Fidget

T.O. fem-Punk band Fidget won the third round of band competition at the recent Emergenza held at Big Bop and are off to the regional finals. The five-piece eye-popping ear-blasters are also expected to appear at Gary 17's SpringRise Celebration concert Thurs. May 17 at Renaissance Cafe for a 12:30 a.m. spot. - T.O.-Nite Magazine

Check out the Great Indie Can, Toronto's leading online radio for:

Live-off-the-floor Fidget performances, and interview :o)

Episode 59:

http://www.indiecan.com/radio.htmepisode59

- Indiecan.com

Interview With Daisy MacLean
16 April 2010 2 Comments
Marilyn Monroe. Betty Page. Sailor Mars. Jessica Simpson. Catwoman.
Five of the most sexually iconic women have been captured through Daisy MacLean’s role as director of Fidget’s “Vanity Magazine” music video. MacLean’s creativity twisted these five bombshells into the punk rock attitude that she loves.
Through her creativity, MacLean won a Telly Awards nomination. MacLean is still at the beginning of her career and views this nomination as a pat on the back and encouragement to continue with her dreams. These dreams were born after a day filled with introspection on a mountain top in France.
“I thought about how much I loved film making, about how, even on the worst days, when you’re shooting for 22 hours and it’s raining and cold, that was still better than anything to me,” MacLean said. “It’s my bread and butter.”
Fidgets- ”Vanity Magazine” Music Video
MacLean began directing plays in high school, but made her first music video at her first year in Ryerson University for a class assignment. She shot in 16mm film with barely enough film to do each shot once.
“It was my first time I ever worked with a band and they went and got drunk while we were shooting the actress,” MacLean said. “So when it was their turn I had to keep telling the guitarist to stand up, he kept telling me ‘I am!” and I had to reply, ‘No actually, you’re not.”
In addition to a drunk band, MacLean’s cinematographer almost fell off the roof during one of the shots. Despite the disastrous parts, MacLean received an A+ on her assignment.
MacLean has an agent for commercials and music videos but is also currently working on her first two feature length films. The first is “Bought The T-Shirt,” a documentary about the relationship between punk music and politics and what that means today.
“I have tons of crazy ideas swimming around in my head that are just waiting for the right band to come along,” MacLean said. “But you do have to be respectful of the band and how they want to be portrayed.”
This particular music video for Fidget, a Canadian all-girls band, has a strong female vibe. The song, “Vanity Magazine” speaks about being on the cover of a magazine without telling the story behind the cover.
“To me, with those glossy girl magazines, the first thing I think about is the female image in society,” MacLean said. “So for me, a punk band would rebel at being molded into the stereotypical female ideal. There is a push in the music industry for women to fit a predetermined physique.”
Through this the idea to tell the story behind the magazine cover evolved, with the band members dressing as Marilyn Monroe, Betty Page, Catwoman, Sailor Mars, and Jessica Simpson as if they were being marketed. During the photo shoot they rebel and decide to be who they really are.
“It turns out, you don’t have to fit someone else’s image of who they think they should be to rock out with your fans!” MacLean said.
MacLean draws her inspiration from everything around her, and in this particular video, a lot about cultural theories on the female form. Without her team of cinematographer Stephen Whitehead, art director Maggy Monceaux, assistant director Rory Mule, costumer Chris Holdham, and co-producer Jessica Carter, MacLean could not have captured her vision as she did. She submitted the music video at Whitehead’s request.
“He’s very supportive of me as a director,” MacLean said. “I’m still at the beginning of my career and honestly, I’m just happy to be making my films and videos. I know it’s a cliché but I really am honored just to have our work nominated.”
Her parting words were advice to women out there trying to make it in any non-traditional job:
“Don’t wait for someone to come along and give you permission. You are who you already want to be, just keep doing what you’re doing and wait for the world to catch up with you.
Written by: Raewyn Smith

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- Hollywood Music Magazine

Kathryn Dunmore...

Kathryn Dunmore
Shows by Fidget's females focus on fun

By Kathryn Dunmore, Backbeat

Arts & Entertainment
Apr 20, 2007
Large Medium Small Print This Article Tell a friend Fidget is stoking up female fever with its five-piece all-girl group.
The local band formed last summer with Nicole LeGault, lead vocalist and keytar (a keyboard/guitar instrument), Teresa Hart, lead guitar and vocalist, Elissa Barclay, rhythm guitar and vocalist, Veronica Johnny, bass guitar and vocalist and Faith, the percussionist.

"I had five songs already written, demos and I needed a band," explained LeGault. "I was determined to form the tightest, 'choppingist' all-girl band in the region. We found ourselves to be compatible and excited from the beginning. Every rehearsal was like a 'high on life' girl party.

"No beating around the bush, Fidget's goal is to achieve commercial success. It's all about the songs, any reputable force in the music industry will tell you. The songs we write make us happy and we're thrilled that they make the fans happy too."

Fidget's debut CD, Don't Fidget Missy, showcases its edgy punk rock.

"Our first CD is getting overwhelmingly positive response," said LeGault. "The short-term goal is to play live as much as possible, develop a strong fan base and get signed by an honest label that will arrange production and distribution of our next album."

Fidget frequently performs at the Legendary Red Rooster and plans to play there more in the summer.

"I love Burlington, Burlington is booming," said LeGault. "We love to play at the Legendary Red Rooster as it's a musicians' venue run by musicians. They showcase every kind of band and Tuesday is women's night, where they showcase female musicians."

With an all-girl band, LeGault said there's a closer connection.

"The dynamics are definitely different. We're closer, we hug and reinforce each other," she said. "We're more sensitive to each others' feelings and I think more in tune spiritually."

The enthusiasm for the band by its members is showcased on stage.

"The thing we hear most about our shows is 'that was fun' or 'you're a really fun band,' " said LeGault. "We have a blast on stage, hooting and bantering, whooping and having an all-around good time. Pop-punk is really the genre where songs can be the catchiest and artists can be the most free and the most silly."

All fans can enjoy the band's sound.

"So many things make Fidget stand out from other bands - of course there's the fact that we're all women, but we're an all-girl band with a very high level of chops," said LeGault. "When people see Teresa on lead guitar, I can see their jaws drop and stay down from beginning to end. Our drummer Faith is positively unsurpassable in terms of high energy and all the right driving force rhythm."

For more details, visit www.myspace.com/fidgetpunk.

- The Burlington Post

Fidget: A Whole New Deal



By: Jason Daniel Baker

Any who want to know what kind of guitar playing once moved certain anonymous individuals to spray-paint the words 'Clapton is God' on the walls of London subways in the 1960s should hear the unsurpassable Teresa Hart, guitarist for the multi-honored Toronto-based punk group Fidget play. That is the otherworldly feel you can get from seeing such adeptness in action.

When you hear Fidget drummer Faith, a formidable percussion virtuoso in her own right, you begin to feel like you are listening to a supergroup. I don't exaggerate at all in saying that. No one out of all the people who are saying that is exaggerating. Nothing stimulates the enthusiasm of a concert audience during public performance more than seeing musicians who know what they are doing, do that thing so very well.

Add in lead vox/keyboard Nicole Legault, rhythm guitar/backing vox Elissa Barclay with newly added bass player Kate Harrison and you have capable hands skillfully crafting Fidgets sound from its top to its bottom. As a result, discriminating and fickle GTA audiences tend to find themselves suddenly awakened when Fidget hits the stage piercing the dull drone of pop sameness once so prevalent on local stages.

Fidgets own rhythm rules absolute over the band and when allowed their full range of ..i.e. amps that work the way they are supposed to) they speak the language of music so eloquently that a select few who take the stage after them are their equal. I say that having been utterly blown away just from hearing their soundchecks.

These musicians are remarkable in how meticulous they are in making sure equipment and sound engineers interpret their music properly. It would be all for naught if this ensemble couldn't groove together as smoothly as they do so consistently.

When it comes to composition, lyrically speaking you might shake your head wondering what kind of story is behind it when Ms Legault tenderly sings that she hates it when she is 'dating a sociopath' and 'My friends think you're an a**hole'. My sense is that is very much the intended reaction and apropos to the uniquely detailed music which goes with the words.

Sound can both paint a picture and tell a story. Those that express something distinctive with it deservedly carve out their own place of prominence as Fidget did in 2007 with its independently released CD entitled Don't Fidget Missy!. The writing and production happened to be derived from personal experience (which is how truly great songwriters formulate their best work) and articulated with a certain inimitable flair. The musical destiny of great songwriters is thus always subject to change. More recent tracks by Fidget such as one called 'Sorry, Sucker' indicate an even more whimsical path, which, at the moment, seems very much to agree with them.

They have recently signed a worldwide distribution deal thus it would appear that once again a Canadian act will come to gain approval in its own country AFTER doing so internationally.

"The honours we've enjoyed so far include being featured on Womenrockradio.com, Chickradio.it, featured (coming soon) on Humber College's radio station, having our music considered for placement in the upcoming movie Never Submit, making it to the Ontario Final of Emergenza, the final of the Paragon TV Band Competition but of course we're most honoured by far by the wonderful fans who keep us going with their cheers and support!!! We're putting everything we've got into putting new tunes out for y'all and we're movin' on up!" Says Nicole.

Future goals for this outfit include more broadcast radio, and a production deal for their next album.

For more information on Fidget check out www.myspace.com/fidgetpunk



- Toronto Music Scene

Fidget = A 5 gal Toronto punk band, who like 2 rock with a crazy rhythm. There high energy presence and catchy lyrics with a touch of on stage rock star flare, drives there audience into multiple encore orgasms. There track Come Free has been nominated for an Ontario Independent Music Award( nice work), CD sales are on the rise and thats just the beginning. Here is the interview i did with the lead singer .....

How did the band get together?

Well, I demo'd 5 songs with some friends down in LA and a talent scout in Vancouver had set up an appointment with a rep at Hollywood Records who loved the tracks, but then there was some discussion about making it in the pop-punk/alternative genre - I would need a band! I decided to make it a chick band because Toronto has A LOT of musicians and we could make a bigger splash that way :o) So when I returned here I put the word out for several months and the band was formed gradually, one member at a time through friends, word of mouth, myspace, and ads so the gals all have stories of how their paths led them to Fidget.

Who are some of your musical influences? and why?

We're all influenced by many, I think I can narrow it down to L7, Metric, Blondie, Ramones, Beatles, Nomeansno, Greenday and the Go Go's.

Is there a fun & crazy story behind the bands name?

Yes, I was video taping two friends for a tv commercial, one is Mike K. the LA producer and the other Danny Casler from the band National Product. While talking in front of the camera, they would not and could not stop fidgeting!!! Mike would play with the heel of his foot up on his lap, Danny would kinda bounce up and down, and at one point he was scratching his armpit... we were having giggle fits and Danny turned all pink and we had to turn off the camera and wait a while for him to turn white again...

Is it hard being in an all girl rock band? and how do you deal with the envy of other bands?

We like being an all girl band, we have a warmth and love for each other that makes us much more like a family through fun and fights, we giggle a lot and when we fight, it's like sisters, we still feel the love :o) Envy comes now and then, but not ever from anyone who matters, mostly from people or bands who are looking for rationalizations why they're not at our level. We're quite capable of standing our ground and barking back whenever it's necessary or shrugging it off when it's not.

Do you feel that the band is just punk or rock inspired?

Do you think that punk has become commercial with bands now, like Good charlotte and sum 41? Or is punk just a state of mind?

Well, there is punk, and there is pop-punk and there is alternative. I'd say we're a nice cross of all three, as "alternative" has come to encompass everything from Nirvana to the past Avril Lavigne, to Greenday to Theory of a Dead Man... Punk is definitely a state of mind, overall the message I believe in is that it's fun to convey anger and nastiness through music, and it's okay to be silly. "I hate the bloody queen! She makes me go to school!" I need to sing a genre where I can swear and say whatever I want and jump around like a lunatic! Alternative with a punk edge is where we belong, because we can be ourselves. Being "commercial" doesn't have the same stigma attached to it that it did in the old days - probably because there is not really a line drawn in the sand right now between youth and the establishment, and MTV and the internet has influenced people's tastes to become very eclectic.



What can people expect from a Fidget show?

At a Fidget show, you can expect us to be milling about socializing with our fans - we're very social, happy to meet you, sign autographs and smile for pictures :o) On stage, we have a lot of fun, we jump around, fidget, spasm, rock out and smile and joke around a lot, we try to make sure everyone including us has the time of their life, and after people often come up to us to say "that was fun!"

How does it feel being nominated for a ontario independent music award?

It felt great, but it would have felt better to win! Tee hee, we love any excuse to get all dressed up and attend events like that, we see a lot of industry people we know and meet more people and bands and have a good time :o)

Your song " come free" what is it about?

That's funny you should ask! All my songs are true stories. I was in love with this guy and wrote Come Free while at work very late all alone and getting dreamy about him. As you can hear the first verse is all physical desire of an infatuated nature, then it gets into more of a gentle affection. We had had a falling out of sorts which really didn't make much sense at all and my friends were saying "he's fucked!" and "He's an asshole" but I'm an asshole too! As it were, I never wanted him to think I was just using him and wanted him to know that, and the bathroom floor part - well, that's personal! :p

Who would you like to work with in the Canadian & American music scene? and why?

Wow, we already work with such great people! Future goals would be production of our next full length Cd, preferably by Mike K of The Playground Studio in LA. He just signed with a new producer manager and is getting some very exciting clients. We'd love to go on tour opening up for any number of name acts that would have us, or on the warped tour, or anything like that.

Are there any crazy travelling gig stories yet?

Oh yeah. There was Halibuton last summer during their big wake boarding weekend festival. I don't know what came over us, but there were people literally doing back flips off of the stage, our (ex)bassist suffered a head injury and Teresa our lead guitarist had to (valiantly!) cover both, there was broken glass everywhere, one of our fans accidentally peed herself so Elissa our rhythm player gave her her skirt to wear and was playing in her bright yellow panties that said "Brazil" on the back, and that was all just in the first set. The rest is a blur. The club says that's the best show they've ever had, they put our pictures up behind the bar and we'll be retuning this summer.

Whats the BEST thing about being in a band?

The best thing about being in a band is ROCKING OUT WITH MY CRAZY BITCHES all the time!!! Ya!

Do you have men groupies?

Yes, we have male groupies, they're super nice :o) They all are very polite and conduct themselves in a gentlemanly manner, unless you count that Scotsman with the rubber chicken.

Whats next for the band?

We've been very busy writing and working on new material, we're still promoting the 10 track Cd "Don't Fidget Missy!" released last July and we'll be releasing a new 3 song demo in March but we have MORE songs and we keep on creating more! We love making new music! We have a non-exclusive global distribution deal with Blastzone Entertainment/Nightmare Records so what we should focus on now is a production deal for more recording and a tour to promote the new Cd.

What do you Love about Toronto? and why?

What I love most about Toronto is the powerful and supportive indie music scene! Every night of the week dozens of indie bands are playing - everywhere from the A clubs to the pool halls, to even Chinese restaurants! We're finding the doors are wide open for us here as a venue to showcase and play play play and I like the way that bands and other industry folks network and help one another in a productive and growth supportive circuit.

Thanks Nicole


* Upcoming events Sat feb 16th 2008 The Black Swan- 154 Danforth ave @ Broadview &
Sat Feb 23rd 2008 The Bovine Sex Club, 542 Queen st West.

sonicbids.com/fidget

http://www.myspace.com/fidgetpunk

Band members

Members
Vox: Nicole LeGault - Lead Guitar: Teresa Hart - Rhythm Guitar: Elissa Barclay - Bass: Kate Harrison - Drums: Faith

- Pulp Magazine