Life Size Dream
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Music
Press
Showcasing Aerosmith meets The Black Crowes hard rock swagger and a fair share of Sloan-esque harmonies, this power trio delivers a spastic outburst of thunder and lightning like it's the 70's all over again.
- Lonely Vagabond
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
High Deafinition of Val Caron Opens for Sum 41 in Toronto
Issued by Music and Film in Motion to all Northern Ontario Media – www.thinknorth.ca
Sudbury, June 11, 2007 – Approaching the music industry without fear, High Deafinition is a unique and intoxicating attack on the senses. Hailing from Val Caron, this powerful rock/punk band will be opening for Sum 41 at the Mod Club in Toronto on June 19th. The show is a private concert for Sum 41 fan club members and those who win tickets through Toronto’s The Edge 102.1.
Formed in 2003 at the ages of 12, 14 and 16, this young band is comprised of two brothers and one very close friend: James Yorke (drums), Tom Yorke (guitar, vocals) and Gilles Beaulieu (bass, vocals).
High Deafinition has built a solid reputation opening for bands such as Closet Monster, Moneen, The Black Maria, The Waking Eyes, Thornley and Oliver Black. They have made so much noise since their inception that by 2004 High Deafinition qualified as one of the top six bands in Ontario as part of the Solo Music/Alexisonfire Basement Band Contest. They also played three Canadian dates on the 2005 Vans Warped Tour in Quebec City, Montreal and Barrie.
In 2006, they were voted the best up-and-coming band in Northern Ontario by CBC Bandwidth and their song “Present” was used by West 49 clothing in a national television advertising campaign, which aired on Much Music and other specialty channels, as well as on www.west49.com.
High Deafinition has caught the ear of Cone McCaslin (Sum 41 and The Operation M.D.) and have since met with him to hash out some ideas for a possible writing collaboration. This has been a positive step for the band on a number of levels. The band gets to work with a musician who has influenced them since the beginning and also write songs with a guy who has been successful in the music business for a number of years.
For more information regarding High Deafinition, please contact band manager Mike at mlarge@sympatico.ca or visit www.highdeafinition.com.
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- Music and Film in Motion
THE SUDBURY STAR, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2004
Val Caron Band Makes The Cut
A Val Caron band is one of six finalists in The Solo Music Series Basement Band Competition. Members of High Deafinition have the opportunity to get their music career off the ground by opening for Alexisonfire in either Ottawa or London, Ont., in Decem¬ber.
Formed in 2002, High Deafinition consists of James Yorke on drums, Thomas Yorke on guitar/vocals and Gilles Beaulieu performing on bass/vocals.
The final round of the competi¬tion runs until Dec. 3.
Visit the website wwwalexison-fire.sympatico.ca and vote for your favourite band.
- THE SUDBURY STAR, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2004
HIGH DEAFINITION KICKS IT INTO HIGH GEAR IN 2005
BY LAURA STRADIOTIO The Sudbury Star
Val Caron boys Gilles Beaulieu, James Yorke and brother Thomas Yorke of High Deafinition have had quite a year.
The punk band will per¬form at this year's Vans Warped Tour, North Amer¬ica's longest travelling punk rock tour. The tour also fea¬tures names like Billy Idol, My Chemical Romance and Offspring.
Next month, they will be in the studio to record a new EP, an album a Califor¬nia record label wants a peek at.
Not bad for a group whose ages range from 13 to 17.
How long have you guys been playing together?
Tom: "We've been playing together for three years this summer. It's going to be our three-year anniversary in August."
Gilles: "We just started playing in Tom's garage. When we started out, I was 14 and James was 10."
Tom: "I was always into music and one day Gilles just bought a bass and I basically told my brother to get on the drums or I'd hurt him. And then he decided he liked it and I thought, `Cool, we'll form a band."'
Who are some of your influences?
Tom: "Back in the day we used to listen to a lot of Blink 182 and bands like that. Now we listen to Nirvana, the Clash.
Do you guys still have time for your school work?
Tom: "Gilles just graduated from high school. James just graduated from Grade 8 and I'm going into Grade 10."
Gilles: "I'm going to (Col¬lege) Boreal in the fall. I'm taking computer program¬ming because I'm a big geek like that."
You have your own man¬ager. Most bands here, espe¬cially around your age, don't have their own man¬ager. How did this come about?
James: "His name is Mike Large and he's really tall. He saw us at the Northern Lights Festival in 2003 and he saw some potential in us. "He just called us up and he heard us practice and eventually we signed a con¬tract with him and now he's our manager."
You write your own songs. What do you have to say?
Tom:" We write about life, how we see it and just things that have happened to us. Growing up you have experi¬ences and you just write about those experiences ... going to high school, getting picked on."
Have you performed with any other acts?
Tom : "We've played with bands like Moneen and Thornley, Closet Monster, Oliver Black..."
So this Warped Tour is a pretty big deal?
All: Oh, yeah, huge.
Gilles: "We answered a bunch of questions they had on their website and then we sent it in with a CD and waited for an answer. They answered us back in about 2 1/2, three months. They asked us the same questions you're asking us, stuff like that."
Do you get to go by yourselves?
Tom: "My dad and our manager are taking us on the tour. We're playing in Que¬bec City, Montreal and Barrie so we really can't go there by ourselves. We're too young."
You'll be in the studio next month to record another EP Are you keep¬ing close, to, your .punk roots?
James: "We've grown lots musically. The songs are a lit¬tle more hardcore and some of them are heavier, more punkish and alternative rock."
Tom: "Yeah, we've grown musically and we've experi¬mented with different sounds and listened to a lot of different things and not just one specific genre. We've listened to the Beatles and stuff which is not obviously punk rock."
I hear Royal Crest Records in California con¬tacted you guys.
Tom: "We were really surprised."
Gilles: "The guitarist from Story of the Year (Philip Sneed) is the co¬owner of Royal Crest Records. I think they con¬tacted Mike about us and wanted us to send our next EP when we're done recording. They were interested in hearing what we came up with next."
How far do you want to take this?
Gilles: "As far as we can get. Why not? This is fun to do. I don't want to be working at KFC all my life."
- BY LAURA STRADIOTIO The Sudbury Star
Living a Life Size Dream
Jul 28, 2010By: Jenny Jelen - Sudbury Northern Life Staff
The Val Caron-born boys of Life Size Dream have come a ways from their early days as High Definition.
Gilles Beaulieu, the band’s 22-year-old bass player, said the more classical sound of their current music was formed through “the process of growing up.”
High Definition was made up of 11-year-old James Yorke on drums, 13-year-old Tom Yorke on guitar and 15-year-old Beaulieu on bass.
Moving away from their punk-rock origins, Life Size Dream came about in January of 2009. “We went through this whole metamorphosis,” Tom said. “We’re trying to define what we do now, opposed to what we did before.”
Although the boys still have fond memories of High Definition, they said there is no reunion in sight. “We’re proud of it, but it’s something in the past,” James said. “It was more naïve, and there wasn’t as much thought put into it as our music today.”
Beaulieu said the band’s shift in sound has sparked mixed reviews. “We’ve spoken to a lot of people who really liked High Def, and wish that we would still play the songs,” he said. “We’ve also met a lot of people who love the transformation, and think that we’re on the right track. There’s a lot of positive feedback on both ends.”
Now, with the new sound in tow, Life Size Dream is touring its most recent four-track demo. The tour includes 12 stops over 14 days, many of which are on the east coast.
During a phone call from an apartment above a Moncton, N.B. bar, Tom said the band’s first tour was going better than expected.
“You’re relying on a lot of things: promoters, if the shows still going to be going on, and a van — a big piece of machinery that could break down at any time — you’re relying on a lot of things that could potentially fail,” he said. “If you expect some things to go wrong, no matter what, you’ll take it in the right way and you won’t be aggravated.”
The band’s tour wraps up in Toronto, where all three boys currently live, but not before a stop in Sudbury at the Townehouse Tavern on July 29.
Beaulieu said playing to a hometown audience is always a good experience.
“The last time we played the Townehouse, there must have been 150 people there, mostly friends who just haven’t seen us in a while,” he said. “We’re really looking forward to the Sudbury show. I’m expecting all the same people to come out again.
“Of course, we just love going home. It’s always a good time going back to Sudbury.”
The boys said their future plans involve lots of writing and rehearsing, and there are talks of an Ontario tour in the fall.
For more information or to hear Life Size Dream, visit www.myspace.com/lifesizedream
- Jul 28, 2010By: Jenny Jelen - Sudbury Northern Life Staff
Discography
Debut EP under the band name High Deafinition called "Insert Title Here". Sold 750 copies and counting. "The Motion Picture" Released under the band name High Deafinition in March 2006 has sold just over 800 units.
Photos
Bio
Here are two truths for you to ponder. The first truth is that the music industry is cyclical. Music that was once new and exciting eventually overstays its welcome and fades ushering in new sounds and styles that develop and warp into one another over time. Then, just when you feel like the music industry is stagnant and you’re totally out of the loop as to what is cool, the bottom falls out and that old sound you once loved and were totally in tune with comes back. Sure it’s not exactly the same but the essence of what made it what it was is still there.
The second truth is that Life Size Dream may not be quite ready for the big time in the eyes of the movers and shakers of the industry. In some ways even James, Tom and Gilles may agree with them, but these guys are not going to let that stand in their way.
Formed in 2003 at the ages of 11, 13 and 15, James Yorke (drums/vocals), Tom Yorke (guitar, vocals) and Gilles Beaulieu (bass, vocals) started a band (High Deafinition) together because it was fun. To this day that is still one of the biggest driving forces behind what they are doing. Of course they understand that in order to continue having fun doing what they are doing they also have to take care of business. They know that the road ahead of them is a long one and they choose to not sit back and just take what comes to them. Instead they approach the music industry without fear and a blue collar work ethic, likely the product of living in Sudbury, most known for mining rock and ore rather than rock and roll.
And really there is no healthier way to tackle an industry that sometimes feels about as easy to break into as successfully completing a lunar landing. So many bands try to ‘make it’ because of fame, fortune and all the dressings that go along with that. The ones who have made it the biggest out of them all are the ones who truly love what they are doing and are having fun.
And on the topic of work ethic, the band has just added recording a demo, and entering into a development deal with Warner Music Canada to a list of accomplishments dating back to 2004. Some of these accomplishments include performing on the Vans Warped Tour, getting voted as the best up and coming band in Northern Ontario by CBC Bandwidth, having one of their songs chosen for a national campaign television commercial for West 49, qualifying as one of the top six bands in Ontario as part of the Solo Music/Alexisonfire Basement Band Contest in 2004 and they’ve opened for Sum 41 all the while two of the members were still in high school. Most recently the band opened for their retro rock brethren 'Jet' at the Opera House in Toronto.
The second truth is probably not like anything you ever read about other bands. Most would claim that they are ready for the big time, but “the industry just hasn’t seen them yet”. Or that they are the biggest thing since sliced bread but they are “so powerful that the industry just doesn’t ‘get them’ and isn’t ready for them yet.” But it’s about time that honesty enters into the picture which leads us back to that first truth.
There was once a time when rock and roll became rock n’ roll, a loose, dirty, loud, rude yet honest version of what preceded it. A sound that everyone understood. A sound that wasn’t categorized into sub-sub-sub genres.
This is where Life Size Dream comes in. There is a resurgence in the music industry of bands bringing back that gritty rock that is bare bones and cut to the quick honest to goodness ass kicking rock and Life Size Dream is well on their way to leading the charge. The music they are creating is reminiscent of The Small Faces with a dash of The Who and The Beatles and maybe, just maybe, you might just hear a thundering clap of Led Zeppelin. This along with their stellar live show and professionalism beyond their years is the reason the industry has taken notice. Of course Life Size Dream isn’t a household name just yet but it will only be a matter of time.
They will be the first to tell you that nothing will hold them back. Yes they have achieved a lot so far but why stop now when they are having so much fun. It’s this innocent relationship between them and their music that will set them apart
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