A Thousand Cures

Artist: A Thousand Cures

A Thousand Cures takes $25Gs chance
By BILL HARRIS -- Toronto Sun




Toronto-based band A Thousand Cures has $25,000 US worth of guts.

The group hopes this will be a case of guts turning into glory. And it all has to do with an Internet music competition, run by garageband.com, which is kind of like a web-based version of TV game show Deal Or No Deal.

"We advanced far enough in the competition that we were offered $25,000 to quit, but we decided to keep going for the big prize," said lead singer Paul Macri, whose band already has qualified to be one of the five finalists.

The big prize, by the way, is a recording contract with Capitol Records. Not too shabby.

"It really was a no-brainer," Macri said.

"We figured the worst that could happen is we keep getting a lot of exposure, even if we don't win. But the support we've been getting really has been incredible so far. And we're very proud of the song we entered, White Top Cadillac, which is a really hooky song. We think the time is right for it."

Macri and his bandmates Mat DeCaria, Dusty Emer, Rick Beddia and Luca Caracciolo have been members of garageband.com for more than a year. It basically is an avenue for up-and-coming bands to showcase their tunes, which subsequently get reviewed by other musicians.

Eventually, garageband.com decided to have a competition -- dubbed the Garageband Faceoff -- between the most popular bands on its site. Macri said it was just sort of a cool distraction when A Thousand Cures advanced once, then twice ...

"But now we've won five times in a row and it has become a far bigger deal than we ever could have dreamed," said Macri, whose band was selected to open for Bon Jovi at the ACC last January.

The Garageband Faceoff final begins on Dec. 12. More details can be found at garageband.com/faceoff, athousandcures.com or myspace.com/athousandcures.

Macri was asked if he has a message for Sun readers who also are A Thousand Cures fans.

"We really appreciate the support so far and we hope you'll continue to support us," Macri said. "Keep your ears locked." - Toronto Sun

Written by Christina Khoury


Lawyers set out to find a thousand justices. Surfers set out to find a thousand waves. The Leafs seem to find a thousand losses. And I, well, I’ve covered the long road to finding A Thousand Cures.

Paul Macri, lead vocalist of the Toronto based band, sits down at a King and Bathurst Starbucks to begin our interview.

Buckle your belts for the ride!
White Top Cadillac

At 10 km/hr: Paul describes the formation of the group. He and drummer/back up vocalist Luca Caracciolo met through mutual friends. Upon hearing of the band’s need for a lead singer, Paul auditioned. Although the band has undergone changes in the past, the current line up introduces Dusty Emer’s lead and rhythm guitar, Rick Beddia’s rhythm guitar and back up vocals and Mat Decaria’s bass.

At 100km/hr: The idea behind the name reveals itself. Paul describes the day when, “Luca called me at work and read out a list of potential names. As soon as I heard A Thousand Cures, I told him to go back and read it to me again. He had gotten the name from Chatelaine, a women’s magazine, it was something cosmetic like “A thousand cures for lipstick.”

At 200km/hr: Paul details the Have a Nice Gig contest (where the winner signs a record deal with Island Records and opens for Bon Jovi in front of 80,000) “ I didn’t even know about it till the week of. We sent in our Mp3 files two days before the deadline. When Kim Mitchell (of Q107) called me, I couldn’t believe it.”

At 500km/hr: Paul’s eyes pop out of his head. He gazes into the distance. He runs out and comes back to confirm…his car got towed. We hop into my car, pound-bound. I pull the first U-turn of the night as Paul hits play on the stereo. Mid-intersection, he describes “White Top Cadillac” as a story of a celebrity being offered anything his heart desires. The man decides, “I want a white top, white top, white top Cadillac.”

At 800km/hr: We discuss Paul’s favorite vocalist, Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant. On the subject of Led Zeppelin, I ask…

When has the music caused the band to be Dazed and Confused?

“I felt Dazed and Confused before I met Luca and the guys, not knowing what to expect or where to go next.”

What Misty Mountain have you hopped as a group?

“As a group, we hopped a mountain opening for Bon Jovi at the Air Canada Centre in front of 20,000 people. That was probably our Everest.”

What do you believe is your career’s Stairway to Heaven?

“Playing and performing for a living.”

At 900 km/hr: On the subject of stairways, Paul makes his way up the stairs into a dingy trailer, paying $107 to reclaim his car, which will provide for transportation to the group’s shows, April 15th at the Rivoli and May 6th at Healey’s.

At 1000 cures/hr: A thousand guitar melodies blend and sway with a thousand vocal inflexions that play off of a thousand bass oomphs and a thousand drum bangs, hits, and climaxes.

On the stairway to triumph and the path to prevalence, this cruises at a steady speed of A Thousand Cures. - The Medium Online

By BILL HARRIS -- Toronto Sun



TORONTO - Jon Bon Jovi shook his blond hair and stared down death.

"It'll take more than a plane crash to stop me," the lead singer of veteran rock combo Bon Jovi announced to a delirious crowd at the Air Canada Centre last night.

In the wee hours yesterday morning, the group's private plane skidded off a runway while landing in bad weather in Hamilton.

"So, what did you guys do last night?" Jon asked playfully after the band's second song. He then pulled out a piece of paper and said he had a prepared statement.

"Rumours of our deaths have been greatly exaggerated," he read. He added that a stewardess who suffered minor injuries ended up "in the safe arms of one of Hamilton's finest."



Lighthearted defiance aside, it must have been scary.

The group and its touring staff were flying to Canada from Buffalo after playing a concert there on Friday. The Boeing 707 was carrying 14 passengers, in addition to the flight crew, when it overshot the runway and skidded too far.

Luckily, no serious injuries were reported and the first of four soldout Toronto shows went off as scheduled (subsequent shows are tomorrow, Tuesday and Jan. 30).

Whether you're a fan or not, there's no denying Bon Jovi -- with frontman Jon and guitarist Richie Sambora at its core -- has mastered the art of arena rock.

After their initial burst of fame in the 1980s, Bon Jovi persevered through periods when it wasn't cool to like them. They have emerged partly as a nostalgia act, but also as an act that still can sell a new studio CD, like the recent Have A Nice Day.

The show began with Jon alone on a separate small stage, at the opposite end of the arena, for Last Man Standing. As the song reached an end, Jon made his way through the crowd to the main stage, although one determined woman broke through security and momentarily trapped him in a huge bear hug.

The group then blistered through a two-hour set, with Jon cleverly goading the crowd into handling most of the high notes in Livin' On A Prayer. The intense half-hour encore ended with, appropriately, Wanted Dead Or Alive.

Bon Jovi prefers the latter, through plane peril and music.

Local band A Thousand Cures won a contest to be the opening act. A different local group will open each of the four shows.

- Toronto Sun

MRM Productions (Kingston, ON) is pleased to announce A Thousand Cures (Toronto) beat out over 35,000 total entries at GarageBand.com to win a recording contract with Capitol Records. ATC were the only Canadian band to reach the Final Five with the winner selected by total number of online and text-message votes. Rhonda Hickey, CEO of MRM Productions said "We're thrilled and excited. A Thousand Cures is an incredible band. We know they're going to have massive success and we're excited for the future". Cassie Tennant, MRM Productions Internet Marketing & Promotions added "I've worked with a few bands with MRM and A Thousand Cures is by far my favourite". MRM Productions can be found at www.myspace.com/mrmrecords and be sure to visit A Thousand Cures at www.athousandcures.com

Chris White - Street Buzz

T.O. rockers win contest, record deal

By BILL HARRIS -- Toronto Sun






Local Toronto band A Thousand Cures just received the best Christmas present of their lives.

A Thousand Cures yesterday was declared the winner in an Internet-based music competition run by GarageBand.com -- and first prize is a recording contract with Capitol Records.

"I think I'm going to pass out," A Thousand Cures frontman Paul Macri said when the news was broken to him by the Toronto Sun.

"This means everything to us. I'm really at a loss for words."

Macri was at his day job with American Express yesterday when he found out about the record deal.

"People here are going to freak out when I tell them," said Macri, whose group opened for Bon Jovi at the Air Canada Centre last January. "Everyone has been so supportive."

FIVE FINALISTS

More than 34,000 bands from across North America entered the GarageBand FaceOff, in which fans determined the victors. A Thousand Cures emerged after 35 episodes of head-to-head competition aired on a dozen FM radio stations.

Five finalists competed over the past week. Part of the intrigue was that each finalist had been offered $25,000 US to withdraw, but all of them turned it down to go for the big prize.

The other four finalists were Soapbox Paradox from Novi, Mich., Stomprocket from Santa Barbara, Calif., Solid State Logic from San Francisco, Calif., and Winter Circle from Oklahoma City, Okla.

A Thousand Cures -- Macri, Mat DeCaria, Dusty Emer, Rick Beddia and Luca Caracciolo -- have been members of GarageBand.com for more than a year. The site provides an opportunity for bands to showcase their songs, which subsequently get reviewed and critiqued by other musicians.

"We've identified a winning band not based on where they live or who they know, but based on how listeners across America react to their music," GarageBand.com CEO Ali Partovi said yesterday in a release.

- Toronto Sun

A very talented group with an original new sound, A Thousand Cures is going places, quickly. They opened for Bon Jovi at the ACC this year in front of over 20,000 people, and won a spot in 97.7’s Rock Search. It was no easy task with all of the jokes and insults flying back and forth across the table. Their fun-loving, easy-going personalities shine through their music almost as much as they do through their interview.

How did you guys come up with the name A Thousand Cures?
Luca: I made up the name. Music, lyrics, everything, I even named Mat when he was born. (All laugh).

Paul: Hey Luca, give her some answers!

Luca: We decided on the name I think 6 years ago give or take. It was all different members at that point in time. He wasn’t in, he wasn’t in and he wasn’t in. (Points to Matt, Rick and Dusty). And we came up with about 60 names. I got the name from Chatelaine magazine; it was a skin care ad.

Dusty: Really... I didn’t know that.

Mat: This is the first I’m hearing about this.

Luca: That’s cuz you never asked. You never asked intelligent questions in your life!

Growing up, what was that one song or album that made you stop and say, “That’s what I want to do”?
Mat: YYZ by Rush.

Luca: Bee Gees, Stayin’ Alive (sings) ah ah ah ah stayin’ alive.

Paul: Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin.

Dusty: Welcome to the Jungle, by Guns N’ Roses.

What’s in you CD player right now?
Luca: I’ve got Billy Talent in my CD player. Cuz I love them.

Paul: The Living End.

What’s the best concert you’ve ever been to?
Dusty: Bon Jovi, because we played at it! No, it’s gotta be Velvet Revolver.

Mat: Paul McCartney. I cried at Paul McCartney.

Luca: Overall best show best atmosphere best everything? Probably have to be The Tragically Hip with Lenny Kravitz. That’s a serious answer.

So if you could tour with any band, which would you tour with?
Dusty: Velvet Revolver!

Mat: Hey, these are all the questions that are on our bios on our website. I think she’s testing us, comparing them to see if our answers match.

Paul: Ya, well peoples taste changes. Like yesterday I liked girls, today I’m not...

Mat: If I could tour with anybody? The Beatles! Wait, alive or dead?

Paul: Guys, stop with the questions!

Dusty: Alive or dead? I’m going to say Mozart. Or Tool.

Paul: Tool would definitely have to be up there.

Who do you think is the next band or artist to look out for?
ALL: US!

So you guys won a spot in 97.7’s Rock Search, congrats! Can you tell me a little bit more about it?
Mat: Well we submitted a song to 97.7 they got hundreds of entries. We’re in the top five, so we’ve got a competition ahead.

So what do you win?
Paul: $10,000 cash, money for recording at Metalworks.

Mat: Professional photo shoot.

Dusty: Major distribution deal.

Luca: And regular rotation I think too.

Paul: No.

Luca: Ya, we’re getting rotation.

Paul: Absolutely not. You’re talking shit.

Luca: That’s what I thought we were getting.

Paul: Ok, Ilona, questions?

OK, what message do you want people to take away from your music?
Mat: This must be the best band that ever lived.

Luca: Rock the house, have a good time!

Paul: Genuine, fun and entertaining.

Would you say that you guys are close? Almost like a family?
Mat: I hate Luca’s guts.

Luca: I hate you too, but I love everybody deep down inside.

Mat: Right now the light is glistening off his bald spot on his head and it’s hitting me in the eye and it’s really...

Paul: When you have a bond on stage with people, its different from the reality that you live.

Mat: We cannot do interviews right! (Laughing)

Dusty: You’re right (laughing), we can’t do this.

Paul: With us you only gotta bring one at a time to talk to.

Mat: She’s gonna print that quote that I said we’re the best band and everybody is going to hate our guts. WE ARE NOT BETTER THAN THE BEATLES!

Luca: Well put this in one of your quotes...

Paul: OK LET HER FINISH!! Just pretend like they’re not existent, they’re not there.

Ok, ok. So I’m guessing that you are close. If you were on Survivor, who do you think would win?
Paul: I would.

Mat: Me because I’m the smartest.

Dusty: Definitely me because I keep my mouth shut.

Luca: I’d kick Mat off first!

Paul: I think Dusty and I would be the finalist. No, I think Rick would win; everybody else would get voted off.

Luca: I think Rick would definitely win, Rick hasn’t said a word yet, and that’s the best strategy of all.

Rick: What did I do?

Luca: Rick would definitely kick everyone’s ass in Survivor.

So what’s next for A Thousand Cures?
Luca: Only God knows.

Paul: A lot of music, a lot of writing, hopefully touring, out of the country.

www.athousandcures.com
www.myspace.com/athousandcures

~ Ilona Fridman





- torontoindie.com

In August of 2008, just a week after releasing their self titled CD, "A Thousand Cures" reached #2 on the alternative charts just behind the world renowned touring act, "Paramore".

The song "Jane Doe" was and still is currently ranked at #2 on the entire site.

They've also been selected by "indiecharts.com" to be a part of their music library which is being distributed to every AM, FM, and satellite station in the US.

Check out the link:

http://www.indiecharts.com - indiecharts.com