Zander Lamothe was born in Los Angeles, California but moved to Hamilton, Ontario at the age of 3. By the time he was 4 years old he was on stage performing with his dad at various clubs and concerts, singing and playing guitar. At the age of seven, he sang on the main stage at the Festival of Friends in front of hundreds of people. He liked the view.
By the time he was 9 though, he’d found the instrument he loved, drums. Zander's dad advised him to start out on a hand drum, and he did, but as soon as he got behind a drum kit, he knew where he was headed. Zander also started taking drum lessons with drummers such as Brian Doerner (Helix, Saga). As well as being inspired by current drummers, Zander is also inspired by Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich, and John Bonham.
In 2004 Zander’s friend Liam Titcomb got the opening spot on Great Big Sea’s cross Canada tour. Zander was invited along for a few of the shows so he could spend some time backstage and learn a bit about the music business. He got to meet and play with Kris MacFarlane, great Big Sea’s drummer. One night, Kris invited Zander to play at sound check. Again, Zander liked the view.
He then began playing regularly with Rob Lamothe at festivals and other venues. Also around the same time, Zander recorded drums on a demo for singer-songwriter Ariana Gillis. He’s played with her at Winterfolk, Summerfolk, Hugh's Room (Toronto) and The Casbah (Hamilton). He also got to shoot his first music video in April 2007 with Ariana, directed by Tim Dashwood (ROCKED: Sum41 in the Congo).
At 17, Zander has already played with some of Canada’s finest musicians like City and Colour, Tom Wilson, Liam Titcomb, Brent Titcomb, Luke Doucet, and Melissa McClelland. In May of 2007, Zander boarded a transatlantic flight and accompany Rob Lamothe on a tour that had them performing at venues in the UK, Belgium, Germany and The Netherlands. Zander is also endorsed by Isanbul Agop Cymbals.
------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------------Recording credits:
City & Color - Bring Me Your Love, Track 5(Sleeping Sickness)
Tom Wilson - December Songs, Track 1(We're Gonna Make a Beautiful World Together)
Mary Simon '07
Nathan Deschamps '07
Ariana Gillis - Ariana Gillis '06 CD
Bad Habit - '06
Rob Lamothe - Above The Wing is Heaven '02 - Piano, Hand Drums, Harmony Vocals - I Am Here Now 1999 - Harmony Vocal
Melissa Mclelland - Melissa McClelland 2001 - hand drum on ‘Yesterday’
------------------------------------------------------------ -----------------------------------Music Video for "Between"
Playing with David Porteous @ C'est What? in Toronto
Playing with Rob Lamothe and George in Germany
Playing with Ariana Gillis @ the Canadian Guitar Festival
Hailey Gillis - Design Hope 2008 "Dollars and Dolls Heads" Video
Playing with Rob Lamothe and Mark Mcintrye @ The Corktown