We all have those artists and songs we hear that strike the right chord and make us fall in love at first listen. They’re the reason we refresh social media pages, tour schedules, and Spotify profiles — because we can’t miss a single release. This is Love at First Listen — a series introducing you to the emerging, and established, artists with new music guaranteed to upgrade your playlist.
Blending classic and modern rock à la The Strokes, Inhaler, and Sam Fender with the blues music he grew up playing, emerging Canadian artist Gavin McLeod is one to watch. With an EP and several infectious live performances under his belt, Gavin has found his musical footing with ‘The Constant Astonishment,’ his debut album released last month and written over four years, including several pandemic-era writing stints with his bandmates. Songs like “Marigold” (which almost didn’t make the final tracklist!) and lead single “Things We Used To Do” shine with their folk-leaning, intimate-sounding production, but are perhaps most memorable for being pure, timeless head bobbers that will find a home on any playlist.
In this edition of Love at First Listen, scroll through Gavin’s thoughts on maintaining a healthy balance with social media, finding support in the music industry, and the behind-the-scenes scoop on auditioning for America’s Got Talent.
You released your debut album, ‘The Constant Astonishment,’ on Valentine’s Day. Let’s start there: when and how did you come to fall in love with music and songwriting? Who were some of the first artists that you loved at first listen?
I was around seven or eight when my dad put me on a drum kit. He always played drums growing up, so it was a natural thing. There was also just a lot of music in the house. My grandfather introduced me to Neil Young, Fleetwood Mac, and all that early ‘70s stuff on vinyl and then some ‘90s alternative grunge, and that is still the basis of what I listen to. I started playing guitar, singing, and met my guitar player when we were 11. We loved playing blues music early on, and then shifted to playing at bars covering Jimmy Hendrix and Led Zeppelin. We’ve had some lineup changes throughout the years but the two of us have been playing in a band since then, so it’s just been non-stop.
What inspired the album name, aside from your career being a fast-growing success and probably a constant astonishment in and of itself?
The title track came from looking outward and seeing how people are so addicted to their phones nowadays and constantly needing stimulation or anything to keep them occupied and me kind of feeling disenfranchised with all that stuff. I liked the name; it fit in with a bunch of themes that I was writing about at the time, and it rolled off the tongue, so it just became the record name.
As an artist today, that’s an interesting position to find yourself in with so much growth happening on TikTok and YouTube, and then having this feeling of it all being a little too much.
Yeah, it’s scary. I feel like most artists go through this, but you could be really hot on it one day and be like, this is great. The next day, you might feel real down on it. You have to find a way to work with it and be creative. It’s not easy, but back in the day there was nothing like this to be able to self-publish or do anything yourself. So, there’s probably more positives than negatives, but it can be a lot when most of your day is working off of screens. It becomes much less about the music.
Your album release was supported by FACTOR Canada. As an emerging Canadian artist, what does it mean to you to have their financial backing, and what advice would you give to future cohorts of breakthrough Canadian talent?
For people doing this moving forward, there’s a lot of support out there, but it doesn’t mean much unless you’ve got your foundation and your plan and you know what you want to do. That said, the support being there really does help. The fact that you can get this kind of support from FACTOR, and that the government supports that, is crucial because it’s obviously a very hard industry to breakthrough in. I don’t think there would have been a chance that we would have been able to record the way that we did if we didn’t have them. We were able to go in and do a live off the floor thing at this beautiful studio for a couple weeks, and it was all because of FACTOR. So, definitely a lot of love there.
Although your America’s Got Talent audition didn’t air, what experience and exposure did that time bring you?
It was a couple years in the making where they had reached out on Instagram and asked if I wanted to do the show. What you see on TV — the audition in front of 2,000 people — they’ve curated those people to get to that point, even though they make it seem like that’s the first audition. I was able to go and perform in front of the judges and a big audience down in Pasadena, and I met some cool people from Brazil, Poland, and all over the world. The scale of the show is crazy, so I’m glad I got the experience and the opportunity. I’ve never felt that weird and nervous for anything I’ve done.
You’ve played some of Toronto’s favourite venues, including Horseshoe Tavern, Rivoli, Drake Underground, and Velvet Underground. Do you have any other venues on your wish list?
I’ve always [said] if there’s any way we could play at Massey Hall, that would be insane. That would be number one bucket list. But I don’t know if that’s going to happen.
We need to have positive energy here. You’ve played TD Music Hall, which is in the building.
Yeah, that’s in the building. We’re almost there. [We] got to go in the elevators and stuff. I was like, this is close enough. (Editor’s note: For now!)
Spill the tea: which of these venues has the best green room?
The El Mocambo green room is amazing since the renovation. They’ve done some something really nice there, although I also like a crusty, sh!tty looking green room as well. But yeah, it feels like a five-star hotel. It’s very nice.
Speaking of Velvet Underground, that’s where we were introduced — when you opened for Winnetka Bowling League earlier this month. For those who aren’t familiar with the behind-the-scenes intricacies, where are you and what are you doing when you get that invite?
We were meeting with one of our guys from Dine Alone [Records] and he had an email come through. He was like, “Do you guys want this gig?” There’s a song that they came out with a couple months ago called “This Is Life,” and my guitar player Patrick and I [have] played that song a million times. It’s with Medium Build and Dawes, and we love those guys. Sometimes you open for someone, you don’t really know their music, and you get to know it. But we were big fans of their stuff beforehand, so it was quite cool.
Now that ‘The Constant Astonishment’ is out, I’m sure you’re still riding that high and living in the moment, but can you tease where you’re hoping to take this music next?
Everything we’re writing and recording right now is very UK indie rock inspired. We’re hoping to start putting new stuff out in the next couple months — some singles, maybe leading up to an EP. We don’t really have a concrete plan yet, but there’s a lot of new stuff in the tank, and we want to get it out there. We’ve got some festivals and shows in the summer and a couple other slots coming up. Everything will be shared on Instagram.
