Hello everyone! So its been some time since my last update as we’ve been pretty busy here in Bend Sinister land. Last time, I spoke of our return to Toronto and the release of our new tour EP ‘Spring Romance’. Since then we spent several weeks playing some shows around Ontario before our plan to head down to New York City. The Ontario shows all went pretty well, but as we drove the van to and fro, it started to get a really bad shake.

We played the Dakota in Toronto, an outdoor festival for a Christian all girls school in York, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Kingston, London, and Peterborough. On our return to Toronto from our Peterborough show with the Spades, the van issues finally escalated to a massive shake which made us pull over on the 401 at 3 am. We sussed it out but with no sign of anything, we continued driving slowly. Minutes later the rear tire blew out and got torn to shreds. We were stuck on the highway til around 6 am when a flatbed tow truck could be coordinated. We got the van back to Toronto to a 24 hour garage by 8 am. It was a bit of an ordeal to say the least, but we were all glad it happened when we had a day off the next day instead of en route to New York.

After sleeping the day away, we met at 6 pm. The van was given a new set of tires to venture to New York. First we did a complete detail of the van to ensure no unsavoury evidence of any sort for our border crossing. Turns out we got into the States with ease, crossing at Niagara Falls. We just showed them our passports and the paperwork we had explaining our showcase and they let us through without even a search. We got to spend a few extra nights in New York and the band all went off to explore and meet up with some of our ladies who decided to fly out to meet us in the Big Apple. We saw lots of sights and I must say that NYC is truly one of the raddest places in the world.

Our showcase, which was primarily a show for American labels, booking agents, and industry folk, was at a really hip bar called Pianos in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. We destroyed our set, with all the guys intent on performing the best set possible. While I haven’t heard from our management about anything specific, we certainly turned some heads down there and are planning to return soon in the fall.

After the show we had to do the nine hour drive to Quebec City for another show. We left around 2 am to avoid traffic and get there in time. Again we were able to glide through the border with just a few questions and we were very surprised that we never got searched. When we arrived in Quebec City at 11 am we all crashed hard in our hotel room, getting up just in time for early soundcheck at 4. Because it was our first time in Quebec City, we didn’t expect the greatest show, but it turned out amazing. The folks there went crazy for our music and we sold out of every cd we had with us.

After the show and many handshakes and chats with the crowd, we got wind of Quebec’s best poutine and so we went to grab one before heading back to our hotel room. It was pretty good, but I think I’ve had better at La Belle Province around Montreal. Anyway, we had one more long drive back to Toronto where we played last night at the Rivoli. The show was almost like a homecoming as the place was packed and the crowd incredibly receptive. We had an amazing time. Pete Nema was there photographing the show and should be posting photo’s shortly.

Now we begin on final journey back to Vancouver and the guys should arrive home on June 13th… I, however, am going to get dropped off in Kelowna for a friend’s wedding and some rest and relaxation up at my folks cabin. It’s not like I have a job to come home to anyway, lol!

So stay tuned for more news and an update of our travels across the country, I will also post a selection of photos from the last few weeks! Cheers.

We just got back to Toronto last week in time to rehearse a few times before playing a party for the guys from Them Crooked Vultures. Our friend Dave started booking a new club in town called the Cherry Colas and we were initially invited to come play Saturday the 15th at the after party for the Vultures show. Turns out though that the band came to the club the night before and they closed it down for a private party which we were invited to play as well. I didn’t really get a chance to talk to the guys much but I met everyone from the band and was a little starstruck by JP Jones. Dana (the biggest Zeppelin fan in the band) was almost as giddy as a small child which made us all laugh. We also got free tickets to see their set at the ACC and it was a great time.

We will now be hanging in Toronto and touring around Ontario the next few weeks and then we are heading to New York to play a showcase on June 2nd. We were suppose to head to Montreal this Wednesday but unfortunately the Green Room had a fire and our show got canceled. Now we’ll be in TO until our show at the Dakota this Friday, May 21st and we will also be playing the Cherry Cola (Queen and Bathurst) again on the 22nd! Stay tuned for more updates, and expect to see us back in Vancouver mid to late June, just in time for some killer beach weather.

PS – Also before I left Vancouver I had a party/show at my apartment. I invited some friends to play sets on my piano and had myself, Dan Werb (Woodhands), Tariq (Brasstronaut), Jody Glenham, and my friend Jordan Daniels all play. It was an amazing night and after the more intimate show, it became a raging party with a fridge I packed full of 150 beers going way too quick but at least I made my money back.. Anyway here’s a photo or two, I will throw another show/party when we return in the summer, I want friends Headwater to play!

We arrived back in Vancouver on the 14th. We were initially coming back to play the Arts County Fair and Telus Ski and Snowboard Fest. Due to the powers that be, those shows fell through and now we are basically here for a few weeks to hang out with the ladies and friends. We’re also continuing to write new tunes and playing one show out in Maple Ridge next weekend. I will also be working on finding some artwork for a new EP that we should be releasing very shortly. It will include the three tracks we recorded with Howard in February as well as two live versions of songs that will be coming out on our next full length.

Anyway if I go back to where we left off, we were on our way to play Ottawa, Montreal, and London at the beginning of April. Opening for Dragonette shows turned out to be great crowds for us in London and Ottawa, but the highlight was spending time in Montreal. We only had one day, but we met up with a large posse of friends and decided to have a picnic up on Mount Royal in the old graveyard… We didn’t plan it but it turned out that hanging out in front of the Molson (beer) families mausoleum was the best spot, and believe me we all tipped a beer or two for the Canadian beer tycoon.

Our Montreal show was a last minute thing but it turned out great. We met an awesome band named Trevor James and the Perfect Gentlemen who helped us to bring out a crowd, only promoting the show two days beforehand. Check out Trevor playing solo here:

When we returned to Toronto after the weekend, we had time booked in the rehearsal space all week. As a four piece (since Henry was still in Europe) we kept writing and working on new songs. In the past I’ve often brought more finished arrangements of chords/lyrics to the band, but since we all had lots of time in Toronto I tried to get everyone as involved as possible in the writing process. We came up with some pretty sweet new songs which we are still working out the kinks on. Joseph brought some lyrics to the table as well.

We had one last weekend of shows lined up and so on Thursday, April 8th we headed to Windsor to play the Phog lounge with a band called Huron. It was great to see the owner Tom and chat after almost two years since our last show there and the turn out was great. Huron reminded me of a cross between ZZtop and Lynyrd Skynyrd and were really awesome as well. Be sure to check out their MySpace.

We stayed in Windsor that evening. The following day we had to try to sort out a dentist for Joel who was having massive problems with a much needed root canal (which he could not get until we returned to Vancouver). His face puffed up massively. So while he went to get some sort of medical attention, the rest of us went out in search of a used window (to replace the one that got smashed) in the car capital of Canada. With luck we found a cheap window and after picking up Joel and the window we headed back to Toronto where our Friday night show was at the Bovine.

In preparation for a going away/after party, we bought over 75 beers and some vodka to leave at Dave Hollander’s house (where Dana stayed), which was right across the street from the bar. After we played our set and watched Darlings of Chelsea, we spread word of the party and had one hell of a hurrah.

I woke up with a cold on Saturday and felt pretty bad, but before I knew it we had to grab our gear from the Bovine and head to Waterloo for one more show with Will Currie and the Country French. When we got to the show and started to soundcheck, I was so sick I was worried I couldn’t sing. Joel was still in immense pain from his tooth. To kick it up a notch, Dana dropped a drum stool on his foot which immediately swelled up to a giant blood swell of a few inches. We debated what to do and ended up heading to the emergency room to fix him up. I was there with him for two hours and after the ‘Ice and Advil’ remedy, the doctor suggested we headed back to the show just in time to walk in and play our set. We were a bit of a rough group of guys that night, but Will’s amazing set made up for it. We all sat back and enjoyed his tunes a lot.

Check out this live version of their song ‘Flowers’:

So after this show we had our plane tickets booked for the 14th to head back to Vancouver. We figured since we’d be back touring around Ontario in May, it was better to fly back than drive across and back again. We met up with Henry at the airport hotel the evening before our 7am flight. However, the one big change was that after we played around eight or so shows as a four piece and started to write and work that way, all of a sudden the dynamic of this seemed to be working better for the band. I approached Henry about this via email while he was away.

While Henry has been a great member of Bend Sinister, it seemed his heart was also more in his own project Henry and the Nightcrawlers. The other four of us were also feeling like we were liking the vibe as a four piece live. Thus with equal sadness and excitement for both our futures, I have to inform everyone that Henry has left Bend Sinister to pursue his own endeavours and I wish him the best! There is a chance we will try to find a singer/multi instrumentalist to take over for him, but that is up in the air. So I will keep everyone posted soon about more news but until then, take care.

Dan

After our London show on March 13th with Hot Hot Heat, we had 10 days off in Toronto until our next show (which was last Thursday, March 25th at the Rivoli). We all coordinated our own places to stay in town. I ended up staying with my good friend Jessie who I first met up in Dawson City. That was when I came up to the music festival three years ago when Ladyhawk and Jon-Rae and the River headlined the show. She has a beagle named Rosie and her roommate Brette has an old cat named Stripe. I am in animal heaven.

We sorted out a jam space here in town at Queen and Bathurst. Once Joel got back from a quick trip to visit his family in Chatam, we began rehearsing as a four piece band. During that time however, we had a chance to go check out Niagara Falls which was a first for Henry, Joseph, and Jessie!

Henry was in town until the 20th but he left for Europe to vacation with his lady friend who is going to school over there. I won’t get into the specifics, but basically we opted to play as a four piece until Henry’s return. Joseph has reconfigured his guitar parts and I’ve taken over some of the guitar harmonies on keyboard.

Rehearsing each afternoon, sorting out band business by day, taking Rosie for walks, and a little too much partying has been the majority. Other than that, I’ve also been fitting in some writing sessions with Casey Marshall and Neil Sanderson to come up with a few more tracks. I’m in the process of demoing at the EMI studios here in town.

The one other crazy event was I was invited to play a set at the dinner/gala for the inductee’s of the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. I initially agreed, thinking I could play my own songs, but then a week or so before the show I got an email with a list of all the inducted songs. I was told that that was the material i was suppose to perform. Naturally, I got a little stressed when I saw that the majority of the songs were either French Canadian, by a fellow named Robert Charlebois, and some others, or were from the other main inductee, Rush.

Nevertheless, I set to work putting together a set of the tracks, including Rush’s “Closer to the Heart”, “Limelight”, some of Charlebois work, and the other obvious choice, the “Hockey Night In Canada Theme”. It was a trip to think I’d be playing all the songs to the artists themselves.

When the evening came on the 27th, I was as nervous as could be. I met and chatted with Alex from Rush before the show. After the dinner, I was introduced on stage in front of 200-300 industry folk, artists, and songwriters and then I did my thing. When I finished, I got a chance to meet all the guys from Rush. Geddy Lee was especially thrilled with my rendition of Limelight where I jazzed it up and changed the time signature dramatically. I got a pic with the guys and then proceeded to finally take advantage of all the free booze.

I ended up meeting Ron Sexsmith, who I’ve always been a big fan of. We partied in the bar until 1 am or so when I finally left and shared a cab back east with a nice woman from a band called Prairie Oyster. She was one of the Hall of Fame board members and shared some stories of the old days when the band toured across Canada.

The day before my stressful solo show, Bend Sinister played our first of four shows with Toronto band Dragonette in Hamilton. The big talk of this show was that apparently Joel looks identical (and has the same name) to the bass player in Dragonette. While I didn’t photograph them together, I did get this picture of Joel with a fake version of Dragonette Joel:

The show went well, but, as with many opening slots, people were appreciative of our tunes but tended to hang back from the front. Also, since it was all ages and in a bad part of town, there were tons of teen girls with their mom’s everywhere. We had to leave halfway through Dragonette’s set to get our gear back to the jam space before 12 because the evening before, a window in our van got smashed by someone trying to do the old ‘smash and grab’. I would be more choked about it but they only succeeded in the smashing and didn’t grab anything… The window is still broken though and covered in cardboard, cause we phoned around and it is almost $700 to replace. I am going to look into more today, but that’s the word.

Joseph and I have a solo show tonight at a place called Mitzi’s Sister in the Toronto neighborhood of Parkdale. Then we play Ottawa, Montreal and London this weekend. That’s all for now but I’ll keep you posted soon!

Dan

So we have now made it to Toronto and I have some time to recap our trip across. We played a handful of shows on the way out to Ontario, stopping in Kelowna, Olds, Calgary, Saskatoon and Thunder Bay. Kelowna was a bit of a warm up after being in the studio and we hadn’t rehearsed as a band for a few weeks. Our involvement in the show was also unknown as we got added to the bill last minute. We were happy to take part though thanks to our friends in the band TV Heart Attack. We stayed at my folks place and had a nice breakfast before heading out early in the morning.

When we got to Calgary it was the usual long drive through the mountains and then we had to head right to the university for a radio interview. The show was awesome too, especially for a Wednesday night. We were the only band and the rest of the time it was a rock n roll dj pizza party. But I think the funnest of the bunch was definitely Saskatoon where we played with the Calgary band The Dudes. They really got the place going, and I stepped in to do their light show which was a lot of fun.

Traveling in a van about two days and 16 hours later, we got to Thunder Bay only to find that the promoter screwed up and had our show advertised a day later then stated on all the contracts. We had given ourselves two days to get to the next show in Peterborough where we were connecting with Hot Hot Heat for some dates, so we decided to stay an extra night in Thunder Bay and leave directly after the show at midnight to drive 16 hours through the rocky Canadian Shield. The promoter guilted us into staying with talk of all the promotion he had done but we should have know better then to expect much from a Monday night anyway. Nevertheless, the 15-20 or so people that were there all came right up front and danced so it was still a good time.

By the time we got to Peterborough to meet with Hot Hot Heat, we were all exhausted. After each evening show the following two days (Peterborough and Kingston) we had to drive back to Toronto to be at CBC Toronto for a 9:30 am call time. It was a split venture between Bande Apart and CBC Radio 3 where they connected French singers and English bands to collaborate on sets filmed live to air for the show in Toronto, Montreal, and Halifax. We were working with French singer Antoine Gratton (who was great) and there was also the Toronto band Fucked Up playing with Marie Claude of the Montreal band Duchess Says.

We had one day of rehearsal with Antoine before heading to Kingston to play another Hot Hot Heat show. Then we were back the next morning for several dress rehearsals and the show live at 7 pm. It was a real trip for me to hear our songs sung in French but Antoine did an amazing job and had all the piano parts down too. I’d also recommend everyone to listen to his tunes as he is a great songwriter. Check out these short clips here of our set and of Fucked Up:

After the dress rehearsal I played a solo show at the supermarket for CMW and then got a chance to check out Timber Timbre and Dan Mangan at a beautiful venue of which I forget the name.

The next day after the first good sleep in a while, we got to play our Horseshoe showcase for CMW. I was worried that people might not be there at 8:30 pm but as soon as they opened the back room it filled to almost capacity. Dana was having some drum issues before the set which stressed everyone out but as soon as we hit the stage it was all good (apart from the power bar on Henry and my amp crapping out during the second song).

After the set and some hellos and all that jazz, I booked it over to the Drake to check out our friend Edo’s band Brasstronaut and then booked it over to the Bovine to see our old drummer Kevin Keegan’s band Barn Burner play with fellow Vancouverites Bison B.C..

It was the first night I really partied cause we only had one show left and I didn’t have to worry about my voice giving out. I stayed out until around four and woke up the next morning with a bad hangover, just in time to head to our show at Call the Office in London. Of all the Hot Hot Heat shows, this was definitely the best and we ended up selling loads of merch and selling out of our cds too. After the show we had one last hurrah with Steve Bayes and the boys in our room at the Comfort Inn, but soon the night escalated (or retracted rather) into a giant YouTube party until 6 am in the morning. Sound pretty rock star?

Anyway I’ll fill everyone in on more times in Toronto and what’s been going on recently. Highlights include trying to learn some Rush songs to play solo on piano at a gala next week where Rush will be in the audience and a trip to Niagara Falls. Our next actual show is the 25th at the Rivoli and then we are doing some dates with Dragonette through late March/early April!

Cheers,

Dan

As I promised, I am going to give a bit of a recap of our time in Vancouver for the Olympics. I got laid-off from my job as an audiovisual tech about a week before the Olympics started in order for our building to be turned into Germany house. It’s mildly amusing to think that the Olympics promised to bring lots of work for locals but instead many people were in a similar position to myself, getting laid-off while the companies that took over their spaces and so on outsourced to their own workforce.

Nevertheless, while I was hurting for cash, especially weeks before leaving for tour and quitting my job forever, it did give me more of a chance to focus on our new recordings working with Howard Redekopp. In the past I’ve worked almost exclusively with Shawn Cole of Fader Master studios. I have always considered him a genius and would recommend any band to work with him, however this time around our label and team thought we should try someone new which I think is also a good idea. You never know what your going to get when you work with another artist or producer and I think learning and working with new people is very important to expand your artistic horizons. Anyway, we went to work the Monday after the opening ceremonies which I watched up in Whistler where my girlfriend has been working for NBC for the Olympics. You could definitely feel the excitement all around Vancouver and Whistler, but we went to work at the Armory Studios where I was most thrilled to see a YES song progress chart up on the wall in the tape room.

We recorded everything to tape and worked there for two days straight, focusing on three new tracks. We had a bit of time too to record some live versions of three more new songs, however we have yet to mix them. Howard definitely payed close attention to performance as we worked takes of some songs 20-30 times… However, after every five takes we would listen to them while we transferred from tape to pro tools. We’d also head upstairs to watch the Olympics on the big screen television until we were needed again.

The following day we had off from recording to rehearse and head to Surrey to play a show at the Olympic site they had out there. It was a huge tent with around 3000 people watching and we fought hard to win them over as many were unfamiliar with our music. Halfway through the set we busted into our version of Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believing’, which I dedicated to Canadian athletes competing in the games, and the place went crazy… I think I saw about 500 cellphones turn on to start filming in the audience. You can check it out here:

We were set to leave town in a week and a half. Before that, we got back to working on new songs. First Joseph and Henry laid down any guitar overdubs we though were necessary, though Howard wanted to keep as much of the live band from the initial session as possible so they didn’t put too much more on. Afterwords I laid down the lead vocals over two days and we had three days left to finish backup vocals and any other ‘colour’ parts. I spent one last weekend seeing my lady in whistler and then got back to Vancouver just in time to watch the USA vs Canada hockey game at a friend’s house. I’m not a sports person but I sure got into it, and every time Canada scored you could hear the roar of cheers across the city. After the game I rode my bike to pick up the van at Henry’s place and every person or car I passed was honking or waving or cheering.

Overall, I didn’t really party too much downtown for the Olympics cause we were focused on recording and I didn’t want to screw with my voice, but I walked around a few times downtown and the surge of crowds were ridiculous. I wanted to check out some stuff but you had to wait in line for an hour or two just to get in to any of the pavilions or see any shows so it was a bit of a write off. Only show I saw was Usher up in Whistler because Abigail had complimentary passes. Usher rules.

So now I’m writing this on day seven of our journey out to Toronto but I will fill you in with that in a few days! Here’s a pic from my time with the Olympics!

Dan

So we are off on the road now and playing Broken City in Calgary tonight. I am actually sitting there now before the rock and roll pizza party starts! Expect more updates soon and a recap of times in the studio and the Olympics in Vancouver. It has been such a whirlwind of activity and I have been slow to update the site. For that I apologize, but I will be putting up some rad photos and stories from the road soon!! Cheers,

Dan

Stuck On Midnight
Words by Matt Cote and music/arrangement by me!

Check out this song Worried Ways (She Lost Her Rock And Roll)!

So just a few weeks ago we played our Commodore show for the finale of the Peak Performance Project. It was definitely one of my favorite shows of the past year with a sold out crowd and the energy of the night was completely off the hook. To make our set even more special, we were joined by Adaline, Jody Glenham, and Nat Jay to sing backups. Ben Sigston and another Ben on saxophone made cameos as well. The show was amazing and after We Are The City, The Left and our set, the final announcement was made.

To be perfectly honest we were a little surprised at being announced in third place. After all, you are crossing your fingers and hoping so much to win that anything else seems slightly disappointing. Nevertheless, I am very excited for We Are The city because I think they are amazing and regardless of the results, it was a great accomplishment to get into the top three. Plus we still have $50,000 to play with for the next year.

So that leads me to the latest news update of whats next for the band. I speculated in my last blog about our plans, but now we have a pretty concrete plan to set in motion!

It was a bit of a whirlwind after the show on the 22nd as we decided to go into the studio as soon as possible to start work on a new album with Howard Redekopp. We made plans to finish three songs before we are going to move to Toronto temporarily for three months. It seems only suiting that we focus for a while on Eastern Canada and set up camp in Canada’s biggest city. We will be playing shows all around Ontario and Quebec, March through May and heading down to the States as well to play New York. It will be an exciting time for the band, and especially for me, as it has always been a goal to quit the day job and focus on the band… even if for only three or four months. It will be a refreshing change from the grind of working to save for tour and then coming home broke.

So stay tuned for news from the studio and to hear these new tracks. I hope to go in and do a full album really soon, but due to timing we decided to focus on a few tracks to start with but have plans to return later in the spring! Thanks again to everyone who helped and supported us along the way with the Peak Performance Project!

Dan