FULL WHITE DRAG

Growing up across the pond from the world’s most famous ghost town is likely one of the first things you'd read about Full White Drag. But coming from Windsor, Ontario, a town that sits literally in the shadows of Motown, is the least important thing you’ll need to know about this four-piece. Unlike other Canadian cities like Halifax, Montreal and Toronto, Windsor does not have a specific sound nor was it known for much of a music scene. While most bands in these hot spots are shaped and molded by their local scenes, Full White Drag shaped and molded it's own sound and simultaneously helped to create a whole new scene.

The band was formed in the middle of 1999, spawned from the ashes of a high school basement party. Friends since kindergarten, the band spent their pre-FWD years crossing the border into Detroit attending rock shows and learning the do’s and don’ts of music – Motor City style. Literally from the moment Full White Drag performed their first live gig, the band was receiving accolades from local publications, club owners as well as audiences. Little did those early audiences know that FWD would go on to inspire a new era in the Windsor music community.

The group recorded their debut album AMBASSADOR on their own Chieftown Records in early 2000. Recorded by local producer and FWD fan James Tiller, AMBASSADOR displayed the band’s excellent energy and intensity as well as their penchant for groovy and sleek rhythms. With the release of the album, FWD set out to go where not many Windsor bands before them had the enthusiasm to go – on tour across Canada.

The band set out to lap Canada twice with a string of live performances that had to be seen to be believed. Toronto’s Eye Magazine raved ‘…what sets FWD apart from their peers is their ability to crank up jagged riffs to lock-groove intensity. Their songs become lumbering locomotives that threaten to careen off track, but never do. Though the ensuing chaos often throws guitarist Dave Mueller off stage and into the throng, FWD keeps it tight and rock steady.” Their commitment to touring propelled the band to national heights where they found many friends along the way.

In the summer of 2002, Full White Drag entered the studio with acclaimed producer Andy Magoffin, adding the band to his rich resume of young vital Canadian bands including The Constantines, The Hidden Cameras and Royal City. The recording process also saw the addition to the band of R. Mathew Fields who had always been a member of FWD family – joining the band on their first Canadian tour as a road tech, he was now a full-fledged member adding an original psychedelic flair along with his incredible talents in creating heart-wrenching soundscapes. The result was the scorchingly driving and complex THE INDEPENDENCE. Released on New York imprint Inner-Flight Records, THE INDEPENDENCE displayed the band at its most focused and fierce. The Toronto Star called the record ‘a razor sharp war cry’ while The Ottawa Xpress hailed the album as ‘a necessity for fans of this style of grinding-suave post punk’.

With the THE INDEPENDENCE, FWD began to focus more on touring the USA. FWD found themselves sharing the stage across North America with artists such as ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, The Constantines, The Dismemberment Plan, Girls
Against Boys, Heston Rifle, Idlewild, Hot Hot Heat, Firewater, The French Toast, Pilot To Gunner, Year Of The Rabbit and many more. The record finally broke the US by entering the CMJ Top 200 Chart and topping many individual College charts in the US and Canada. American critics also started to respond, Delusions Of Adequacy.com hailed the band as ‘one of Canada’s best kept musical secrets who take the label of\ ‘post-punk’ and turn it on it’s ear… If Full White Drag continues at their present pace, they could become genre leaders’.

After losing founding bass player J.Parent, the band added long-time friend Matthew Baker – a highly respected Windsor musician known for his work with post-rock favourites Bloemfontain who added a brand new energy and dynamic to the band. FWD
spent most of 2003 touring topped with invitations to perform at two of Canada’s premiere music showcase festivals. (North By Northeast and the Halifax Pop Explosion) A riveting and awe-inspiring live show at the North By Northeast Festival earned the group an “A+” rating in Chart Magazine’s annual NXNE report card
where the reviewer went so far as to say ‘FWD could and will easily kick the crap out of any of those popular Toronto indie rock wannabees… Long Live FWD.”

In early 2004, the new look FWD are headed back into the studio, this time in New York City, to record their third album (details tba) with producer Scott McCloud (of seminal New York City outfit Girls Against Boys) who approached the band after FWD opened for GvsB in Toronto and Detroit. At a time when the Canadian indie scene is at it’s most rich and vital it’s been in