Who are these four punks from Montreal, Quebec, and what does it mean to “Play The Angel?†One thing is certain, whether angels or demons, they sure ain’t playing around onstage!
This is not Singer/Guitarist Bobby Bisciglia’s first foray into the music world: with their former band, he and Drummer Rob Tremblay have performed at such prestigious venues as Montreal's Hard Rock Cafe, Metropolis, and even the Bell Centre, where they opened for Bon Jovi in December 2005.
Despite these successes, the two were itching to explore new avenues and sounds, so they set off on their own, quickly recruiting Bassist dB (Dirty BASStard), who brought with him a wealth of experience from a previous band, whose debut CD spawned four Top 30 singles in the Maritimes, one peaking at number 2. A somewhat longer search for a Lead Guitarist finally paid off, twenty auditions later, with the discovery of Phil Bérubé, who’d paid his dues slogging it out on Quebec’s stages with various Francophone indie rock bands.
Brimming with enthusiasm, this new collaboration of seasoned rockers spent the next few months pouring their energies into song-writing, drawing inspiration from the likes of Foo Fighters, Our Lady Peace, and Incubus. They quickly forged their own distinct sound, and it’s a winning one, as fans have already catapulted them through the Montreal finals of the 2007-08 Omnium du Rock contest. The band will soon be taking on the Quebec City champions in a fight for the title, with the winner going on to perform live at Musique Plus.
In addition to being crowned local Omnium du Rock champions, another recent highlight was cutting a first demo at Studios Piccolo, a cozy, state-of-the-art facility in East-end Montreal, whose clientele reads like a who’s who of the Quebec music scene, and is favoured by many internationally-reknowned, A-list recording artists. Presiding over the sessions was Producer/Engineer Gautier Marinof, who’d worked alongside the legendary Bob Rock on Simple Plan’s sophomore release. Far from being intimidated by this pedigree, however, Play The Angel dug in their heels and proved they could hang with the big boys. Quoted Bobby, “three days, one broken cymbal, four snare skins, five packs of strings, a few cases of beer, and hours of home video footage later, we had a kick-ass demo in the can.â€
Though not yet signed to a label, Play The Angel are beginning to generate buzz and garner media attention: they were recently featured in the Montreal daily, 24 Heures. In addition, their songs were spotlighted on the cult hit Sid’s Cycle Show (Canada’s MenTV and Global TV).
By year’s end, the quartet plans to release a full-length debut album and music video, as well as tour Canada and the US.
