (drums)
Mark Hyne (guitar, piano)
James Nicol (bass)

Official Website: www.amosthetransparent.com

CHARTattack: So, you're about to play the big industry event that is Canadian Music Week. What's the most shameless thing you've ever done to promote your band?
Jonathan Chandler: I don’t think we've ever done anything shameless because we try not to. One thing that comes to mind is our cover of "You Oughta Know" by Alanis.

What's the hardest part about being an up-and-coming band?
Probably the fact that you're always fighting for everyone's attention... you work and work and work and you might not get anything; that's kind of frustrating.

How important is it for your band members to circulate and flirt with the audience before or after a show?
It's very important. You want to meet your clientele and you want to make them realize that you appreciate them coming out and spending money to come and see you and support your craft. There's no better way to do that than to go out and thank them personally. It's one of the reasons we have a girl in the band.

Have you ever stolen from someone else's rider? If so, who was it and what did you take?
It was at the Verge Music Awards [at The Mod Club in Toronto]... We got a little tipsy by the end of it and started walking around. It was the Weakerthans... we kinda ended up in their room, with their bottle of tequila, and they weren't very happy that we were drinking it.

Do you know if you’ve ever been graded before according to CHARTattack.com's Rock 'n' Roll Report Cards?
We have. I think we were like a 92. [It was actually an 87]. They said we had really cool shoes. We played at Rancho Relaxo. Apparently they still have the posters up; it was the highest selling bar night that they'd had to date.

Have you done anything new or interesting this week?
This week, I haven't really done anything. I'm having my house fixed by the builder, so that's pretty out of the ordinary, I suppose.

Amos The Transparent play the Horseshoe Tavern on March 11 at 8:30 p.m. as part of the annual CHARTattack/Horseshoe/Canadian Music Week showcase.