News has been oddly slow as of late (pandemic acknowledged), so let's remedy that by posting this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles a day early! This ongoing monthly feature series looks at one or two defunct or inactive local metal, hard rock, or punk bands, in order to spotlight their run and accomplishments for current readers, and as always, bands are randomly selected. We have two bands this month due to the first random selection having minimal surviving information, so a second band in a similar state was added to fill things out, and we have both sides of the border represented as a result. With all of that said, here's what you should know! -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Audio/Video: Denaturant's only publically posted media during their run was a Facebook video of a brief original sample from the fall of 2011, though it was taken down when their Facebook page was deleted. The project was planned to play only original material with "the raw energy and skill that it deserves", and may have bore similarities to Justin's 2009-2012 local metal band Hammerspace, who do have surviving material online.
Info/Analysis:Quietly launched by July 2011, Denaturant appeared to have been Justin's primary music project during Hammerspace's waning months, and were at one time looking for band members to complete a full lineup to "take a specific journey through music", though nothing publically followed before their Facebook page was taken down by late 2012. As I recall, Denaturant's lone Facebook video had some promise, and Justin is a good guitarist, so hopefully we'll hear new music from him in some form! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Driving Dave Home
Audio/Video: Despite this band's pedigree, no public videos are known to survive from their active run. A few 2008 videos are floating around personal Facebook accounts from shows at Foggy Notions and at Smokey's Patio, but the audio quality is admittedly rough (note that one of the Smokey's videos is of an original song). To hear music similar to Driving Dave Home's output, I recommend checking out John & Matt's prior band Redefined (who do have a CD), as well as John's newer bands like Late Shift, plus Ron's later groups.
Info/Analysis: Debuting in 2007, Driving Dave Home left a solid impression on fans while they lasted, including at the 2007 Hempfest, many Foggy Notions gigs (like their original March 2008 farewell concert), and opening for Sense of Truth's Skid Row make-up show at The Canadian Nightclub show that June. Driving Dave Home quietly disbanded by the end of 2008, though members have all been seen in live bands since, including Steve's high profile output since moving to Ottawa. In spite of the audio quality on surviving videos, D.D.H. had an energetic modern hard rock sound with clear talent across the board, and a seemingly good local following, and it's a shame that they didn't last longer than they did! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles! This series will return on or around August 10th for another randomly selected profile, and staying in Sault Ontario, we drew a big one for next time, as we'll be looking at inactive hardcore quintet As It Stands! Watch for that next month, and for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!
Lately, we've seemed to talk about Sault Michigan a lot, with three of our last four posts featuring at least half of the focus on activities across the river. Well, that trend continues today with an all Sault Michigan post, so what's on deck? We have some assorted news items from across the river, a new video from most of a local metal band, and this weekend's concert previews for the known metal & hard rock shows this weekend, starting with a short notice LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, so here's what you need to know!
I apologize for the short notice on this event, but I only just heard confirmed and citable details on it last night. One week after the debut of the Sault Riverview Music Festival, another charitable all ages outdoor concert will hit City Hall at 225 East Portage Avenue, and it will cap off TOMORROW'S Red Ribbon Walk in support of substance abuse awareness! Note that most similar examples I've read online are for AIDS awareness, but I'm just going by what the Facebook event page tells me. Put on by Child & Family Services of the Upper Peninsula, there will be a fundraising walk downtown alongside vendors and some children's activities, with the walk itself kicking off at 4:00 PM, but after that wraps up, there will be live local music, including at least one heavier band! That band is local hard rock/metal quartet Tantrym Tyme, who will continue their streak of prominent outdoor concert events with a set at the Red Ribbon Walk concert, so look out for their improving and developing brand of heavier covers tomorrow! At least two other bands will join them, those being local cover rock quartet Chump Change (featuring Oddfellow, Bucksaw, and 2PumpChump alumni) and indie pop duo Missy & Chelsea (themselves frequently seen at recent outdoor events), while the event page linked above says that there will be more bands, though I can't confirm any others at the moment.
This FREE & ALL AGES event will go down at 5:00 PM outside of City Hall, and while a full schedule isn't out for the concert portion of the Red Ribbon Walk, Tantrym Tyme's Facebook page indicates they'll be on at around 6:00 PM. Check the above links for more details! This should be another entertaining concert full of great local talent, and hopefully more local fans show up to support this great cause and enjoy local music! For a preview, here's Tantrym Tyme covering Pantera & Iron Maiden this summer!
Seeing as that was also a concert preview given the short notice, let's keep the trend going with one more preview for the weekend schedule, that being for the return of Kinross hard rockers Banned TOMORROW NIGHT! Fresh off a date in Gould City (and at the Sault Riverview Music Festival) last weekend, Alex, Don, and Jim (and maybe Mike?) will head back to Moran, Michigan for their third stop at Todd's Tavern this year for another set of hard hitting and entertaining covers & originals! Note that this might be their first stop at the former Bullwinkle's since rhythm guitarist Alex Schrovenwever moved to Marquette for college, but I can't confirm that with certainty. Either way, the Traynors and company have made Todd's Tavern one of their favourite stomping grounds in recent months, so if you live near Moran or are up for a trip there tomorrow, go for it! Admission should be free for this 21+ concert, and the band's Facebook page lists an oddly early start time of 8:00 PM. For more details, visit the above links! Banned should rock hard tomorrow night, so don't miss this show if you can help it, and for a preview, here's the band covering Alice In Chains' "Man In The Box" at The Bird in January!
Thirdly today, here's a little something for you Scofflaw fans! Though they have a solid following in the area, shows & formal updates from this raw edged metal trio tend to be sporadic and/or without an online announcement, so the fact that this video got delayed for an SMS post isn't too surprising. Uploaded to drummer Ivan Schliska's YouTube channel in January, it's of the full band (bassist Barney Gravelle's there, just not in frame) playing what appears to be their self-titled song at a member's home (complete with foosball table), and it's a solid performance compared to what I'm used to musically from Scofflaw! The video quality's great (the best I've seen for Scofflaw), and frontman Jeff Barnes is putting his stage presence to great use, but he would likely sound better if he had a microphone to sing into, and why is Barney shoved so far out of frame? If you like Scofflaw and their rough but catchy brand of metal, you should like this video, so check it out below, and stay tuned in a future post for another video from Ivan's YouTube channel featuring more familiar faces!
And finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news stories from the last little while, and as always, these are in alphabetical order by band name:
I've moved ex-Hammerspace guitarist Justin Smith's solo project Denaturant to our inactive Sault Michigan band links, due to the recent deletion of their Facebook page, which generally indicates a cessation of activity. I'm disappointed to see Denaturant end, but Justin has talent, and hopefully he pops up in a new band soon! As their Facebook page is now gone, I've replaced it's link on the SMS with their Reverbnation page.
According to recent postings on their Facebook page, local/Grand Rapids epic metal band End of Existence are once again looking for a lead singer! This seems to indicate that their relationship with Theatre of Night frontwoman Gaby Koss is either temporary or shelved. If you can sing (you don't have to sound like their past vocalists), contact the guys at this location and/or record some vocals on their instrumental tracks!
As of September 7th, sessions for The Hubbard-Menard Band's debut CD have finished! According to their Facebook page, plans are to order CDs so they can be sold locally "soon", before this new band featuring Splitshot alumni begin playing live concerts. I'm very curious to hear the full tracks and beyond from The Hubbard-Menard Band, so definitely stay tuned to the above links for further details!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for our review of "Yooper Bars" and more news & notes shortly! Thanks everyone!
It's time for a new news post at the SMS, including lots of notable updates, but first, just letting you guys know that I don't think there's a Rooosevelt Hotel metal night tonight, despite today being next on the recent bi-weekly schedule. Nothing official has came out about the 48th and next installment of the Thursday metal concert series, so I doubt there's anything imminent, but I've heard rumblings about a show on August 2nd, so stay tuned for updates! Now, today's post features updates to one of our monthly series, new material from a prominent musician, and leading things off, two new local metal bands, so here's what you need to know!
Our first new band is a local progressive hardcore outfit named With Blood Builds Character, and you may recognize their lineup as featuring four members of March Into Regression! This new band features Like Father Like Son frontman/sometimes concert promoter Jeremy Hannah on vocals, guitarists Ray Cowan (ex-State of Misery) and Christopher Neveau, and Social Suicide bassist Tyler St. Amour (no drummer has been announced yet), and they will play their first show under this band name as the last confirmed band at the F.A.T.I.L. Requiem in Laird on August 4th! They'll take the 6:00 PM slot, but they forgot the "With" in their name on the Facebook event page. This all said, what does this new band's formation mean in terms of the status of March Into Regression? M.I.R. drummer Travis St. Amour (who, along with Josh Stephney, is not visibly in this new band) commented on the event page above that the two bands "have no affiliation", and he has been looking on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group this month for singers & guitarists to work with, so it sounds like the four members of W.B.B.C. broke off and started a more formal new band for some reason or another. That said, M.I.R.'s Facebook page hasn't been updated since July 9th, so I can't say for certain if they are completely gone, or what M.I.R.'s next steps are, but I'll keep you posted!
With Blood Builds Character do have promise judging by the Jeremy-sung songs that they did when I saw March Into Regression, and hopefully they can last locally and inject some creative heavy metal into some upcoming concerts! Stay tuned for updates on both With Blood Builds Character and March Into Regression as it all rolls in, as well as the Laird show next month!
Today's other new band to add to the SMS listings is the Sault Michigan metal project Denaturant! Currently, the band only has one member, that being former Hammerspace guitarist Justin Smith, but he's currently on the hunt for additional musicians to complete a full lineup that would "take a specific journey through music." Denaturant was actually launched last July, but Justin has only recently returned to actively updating the band's Facebook & Reverbnation pages towards a proper launch. Plans are for Denaturant to play all original music and to bring back "the raw energy and skill that it deserves", but more musicians are needed to further those goals, so message Justin at this location if you wanna try out! Aside from a video of a brief original sample from last fall, there's no previews yet of Denaturant's sound, but that video has promise, and I liked Justin's work with Hammerspace, so hopefully he can get this new band even further off the ground and bring some more active original metal to Sault Michigan! Check them out at the above links, and both Denaturant and With Blood Builds Character are now in our active band links on the SMS!
Next up, here's some news from local metal musician Tym Morrison! Though best known recently for his solo acoustic cover gigs and his sets with his band Caveman Morrison, long time fans are bound to remember his original music as well, which led to the release of his debut album "Solo Project" in the mid-2000s. Samples of 9 songs for a planned "next album" have been streamable on his official website for some time now, but in recent months, all we've heard from Tym in terms of solo material has been newer compositions, mostly of a softer or comedic nature. However, he's been posting a bunch of new solo original recordings onto his YouTube channel over the last couple of days, including new versions of the planned album tracks "Dungeons & Dragons" & "Lay It On The Line", new takes of his songs "Someday", "The After Life", and the 9/11 tribute song from his website, and two newly posted originals entitled "His Sacrifice" and "Termination of Exystance", so click each link to check them out! Apparently, Tym is working again on his second CD according to recent posts on his personal Facebook page, and if these new songs are any indication of what to expect, I think things are in good hands!
Under the premise that these will be on an album coming out, I'll hold detailed thoughts for a future review, but these songs do cover a wide range of topics and sounds, and if you like heavy metal, most of these will fill that void! I'll share "Dungeons & Dragons" below (featuring some very good singing on Tym's part), but check the above links for more, and stay tuned for updates on Tym's second CD and future original compositions!
And finally for today, here's the rest of the recent updates to our Battle of the Bands Rewind Mini-Series posts to make them more current and accurate! On the Algoma University Battle profile, I added a trivia note on Creedon & The Animal Detectives drummer Terrence Gomes' future battle appearance as Changing Waves' bassist at the Battle For The Blood last month, while the Sault College/Scotties Tournament Battle's profile saw updates to reflect first place winners Blackwater's inactive status, third place act Sykotyk Rampage's current album count, and the current solo projects for Blackwater frontman Cody McMillan & Sykotyk Rampage bassist Brian Cattapan. Finally for this batch of updates, the Downtown Showdown profile now refers to third place winners The Tenagens' recent reemergence in the local scene and guest Bring The Fallen bassist Mike Kyle's almost-return to a battle when his current band Shit Liver were listed to play at the Battle For The Blood at one point. Things aren't completely up to date with these profiles though, as these were part of edits I made so long ago that there's stuff I missed (i.e. With Blood Builds Character's formation), so stay tuned in the near future for more updates and fact changes to this and our other monthly feature series at the SMS!
That's all for now, but stay tuned for previews of this weekend's Rotaryfest Second Stage TONIGHT! Thanks everyone!
Denaturant
Driving Dave Home
