In the history of this country, there have been a lot of bands to come out of Ontario.
Members of each of those bands, more often than not, are themselves, Ontarians.
But oddly enough, there doesn’t seem to have been a documented band called Ontarians.
So when Saultite Frank Deresti decided to start writing with Craig Smith, a respected artist from the Collingwood area, with plans to create a new musical project, it likely seemed like the most obvious choice of names as a couple of Ontarians.
Invite some additional Ontarians, Chris Johns and Jay Stiles, and that simply seals the deal.
Getting a name like Ontarians is a scoop.
“Band names, as you know, are getting increasingly difficult to find,” says Frank Deresti, one of the new band’s primary songwriters.
“We were excited to see no results when we searched for a band by that name.”
More importantly than the name of the band, or the band members’ home province, was the friendship and synergy that the members immediately found working together.
“Ontarians was initially conceived as a collaborative experiment with Craig. We just wanted to get together to write songs as a new project with little idea as to what it would become,” says Deresti.
“The first session included several days of Craig and I writing and recording. This resulted in six new songs.”
As the duo began further developing the songs, they began to look to friends to add to the music they created.
“Along the way there were various possible ways it could go in terms of other musicians. We first sent the tracks to Jay Stiles to add keyboard parts. It was around this point that we felt a ‘band’ was starting to solidify,” says Deresti, who notes that there is some overlap between members in this new band and The Lake Effect
“From my perspective, they are two totally different projects. An overlap was a natural occurrence as opposed to a part of the plan.”
Whereas Deresti has always written alone for the Lake Effect and then brought the songs to the band, Ontarians is decidedly more collaborative and spontaneous from the start.
“Early on, as the project started to take shape, Jay Stiles enthusiastically jumped on board and became a key contributor. A bit later when it came time to add a drummer, Chris Johns was an obvious choice for many reasons, and here we are.”
Smith and Deresti, not only write together, they share duties fronting the band, trading off on lead vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, bass and various other instruments.
“The whole thing was approached with a sort of ‘anything goes’ attitude, which opened up a lot of possibilities musically and stylistically and has resulted in a pretty diverse collection of songs,” he says.
“So while there are certainly recognizable elements from both my and Craig’s previous catalogues, this is a fresh new product made possible through a merging of styles and sensibilities, and an openness to any ideas [and] influences that presented themselves.”
Deresti first met Smith while they were both touring in other acts about 12 years ago.
“We really became friends and fans of each other’s work when we were on the same tour in 2011,” he says.
“I was playing bass in Pat Robitaille’s band and doing the opening set every night as a solo act.”
Smith and his band were the other act on the bill.
“We hit it off right away and started talking about possibly working together in some way.”
It wasn’t until 2017, when Deresti hired Smith to engineer and co-produce the third Lake Effect album, Hi’s and Lo’s.
“Shortly after that we discussed writing some songs together, and Ontarians was born,” says Deresti.
The musical partnership officially began in February 2018, when Deresti and Smith began writing and recording sessions for what was to become The Greatest Short Story Never Told, a title that originated during a late-night conversation.
The album was completed by October 2019 with a planned release date in March 2020 and a tour to follow.
The rest, as they say, is pandemic history.
“We all know how that turned out,” says Deresti.
“From then until now we had several virtual editing and mixing sessions. [We] recorded a few final parts, and Craig put in a bunch of work over the last year finishing up mixes. Recording-wise, we’ve been essentially done for a while.”
The Greatest Short Story Never Told will be officially released on March 12.
The lead single, Time, was released on streaming platforms as well as social media, earlier this month accompanied by a stunning music video produced and edited by Kim Zayac.
“The video was shot where we all were at the time,” says Deresti noting that the pandemic didn’t allow for the group members to gather.
Jay Stiles footage was shot in Austin, Texas, where he currently lives.
Craig Smith’s footage was captured in the Collingwood area.
Chris Johns footage was shot at his home in the Sault.
Deresti’s footage was captured in various locations including his basement, at Lake Superior Park, and along Highway 17.
“True to the initial goals of this project, [the music video] was also a full collaborative effort,” says Deresti.
“But Kim Zayac was the mastermind who put it all together and made it work.”
Releasing a new record without the ability to perform and tour behind it is a difficult choice for any artist.
“It was time for this record to come out,” says Deresti.
“It feels like we’ve been sitting with this material for a while and even though we can’t currently promote it in the traditional way, we felt the time was right to let it out into the world and see what happens.”
Deresti notes that despite the delay in the album release, the band has continued moving forward into the next creative phase.
“We’re already working on the next batch of material,” he says.
Musical collaboration is something Deresti is becoming more and more attracted to as he grows older.
“It’s an amazing thing to be a part of something that could never be created without the contributions of each member,” he says.
“Currently this is probably the one thing that keeps me going the most, creatively.”
The single Time by the Ontarians is available on the band’s Bandcamp page, as well as on all streaming platforms.
The Greatest Short Story Never Told will be available March 12 on streaming platforms.
The physical album will be made available on vinyl and CD once live shows are allowed to happen again.
Find out more about Ontarians at ontariansofficial.ca.