Our first-time intro to any music artist begins with our Artist Profile, where we learn about them and their music, directly from them.
Name: Faraway Neighbours
CMW Show(s): Tuesday, May 6th @ 9pm – Baltic Avenue
Hometown: North Bay, ON
Music Genre: Alternative Folk
Year it all began: 2007
A quick introduction: Amanda Putz of CBC Radio One programme Bandwidth once called us “”Ontario’s best-kept secret,”” and “”musically next door to Great Lake Swimmers”” — a flattering comparison if ever there was one. We grew up in Sault Sainte Marie, fell in love with music, and when we all moved to North Bay we knew we had to take things seriously. We’ve tried to create songs that challenge us and keep us on our toes, and an uncle’s attic that’s proved successful — it’s seen us play with Tony Dekker and John K Samson and taken our music into the realm of TV and film.
What got you into music? All of us came from musical backgrounds. Chris’ father played Pink Floyd records when he grew up and nurtured his guitar playing. Vince had been in choirs as a child and picked up the violin long before getting a set of drums. Andrew found his first guitar in his uncle’s attitude.
What are your sources of inspiration? We love Radiohead, Grizzly Bear, Ambulance LTD, Fleet Foxes — bands who push the boundaries of what music and voices can do to create sonically intense songs!
Dream gig? Being in the vicinity of Radiohead might very well break us emotionally and psychologically, but that’s one of those upper echelon dreams. Playing Toronto’s Massey Hall is the cream of the crop as far as Canadian musicians’ dreams go. You can’t beat having perfect sound at any angle.
Your thoughts on Canadian Music Week? CMW is neat in that it not only brings Toronto music lovers together across a few streets and dozen venues, but it reaches out to musicians across the country and globe. All of us hanging out doing the one thing that makes us all equally happy. Pretty special!
Interesting points others don’t know about you? We made our film debut playing ourselves in a Hallmark TV movie. Before that, we contributed four songs to a little Toronto-shot indie feature called IN RETURN. We’re proud of being able to get our music out there any way we can!
