Mr. Tunes

What's the deal with... Toronto?

It’s summertime here in Toronto, and with all the festivals and happenings going on this time of year, I thought i’d be nice to share with everyone some info about our city and what goes on here. Think of this is as Mr. Tunes’ mini guide to Canada’s largest city.

As you read through, i’d love to hear your thoughts on how your city is similar or different. Also if you do happen to come up here some time, be sure to contact me at the bottom of the site and i’d be happy to let you know what’s good to check out while you’re here. Heck I might even join you for the day!

Overview

Toronto is the capital of the province of Ontario, and it sits next a lake called, Lake Ontario. The city is home to over 2.5 million people, many of whom enjoy sports, rock music, and complaining about the public transit service.

There is a very diverse range of cultural groups who live here. In some neighbourhoods, just walking a few blocks transports you to another part of the globe. This diverse mix can be seen in the faces of the people, heard in the outdoor festivals, or tasted in the restaurants.

The closest American cities would be Niagara Falls, Buffalo, Rochester, and Detroit. Some other cities closeby in Canada are Kitchener, London, Kingston, and about five hours of driving away is Montreal.

Toronto experiences all four seasons of the Earth’s weather patterns, with the focus being on the cold winters countered by sweltering hot summers.

Music

This city has a long history of being a musical hub in Canada. Back in the 1960s, a hip neighbourhood called Yorkville was the stomping ground for many great folk musicians such as Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and Bob Dylan (who is not Canadian).

Over the decades, the city has continued to launch many great acts into the mainstream, and in more recent years it has become known for the indie-rock and electro sounds.

Some notable names include Broken Social Scene, MSTRKRFT and Deadmau5 (originally from Niagara Falls), all of whom are artists making headlines around the globe. There is no clear reason for why the city has helped produce a lot of talent. Besides, drinking cheap watered-down beer and watching hockey in your youth isn’t supposed to make you a top selling tech-house producer on Beatport.

Dance and electronic music are popular, but styles like House, Techno, Glitch and Dubstep sit off to the side of the mainstream where they belong. Big room and progressive are very popular in large club settings, but the more esoteric genres above often happen in front of fairly small audiences compared to some of the bigger US cities and Europe.

Neighbourhoods

The hub of activity in Toronto revolves around Yonge St., which was at one time the longest street in the world. One of the most popular areas for tourists is the newly built Yonge and Dundas Square, which is a cheap knock-off of Times Square in New York.

Many people love the Annex, which is a bit of granola graduate students meets conspiracy theorist mommy bloggers. It seems to be the permanent spot for hippies who grew up and got a job. All kidding aside, it’s a really nice place to hang out in.

Moving to the south and west, Little Italy is a prized neighbourhood for many who like to dine and drink. With an array of cafes, restaurants, bars and clubs, Little Italy reigned supreme over Toronto nightlife for many years. It is slowly being knocked off its perch though by the super hip Queen West and Parkdale locations.

The farthest tip of Queen West seems to be the most favoured location by clubgoers, hipsters, and other people who wear tight jeans with plaid flannel shirts but don’t have a name yet because they listen to genres of music that you won’t know exist until a year from now.

Some people think it’s pretentious trash, others think it’s great. There is plenty debate abound as to who is entitled to live there, who was there first, and what does a real hipster actually look like. If one thing is clear, Torontonians never run out of things to argue about amongst themselves.

Venues

There are only a few good spots to hear dance music. The Drake Hotel in the Queen West zone sometimes has a few good nights, but more into the heart of Parkdale, Wrongbar pretty much takes the cake hosting anyone from Mr. Scruff to Little Dragon (some of my fave events there), and almost all the major names in indie-electro and dubstep.

For Techno, a dark little hole called Footwork is popular, but the crowd can be a little too intense. You should only go there if you have to. Other big shows happen at the Mod Club and the Revival, while big room house happens at a mega club called The Guvernment. Every weekend, swarms of people who serve as embassadors for the hair gel and performance enhancing drug industries drive into the city to attend events featuring anyone from Armin Van Buurin, Deadmau5 or Sasha and Digweed.

Last call happens at 2 a.m. which is a hotly debated topic since many other cities serve alcohol until 3 or 4. As people go out later and later here, it would make sense for the city to update their laws eventually as a later last call opens up the scene for entertainers to work more and it curbs binge drinking.

Food

Being one of the most multicultural cities in the world, there is no shortage of great food in Toronto. Some of the best kinds you can get here include Asian, Greek, Italian and Middle Eastern. My personal favourites are a burger joint in the central part of town called Burger Shack, and the king of all subs called Belly Busters in the north end. In almost every popular neighbourhood, it’s pretty hard to find bad food.

Shopping

Two of the most popular record stores in Toronto are Play De Record and Rotate This!. I personally buy most of my music from Slinky Music where the staff have impeccable taste for new electronic and groove sounds. Slinky happens to be attached to Moog Audio, which is the best store for buying various DJ and synth gear, mostly in regards to their stock of rare and indie pieces of kit that most major retailers wouldn’t stock. On the major chain side, I also do a lot of shopping at Long and McQuade for their robust financing department, and avoid Steve’s Music like the plague.

Attitude

Contrary to popular belief in other parts of Canada, Torontonians happen to be a very nice and approachable species. Similar to the rest of the country, we are passive and apologize at every opportunity. It is not unheard of for someone to apologize to another person for apologizing about the fact that they might’ve slightly bumped into each other (but still not even confirmed). All we want in life is to stay out of your way.

In Closing

Some people think that Toronto doesn’t have enough infrastructure like more clubs, promoters, radio stations and festivals to properly support a successful electronic music scene. Combined with the fact that crowds here can be very unpredictable in terms of attending events, or clearing out after the headliner has finished, it’s easy to get down about the scene. Overall as you can see though, many talented musicians and DJs work the streets every week, and there is no sign of this letting up in the near future.

To answer the question posed at the top of this article of why do many artists springboard out of the city, the answer could very well be that musicians have to hustle that much harder to get heard here. Playing music in this city puts hair on your chest.

Whether or not the masses want to hear “good” music, the creators and the tastemakers keep pushing on, trying to realize their dreams for making this a truly top destination for people from around the globe. It’s an inspiring place to live as it keeps you on your toes and is a crapload of fun, but only as long as you keep an open mind to trying out new experiences in this locale.

Further reading:
Toronto Rises as the new Capital of Cool (Huffington Post)
BlogTO
Torontoist
Now Magazine
Eye Weekly

Photo credits:
1. Toronto Skyline by M Kuhn
2. Hipster by Joel Bedford
3. Chinatown in Toronto by monsieur paradis
4. Drake Hotel by Raymond Mendoza

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