I meet the four fresh-faced, gregarious members of Latka in a well-lit downtown Winnipeg cafe to receive an oral history of the band and get an exclusive first listen of their debut album My Bright Heart. The group, which includes local film wünderkind/vocalist Milos Mitrovic, guitarist Cole Vincent, drummer Andrew Clark and violinist Eric Ross, strikes a vibrant contrast to a street filled with tattoo-sleeved, MTS Centre-bound UFC fans. 

The quartet’s musical roots and friendships run deep; in fact, all the way back to the rambunctious salad days of junior high school and a show performed by Mitrovic and Clark for a basement audience of only two. Improvising comedic musical riffs with their teachers, the band then treated their audience to a screening of Gus Van Sant’s sleepy teen tragedy Elephant.

It was with high school and the addition of guitarist Vincent that saw the band begin in earnest to construct a sound based on divergent influences and a shared love of the big hooks and manic rhythms of Fall Out Boy. Cutting their teeth in the local punk scene, the band’s unabashed pop sensibilities, singular and unique, helped them develop a loyal and growing fanbase. As Clark puts it, this “pop band that people can mosh to” reached another touchstone in the development of their sound with the introduction of long time friend, violinist and bluegrass aficionado Ross (his appearance at band practice was a birthday surprise for Vincent).

With the elements of their sound firmly locked in, Latka set to work on its debut album.

Recorded by Vincent in his home, the guitarist who studied at Mid-Ocean under the tutelage of local producer Ryan McVeigh (Boats, Hot Panda) found himself putting lessons learned to good use.

“I learned a lot from Ryan, including how to coax the best performances out of musicians,” he says. “You have to massage their egos a bit, even when they’re your friends and bandmates.”

The album was recorded over three hectic months, eventually being mixed by John Paul Peters (Salinas) and involved several all-night sessions.

“We’d drink tons of coffee, record all night and then Cole would drive me to school at 7am,” says an enthused Mitrovic, who often recorded his vocals in the nude.

You’ve gotta hand it to ’em, sincere/naked/acoustic/pop/punk is a whole new genre, and in this day and age, something new is always welcome.

Published in Volume 67, Number 27 of The Uniter (July 17, 2013)