Billy Talent (formerly known
as Pezz) are a Juno
award-winning Canadian band formed in 1993 in Streetsville,
Ontario
. The band consists of
Ben Kowalewicz (lead vocals),
Ian D'Sa (lead guitar and backing vocals),
Jon Gallant (bass guitar and backing vocalist)
and
Aaron Solowoniuk (drums and
percussion).The band existed for almost a decade before mainstream
success.
The members met and played in high school
under the name Pezz and remained underground in Toronto
's indie
music scene until 2001. The band renamed itself Billy Talent
after running into legal trouble with the old name. It was then
that Kowalewicz's connection with a worker in
Warner Music Canada's
A&R landed the band a record deal and launched
them into mainstream success. Since then, Billy Talent has made two
multi-platinum records in Canada, and continues to expand their
success overseas, this included
touring for 20 months supporting their
third album. They released their
fourth album
Billy Talent
III on
July 14,
2009.
History
Origins as Pezz: 1993–1999
The band
originated in Meadowvale
and Streetsville, two neighbouring districts in Mississauga
. In 1993, Ben Kowalewicz and Jon Gallant
were part of a band called To Each His Own, where Gallant played
bass, and Kowalewicz was on drums. Kowalewicz moved to vocals, and
Aaron Solowoniuk was recruited in
his place.
Then backstage at the talent show of their
high school, Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Secondary
, they met Ian D'sa who played with a different band
by the name of Dragonflower. The two bands started playing
local pool halls and bars together. Eventually Kowalewicz asked
D'Sa about starting a new band with him, Gallant, and Solowoniuk.
He wanted to make a band that focused more on creativity, and D'Sa
agreed. This merger would bring on the name "The Other One" for a
short time, and eventually "Pezz".
It wasn't until the recording of
Watoosh! that Gallant and D'Sa started singing, "creating
unique harmonies accented by the loud rock sound that the band was
pumping out."
Pezz began
writing, performing songs, and gaining attention and credibility at
first locally, and soon in Toronto's broader
indie music scene. Their
first recording was a cheap 4-track demo. It was recorded in Ian
D'Sa's basement in July 1994, and was named
Demoluca, after a friend of the band named
Jason Deluca had stopped by the house, banging on a basement window
while the band was recording. Soon after, in January 1995, they all
put in money to record another demo of better quality with
engineer/producer Dave Tedesco at the "Signal to Noise" studio
which they called
Dudebox.
Originally, two tracks from
Demoluca and four newly
recorded tracks were compiled onto it, but a year later the band
recorded four more tunes live in the studio and re-released it.
After these releases and their continued performances in the
immediate area, Pezz was gaining a following in Mississauga and it
continued to spread.
D'Sa
studied classical animation at Sheridan College
, and even worked on Angela Anaconda as an animator.
Gallant almost finished a business degree. Kowalewicz was in
between jobs, one which included working at
102.1 the edge. Solowoniuk worked at
Chrysler Canada. But during this, each
member found the time and finances to max-out their credit cards,
and record their first full-length album in 1999. They laid down
twelve tracks at a studio called "Great Big Music", collaborating
with
Juno-nominated
music producer Brad
Nelson. Kowalewicz started singing in melody with D'Sa. The
music began to transform from a "raw rap-rock" songs into "catchy
and angst-ridden pop punk anthems". With that,
Watoosh! was born and independently released.
While popular within Toronto's
indie
scene, it did not reach large mainstream sales levels.
Billy Talent and success: 1999–2004
In 2001, the band was threatened with a lawsuit from an American
band also called Pezz, which resulted in a name change. Billy
Talent would become their new name, inspired by the guitarist
"Billy Tallent" from
Michael
Turner's novel
Hard Core
Logo. The film adaptation by
Bruce McDonald would be the inspirational
medium for the band. However, this still led to fans mistaking
Kowalewicz of being named Billy Talent.
Now known as Billy Talent, their sound began to move in a more
aggressive, punk rock direction. During this time, Kowalewicz ran
into Jen Hirst, at
102.1 the edge, the
Toronto radio station he worked at. She had seen the band perform
as Pezz, and he asked her to check out the band's performance at a
club. This would prove to pay off, as Hirst was later hired by
Warner Music Canada to work in
A&R. This connection would get the band
their producer
Gavin Brown,
and a demo deal with the label. Before the demos were recorded, a
local manager called
Atlantic
Records A&R executives, who were already in Toronto, to see
the band perform in its tiny rehearsal space.
In 2002, the band met with record executives, and ended up signing
a co-venture agreement with
Atlantic
Records and
Warner Music
Canada. In the fall of 2003, the band released their
full-length self-titled album,
Billy Talent. The album found
considerable sales success. "
Try
Honesty" was a successful first single, and was followed by
other singles "
The Ex", "
River Below", and "
Nothing To Lose" into
late 2003 and 2004. The band played sold-out shows in Canada and
the United States and had success in
Europe.
The band received
Juno, (They won two
Junos, Best Album of the Year, and Best Band of the Year) and
MuchMusic Video Award
nominations and awards, and spent late 2004 and most of 2005
touring.
Billy Talent went on to be certified 3x platinum
in Canada.
A track from the album was titled "This Is How It Goes", and it was
about one of Kowalewicz's friends who had
multiple sclerosis. On March 17, 2006,
Aaron Solowoniuk revealed in a personal letter to fans that he was
the friend in that song. Solowoniuk was confirmed to have the
disease, which causes anything from numbness in the limbs to
paralysis or loss of vision, in January 1999. His
neurologist prescribed him medication that he
would have to self inject three times a week, possibly for the rest
of his life. Although it was a struggle for Solowoniuk to come to
terms with the reality of the disease, going to numerous doctor
appointments, and touring with the band with a mini-fridge in their
van has become normal routine. The medication has let him continue
drumming with the band, as it eliminated his symptoms, and he has
stated that "this changes nothing about my band or me."
Billy Talent II: 2005–2007
Billy
Talent's third album was mostly recorded at The Warehouse Studio in
Vancouver
, British
Columbia
, which was
produced by Gavin Brown again, and mixed by Chris Lord-Alge. This time however
Ian D'Sa got a chance to try his hand at producing. Beginning in
the fall of 2005, demos from the new album were purposely leaked by
the band to gain publicity. This put about half of the record out
in the public, "and then someone got the other half and then it was
just all out," so the band purposely
leaked it.
Billy Talent II hit the
shelves on June 27, 2006. It fared very well in Canada in its debut
week, landing in at number 1 on the Canadian charts.Armstrong,
Denis. "
Billy Talent mellows out",
Ottawa Sun, January 31, 2007. Retrieved on July
8, 2007.
It also enjoyed significant success in
Germany
, where it also debuted at number 1 in the album
charts in its debut week, and was one of the top 10 selling albums
in the country. As of June 15, 2007, the album has sold
almost 700,000 units worldwide, 215,000 of them in Canada making it
certified 2x Platinum, and 200,000 shipped units in Germany
achieved it platinum status there. However the success did not
duplicate itself in the U.S. The band has expressed that they know
they are a new band there, and they are choosing to concentrate
their attention to Canada, Europe, and other places overseas
instead.
The album contains less anger and bad language than their previous
self-titled album, as they had
mellowed out and matured as men and as a band. More of the songs
dealt with real-life issues, to the praise of fans and
critics.
The band ventured off on another UK tour in support of
Billy
Talent II, but this one would include more shows in countries
they had not performed in before.
During this tour leg, the gigs at London
and Manchester
, on September 8 and 16, respectively, were recorded
live. Limited edition CDs were released as the band's only
live album to date,
Live
from the UK Sept./2006.
Also during the tour, the band had to miss
their Southampton
show "due to a death in the family". The
whole band returned the following month to play the show.
The band
started their first Canadian arena tour with
the bands Rise Against, Anti-Flag, and Moneen,
performing in British
Columbia, Alberta
, Saskatchewan
, Manitoba
, Quebec
and ending
in Ontario
. Following the Canadian tour, the band
ventured onto their first US
club
tour.
The band went on a large overseas tour, beginning on June 1, 2007.
They
temporarily came back in mid June to play shows at the MuchMusic Video Awards, the Molson
Amphitheatre
in Toronto, and the Festival d'été de
Québec in Quebec
City
. They returned overseas, selling out
multiple venues in
Australia and
performing at the
MTV
Australia Video Music Awards.
They had planned to end their tour on
September 3, but the band played shows in St. John's,
Newfoundland
, Saint John, New Brunswick
and Halifax, Nova Scotia
on September 5, 7 and 8, respectively. As of
September 11, 2007, the band has indicated that their 18-month tour
has officially ended, and they are "home for a while to catch
[their] breath a little before [they] start writing the next
record."
In the meantime, a live DVD album called
666 was released
on November 27, 2007, featuring footage and audio from the band's
performances at London's Brixton
Academy
, Düsseldorf
's Philipshalle
, and Germany's Rock am Ring
festival (at the Nürburgring
).
In 2008 they opened for American group
My Chemical Romance in the US with
smaller group
Drive By and attended several
festivals and held concerts in Canada and Europe later on. Vocalist
Benjamin Kowalewicz stated on July 1, on Billy Talent's official
forum, that they're staying put in Canada until the album is
finished, and that their promotional tour for
II has come to an end.
Billy Talent III: 2008–2009
The
single for "Turn Your Back" was released on September 15 in the UK
and most of
Europe, on September
16 in the US
and Canada
and September 20 in Australia and was also featured in the video game
NHL 09.
The band entered the studio in November with
Brendan O'Brien, who has
previously worked with
Rage
Against The Machine,
Incubus,
Stone Temple Pilots,
Soundgarden,
Pearl Jam
and the
Red Hot Chili
Peppers.The band embarked on a
supporting tour for the third album,
starting in Australia in the
Soundwave Festival in
February.
Also, they played two sidewaves, one in
Sydney
, and one in
Melbourne
, with Emery and
Face to Face opening for
them. After Australia, the band headed to North
America, where they played the three day Coachella
Festival
.On February 21, at the Brisbane
Soundwave Festival,
the band unveiled a new song. Ian revealed during an interview that
the new song is called "Devil On My Shoulder". Ian also revealed
that the new album is to be called
Billy Talent III.
During summer 2009, Billy Talent will be touring North America with
Rise Against and
Rancid. On February 26, the band was announced
for
Download festival in the UK.
During the Melbourne Soundwave show, Ben announced they would tour
Australia again in August. It has also been announced that Billy
Talent will be playing at
Reading and Leeds Festivals
2009. Following the twin festivals the band have stated both live
and in interviews that they intend to tour the UK in late
October/early November before moving on to tour the U.S. in support
of their new album. In an interview with UpVenue, bassist Jonathan
Gallant announced that the Canadian tour would begin in winter 2010
but would be an extensive one.
Their fourth album,
Billy Talent
III was released on
July 14,
2009. On
September
22,
2009, it was released in the United
States, through
Roadrunner
Records.
Billy Talent will be touring with Against Me! and Alexisonfire in
Canada in March 2010.
Billy Talent kick off their 2009 UK tour on the 19th October and
say that they "can't wait to come over to Europe and the UK". Their
new single off "Billy Talent III" will be Tears Into Wine, as
stated by Ben in an interview.
Musical style and influences
Watoosh! saw the band mixing
multiple genres and making diverse songs on the same album,
stretching from hip hop to indie and ska. However, this evolved
into a more collected sound that was a mix of fewer genres on their
second album,
Billy
Talent. The result of this has been described by the band
as a their defining sound and that it was something that appeared
to them after experimenting with different styles. Although they
intended not to draw any inspiration from other bands, their new
sound had similarities to the music of
Refused,
Rage
Against the Machine,
Jane's
Addiction and
Fugazi, bands that they
have said they have great respect for. The similarities were
especially related to a lighter
post-hardcore genre and the music of Refused
and
At the Drive-In, but also the
anger and hard rock from Rage Against the Machine.
Although there are faint similarities to their music, their mix and
innovation of genres have made them unique and pioneering in the
modern music scene. There are raw and frequent backup vocals
heavily collaborated by main vocals, quick changes between loud and
quiet, tempo changes and Kowalewicz's characteristic vocals which
are the key elements that emphasize that assertion. In addition to
this, they are known for their significant usage of the dropped D
tuning (DADGBe), and a vast majority of their songs are in the X
Minor Key.
On
Billy Talent II, the
band altered their sound yet again, based on more mid-tempo and
emotional compositions; a bit more collected than their previous
work. It was also based on far less angst and aggression behind the
production, something that was known factors behind their debut.
While this change was apparent on many of the songs, they kept the
hints of
hard rock, but with less
screaming and more singing by Ben. "
This
Suffering" in particular shows the alteration because of its
reminiscence of their previous album and difference from the other
songs on the album.
As they grew on to be a mainstream rock band in several countries,
played songs with intense vocals and emotional lyrics, often wore
black clothes and grew a fanbase as such, they've been said to be
related to the
emo music scene, but this has
never been convincingly reasoned for. The band has commented on
this issue, stating that this characterization is ridiculous and
that they have no connection whatsoever to the typical emo
scene.
Band members
Awards
Billy
Talent has received a significant amount of recognition in Canada, winning six
awards from 25 nominations at the MuchMusic Video Awards and six awards
from twelve nominations at the Juno
Awards. The band has also been nominated at the
MuchMusic Video Awards every year since 2004. Overall, Billy Talent
has received sixteen awards from 42 nominations.
Discography
Tours
External links
References
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