Defunct Local Band Profile: SBD

It's now time for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile, as we again look at a past local metal, hard rock, or punk band in order to feature them and their run/material for modern readers! As usual, this month's band was randomly selected, and it gives us a short lived but familiar act from the turn of the 2010s, so here's what you should know on them!

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SBD

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Genre: Grunge/Psychedelic/Experimental Rock

Lineup:

Dann Pichette (No Arrow), vocals/guitar
Brad Griffith (Bizotic), bass
Shane Triplett (The Chintzy Slicks), drums

Audio/Video: SBD released one album named "Sonic Experiments", which was sold for $10 in a limited print run at their debut concert at Foggy Notions (now Coch's Corner) in May 2010. It was later slightly revised with a "Mulligan Edition" re-release that August at a return headlining date there, with the jewel cases even wrapped in tinfoil for sale that night. A mixture of songs from the album, alternate versions, and unreleased material can still be heard on SBD's Soundclick page, and a wide array of videos can be seen on their YouTube channel, including their "Rock Paper Scissors" jam session video series, numerous live videos from Foggy's, and some Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd covers. Select SBD videos, mostly re-uploads, can be found on Dann's YouTube channel as well. Here is SBD playing one of their heavier originals "It Just Won't Work" at their live debut!

Info/Analysis: Publically launched in December 2009, late in Dann & Brad's grunge/alternative trio No Arrow's run, SBD (named for its members first initials) were a distinct but still familiar act that built on No Arrow's sound with psychedelic and experimental styles, which came through in some of their videos' post-production effects. While best remembered today from their series of gigs at Foggy Notions in mid-late 2010, they also competed at May 2010's Downtown Showdown battle of the bands at The Oddfellows Hall, and opened at RedD Monkey's Green Christmas Party that year. However, SBD would drop out of all announced gigs in 2011 and focused solely on releasing new songs and videos that year before going on an indefinite hiatus, though Dann did post posthumous material on YouTube until 2013. I liked what SBD brought to the table, though they were definitely more experimental and trippy than No Arrow with less heavier tracks, and I did notice that many originals trailed off late and ran too long.

As an evolution of No Arrow, SBD had a solid base of originals and unexpected cover choices that I think had more legs locally had they stuck around as a live act into 2011, though with Dann & Brad (a.k.a. Wayek & Gortium85) expanding their musical presence via the independent/DIY musician communities on YouTube and social media in the 2020s, complete with No Arrow's "Souls For Sale" finally getting released earlier this year, could "Sonic Experiments" and other SBD material see a similar second life? Follow what they've been posting online and submitting regardless!

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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! Next month in this series, our next randomly selected profile will be on late 1990s local punk veterans Room 206, who had some high profile resurrections over the years, so look for that on or around September 10th, and for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!