Toronto Rockers F-105 Celebrate Love as a Force of Nature with New Ska Single “Immovable”
If you want to get in good with your lover, write a song about them. But if you really want to seal the deal, write a song that describes them as a force of nature.
It’s what Toronto’s F-105 are up to on their new single, the frankly worshipful “Immovable.” Singer/songwriter/guitarist Din has cooked up an ardent little promise ring of a tune, in which he compares the object of his affections to a host of almighty natural phenomena—including, but not limited to, “An eternal light/ Even when you’re not.”
“You are immovable,” the song’s habit-forming refrain repeats over and over, in a tone as admiring as its subject is inevitable.
A pleasantly skanking number with distinct ska/reggae overtones, “Immovable” comes from F-105’s new EP, F-105 II: Side A. It’s a six-song outing that furthers Din’s agenda of “using the rock ’n roll life force to make some noise about the common threads that connect us.” Bassist Isaac Daniel Eng, keyboardist AJ Jiang and drummer Elvis Lewis join their fearless leader to wring the utmost emotional heft out of material they workshopped together over two years of live performances and then laid down “off the floor” in an intensive six-hour recording session. Producer Marc Meriläinen has steered the group toward terrain that makes for a terrific contrast with the previously released, all-acoustic F-105 II: Side B. (Don’t try to make sense of the numbering; you’ll just spoil the fun.)
“Some great stuff there,” says Jaimie Vernon, author of The Canadian Pop Music Encyclopedia, in praise of the new EP. He singles out “Immovable” as a particular favorite: “The falsetto is strong and shows Din has range. The whole thing is well done.”
Such plaudits are getting increasingly common as Din passes two decades of honing his pipes via worldwide touring and cementing his songwriting chops over the course of nine albums (four with F-105 and five with his previous outfit, The Soles). Over the years, he’s traded in styles and genres ranging from pop-punk to indie rock to alt-country rock to funk and beyond. At the same time, he’s also worked tirelessly on behalf of Indigenous rights and pursued his muse as a visual artist. (He designs every album cover, poster, and piece of merch that bears his band’s name.)
“Immovable” arrives as a single accompanied by a performance video that’s a collage of clips from three of the band’s rapturously received live gigs. Speaking of which, the real thing will be back in action for a Sunday, February 16, appearance at the Winterfolk Festival in Toronto (with Glen Hornblast and Friends). Come out and bear witness to a force in today’s music that isn’t just immovable—it’s unstoppable.
Hi Din! Good to meet you! Care to introduce yourself to the readers?
Hi, I’m Din, and it’s a pleasure to be here. I think we met a few years ago with F-105 III. But the numbering of our records seems to be backyards recently, so maybe this interview has happened first. Sorry for the time warp confusion, ha
“Immovable” is a powerful declaration of devotion. What inspired you to write this song, and what does it mean to you personally?
I guess the Latin word “inspirare”, meaning “breathe upon,” is the key word here, because almost all these songs for F-105 II (both side A and B) came out of years of maybe looking inward and then meditating during COVID isolation. Most people picked up a hobby and that was mine, surprisingly, as I have a hard time with stillness and silence. Hence the nickname “Din”. I can honestly say I can’t remember where that song came from, it just sort of came forth, as effortless as letting out a breath of air.
The meaning is tricky for me, I mean, the best art, the stuff I love tends to have layers of meaning that reveal themselves over time. Especially time and distance, I often can’t see the meaning clearly until years later, and when I’m mentally distanced from the work. I let stuff out almost stream of conscious, and then only form the words more precisely later, if they need it. In this case, ‘Immovable’ is one of those songs where I intentionally kept it illusive, where one can find new layers of meaning in how the words are constructed.
In the press release, Eric Alper’s take was that I was writing about a love interest or partner, but at the time of writing I didn’t have one. And I always write from personal experiences. However, his point of view showed me that indeed I was perhaps writing about a partner, and I loved that. Now that I have one, Eric’s take does ring true for me. I can feel that devotion now. Weird and cool! However, at the time of writing, the first line was taken from real life, a friend and long-time supporter of my music texted me one evening to say he just heard our song on the radio. The person I’m singing about was simply a friend. I started from that, and the rest flowed from there. I wouldn’t want to define the meaning any more than that, because I’d like whoever is reading this interview to have their own take, undistorted by mine. Sometimes I write very clear songs because I want people to get a direct message, but not with this one.
Personally, I love verse two. It’s a rock metaphor, used to describe the reality of all solid matter constantly moving at the speed of light, on a sub-atomic internal level. Which I call the Parable of Rock ‘n Roll! This dichotomy means a lot to me, like Immovable/I’m Movable, but I don’t want to take away a reader or listener’s ability to interpret that for themselves.
F-105 II: Side A has a full-band energy that contrasts with the all-acoustic Side B. How did you approach the recording process to make this release stand out?
I wrote down a quote yesterday re-reading Dune by Frank Herbert, “Growth is limited by the necessity which is present in the least amount”. For F-105, and most touring musicians these days, that means paid gigs. It’s a challenge to be able to take a full band on the road and make that economically viable. There’s nothing I love more than satisfying my wanderlust by travelling to play music, so I find ways. I have been able to pull off mini tours with the band since forming in 2016, however, I often do solo tours with just my acoustic guitar. It’s simply economically easier to book solo gigs, which makes it viable for me to tour alone more often. Because of this, the F-105 sound, as it were, developed along two paths: one being a band thing, and the other solo. Neil Young has always been an inspiration this way, I love that he vacillates between solo acoustic and electric band albums. Even Bob Dylan, Beck, heck maybe even Taylor Swift!
I had started writing and performing these songs just before Covid, but due to isolation the band couldn’t get together to record. So, the 6 electric “band” songs of ‘F-105 II: Side A’ were put on the shelf for post-isolation. Instead, we recorded the solo acoustic songs of ‘F-105 II: Side B’, following isolation guidelines.
In terms of energy, that word has been our focus for a few years. In an age of over-reliance on multi-tracking, click tracks, Auto-Tune, and drum machines, with performers often singing to backing tracks on their iPhones, I felt something different would be useful. Music has gotten too safe. I just really missed the chaotic walking-the-highwire energy of rock n’ roll bands. There’s a collective spirit that happens when humans perform together, like a spark, the tension of differing points of view creates the spark that ignites the music. You can hear that on ‘F-105 II: Side A’. A live band can easily derail, and that’s where the all the fun is, because if you don’t, it feels exponentially more exciting.
The EP was recorded “off the floor” in just six hours. What was that experience like, and how did it shape the final sound?
AJ (keys), Isaac (bass) Elvis (drums) and I performed these songs live for a few years to prepare. Once we felt ready, we were brought in for one six-hour session at Merilainen Music, to record them live off the floor, minus vocals. We did it in 5 hours! I sang along to give the band a live guide but didn’t intend to keep those vocals. Producer Marc Merilainen recorded my “guide” vocals, and when I heard them a few days later, I realized I sang better without the pressure of knowing I was recording. So, we kept them as is from that day, and then all four of us added harmonies later. I have to say that I’ve never experienced a band being that good in the studio, I mean, we did two takes for each song, maybe three here or there. Those guys were like Knights of the Recording Roundtable, gallantly performing with skill and determination in service to the songs. It was a truly magical and memorable experience. Very grateful to them for that. That’s rock n’ roll.
Over the years, you’ve experimented with styles from pop punk to alt-country to funk. How would you describe F-105’s musical identity today?
F-105’s identity is an elusive one for me and wouldn’t have it any other way. Maybe it’s because my favourite artists were always changing and experimenting? Like my two childhood favourites: Bowie and The Beatles. One day I’m listening to The Modern Lovers or Bob Dylan, and the next I’m listening to Beyonce’s fabulous “Cowboy Carter’. The next day it’s Chopin, Childish Gambino, Public Enemy or Joni Mitchell etc. Most of us are like that now, we live in a beautifully diverse world. But yeah, Beyonce’s willingness to risk change, and get out of her comfort zones is inspiring me currently, I love that album, the lead track “American Requiem” is an authentic protest/lament song in the tradition of stuff like Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth”. I’m in awe of how she brought that daring spirit of Pop provocation back to the masses. Kendrick Lamar’s Superbowl Sunday show was a mini-miracle, I was like, “finally, #$+@& is gettin’ real again!”. That’s how you push buttons with art. I hope younger audiences follow suit. This world needs to change, and so does this industry.
The whole F-105 band is diverse like that too. By the way, AJ plays a mean Chopin, and he brings something special to the mix, an elegant musical refinement in contrast to my more Punk influenced New Wave and Indie Rock sensibilities. We’re not trying to do whatever the current popular genre is, we’re just music fans in love with an infinite variety of music, so I guess that just naturally results in exploring different genres. Also, I get bored easy, and need to experiment to stay engaged creatively. I could interpret Bruce Lee’s famous maxim, “Use no way as way”, as “Use no identity as identity”.