Toronto Experimental Artists

Infectious as The Killers, cool as Metric, Drive Faster keeps dance-rock slick and savvy. Vroom vroom…

A rhythmic band with an indie pop vibe, drummer Michael Holbrook, guitarist Tony Gare and bassist Jeff Scale lock into up-tempo, new wave grooves that will make you dance even if you don’t know how. Frontwoman Angela Saini, trading in her electric guitar for a micro-Korg synthesizer last year, adds in melodic hooks with small twists and turns that result in memorable songs with catchy choruses that keep rolling on long after the band has packed up and left. “Their music is just like their personality: friendly and upbeat. They are realistic and ambitious. Top that with talented” (Andréanne Sasseville – Sirius Satellite Radio, BOBBi MAGAZINE).

Drive Faster, formerly known as Supernal, boasts a long history of touring across the continent from their original headquarters in Calgary, AB, and are not a band to sit curb-side.  Shows opening for Angels and Airwaves and Sum 41, along with airplay on over 300 commercial and college radio stations, led the band to Toronto, and reviewers testified, “the energy and vibe they provide to their audience is infectious” (Uncharted Sounds, 2008).

With a new name and electro-rock style Drive Faster debuted their new sound at Canadian Music Week 2009 to a packed crowd at Holy Joe’s. Drive Faster taped an episode for Aux TV’s “Master Tracks” where producers Moe Berg (Pursuit of Happiness) and Lawrence Currie (Sloan, The Cliks) worked with the band to record their song “Analog” at Metalworks studio. Berg described the process as a “homerun” and during the episode says, “The vocalist is just so outstanding. You almost get a rush when you are recording someone like that.”  The debut, Frame of Mind will be released in July 2010 as Drive Faster heads to the fast lane. For up to date gig listings and other information just follow the blog postings for this feature by clicking on the band title Drive Faster. You can purchase the new debut CD - Frame of Mind here.  SRN Mediaworks have recently completed an interview with Angela from Drive Faster which you can read at Fab Indie. Also, check out the Mississauga News Review

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Popularity: 2%

TEA Volume 14 artist Jon Bone Jon has his musical roots on the West Coast of Canada where he’s been writing and performing for over 10 years. In 2003 he enrolled in the Jazz Performance Program at Vancouver Island University and during those few years of disciplined training he recruited musicians for the band project he’d envisioned while performing steadily around the Island. In 2007 he had the good fortune of befriending Juno nominated reggae artist IBO, who invited Jon to play on his“Sweet Like A Sugar” tour with Jamaican dancehall artist Culture Brown. This deepened Bone’s appreciation for Island rhythms.

Shortly after the tour, IBO was in a serious car accident that hospitalized him for a year. This tragic event profoundly effected Jon and lead him to take his life and music even more seriously. With IBO still in recovery, Jon launched his band project, The Karuna Movement, with a sold out show in Nanaimo. Karuna means Compassion. The next day he headed into the studio with Juno nominated producer/engineer Rick Salt and began production on his debut album entitled, “The Power of Music”.  A few years later and Jon has produced a top notch EP, toured throughout Western Canada, performed at several major festivals (including Calgary Reggae Festival and a headlining slot at Islands Folk Festival), and enjoyed radio play on stations all across Canada including WOLF, CHLY, VIBE, CJSW, FOX and CBC. He is currently polishing up his band album and completing preproduction on a solo acoustic/reggae/pop album. Keep your eye on this guy!!!

“Jon Bone delivers a captivating stage presence with a rich and soulful voice that, reminiscent of inspirational artists like Bob Marley and John Lennon, sings of love, equality, social justice, and a peaceful state of being.“
-Aaron Bethune of PlayItLoudMusic

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Popularity: 1%

TEA Volume 14 artist Matthew Breakey, aka elevator boy composes aural art by exposing the listener to his feelings in each song he creates.  He truly defies all musical boundaries, theories, patterns and forces the listener to images of fear, grief, paranoia and also to sheer brightness, true happiness, playfulness and at times the ultimate question – ‘who am I and what is this all about?’

No other artist expresses themselves as much as elevator boy does in each and every song he creates.  His manipulation of sound is his voice, which will not be found on any of elevator boys’ recordings. Point blank, to even call his music, music, seems a little naff.  It’s art, pure and simple.  It’s ageless.  It’s fashion-less. One hundred years from today it will sound as fresh or as ancient as it already does. And he does it all, from the confines of his little, delicate, glass elevator, going up and down, like his emotions, like his music. Matthew is hoping by having his music featured on TEA's volume 14 compilation, his music will reach a broader audience, and hopefully create fans, critics and hopefully some level of discussion about the music he creates.

With his visual art, Matthew continues where his music left off by creating highly experimental works using unconventional to straight forward materials.  Matthew uses his obsessions, struggles, frustrations to great use  in his work, but always tries to show some of his sometimes out of touch sense of  humour.  The dark undertones, layers of expression has a maximum effect  in some of his artwork but in others its its simplicity and rawness that draws the viewer in. His music and art are interconnected, that hopefully give the listener/viewer not only a  chance to discover who is Matthew?, but more importantly questions about there own experiences, their own lives. Check out website

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Popularity: 1%

TEA Volume 14 artists Locus are a Vancouver-based acoustic/folk/electronic band, comprised of vocalist/lyricist Kaila So, twin musicians Jason and Kelvin Chu, and singer/multi-instrumentalist Eric Chan. All current members of Locus write or co-write, arrange, and perform original songs. Their dream pop sound draws heavily from influences in the electronic, industrial, ambient, and ethereal genres. Since forming in late 2006, Locus has made many live appearances at various local venues, including the Norman Rothstein Theatre, Tom Lee Music Hall, and Fabric Night Club. The band has also performed in support of several community events, most notably the Summer Night Market and Vancouver Pride. "Shine" is the new maxi-single from Locus, released November 14th, 2009. This new recording features the lead mandarin single (Shooting Star). Executively produced by Kelvin Chu, "Shine" is also the first release to be entirely written, produced, recorded, and mastered by the band alone. "Shine" also contains one b-side: the piano version of ("Sunflower"), originally intended for the band's full-length release, "Ambrosia."

Locus has produced several independent recordings. In the spring of 2008, Locus conceived, financed, and produced their debut EP “Silent Echo.” They released the follow-up to "Silent Echo," titled "Ambrosia," in January 2009. "Ambrosia"'s first single "Wonderland," was selected to appear on the TEA South Compilation Volume 14. Locus released their third studio effort in November 2009 titled "Shine." Read Locus artist interview conducted by Phillip Hong of SRN Mediaworks.  You may purchase Locus music here

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Popularity: 1%

TEA Volume 14 artist James Ashberry has been singing since the 2nd grade and playing guitar since the age of 10. He has involved himself in dramatic theatre, and it’s safe to say that between choir performances and school plays, the stage became comfortable for him at an early age. After experimenting in several high school bands, come graduation he had made up his mind to get serious. Already writing songs of his own, James had also begun to amass a plethora of cover material and he decided that he had the ammo to hit the circuit. There’s nothing like the trenches of the club scene to help you hone your skills and within a year or two, The Ashberry Jam was becoming quite a hot item. The years between 1990 & 2000 found James touring the GTA and southern Ontario circuit steadily. He has opened shows for the likes of Kim Mitchell and April Wine, performed in legendary clubs such as The Opera House, The Elmocombo, Lees Palace and The Horseshoe Tavern to name just a few. In 1994 James won the Best New Band title at the Rock n Roll Canada pageant. The band took the free studio time they won from this competition and recorded their first EP. With well over 4000 gigs under his belt and 3 independent CD’s to his credit, James has an incredible cover repertoire and prides himself on being able to cater to any room.

James’ own songs have been described as an intimate and thought provoking, eclectic mix of melodies and harmonies, spanning topics ranging from the state of environment, the pursuit of enlightenment and the complexities of love. A naturally gifted multi-instrumentalist with a unique intensity, James Ashberry gives 110% of himself to every note, of every song he plays. You can purchase James' music at Indiepool and keep up to date with his live shows on his myspace page.

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Popularity: 1%

TEA Volume 14 artist Sean Peori has made a musical journey that spans the country.  Born in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia to a family of Italian immigrant coal miners, Sean and his family moved to Deep River, Ontario when he was eight.  It was while growing up in Deep River that he discovered a passion for songwriting that he could not ignore. Sean moved to Salt Spring Island BC and started performing in Vancouver and throughout the islands. It wasn’t long before his unique and powerful voice and songs caught the attention of Canadian pop icons Tom Hooper of the Grapes of Wrath and Matt Johnson of 54-40.  Sean recorded in Tom’s studio, meeting engineer Andy Bowmer, (Randy Bachman, Harry Manx, The Guess Who) along the way.  The songs that resulted from these sessions caught the attention of Deep River native Malcolm Burn, a Grammy Award winning producer (Emmylou Harris, Bob Dylan, Blue Rodeo, Daniel Lanois).

In 2006 Malcolm opened his New York home studio to Sean for a weeklong recording session. Sean’s beautiful songs took on new depth and colour as Australian pop sensation Sandrine and Malcolm himself added background vocals and instrumentation.

Later that year, Sean came full circle as he made his way back to Nova Scotia where he chanced upon a vibrant musical community in the Annapolis Valley. Coincidently, Sean discovered that Andy Bowmer had moved there too, and was eager to get started on a project he could put his heart into. Sean has recently been featured on TEA Volume 14, Indie Love Radio, FM 102X song of the day, and CBC radio 3 breaking new sound. Sean’s new CD, Find Our Place, is now available.

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Popularity: 1%

TEA Volume 13 & 14 compilation artist T Riley keeps herself and band mates busy with many new projects and a killer live show. What has T been doing..."T Riley has been juggling live shows and studio time while working on her latest Video for "Shed Some Light" off her latest CD release. "Shed Some Light" was produced by Howard Redekopp (Mother Mother, Tegan and Sarah, New Pornogrophers) and the video is typical T Riley - do it yourself style - showing T being chased around the globe...literally. Stay tuned for that! Meanwhile, she is busy in the studio with her guitar player Rick Rodney trying their hand at producing together. The demo version of "Let Your Hair Down" is already posted on her myspace page. Look for more demos as they navigate through  the creative abyss. T has also invited Scott Boudrou to guest produce on some of the new songs. This should prove for an exciting album. There is also an acoustic album in the making that will be posted on the web and some tracks will be free for fans to download, just for being you!  While she's not in the studio, look for T gigs coming soon in Vancouver, Whistler, and Saltspring Island"

T Riley's track on TEA Volume 13 called "Hanging On"is just down and dirty with the greatest live sound we have heard at TEA for some time. The guitar work, vox and production is steller! Below is a quote from T as she talks a little about the origins of the track "Hanging On"...was inspired by general family dysfunction and the injustices of society!  It keeps trying to knock me down in defeat, but I keep hanging on! This song was recorded in Mushroom studios all in one take (even the vocals!  yay!), so it is quite pure and sounds the same live. It is our favorite song to play live by far. It has fondly developed two nicknames, one being the "Surf Tune", for obvious reasons, and the the other, the "Orgasm" song. The squeals of frustration have often been misinterpreted as squeals of, well, you know.  When a back up singer took my cd home to learn, she said she had to turn this song down so her mother couldn't hear it, because it was making her blush and she was scared her mother wouldn't let her sing in my band!  Just goes to show how things can be misunderstood. All in all, this is a "won't back down", "knock me down and I'll get back up again" , "never give up", type of song that I hope people can listen to when they feel like they are about to throw in the towel, get inspired, and think to themselves "f--k you!" and keep fighting the good fight.

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Popularity: 43%

TEA Volume 11 & 14 compilation artists Columbia Columbia's founding members have spent the past three years creating the New Universal Rock. Big Rock...the way it should be, with catchy licks and meaningful lyrics. Columbia combines talent and emotion. When vocalist Kevin Schallié and guitarist Richard Jacquard first began writing music together, they promised each other that they would be the BEST, and do anything it takes to make music that transcends all boundaries.

Columbia's musical past is rich, with Kevin and Richard starting the band Straitpipe in 1998 and going on to win multiple competitions. Columbia has performed all over the United States and Canada playing at venues such as The Showbox in Seattle, The Cat Club on the Sunset strip in LA, The main stage at Motofest in Vernon, as well as headlining Richards on Richards, The Roxy & The Venue in their home town of Vancouver. Columbia has also shared the stage with acts such as Gob, Swollen Members & Marianas Trench.

With Jason Tait on guitar, Jacques Roussouw on bass, and drummer Brian Welsch, Columbia's Big sound is rounded out. The band is ready to perform around the world. With their combined experience and talent, Columbia has come together at the right time.

Like their favorite bands of the past, Columbia wants to be the BEST and is ready to prove it. Join Our Ride. Listen to Columbia

Popularity: 8%

TEA Volume 14 artist Katelyn Dawn makes the top 16 on Canadian Idol.  Read Katelyn's interview on TEA on 148.ca with Phillip Hong. You can check out videos of Katelyn on Canadian Idol and other below...

Katelyn Dawn - She Talks to Angels (CTV)

Katelyn Dawn - CTV Spotlight (CTV)

Discovery Channel with David Suzuki

What has Katelyn been doing since Canadian Idol? PART 1 - Katelyn recently released her 2nd album, 'The Window'. The new album, produced by Chris Burke-Gaffney (Chantal Kreviazuk) & Dale Penner (Nickelback) combines an organic sunny roots-pop sound, with hummable melodies and jangly hooks. We are very proud of Katelyn here at TEA and we will continue to bring awareness to her many talents. She performed a passionate acoustic driven set at the TEA Summer Showcase on Saturday July 18, 2009 at the Rivoli. We are thrilled to have Katelyn back on the TEA Volume 14 Compilation CD which is being released on January 14, 2010. Her track "When the Coffee's Cold" will be featured on TEA Volume 14 along with many other talented TEA Artists. Katelyn is currently going to Hollywood to film a Discovery Channel Special with David Suzuki which will air on April 17, 2010 at 7pm Central and 5pm Pacific time. She will open up the show with a glamorous performance.

PART 2 - At 20 Katelyn is moving forward with her music career with a new EP after having spent a year exploring the road towards independence.  Though there have been many roadblocks heartbreak and hardships, Katelyn has never taken her eye off of that final destination, which is to bring an honest heartfelt message to all you amazing fans through catchy melodies and thought provoking lyrics.

Says Katelyn: "I really just want to be able to create music that I am proud of, and that other people can relate to.  Being on stage and having an audience feel my songs along with me is the biggest high I could imagine, after all, music is the only thing that connects strangers on such an intimate level."

With a new EP on the horizon, a Discovery Channel Showcase, and a top spot from Canadian Idol under her belt, Katelyn Dawn has never been in such an exciting position! Her career is about to take flight and the possibilities are endless!

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Popularity: 100%

TEA Volume 12 compilation artists Versus the Nothing dive down deep and surface with driving melodic magic. There’s something about Nothing….. The unabashed, melodic, hard rock band, Versus the Nothing is a quintet that focuses on writing solid songs with tight, energetic performances. Their music combines heavy guitars, with powerful, melodic vocals that are propelled by driving rhythms and anthemic choruses. Clean, quiet moments swell into raging guitars, punctuated by short blasts of screamo gang vocals as they rise into crashing sing-along choruses. Accented by hopeful lyrics, with a sense of desperation that melds into cries from a damaged, disaffected, suburbanite youth. Their namesake draws upon that same energy, inspired by The Neverending Story, where an evil force called The Nothing tries to take over everything in existence. It’s a journey from pain to joy; a story that encourages us to believe that happiness is achievable even in the most dire of circumstances.” The guys couldn’t find a better name to represent their music if they tried. Versus the Nothing independently released their debut album “Let it all Come Down” in 2008, with the track “Bleed the Ocean” quickly being snapped up by Mazda for an online campaign. They soon caught the attention of the Canadian Music Industry, leading them to a coveted Top 5 winner in the esteemed Vancouver CFOX 2008 Seeds contest (responsible for helping break some of the biggest bands on the rock scene such as Nickelback, Default, Theory of a Deadman, and Art of Dying). The album’s title track “Let it all Come Down” has been getting steady spins at Canadian radio ever since, in addition to spins on American stations WLIX 104.5fm, Indie 104fm, KERX 95.3fm, WAMX 106.3fm, WEGW 107.5fm, and WHBR 103.1fm. Non-stop gigging and a tireless work ethic have transformed Vancouver’s Versus the Nothing into one of the new rock acts to emerge out of Western Canada. Their goal is a modest one, one that reflects the true essence and sincerity of their music; to get on the road, tour non-stop, and be heard by as many new people as possible. They’re creating a unique future for themselves, carving a path that’s full of opportunities for such a young group. The book is wide open for Versus the Nothing, and their neverending story has only just begun. Versus the Nothing are: Ross Archibald – Vocals Jason Scannell – Bass Chris Shaw – Guitar, Vocal Jacob Wyman – Drums, Vocals Ande Otte – Guitar, Vocals.

VANCOUVER, Tuesday, January 12, 2010 – Vancouver’s hard rock quintet VERSUS THE NOTHING’s single “Let It All Come Down” is featured on SEGA® Europe Ltd. ‘ soundtrack for Vancouver 2010™ - the Official Video Game of the Olympic Winter Games.

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Popularity: 80%