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The Eric St-Cyr Band started out as just Eric St-Cyr playing bad covers of Hendrix, Santana and Foo Fighters, combined with a collection of poorly written (his words, not mine) angst-driven mid-nineties ballads. Eric played the usual nightmare gigs: coffee houses and drunken bush parties hosted by his friends.
The band now comprises an all-star cast of fine musicians. Eric seems to have a self-deprecating manner (you need one, otherwise people will be happy to deprecate you) and a sense of humour which I find charming and disarming.
The St-Cyr Band says on their MySpace page that they are grunge/pop/alternative. I guess there’s some truth in all that. The power chords are definitely there, not quite heavy metal, but bordering on it. The driving drums and overall forcefulness of the music are there. So the grunge credentials are confirmed. And anything that’s not mainstream can be considered alternative.
But you know, beneath all that attitude, there’s kind of a soft chewy centre composed of pop sensibility. It would seem that Eric hasn’t given up on his formative years when he was writing ballads. I think they’re rather good and transform what would be a run-of-the-mill power music circle jerk into something a little off the beaten track.
From a production point of view, I find Eric’s voice to be buried in the mix too much and this detracts from the pleasure of listening to the pop facets of the cuts. This approach downplays what I think are the strengths of the album…the lyrics and melodies of his songs. The drums are a little muffled as well, but that might be an artistic decision rather than a mistake. I like “Winter’s Gone�. It’s one of the cuts that doesn’t rely too much on grunge for musical camouflage.
This looks like a first effort by the Eric St-Cyr Band and I think it shows a lot of potential. All that’s needed now is some relentless touring, another release with improved production values and some luck and we’ll have another Canadian success story.
Summary: A good example of post-grunge music from the Canadian heartland. - BullfrogMusic Reviews
Discography
Things Left Unsaid (2008)
Disc 01 / Disc 02 (2009)
Photos
Bio
RECENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS :
Signed a licensing deal with SONGSWITHVISION to place their music in film, tv, commercials etc.
Signed a licensing deal with WACBIZ to place their music in film, tv, commercials etc.
Featured in Junior's Cave Online magazine, with a full interview and an upcoming review of their debut album "Things Left Unsaid".
Song "Wander" selected to be on Montel Williams MS Music Fest compilation.
Signed licensing deal with Karnal Promotions.
Selected for First Spinz Radio Promo CD. (pop/rock).
Eric St-Cyr formed the band twelve34 (Cyclone Records) in 2003 with his good friend Jasen Colson, and his brother Jason St-Cyr. A pop-rock outfit, St-Cyr held back many of the harsher, dramatic songs that he had been writing. "Some of the songs I worked out just didn't sound right with Colson's voice, so I kept them locked away" Instead, St-Cyr kept them to himself, and the songs occasionally showed up in other projects that he was working on, but never came to fruition.
In 2008, lead singer and drummer Jasen Colson decided to retire from music, leaving the remaining members with much freedom. St-Cyr formed several bands that subsequently fell apart. Ultimately, he put himself to the test by writing 20 songs in 20 days (despite recovering from surgery) and recording demos of them. The best 11 were chosen to be on the debut album "Things Left Unsaid", where Eric St-Cyr played every instrument and sang lead vocals, with the exception of Hitsman singing backing vocals and playing the guitar solos. "I think I was supposed to join another band and be another guitarist, but I enjoy writing songs and trying to sing them too much" said St-Cyr about the first album. The album was complete within a months time, and was given out at shows under the name "The Eric St-Cyr Band" for the remaining of 2008.
St-Cyr, realizing that naming the band after himself didnt provide the comfort of anonymity, renamed the group "Epyllion" St-Cyr then formed the group from past colleagues - recruited from their nine member supergroup "The Conservatory For The Regression of Sound" was Hitsman on guitar and vocals, and Ryan Cahill on bass. His brother Jason (twelve34) was brought on board for guitar and keys. Originally 'The Conservatory' drummer BJ King was on drums, but left the band due to prior commitments and was replaced by Chris Zimmerman.
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