Yarmouth, Nova Scotia’s solo atmospheric prog artist Marc Durkee is a big fan of Swedish metal hitmakers GHOST. Covering their songs over the years, he’s has posted his latest acoustic rendition of ‘He Is’, which can be viewed on his youtube channel where other past covers from personal favorites can be watched.
“I really enjoyed Ghost’s “Prequelle” album they released this year. I’d already done a few acoustic covers of songs from it, which were well received, so I decided to throw it back to one of my favorites from their previous album.”
Inspired by Katatonia, Tesseract, Anathema, Devin Townsend, Coheed & Cambria, Marc Durkee’s music can be described as “a blend of progressive, metal/rock, doom metal, post-hardcore, and post-rock.”
Durkee’s new album ‘Remain In Stasis’ will be out on out January 18th, 2019 and is loaded with deep meaning to this courageous and talented solo artist, as he explains.
“The first meaning of this release is personal. I’ve been stuck in a state of depersonalization for almost five years now. For me, it’s been a chronic symptom of dealing with years of depression and stress, and it’s unrelenting. When it’s at its worst, it removes mostly all motivation and enjoyment from my life. While that is unfortunate, it does serve as a major source of inspiration for song-writing…The second meaning is more political and universal. I feel that humanity is at a unique point in our history, with technology and social media allowing us to communicate and express ourselves in ways that were previously unimaginable. And yet, nobody really DOES communicate. It seems as though it’s mostly used as a platform to bicker over political ideals and agendas and create discourse, or for anyone to use as their own personal performance venue. Everyone wants to be seen and heard, even those who really don’t deserve to be.”
Marc Durkee is one artist who really does deserve to be heard, and when ‘Remain In Stasis’ is released, all the world will hear him.
LINKS:
https://durk.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/marcdurkeeofficial
https://www.instagram.com/darcmurkee
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Sunlust – Orange
Sunlust was birthed in early 2018 in Toronto, Canada by Stephanie Woulfe (guitar and vocals), Dan Wiktor (drums) and Stefano Signorile (bass). Stephanie moved to Toronto from her small hometown in rural Ontario in 2017 looking to pursue music and find like-minded band mates to play her songs. In a short couple of months, a Kijiji classified ad lead to drummer Dan who was excited to join a thriving Toronto rock scene. After meeting and jamming, Dan recruited friend Stefano Signorile to play bass and the trio formed Sunlust.
Drawing from a variety of influences, including grunge, garage, punk, classic rock, and alternative, the trio began their musical journey playing live shows extensively throughout the city. Sunlust has had the pleasure of playing live with notable bands Ready the Prince, Zig Mentality, Frankie the Pig, Joe Cool, and Barry Lyndon to name a few.
With dozens of shows behind them, Sunlust began recording what was planned to be their 5-track debut EP in December 2019 with the help of engineer, mixer, and producer Lorne Hounsell. Lorne is best known for his work with Fucked Up, Cuff the Duke, Bedouin Soundclash, amongst other notable Canadian artists. As the EP progressed and the 2020 pandemic slowed down the live music scene, the band began recording an additional 5 songs with Dan’s brother and the band’s good friend Jack Wiktor at Cadence House in Toronto.
In early 2021, all 10 tracks were completed and compiled to make the LP ‘Geek Confessions’, with Side A being the songs done with Lorne Hounsell and side B being the 2nd session with Jack Wiktor.
LINKS:
https://music.apple.com/ca/artist/sunlust/1530877003
https://music.amazon.ca/artists/B08HNFJRLS/sunlust
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4WMqN2pDXq83U4OUc0IlQO
https://sunlustband.wixsite.com/website
https://www.facebook.com/sunlust.band
https://www.instagram.com/sunlust.band -
The Moods – P.O.P. (Profit Over People)
Following a non-stop 2016 that included sell-out gigs in Glasgow and Manchester, great reviews, an artist development deal, their own short film for Joy released, and now included in a movie soundtrack, the rest of 2017 is looking very good for The Moods.
Early autumn, 2017 also sees the launch of film Strangeways Here We Come, starring Michelle Keegan, No Offence’s star, Elaine Cassidy, Bafta winner, Lauren Socha and former Eastender, Nina Wadia. Makers of the Salford-set, darkly-comic feature film chose not one but two of The Moods’ songs, for the soundtrack. The Aptly titled “Kids Carry Guns” is featured in the opening scenes, and new song “Keep Your Powder Dry” graces the final stages of the film. Placement of The Moods tracks was a recommendation of Terry Christian, and testament to the fact that their sound captures the atmosphere of northern urban life. This is a major UK Film release and will be shown in cinemas across 28 UK cities.
The Moods’ message is loud and clear. This 9-strong band unifies rap, brass and beats, delivering potent, political lyrics for a post-2016 world. The Moods will make you dance, and then they’ll make you think.
The New Single JOY, released June 23rd, on A1M record label, has had a massive initial response, from both fans, regional & student radio, online stations and podcasts. Joy is currently being played on over 25 regional radio stations and as far away as USA and Australia. “Joy” – Mixing soaring vocals, rousing strings and drum and bass, Joy will have fans dancing in fields, on dance floors, in living rooms… wherever they happen to be when they’re lucky enough to hear the track”.
To promote the new single and video, The Moods take their bold, live show on the road for a UK tour, starting on June 16th. After a summer travelling around the country, the band returns to Manchester in September to launch their album, Missing Piece at Manchester’s Iconic O2 Ritz.
SOURCE: Official Bio
LINKS:
https://twitter.com/themoodsmanc
https://www.facebook.com/themoodsmanc -
ASM – Honey (feat. Chinese Man)
ASM drop their new collab with Chinese Man with their new video titled ‘Honey’. Like a sucker punch to the gut, the track hits you hard with the beat and lyrical assault to the senses like depleted uranium to the skull. The video perfectly compliments the song with cut and paste-like creativity and dropped mic-bombs with each scene cut that keeps to the rhythm of the track. A perfect marriage of audio and video.
ABOUT ASM
With 3 critically acclaimed full-length albums and over 600 shows in 25 different countries under their belt, ASM has established themselves as one of the pre-eminent hip hop acts in Europe today. Their unique brand of sophisticated, ultra-lyrical boom-bap fusion continues to serve as a refreshing reminder that hip hop can be fun, artistically ambitious, and intelligent.
Principally composed of MC’s Green and FP and DJ/Producer Fade aka RHINO, this international trio of friends from high school (one Canadian, one German, one English) first gained international recognition from their collaborative singles with Wax Tailor: “Positively Inclined” & “Say Yes”, and have since collaborated with the likes of Chinese Man, MF DOOM, Deluxe, La Fine Equipe, and many more.
After spending the last 18 months touring extensively as live MCs of Marseille legends Chinese Man as part of the Shikantaza tour, 2019 sees the return of ASM with a brand-new album and tour project as the latest act on the illustrious roster of Chinese Man Records.
After exploring the depths of cinematic orchestration and pushing the boundaries of narrative rap on their 2015 opus “The Jade Amulet” and the returning to their origins in smoked-out jazzy boom bap on the 2016 “String Theory EP”, 2019 sees ASM takes a new direction in the form of the new studio album “Color Wheel”.
Featured image by Damien Chamcirkan.
LINKS:
https://www.chinesemanrecords.com/asm
https://www.facebook.com/ASMastateofmind
https://twitter.com/ASMastateofmind
https://www.instagram.com/asm_astateofmind
https://www.youtube.com/user/ASMastateofmind