ACER – Five Questions With

Dream-pop band, ACER has unveiled their newest single, “Vacant.” ACER is made up of multi-instrumentalist Kyle Gottschalk and vocalist/art director Connory Ballantyne.

The brooding new single, “Vacant,” offers catharsis. Ballantyne had started dating someone new after a truly crushing breakup, and so the experience of restarting sparked reflection on the perpetuity and strangeness of his feelings. “Keep me in your contacts, keep me the boy you’re dreaming of,” he sings.

“Vacant” comes from the band’s upcoming EP, ACER, out July 8th. ACER is a youthful and hungry EP showcasing the musical diversity and raw energy of the two producers. Dreamy atmospheres abound (a nod to Beach House, Daniel Lanois, or Eno), and the tracks sputter and glitch to life reminiscent of bedroom producers like JPEGMAFIA or the recent work of Toro Y Moi. Ballantyne’s vocals constantly flirt between the swaggering bravado of artists like Archie Marshal’s King Krule, the effect-laden Justin Vernon or Kanye, and the soft ambience of Slowdive.

Watch the video for “Vacant” below, and find out more about ACER via our Five Questions With segment.

Care to introduce yourself to our readers?

Kyle – Hi, I supposed I’m the primary producer & handle the vast majority of the instrumental aspects of the project.

Connory – What’s up! I’m Connory, I sing and write lyrics in ACER & handle some fiddley producing towards the end of the songwriting process. help kyle twists some extra knobs & stuff like that.

Tell us a bit about your most recent release.

Kyle – “Vacant” was written primarily in February/March of 2019. It was the first song that we actually really worked on together in the same room. We had some big assists from drummers on this one, our friends Evan Smith & Zach Cockburn.

Connory: “Vacant” was the first song where we felt this project getting pushed into a little bit more of a pop territory. Albeit lightly. For us, if there are two choruses that repeat… must be pop, baby.

Where do you tend to pull inspiration from when writing?

Kyle – For me, it’s always a sort of diary. Whatever it is I’m going through… I like to pull from that and see what I get. This one came towards the end of a long winter.

Connory: Such is the same for me. Lyrics especially are a sort of Jackson-Pollock-level-throwing-up-life-events-Impressionistically-onto-canvas-that-kyle-creates-instrumentally. Sort of thing…

Do you have any upcoming shows or festivals you’d like to tell us about?

Kyle – No upcoming shows are currently announced but we’re hoping to play later in the summer or fall.

Connory: Working on it, working on it…

What’s your goal for 2022?

Connory: Play live. We got a single show in last year while we lived together & the energy was there. Now to start flexing that again.

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Jenna Melanson

I’m Jenna, and I am the founder and editor of Canadian Beats. I have had a strong love for Canadian music, which started many years ago. I have a passion for promoting these talented Canadian bands and artists, and that’s how Canadian Beats came to be. I am so proud of what it has become over the last few years, with many talented music lovers and writers coming together to spread the word of Canada’s music.