Months ago, before the bombardment of one strange Molson Canadian spot after another, audiences across the country were teased by an infinite number of monkeys on typewriters defining all that is Canada.

The quirky tunes playing in the background of ‘Teaser’ while the primates pound away – the same sounds bookending each of the 10 spots in the campaign – are the creation of The Einstein Bros.’s Jodi Colero and the Top Spot favorite for best music.

When it came time to put music to the Molson Canadian campaign, MacLaren McCann chief creative officer Rick Davis says they took the rough cuts to Colero, gave him a briefing on what they were trying to say, and left it to him to come up with something full of energy that fit the mood and tone.

‘It is really up to him to interpret it,’ says Davis. ‘The same way that it’s up to the director, Steve Chase, when he shoots and interprets it [on film]. We have to leave it up to the music guy and give him the freedom to use his skills and experience to interpret it in the same way.’

While the scene called for something unusual and different that would peak interest and raise questions, the music man didn’t want the sounds to be too silly, funny or serious. After composing a few things, he decided to go with the common Colero practice of combining different musical elements.

‘I like to mix things up that don’t necessarily go together,’ Colero says. ‘If it’s a techno thing then I would like something organic over top. If it’s sweet, I like to put something edgy over it. I like to mix and match to come up with something fresh, which doesn’t always happen.’

Inspiration for the final track stemmed from King Louis, the monkey in The Jungle Book, ‘because it’s got that weird kind of swing thing going from the bottom,’ says Colero.

By laying an orchestral element over top of some swing sounds, combining that with some jungle-type noise and integrating the sounds of chimp fingers striking keys into the groove, Colero along with cowriter Jim McGrath, found the new sound they were striving for.

Most of the sound effects are built into the music and tuned to the track, so instead of hearing the sound effects on top of the music it is ‘one piece of flowing noise,’ as Colero puts it.

A demo was put together on a synthesizer using horns and synthetic strings. Once approved, it was back to the studio where musicians got in on the act.

With synthetic sounds getting better and samples becoming ‘cooler,’ Colero says there is a grassroots thing happening now where writing is as important as the sound.

According to Colero, orchestral sessions seem to be gaining popularity these days and he says he has done more live sessions this year than in the past.

‘Either advertisers have more money to spend or they are just not happy with smaller tracks anymore, but there is a certain turn towards live guys again, which musicians have always liked.’

Although more and more spots seem to be using previously recorded tunes, in Davis’ opinion, original music gives a commercial more stature. The key, he says, is to stay original.

In keeping with the high-energy attitude which Molson is trying to convey, MacLaren McCann did the swing-thing for one spot for Export as the music was apropos for the post-war period of the story. Although it is a hopeful and optimistic sound they probably won’t be going there again, according to Davis.

One thing Davis hopes will not make a comeback in commercials, or on the radio, is ‘cheesy ’70s rock.’ After hearing a Styx song on his car radio recently, he says he had a terrible feeling that this could be where things are headed as it may be ‘the last stone unturned.’