Outdoor Miners

Outdoor Miners: ‘90s-style indie rock never sounded so good. Previously known as Belgium, they have settled on this new Wire-referencing name and have a 5 song EP coming out in the first quarter. This three-piece has it all: technically proficient but not wanky, amazing hooks but not too poppy, textured but not saturated — it’s a perfect mix. - See Magazine

Apparently the guitar heavy sounds of classic Northwest indie rock have moved a little bit east. Edmonton three-piece Outdoor Miners are the proof, and they've just released their debut seven-inch.

A-side track "Twelve Hundred Dollars" delivers in every way possible, with up-tempo drums, a catchy chorus and an addictive interplay between the bass and guitar. Beneath it all is a perfectly written indie rock anthem.

The seven-inch, out on Pop Echo Records is limited to 300, so don't sleep on this slab of indie rock revivalism.
- Exclaim Magazine

Band:: Outdoor Miners
Album:: self-titled
Web:: http://www.myspace.com/outdoorminers
Review:: http://www.herohill.com/2009/11/quick-hitters-outdoor-miners-release-7.htm

Q1) What was the band's best musical moment of '09?
Alec had to have surgery that had a much longer recovery time than originally expected, so we had to cancel all sorts of shit that we were looking forward to. When we were finally able to get back at it, we wrote a bunch of new songs that are probably our best yet (At least we think so). The door at our 7" release party sold out....that felt really good as well...
Q2) As a young band, I'm excited you opted to release a 7" instead of rushing out a sloppy EP or LP. Was that your decision or the labels?
It was our decision initially, but the label fully supported it. We knew we wanted the natural grainy sound of vinyl, and we were pretty sure that everyone else wanted it as well. Releasing a 7" just feels good.
Q3) Speaking of the label, Pop Echo seems to be a terrific springboard for young AB bands. How did you get hooked up with them, and will another release be in the cards soon?
The Pop Echo guys have helped us immensely. They saw us play and really liked it, a couple of weeks later they asked if we were interested in working with them. We love those guys and will continue to work with them for as long as possible. We're going into the studio with Nik Kozub over the Christmas holidays to record our next 7", which is tentatively planned for an early summer release.
Q4) If you had to pick one band to take your spot on the '09 best-of list, who gets the nod?
Its a tie between Grown-ups from Calgary, and Peace from Vancouver. Both of those bands are awesome and super fun to play with.
Q5) Edmonton has really been killing it lately. What's the best part of playing music in Edmonton, and if one of our readers had only 24 hours to spend in the city, what would you suggest they do?
Things are pretty good in Edmonton right now (other than this crazy weather): Aaron Levin (weird canada) has been putting on a ton of awesome shows with really cool bands, there's a perfect new venue, and Hong Kong bakery is still dirt cheap. 24 hours in Edmonton? Go to Chinatown and eat a bunch of vietnamese subs, and then head straight over to WEM and ride the mind bender 200 times. Duh.
Q6) This isn't even really a question you can probably answer, but what are the chances you could write a song about Jari Kurri and his awesome old skool Jofa helmet?
Between high and extremely high. - Hero Hill blog

What's that expression about the best laid plans? When it comes to blogging, when you aspire to be anything more than an aggregator of content, it's damn near impossible to talk about every band that grabs your ear. Case in point, a few months ago I was sent a 7" from a label I like, and a band I had heard nothing but good things about and did nothing about it. Flash forward to yesterday and that email still sat in my inbox with a star beside it.

Pop Echo is a small run label out of Edmonton with a great ear when it comes to unsigned Canadian talent. Whether it's Junior Bloomsday, The Golden Hands Before God, or The Whitsundays, the Edmonton label just keep churning out talent. Sadly, most of the acts are under appreciated by music fans coast-to-coast.

The newest, under the radar outfit the label offers up is Outdoor Miners. This bunch of young scamps offer up three delightful, fuzzy rock tracks that seep into your brain. I know it's "only" a 7" - three songs, not even 10 minutes - but it's the type of release that makes an impact. The Edmonton trio may enjoy heavily reverbed vocals that are so popular, but eschews the dreary lo-fi surf inspired tunes that dominate today's music scene and opts for melody and energy . The lead single - Twelve Hundred Dollars - is a gritty anthem with a simple plea for all artists. No matter how broke you are, PAY YOUR F*CKING RENT. After that, it will probably be ok. The slacker anthem sounds are completely contrasted by the surprisingly responsible attitude the band takes.

The nice thing about this 7" is that the other two songs the band offers up are just as strong (maybe even stronger). Keep You Warm is another scorcher, heavy in feedback and sing-along vocals but really its the shimmering guitar tones of Turn You into Glue that shows the band's potential. The track hits you with a surprising warmth, taking advantage of some nice harmonies and a change of pace to really stand out. I'm not sure what's next for this band, but I'll tell you one thing - I'm excited to see what else they have up their sleeves. - Hero Hill blog

Are you ready? Because anthemic rock rarely ignites the sing-a-long factory while retaining imagination and granularity within the recorded zone. Which is why Twelve Hundred Dollars has been an anthem to every ear lucky enough to capture its brief life on the Hydeaway Winter 2008 compilation. Re-recorded and released as a 7? via Edmonton’s Pop Echo Records, Twelve Hundred Dollars retains every ounce of arm-swinging, vertical strutting, no-money bravado as ever, and dammit, it’s still the biggest anthem to every rent-paying, cheapskate jerkoid who sneaks into shows, crowd-surf’s their unwilling friends, and steals 5-cent candies. They’ve paired Twelve Hundred Dollars with Keep Me Warm, segueing the Outdoor Miners into driving 90s popfuckery matched seamlessly by Alec Meen’s searing guitar leads and their iconic vocal recordings (drenched beautifully in distortion and reverb). Everybody: pay your rent!
- Weird Canada

Limited to just 300 copies, Outdoor Miners' new seven-inch is the kind of thing you're going to want to run right out and get. Three songs packed with some of the most endearingly honest and strangely sentimental lo-fi Edmonton has been privy to this year. Fuzzy but melodic, A-side "Twelve Hundred Dollars" is a soaring and expansive tune that offers the sage advice, "Everybody, pay your rent." The standout track on the B-side, "Turn You Into Glue" offers a slower, more bare bones side of the band, a sweeter, loungier sound which ends with a melancholic solo. As far as seven-inches go, this one is perfect. I think I might buy another copy for when I inevitably wear the grooves out of this one.

Outdoor Miners
Twelve Hundred Dollars" / "Keep Me Warm" / "Turn You Into Glue
(Pop Echo)
- Vue Weekly

OUTDOOR MINERS
w/The Wicked Awesomes! New City Likwid Lounge (10081 Jasper Ave). Fri, Nov 6 (doors @ 9pm). Tickets: $5 at the door.

Outdoor Miners travelled a rocky road en route to releasing their first three-song 7”. The band (Alec Meen, Peter Sagar, and Sean MacIntosh) has been around for about a year, but Meen and Sagar have been playing together since high school — which for them was only three years ago.

They recorded the 7” more than a year ago with former drummer Mac DeMarco, and signifies the band’s entry into Edmonton’s indie-rock canon. Bringing to mind Guided by Voices, Built to Spill and Eric’s Trip, Outdoor Miners may not seem to be mining any new territory (yeah, I went there), but anyone familiar with the band’s infectious take on ’90s indie rock will welcome this record into their collections. Those of you who haven’t yet heard of them ... well, get ready for one of Edmonton’s most notable 2009 releases.

Listen to Meen and Sagar talk, and you’ll see the band is one of the only things that they take seriously. They’re quick with anecdotes and fake answers, and if they don’t interrupt, they’ll finish each other’s sentences. “When our previous band, Belgium, first started, which was like two years ago,” Meen begins, “we e-mailed Pop Echo, because they had more prominence than most local record labels, and we wanted to know if they would put out our music. And we didn’t hear back from them.”

“I wouldn’t have e-mailed us back either, for the record!” Sagar says. “I mean, who the fuck is Belgium? So we recorded it anyway and were sitting on it, waiting to see if someone wanted it.”

As a fully formed band with genuine musical aspirations, the band didn’t let rejection get them down and continued to play shows. Then Sean MacIntosh, a self-described “never-was-been,” entered their lives. “Me and Sean met when we were on tour with secret bands,” Sagar says. “Then Mac decided to move, which was for the best because he was always shitting his pants in the studio anyway.” Sagar, insists the last part of that story is true, but says the full details are best left for another time.

MacIntosh joined after receiving what he describes as an “ominous phone call” from Sagar, and a new band was formed. They christened the band Outdoor Miners, after a song by post-punk legends Wire. It’s no small task to integrate yourself into an already formed musical entity, but MacIntosh was able to pull it off. “I tried to add bits of my own stuff to the old songs without fucking it up too much,” he explains modestly.

Things progressed smoothly from there, and the band finally got a call back from Pop Echo. “Pop Echo said they would ‘help’ us because they were too busy to put anything out,” says Meen. “But they ended up doing everything that they could do.”

“Everything we couldn’t do, or were too lazy to do,” interjects Sagar. “I recommend that any band that sucks like we do should sign with them if they offer, because they’re really good guys and really know what they’re doing.”

After they agreed to the deal, however, things got tough, as Meen had to undergo some serious surgery ... ahem ... down there. I’ll let Meen describe it himself: “My urologist told me that I had the mother of all strictures and I needed to get a ‘fancy’ circumcision. And that meant that we couldn’t play for three months.” And the summer 2009 tour was cancelled.

Harrowing, to be sure, and it left the band in a state of confusion. But it was a blessing in disguise, according to Sagar: “Alec disappeared, Sean thought we’d broken up, and I was just really bored. But then Alec came back and things got really good. We wrote three new songs and things have just been going great.”

Nowadays the band is back on its feet, making their single “12 Hundred Dollars” (a CJSR staple and surefire show singalong) available for public consumption. This winter will see them record five songs with Shout Out Out Out Out’s Nik Kozub and embark on the tour that a faulty urethra cancelled.

Though the ultimate dream is to become a professional band (“Who wouldn’t want to be a rock star?” asks Meen. “I want to be a marine biologist,” answers MacIntosh), the band is content right now to focus on school and work and see where playing takes them. As Sagar explains: “We’re just into having a really good time — this band is so much fun.”
- See Magazine

Outdoor Miners
Twelve Hundred Dollars
Pop Echo
Whether they're providing us all with solid life advice – seriously, everyone, pay your rent – or looking for the simplest signs of love, Outdoor Miners are always effortless pop songsmiths, injecting '90s college-rock jangle with '00s fuzz. Their debut 7" instantly puts them in the top ranks of Edmonton pop-rock bands, and should earn them that designation in the rest of Canada, too, once they get their asses on the road. - Beatroute Magazine

http://theneedledrop.blogspot.com/2010/01/trkrvwz-outdoor-miners-twelve-hundred.html - The Needle Drop

On their debut single, Twelve Hundred Dollars, Outdoor Miners have the raw explosive urgency of Wire – of course they do! – the helter skelter melodic mayhem of late 80s Dinosaur Jr and the snappy lo-fi of Guided By Voices. If it sounds like Our New Skin by the Edsel Auctioneer, then that’s a happy accident.

The b-sides on this Canadian band’s 7” are no less assured: Keep Me Warm proves the lead track is no fluke, while Turn You Into Glue is the song Stephen Malkmus forgot to write for Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain.
- Fire Escape Talking