By Joanna Orland
Long-time musical dynamo Derek Lathrop may be Toronto’s best-kept secret. But not for very long if the public gets hold of Scenes From a Corner Store, his band Adam’s Rib’s latest offering.
After being in the music industry for 12 years, Lathrop has brought together musicians Dave Devaux, Laird McLeod and Carlos Aravelo to partake in the musical ambience of Adam’s Rib and the band has just released the first video off the CD, the title track, last week.
Lathrop first got his feet wet in the music business when he was a teenagere.
“I started in the music industry in high school,” said Lathrop.
“I remember going into bars where I wasn’t old enough to play and they wouldn’t let us in the bar in between sets. We always managed to sneak a few drinks in there somehow.”
Lathrop eased into the music business with his suburban rock music style.
“I just started writing songs with different bands,” he says. “And then I started making tapes and then the bands got more serious as I got older and then it became a career choice.”
Adam’s Rib has a unique sound, incorporating very personal lyrics and pleasing melodies to create an original musical style. As for influences, Lathrop has many.
“Oh man, I listen to everything!” Lathrop says of his choice of music. “I can’t say that one specific kind of music really inspires me. I listen to rap, hip-hop, punk music, jazz, classical music.”
After having been in the music biz for 12 years as both a musician and a producer, Lathrop had gained much insight into the Canadian music scene.
“I think it’s booming right now,” Lathrop says. “Look at all the Canadian bands that are really happening, people like Alanis Morrissette. Most of them are female, which is kinda weird. Maybe I’ll be the the first guy! I can have my own Lilith Fair but maybe I’ll call it Macho Fair or something!”
Lathrop actually recorded Scenes From a Corner Store before he formed Adam’s Rib.
“Adam’s Rib is more of a musical environment than a band,” Lathrop says. “I do a lot of production work around town and this project evolved out of that. I’d been doing some song writing and working with a bunch of different people. Although all the songs are written by me, there’s a lot of different performers on my CD. Adam’s Rib is kind of a revolving door of musicians that come through this project.”
In addition to producing Scenes From a Corner Store, Lathrop hopes to make a film script based on the CD’s concept. He also helped create the video for the song “Scenes From a Corner Store.”
“We based it on the concept of the album which recounts a day in the life of this character called Adam,” he says. “It sort of goes through different things that happen with him and his family. They live above a corner store that they own and his parents run.”
And finally, the question on everyone’s mind: Why name the band Adam’s Rib?
“It comes from the biblical story of Adam and Eve that God took one of Adam’s ribs to create women and that’s how the bible kind of explains evolution. I’ve just always thought this was a neat story and this project started with me working on my own and then I brought in other people and it evolved into this environment.”
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