Inside nêhiyawak's collaboration with TONTO, a synthesizer with a 'weird name'

The Lone Ranger's companion, Tonto, is seen by many Native Americans as a harmful, degrading stereotype.

When Edmonton-based Cree band nêhiyawak had the chance to play a one-of-a-kind synthesizer of the same name during their residency at the National Music Centre, they felt a bit conflicted.

TONTO, which stands for The Original New Timbral Orchestra, was created in the 1970s by Malcolm Cecil. 

The user stands in the centre of a half-circle — buttons and pads and dials and modulators in front of them — while they adjust, experiment and pitch sounds coming out of the instrument.

With the synthesizer, the user becomes The Lone Ranger; using TONTO as an assistant to achieve an end goal.

Kris Harper, who plays guitar and sings for nêhiyawak, said the band wants their relationship with TONTO to be different than The Lone Ranger's.

"He would only be using Tonto as an assistant to his methodologies. I suppose we are too, but in a way that's hopefully more eye-to-eye," Harper said.

As bandmates Matthew Cardinal and Jason Borys learn about the machine, they appreciate it not as a tool but as a living, breathing collaborator. They're hoping some of TONTO's contributions will make it onto their new record, set for release in the fall.

TONTO is just one of the hundreds of instruments nêhiyawak had the chance to play during their residency at the NMC. To prepare for the residency, the band brought 13 songs and some other demos to work on. 

A residency can significantly transform songs or records based on what the artist finds. It's exactly what Harper said happened when A Tribe Called Red met TONTO.

"Talking to Bear Witness, he said once TONTO, the sound of it came out and they put it on one track, he was just like, 'this has to be on the whole album,'" Harper recalled of their conversation. 

Moccasingaze

Luckily, nêhiyawak has plenty of experience implementing new sounds, instruments and spirits into their work. They call themselves "moccasingaze," a play on the genre of shoegaze, a melodic, fuzzy type of indie rock where the instruments, including vocals, all sit at relatively equal levels and intertwine much easier.

The band also works with traditional drums, powwow honour beats and even the tempo of the North Saskatchewan River.

The residency gives Cardinal, who plays "synths and bass and whatever" for nêhiyawak, a chance to experiment and find sequences of sounds that might fit a demo they have — or even a new track in itself.

"I'm very influenced by the instruments and what the instrument can do," Cardinal said. "I usually play an instrument, see what sounds I can get out of it and then write the part for that sound.

"So something like this — or any of the other instruments here that we've been playing with — it's very inspiring."

The band was both inspired and amazed with TONTO, acting like kids in a candy store when they were first introduced.

Borys, who plays modular synths for nêhiyawak, could hardly contain his excitement. "The whole thing is so surreal that like, it doesn't even really affect me on an emotional level yet," Borys said. 

"It is really so overwhelming, the amount of interesting instruments that are here and the inspiration that comes from being in close proximity … not just because they were used on great records or whatever, but just all the interesting artists that have sweated over the gear."

In both nêhiyawak's music and roots, contributors are equal. Cardinal said TONTO, though it has a "weird name," will evoke the same kind of collaboration — and he's sure it'll make it on the new record.

"It's pretty amazing. I'm hoping to get something nice," Cardinal said.

"It's a whole other being. It's kind of its own thing. It's pretty much alive."