It comes but once a year and everyone has one. Some people lie about how many they've had, but it's considered rude to ask anyway.

It's official and they're not afraid to tell you: on January 17th, the Dinosaur Bones will be turning one year old and everyone's invited to celebrate with them at the Horseshoe Tavern.

I met up with two members of the Toronto indie band at Spadina's cheap-eats joint, the Red Room, to have a beer. While Branko Scekic -bassist- waited for CAA to fetch his keys from his locked car, Ben Fox -vocals/guitar- and I went over what the band has been up to in its early stages.

"We've just been playing a lot of shows this year, we recently played a couple at the Horseshoe Tavern... we recently played the Rivoli, and the Drake Hotel as part of their Elvis Monday."

On a side note, The Drake Hotel's Elvis Monday happens every week and it's a great way to see local bands for free -comparable to Tuesdays at the Horseshoe Tavern.

The Dinosaur Bones have also started racking a roster of bands that they've played with, and have began to form friendships with local talent in the Toronto band pool.

"Black Hat Brigade are a great band. Those guys are from Brampton and they'll be playing with us on the 17th -they're cool guys. Still Life Still are probably our number one allies at this point, and from the beginning even. We sort of have band crushes on each other. Oh No Forest Fires are a good band, and also Modern Boys Modern Girls. It may be just that we're involved in the scene, but it seems like there's a lot of bands that we're starting to encounter that a lot of people are likely to know in the very near future. There's a great grassroots indie thing happening here.

I asked Ben (and Branko since he had retrieved his keys and returned) if they thought alliances between bands was something that happened a lot at this stage.

Ben: "It's not so much about a solid alliance, but basically pockets. Like, you'll still find bands that go out and play shows, but kind of exist on their own, outside of the bubble or any social circle. You do find that most bands are open to going out and seeing shows to support each other.

Branko: "We definitely found a good community of bands -we didn't know where we were going to fit in. We had a couple of friends' bands, and one was more quirky indie and the other was more like pop metal. We didn't know where we'd fall, not that you have to fall in a category, but you just kind of get out there and soon you end up in this pocket of bands. And you're not just seeing each other's shows, but you partying together and hanging out, so it's cool in that way."

While the Dinosaur Bones have only been together one year, they've all played in other bands before, touring and putting out EP's, and Ben feels that this has been a major advantage for them.

"I think that really helped us hit the ground running. To know how to build a band so that you're taking steps to progress immediately, and you're not just treading water. It's helped us to really keep focus. We've made more progress this year, then our old band did in five. I'm definitely happy about where we are right now."

They've had the chance to play a few shows out of Toronto, like Montreal, St. Catherines, Hamilton, but they're still looking to do some serious touring in the summer of 2009.

"Well, first we'd like to release a full-length album. We're thinking spring/summer, when the weather's still good. And then we'd like to get out and tour it for as long as possible. We're not so sure about West Coast, but we're definitely looking very seriously at the East Coast. That's the next step after the record."

In review:
January 17th, at the Horseshoe Tavern is their One Year Anniversary. Dinosaur Bones will be playing with the The Junction, Black Hat Brigade, and the Paint Movement.

Photo by Mike Juno