Defunct Local Band Profile Series: Curtis McKenzie

It's now time for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile, where we're looking at another randomly selected band or solo act from the past, in order to spotlight them for current readers! This month's selection is slightly different in that, while it's a solo project from an established and recognizable musician, it's also one that had a lot of stop-start periods of activity over an extended period, so here's what you should know!

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Curtis McKenzie

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie/Wawa, Ontario

Genre: Hard Rock/Grunge

Lineup (Members not in their last known lineup in italics):

Curtis McKenzie (Haggith, Eclipse), all instruments
Daniel Horton (Spades GT, Haggith), drums

Audio/Video: There is certainly no shortage of videos and music online from Curtis' local bands, most prominently from Haggith's studio albums, but some of his released solo material has found its way online. Numerous videos of songs from both pre-Haggith bands and him solo can be heard on his original YouTube channel, while his Sound X original song "Disengage" was posted elsewhere in 2013. His Facebook page features his 64 minutes long at-home concert from June 2020, a Tears For Fears cover with long-time bandmate Daniel Horton, and six live concert videos from his mid-2017 run as a live solo artist. Here's Curt covering Seether's "Broken" at The Vape Escape that June! Despite the thumbnail, the video is in colour.

Info/Analysis: While primarily active locally as a singer/guitarist in proper bands, Curtis has dabbled in solo endeavours off and on, first crediting an active solo project on his Facebook page (then otherwise encompassing all of his past/present bands) in May 2011, while also acknowledging some high school-era solo recordings from 2007 onward. Updates on that page primarily concerned his various local bands during their runs, but Curt did announce a solo project named Sound X in May 2013 that would record separate original material, though Sound X were only seen at a private event that summer. In February 2016, Curtis resumed plans to record as a solo artist, but those sessions did not lead to a released album. From May-July 2017, Curt played a series of solo gigs, most prominently at The Vape Escape, but he did not surface in this form again until playing some at-home sets in mid-2020, early in the pandemic.

As of late, Curtis has been seen more on Twitch as a video game streamer, and while he has performed during these sessions, videos are not hosted for on-demand viewing after the fact. Curtis' talents as a musician were definitely prominent, especially from 2013 onward, but aside from the stripped-down sound of his covers, I do worry that his solo output wasn't that distinct from his bands. That said, with Curt's strong vocal range and guitar abilities, he will be easily able to make a mark again on the local scene if he returns as a band member or live musician!

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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! We'll return with this series on or around April 10th when we head south to Sault Michigan for a look at mid-2000s hardcore punk band Poverty Stricken! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site next week! Thanks everyone!