RIVAL BOYS

NEW YEAR'S GRIN

2012-02-02T06:11:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

2011 was an incredible year for the Rival Boys clan. We released our first full length album, played more shows than any other year in our short history (2012 will be 5 years in November!), and made new friends with some great Canadian bands.

The positive response we've been getting from our album is amazing. We are so grateful to any one who bought it, downloaded it, or came out to a show this past year. We can feel kind of insulated when we hear our old songs over and over again in our rehearsal space - so it's an excellent feeling when a people come up to you after a show and says how much they like the record.

2012 is shaping up to be an even better year for us. We spent the fall of last year recording some demos of new songs, with the hopes of recording another full length album soon. We hope to re-enter the studio very soon to continue the pre-production of this next project. One of the tracks we recorded can now be downloaded on our bandcamp page! FREE!

Looking back on last year, here are my favourite band memories... ahh how I love looking back fondly at these moments:

The last recording session for our album! Our friends came to help sing on 'Recovery':

Releasing our record at the Garrison, our friends made this amazing cake!:

Riding back and forth on our bikes to the rehearsal space on the bike path near our house:

Seeing Wax Mannequin at Kazoo Fest in Guelph was AMAZING. Maybe the best show I've seen all year:

Playing with the dogs at the Fortnight Farm Fest in Guelph and sitting on a bale of hay at the same time was the best show environment for everyone involved. That plus free beer? The best"

Recording at Riverworks Studio! We always have awesome times with Mike Rocha:

Happy 2012!

RIVERWORKS

2011-11-22T12:39:00.000-08:00

This post is long overdue - we spend a weekend recording 6 songs with Mike Rocha at Riverworks studios. We recorded 5 original songs and one special holiday number, with wonderful tape-y results. 8 track recording is FUN! We'll hopefully be doing much more of this before releasing another record. Here are some pictures of the process:

UNTOUCHABLE

2011-10-13T11:21:00.000-07:00

Here's an interview we did with the nice guys at Untouched Sounds before our most recent show at The Drake. I just finished watching it (having not had a private moment with my computer by which to cringe comfortably at myself before now), but I found I was completely cringe-free! I think we're getting better at this! But more so - Ciaran and Geoff edited out our more annoying ranting dialogue so we come off looking smart and on the ball!

That's what I'm talking about! VIDEO

FARM FEST

2011-09-19T06:13:00.000-07:00

Our adventure to Four Fold farm was a huge success. Though it got to freezing temperatures after night fall, we had a great time drinking beers, eating burritos and generally soaking up the farm atmosphere. When we arrived, there were two horses hanging out behind the stage (an old barn structure and a storage place for bales of hay), roosters and chickens and their chicks following them around as well as a puppy and a kitten to play with. Best show environment ever!

The whole event was wonderfully organized. We met some excellent people around the campfires when the sun went down, and heard some great songs throughout the day. And having a Rival Boys camp out was fun too.

FARM BOUND

2011-09-15T09:12:00.000-07:00

This weekend, we're headed to the Guelph area to Fourfold Farm for an all day Music festival. So excited!
If you are in the area - this is well worth checking out!

AT THE EX

2011-09-06T06:03:00.000-07:00

Rival Boys spent the day at the Ex yesterday. It was Sam's first time, and my first time on a ride. We ate deep fried mac n' cheese, deep fried twinkie, deep fried ah caramel (not sure what that is), deep fried blooming onion..... loving that deep fried food digestion later! Boo to the end of summer!

FALL SHOWS

2011-09-03T13:26:00.000-07:00

Well, it seems as though we have a very busy month ahead of us. With 4 shows on the horizon (all of which look very promising), we are all looking forward to the next few weeks. Starting off the month is a show at The Drake, as part of the Toronto International Film Festival. I've never partaken in the festival, been to any movies or been star-struck on the streets of Yorkville or some such place, but perhaps playing a show at a hip Queen West club will cause me to get into the spirit of movies? I'm hoping that George Clooney or some other star will be lounging on one of the red leather cube seats in the Drake basement when we arrive. Fingers Crossed! We'll be playing with The Darcys, Samantha Savage Smith and Army Girls - it'll be a great night!

Next, it will be off to Guelph for a rare show in a farmer's field. This event is an all day music festival in celebration of Fortnight Music's four year anniversary. Fortnight Music is led by Spencer Shewen, a music promoter in Guelph who has been incredibly kind and good to us over the past few years. We'll be sharing the stage with some great musical names such as Bry Webb (Constantines), The Sure Things and Great Bloomers.

Following this, we have recently been added as an opening act for the band Yuck, at the Horseshoe. We love playing at this bar, and I'm looking forward to seeing this band live.
And then it's back to the Supermarket for a P.W.Y.C. night! Good times!

... and here's a picture of how we can record at home... making use of all closets and crannies...

SPACE INSPIRATION

2011-08-21T08:27:00.000-07:00

We recently moved into a new rehearsal space. Though only one building away from our old space we can already we feel the creative juices flowing and our appreciation for conscientious roommates building. There is nothing like a rehearsal space that doesn't smell like mold and rancid beer cans! Yay! In addition to the odour improvement, we are now sharing the rehearsal space with our friends Planet Creature; wonderful people making awesome music. What more can a band ask for?

Moving into the new rehearsal space has also prompted some new musical ideas and experiments. I feel a violin may enter into this scenario soon... And also - having an arcade game with Street Fighter outside your door can't hurt. I plan on enacting some virtual violence as soon as possible.

TORO

2011-08-11T05:47:00.000-07:00

We recently shot a music video with TORO Magazine for their Garage Band feature. Everyone from Toro was extremely friendly and professional and so even though the garage (literally, a garage) was boiling hot under the video lights - we had a lot of fun! And we look way less sweaty than I thought we would! Here is the LINK.

3D

2011-08-07T11:30:00.000-07:00

From the Toronto Underground Cinema. The evening on a whole left things to be desired - and 3D glasses kind of give me a headache, but don't we look great?

We'll see you on August 19th at Lee's Palace!

NEW AND OLDER

2011-07-22T11:39:00.000-07:00

Here's a couple visual offerings. We opted to get a video of our last show at The Supermarket, and here is the version of "Dream of Stones" that we played. I like the quality of the footage, it kind of reminds me of an old school concert video from TVO or CBC. Visit our youtube channel for more videos.

And also - here's the best long overdue picture from the record release at The Garrison. Note the cake. Note the shirt.

SUMMER NEWS

2011-07-16T11:37:00.000-07:00

Well, we've got a few shows lined up for the remainder of the summer (which is going by way too fast...). We'll be playing as part of the Out of the Box Music & Arts Festival - in its first year of operation.And we're especially excited to be playing at the Toronto Underground Cinema. We've never played in a movie theater before, and the addition of 3-D artwork (!!) to go along with the music should be incredible! And yes, there will be 3-D glasses provided!

Apart from playing more shows, we'll also be moving into a new rehearsal space! Hopefully this change will inspire song writing for the fall (we're thinking a 7''? hmmmmm....).

And for some non-Rival Boys related music news - if you are interested in theater, I suggest checking out the Toronto Fringe Festival, and the Summer Works Festival, both of which are hosting shows that significantly involve Sam. You may not know of his incredible talents as a composer outside of Rival Boys, but he is quite amazing. His sound design may be observed in SAVED (part of the Fringe Festival), as well as his own show Program (yes, his OWN show - written and directed by Sam) put on by the Musical Works in Concert portion of the Summer Works Festival, can be viewed this summer. AWESOME!

UPDATES

2011-06-23T18:57:00.000-07:00

The past few weeks have been fantastic for us. We've had great shows in Toronto and Guelph with good friends, lots of cake, and amazing music from everyone.

And now that it is officially summer (yay!), we're going to patios, gardening, and playing more shows!

Here are some pictures from our past exploits, from the Garrison, meetings, and the E Bar.

Also, This!

TONIGHT!

2011-06-03T14:00:00.000-07:00

Today is our record release party - and we are all extremely excited. We've been running around in varying states of anxiety and panic, but everything at last seems to have worked out. Here are some pictures of how we prepared for tonight.

WHITE LIGHT

2011-05-27T17:46:00.000-07:00

Here is our first ever music video! Graeme was able to transfer all of our family footage to a digital format recently, and so he made a music video out of it! It being Graeme's birthday today, it is fitting to see some childhood footage of us from way back.

SO CLOSE SO CLOSE

2011-05-26T17:20:00.000-07:00

Here's a poster for our upcoming release party. These will be FREE at the show!

THE FEELING'S MUTUAL

2011-05-24T16:51:00.000-07:00

We were recently interviewed by Sticky Magazine; or I should say that we embarrassingly blathered on to Sticky Magazine about our exploits. Read it all HERE.

Being interviewed is a weird thing - we're generally all self conscious about talking about our music, and this time we all felt like we were definitely pre-thinking sentences before speaking them out loud to make sure we were being understood (that is, until the cider kicked in...). Hopefully our blathering makes some sense.

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In other news, we got new t-shirts! These will be for sale starting on June 3rd in assorted sizes and styles! sweeeeet.

GRAYOWL

2011-05-06T14:30:00.000-07:00

Our first album review came out today from the music blog, Greyowl Point. Read it here!

I think that the owl's expression in the illustration above is accurate for our state of mind right now... hoot!

DIAL THIS CHANNEL

2011-04-18T15:45:00.000-07:00

We've set up a youtube channel for Rival Boys music. As of now there are songs off our EP, Life of Worry, on the site, but it will soon be home to music videos for our upcoming record (currently in progress). Check it out here!

KAZOO KAZOO

2011-04-17T10:51:00.000-07:00

We spent last night in Guelph - our all time favourite destination for out of town shows - playing at Kazoo Fest. We played at Synnema which at first glance seems to be a questionable venue for live music, nestled in a basement between a Muay Thai gym and a Young Drivers of Canada office. But the place turned out to be excellent (you can't argue with nice people and free beers!). We were slated to go on first at 8:00, and were anticipating playing to an empty bar. But we frequently forget how shows in Guelph are different from those in Toronto - in Guelph, people come early and leave late. Thanks to everyone for coming!

Following us were great sets by Tasseomancy (check out the song "Healthy Hands Will Mourn You" - the live version was fantastic) and Wax Mannequin - who was amazing! We'd never seen him live before and the performance was completely mind blowing. Above is a picture from his set after a giant body bag of balloons was released into the audience.

Driving back to Toronto today in an April blizzard was a great way to cap off the weekend too! Here's hoping for summer and more shows with great bands!

MUSIC AND PICTURES

2011-04-06T06:07:00.000-07:00

As promised! Here are 2 samples of the photos we took with Becca - who is so awesome to work with. There is nothing better than doing something like this with a good friend (and luckier still that she has the talent and materials to do it!).Not only does it make the whole process hilarious (the photo on the bottom is completely genuine!), but it feels really weird to have your photo taken hundreds of times, and having someone you trust behind the camera makes it much, much easier.

On Friday we spent a few hours underdressed in the power corridor at Kipling and Dundas, saying 'Hi' to the dogs being walked (and a puppy!), then came back to our house to sit in front of the table of food which I had worked on beforehand. Hopefully the photos in that set will make people want to buy our music AND come for dinner.

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For some musical news now... We recorded our record at Chemical Sound, who has now kindly posted one of the songs off the album on their website here: http://chemicalsound.tumblr.com/. The song is called 'Fine Lines.' Get into it!!

PARTY PIECES

2011-04-02T08:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we spent some time taking photos with our good friend Becca Lemire. We braved the windy desolation of Etobicoke and ate massive amounts of dill mashed potatoes to get these photos taken. Above are some picture I took of the preparation stages for our vision, during which I rediscovered my love for Rice Crispy squares and instant cake mix...

The 'real' photos will be up soon! Check back to see us gorging on chicken and cheese and fake laughing!

THINGS MOVE ALONG...

2011-03-14T17:36:00.000-07:00

Things are moving along with getting our album, Mutual Feelings of Love, out to all of you! Here's a sampler of some promotional copies that most people will never get! Ha! But below is a teaser for the forthcoming album artwork which will look WAY better on real deal.

MASTERING MORE MASTERING

2011-03-06T12:46:00.000-08:00

We have, as of today, FINISHED 12 songs for our forthcoming full length album, Mutual Feelings of Love. It has been a long process, but it's been incredible from the very start. Last night, our friends Corey Wells (of Ancestors), Brooke Gagne and Laura Rafferty (of Planet Creature) helped us lay down some shouty vocals in our last recording effort. Thanks guys! Above are some pictures to prove the fun! We also can't thank Mike Rocha enough for all of his work and help producing, mixing and mastering this music.

MOVEMENT

2011-01-31T06:11:00.000-08:00

FINISHED!

After a full year of recording and writing we've finally finished tracking our full length record. We spent the weekend at Chemical Sound and Roachmouth Records recording the last three songs and they are sounding sweet!

More details soon!

Welcome

2011-01-11T05:51:00.000-08:00

Hello and Welcome! We have finally joined the blogging life; here's to documenting all things good!