New Featured Band - Michael Bernard Fitzgerlad

So here is the thing...due to the fact that I am an Algonquin journalism Student, I can't post the story on here that I would like to post because my story is now owned by the Algonquin Times. That being said, I can still write a new piece with new information that wasn't used in my Times Story. Therefore there is no copyright infringement. So here I go...

Recently, I attended a show for an up and coming indie-folk-pop artist named Michael Bernard Fitzgerald, or MBF for short, here on campus at The Observatory (The OB). It was a fantastic show with great enthusiasm!

In his short career as a professional recording artist, Calgary's MBF has already been coined as "Canada's next best hope for a global star" and someone to watch in 2010 by Peter Simpson who writes a column for The Ottawa Citizen.

With music reminiscent of the soulful sounds of James Morrison and Dave Mathews and equally as unique, MBF's songs carry plenty of base and drumline-esq snare beats mixed with the melodic sounds of a piano on songs such as Reach You; string orchestras and xylaphonic instrumentation on tracks like Movie Life; and a few tracks with harmonious chorus vocals in the background, it's hard to believe MBF has only been playing professionally for 4.5 years!

His unique sounds seems to resonate well with his fans, new and old.

"I loved the show!" said show attendee Matthew Haddad. "His music emits love, happiness and friendship and that's all that you need."

"My favourite song that he played is Movie Life," said Rosie Waugh, who attended the show at The OB and was the lucky lady chosen to go up on stage during the ballad Care For You. "It was very neat the way he made songs that everyone knows have a completely different sound."

Not only did he bring someone up on stage during a soulful ballad, during one of his more energetic songs, Movie Life, he played the song with a loop pedal, overlapping his own voice several times before adding a new riff and continuing the loop for a good 2 minutes thereafter. While the loop continued to play in the background, MBF began singing various other songs such as My Humps by Fergie, Waterfalls by TLC, The Thong Song by Sisco, Tik Tok by Ke$ha, and a few other songs as well. It was amazing to watch him up on stage loving what he does and how much the audience laughed and got involved.

Later on, towards the end of the show, MBF played his latest single, Brand New Spaces where he got everyone in the audience standing up and thumping their feet while clapping a special beat, the same one that can be seen in his music video for the song. What great enthusiasm!

In recent months, from October to December, MBF had steady gig at a place called The Supermarket in Toronto's Kensignton Market, just west of the downtown core, and only taking 2 weeks off at Christmas.

"I like being busy," laughed MBF.

Touring so much usually puts a strain on one's ability to keep track of time and MBF is no exception to this rule. he recounted a story to me about this one time while back home in Calgary for no more than a single day. MBF forgot that BlackBerry phones don't automatically change time zones when you fly in and out of cities. This meant that he needed to keep track himself and of course, that meant humorous events were bound to occur.

"I had called for a cab that was supposed ti pick me up at 5 a.m." MBF told me as he recalled his adventure with time changes. "I set my alarm so that I could get up and ready for the cab the night before. I woke up and got ready and went downstairs to wait for my cab. I waited and waited and finally decided to call the cab company. They asked me when I ordered the cab for and I told the girl 5 a.m., she said 'Sir, it's only 3:10 in the morning' and suggested I go back up to my room and take a nap," recalled MBF with laugh.

Playing only in Canadian Venues thus far, MBF calls a 1,600 person venue in Calgary, called Jack Singer, one of his favourite places that he has played to date.

"It's always been a dream of mine to play there," said MBF. "I finally got to play there this summer for my CD release party for my first full length album The MBF LOVE LP."

With his first full length album out in music stores across the country, MBF is well on his way to bringing his energetic songs to all of Canada and the world beyond!

Hunter City Madness - Part 2

Currently recording their 1st EP, See You In Hell, at Red Dusk Studios in Saint Hysinthe, just outside of Montreal, and playing shows whenever they can, Justin and Hunter City Madness find themselves in a great place for sure.

Before getting to this point, however, Justin discovered, this past summer, how hard it is to go on tour, especially for the first time.

"We were on tour for 2 weeks making stops in places such as Kingston, Quebec City, Toronto and Windsor, as well as others along the way," said Justin.

Although the Chubby Pickle in Windsor may have been the biggest venue the band played while on tour, joining 2 other local bands, one of the most memorable stops on the tour for Justin was the show in Kingston at the Frog Hop along Kingston's Princess Street.

"We met up with some people who came up form Ottawa to see us play," said Justin. " after the show, we went and partied in the forest on some land that my buddy owns and camped out for the night."

Not only did the band members book the tour themselves, they also built up their on little trailer to get from place-to-place.

"We built a shitty trailer made of wood on top of an old trailer and pulled it with my 5-person Intrepid," laughed Justin.

After finishing the recording of their EP, justin and Hunter City Madness intend to start playing more shows in Ottawa again maybe getting a chance to go on tour for round 2, perhaps this time with a little more than a "shitty little trailer."

Hunter City Madness - Part 1

Wearing a black and lime green George Clinton and the Parliament Funkadelics (P-Funk) "Funkadelic" t-shirt with jeans and black Airwalk sneakers, Justin Gow is a far cry from his early days performing covers at his grade 7 talent show.

In the midst of going to school - Algonquin College for Journalism- and going in and out of Montreal for recording sessions, Justin took some time to sit down with me and talk about his life as a musician, fronting his southern metal/rock/hardcore band, Hunter City Madness.

During his 1st performance at the Stephen Leacock Public School talent show, and not feeling so confident in his abilities at the time, Justin found himself having to perform all alone up on stage for the 1st time ever.

"There have been plenty of times that I've been nervous, but i was really nervous then," said Justin, 21. " My music teacher Mr. Powers basically convinced me to do it cause I wasn't going to, but I did anyways. I played Green Day's 'Time of Your Life'. i messed up and forgot words, chords, the tune at one point, a bridge... but looking back it was a good decision to go on."

Justin has no problem playing such easy songs as 'Time of Your Life' now-a-days. Quoting Every Time I Die as one of his favourite bands because they are " crazy, dirty, funny, shitty dudes", it's no surprise that Justin has moved on to bigger and better things, playing clubs and venues in Both Ottawa and Montreal as often as possible.

"I'm glad I did it then cause otherwise I wouldn't have gotten any good feedback and wouldn't have been motivated to keep going and trying to get better," said Justin. "I wouldn't be where i am now."

To be Continued...

Your Favorite Ex - New Featured Band

Boston, Massachusetts, USA - home of the Red Sox and Fenway Park, Faneuil Hall, Boston Duck Tours, the best canolies that I have ever had...and local band Your Favorite Ex!

Currently all calling Boston home, Your Favorite Ex (YFX) is a rock/pop-punk outlet featuring Chris Mitchell on vocals and guitar, Anthony Sharamitaro on guitar, Jay Donovan on bass, and Leo Teran drums. Reminiscent of Brand New or the Spill Canvas with a sound that can only be described as emotionally connected and cohesively well versed, it's hard to imagine that YFX have only been a complete band for less than a month! Already with a page and music on MTV.com's Soundtrack, working their way up the charts, YFX is for sure on the right path to where they want to be, at the top of everyone's playlists!

Despite the band's young age as a cohesive unit, it's members are no stranger's to music. Originally handed down a guitar from his father, Chris started signing to songs on the radio in his teens years and eventually taught himself to play his guitar and began to put two and two together, creating the talent that he is today. Anthony on the other hand, didn't even know what a guitar was until he saw Tom DeLonge playing on the music video for All the Small Things by Blink 182, but that hasn't stopped him from getting to where he is now.

"When I was thirteen, I remember flipping through the channel's on TV and landing on MTV, only to find something that would eventually kickoff a path to my future: Blink 182 dancing around in their All the Small Things video." - Anthony

The other two members of the band, and most recent additions, follow along the same path. Jay, who is currently enrolled at Northeastern University in Boston, was quick to pick up bass some guitar and was eager to join the band. Leo,as Anthony puts it "always had a passion for music (even when he was young) and began his musical intake as a multi-instrumentalist, but he always had a bigger passion for drums." Moving from his hometown of Miami, Fl to Boston to attend Berklee College of Music, it's no wonder that Leo found his way into a band on the up and up.

All members of YFX see themselves going far in this industry ultimately plan on making a go of YFX as their careers. Nothing is ever set in stone, but with a highly fan-anticipated release of their upcoming EP, due out in August 2009, the band is off to a great start! As an anonymous fan once put it, "[These] guys are the next generation of music of this generation's music - YFX IS this {music} industry's future." Hopefully YFX can give their fans, new and old, the impression of happiness that the band wants to impress upon it's listeners on a regular basis. As far as fans are concerned, the greatest moments that the band has had over the past year are all about the fans, especially signing autographs.

Anthony once said "I mean, it's sounds so cheesy, but all of the people who come up to us and ask for them are 100% dead serious. Being able to hook onto well-known venues in the short time we've been a band... it's just such a great feeling to know we're providing a form of entertainment in musical form that is actually being enjoyed. It makes us smile and want to keep making music forever."

Note to all blog readers: please check these guys out, you won't be disappointed!!

-SLR_GIRL