Familia
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Familia

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada | SELF

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada | SELF
Band Pop Rock

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This band has not uploaded any videos

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""Familia head to music boot camp""

Familia head to music boot camp
The Times Friday, August 21, 2009

Maple Ridge's progressive rock band Familia has been selected by 100.5 Peak FM as one of B.C.'s top 20 bands, meaning they'll be enduring the Peak Performance boot camp in Princeton.

Before the boot camp, Familia will be playing at Houston's Pub on Saturday at 8 p.m. as their "hometown send-off" show prior to heading off to Princeton.

There were more than 450 submissions for the Peak Performance Project and just 20 were selected. Those 20 bands will take part in a week-long music "boot camp" designed to highlight key aspects of musical development such as live performance, songwriting, touring, marketing and promotion.

The bands at the camp will also be taking in wisdom from some of the Canadian music industry's top professionals such as manager Chief (Nickelback), marketing and promotions guru Erin Kinghorn (Frontside), and singer-songwriters Shawn Verrault (Wide Mouth Mason) and Barney Bentall.

Following the boot camp, Familia will compete against the other 19 bands in the Peak Performance Live Concert Series this fall where the public will pick the three top performers.Those three winners will share $275,000 for sustained career development.

Familia, which was conceived in 2004 in Maple Ridge, consists of Dwight Abell on the bass guitar, Cody Hiles on drums, Bronson Izzard on lead guitar, with Tamara Umlah on vocals.

From then until 2006 Familia had received some great feedback from around the Lower Mainland, which helped them to record a three song demo in Bryan Adams' Warehouse Studio, leading to Familia getting airplay on Indie Night in Canada on 99.3 the Fox for their song "Stereo Makeout."

In 2007, Familia spent their summer in Thailand as part of a volunteer team teaching music and English to children in HIV/AIDS orphanages, while also playing shows in local bars, inspiring many of their future songs. Since then, Familia has partnered with Jonathan Anderson of Buena Vista Audio to record their first full-length album, entitled "Golden Lies."which was released this May.

After the Peak boot camp, Familia will be playing at the Maple Ridge gazebo at Breastfest '09 to support breast cancer awareness, and BCIT students can see them play at orientation day at the Burnaby campus for an afternoon show at 1 p.m.
© Copyright (c) Lower Mainland Publishing


- The Maple Ridge Times


""Familia has a lot of range""

Listen to their song Cripple Crow loudly. The do-good progressive poppers — they’ve spent time volunteering in HIV/ADS orphanages in Thailand teaching music — have a lot of range.

From: Maple Ridge

Familia was conceived in 2004 in Maple Ridge after Dwight Abell (bass) met Cody Hiles (drums) while playing for their high-school Jazz ensemble. They began jamming on The Strokes, Radiohead and Led Zepplin and their chemistry was immediate. Dwight then found Bronson Izzard (lead guitar) roaming the halls with a guitar on his back and asked him to join. In 2005, Dwight decided to step back from vocals and take a chance on Cody's older sister Tamara Umlah as the lead singer.

After receiving great feedback at shows around Vancouver, Familia embraced the next step. In late 2006, they recorded a 3 song demo at Brian Adam's Warehouse Studio. This resulted in airplay on Indie Night in Canada on 99.3 The Fox (Vancouver's Rock Radio Station) for their dance-rock number "Stereo Makeout". Familia has toured around BC with their demo and continues to receive great reviews for their live performance.

The band travelled to Thailand in the summer of 2007 as part of a volunteer team teaching music and English to children in HIV/AIDS orphanages. While in Thailand, they also played shows in local bars and gained a deeper understanding of their purpose in music. The experience inspired many of the songs that would appear later on their debut album.

Familia partnered with producer Jonathan Anderson at Buena Vista Audio in the winter of 2008 to record their full-length, debut album: "Golden Lies". The album is a sonic battlefield where the war between the underground and the mainstream; the flesh and the spirit; the dancefloor and the garage is fought but never finished. From song to song Golden Lies is a dynamic listening experience stacked with honest lyrics and clever melodic transitions. Golden Lies will be released May 2009.

While Familia love the classic "pop tune", they aspire to meld the universal qualities of pop with progressive and steady rock. They combine rock, pop, dance and soul into their repertoire. Their crafted, driving rhythms, hypnotic bass lines, and raw guitar soundscapes are filled out by a voice like a siren of the soul. They meet at a depth you won't likely forget.

Familia continues to play shows all over Greater Vancouver and are setting out on a Western-Canadian tour to promote their album. Their hope is to work hard to get their music heard by as many folks as possible. This includes those in the industry who can offer them the opportunity to continue on their music making and playing journey.

www.familiafamilia.com | www.myspace.com/familiaband
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun


- The Vancouver Sun


""Familia has a lot of range""

Listen to their song Cripple Crow loudly. The do-good progressive poppers — they’ve spent time volunteering in HIV/ADS orphanages in Thailand teaching music — have a lot of range.

From: Maple Ridge

Familia was conceived in 2004 in Maple Ridge after Dwight Abell (bass) met Cody Hiles (drums) while playing for their high-school Jazz ensemble. They began jamming on The Strokes, Radiohead and Led Zepplin and their chemistry was immediate. Dwight then found Bronson Izzard (lead guitar) roaming the halls with a guitar on his back and asked him to join. In 2005, Dwight decided to step back from vocals and take a chance on Cody's older sister Tamara Umlah as the lead singer.

After receiving great feedback at shows around Vancouver, Familia embraced the next step. In late 2006, they recorded a 3 song demo at Brian Adam's Warehouse Studio. This resulted in airplay on Indie Night in Canada on 99.3 The Fox (Vancouver's Rock Radio Station) for their dance-rock number "Stereo Makeout". Familia has toured around BC with their demo and continues to receive great reviews for their live performance.

The band travelled to Thailand in the summer of 2007 as part of a volunteer team teaching music and English to children in HIV/AIDS orphanages. While in Thailand, they also played shows in local bars and gained a deeper understanding of their purpose in music. The experience inspired many of the songs that would appear later on their debut album.

Familia partnered with producer Jonathan Anderson at Buena Vista Audio in the winter of 2008 to record their full-length, debut album: "Golden Lies". The album is a sonic battlefield where the war between the underground and the mainstream; the flesh and the spirit; the dancefloor and the garage is fought but never finished. From song to song Golden Lies is a dynamic listening experience stacked with honest lyrics and clever melodic transitions. Golden Lies will be released May 2009.

While Familia love the classic "pop tune", they aspire to meld the universal qualities of pop with progressive and steady rock. They combine rock, pop, dance and soul into their repertoire. Their crafted, driving rhythms, hypnotic bass lines, and raw guitar soundscapes are filled out by a voice like a siren of the soul. They meet at a depth you won't likely forget.

Familia continues to play shows all over Greater Vancouver and are setting out on a Western-Canadian tour to promote their album. Their hope is to work hard to get their music heard by as many folks as possible. This includes those in the industry who can offer them the opportunity to continue on their music making and playing journey.

www.familiafamilia.com | www.myspace.com/familiaband
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun


- The Vancouver Sun


"SHOWCASE @ the Republic Show review"

SHOWCASE @ the Republic Show review
by Devin Weening
January 19, 2010
Act 2: Familia
Peak Performance finalists Famlia are anything but a flash in the ever-growing hipster pan. Cool threads and an even cooler swagger make for some pleasing eye candy, but the real leg-up they have on this competitive market comes from undeniable band chemistry. Understandable, seeing as the group has been playing in and around Vancouver for the past 6 years. Singer Tamara Umlah is utterly infectious, with a delightful bounce in her step I can only attribute to an innate rhythmic bond she shares with brother/drummer Cody Hiles. Lone guitarist Bronson Izzard switches flawlessly between soaring leads and reggae-toned riffage, while bassist Dwight “DJ” Abell is nothing short of lovable in his Flea-esque cadence. Truly, this is a band to look out for. Unfortunately, even our loudest cries for an encore couldn’t stop the generic house music from kicking in.


- Keep It Like a Secret Blog by Devin Weening


""Today" by Familia"

"Today" by Familia
By Tom Harrison, The Province
January 11, 2010
A pronounced drum beat leads to a little eccentricity before a woman's vocal adds to the curiosity. Is this derived from early new wave or is it rhythm and blues? As "Today" unfolds, it proves to be neither and follows its own interesting development. The vocal has character to match the group's musical ambition.
© Copyright (c) The Province
- The Province


""Familia boasts a rare sort of alchemy""

Familia’s 2009 release Golden Lies begins with a short instrumental track, with mellow keys and an accordian that lull the listener into being wholly unprepared for the energy and intensity of the rest of the album. That intensity picks up right from the drum intro to “Out Of My Head” and refuses to let go for more than a few bars at a time until the closing track, “Kinda Like A Mess”, whose relatively stripped-down instrumentation bookends the album and allows Tamara Umlah’s vocals to resonate even more profoundly than on any of the previous tracks.

Familia boasts a rare sort of alchemy; the rhythm section of Dwight Abell on bass and Cody Hiles on drums is cohesive without being redundant, while Bronson Izzard’s guitar work melds wondrously with Umlah’s vocal lines. Their sound is reminiscent of a more gumptious Vedera: but it is versatile, malleable, and undeniably all their own. From “More”, with its Regina Spektor-esque vocal opening, to Izzard’s funk vibe on “Today” to the jazzy rhythm of “Cripple Crow”, each song on Golden Lies sets itself apart from the song before while remaining true to the Familia sound.

Lyrically, Golden Lies is unabashedly hopeful. On “Today”, Umlah notes that “Today is the day I’ve gotta get it right / Tomorrow may never come.” That subversively optimistic philosophy is evident throughout the album; “Cripple Crow” reminds the listener that “You’ve gotta be broken for your eyes to be open.” “Oh Wretched Man” is somewhat grimmer thematically than the rest of the album, with off-kilter vocal lines underscoring that relative darkness, but the feeling doesn’t last. Golden Lies concludes with “Kinda Like A Mess”, a song highlighted by the line “You’ve made my flaws your masterpiece”, an affirmation that Umlah is intent on being optimistic despite her own mistakes.

The final line, repeated five times – to ensure that its truth really sinks in – posits, “There is a light coming and I wanna see it.” It is a perfect summary of the hopefulness of the album, and may serve as a prophetic statement about Familia’s future. It’s quite appropriate that Golden Lies includes a song called “Cellar Door”; J.R.R. Tolkien claimed that the phrase is one of the most beautiful combinations of words in the English language, and a similar assertion could be made about Familia’s musical chemistry. They certainly have a lot to be optimistic about.

- Keep It Like a Secret Blog by Devin Weening


""Worthy to stand among many of the excellent alt-rock releases of this decade.""

Soulful and innovative, Familia’s debut album Golden Lies is worthy to stand among many of the excellent alt-rock releases of this decade.
Golden Lies paces along with the urgency of Zepplin-esque arena rock, yet manages to glide along as glassily as something by My Brightest Diamond.
Familia play a tight, slick groove certainly exhibiting the closeness and chemistry of a music family.
It’s not difficult to draw comparisons to The Strokes, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metric, Kings of Leon and Interpol, but Familia are pioneers of their own style. They drop seamlessly from straight rock pulses in “Oh Wretched Man” into catchy shuffles, and showcase nods to a multitude of styles throughout the album – take the jazz-infused “Today” or the acoustic ode “Kinda Like a Mess””, for example.
Rhythm and blues runs through this albums veins, putting it in the good company of a multitude of rock greats. There are hard-rocking tracks too, like “Out of my Head.”
However the best track on the album is probably “More”, which brings to mind the contagious stylistics of Tegan & Sara, bolstered by some highly creative percussion and evolving instrumentation from the band.
“Seventeen” contains one of the most uplifting choruses you’ll ever sing along to, but it’s afterwards that you realize the power of the anthem you’ve been chanting: a captivating syncopated line goes: “Punishment brought our peace / by his wounds we are healed.” This is juxtaposed against the first telling lines: “she fell in love with a boy who was 17 / she didn’t know what real love was / so he took her to places that she’d never been / well, he took her to places and now she has to pay.”
Familia pull no punches in their fearless and incredibly solid debut.

- Converge Magazine


""Worthy to stand among many of the excellent alt-rock releases of this decade.""

Soulful and innovative, Familia’s debut album Golden Lies is worthy to stand among many of the excellent alt-rock releases of this decade.
Golden Lies paces along with the urgency of Zepplin-esque arena rock, yet manages to glide along as glassily as something by My Brightest Diamond.
Familia play a tight, slick groove certainly exhibiting the closeness and chemistry of a music family.
It’s not difficult to draw comparisons to The Strokes, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metric, Kings of Leon and Interpol, but Familia are pioneers of their own style. They drop seamlessly from straight rock pulses in “Oh Wretched Man” into catchy shuffles, and showcase nods to a multitude of styles throughout the album – take the jazz-infused “Today” or the acoustic ode “Kinda Like a Mess””, for example.
Rhythm and blues runs through this albums veins, putting it in the good company of a multitude of rock greats. There are hard-rocking tracks too, like “Out of my Head.”
However the best track on the album is probably “More”, which brings to mind the contagious stylistics of Tegan & Sara, bolstered by some highly creative percussion and evolving instrumentation from the band.
“Seventeen” contains one of the most uplifting choruses you’ll ever sing along to, but it’s afterwards that you realize the power of the anthem you’ve been chanting: a captivating syncopated line goes: “Punishment brought our peace / by his wounds we are healed.” This is juxtaposed against the first telling lines: “she fell in love with a boy who was 17 / she didn’t know what real love was / so he took her to places that she’d never been / well, he took her to places and now she has to pay.”
Familia pull no punches in their fearless and incredibly solid debut.

- Converge Magazine


Discography

Golden Lies (debut album)
recommended tracks:
#3-Today
#5-Safe and Sound
#6-More
#7-Seventeen

Photos

Bio

Music is the primary fuel of insurrection.

Virtually every revolutionary movement in music has been the direct result of an artistic dissatisfaction with the current state; the predictable “norm” forcing square pegs into round holes and rendering the state of aural creativity little more than Pablum for the masses. Only when a band truly believes in their craft, their vision and their ability to push that message without the assistance of set parameters does music truly benefit, blossom and boom.

Familia is one band proud to be a set of square pegs. Comprised of vocalist/keyboardist Tamara Umlah, bassist Dwight Abell, drummer/vocalist Cody Hiles and guitarist/keyboardist Bronson Izzard, this Maple Ridge/Vancouver, B.C.-based outfit is utilizing their vast rock-based attack to replace the current constraints of modern music with a set of their own honourable and inimitable principles.

“Nowadays, the idea of what a rebel is has been lost,” asserts Umlah. “Being a rebel has become the norm. People try so hard to bring shock value to the world that it just becomes noise. Is that a rebel or is it someone who goes against what everybody's doing; stands up for something? We don't want to be rebels because it's 'cool.' We want to do what's right which is always the harder path to follow. We promote freedom from trying to fit in because being honest, true and not losing sight of that is what this band is dedicated to.”

Asserting those fundamental ethics on independent debut full-length Golden Lies, Familia's inherently distinct sound is the result of four disparate foundations unified by a goal to create uncompromising rock replete with imagination, fortitude and dynamic destiny.

Meeting during rehearsals for a jazz ensemble many moons ago, Familia evolved into its incarnation with Umlah's incorporation as front woman in 2005. Finding common ground between some of music's most authoritative legends, their matchless sound comes from years of inspiration gleaned via pop/rock, gospel and soul music's greatest inventors. Hammering those influences into an inherently unique approach, the likes of Al Green rubs elbows with riff-based rock such as Queens Of The Stone Age and Led Zeppelin, hook-laden harmonious rock as per The Beatles, Radiohead and Oasis as well as pelvic, instinctual grinders including Red Hot Chili Peppers and Jimi Hendrix.

Culminating in a grandiose, communicable sound, Golden Lies is a commanding, singular experience unto itself. Captured by producer Jon Anderson (Stabilo), upon its release, the album's exceptional quality found Familia invited to partake in the 2009 PEAK Performance Project, a songwriting career development competition open only to B.C.'s 20 most revered artists each year. As a result, the accomplishment catapulted the band into Canada's greater conscious.

At that, as Umlah asserts, Familia's primary objective as a band is to bring another aspect into common reasoning: the importance of autonomous value. Seeing an onslaught of devalued self-worth, insecurity and peer pressure overtaking many, the band endeavours to alter such deprecation through their lyrics. Weaving themes of positivity and the importance of personal satisfaction throughout their songs, Umlah is hopeful Familia's name and vision blossom beyond its four carriers.

“We know what's in our heart and every day we learn how to communicate that better. We're deeply spiritual and what we're trying to say comes before the music. That's the vehicle to promote the ideas we have: love, giving people hope and bringing light and truth into those dark places we all have.”

“This band wants to inspire people to be who they want to be and who they know they're supposed to be,” she continues. “Familia is about an emotional connection on levels where it makes them think or wonder outside of everyday life. This is an escape to what's real. There's more to life and we deliver it through pop-based music.”

Liberated by dichotomous elements such as humility and self-confidence, Familia is one of few bands who are truly comfortable with who they are and what they intend to deliver: extraordinary, empowering rock bolstered by positive self-image and individualism. Currently working on a highly-anticipated sophomore release, the quartet is proud of Golden Lies' achievements but are anxious to bring their name—and message—to greater heights.

“Familia is Latin for family and that's what we strive to be,” Umlah concludes. “We want to incorporate family values into music without compromising, a goal that we feel is rather rebellious these days when everyone is trying to outdo one another. What really matters are relationships and feeling confident with yourself. Bands have a pressure to succumb to glory but we're grounded. We cherish our relationships with friends, family and fans. It's what keeps us real, honest and true...a family.”