Purveyors of: one-off musical extravaganzas.

Wavelength is often an outlet for up and coming musical entities to declare themselves officially "ready to go" as a band. This isn’t the case for Tank Hearts as they’ll end the same night they begin. As December reveals itself this year, an improvisational supergroup will do the same. Matt Pilgrim sat down with Justin Haynes in order to glean some precious information about Justin’s upcoming performance.

Who are you and what is happening at Wavelength on December 2nd?

My name is Justin Haynes and I am a member of the group Tank Hearts who are playing for the first and most likely the last time at Wavelength on December 2nd along with Pants and Tie and First Person Shooter.

Who else will be taking part in the Tank Hearts performance?

I can't tell you yet who all is in the band as I'm still waiting to hear, but I can tell you that it is a tribute to the following people – listed in no particular order – some of whom are in the band: Chris Banks, Ryan Driver, Jean Martin, Christine Duncan, Cassandra Rutherford, Colin Puffer, Judy Tsao, Rhiannon Thomas, Alex Lukashevsky, Natalka Proszac, Nick Fraser, Glenda Heathcote, Brodie West & Heather Lee, Andrew Downing, Yessim Tossuner, Janet MacPherson, Emilie Mover, Justin Schwabb, Robbie Luster, Bryan Bourke, Jordan O'Connor, Victor Bateman, Tania Gill, David French, John Laroque, Dave Clark, Lewis Melville, Jah Youseff, Anne Zbitnew, John Southworth, Janine Theriault, Erin Pattee, Evan Shaw, Kailey Finkleman, Nick Zubeck, Myk Freedman, Ross Murray, Anne Freeland, Jason Kenemy, Michelle McAdorey, Lina Allemano, Fedge, Janet Lewis, Anthony Braxton, Brent Tanemura, Erika Werry, John Russon, Sue Littelton, Eric Chenaux, Tiesenhausens, Aimee Dawn Robinson, Rob Clutton, Randi Helmers, Stephanie Massey, Katherine Freeland, and George Freeland-Haynes.
 
Is it going to be improvisation and jamming or have you actually practiced together?

Before answering that I've got to ask you what you think the difference is between improvisation and jamming and if you think practicing together precludes the possibility for those activities to happen. As for Tank Hearts, it is simply a testament.

Who would you say is the most underrated Toronto band at the moment?

I'm not sure how to answer this question. I don't read the ratings. I don't even know where I would find the ratings. I generally go out to see bands I love who are highly rated by those who love them. I wouldn't know how to plug into the collective consciousness of Toronto and pluck out its underrated bands. If I was hearing a lot of people talking about how crappy Moth Ring is I might say Moth Ring or Adam's Roe, or blah blah 60, John Hancock Building, Kola Champagne...but I don't. People love these bands even though they generally play to small audiences. If more people heard them then even more people would love them until eventually they would be highly rated and then ultimately hated. I think the answer you're looking for is Feist.

What are your goals musically in the near future?

I very much love the experimental spirit in music. So the goals I set for myself float around all the time and sometimes get met and sometimes not and I assume that's how it will be for the rest of my life. I've really been wanting to get to outer space for some performances and have finally found a team who is willing to work with me on it but there are so many obstacles. I also have a gig next Saturday at Somewhere There with a group called Lover's Instrument with Rob Clutton and Nick Fraser. My goal there is to create a sensuous electric guitar enthusiasm for an audience of lovers.

By Matt Pilgrim