About Me
Started BTK in '96. Signed to Tommyboy/Ignition and released album (Co-Produced with Matt deMatteo) birth thru knowledge in '98. Toured Canada. Played with The Beastie Boys, Our Lady Peace, Joydrop, Kid Rock, The Crystal Method, Garbage, Alanis. Played on Edgefest, Warped and Summersault tours. Made lots of Videos. Twice nominated, once won Muchmusic MMVA's for song Superchile. Video for Peppyrock a mainstay on MuchMusic, eventually peaking at ..11 on the charts. Nominated for a Juno in the Best Alternative Band category, losing to Rufus Wainwright. The project eventually imploded due to the usual cocktail of mismanagement, record company shenanigans, and interpersonal differences.
After the dust settled, I started working for an Internet Animation Company, designing sound effects, tracking (and performing!) voice-overs, and creating original music cues. After a two year hiatus, I began work on a solo record for my project Public (hence my name!). Working with Steve Clark of Vibrolux, I fashioned a record both personal and accessible, talking about my frustration with the music industry, and telling stories of the people I knew. There wasn't much label interest (to be honest, I barely could stomach shopping) but the record found a home in Licensing, and began cropping up in shows like Fashion TV, and Degrassi.
The collaboration between Steve and I proved so fruitful that we started a band together, The Premiums. The Self-Proclaimed 'Greatest Band in Creation'! With a solid focus on radio-friendly songwriting (Our Motto: We don't write songs, we write hits!) we holed up and cranked out the best material I feel have ever written, our debut album Recognizer. Equal parts Cars, Cheap trick and 10CC, it was an album that paid homage to the radio hits of our past, without seeming 'vintage' or 'retro'. We put together a rock solid band featuring Justin Heming of The Bass Hornets, and Tony Rabalao from Joydrop and played hard. Played with Hot Hot Heat, The Unicorns, French Kicks, The Marble Index, Bif Naked, and Tara Slone. Signed with SRO Management (Rush, Tea Party) and shopped it HARD, guy. Played our little hearts for all the canadian labels... both of them. Zing! Released it as an Indie on Maplemusic, and just generally embraced the pressure of touring and recording as an indie band in Canada. Vital: Sense of Humor! Stevie:Showcase!
Even though we weren't signed by a Major label, the album seemed to have a strange undeniable lifeforce. We had to beat off licensing requests with a stick. The song White Lightning has been used so many times the label is starting to wear off the bottle. It's even been used in a Campbell's Soup Commercial! MTV went crazy over us and used in a number of their shows, most notably Punk'dReal Word, and Surfgirls.
We began work on our second album PRIMETIME in a bit of a depressed mood. Frustrated at feeling passed over, we channeled our anger into a darker, more aggressive album. While the first one showcased more of a glossy, summery vibe, PRIMETIME is a primal, ragged album, full of distorted yelps and jagged guitars. No longer dreamy pop boys, this is the sound of MEN.
I'm also working with some other bands, notably The Wizard of Rock, and am almost finished writing another PUBLIC record. Trying my hand at Composition for Film, Television and Videogames. Also trying my some Re-mixing. I'm listening to a lot of Hip-Hop, Jazz, Salsa, Boogaloo, and Bossanova, and am looking for raw, talented Vocalists and Musicians to work with. Feel free to contact me!
