Time: 9:30 p.m.

Cover: $10

Said the Whale www.myspace.com/saidthewhale  or http://www.saidthewhale.com
Said The Whale formed in 2007 as a collaboration between songwriters Ben Worcester and Tyler Bancroft. The pair’s debut EP, Taking Abalonia, featured sunny west coast indie pop, with breezy harmonies, shimmering guitars, and lyrical tributes to their home city of Vancouver. In 2008, the album was rereleased as Howe Sounds/Talking Abalonia, featuring seven additional tracks that stretched the band’s stylistic palate to include bubblegum folk (“The Light Is You”), thundering hard rock (“Last Tree Standing”) and gentle ukulele ballads (“The Real of It”). After several personnel changes, the group settled upon a five-piece lineup that includes bassist Peter Carruthers, drummer Spencer Schoening, and keyboardist Jaycelyn Brown. The quintet embarked upon a rigorous touring schedule, crossing Canada numerous times and landing high profile gigs at V-Fest 2008 in Calgary and the nationally televised Canada Day celebration on Parliament Hill.
The group is now poised to take the next step with the release of its latest single, “Camilo (The Magician).” With its gritty powerchords and sunny powerpop chorus, the single has already been dubbed the “song of the summer” by Grant Lawrence of CBC Radio 3. Produced by Howard Redekopp (Tegan and Sara, The New Pornographers, Mother Mother) and Tom Dobrzanski (Hey Ocean!, The Zolas), it will appear on the group’s sophomore album, Islands Disappear, due for release on October 13 via Upper Management/EMI. Unlike the west coast focus of previous releases, the new album draws on the experience of driving across Canada, from the van breaking down in Manitoba (“Dear Elkhorn”) to camping in Alberta (“Emerald Lake, AB”).  With stylistic forays that include backwoods folk (“False Creek Change”) and danceable ukulele/glockenspiel rave-ups (“Goodnight Moon”), it’s the sound of a band coming into its own, delivering on the promise of its early recordings.
 

We Are The City www.wearethecity.ca

www.wearethecity.ca

We Are The City is a three piece progressive indie rock act from the Okanagan lakeside city of Kelowna, British Columbia. We Are The City features three young composers: Cayne McKenzie on vocals and keys, David Menzel on guitar, and Andy Huculiak on the drums. Cayne’s symphonic piano arrangements flow into David’s guttural guitars and the grand heartbeat of Andy’s drums, as the vocals slink from soft harmonies into gruff howls. From pin drop moments of absolute beauty to breathtaking crashes of wide eyed anthemic glory, their heart, innocence and sincerity will find you clenching your fists and remembering your own bruised teenaged knuckles.

Their debut album “In A Quiet World” was recorded with producer Tom Dobrzanski ( Said The Whale, Hey Ocean, The Zolas, Lotus Child) over the course of seven weeks at Vertical Studios in Vancouver and they have been turning heads ever since. With two cross-Canada tours already under their belts, and a buzz that is anything but quiet, these three teenagers are set to be on the road in 2010.

They draw inspiration from Muse, Coldplay, Mew, and Radiohead. They have already shared the stage with Yukon Blonde, Secret & Whisper, Bend Sinister, Winter Gloves, The Zolas, Dan Mangan, The Arkells, Said The Whale, and Mother Mother. We Are The City recently took home the grand prize of $150,000 towards career development for winning 100.5 The Peak FM’s BC competition, the Peak Performance Project, over 450 other BC artists.

Listening to their instrumentation and orchestral arrangements you will readily discover their potential for greatness is simply palpable. Cayne has been classically trained in piano for eight years and playing for twelve. David and Andy are both self-taught musicians.

In person, and during their witty banter in between songs on stage, you will find these three young men endearing, awkwardly funny, and incredibly sweet. They are brothers drawn together to explore their own musical renaissance. These three young men may be comical, humble, and sweetly adorable, but their music is not to be taken lightly. With their booming stadium-ready sounds and stirring melodies, they are set to continue to steadily gain fans of all ages around the globe.

We Are the City will convince you with their good hearts and inspiring sounds to come and be a part of their city.

Aiden Knight  www.myspace.com/aidanknightmusic  or aidanknight.com

Until recently, Aidan Knight was known as a helpful backing musician, playing everything from pop-rock bass lines to violent, pounding hardcore drums. He has recorded and performed with Maurice, The Zolas, and Counting Heartbeats amongst others. All the while, he was writing songs of his own, recording in intensive three day bursts whenever he was able to raise enough money. Sleeping on the studio floor at Buena Vista Audio, Knight immersed himself in the project, waking up to play most of the instruments himself. Over the course of 2 years, producer Jonathan Anderson (In Medias Res, Kensington Prairie, Eisenhauer) and Knight carefully pieced together the songs, collaboratively. With the arrangements in place, he invited Toronto's The O' Darling to fill in the additional drums, guitars, girl harmonies, strings and horns.

The result of these collaborations is Versicolour, an intimate eight-song collection of haunted chamber folk and moody acoustic pop. Opening track "The Sun" begins with a pulsing, ticking drum loop and baroque piano chords, gradually swelling to a string-laden climax with a dense chorus of harmony, cascading drum fills, and a meditative repetition of the title. "Knitting Something Nice for You" starts as a sparse acoustic waltz, Knight's fingers audibly scraping up and down the fretboard; the mood changes completely halfway through, with a hypnotic keyboard groove taking over while guitar feedback squalls somewhere in the distance.