Still Life

Erik Thorkildsen says the music business is “like throwing a dart at a dartboard.” The drummer and the rest of the guys from Hamilton’s alternative rock band Still Life may have hit the bulls-eye.


Erik Thorkildsen, Mike Dojcsak, Evan Bowers and Corey Brouwer are looking forward to hitting the stage at Canadian Music Week.

The group has just been accepted to play the music festival at Canadian Music Week next March, a stage that’s seen the likes of Slash, Passion Pit, Train and The Sheepdogs.

“We’re all, of course, extremely revved up by this,” said Still Life singer Evan Bowers. “It’s a big deal and we’re aware of that.”

The news came just over a month after the release of their first five-track EP Page One. Still Life is looking forward to the opportunities waiting at Canadian Music Week.

“I’m going to take advantage of as much as possible that week and attend as many seminars and speaker presentations as possible, not to mention hundreds of bands,” said guitarist Mike Dojcsak.

“I want to find out what the people running this business want to see from new artists like us,” bassist Corey Brouwer agreed. While this is a big step in the right direction for Still Life, they admit it’s tough to get support and attendance in the local music scene.

“You’ve got to bug people but not to the point where they’ll start hating you,” Thorkildsen said. “It’s a science. We want people to come out and actually enjoy our stuff.”

The band owes much of their exposure to the Internet. Page One on Facebook and their video Lost and Found has over 3000 YouTube hits. Still Life will continue playing shows to get their name out prior to Canadian Music Week.

“We are all just playing our hearts out,” said Bowers, “and I think that will show with whoever we’re in front of.”

- Ignite News (Mohawk College) - Ignite News (Mohawk College)

Erik Thorkildsen says the music business is “like throwing a dart at a dartboard.” The drummer and the rest of the guys from Hamilton’s alternative rock band Still Life may have hit the bulls-eye.


Erik Thorkildsen, Mike Dojcsak, Evan Bowers and Corey Brouwer are looking forward to hitting the stage at Canadian Music Week.

The group has just been accepted to play the music festival at Canadian Music Week next March, a stage that’s seen the likes of Slash, Passion Pit, Train and The Sheepdogs.

“We’re all, of course, extremely revved up by this,” said Still Life singer Evan Bowers. “It’s a big deal and we’re aware of that.”

The news came just over a month after the release of their first five-track EP Page One. Still Life is looking forward to the opportunities waiting at Canadian Music Week.

“I’m going to take advantage of as much as possible that week and attend as many seminars and speaker presentations as possible, not to mention hundreds of bands,” said guitarist Mike Dojcsak.

“I want to find out what the people running this business want to see from new artists like us,” bassist Corey Brouwer agreed. While this is a big step in the right direction for Still Life, they admit it’s tough to get support and attendance in the local music scene.

“You’ve got to bug people but not to the point where they’ll start hating you,” Thorkildsen said. “It’s a science. We want people to come out and actually enjoy our stuff.”

The band owes much of their exposure to the Internet. Page One on Facebook and their video Lost and Found has over 3000 YouTube hits. Still Life will continue playing shows to get their name out prior to Canadian Music Week.

“We are all just playing our hearts out,” said Bowers, “and I think that will show with whoever we’re in front of.”

- Ignite News (Mohawk College) - Ignite News (Mohawk College)

Evan Bowers (vocals, rhythm guitar), spent the last ten years in a few different musical projects but in the last year came together with three like minded souls to form a band the now twenty–five year old can believe in. Bowers, with Mike James Dojcsak (lead guitar), Corey Brouwer (bass), and Erik Thorkildsen (drums), came together to form Still Life and this weekend, offer their debut CDEP, Page One. “We are all very different as far as musical influences and I feel that’s what makes this project special,” muses Bowers. “Erik brings his metal influence, Mike brings his pop, rock and melody for his leads, Corey brings the soul and I bring the skeletons of the songs, the progressions and the vocals. We all enjoy bands like Thrice, Radiohead, Coldplay, and bands like Incubus. This is our lives, our music, unfiltered, Still Life. Honestly, I don’t want us to fit in a niche. Music is us communicating with people. The more people who can understand it the better. So I’d say at this point I think we could fit the bill of a lot of different bands and genres.
Produced by Adam Newcomb of Newcomb Studios in Cobourg, Page One is quite literally that first page to a story Still Life hopes reads like War and Peace, well perhaps in length and with less of the conflict. Their music is polished enough to be modern rock radio ready but also raw enough to offer a lot to sink your teeth into right now. With the official release of their new disc, Still Life offers what they hope is a moving representation of their art.
“There was a point in my life where I realized I don’t have to think about anything but the meaning, lyrics, and emotions of the songs we play,” notes Bowers. “That changed my performance. We all subscribe to this mentality. We play from the heart and I think people can see that. As far as marketing, this is a business and we treat this as such. But we want this to be organic. We want this to spread naturally. So we won’t be one of those bands that spams your Facebook. We want this to flow naturally. We want people to like us enough to spread word to their friends. “I’ve found three other musicians who live and breathe music,” adds Bowers. “We won’t settle for anything less than success in this industry and finding that mentality in musicians is honestly so hard. We are honestly such clean cut well behaved dudes. I mean we’re young and especially Mike and Corey can mess with people sometimes, but never anything violent or out of taste. We’re just on the first page of our bands story here that’s why it’s so tough to predict now but overall I have to say we treat this like a the job that it is. You wouldn’t get hammered or high at your day job, and neither will we. This next year is just the first page of many for us and we’re incredibly thankful for all the support we’ve received thus far.”

- Ric Taylor (VIEW Magazine, Hamilton, Ontario. August 30th - September 5th issue) - View Magazine (Hamilton, Ontario)