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Hintonites making music in Edmonton
Marilyn Gray
marilyn@hintonparklander.com
Monday June 16, 2008
A group of musicians originally hailing from Hinton are garnering some attention in the Edmonton music scene.
Murder Mutiny and the Zazazas' have been playing together for seven months and are getting set to release their first album in the fall.
The band of seven, who have relocated to Edmonton, is not the average rock band, boasting a cello, flute and tambourine as well as piano, guitars and drums.
Though the band has been playing for nearly a year, members said they feel things are just starting to pick up speed.
"I think we were labelled wrongly at first, because of our name," said Kenny MacLean, who sings and plays guitar. "We were getting booked with bands we didn't really fit in with."
The group features Chris Wokeun on drums, Lorette Mercier on vocals and tambourine, Amiti Mitchell on flute, Matt Chipcher on bass, Chad Stewart on piano, and Jed Gauthier plays cello and guitar. Though the group's name may sound rough, members said their style is hard to pin down.
Explanations from the band members ranged from retro rock to modern alternative.
"We have a lot of influences because everyone listens to different bands," said MacLean.
All of the members have played in bands before, starting out as musicians while attending high school in Hinton.
Though their sound may not be polished, band members say they enjoy what they're doing.
"It's fun," said Chad Stewart, pianist for the band. "It's awesome."
MacLean said he feels that creating music is emotionally healthy as well.
"It's a good way to get stuff out," he said. "Everyone has some emotions they need to get out."
The bands upcoming EP will be titled "James" after the title track written for MacLean's father. Band members pooled their own cash to pay for the recording sessions at Beta Studios in Edmonton, with Jon Stuart as their sound engineer.
"We're putting a lot of energy and resources into this," said Gauthier.
"The money we've made is mostly from shows," said MacLean. "It's tough to make money."
In spite of their low earnings, the band plans to release the EP online for free or by donation.
Though the band is less than one year old, members said they feel that things are looking up and they don't plan to go their separate ways any time soon, if at all.
"We've got a really good momentum going," said Gauthier. "Everyone's been progressing really fast." - quebecor parklander
Discography
The James Ep
Badompadomp, plays on the radio, as does peterpatrick
Photos
Bio
Kenny MacLean started writing songs in his parents' spare bedroom after growing increasingly discontented with being a full time cook. Though he was already receiving really positive feedback from his parents and their friends, MacLean decided it was time to showcase his songs beyond the family living room. He started going to open mics, where he played for crowds of five people who didn't give a shit about him. It was during this time that he connected with fellow former Hinton personality Jed Gauthier. He convinced Gauthier to play guitar and some cello, the latter of which was used purely to pick up chicks - a ploy that cemented Jed's place as the band's resident sex symbol. Though it seemed odd that prog-rock god and rabid Rush fan Gauthier would join forces with MacLean, a Thanksgiving open mic in Hinton convinced the two that they had stumbled on something special. Shortly afterward, Chad Stewart - a fellow Hintonite and ginger - began playing piano in the band, which may have started out as a joke. Whatever it was it worked. And so the three began work on some songs, though they were already pretty much rock stars in their own minds long ago. For a while they lived the lifestyle more then they actually played music. Time line one month ahead: The three were out at a show when they ran into their preferred ginger, also hailing from Hinton, Ms. Lorette Mercier. Everybody wondered and still does why this beautiful girl sings with these three idiots. Some things can never be solved. After much dismay and chaos, the four of them finally found a drummer: Lorette's lover and Blame-It's guitar player, Crispy Blame-It. Crispy in turn brought in former Pind bassist, Matt Chipchar, who incidentally is in direct competition with MacLean for who has more feminine-like qualities. Through a series of ads, they were finally connected with the lovely Amity Mitchell, who joined the band for their first EP, playing flute and sax. The band released their first album, The James EP, at their epic one-year anniversary show, Murderversary. The band is currently working on new material. One tear a time.
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