Datura

DATURA BIO
DATURA has been breeding extreme, blackened, death-blast, melodic, psychedelic, groove metal in the heart of the Kootenays since 2002. Founding members Evan Arnott (Guitars), Levi Sheppard (Guitars), and Kyle Sheppard (Drums) found each other in the small mountain community of Riondel British Columbia. There they joined forces and began the creation of what would become DATURA.

The band began by covering a vast repertoire of metal including CANNIBAL CORPSE, DEICIDE, SLAYER, DECAPITATED, DEATH and many others. It wasn't long before they were itching to discover the next evolutionary milestone of metal. They began writing, and in doing so were able to construct a set of originals and covers. Booking shows in the area wasn't a problem and the band was soon a recognized contributor to the music culture of the West Kootenays. Their next logical step was to get their first recording under their belt. In 2004 they began working with Keith and Greg Lostraco; long time friends and owner/operators of Summit Recording Studio in Crawford Bay. With their help, the band compiled a four track demo of some of their latest creations. The band continued to play shows in the area and in the Fall of 2005 they were drawn to Selkirk Music College in Nelson. Members Kyle and Evan enrolled in the two year music engineering program and there they were introduced to Joey Orton; a guitar student with an understanding of the bass. He became the newest addition to the line-up, completing the rhythm section. Later that same year, they recruited friend and fellow musician Mike Gemzik (Beijing Tank, Homeless Yellow (Australia)) to fill the shoes of vocalist and finally complete the ensemble. The band kept writing and gigging, now as a full unit.
In the summer of 2007 Datura was asked to perform at Starbelly Jam; a local music festival with an audience of around 5,000 people. The show went well and their performance caught the attention of many promoters and festival organizers??. Later that summer they were invited to perform at Shambhala; a nationally renowned festival which takes place in one of Nelson's neighbouring towns. The group was ecstatic and jumped at the opportunity to play to an audience of roughly 10,000 people at a festival with five stages. They played the Rock Pit which is one of the main stages, and the show was a complete success. The band was finally starting to solidify their place in the the Canadian music scene.

In the fall of 2007 Joey Orton (Bass) was forced to quit the group due to a severe case tendonitis. The band was left with only half a rhythm section once again. Yet they kept writing and even playing shows. It wasn't long until the band was approached by Adam Tschritter, a Bass player who was playing in various metal groups with students from the music school. The choice was obvious and the group was quick to teach the now vast repertoire of original material to the new member. The group was solid once more. They kept gigging and writing and in the winter of 2007 they began tracking their second demo at their home studio. Rapid progress was being made with the instrument tracking, and when the vocal recording began the collective excitement only grew. Unfortunately, after vocals were recorded for only one song vocalist Mike Gemzik was called back to his home country of Australia due to a family emergency. Mike hasn't returned since and is now pursuing his new project Homeless Yellow in Australia. They still keep in touch and Mike's vocals still ended up on the demo track "Tendonortis". The band was a four piece again and the demo was unfinished. But this didn't slow them down. Datura toured all around the Kootenays and British Columbia as an instrumental group and they were well received just the same. In the summer of 2008 they were asked to perform at Shambhala once again and the decision was a no-brainer. The band was enjoying being respected without a vocalist but they knew the time was approaching when they would crave that true metal element.

In the summer of 2008 Datura got back in the studio and recommenced work on the demo. One of Evan and Kyle's fellow engineering classmates at the Music College was Sean Folk who was also heavily influenced by metal and very interested in Datura. The band decided to bring him in on some of the mixing and producing for the demo. Sean couldn't hide his level of interest in what he was working with, so the band discussed having him attempt vocals on the record. He was all for it and they spent a month writing and working on vocals with Sean. Once they were laid down, he wanted to continue on a permanent basis. They made it official and the line-up was whole once more. They finished up the recording, had it mastered, and it was ready for duplication. By early 2009 Datura had a polished, complete demo.

In February the band began planning their first tour of Western Canada. They booked shows all the way from Vancouver to Winnipeg, hitting everyt