Tympanic

Most bands will tell you there is nothing easy about making an album — especially the first one.

But if you can survive the intense recording schedule, technical frustrations and inevitable bickering that ensues after spending too many hours locked up with your mates, the final product might just be worth it.

For Dylan Shields, lead guitarist with Ottawa rock, pop, funk quintet Tympanic, putting in 15 hour days for a week straight to hammer out the album Have A Drink And Stay Awhile, was as fun as it was exhausting.

“It was a lot of work, for sure, but we figured if we can get through an hour-long show putting all our guts and heart out there, we can do this studio thing and still stay friends,” Shields says.

In its earliest days, Tympanic consisted of drummer Carlos Constantino, sax player Charity Corbett, bassist Murray Matheson and singer/guitarist Troy Lajambe. The group performed around town for a couple years and earned fan support and a smattering of industry cred, thanks to successful ventures into competitions such as Ottawa’s Supernova and Rock Resolution competition put on by The Bear radio station.

But last year they decided to bring Shields on board to give Tympanic a “more powerful sound.”

Then, after making it to the third round of The Big Money Shot, put on by Live 88.5, and picking up $5,000, the band thought it time to make something people could take away from their live shows.

The 13-track, debut CD is meant to showcase the wide variety of styles and influences the band draws upon. Some of the members are adept in jazz instrumentation, while others were schooled on straight-up rock.

Geography also plays a factor in Tympanic’s signature sound because, as Shields puts it, “everyone is from everywhere.” Shields is a hometown boy, who happened to meet Corbett out east in Nova Scotia where she’s originally from. Lajambe hails from Sudbury, Matheson is a Manotick native and Constantino is from Brazil.

The varied influences of Dave Matthews Band and the Red Hot Chili Peppers— even Radiohead — are evident in the first few songs. The themes run the gamut from the usual catchy tunes of love and loss to sharp political commentary, especially about our neighbours to the south.

“Our influences might be a little too obvious sometimes,” says Shields. “But we also work really hard not to be just sound-alikes and to bring our own flavour to the music.”

- KIM MANNIX VERMETTE/FOR METRO NEWS

"Tympanic never fail to impress live! Troy consistenly engages the audience, and makes sure every single person in the room is groovin!
As a whole the musicianship is super tight, with great on-stage chemistry, easily Ottawa's most fun live act"

DJ Noah
(Noah Sabourin, Music Director, CKLV Live 88.5fm) - NOAH SABOURIN

"Tympanic never fail to impress live! Troy consistenly engages the audience, and makes sure every single person in the room is groovin!
As a whole the musicianship is super tight, with great on-stage chemistry, easily Ottawa's most fun live act"

DJ Noah
(Noah Sabourin, Music Director, CKLV Live 88.5fm) - NOAH SABOURIN

For six years, Ottawa groove-rock band Tympanic has been rocking stages across the country and at home in the Capital. The band loves jamming and according to lead vocalist and self-proclaimed wild child Troy Lajambe, Tympanic has set its sights on a life filled with bigger gigs, never-ending “boombastic” beats and a new recording within the next two months.
“We really believe in the product that we’ve been producing and in our own potential,” says Lajambe. He added, “It would be great to be able to tour and play so much that I don’t need a real job.”
Eric Eggleston, the production wizard behind their most recent five-tune recording, took 13 demo songs and stripped them down to bigger beat-heavy, worldly tracks which the band’s boogying fan base can “really get into.” During the recording process, Eggleston could pinpoint two obvious qualities about the group that set it apart from other bands and offer a glimpse into what fuels Tympanic’s relentless six-year party in the Capital.

Photo by Jen File
“I’ve been in bands so I get how it can work, with the drama and opinions – but these guys have camaraderie,” Eggleston says. “They really enjoy spending time together. Also, even in pre-production of this record, you can see that they’re good musicians – whether it’s the vocals, horns honking or world beats – they really give ‘er.”
Often the reality of most Ottawa bands is that the moonlight dance parties follow a demanding daytime routine – and such is still the case for Tympanic. Although spurring bouts of bopping, eclectic Dave Matthews Band-meets-Earth Wind & Fire-style funk across the province, at local hot spots like Live Lounge and Rainbow Room, and securing radio and live TV gigs around town – their day jobs range from youth minister to farmer to parent.
Charity Corbett, the woman behind the roaring saxophone and only girl within the goofy Tympanic “boys’ locker room,” points to the sea of Carleton frosh bouncing to their uppity jams year after year or the East Coast tour-goers mouthing Tympanic lyrics as affirmations that if they play their cards right, this gig could last a lifetime for all of them.
“Our best experiences are when a crowd is just very open to hearing what we have to play,” she says.
It looks like six years later – more energized than their first groove onstage and with a new recording in the works – Tympanic will most certainly play on - JESSICA HUDDLESTON/OTTAWA LIFE MAGAZINE