Emmas Ringer

Emmas Ringer is an alternative rock band from Ottawa, Ontario. The group consists of Scott McCooeye on keyboard, Owen Coffin on drums and vocals, and Scott Maybee on vocals, guitar, and bass. Emmas Ringer released their first full-length release entitled “Generations” on November 25, 2014. The release contains eleven tracks including the lead single “Hong Kong.”

When listening to Generations, I enjoyed the diversity in the style. It crosses numerous genres. The tracks standing out the most for me were “Hong Kong,” “Generations,” and “Colours.” Overall, a solid introduction to the band.

If you like listening to artists like Soundgarden and Nirvana, I would definitely check out the single “Hong Kong.” If you like what you hear, pick up Emmas Ringer’s release of Generations on their Bandcamp!

Rating: 3/5 - Canadian Beats

EMMAS RINGER

Emmas Ringer are a local grunge/alternative rock band looking to ‘take over where 90’s alt. rock left off’. They recently released a rollicking new album, Generations, with a video for their single Hong Kong to accompany it. Read on to learn more about their approaches to song-writing and upcoming plans for 2015.

VITALS

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/emmasringer
Web: http://emmasringer.com/
Merch: https://emmasringer.bandcamp.com/merch
Latest release: Generations (LP, November 2014)
Upcoming shows:
Saturday, May 2, 2015 - mAlice Cooper & Emma’s Ringer, Maverick’s, Ottawa ON

SA: How did Emmas Ringer come to be?
ER: Emmas Ringer was founded in late 1990s, early 2000s. The keyboardist, Scott McCooeye, originally started working with singer/guitarist Jeff Parsons and eventually hooked up with bassist (at the time) Scott Maybee and his brother Trevor Maybee on drums. After mid 2000s the band broke up and went into hiatus for several years. In 2009, Scott Maybee hooked up via Facebook with Scott McCooeye and eventually composed “Spirits will Guide” with Scott now as singer/guitarist. Eventually, the duo became a three piece with the addition of Owen Coffin on drums. This is the present line-up today.


SA: What bands, musicians or artists would you cite as the biggest influences on your sound?
ER: Soundgarden, The Doors, Nirvana, Pink Floyd, Billy Talent, Metallica, Black Sabbath to name a few. Owen comes from more of a prog rock / metal and modern rock background, where as Scott McCooeye has a background in old school metal and classic rock. Scott Maybee has a history in blues and a bit of jazz so we try to blend all those influences together to create our sound.


SA: Thus far in your career, what has been your biggest success?
ER: The release and positive response of our 1st full album that we released fall of last year. It’s probably the biggest project any one of us has ever worked on and it took much more work than we expected, but we are pretty proud of it.


SA: On the other hand, what is the biggest challenge you have faced, and how have you dealt with it?
ER: During the recording of “Generations”, we lost eighty percent of a year’s work. How did it happen? Well, Scott Maybee’s cat knocked off a hard drive off a table which had all of our recorded information stored on it…we did a stupid and didn’t do a backup :( Luckily our new recorded tracks after the fact were actually better takes than the stuff we lost, so it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. We ended up thanking his cat in the liner notes of the album.

SA: How do you approach the song-writing process?
ER: We all collaborate in different ways. Sometimes the music comes first, and other times the lyrics. We all share lyrics and/or music in certain songs. No specific method. Each song is written differently.


SA: What are your thoughts on the Ottawa music scene?

ER: We have had great support from other Ottawa bands and artists. We’ve shared the stage with so many great local acts and keep discovering new bands we want to work with. There is less competition in Ottawa from other bands compared to larger markets like Toronto or Montreal, which makes it generally easier to book shows and it’s often more favorable to get people out because they don’t necessarily have to travel as far to see us. There’s a great list of venues to perform at and each has something unique to offer. The scene seems to keep getting better and better. From what we’ve seen it’s one of the healthiest music scenes in the country for it’s size.

SA: You guys have released a video for the song ‘Hong Kong' off your recently released album 'Generations'. What provided the inspiration for the lyrics to that song, and how do you typically come up with lyrics in general?

ER: Scott Maybee wrote the song very quickly off the top of his head, while living in a hotel downtown. Lyrics sometimes are written by a feeling at that given time. Other times, it subconsciously flows without any stopping from start to finish like the case with Hong Kong. That song sort of blends old style Kung Fu camp with modern rock / grunge influences. It stood out to us so we picked it as the 1st single.

SA: The aforementioned video for ‘Hong Kong' is a fairly trippy affair directed by Zachary Spence, who also worked with you for your 'Have It Your Way' video. Who came up with the ideas in the videos, and have you any plans to do another one in the near future?
ER: The original ideas such as scenery and plot came from members of the band but the final outcome was Zachary Spence's creative work. Many of the elements in the video were just things we saw that day, or ideas that just came to us while the camera was rolling. We definitely have plans to release more videos this year.

SA: I have seen clips of your keyboard player playing through various effects pedals. Due to your status as a trio without a bass player, is this a method of ‘filling out’ your sound in a live setting, or did it come to be just because you loved the sound?

ER: Originally, as a duo, our keyboardist Scott stayed in the low end of the keyboard and used a bass amp instead of traditional keyboard amp. Now Scott Maybee has a bass rigg and guitar amp setup that frees Scott McCooeye to play the full spectrum of his keyboard. When Scott does a guitar solo, the keyboardist sticks to the low end. When there is a keyboard solo, the guitarist uses his bass settings.

SA: After the successful release of Generations in fall 2014, what does Emmas Ringer have in store for 2015? We wish you the best guys, and good luck!

ER: We have our 1st wedding gig this summer, plan to play summer festivals and play a small Ontario tour as well as release another music video. If anyone wants us to book us for a house party gig, we’d love to do some of those too ;) - Sometimes Always

8.5/10

The grunge movement started in Seattle and rose to popularity in the 90s. Bands such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden were at the helm of its peak, and though they inspired several bands to follow in their footsteps, very few come close to capturing the perfectly moody sound and angst that the movement can be defined by. Ontario grunge band, Emmas Ringer, manages to capture the true essence of the roots of grunge however, in their latest album, Generations.

The album opens up with an extremely unusual track that sounds more as though it belongs in a John Carpenter horror movie score than in a grunge album. It’s an eerie and unsettling track that is sure to have your heart racing and is most certainly not for the faint of heart to listen to when home alone. It then delves immediately into a typical grunge guitar riff accompanied by loud drumming, lots of screaming, and some impressively strong vocals, with its second track, “Hong Kong”. Though the lyrics of this track are a little weak, the writing improves with every song on the album, all containing words of pain, anger and anxiety.

“Colours” sounds a little too much like it has been taken directly from a Nirvana album without being given any sort of unique twist. The chords seem to alternate between those of two different Nirvana songs, though it’s hard to place exactly which two. That being said, the rest of the tracks on the album are absolutely flawless. The vocals may be a tad weaker on the next track, but it is the only track in which they are weak, and the song still works as it starts off sounding similar to Sublime, and ends sounding much like Weezer.

“Million Dollar Soldier” is the best song on the album, and is a definite must for any grunge fan to listen to. It starts off sounding very trippy, like an extra-terrestrial ballad from a science-fiction film. After the first few seconds however, it turns into a very loud and very catchy song with unbelievable vocals.

Generations ends on a good note, with another song that sounds similar to those of Soundgarden (“Tree” had a similar sound too). Though the song is dark, it’s a very fitting way to end the album.

Overall, the album is perfect for anyone who wants their fix of classic grunge. - Bucketlist Music Reviews

Emmas Ringer from Ottowa in Canada is the alt-rock trio of Scott McCooeye (Keyboards), Scott Maybee (Guitar / Bass / Vocals) and Owen Coffin (Drums / Vocals).

Like paint-stripper Emmas Ringer bubble the walls of the room in a definitive act of finalisation. The scouring guitar shrieks peals of chords that tear lumps out of the ears, whilst percussion remorselessly remonstrates as the synthetics add fourth dimensions to give the trio a sound that wrestles the audience into submission as vocal stands like a demo-banner – highlighting the points of reference. Of slight query, is how in live performance all the elements work as in recorded material the bass adds a menacing presence.

Emmas Ringer deliver a harrowing sound-track of realism to the world of societal strife in the ’10s without being overtly political and it is the ability to encapsulate an aural manifestation of the realities of life without the need to march stridently behind a mantra that gives the out-put a powerful presence that gives the music its impact.

Having had a few hiccups along the way with break-ups and reformations including a band name change from Emma’s Ringer dating back to the last decade, I hope that Emmas Ringer is able to steady the tiller on their own ship and I look forward to hearing more over the remainder of this one. - Emerging Indie Bands

7/10

The Canadian capital city that is Ottawa, where I live, often gets a bad rap from other Canadians. Being a government and tech town, the burg is the type of place that usually winds up at the top of Most Boring Places to Live polls. Well, Ottawa does have a rich and thriving underground arts scene – being in between Canada’s two largest cities, Toronto and Montreal, a lot of cultural stuff doesn’t make it here, so I find that you have to make your own entertainment. So enter alterna-rock trio Emmas Ringer (note there’s no apostrophe in the name). They’re an Ottawa band, but “boring” is certainly not an adjective you can use to describe them. Their debut album, Generations, which follows an earlier EP and demos, is stylistically all over the map, which keeps things hoppin’. What makes this outfit so interesting is that they’ve basically been around since the early 2000s in various guises, and they’ve taken all of that time to be patient and wait before having an LP full of tunes that buries their distinctive influences.

So, yes, a song like “Hong Kong” might sound a little Soundgarden-ish. “Everything You Need” has a Kings of Leon vibe to it. However, this is not mere cloning or a band that’s trying to sound like more popular bands out there. Emmas Ringer has its own template of scuzzy and fuzzy guitar rock that ties you to the back of a pick-up truck and drags you down a muddy dirt road. And there’s an appeal in that. What’s more, the songs are in the top drawer of your bedroom dresser, and there are a few intriguing diversions, such as the reggae-ish “Have It Your Way” and the glorious mandolin-based acoustic ballad “Generations”. Sure, Generations may lack cohesion and the final two tracks, both of which exceed five minutes, are basically the weakest things to be found (“Million Dollar Solider” is a throwaway that tries to resurrect the spirit of T. Rex). Still, this is professionally recorded, immensely entertaining, and full of hooky songs. Emmas Ringer isn’t boring at all. They’re awesome sauce.

Rating: 7 outta 10 - Invisible Ink

"Across Canada, there has been a wave of awesome bands spanning a bunch of different genres, that are growing in popularity, such as PUP, July Talk and Monomyth. Performing in the 90’s grunge style of Nirvana, Kyuss and Soundgarden, is Ottawa-based Emmas Ringer, a three-piece band that is killing it.

The band, formed in the early 2000’s, found the final and current lineup in 2011, with Scott Maybee on vocals, and guitar, Scott McCooeye on keyboards and Owen Coffin on drums. At first glance, you wouldn’t expect the band to have that big of a sound, especially to reflect the heaviness of the 90’s, but they do.

Their debut LP, Generations, hits the listener right off the bat with “Hong Kong”, their first single, which has the sound and feel of a System of a Down album in under 3 minutes. Each part of this song blend so well together to form a genre-bending wall, bringing together grunge, punk, and some East-Asian inspired keyboard riffs.

The entire album is very various in the inspiration and sound, living up to its name; spanning a wide range of genres from different generations. “Have It Your Way” has a very strong ska feel, while “Colours” and “Tree” sound like they could be Nirvana b-sides.

This is a very strong debut that puts Emmas Ringer on the music map of Canada, and will hopefully lead to a large following across the country." - The Indie Blender

"Some musicians look towards new music for inspiration. Some find that looking back and reimagining songs and genres from the past helps in development. For Emmas Ringer, it sounds like staying true and running the course with their band’s sound is what keeps the Emmas Ringer machine moving.

The band has been around since the early 2000’s. Scott McCooeye started the band alongside guitarist Jeff Parsons. Scott Maybee, then bassist joined alongside his brother Trevor Maybee on drums.

After some time away to reflect, Emmas Ringer regrouped in 2010 with just Maybee and McCooeye and a drum machine to reconstruct and reinvent old material. With the trust and solid help of a drum machine, the resurrected Emmas ringer was back on stage. In early 2012, Owen Coffin joined the band to add a soul to the percussion line. McCooeye, Maybee and Coffin are now and forever Emmas Ringer.

In a email interview with frontman Scott Maybee, I asked for some insight into the CD release at Pressed and a little about what fans can expect from Generations.

Couch Assassin: How long has Generations been in the works?

Scott Maybee: A large majority of the songs were developed in December of 2012 and into early 2013. That being said, some of the songs date back much longer, early 2000’s even though they have been reworked and updated.

CA: How many tracks will be featured?

SM: 11 tracks if you count the intro.

CA: As a band do you think you have found a new sound in Generations?

SM: It is much different than our old demos or our last EP. You can hardly tell it’s the same group. Our last EP was mainly electronic and we now have Owen on drums so it’s a straight rock album this time. It has the both hardest and lightest material we’ve composed so far so it feels a bit less consistent at the expense of diversity. We were maturing as a band and finding our sound and it’s much easier to define it as a rock album.

CA: Is Generations a closure album (on a previous sound) or a new beginning type album?

SM: Our last EP was the result of what we had to work with – A drum machine, keyboard, mic, guitar and bass. With Owen on drums and a few more instruments in our hands, we definitely had more at our disposal this time and did consider the implications of playing the music in a live setting this time. We really just went with what felt right. It’s up for grabs what the next stuff will sound like. We won’t know until we get there.

CA: Excited for the show?

SM: Absolutely! We’ve been wanting to do this show for a long time and hand-picked every element from the venue to the performers and everything in between. It’s nice to do things your own way and on your own terms once in a while!

CA: Big Muffs and Tariq? Amazing lineup! Was it a tough decision to pick the lineup?

SM: Nope, we know Tariq Anwar really well both personally and professionally and knew we wanted him to be involved. He’s a great performer and a lovely guy so that was just natural. The BigMuffs are personally my favorite band in Ottawa and they sound so different than us. We’ve been wanting to play with them for a long time. Our goal was to create a night of music that was more about people coming together to be inspired and entertained and experience creativity on all levels – not just a night about us and our little album.

CA: For the "Hong Kong" video, were you shocked at the response it got?

SM: We sort of thought it would be a bit polarizing for people going into it. It’s a heavy song and not everyone feels that. It’s also a strange campy video. We believed those who like the type of thing we wanted to do would really be into it. Those who didn’t like that type of thing would think it to be trash. You can’t please everyone and the second you try to [do that], things start to get really predictable. Predictable is a bit boring. So we just took a risk and went with that song as the first single and video because we felt a strong connection to it. All we can say is that we are happy with the results and Zach (the director and engineer) did an absolutely fantastic job.

CA: Can you get the album on Bandcamp or Soundcloud?

SM: You can pre-purchase the digital version of album right now via our Bandcamp page. It will also be available on iTunes, and physical copies will be sold on Bandcamp and cdbaby as well as at a few record stores in Ottawa. Of course if you come to the CD release show, you can get it a little early.

Join Emmas Ringer for their CD release show at Pressed this Saturday. Door are at 8pm and cover is 8$ or 15$ with a copy of Generations. In addition, you can also enjoy Ottawa’s own Tariq Anwar and The BigMuffs, who will be warming up the stage for Emmas Ringer.

Emmas Ringer Album Release Party feat. The Bigmuffs & Tariq Anwar
Saturday, November 22, 2014 @ 8pm
Pressed
$8 or $15 with a copy of Generations" - Couch Assassin

This Saturday, Ottawa rock band Emma’s Ringer are releasing their brand new album Generations at Pressed. Well, we are giving you a sneak peak of the entire album before it’s officially released! The band has been around since the early 2000s, but have reformed in the last couple years with new members and released their first EP called The Spirits Will Guide in 2011. I enjoyed listening to the new record, as it transported me back to a time in the 90s when I first started taping songs onto cassettes. The band stays true to their alternative and grunge influences – their epic guitar solos, roaring vocals, and grimy aesthetic serve them well and give us nostalgic folk something solid to listen to. The title track is more restrained, as lead singer Scott Maybee sings his ballad recounting days past and facing the everlasting joust with time that we all must grapple with. My favourite track on the album is the catchy and fun song called “Time Will Tell,” it reminds me a lot of those days in high school that you take with you as the years keep ticking on. Have a listen, you’ll know what I mean. Anyone that loved bands like Soundgarden, Spin Doctors, or Jane’s Addiction will enjoy the new album, guaranteed." - Ottawa Showbox

The final night of the Round 3 concerts saw more great performances.

Emma’s Ringer brought an energetic set featuring their grunge rock sound. If you’re a fan of 90's grunge, give these guys a listen. - Spotlight Ottawa

Emmas Ringer – “Hong Kong”: If you can make it past the creepy, confusing 30 seconds of Buddhas and odd footage in this music video you’ll happen upon a doozy of a track that combines a dash of screamo-vocals, grungy guitars, abrasive high pitched singing, and a driving rhythm section. Just play this song next time someone says they wanna travel somewhere – this can be your way of tongue-in-cheek arguing that you want to go somewhere else… like Hong Kong." - Tuned Up

Emmas Ringer recently released their latest video for Hong Kong. It’s the first single off their upcoming album Generations, which will be released November 25th 2014. The video was filmed, directed and edited by Zachary Spence at Capital Arts Productions.

Lead singer/guitarist Scott Maybee shared, “I wrote this song while living in a hotel in downtown Ottawa for a few months. I think that environment gave me some creative wavelengths in terms of song writing. One morning I woke up with this monster riff in my head and I just had to do something with it. I tend to over-think songs, so to avoid this I gave myself a 1 hour time limit to write and record a song around it, which I did. The music really just dictated the lyrics, which for some reason came across to me as something I would have heard in a fight scene in a kung fu movie or video game, only much heavier.”

He continued, “For the video we really wanted to showcase the band’s heavier side. Thematically the video represents the concept of the song, which in comedic fashion targets the use of Eastern style and tradition in Western escapism. There’s a lot of visual references in the video to that notion….and I think as North Americans we are fascinated by Eastern culture yet most of us tend to think we know far more about it than we actually do. We thought it would be funny to create a visualization of the “North American” version of Hong Kong and in the process poke a bit of fun at ourselves.”

Keyboardist Scott McCooeye added “The video looks much like a video game, it’s very flashy and there is a lot going on. We asked our director to be as creative as he could be for this one, and he certainly delivered.” - Spotlight Ottawa

Ottawa alt-rock trio Emmas Ringer are hard at work preparing their second EP for 2013 release. Eager to share their new creations, the band have recently released their first music video for track “Have It Your Way” as a tease for the EP.

Citing 90s influences including The Smashing Pumpkins and Beck, Emmas Ringer joins a burgeoning contingent in the Canadian indie scene determined to bring alt-rock back to its roots and add their own spin. The result is a solid rocking tune that makes it obvious why the band placed in the top 15 for the 2012 LiVE 88.5 Big Money Shot.

Check out the video below for “Have It Your Way” and learn more about Emmas Ringer at their official website. - Open 'Till Midnight

Emma’s Ringer has just released a video for their tune Have It Your Way. The song was written as part of this year’s LiVE 88.5 Big Money Shot competition, in which the band made it into the top 15. It was recorded with producer James Robertson.

The video was shot locally, in a rural setting in Manotick, Ontario. It was inspired by the group’s belief that a shared interest in musical creativity can break conventional social boundaries.

There is a 20-year age gap between the band members, who also consider each other good friends – a dynamic that is hardly typical in everyday life. “Because we love the music we play and share the same influences, we’ve created a strong bond with one another despite being at different stages of our lives,” said Scott Maybee, lead singer and guitarist. “We wanted that camaraderie to be demonstrated in our new video – which depicts three guys toiling alone in a field, but eventually coming together musically at the end.”

Have It Your Way was directed, filmed, and produced by Zachary Spence, who has also shot several music videos for his own band, Preeminent. “He is so talented and knowledgeable at such a young age, working with Zach showed us that a shared creative spirit can bring people of all walks of life together to create something unique and fresh,” said keyboardist, Scott McCooeye.

The video for Have It Your Way is being released as a teaser to their forthcoming EP which is scheduled for release in 2013. - Spotlight Ottawa

Emmas Ringer is a trio that describe’s themselves as 90's alt / grunge with keyboards and synth drums.

The band first formed about 10 years ago as a duo, but the members eventually went their separate ways. The 2 eventually reconnected last year and reformed the group, adding a drummer to their lineup. They began writing and performing new songs, eventually resulting in a new EP – The Spirits Will Guide.

Initially launched as a limited print, they have now made the EP available as a free download on Bandcamp.

They are taking part in Live 88.5‘s Big Money Shot this year. You can check them out live Wednesday, May 2nd at Ritual. They take the stage around 8:30pm. - Spotlight Ottawa

Considering all the musical atrocities that have been committed in the name of "grunge" over the last two decades, it's pretty rare to find a band that still uses that genre to describe their sound. Rarer still is the band that applies the label to themselves that doesn't use it as an excuse to just blatantly rip off Pearl Jam.

Emma's Ringer are a grunge band; they make that clear right up front on their Bandcamp page. Shockingly, however, they fall into that tiny group of bands that actually deserves the label, with an album (The Spirits Will Guide) sound that channels -- but never steals from -- the likes of Nirvana, Mudhoney and Soundgarden. Songs like "Heart Bomb", "Woke Up" and "Xeno (Radio Edit)" sound like they'd fit right in on a Best of the '90s compilation, with their fuzzy guitars and moany vocals. At the same time, though, what makes it work is that Emma's Ringer never sound like they're doing grunge-by-numbers; they sound like they're playing music that means something to them, and it makes The Spirits Will Guide a substantially better album than most that have the same set of influences. It's far from original, but it's quite good...and at the end of the day, that's what matters. - iheartmusic

There are many who will say that grunge died in the nineties, though Ottawa duo Emmas Ringer may have to fight you on that point.

Of course, Emmas Ringer do not try in any way, shape or form to be Nirvana or Mudhoney. Instead, they use the trademark heavy guitar riffs with keyboards and synths to breathe new life into a once-tired genre.

The duo’s debut seven-track EP touches many different bases with its songs. Some are full of kickass electric guitar riffs while other make due with a bass and a keyboard, and vocals can go from absolutely crazy to clean and controlled.

To get a focus on this spectrum it’ll be necessary to look at a few tracks in particular. The opening track “Heart Bomb” starts out with guitar riffs that could easily be placed in the 1980's before the main melody (a bass riff) kicks in, giving the song the industrial feel of a band like Beast.

“Freezer” is undoubtedly the EP’s standout track. It successfully combines a grunge sound with some electronics to make a really crazy and catchy sound reminiscent of the Nine Inch Nails, but also very much their own.

“So Crazy” is a vast turn from their other tracks- it’s a smooth song with such control that it’s basically a pop song. It doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb, though, thanks to the energy that is brought from having two vocal tracks at the same time.

“Woke Up” is a more experimental track that showcases the band’s use of distortion and ends with vocalist Scott Maybee singing “My life is all pretending” before fading back into the distortion the song is anchored to.

For a debut, Emmas Ringer show a lot of potential to be something great. - Gray Owl Point

This week on Under The Radar Scott from Ottawa based band Emmas Ringer joins us on the phone. We chat about being in a band that’s void of a bassist & how they compensate for it, their live shows, and what happens when a pet cat gets a hold of the bands recordings (Hint: it doesn’t end well). They’re playing a show in Timmins Saturday night so check out the interview! - Rock 92.1FM

The 90s grunge-inspired group released their full-length album Generations in 2014, recorded in Ottawa and Toronto at Capital Art Productions. - The Fulcrum