After spending the entire day playing music with some of his closest pals, Carlin Nicholson has a well-worn grin on his face when he opens the main door to Ill Eagle studio as widely as he can. It's unseasonably misty for a Canadian winter night and Toronto's east side is damp and cool, making Nicholson's offer to enter the recording facility he co-owns all the more welcoming. Inside, he and his band mates in Zeus are running through songs with their close collaborator/occasional bandleader Jason Collett, in preparation for their upcoming Bonfire Ball Revue tour across North America. Collett and Zeus (Nicholson, Mike O'Brien, Neil Quin, and Rob Drake) each have stunning new records to unveil and, after playing countless shows together around the world over the past few years, their fates are intertwined.

With Nicholson and O'Brien handling production, Collett's sessions at Ill Eagle conjured his best solo album in Rat a Tat Tat ― a dynamic marriage of his folk gravitas and hooky pop finesse. The latter, in particular, has been bolstered by members of Zeus and their extended family of musical friends, including former band-mate Afie Jurvanen of Bahamas. With no pretence or cautious hesitation, the boys in Zeus are unabashed proponents of timeless pop and rock'n'roll and they're sticklers about it, executing the styles brilliantly on their self-realized, full-length debut, Say Us.

Zeus is the king of Gods in Greek mythology, a type of personal computer and a rock band from Toronto that is our X3 Artist of the month. Backing band for Jason Collett, last year Zeus released their debut EP, Sounds Like Zeus, in anticipation of their 12-song full length Say Us, released last month. Founding members Carlin Nicholson and Mike O'Brien, who grew up together in Barrie, are joined by Rob Drake and Neil Quin. In addition to recording their own material the band has acted as producer for The Golden Dogs' latest effort as well as new albums from Collett and Danielle Duval.