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I Mother Earth

Biography

I Mother Earth (1990-2003, 2012-present): a Grunge band from Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

A

lthough slapped with the 'grunge' moniker, I Mother Earth (also known as IME), is more of a hard rock band than anything heavy metal or grunge, much in the style of Jane's Addiction, especially in the vocal arena. The brother duo of drummer Christian and guitarist Jagori Tanna met vocalist Edwin at their shared rehearsal space in 1990. Edwin asked the brothers to form a band with him, and the three came together in 1991, taking on Franz Masini as a bass player. The band came up with the name IME, as in "I Am Me", but later decided the letters should stand for something more. Jag Tanna ad-libbed the name I Mother Earth and has always insisted it has no special meaning.

Under the original line-up of Edwin (vocals), Jagori Tanna (guitar), Bruce Gordon (bass) and Christian Tanna (drums) they would release their debut, Dig in 1993 as a co-venture deal brokered between 'Capitol Records' (US) and its Canadian affiliate, 'EMI Music Canada'. The band travelled to Los Angeles in 1992 to record the debut with former Guns N' Roses producer Mike Clink. During these sessions, Masini was fired, leaving Jag Tanna to re-record the bass parts himself. At the completion of the album, Masini was replaced by Bruce Gordon, whose band Rocktopus was breaking up. Considered an anomaly in the "alternative" era and often mistaken for heavy metal, the album combined traditional hard rock with grooves, extended jams, psychedelic lyrics, and the Latin-based percussion of Luis Conte and Armando Borg. Dig spawned four singles, three of which originated from the band's earlier demo tape and were later included on the proper album. Rain Will Fall, Not Quite Sonic and Levitate were released in 1993, and So Gently We Go was released in the summer of 1994. All four garnered radio and video airplay in Canada, as well as rotations in the US and Europe. The latter two singles in particular charted well on Canadian rock radio.

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The debut album was followed by Scenery and Fish in 1996. After the exhaustive touring ended, IME ended up in different studios in Toronto and Morin Heights, Quebec in 1995. In these studios, the band worked on its second album, co-produced by Jag Tanna and Paul Northfield, who was most noted for producing Rush. Daniel Mansilla replaced Borg on percussion, and became the band's permanent touring percussionist. Rush vocalist/guitarist Alex Lifeson also made a guest appearance on the song Like a Girl. However, signs of dissension in the band were already showing. For the first time, Edwin revealed to the music press that he had no creative control in the band and that such a situation gave him "no reason to be (t)here". He had also spent a great deal of the sessions away from the band, recording the album Victor with Lifeson. Still, he remained with the band for the time being. It would be with Blue Green Orange (1999) saw the departure of Edwin in favor of Brian Byrne after the band signed to 'Mercury Records' in 1998 and relocated back to Toronto. It was somewhat of a departure from the band's earlier work, opting for more textured, spacier sounds and less of an emphasis on the band's hard-rock reputation.

The Quicksilver Meat Dream followed in 2003. The album was an even larger departure from past works, with industrial elements replacing the Latin percussion (but not Mansilla, who still toured with the band), and a heavier, more progressive sound than ever before. However, the now record label 'Universal' was unimpressed with the nearly finished product and demanded radio-friendly singles, so the band returned to the studio to appease them. Lead single Like the Sun was another Canadian rock hit, but despite its popularity, it failed to sell the record. Due to poor sales and disagreements with the Tannas brothers over the direction of the band's music, 'Universal' withdrew their support for the band and eventually dropped them at the end of 2003, leaving the band to fund small tours and second single No Coma on its own. The song failed to be officially added to rock radio, the video received very limited play, and the band decided to end the album's run after only seven months. After the band provided the theme songs for the MuchMusic TV shows Much on Demand and MuchLOUD, but otherwise went unheard in the media for the rest of the year. In November 2003, I Mother Earth performed a special show in Barrie, Ontario, entitled "Live off the Floor". Largely considered by those present as their greatest live performance, the intimate, nearly four-hour show featured the band performing in the round of the Georgian College venue, with the crowd on all sides. The band played most of its back catalogue at the show, widely thought to be the band's final performance.

On January 24, 2012, the band's hiatus ended with a concert announcement and blog post on their official website under the membership of Jagori Tanna (guitar), Christian Tanna (drums). The membership, however, would change in February 2016, when was reported that Byrne, who had a radio gig at Halifax's Live 105 FM, was also trying out to be the new vocalist for Stone Temple Pilots. Jagori Tanna revealed in a 2018 interview that the band had a tour planned with Byrne when he "disappeared" and the Tanna brothers never heard from him. Nonetheless, once the air had cleared, the membership would include Jagori Tanna (guitar), Christian Tanna (drums), Edwin (Full Name: Edwin Ghazal; lead vocals; joined in 2016), Chuck Dailey (bass) and Jesse Karwat (keyboards; joined in 2016). Since then the band have yet to release a recording. They would also appear at the 2023 Sound of Music festival.

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I Mother Earth perform at the Burlington Sound of Music festival. Burlington, Ontario, Canada. June 18, 2023.
Photo by: Derek McDonald/Diskery

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