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!

Defunct Local Band Profile Series: AlgomA

It's now time for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile, as we again check out a local metal, hard rock, or punk act from the past in order to profile their run and activity for modern readers! This month's randomly selected band is one of the most prominent metal bands to come out of the Algoma District in the 2010s, so here's what you should know on them!

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AlgomA

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Genre: Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metal

Lineup: (The stage names were primarily used in social media postings in 2013-2014, and were dropped outright by 2015)

"Marty Chase" Kevin Campbell (BeeFMouTH), vocals/bass
"Darby Wigwaus" Boyd Rendell (Molten Imp), vocals/guitar
"Geezer D'Artagnan" Jamie Vincent (Fuller), drums

Audio/Video: AlgomA released four albums on physical media in a three year span in the mid-2010s, though only their debut (October 2014's "Reclaimed By The Forest") saw a CD release. In April 2016, AlgomA released a split with Saskatchewan stoner quintet Chronobot on vinyl records, and they put out another vinyl split in January 2017, this time a single with Finnish doom metal band Hooded Menace. Their final release in September 2017 was one more split named "Trading Faces", this time physically exclusive to cassette tapes, featuring them & local grindcore trio Shit Liver covering various punk and metal songs, including a song of each other's. Note that AlgomA's studio release catalogue comprises of just 12 songs, but the average length of each song is 6+ minutes! While there are some fan shot videos out there from live concerts on YouTube and Facebook, the band's YouTube channel and Boyd's video production company 62nd Chamber Media's channel are the best sources for AlgomA videos nowadays. Here's a full AlgomA concert set at the former Oddfellows Hall in 2014!

Info/Analysis: Publically launching in November 2012 as much-belated successors to Boyd & Kevin's old band BeeFMoutH, AlgomA debuted at 180 Projects on Gore Street in March 2013. While not as prolific as other local bands for amount of concerts (never playing more than five public local gigs per year), AlgomA made their mark opening for familiar touring bands like The Golers, Biipiigwan, Fuck The Facts, and Beaver Slap during their run, often under their own agencies Oh, Right Arm! Promotions and Six. Two. Oh., while also mounting multiple mid-2010s Ontario tours, a Quebec tour in December 2016, and a European tour in the spring of 2017. Partially thanks to their label affiliation with Malaysia's Deadbeat Media, their discography was well covered & reviewed by international metal websites and zines. AlgomA were also known for their series of 2014 private gigs at "Das Bunker", among other varied regional locales.

After taking a 19 month hiatus from live concerts, AlgomA played their final show in May 2019 when they opened for Dopethrone at The New American Pub (their last of seven gigs there). Sporadic social media updates ceased that fall, and the band never re-emerged after the pandemic lockdowns. Bringing local doom metal to heights only otherwise seen via Woods of Ypres, AlgomA's slow and punishing brand of original sludge was a captivating listen, it sometimes cryptically presented, and while Kevin took on more of the vocal load than in the BeeFMouTH days, fans of that band could drop right in after a decade with ease! AlgomA carved a deep local niche in their run, and here's hoping they come back if the time is right!

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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! Our next feature in this series will take us a few years prior to local grunge/psychedlic trio SBD, so look for our next randomly selected profile in this series on or around August 10th! That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site next! Thanks everyone!

Defunct Local Band Profile Series: 20 Pack Of Marshmallows

It's now time for our latest monthly Defunct Local Band Profile, as we shine another spotlight on a local metal, hard rock, or punk band from the past, as randomly selected from our band links! This month's choice coincidentally features the former bassist of last month's profiled group (Acention), and while they didn't become concert staples outside of high school functions, they did plant seeds for big things to come from some of their members, so here's what you should know on them!

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20 Pack Of Marshmallows (also known as Manganese, Warning, Wanko Twist, The Curtis J. McKenzie Project, and Restricted Illusions)

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Genre: Hard Rock/Grunge/Metal

Lineup: (Members not in their last full lineup are in italics. This information may be incomplete. Let us know if you can add any former band members!)

Curtis McKenzie (Haggith, Project 421), guitar/vocals
Daniel Horton (Spades GT, Haggith, Eclipse), guitar
Mikey Cachagee (Acention), bass
Daylan Dorricott, drums

Travis McKenzie, vocals/guitar
Darren Vlassoff, drums

Audio/Video: The best surviving place to hear songs from 20 Pack Of Marshmallows/The Curtis J. McKenzie Project is via Curt's old YouTube channel, which has old Dunnplugged concert videos of them playing covers, plus some early original songs. Now-deleted performances by the McKenzie brothers are linked on this page from their Wanko Twist-era Tripod site that confirm more song titles, along with Judas Priest covers. Notably, this prior project is where later Haggith originals like "Wanko", "Loverbeam", and "The Married Massacre" were first written and performed, and they were once planning to record an album named "Battle Royale" featuring their original material. Here is (as they were known then) Restricted Illusions playing "Kiss Me Goodbye" at Sir James Dunn Collegiate circa February 2010!

Info/Analysis: One of the final rock bands to come out of the Dunnplugged program before the Sir James Dunn/Bawating merger in 2010, 20 Pack Of Marshmallows (among its other names) continually featured Curtis McKenzie and Mikey Cachagee in their public lineups. Surviving material 15+ years on isn't plentiful beyond YouTube videos and what's left of their Tripod page, but Curt's 2008-2010 band work is very notable in hindsight for presaging the band Haggith, whose 2012-2016 run (including songs carried over from 2.P.O.M.) largely also featured Daniel alongside Mikey's brother Caleb, and continued the same grunge/hard rock path. Obviously, the guys were in high school then, so the quality of both the performances and the videos compared to what (especially) Curt & Dan have gotten up to since will be noticeably lesser, but the promise was definitely there, and it's worth looking up what they did then to see how they've evolved!

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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! Next month in this series, we're heading a few years ahead in the timeline to look at a very prominent local act from the 2010s, namely 2012-2019 doom/stoner metal trio AlgomA! Look for that on or around July 10th, and for more news and notes on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Defunct Local Band Profile Series: Acention

Here is this month's Defunct Local Band Profile, our recurring series on local metal, hard rock, and/or punk bands from the past, always randomly selected from our inactive band links! For this month, we head back over a decade for a look at a promising band that sadly didn't get too far off the ground, so here's what you should know on them!

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Acention

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Genre: Hard Rock/Alternative/Post-Grunge

Lineup: (Members not in their last full lineup are in italics)

Dalton James Boissineau (Meant To Last, These Sins Of Time), vocals/guitar
Josh Willet, guitar
Caleb Cachagee (Haggith), guitar/bass
Cayne Cachagee, drums

Danielle Wierzbicki, vocals
Mikey Cachagee (20 Pack Of Marshmallows), bass
Konar Zayet (Suffacation), bass
Jonny Amendola (Half Past, Skeyes Of Seven), drums

Audio/Video: Acention had cited Papa Roach, Evanescence, and Three Days Grace among the groups that they were covering as of their initial launch, and they shared a setlist in June 2012 on their Facebook page featuring covers of the likes of Nickelback, Buckcherry, and Theory of a Deadman, among other hard rock and post-grunge groups, while Dalton had teased posting an unplugged cover of The Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Strip My Mind" at one point. Original songs were also being composed during their active run, but they never played a public concert, and their only posted media is this Facebook video of Dalton & Josh working on an original song with acoustic guitars. It's obviously a very incomplete glimpse of what Acention were aiming for, but there is a promising guitar line here!

Info/Analysis: Forming in the fall of 2011 before making their public launch in April 2012, Acention were comprised primarily of teenage musicians at the time, and posted frequent updates that spring and summer as they worked on their sound and setlist. Postings drastically slowed down from that fall onward, and despite teasing a new original song and some new song lyrics in early 2013, the band would cease updates after a January 2014 post where Dalton cited personal matters and in-band drama for their recent inactivity. It's hard to know how Acention would have sounded as a full/live concern, but their modern rock radio-centric set would have had local fans, and be sure to follow Caleb & Jonny's more recent bands!

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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! In a coincidence that I absolutely did not plan (I use a random number generator to pick bands in this series), our June profile will be of former Acention bassist Mikey Cachagee's prior hard rock band 20 Pack Of Marshmallows! Look for that on or around June 10th, and for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!

 

Defunct Local Band Profile Series: The Side FX & Steel Sour

After a weekend concert preview-induced delay, here are this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles! Once again, we're spotlighting local metal, hard rock, and/or punk bands from our inactive band links, in order to feature them and their run anew for current readers, and this month's first randomly selected band had no surviving public media, so a second group was chosen to round things out. Here's what you should know on these two short-lived 2010s hard rock groups, both with familiar faces!

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The Side FX

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario/Edmonton, Alberta

Genre: Hard Rock/Alternative/Metal

Lineup:

Rob Speers (The Wyld Stallyns), vocals
Alex Walls (Cody Parks & The Dirty South), guitar
Mike Bird (Papa Fogals Chair, Sulfur), bass)
Derek Turner (Garden of Bedlam, Papa Fogals Chair), drums

Audio/Video: The Side FX never posted any public media to sample their sound with, but they cited Led Zeppelin, Sublime, Volbeat, and The Red Hot Chili Peppers among their covers on their Facebook page. They likely shared a similar sound to frontman Rob Speers' 2014-2020 funk/hard rock quartet The Elements, whose February 2014 debut came a few months before The Side FX's last known concert set took place.

Info/Analysis: Not to be confused with the 2019-2020 classic rock band SideFX nor the early 2000s metal band SIGHdEFECT, The Side FX launched in July 2013, debuting when they opened for Australian ska punk band The Resignators at the former Roosevelt Hotel on July 23rd. However, guitarist Alex Walls moved out of town to work as a studio musician the following month, and a search for a new guitarist did not have any public followthrough. Alex would return to The Side FX when they opened at bassist Mike Bird's stag & doe in May 2014, but they did not play live or post online again after that. With this talented lineup, it's a too bad that they didn't last longer, but do follow Rob & Derek's later local music work!

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Steel Sour

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Genre: Heavy Metal/Hard Rock/Blues/Country

Lineup: (The presented lineup reflects who performed in Steel Sour's only full performance video, but the seven performers may have included guest musicians, as most local rock cover bands are smaller than this. Robert, Rick, Steve, and James were all separately pictured or referenced by name in social media postings outside of said video)

Robert Nevitt (Re:Born), vocals
Nicole (Ambeault) Bentley (Bourbon Blue), vocals
Rick Atkins (Big Mistake), guitar
Randy Russell (Bourbon Blue), guitar
Fred Dunn (Eclipse), guitar
Steve Bentley, bass
James White (Redundant), drums

Info/Analysis: Presumably taking name inspiration from Stone Sour, this new local cover hard rock band debuted in November 2018, with their first sound sample coming via this 19 minute live-stream of covers by Robert and Rick in January 2019. That May, they posted their cover of The Tragically Hip's "New Orleans Is Sinking" on YouTube featuring all seven performers (love Steve's wig!), but the band quietly fell inactive afterwards, with later bands like Big Mistake, Lockdown, and current pop rock cover band Bourbon Blue all featuring multiple Steel Sour members. We don't have a ton to go on, but Steel Sour had good energy, a distinct sound despite the seven people, and solid vocals, and it's a shame they didn't do more!

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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles! We return to single band profiles next, but still in the 2010s, by way of defunct local hard rock group Acention, who you may remember from their social media presence in the early 2010s. Stay tuned for that on or around May 10th, and for more news and notes on the site next week! Thanks everyone!

Defunct Local Band Profile Series: The Bearded Lounge

It's now time for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! As usual, this monthly feature series takes us back to shine a spotlight on a local metal, hard rock, or punk act from our inactive links, in order to profile them and their run for modern day readers, always randomly selected. This month's choice will be familiar to many fans of "the dirty three", so here's what you should know on this former-ish local band!

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The Bearded Lounge

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Genre: Southern/Hard Rock/Country

Lineup:

Greg Simpson (Bone Yard 225), vocals/guitar
Alex D'Ettore (Bone Yard 225), guitar/vocals

Audio/Video:  The Bearded Lounge were basically Bone Yard unplugged (or as they like to call their modern acoustic sets, "uncorked"), right down to evolving from country to southern and classic rock covers at around the same time. While their sister band (now named Bone Yard 225) have since released a handful of original songs, The Bearded Lounge were covers-only. Nine live videos from their active run can be seen on their Facebook page, while former SaultOnline correspondent Mike Caruso filmed them often for his YouTube channel in the band's early years. Here's Greg & Alex covering The Charlie Daniels Band's "Long Haired Country Boy" and The Band's "The Weight" at The Tech in 2018!

Info/Analysis: Three years after Alex joined the pre-225 Bone Yard, he and Greg launched their acoustic side project in early 2017, debuting at The Machine Shop that March. While not seen live as regularly as their main "corked" band, Greg & Alex brought The Bearded Lounge to numerous nightclubs during their run, most prominently at the former Reggie's West, where they teamed up with Bone Yard and their Greg-less blues rock project Mojo for "triple header weekends". You may have also seen this power duo at two Toystocks, the Rides for Autism & ARCH, multiple Cruisin' The Dub car shows at A&W, and at a few downtown street parties, among other community events. After a year+ long pandemic hiatus, The Bearded Lounge resumed live dates in July 2021, and last played a credited public concert at The Water Tower Pub in March 2023, after which they fell inactive after a six year run.

Bone Yard proper (including bassist Warren Reville) have since begun playing acoustic shows under their own name rather than playing under two names and/or without Warren, so while the Bearded Lounge name has been shelved, their members and unplugged covers can still be enjoyed by fans! Regardless of project name, Greg & Alex have a good chemistry on their southern fried rock covers in an acoustic setting, so if you liked/miss The Bearded Lounge, catch the lighter side of Bone Yard (225) primarily at The Water Tower Pub and Gateway Casino!

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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! Next month, this series will give us two bands again, as the first randomly selected band doesn't have any publically surviving media, so I picked one more band without much to report publically to round things out with. As such, next month's bands will be early 2010s hard rock band The Side FX and late 2010s hard rock band Steel Sour, so look for those on or around April 10th, and for more news and notes on the site in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

Defunct Local Band Profile Series: No Funeral & Habitat Shuffle

It's now time for this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles! For the first time in 2025, we're looking at not one, but two randomly selected defunct or inactive local groups, due to the first act chosen not having much to talk about given their short lifespan and lack of videos, so a second randomly chosen act in a similar state was also picked to round things out with. Both ended up being short-lived bands who released an album each but didn't do a ton else under these names, so here's what you should know on both!

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No Funeral

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario/Edmonton, Alberta

Genre: Noise Punk/Post-Hardcore

Lineup:

Connor O'Brien (Flint), vocals/guitar
Jamie Vincent (AlgomA), bass/drums

Info/Analysis: After being bandmates in the Edmonton punk band Flint from 2009-2012, Connor and Jamie planned a new joint project for at least two years, eventually debuting No Funeral when Connor travelled east for a Dryer Fire-promoted event at Outspoken Brewing in October 2022, and they were scheduled to play at the cancelled Matthew Nadon memorial concert in February 2023. That same month, they recorded their self-titled album at Unsalted Audio, and its release in March was their final public act before falling inactive. In effect, No Funeral were here for a good time, not a long time, but fans of noise rock, Rollins-esque vocals, and Jamie's local bands (especially Bad Back) will take to their inconsistent but strong album, and hopefully they resurface in time!

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Habitat Shuffle

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Genre: Alternative/Hard Rock

Lineup:

Christian Lemay (Free Beer, Id Iota), vocals
Dustin Goodall (Id Iota, The Pixo Control), guitar
Ryan Gray (Free Beer, Creatures Of The Night), bass
Blair St. John (All Over The Map, Pillory), drums

Info/Analysis: The 2014 launch of Habitat Shuffle united most of the former Free Beer (a.k.a. M.O.B. and Sarah's Valley) while eschewing their former ska punk sound in favour of 1990s-inspired alt-rock & grunge. After dropping out of a planned live debut at the Great Sabatini concert that June, they recorded their four-song EP "Sober Drift" at Mission Control Studios, releasing it on Bandcamp that August. For one reason or another, the band (minus Ryan) opted to scrap Habitat Shuffle and relaunch as Id Iota in the spring of 2015 with a more indie rock-inspired sound, running locally until 2019. For my own heavier musical preferences, I actually preferred Habitat Shuffle's EP (especially "Resort") to Id Iota's for its grungy qualities and catchy song structures, but it helped bridge the gap from Free Beer effectively, but listen to both "Sober Drift" and "Maudlin Fair" to compare their sonic evolution in the mid-2010s!

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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles! This series will return on or around March 10th when we look at another randomly selected past local band, and in this case, it will be acoustic southern hard rock duo and former Bone Yard side project The Bearded Lounge! Look for that then and for more news and notes on the site as this week rolls along! Thanks everyone!