Fembots (band)

Last updated
FemBots
Origin Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genres Indie rock
Years active1998 (1998)-2010
Labels Paper Bag (2003-2008)
weewerk
MembersDave MacKinnon
Brian Poirier
Nathan Lawr
Iner Souster
Website fembots.net (defunct)

FemBots are a Canadian indie rock band from Toronto formed in 1998. FemBots are known for their unique sound of combining instrumental everyday items, junk instruments, and traditional instruments in their music.

Contents

Background

The band's core members, Dave MacKinnon and Brian Poirier, were members of the early 1990s alternative rock band Dig Circus alongside Mark Hansen, James Julien and Dave Dreveny. [1] That band released three albums independently, but broke up in the mid-1990s before achieving any mainstream success. They subsequently joined with Ron Hawkins of The Lowest of the Low to form the band Hummer for a one-album project in 1997 before launching Fembots.

History

The Fembots were performing in Toronto by 1998. Their live show included analogue tape loops and prerecorded sound clips. [2]

Fembots' first album, Mucho Cuidado [3] [4] introduced their distinctive style of music with toys and power tools as instruments in their songs. [5]

Small Town Murder Scene , released in 2003, sounded more commercial than their debut, but was also praised by critics. [6] [7] In support of this album, FemBots toured with The Weakerthans and Arcade Fire. [8] [9] [10] The director Malcolm Ingram used five songs from "Small Town Murder Scene" in his 2006 documentary Small Town Gay Bar.

For The City , their third album recorded in the spring of 2005, Mackinnon and Poirier collaborated with Krista Muir, Lawrence Nichols and drummers Mark Hansen and Nathan Lawr, frontman for the Minotaurs (who would join Fembots for their next album). [11] The City moved the FemBots sound in a new direction, as they used more traditional instruments, while maintaining the distinctive emotion and creativity found in their previous albums. The City signifies their experiences in their hometown, Toronto, the good and the bad--"Demolition Waltz", for example, is about the loss of neighborhoods. The City was extremely well received by critics. [12] [13]

While making their 2008 album, Calling Out , FemBots contributed two songs to the 2007 film The Tracey Fragments , a soundtrack done by Canadian supergroup Broken Social Scene. [14] The band's music was also the soundtrack for the 2007 Ed Gass-Donnelly film This Beautiful City . [15]

Calling Out signified a big change for the band, as they moved from Paper Bag Records, their record label for their first three studio albums, [16] to weewerk records. [17] The initial idea for the album was to make it using solely junkstruments, aided by the expertise of their new member, Iner Souster. However, junkstruments could not sustain an entire album and they were used as rhythm tracks. Souster and Lawr also contributed to the songwriting process, a first for Mackinnon and Poirier. The album was released on September 16, 2008, and they toured Canada to promote it. [18]

Although never formally breaking up, FemBots became inactive following that album; members spent the next several years as touring session musicians with The Weakerthans. [19] On February 11, 2010, they played a "reunion" show at the Wavelength 500 Festival. (Wavelength Music Arts Projects) [20] Iner Souster joined the band Detroit Time Machine and opened an art gallery in Toronto. [21] Nathan Lawr remains with the Minotaurs. [22]

The Fembots music is used in the 2009 film Jackpot, [23] and is the soundtrack for the true-crime documentary series Farm Crime (2018-). [24]

Members

Discography

Studio albums

Soundtracks

Related Research Articles

Found objects are sometimes used in music, often to add unusual percussive elements to a work. Their use in such contexts is as old as music itself, as the original invention of musical instruments almost certainly developed from the sounds of natural objects rather than from any specifically designed instruments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John K. Samson</span> Musical artist

John Kristjan Samson is a Canadian musician from Winnipeg, Manitoba. He is a singer-songwriter and best known as the frontman of the Canadian indie folk/rock band The Weakerthans. He also played bass in the punk band Propagandhi during the mid-1990s. Today, Samson is making music under his own name, John K. Samson. His latest solo album, Winter Wheat, was released in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Art Bergmann</span> Canadian rock singer-songwriter

Arthur Frank Bergmann is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter who was one of the key figures in Canadian punk rock in the late 1970s. Bergmann was made a member of the Order of Canada in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexisonfire</span> Canadian post-hardcore band

Alexisonfire is a Canadian post-hardcore band formed in St. Catharines, Ontario in 2001. The band's members are George Pettit (vocals), Dallas Green, Wade MacNeil, Chris Steele (bass) and Jordan Hastings. The band has won numerous awards, and in Canada their albums have all been certified either gold or platinum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jason Collett</span> Canadian musician

Jason Robert Collett is a Toronto-based Canadian singer-songwriter. He has released six solo studio albums, and is a former member of Broken Social Scene. His latest album, Head Full of Wonder, was released in February, 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stars (Canadian band)</span> Canadian indie rock band

Stars is a Canadian indie pop/rock band based in Montreal, Quebec. Since forming in 2000, they have released nine albums and a number of EPs. Their music has been nominated for two Juno Awards and two Polaris Music Prizes.

All Systems Go! was a Canadian punk rock supergroup with members from Big Drill Car, Doughboys, the Asexuals The Carnations, Descendents, C'mon and The Weakerthans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Weakerthans</span> Canadian indie rock band

The Weakerthans are a Canadian indie rock band from Winnipeg. The band, led by John K. Samson, has released four studio albums and is currently inactive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jason Tait</span> Musical artist

Jason Tait is a Canadian musician from Winnipeg, Manitoba. He is the drummer for the Canadian indie rock band The Weakerthans. Tait has also been a contributing member of Broken Social Scene and The FemBots.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Lake Swimmers</span> Canadian folk rock band

Great Lake Swimmers is a Canadian folk rock band from Wainfleet, Ontario, and currently based in Toronto.

The Hylozoists are a Canadian instrumental rock supergroup formed in 2001 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The band's name is derived from hylozoism and was started as a side project of record producer and multi-instrumentalist Paul Aucoin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jon-Rae Fletcher</span> Canadian musician

Jon-Rae Fletcher is a Canadian singer-songwriter. He has recorded both as a solo artist and with a back-up band, The River.

Weewerk, stylized as (weewerk), is an independent folk, roots, bluegrass, country record label and artist-management company based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 2002 as an art-and-music salon series in the apartment of Teenage USA Recordings partner Phil Klygo and artist-curator Germaine Koh. Klygo was Festival Director of Canadian Music Week from 2001 to 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Attack in Black</span> Canadian indie rock band

Attack in Black was a Canadian indie rock band from Welland, Ontario, formed in 2003, whose music evolved from Hardcore punk to indie rock and folk rock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 Polaris Music Prize</span> Edition of music award event

The 2008 edition of the Canadian Polaris Music Prize was presented on September 30, 2008, at the Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto. The prize was won by Caribou for his album Andorra.

<i>Calling Out</i> 2008 studio album by FemBots

Calling Out is the fourth album by Canadian indie rock band FemBots, released on September 16, 2008, with Weewerk.

Masochistic Religion was a Canadian goth music group and one of the first goth bands from Toronto, Ontario. The band went through many line-up changes over the years, with the only consistent member being its founder, Mitchell D. Krol.

Acres of Lions is a four-piece Canadian Alternative rock band from Victoria, British Columbia, made up of Jeffrey Kalesnikoff, Tyson Yerex, Dan Ball (bass), and Shane Deyotte (drums).

Greg Smith is a Canadian musician and painter based in Toronto, Ontario. He is best known as the bassist of indie rock band The Weakerthans, which he joined in August 2004, replacing founding bassist John P. Sutton. As a member of The Weakerthans, he contributed to their latest studio album, Reunion Tour, and is featured on their live release Live at the Burton Cummings Theatre, to which he also contributed the album cover. Since 2018, Greg has been the bassist for the indie rock band The Lowest of the Low.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Shabason</span> Musical artist

Joseph Shabason is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist and composer. He is best known for playing the saxophone. As a band member and session musician, Shabason has contributed to bands such as DIANA, Destroyer and The War on Drugs.

References

  1. ↑ "Folky Canadian rockers Dig Circus get their thrills working without a net". Toronto Star , July 21, 1994.
  2. ↑ "Live Reviews: THE FEMBOTS March 6, 1999 Ted's Wrecking Yard, Toronto, ON". Chart Attack, review by Howard Druckman
  3. ↑ Lindsay, Cam. "Fembots Mucho Cuidado, August 2004". exclaim.ca. Exclaim!. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
  4. ↑ "FemBots – Mucho Cuidado". discogs.com. Discogs. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
  5. ↑ "The Fembots Deconstruct Teddy Ruxpin". Chart Attack, November 07, 2001
  6. ↑ "FemBots – Small Town Murder Scene". discogs.com. Discogs. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
  7. ↑ LeMay, Matt. "Fembots, Small Town Murder Scene". pitchfork.com. Pitchfork. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
  8. ↑ "Fembots Concert History". concertarchives.org. Concert Archives. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
  9. ↑ Barclay, Michael. "Cuff the Duke / Fembots Underground, Hamilton ON - January 11 2003". exclaim.ca. Exclaim@. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
  10. ↑ "The Weakerthans / Fembots / The Awards live in Quebec City (2003)". punknews.org. 4 November 2003. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
  11. ↑ "Fembots – The City". discogs.com. Discogs. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
  12. ↑ Liss, Sarah. "Review, Fembots The City, Dec 2005". nowtoronto.com. Now Magazine. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
  13. ↑ Kennedy, Brendan. "FemBots release gem of an album, Oct 2005". queensjournal.ca. The Queen's University Journal. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
  14. ↑ "The Tracey Fragments Sountracks". imdb.com. IMDB. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
  15. ↑ "This Beautiful City (2007)". imdb.com. IMDB. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
  16. ↑ Wilson, Carl (2 October 2003). "Indie artists have a new (Paper) Bag, Oct 2003". The Globe and Mail. The Globe & Mail. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
  17. ↑ "Fembots". weewerk.com. Weewerk. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
  18. ↑ Nay, Rob. "Fembots Calling Out, Sept 2008". exclaim.ca. Exclaim!. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
  19. ↑ White, Adam (17 December 2008). "The Rolling Tundra Revue returns, 2009". punknews.org. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
  20. ↑ "WAVELENGTH 500 / 10th Anniversary Festival — Night 2". |wavelengthtoronto.com. Retrieved 16 March 2012.
  21. ↑ Hatfield, Erin (16 September 2011). "Junkstruments meet music for Queen West Art Crawl, Sept 2011". toronto.com. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
  22. ↑ "Nathan Lawr". auteurresearch.com. Auteur Research. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
  23. ↑ "Jackpot (II) (2009)". imdb.com. IMDB. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
  24. ↑ "Farm Crime Credits". imdb.com. IMDB. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.