The rock band from Canada with the loud name I Mother Earth, better known as IME, was at the top of its popularity in the 1990s of the last century.
The history of the creation of the group I Mother Earth
The history of the group began with the acquaintance of two brothers-musicians Christian and Yagori Tanna with vocalist Edwin. Christian played drums, Yagori was the guitarist. Edwin decided that they could make a good band. Bass player Franz Masini was invited to the band. In 1991, the IME team appeared. At first, the abbreviation meant nothing, but Yagori decided to come up with a decoding for I Mother Earth.
At the initial stage, the musicians recorded 5 demo songs, and within 12 months they performed 13 concerts.
Debut work of the team
The next year can be called the starting year for the group. It was in 1992 that the guys began working with the Canadian branch of the famous American recording company Capitol Records. The first Dig album was created in Los Angeles thanks to producer Michael Klink.
At this time, the group parted ways with Franz Masini and redid all the bass parts again. Bruce Gordon was adopted to replace the bass player who left the band. With the new line-up, the musicians began their international tour with presentations of their debut album Dig, written in the style of classic hard rock.
Four songs from this collection - Rain Will Fall, Not Quite Sonic, Levitate and So Gently We Go - became very popular and were heard on the radio and broadcast on television in all corners of the country. The last single even took the 1st position in the famous Canadian Cancon chart. In 1994, the album was awarded the Juno Award and was named Canada's Gold Record.
After the end of a difficult tour, the musicians began to collaborate with Toronto and Quebec. At this time, work began on the second record and the first signs of creative differences appeared. Edwin was very dissatisfied, who even more often began to make independent recordings.
Scenery and Fish was released in 1996. Thanks to the collection, the team gained significant financial success. Nominations for the Juno awards for Best Rock Record and Team of the Year followed. The result was double platinum status.
Line-up changes for I Mother Earth
In 1997, there were disagreements in the team. The Tanna brothers claimed that they wrote most of the compositions and musical accompaniment, and Edwin existed on his own. Tensions with the band forced Edwin to leave, and I Mother Earth announced they were looking for a new frontman.
Difficult times began in the group - relations with managers of recording companies worsened, cooperation with Capitol Records was terminated. Applicants for the position of the vocalist were weeded out one by one, until a familiar musician advised the previously rejected Brian Byrne. After listening to the recordings of the vocalist, the band accepted him into their lineup. Byrne was on probation for several months, then he was officially introduced to the public. Fans received the new soloist well.
Difficult period in the group
In 2001, I Mother Earth started having problems. The musicians were forced to stop touring for some time and engage in creativity in their studio in Toronto. Byrne had an operation to repair torn vocal cords, Christian Tanna injured his hand and could not cope with drumming, so he had to take a wait and see attitude and start all over again later.
A year later, work began on the next album, The Quicksilver Meat Dream, which included the composition Juicy from the movie "Three X's" with Vin Diesel in the title role. The album was released in 2003, but was not as successful as previous works.
Universal, which dealt with the group's financial matters, refused to cooperate, leaving the musicians to deal with their own problems. The last major performance was in November 2003 at the Live off the Floor special.
A break during work
The creative crisis of the team led to the announcement of a break in work. At this time, vocalist Brian Byrne decided to perform solo and recorded two records. Bruce Gordon went to the Blue Man Group music show and began to actively realize himself there. Yagori Tanna took over the organization of a recording studio, in which his brother also began to work. Christian also acted as an organizer of various jazz and rock concerts.
In early 2012, Brian Byrne decided to end solo performances and bring the band back. The Tanna brothers supported him. At this time, they and the former vocalist lived in Peterborough, while Gordon worked in Orlando.
At the end of January, an announcement appeared on the band's official website about the end of the break and the organization of the concert. And in March, the song We Got the Love was released and began to sound on the radio. In 2015, two new compositions The Devil's Engine and Blossom appeared. They were actively reproduced by many radio companies in Canada.
In March 2016, Byrne left for another band, and Edwin returned to I Mother Earth. Concerts in the new line-up caused a full house, and Edwin continued to work in the team. The musicians have creative plans. They are preparing to release some new songs.
