Kat Harlton
Toronto-based rock band Harm and Ease, recently released their new EP Camino Loco on July 15 via CosmoCat Records and all streaming platforms. The album title, translating to “Crazy Road”, signifies the whirlwind journey that the Harm and Ease lads have travelled, from the bustling and colourful streets of Argentina, to the bold, fast paced city of Toronto. That journey has led the band to a Top 10 Rock radio single and over 4.5 million career streams to date.
With an all-star team on board, Camino Loco was produced by SOCAN award-winning producer Tawgs Salter (Dear Rouge, Lights, Fefe Dobson), Gianni Luminati (Snoop Dog, Steve Aoki, Keith Urban, DVBBS), Justin Koop (Walk off the Earth, Silverstein), Tokyo Speirs (Walk off the Earth, USS, Scott Helman, Lukas Graham) and Mike MacAllistar (Mothica, Julie Hardy).
Camino Loco includes “Cut Me Loose”, which landed in Canada’s Top 10 Billboard Mainstream Rock chart at radio, and was the band’s first song to go viral on TikTok with over 2.2 million views on the platform and over a million streams on Spotify. Camino Loco closes with the recently released single “Lemonade”, a summer-ready rock anthem featuring JUNO Award-nominated singer-songwriter Fefe Dobson.
I had the opportunity to chat with the band about their new EP, working with Fefe Dobson and what to expect for the rest of 2022.
Kat: Can you talk about the inspiration behind your new EP Camino Loco? How long have you been working on this project and how does it differ from your previous releases?
H&E: We’ve been working on these songs and putting together this EP over the last couple of years since the band moved from Argentina to Canada, and a lot of our inspiration comes from the changes that are brought on with moving on and growing up. We spent about seven years living in Buenos Aires and we really grew and became a band throughout that time, playing festivals and venues all over the country, writing and recording 2 albums, losing and gaining different band members. It was a wonderfully colourful time in our lives, but we always knew we wanted to bring the band back to where it all started here in Canada.
The title Camino Loco translates to “Crazy Road” a nod to our time down south and the wild journey that has brought us here through our passion and sacrifices. It’s fair to say this EP is a slight departure from our earlier work, sounding much more polished and professional whilst still retaining that raw passion that made those other albums special. We worked with a number of different producers and musicians from different backgrounds on this EP and they really brought something unique and fun to the table. It was definitely a collaborative process.
Kat: Rock anthem “Lemonade” features JUNO Award-nominated artist Fefe Dobson. How did this collaboration come about and what special quality do you think Dobson brings to the H&E sound on this track?
H&E: Well we knew we wanted to collaborate with someone on “Lemonade”, and we really thought the track would benefit from female vocals. We ended up asking our manager if he had anyone in mind and he suggested Fefe. We all thought it was a great idea so he reached out to her and she came back saying she loved the song and would be happy to sing on it. She was in Nashville at the time so we sent her the tracks and she recorded her vocals in a studio down there! It all happened very serendipitously. Fefe did an awesome job. Her voice is so strong and unique, she really makes the song sound much bigger and brighter. It was just a huge honor to work with her, she’s been around for a long time and has made such great music.
Kat: What do you find is the most challenging part of your creative process as a band?
H&E: I think the fact that we’re all very creative in our own right and we all bring different ideas to the table can make it difficult to agree or decide on what songs will make the cut or not. We love practically everything we write but it’s important to consider what’s best for the album and what you think the general public will resonate with the most. Like any good relationship you need democracy.
Kat: What has been a career highlight for you so far? What have you learned along the way?
H&E: We’ve had so many great adventures over the years and have met so many wonderful people it’s very hard to choose. But I think one of the biggest ones has to be the success we’ve seen with our song “Cut Me Loose”. The song hit top 10 in the Canadian charts and is still being played across the country daily. It was also picked up by Sports Net and has been used in many of their hockey promos over the last few months, it’s amazing to see the support that has come from the sports community and our Canadian audience.
Kat: What’s next? Any summer show announcements coming up?
H&E: We have some festivals and shows lined up over the next couple months and are currently in the midst of planning a Canadian tour with the release of Camino Loco. We will definitely be doing some dates in Ontario and Quebec and hopefully out west as well! You can always find plenty of fun content and music on our social media platforms where we post daily and keep up with our fans.
Facebook: /HarmAndEase
Instagram: @harmandease
TikTok: @harmandease
Twitter: @Harmandease
Website: www.harmandease.com