This is a short recap of some clips from our 2010 Winter Olympics experience. Unfortunately, we couldn’t capture it all in a 2 minute Blog but we had an unbelievable time. Enjoy!
- TIM

Canadian Music Fest is upon us once again!  Here’s a list of bands that we suggest checking out who’ve performed at INDIE WEEK.

Wednesday March 10

A Primitive Evolution
Bovine Sex Club @ 2:00 am

Bella Clava
Horseshoe Tavern @ 11:00 pm

Brazen Angelz
Horseshoe Tavern @ 11:40 pm

Hello Beautiful
Clinton’s @ 1:00 am

Sixteen Layers
Bovine Sex Club @ 11:00 pm

Teenage X
Bovine Sex Club @ 10:00 pm

Thursday March 11

Everlea
Supermarket @ 1:00 am

Sixteen Layers
The Underground Garage (Second Bar) @ 12:15 am

Static in the Stars
The Underground Garage (Second Bar) @ 10:00 pm

These Three Cities
Mitzi’s Sister @ 1:00 am

Friday March 12

Girl + The Machine
Silver Dollar @ 8:00 pm

Isle of Thieves
The Great Hall @ 9:30 pm

Jay Sparrow
The Great Hall @ 12:00 am

Peter Katz
The Great Hall @ 9:00 pm

Shobha
Revival @ 12:00 am

The Fantasy Defender
Velvet Underground @ 8:00 pm

Tim Chaisson & Morning Fold
The Underground Garage (Second Bar) @ 1:15 am

Saturday March 13

A Primitive Evolution
Hideout @ 2:00 am

Cut Throat Britva
Rancho Relaxo @ 2:00 am

Darlings of Chelsea
Silver Dollar @ 1:00 am

Diana Catherine & the Thrusty Tweeters
Cadillac Lounge @ 1:00 am

Jane’s Party
Central @ 1:00 am

Jay Sparrow
Liberty Bar @ 1:00 am

Mary Rose Obsession
Cheval

The Balconies
Horseshoe Tavern @ 9:20 pm

Froud (Carrickmacross/Kilkenny/Swords/Athlone/Wexford)
Tues. Apr. 13 – Auntie Annie’s (Belfast) – 10:30pm

www.myspace.com/froudmusic
www.youtube.com/froudmusic

“Full bodied rock sound crusted with pop styled lyrics….a cool post modern rock anthem feel, excellent stuff. This is one act to watch and listen out for.”
Music Review Unsigned – June 09

“Strident guitar chords,a tough mainstream rock sound and confident vocals mark ‘ Nostalgia’ from Froud”
Jackie Hayden Hotpress

“Their overall sound has a top-drawer, crunchy, alt-rock feel to it. There’s a real radio-friendly vibe to them without being caught up in the commercial mishmash of cheap indie rock with with a solid edge to their tunes”
Kilkennymusic.com Apr 09

Froud sound like an American alternative rock/post- grunge band. The band started off on the right footing, signing non-exclusive publishing contract with US Licensing companies for TV, Film and Ad placement. This lead to a number of Internet radio stations featuring their songs. And lead to significant interest around Ireland, The UK & The US.

The good news became consistent when Skoepmag.com awarded them with ‘Artist to Watch’ receiving over 3 million hits and 500,000 unique visitors per month by music enthusiasts from all over the globe. (Previously awarded to Panic At The Disco, 50 Cent, The Dodos & Flobots).

Their Debut Single “Nostalgia” was one of the songs featured on a compilation album to be distributed in Italy last year by Midfinger and Busta Records. Over 20,000 copies distributed.   Upcoming single “Open Up Your Mind” is been reprsented by Sonicbids at the USA Gamers Conference in March and was one of 12 featured by them at the Hollywood Music in Media Awards.

The Music Video for the single ‘Nostalgia’ is being featured on numerous websites as well as being aired by Music Mix USA (FOX,CBS,NBC, national US to approx 40million homes), The Eclectic Show (shown in 11 countries) and Swept Away TV. Swept Away TV is a nationally distributed US teen music/pop culture TV show (available in 19 million households) Some of the artists interviewed by Swept Away TV over the past 5 years include Maroon5, , The Black Eyed Peas, Dashboard Confessional, Hoobastank, Good Charlotte, Reel Big Fish, The Presidents of the United States! Not bad company to be keeping!

Froud hail from a nationwide cross-section of Carrickmacross, Kilkenny, Swords and Athlone with very strong links to Wexford where the whole band began!

The Whatmans (Slane, Ireland)
Wed. Apr. 14 – The Twisted Pepper (Dublin) – 9:15pm

http://www.myspace.com/thewhatmans

Check them out on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUIqgZys2YE

“The Whatmans are Europe’s top latest indie rock outfit. They consist of John Brennan on vocals, Padar Mulvey on guitar and backing vocals, Francis “Frany” McGinn on bass and Aidan Carolan on drums. Formed in 2007 out of a frustration against what Padar Mulvey describes as a constant stream of over produced safe pop”. The Whatmans are regarded as Ireland’s hardest working bands and have turned heads with a pulsating, high energy, powerful live performance complemented with strong tunes, mixed with a high tempo output.

John Brennan states that “there are no other bands like us out there, When we start to play people stop talking and just sit listening, slowly you see them nodding along to the songs, then they are hooked”. Bassist “Franny” states that “It always amazes me that people come up and say to us, Great show are they covers and what band wrote them.”

There are not many bands out there with a complete 2 hour set of their own strong original material, who can still leave a crowd chanting for more.

Simon Fagan (Dublin)
Wed. Apr. 14 – The Twisted Pepper (Dublin) – 8:30pm

www.simonfagan.net
www.myspace.com/simonfagan
www.twitter.com/simonfagan

“Hired And Fired … Fagan’s infectious and inventive, with brilliant vocals”
– CD of the Fortnight – Hot Press

“Damn Honey … Wow I love it – an excellent song & performance “
– Mike McCready – Huffington Post, USA

New single “DAMN HONEY” – Released 5^th March 2010

Simon is currently half way through the recording of his debut album, which is scheduled for release on 14^th May.  Embodying a towering live sound with powerful harmonies, the yet to be titled album will also carry lush arrangements and is expected to feature the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.  For the arrangements Simon has joined forces with the multi-talented & highly regarded LA based Irish born composer, arranger and conductor Brian Byrne. Brian’s career to date has seen him work with Van Morrison, Jamie Cullum, Bono, The Corrs and Alanis Morissette amongst others, on movie sound tracks such as In America and recently on a local level Brian was also responsible for the new arrangement for The Late Late Show Theme Music.  “Damn Honey”, the lead single from the album will be released digitally on Friday 5^th March. The first phase of live dates are already confirmed for 2010, some of which will coincide with the release of “Damn Honey” in March.

With his most recent single, Simon has garnered further regard and laudation from his industry peers.  Issued in Autumn 09 “Falling Into You” was playlisted on RTE Radio 1 for over eight weeks & during its release Simon was invited to perform on a number of radio shows including Today with Pat Kenny (RTE Radio 1) and Newstalk’s ‘Weekend Blend’, all appearances resulting in return visit invitations for this Spring!   The single’s release was also greeted by sell-out Irish shows over October and November and a guest support invitation to perform at Laura Izibor’s sold out Tripod show in November.  He had also previously guested with renowned names such as Lionel Richie & Smokey Robinson since turning solo.  In parallel to his live Irish commitments during the winter of ’09 Simon also undertook some UK dates including London’s Met Bar, a venue he expects to return this spring.

Two EP releases, seventy live dates in Ireland and the UK, twenty radio sessions, including nine BBC primetime shows…all this coupled with Simon’s first tour to Egypt resulted in 2009 being an extremely busy and fulfilling year for this Navan based composer and performer.  2010 is already shaping up to mirror and indeed surpass 09.  In addition to releasing his debut album, Simon has plans for a number of live tours during the year, kicking off with his spring tour.  Simon also plans on doing some further work in the UK together with planning a return visit to Egypt in April.

Simon’s love of music began when he was 5yrs old, which resulted in him joining his local brass band.  The classically trained composer & trumpet player studied at both the Royal Irish Academy of Music and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.  Of his sound Simon says “you will find elements of jazz, soul, acoustic and rock which I guess comes from listening to artists like Credence, Van Morrison, Miles Davis and Stevie Wonder, however, my influences stretch well beyond these icons”.   Following his graduation, Simon spent time singing with a number of bands, however, in 2007 decided to concentrate on work as a solo artist.   This, Simon feels is the most natural for him and as a result …in his own view, where he has been happiest and most productive.

Contact info: ailishtooheyconsulting@eircom.net

The Varionis (Belfast)
Tues. Apr. 13 – Auntie Annie’s (Belfast) – 9:00pm

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/thevarionis
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBEOxmKuP3Y

Born in late 2007 The Varionis have been through the obvious changes that most bands starting out inevitably encounter but have smashed their way onto the scene as a stronger collective unit. The Varionis are five lads who all have the same love, a passion for playing music they believe in and want to listen to. 2008 saw the band record and release an EP described by Bruised Fruit Promotions as ‘a record that will have you dancing one minute and leave you holding up your lighter the next’.

The Varionis live for taking their hard work to the public and playing live to an audience makes all the long hours locked up in dark rehearsal rooms worthwhile. BBC ATL’s William Johnson, after seeing them live, described them as ‘very much the contemporary British guitar sound that’s come along in the wake of the Libertines, bands like The View and The Fratellis – quick bouncy poppy guitar and rhythms, done well, and with enough catchiness to keep us hooked,’ while Gigging NI’s Mark Dunn labels them ‘your next favourite band… whether you like it or not.’ Last year they took their show across the country with a festival appearance in Enniskillen at Vibefest 08, and also further a field in Scotland where they played a sold out Doghouse (Scottish music venue of the year 2007) in Dundee as part of a short tour. The Varionis have also landed major shows in their native Belfast and have recently supported The Hotrats aka Supergrass, That Petrol Emotion and legends the Buzzocks in their home town of Belfast.

The Varionis have no intentions of slowing down. After entering a competition ‘DV8 Rocks’ the lads were selected for the final to become the face of DV8 and 2009 saw the band begin work on their new E.P which was released in Autumn 09 to critical acclaim, with the Belfast Telegraph proclaiming that “this is one band that may just give the North another success story”. Their first track from the new E.P has had huge amounts of airplay on Irish radio already, including BBC Radio Ulster and national broadcaster RTE 2FM. The writing and recording has not however slowed the band down from playing live shows. They have already played some packed out shows all over the North of Ireland, were they have supported General Fiasco and through the summer they played Belfast Pride fundraiser, Belfast Mela festival 2009 and completed a short tour abroad, playing 5 nights at Saxo’s in Lanzarote.  The band have also made it through to the final of the Europe wide “King of the Mountain” competition.

Identity Parade (Dublin)
Fri. Apr. 16 – The Twisted Pepper (Dublin) – 10:00pm

website:  www.identityparade.net

Youtube video links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aujLN2oq6TE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLKTcZwbouY&feature=related

“These Dublin newbies are smart, confident, and – that rarest of attributes in a straight up indie rock outfit – interesting.”
(Hot Press)

Debut Album “Identity Parade”
Release Date – March 12th 2010

The exciting Dublin five-piece, present an infectious blend of indie rock powerful, upbeat and energetic music to start the year with a bang. This hard working band spent 2009 establishing themselves as a red hot live act as well as releasing three top 30 singles which got them noticed on the airwaves across the nation.

Now with the imminent release of the much anticipated debut album Identity Parade are set to go from strength to strength.

“Impressive group, impressive sound”

(Dave Robinson – Founder Stiff Records)

Management Contact: Dave Connaughton: connaughtond@gmail.com

PR: josephinenestor@hotmail.com

NONmusic (Ljubljana, Slovenia)
Fri. Apr. 16 – The Twisted Pepper (Dublin) – 8:15pm

NONmusic are:
MATJAZ ZDESAR:   vocals, guitar
GREGA VRECAR :   drums
DAMJAN COSIC:      bass
BOSTJAN BRCAR:   keyboards

NONmusic official web site: www.nonmusic.tv
Myspace: www.myspace.com/nonmusicband
‘3rd’ video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gu-1-nXPgtE

The band NONmusic have been around since 2000 and actually the band was known before as Ksiht in their homecountry Slovenia. Seemingly Techno/Prog Indie rock, but so much more than a classic generic generalization. Personal lyrics with universal understanding. are combined with intensive rhythms, electronic sounds and electric guitar riffs.

Their first single called ‘. ‘ (dot) was released in 2001, and soon started gaining popularity on all major music TV shows in Slovenia.  The following year the band released album ‘…in profit=duša’ (…and the profit is soulfulness) under Dallas Records, the biggest record label in Slovenia.

With more and more stage experience and the thirst for bigger audiences the band started thinking international. The help arrived from UK, when an England based TV producer John Golley interacted with the band and co-produced their first ever  EP in English. When music got new dimensions, even more focused on lyrics, melody and harmony now, the group of four, stood before their greatest challenge. Start something that would be sang in international language but still had the same ingredients as before, rich with experiences, stage-ready and a lot to say.

The name NONmusic is exactly what they were after. Something that would represent their music in the best and shortest way. A negate of everything the group despise in the world around them. Contradiction of love songs gone bad, poems of craving, lust, remorse, energy in vain all cleverly incorporated in rich sonic synthesis of guitar and electronics. The music is serious and the attitude has to be.
“Not Everything Is Made In China” is their first official release in English released worldwide trough Echozone / Sony Music.

The songs on album are like a trip like experience, or an exploration of  human spirit and interaction through the eyes of a motherboard inside a vintage fender amp. The highlight of this album is a cover version of the Depeche Mode song “It’s No Good”. NONmusic version sounds refreshingly different but still you can recognize the song. This song and of course the other songs on the album prove how skilful this band is and their album is really fun to listen to.

The band took this project very seriously right from the start- shooting two videos “3rd” and “Gender Charger” with international film teams was just one of the efforts the band put into their career.

Big recognition for the band was  that a band like The Killers found out about NONmusic and asked them to play as their support act for their Slovenian open air show at Hippodrome Ljubljana in front of 20.000 people. At this concert NONmusic could present their music live to a wider audience and feedback of crowds was excellent. That proved that the band  is stronger than ever and mature enough to play their music in front of anyone on this planet.

Contact: management@nonmusic.tv

Here Comes the Landed Gentry (Derry, Ireland)
Tues. Apr. 13 • Auntie Annie’s (Belfast) • 9:45pm

Official Website: www.herecomesthelandedgentry.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/HCTLG
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/herecomesthelandedgentry

Here Comes The Landed Gentry appeared on the scene late 07/early08 when ex members of The Subtitles, Red Organ Serpent Sound and Fighting With Wire joined forces on a rock’n’roll mission with two things in mind… to write great songs and perform mind blowing shows!

The recording of their first critically acclaimed 7 song live demonstration resulted in local and national air play with the anthemic Leadbelly placing the boys firmly on the map. After winning The Roaring Meg All Ireland Busking Festival they bought a beat out white van (Big Al) and gigged extensively the length and breadth of Ireland gracing the stage with acts such as The Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Undertones, The Urban Voodoo Machine, Black Diamond Heavies, The Jim Jones Revue and The Mighty Stef.

As HCTLG went from strength to strength they recorded a number of live sessions for the BBC’s Radio 1 Introducing, Across the Line and Electric Mainline shows and played a headline slot at Ireland’s largest independent festival, Glasgowbury, which was a personal highlight for the boys.

At the end of 09 they performed their 1st English gigs, the legendary Gypsy Ball at Barden’s Boudoir being the stand out show!

Their second 7 song E.P. Here Comes The Landed Gentry Vol.2 was released as a free digital download from their website www.herecomesthelandedgentry.com on a song per month basis.

Plans for 2010? Record their debut live album/DVD in front of an audience and a studio album to follow!! It’s going to be their biggest year yet!!

Here Comes The Landed Gentry are a sweaty bad ass rock’n’roll band fusing together old school blues, punk rock, rockabilly, alt country and classic rock like no other! Their live shows are legendary and they are currently reeking havoc throughout Ireland and beyond. Catch them while you can before they explode!!!

Booking: info@herecomesthelandedgentry.com www.herecomsthelandedgentry.com
www.myspace.com/herecomesthelandegentry

INDIE WEEK 2009 winners, Darlings of Chelsea, are performing at Canadian Music Fest!

Check them out on Sat. Mar 13 at the Silver Dollar – they’re on at 1am.

“Best New Band of 2009″ and “Top 5 Albums of the Year” – Mass Movement Magazine

“…appeases the musically educated but exudes the mass appeal needed to land Darlings Of Chelsea on the covers of magazines and the tops of the charts.” – Revolt

“…guttural demons bent on dismantling the Rolling Stones and Hellacopters, forging them into something sick and twisted yet beautifully entrancing.” – Exclaim Magazine

“Voted #3 Top Albums of the year… like the New York Dolls f*$king Guns N’ Roses… Sadly, it will take a Canadian band to add legitimacy to a US rock industry…” – Blogs’n'Roses

“…subtle lovers, raw rock’n'rollers, sugary pop rock fiends and sordid, guttural demons… a stunning debut” – CHARTattack!

“The hooks are huge, the songwriting is absolutely radiant… Darlings have a great shot at returning rock and roll back into what it’s supposed to be – badass.” – Fazer Magazine

“Based on the quality of this EP, I would have sex with Darlings of Chelsea.” – TigerBeat Socialites

“Two songs in and you are already playing air guitar… I hope this band takes over the world.” – SPUN Blog

Request any song from “The Mimico Sessions” over at Radio Rock Cafe!

THE MIMICO SESSIONS is available on iTunes, Amazon, or eMusic.com.