The Hidden Cameras

Last updated
The Hidden Cameras
The Hidden Cameras in 2014.jpg
Background information
Origin Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genres Indie pop, indie rock, alternative rock, baroque pop, queercore
Years active2001 (2001)present
Labels Arts & Crafts, Outside Music, Rough Trade
Members Joel Gibb
Laura Barrett
Maggie MacDonald
Michael Peter Olsen
Lief Mosbaugh
Shaun Brodie
Paul Mathew
Rudolf Hebenstreit
Jamie McCarthy
John Power
Mez
Website thehiddencameras.com

The Hidden Cameras are a Canadian indie pop band. Fronted by singer-songwriter Joel Gibb, the band consists of a varying roster of musicians who play what Gibb once described as "gay church folk music". [1] [2] Their live performances have been elaborate, high-energy shows, featuring go-go dancers in balaclavas, a choir, and a string section.

Contents

History

2001–2002: Ecce Homo

The band's first album, Ecce Homo, was released independently in 2001 on EvilEvil. It was after this first release that Gibb assembled a band and they began to perform in venues varying from art galleries to churches to porn theatres to parks. Since these early days the Hidden Cameras have played host to a number of notable musicians, including Reg Vermue, Owen Pallett, Laura Barrett, Don Kerr, Magali Meagher (of the Phonemes), Mike Olsen (of the Arcade Fire) and Maggie MacDonald.

2003: The Smell of Our Own

Their 2003 album The Smell of Our Own was released through Rough Trade in the UK and on the independent label EvilEvil in Canada. [3]

2004–2005: Mississauga Goddam and The Arms of His 'Ill'

In 2004, they released Mississauga Goddam on Rough Trade and on EvilEvil in Canada. Their EP The Arms of His 'Ill' was released by Absolutely Kosher Records in the same year, and it features jacket art created by Paul P. and G.B. Jones. In November 2005, the band collaborated with Toronto Dance Theatre on the show In the Boneyard at the Harbourfront Centre in Toronto. Dancers joined the band throughout the show andn played instruments, and the band performed on-stage in costume.

Three of the songs from Mississauga Goddam ("We Oh We", "I Believe in the Good of Life" (a rerecorded version of the same song from the first album), and "Builds the Bone") are featured in the Canadian movie Whole New Thing . "We Oh We" is featured on the soundtrack of the German film Sommersturm (Summer Storm).

2006: Awoo

Awoo , their 2006 recording, was released on Rough Trade in Europe, EvilEvil in Canada, and in the U.S. on Arts & Crafts. The Hidden Cameras' song "Boys of Melody" is featured on the soundtrack of the John Cameron Mitchell film Shortbus . The Hidden Cameras song "Lollipop" is the theme song for the G.B. Jones film The Lollipop Generation from 2008, which Joel Gibb also appears. Also that year, they performed in a Take-Away Show video by Vincent Moon.

2009: Origin:Orphan

Origin:Orphan , their fifth album, was mastered in May 2009. [4] The music video for "In the NA", a song from this album, was screened at the 19th Annual Inside Out Film and Video Festival. [5] The album was released on 22 September 2009. [6]

Five songs from Origin:Orphan were redone by electronic pop band from Barcelona Hidrogenesse and released under the name of Hidrogenesse versus the Hidden Cameras in May 2010. [7] Also a video for "He Falls to Me" was done by Darío Peña. [8]

In 2011, they recorded a cover of Mecca Normal's "Throw Silver" for the compilation album Have Not Been the Same - Vol. 1: Too Cool to Live, Too Smart to Die .

2013: Arts & Crafts compilations and Age

In 2013, the band appeared on two compilation albums from the label Arts & Crafts. The song "Mind, Matter and Waste", originally a B-side from their 2009 "In the NA" single, appeared on Arts & Crafts: 2003-2013 and garnered airplay on CBC Radio 3, and the band collaborated with Snowblink on a cover of Duran Duran's "The Chauffeur" for Arts & Crafts: X . [9]

The album Age was released in January 2014. [9] The lead single "Gay Goth Scene" was released in July 2013. [9] The video for the single was directed by Kai Stänicke, who received the Short Film Award for Human Rights at San Marino International Film Festival awards, Tadgell’s Bluebell Honor Award, Best Short Film About/For Youth at the 16th Auburn International Film Festival for Children and Young Adults in Sydney, Australia, and best German short at the International Queer Film Festival Hamburg, Germany.

2016: Home on Native Land

Manufaktur Schorndorf, Germany 2018 The Hidden Cameras Schorndorf 14.jpg
Manufaktur Schorndorf, Germany 2018

Home on Native Land released on Outside Music was written and recorded over 10 years by Gibb with friends and bandmates, including Rufus Wainwright, Feist, Neil Tennant, Bahamas, Ron Sexsmith and Mary Margaret O’Hara.

Discography

The band's material has been released on a variety of labels, including Rough Trade in the United Kingdom, Arts & Crafts in the U.S., and Outside Music [10] in Canada.

Albums

EPs

Singles

Soundtracks

Related Research Articles

Queercore is a cultural/social movement that began in the mid-1980s as an offshoot of the punk subculture and a music genre that comes from punk rock. It is distinguished by its discontent with society in general, and specifically society's disapproval of the LGBT community. Queercore expresses itself in a DIY style through magazines, music, writing and film.

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

Triumph was a Canadian hard rock band formed in 1975 that was popular in the late 1970s and the 1980s, building on its reputation and success as a live band. Between its 16 albums and DVDs, it has received 18 gold and nine platinum awards in Canada and the United States. It was nominated for multiple Juno Awards, including the 'Group of the Year Award' in 1979, 1985, 1986, and 1987. It was inducted into the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame in 2007, into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2008, and into Canada's Walk of Fame in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Stills</span>

The Stills were a Canadian rock band from Montreal, Quebec, formed in 2000 and disbanded in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broken Social Scene</span> Canadian indie rock band

Broken Social Scene is a Canadian indie rock band, a musical collective including as few as six and as many as nineteen members, formed by Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning in 1999. Alongside Drew and Canning, the other core members of the band are Justin Peroff (drums), Andrew Whiteman (guitar) and Charles Spearin (guitar).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sook-Yin Lee</span> Canadian actress

Sook-Yin Lee is a Canadian broadcaster, musician, film director, and actress. She is a former MuchMusic VJ and a former radio host on CBC Radio. She has appeared in films, notably in the John Cameron Mitchell movie Shortbus.

Mary Margaret O'Hara is a Canadian singer-songwriter, actress and composer. She is best known for the album Miss America, released in 1988. She released two albums and an EP under her own name, and remains active as a live performer, as a contributor to compilation albums and as a guest collaborator on other artists' albums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joel Gibb</span> Musical artist

Joel Gibb is a Berlin-based Canadian artist and singer-songwriter who leads the "gay church folk" group The Hidden Cameras. He was born in Kincardine, Ontario.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reg Vermue</span> Canadian musician

Reg Vermue is a Canadian indie rock singer from Guelph, Ontario. Born in Trenton, Ontario, he has recorded music under the stage names Gentleman Reg and Regina Gently. His musical style has been compared to Elliott Smith, Aimee Mann, The Smiths and Cat Power. He had a cameo role in the 2006 film Shortbus.

<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.

<i>Mississauga Goddam</i> 2004 studio album by The Hidden Cameras

Mississauga Goddam is a 2004 album by The Hidden Cameras.

Caroline Azar is a director and playwright. She was the lead singer, keyboardist and co-lyricist/composer of the band Fifth Column.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Owen Pallett</span> Canadian composer, violinist, keyboardist, and vocalist

Michael James Owen Pallett is a Canadian composer, violinist, keyboardist, and vocalist. Under their erstwhile moniker of Final Fantasy, Pallett won the 2006 Polaris Music Prize for the album He Poos Clouds. Pallett is also known for their contributions to Arcade Fire, having toured with the band and been credited as an arranger and instrumentalist on each of their studio albums. In January 2014, Pallett and Arcade Fire member William Butler were nominated for Best Original Score at the 86th Academy Awards for their original score of the film Her (2013).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Kerr</span> Musical artist

Don Kerr is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He is the drummer, lead singer and front man of Toronto band, Communism. He plays in Ron Sexsmith's band, and sometimes with The Kelele Brothers and Dan Mangan.

Maggie MacDonald is a writer, playwright, and musician who lives in Toronto, Ontario.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mstrkrft</span> Canadian electronic music duo

Mstrkrft is a Canadian electronic music duo from Toronto. The group was started in 2005 by Jesse F. Keeler of Death from Above and Al-P formerly of the Mississauga, Ontario electropop group Girlsareshort. Al-P was also the producer for Death from Above 1979's album You're a Woman, I'm a Machine as well as several of Black Cat #13's records. The duo have been close friends, as well as work partners, for a long time. Mstrkrft also produced Die Mannequin's first EP, How to Kill, and Magneta Lane's second LP, Dancing With Daggers.

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

The Meligrove Band is a Canadian indie rock band, based in Toronto, and consisting of Jason Nunes on vocals, guitar and piano, Darcy Rego on vocals and drums, Brian O'Reilly on guitar and synthesizer, and Michael Small on bass guitar.

<i>Awoo</i> 2006 studio album by The Hidden Cameras

AWOO is the fourth studio album by The Hidden Cameras, released in 2006.

Luis Jacob is an artist, writer, curator and educator living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

G. B. Jones is a Canadian artist, filmmaker, musician, and publisher of zines born in Bowmanville, Canada. She is known for producing J.D.s with her acclaimedTom Girls drawings before going on to create more musically, cinematically, and artistically. Additionally, her diverse projects have amply contributed to the LGBTQ+ space. Queerness is intersected with her variety of mediums and is done so purposefully with the hopes of sparking more societal discussion, connecting with more readers/ and viewers, or just being her authentic self in all she engages in. Jones continues to live and work in Toronto, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Peter Olsen</span>

Michael Peter Olsen is a Grammy-nominated multi-instrumentalist, producer, engineer, composer and arranger currently based in Toronto, Ontario.

References

  1. Chin, Rob (April 29, 2003). "Preaching from the choir: It's gay, and it's gospel (sort of) – Toronto's eclectic Hidden Cameras", The Advocate (888): 65.
  2. "A Completely Biased Ranking of the 60 Best Canadian Indie Rock Songs of the 00s Part II". Vice, Cam Lindsay Apr 10 2017
  3. "Music makes troubled town more livable". Toronto Star - Toronto, Ont. Rayner, Ben. Mar 9, 2003. Page: D.11
  4. "The HIDDEN CAMERAS - Music Is My Boyfriend". 15 August 2004. Archived from the original on 15 August 2004.
  5. "Inside Out - LGBT Film Festival". Insideout.ca. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  6. "Arts & Crafts". Arts-crafts.ca. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  7. "HIDROGENESSE VS. THE HIDDEN CAMERAS". Austrohungaro.com. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  8. ""He falls to me" Hidrogenesse versus The Hidden Cameras". Vimeo.com. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  9. 1 2 3 "The Hidden Cameras Release 7-Inch in Advance of 'Age' LP". Exclaim! , July 4, 2013.
  10. "New album "Age" out in January – Page 1223 – The Hidden Cameras". Thehiddencameras.com. 25 November 2013. Retrieved 20 December 2016.