Angela Saini

Artist Information

Biography

“Whatever Angela Saini is doing, she’s doing it right. Her attitude, style, body language and voice are so classy and feminine, yet so rock star at the same time.” - Lithium Magazine- 2010, Vanessa Markov

Singing from the womb, Angela picked up the guitar at 14 and started writing songs in between teaching herself Nirvana covers. In the backdrop of Calgary, AB, her Austrian mother and Indian father drove her to gigs as she began strumming her brand of pop-folk at local clubs, breaking into the local music scene before she had finished her first year of high school.

Playing in pop/rock outfit Supernal that took her across the continent a few times, performing at festivals alongside bands like Evanescence and Sum 41, she garnered enough experience and road cred to move to Canada’s biggest city. Her recent band Drive Faster appeared in Master Tracks on AUX TV with Moe Berg and Laurence Currie 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.”

With a notebook full of songs and frequent gigging as an acoustic solo artist, Angela decided to take her songs electric and got the attention of Johnny Fay, drummer for The Tragically Hip. Demo sessions together resulted in pre-production for a solo record. Runner-up for “Best Female Artist” in the 2010 International Acoustic Music Awards for her song Nurse Me Back to Health (Dear Diary), the debut EP "Cake and Callouses" is coming to ears near you.

Instrumentation

Angela plays guitar and sometimes a micro-Korg synth

She plays solo or with her band

Discography

Debut solo record "Cake and Callouses" released Spring 2012


"Frame of Mind" - Drive Faster (2010)

Four previous releases in the band Supernal (GEErage Records)

Not For Sale (2006)
Rhymes with Eternal (2004)
There is No Excuse Not to (2003)
Living and Breathing (2001)

Rhymes with Eternal enjoyed airplay on over 300 radio stations in Canada and the U.S.

Links

• Facebook
• MySpace
• Twitter
• YouTube Channel

Audio

• Angela Saini / Dear Diary
  Listen   Download
• Angela Saini / Keeping Score
  Listen   Download
• Angela Saini / Without Me
  Listen   Download
• Close to You- live performance
  Listen   Download
• Blur The Lines
  Listen   Download

Lyrics

• Dear Diary
• Keeping Score
• Like A Doll

Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• Breaking the Norm in Music [+ Show ]
  

  The backdrop curtain was red, the same colour red like you would imagine at a theatre production. Th...The backdrop curtain was red, the same colour red like you would imagine at a theatre production. The stage was crowded with musical equipment but there was still enough room for Angela Saini, 28, to sing her newest track Dear Diary at Les 3 Minots bar in July 2011 in Montreal, Quebec.
  
  The video footage of her strumming on her Ibanez hollow body guitar, fit with a zebra print guitar strap, found on her website – angelasaini.com – is a sight you would not have seen in Canada just 10 years ago.
  
  Today, female indie artists and women fronting indie bands are breaking the norm in the music industry.
  
  Saini’s independent band, Angela Saini and the Residents, recently performed at the Indie Week Music Festival in October in Toronto.
  
  Over 96 bands performed from Oct. 12 to Oct. 15, 2011. Of those, 40 had female artists and women fronting bands.
  
  In an interview, Saini said in 2001, when she was touring with her first band, Supernal, in high school and university, everyone at the venue would assume she was always the girlfriend.
  
  “No one ever thought I was in the band, and if they realized, ‘Oh she’s in the band,’ they’d assume that I was the singer,” she said. “If I’m the singer they’d assume that I don’t play guitar, ‘Women don’t play guitar,’ and if I played a guitar, they’d assume I played an acoustic guitar.”
  
  “Why is the man the norm, especially in rock music?” she said. “It’s really a reflection of our society.
  
  Saini was not only the lead singer in Supernal, but at 16 years of age, she was the lead songwriter, and played the electric guitar at shows all over Calgary.
  
  Saini continues to work with Supernal, now known as Drive Faster–and in her off time she is a server at the Drake hotel in Toronto.
  
  The assumptions Saini faced a decade ago were not uncommon. Industry watchers say now the music business is seeing a rising trend of both indie female artists and women fronting indie bands.
  
  “In the ‘50s you didn’t see any rock ‘n’ roll women,” said Alan Cross, a Toronto music historian.
  
  Cross has been a radio broadcaster and a music writer for over 30 years, and he also hosts his own show, “The Ongoing History of New Music” on 102.1 the Edge.
  
  “The ‘60s you had all the girls groups, [and] what was interesting about the girl groups is that they were just pretty faces and voices up front, they didn’t write their own music, they didn’t play their own instrument,” Cross said.
  
  “The biggest change [for music] really came with punk when the whole idea of punk was if you have something to say then you should be able to say it regardless of who you are,” Cross explained. “That meant class, that meant musical ability, it meant gender.
  
  “Then there was this explosion of female-fronted groups or groups that were entirely female, which was really odd because you hadn’t seen them.”
  
  Female-fronted groups and groups that were entirely female, such as, The Runaways, Bikini Kill, Bratmobile and Hole became prominent in the music industry between 1976-78.
  
  In the ‘80s and ‘90s indie music really began to establish itself, Cross said. There would be the odd sort of thing such as, Tina Waymouth playing bass for the Talking Heads, and every once and a while you would see a girl drummer.
  
  Cross said that these female indie bands with musicians that rocked out on bass and drums were very unfairly targeted by sexist elements in the music industry, however, in retrospect they were huge groundbreakers.
  
  “Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth, she became a real role model for an awful lot of people,” Cross said. “I don’t think the whole riot grrrl thing would have happened in the 90s if it wasn’t for Kim Gordon.”
  
  From 1991 till 1994 riot grrrl, an underground feminist punk movement that formed in Washington, DC, displayed female empowerment.
  
  From there out came The White Stripes in 1997 with Meg White playing drums, and although she wasn’t exactly saying much, she became this sort of icon, Cross said.
  
  

• INDIE WEEK 2011 EDITORIAL REVIEW [+ Show ]
  

  "I don’t know why she’s not signed yet, she has great tone in her voice, has the natural talent and ..."I don’t know why she’s not signed yet, she has great tone in her voice, has the natural talent and is a mufti-instrumentalist; the songs are done well"

• Alan Cross- Indie Week 2011 Demo Panel [+ Show ]
  

  After hearing Angela Saini's song Dear Diary: “Probably going to be stuck in my head for the re...After hearing Angela Saini's song Dear Diary:
  
  
  “Probably going to be stuck in my head for the rest of the day”
  
  

• Bad Broose- Stylus Magazine [+ Show ]
  

  Bad Broose- Stylus Magazine Though only a 5 track EP, Supernal's sophomore effort, No Excuse Not ...Bad Broose- Stylus Magazine
  
  Though only a 5 track EP, Supernal's sophomore effort, No Excuse Not To is one of the best rock albums of 2003. With a strong female lead vocalist, Supernal is a breath of fresh air in the stank testosterone charged wasteland of rock radio. The rhythm guitar rumbles a clean growl along with a hard driving rhythm section, and the lead guitar is a non-stop barrage of catchy hooks and tasteful riffs. But the real treasue is Angela Saini's vocals. She sings like a street-wise Pat Benetar, cooing and snarling, simultaneously exposing her vulnerability while issuing a warning. This combination of good driving rock music, beautiful vocals and brutal honesty of the lyrics is like smiling while saying "Screw you!" Saini, also the band's principal songwriter, doesn't buffer the often cruel truth with sugar-coated cliches. Misery, for example, captures those horrible final moments of a relationship just before closure, when you know that it's over, but still hope for the instant happy ending pill. A typical line from Reverberate, "She don't want you hanging around." How many times have we all had to rely on someone else to point out the obvious, it doesn't get any more real and honest than that. No Excuse Not To plays out like a five step reality check.
  

• BOBBi Magazine- Up and Coming Music Buzz [+ Show ]
  

  BOBBi MAGAZINE SUMMER 08 UP AND COMING MUSIC BUZZ who's who and what's what! By Andreanne Sasse...BOBBi MAGAZINE SUMMER 08
  UP AND COMING MUSIC BUZZ
  who's who and what's what!
  
  By Andreanne Sasseville- SIRIUS Satellite Radio
  
  Who are they:
  Angela Elizabeth -vocals and guitar
  Tony Gare - guitar
  Brent Miller - bass
  Michael Holbrook - drums
  
  Hometown
  Toronto, Ontario
  
  Debut disc:
  They've got 4 EPs. The most recent one is called Not For Sale -2006
  
  Their style:
  Explosive Alternative Rock with a hint of house beats!
  
  Band name history:
  Angela right away introduced the band and explained its origins: "The name SUPERNAL means 'something celestial'. Everything that we love about music seems to have that similar sort of huge undefined mystery to it, so the name sums up what we would like our music to be thought of. Majestic beauty and powerful chaos. As an added bonus, no one else had it yet." (The girl is obviously original and practical.)
  
  How it all started:
  Just like high school sweethearts, (but this was a threesome, oops, a trio!), three of the band members have been playing music together since high school. Their first show took place, you guessed it, at that very same high school. The REAL defining moment for the band was between Angela and Brent at the Calgary Stampede, where they watched a free concert on the Coca-Cola Stage and decided that it would be fun to collaborate together to try to play on that very stage. A few years later, they fulfilled their dream. Numerous try outs (band members and band names) later, Supernal is solid.
  
  Favourite city to play in:
  Brent (smirk) mentions that whatever city they are playing in is the best one. Suck ups? No, they truly enjoy all the band's stops. But they do have a soft spot for Terrace, British Columbia. (MapQuest anyone?)
  
  Favourite city to live in:
  Canmore, Alberta. Although they have only stayed there for periods of days at a time, those days always included snowboarding, rock music, and hot tubs. (We want to go on tour with you guys!)
  
  Pre-concert routine:
  Angela sometimes punches Brent in the face. (How many black eyes to date please?)
  
  Best and worst tour anecdote:
  Angela clearly remembers most of the drama involved a propane van that they used to travel in. Outside of never being able to find propane and having no access to it after you finally did, the gas meter was broken as well. On the bright side, Angela recalls getting a discount on dinner. Once!
  
  What they have been listening to lately:
  
  In the band's van it has been the new Rilo Kiley, The Foo Fighters, Tegan and Sara, Ani Difranco's new greatest hits album and thanks to Brent, a little bit of Zeitgeist. They're all over the map with their tastes but they believe it makes them stronger.
  
  Craziest dream:
  
  Brent (smirk): "My craziest dream involved me being chased by a giant colony of lepers while wearing fuzzy bunny slippers in the middle of January." (Ok silly we meant your goal, lifelong pursuit, deep motivation!)
  
  The real answer:
  
  Fame and fortune? Yes to that. But they are very happy with a lifelong career of making great music for great people, inspiring while being inspired.
  
  You should check this band out because:
  
  Their music is just like their personality: friendly and upbeat. They are realistic and ambitious. Top that with talented. Take a trip to their majestic, chaotic, yet beautiful sky. Chances are you'll like the scenery.
  

Setlist

Nurse Me Back to Health (Dear Diary)
The Story
I Say So
New Canvas
Raindrop (Before I Dry)
Like A Doll
Keeping Score
In the Eye
Get Off the Ground
Without Me
Close to You

1234 (Feist)
Follow you into the Dark (Death Cab for Cutie)

Basic Requirements

Calendar