I Mother Earth, or IME, is a Canadian alternative rock band consisting of Brian Byrne ( vocals), Bruce Gordon ( bass), Christian Tanna ( drums), and Jagori Tanna ( guitar). The band was at the peak of its popularity in the mid-to-late 1990s, and its members are currently at work on other projects while on a self-described "hiatus".
Brothers Christian and Jagori Tanna (a stage name adopted from their admiration for Carlos Santana) met vocalist Edwin at their shared rehearsal space in Toronto around 1990. Edwin asked the brothers to form a band with him, and the three came together in 1991, taking on the also mono-named Franz as a bass player. The band came up with the name IME, as in "I Am Me", but later decided the letters should stand for something. Jag Tanna plucked I Mother Earth out of the air and insists it has no special meaning. The band, represented by a professionally-recorded five-song demo, played a mere thirteen shows over the next year, and suddenly they were in the middle of a bidding war between labels. They ended up being signed to EMI in Canada, and Capitol for the U.S. and internationally.
I Mother Earth headed to Los Angeles in 1992 to record their debut under former Guns N' Roses producer Mike Clink. During these sessions, Franz was fired (see Trivia). He was eventually replaced by Bruce Gordon, whose band Rocktopus was breaking up at that time. With the lineup solidified, the band hit the road in an intensive international tour to support their debut, Dig, in Summer 1993. Considered an anomaly in the "alternative" era and often mistaken for heavy metal, the album combined old-school hard rock with grooves, long jams, psychadelic lyrics, and the Latin-based percussion of Luis Conte and Armando Borg. Dig spawned four singles: "Rain Will Fall" and "Not Quite Sonic", released that year, and "So Gently We Go" and "Levitate", released a year later. All four garnered respectable radio and video airplay in Canada, as well as rotations in the U.S. and Europe. The album itself won a Juno Award in 1994 for Best Hard Rock album, beating out IME's childhood idols Rush for the award. This cemented a long relationship between the two bands, which started with IME opening for Rush the night after the Junos. All told, I Mother Earth's debut ended up a Gold record in Canada and a respected cult item around the world.