Ontario is one of those rare phenomena where four incredibly skilled
musicians combine their multiple decades of experience into a solid rock
quartet. Moreover, they have only been writing and performing together
for a year, but have done so with reckless abandon and a total lack of
self -consciousness. "I worried about image....lately I said "fuck it,
I'm going to have fun" muses Jeff Gretzner, guitarist and lead vocalist
for Ontario. As soon as we quit trying, we started doing great" drummer
Ted Johnson adds. Partnered up with them are Greg Gretzner on bass and
vocals, and Carl Coggins on lead guitar and backing vocals. Their care
free attitudes and enduring passion for their art has certainly begun
to pay off for them. Already they have a solid fan base growing, their
own recording facilities, and did they say they've only been toghther
for a year? Sure as hell fooled me! Judging by the live show I saw at
Goodfella's in Rancho Cucamonga I was under the impression that their
tight chemistry came from years of playing together! As it turns out,
they've all been friends for a long time, and have been in different bands
toether, but this is the first time the line up has been like this, and
I personally hope that doesn't change. Speaking of which, I missed my
smooth transition to the next paragraph
About the live show-Go See It! I had a shitty weekend, but seeing Ontario
more than made up for it. These guys bring the whole family and make the
audience feel like a part of it. It all began with being threatened with
cement shoes by the Gretzner brothers' mother if we didn't give them a
standing ovation. As the story goes, she used to go by the stage name
of Ginger Harmon back in the day. Al Capone hooked her up with her first
gig when she was sixteen. After the friendly public service announcement
the band launched into a set which combined the elements of modern hard
rock, metal and fusion with the solid principles of timeless classic rock.
The set portrayed their wide variety of influences, because aside from
performing rocking originals such as "Fear the Pain", " Pressure", and
"I need it" they also performed covers ranging from a creative Beatles
medley, Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the name of" and some Ozzy
Osborne tune I didn't recongnize. But even more impressive was their on
stage presence and their immediate connection with the crowd. It was an
honest and raw reciprocation of energy between band and audience, but
it wasn't intense and moody like many modern hard rock bands try to be,
it was more upbeat and fun. There is something nice about going to see
a band that can make the whole room feel like part of the family.
If there's anything I learned from hanging out with my bros from Ontario,
I remembered to laugh and take things less seriously that night. And that
is what Ontario is all about: Good times, Good people, and not stressing,
just doing. It may sound like a simplistic version of the teachings of
Deepak Chopra, but same basic end. So, if you need a good time, which
everyone does, then go see Ontario perform.
ONTARIO - A QUARTER-CENTURY OF ROCK
If the maxim "youth equals success" in the music business is true, then
Ontario would have little shot at a career. However, with several youthful
sounding tracks, the local group plans to turn the business on its head
by using cool as compensation.
First formed as a power rock band in 1977, the members of Ontario have
seen the highs and lows of an industry bent on fickleness. So why keep
going back? Lead guitarist Carl Coggins said that it's a family. "You
know the thing that keeps me coming back is that there are four guys here
who aren't afraid to say 'I love you' and 'I've missed you man,'" Coggins
said. "It's like coming home." "I really believe in the music," singer
Jeff Gretzner added. "And our response that we've had from high school
aged kids has been great. Some of them even sing along with the lyrics
at our shows." Furthermore, there is a history filled with near misses,
red-lighted love songs and all-night parties that stretched into endless
dawns. In 1984, the band was a hit. "We started in '77 and played together
for a while, but it was when we got back together in '84 that we really
started touring and playing with large acts," said Coggins.
Opening for bands including Great White, Poison, and Concrete Blonde,
Ontario was able to play in front of packed houses at some of the most
notable Los Angeles clubs. This gave the band a taste of it's dream. "In
'84, we recorded an album and were playing at places like Madame Wong's,
Timbers and the Troubadour," said Coggins. "We used to rent the basement
of the Pomona mall as a practice studio. Every Friday night there would
be 200 people there, who just came to be around the music." Unfortunately
for the group, in the middle of their climb to a record deal and what
seemed like imminent success, personalities began to clash and tempers
ran high. "We were so close," said Coggins, "but we started having problems.
Finding another project after Ontario was emotionally difficult for myself
as well as for the other people in the band. But Jeff and I never stopped
playing music." Coggins and Gretzner both went on to successful projects
of their own. Coggins played in a band called The Element and again shred
the stage with high powered acts. "We played a show once with (Former
Guns 'N Roses guitarist) Slash and the Snake Pit," Coggins said. "At that
time, I was teaching guitar to a kid who was a huge fan of Slash's and
he'd asked me to have his guitar case autographed. I was thinking that
I would just ask him to scribble his name on the case, and he obliged,
but he spent lie 20 minutes drawing a picture on the case with a sharpie
and then signing hes name. I thought that was so cool of him to do.
"And there were other gigs - Great White, Gary Hooey - but I never really
felt comfortable in that project. I never felt the magic like I did when
I was with Ontario," said Coggins. Gretzner on the other hand, went on
to achieve his longtime goal of becoming a signed artist but things weren't
in the card for his group. "I was signed to A&M Records in '90 with a
band called Neon Tribe," Gretzner said. "We had an album produced by Foreigner,
but never really went anywhere. But I kept on , I've been around this
business for a long time. My mother was a singer in a traveling group
called The King Family, so my brother and I have always been around touring
and performing. I do it because I love being creative." About 20 years
of separation, the musicians of Ontario feel that they can revive the
good times and successes of their younger years. And by updating their
sound, the group has been receiving attention from major labels as well
as local radio. "There's just something about this band that everybody
wants to be a part of," said Gretzner. "We've only been back together
since January and already we have two managers, a guy who's doing our
website for free, and the other night X103.9 FM played one of our songs.
We didn't even know that they had the CD."
Receiving interest from his former label A&M, Gretzner is working
on putting together some more material and remixing their current demo.
"The songs that we're writing right now are more up-tempo for the live
factor," Gretzner said. "And I think that it's more in line with what's
going on these days. We want to have something that if people want to
pit to it, they can. But you know, a lot of rock 'n roll is sounding the
same to me right now. So I think that if something were to come out of
left field at the right time, it could work."