The Meligrove Band

Last updated
The Meligrove Band
The Meligrove Band.jpg
The Meligrove Band, January 2006
Background information
Origin Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Genres Indie rock
Years active1997-2017
Labels Last Gang, Nevado Records, V2, We Are Busy Bodies, Endearing, Ductape
MembersJason Nunes
Darcy Rego
Michael Small
Brian O'Reilly
Past membersRick Gomes
Andrew Scott
Website meligroveband.com

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.

Contents

History

The band was formed in 1997 in Mississauga by Nunes, Small and Rego, when the three attended Father Michael Goetz Secondary School in Mississauga. Their first public performance was in March 1998 at Club Shanghai in Toronto. The band pressed a demo cassette in May 1998, and its first album, Stars & Guitars, was released by Ductape Records in April 2000.

Original drummer Rick Gomes departed in June 2001, and the band stayed a trio (with singer-guitarist Rego permanently moving to drums) until the release of their second album, Let It Grow on Endearing Records in October 2002. The album showed a move to a more orchestrated sound. [1]

Andrew Scott joined in October 2002, months before his former band, Femme Fatale, ceased touring. Scott's bandmates in Femme Fatale included Sebastien Grainger and Jesse F. Keeler, who later played together as Death from Above 1979. Although the Meligrove Band's sound has been compared to Sloan by some Canadian critics, Scott is not the same person as Sloan's Andrew Scott. His last show as a member of the band was in September 2007 in London, but he has occasionally appeared with them as a guest since.

In 2003, Nunes, Small and Rego appeared in Joel Plaskett Emergency's Come On Teacher music video, playing Plaskett's high school posse. In 2004, the band appeared as themselves on an episode of the teen comedy Radio Free Roscoe .

In early 2005, Small played briefly with Jessie Stein and Owen Pallett in SS Cardiacs, a predecessor band of The Luyas.

In summer 2005, The Meligrove Band became the first Canadian group signed to V2 Records. [2] In 2006, the label released their album Planets Conspire in the United Kingdom, Canada, Taiwan, Scandinavia and Finland Planets Conspire was featured as Rough Trade Shops' Album of the Month for April 2006, and in Canada it reached No. 2 on the national campus radio chart. [3] That year the band toured in western Canada. [4]

The band's 2010 album, Shimmering Lights , was released in September 2010 by Nevado Records in Canada and Last Gang Records in the United States, [5] and reached No. 1 on CBC Radio 3 in late October. [6] The album also appeared on the !Earshot National Top 50 Chart. [7]

A documentary entitled Ages & Stages: The Story of the Meligrove Band was released in the summer of 2012. The film includes interviews with about 40 other Canadian bands and music industry personalities including Joel Plaskett, Tokyo Police Club, Born Ruffians, Fucked Up, The Arkells, The Most Serene Republic and Sebastien Grainger.

The Meligrove Band song "Bones Attack!!" was used as the theme song for TV show The Basketball Jones .

Their fifth album, Bones of Things, was released in November, 2014. [8]

The band took a break from touring in 2015, [9] and played their last performance at Lee's Palace in Toronto in November, 2017. [10]

Discography

Albums

7" Singles

EPs

Cassettes

Compilation appearances

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">By Divine Right</span> Canadian indie rock band

By Divine Right is a Canadian indie rock band led by guitarist and vocalist José Miguel Contreras.

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

Metric is a Canadian indie rock band founded in 1998 in Toronto, Ontario. The band consists of Emily Haines, James Shaw, Joshua Winstead and Joules Scott-Key. The band started in 1998 as a duo formed by Haines and Shaw with the name "Mainstream". After releasing an EP titled Mainstream EP, they changed the band's name to Metric.

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

Moneen is a Canadian indie rock band from Brampton, Ontario.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Death from Above 1979</span> Canadian rock duo

Death from Above 1979 is a Canadian rock duo consisting of bassist Jesse F. Keeler and drummer and vocalist Sebastien Grainger from Toronto, Ontario, formed in 2001. The band released their debut album, You're a Woman, I'm a Machine, in 2004 and broke up in 2006. They reformed in 2011 and released their second album, The Physical World, in 2014. Since then the band has released 2 more albums, Outrage! Is Now in 2017 and Is 4 Lovers in 2021.

The Golden Dogs are a Canadian pop-rock band based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Formed in 2001, the band is known for their wild, energetic live shows and were labelled as one of the best live bands in Canada by Chart Magazine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thrush Hermit</span> 1990s alt-rock band from Halifax, Canada

Thrush Hermit was a Canadian alternative rock band active in the 1990s, known for their "highly energetic, humorous, and unpredictable performances," as quoted by Vice News.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joel Plaskett</span> Canadian singer-songwriter

William Joel MacDonald Plaskett is a Canadian rock musician and songwriter based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He was a member of Halifax alternative rock band Thrush Hermit in the 1990s. Plaskett performs in a number of genres, from blues and folk to hard rock, country, and pop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Two Hours Traffic</span> Canadian indie rock band

Two Hours Traffic was a Canadian indie rock band, based in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. They are named after a line in the prologue to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Critics have drawn comparisons to 1970s power pop band Big Star, but the band members tend to cite Nick Lowe as a prime influence. The band was nominated for the Polaris Music Prize in 2008 for the album Little Jabs. In 2013, the band performed on their final tour, disbanding afterward.

<i>Clayton Park</i> (album) 1999 studio album by Thrush Hermit

Clayton Park is the second full-length album by Canadian rock band Thrush Hermit. It was released on Sonic Unyon in 1999, and is the last album they released as a band. The album produced two singles and videos for the songs "From the Back of the Film" and "The Day We Hit the Coast".

Hostage Life was a Canadian punk band from Toronto.

<i>Planets Conspire</i> 2006 studio album by The Meligrove Band

Planets Conspire is a 2006 album by The Meligrove Band. Released January 17, 2006 in Canada, Planets Conspire is their third studio album, and their first with V2 Records. The album features Jason Nunes on vocals, piano, guitar and organ, Andrew Scott on guitar, organ and brass, Michael Small on bass and Darcy Rego on drums and acoustic guitar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ohbijou</span> Canadian indie pop band

Ohbijou was a Canadian indie pop band that was based in Toronto, Ontario. The music of Ohbijou draws on pop, folk and bluegrass influences.

<i>Ashtray Rock</i> 2007 studio album by Joel Plaskett Emergency

Ashtray Rock is an album by Canadian indie rock band Joel Plaskett Emergency, released on April 17, 2007.

Last Gang Records is a record label formed by Canadian music industry lawyer Chris Taylor and concert promoter Donald K. Tarlton in the fall of 2003 at the Pop Montreal Music Festival. Last Gang was nominated as Independent Record Label of the Year at the Canadian Music Awards in 2006.

The Carnations were a Canadian indie rock band started in 1995 by Thomas D'Arcy on lead vocals and bass, and Stephen Krecklo on vocals and guitar. It expanded in 1996 to include Nathan Rekker on guitar and vocals, and Patrick Conan on drums.

Matters was a Canadian indie rock band from Guelph, Ontario. The band consisted of Tim Bruton (guitar/synth), Kyle Donnelly (bass), John O'Regan and Greg Santilly (drums). They played rock music that had elements of punk, dance, and art rock, and used multiple transitions and hooks rather than traditional verse/chorus song structures.

<i>Shimmering Lights</i> 2010 studio album by The Meligrove Band

Shimmering Lights is the fourth studio album by Canadian indie-rock band The Meligrove Band, released September 21, 2010 on vinyl and CD. Nevado Records released the album in Canada, while Last Gang Records released it simultaneously in the United States.

Old World Vulture is a Canadian four-piece instrumental post-rock band formed in 2008 in Toronto.

SS Cardiacs was a Canadian indie rock band, briefly active in the early 2000s. It consisted of Jessie Stein on vocals and guitar, Andy Lloyd on bass and Dana Snell on drums.

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

C'mon was a Canadian rock band based in Toronto, known for its explosive live shows. The core members were Ian Blurton on guitar and vocals, and Katie Lynn Campbell on bass and vocals and with Randy Curnew and later Dean Dallas Bentley on drums.

References

Citations
  1. "Meligrove Band Let It Grow". Pitchfork by Brian James (17 December 2002)
  2. McDonald, Neil. The Meligrove Band Sign To V2 Records, Tour Ontario' "Soulshine". 8 November 2005.
  3. Burland, Chris. Clap Your Hands Say No. 1! [usurped] ' Chart Attack. July 2, 2010.
  4. "Meligrove Band moves planets" [usurped] . By MIKE BELL - Calgary Sun. JAM Showbiz. (29 April 2006)
  5. "The Meligrove Band Get Started (Again)" Exclaim! interview By Alex Molotkow (January 2006)]
  6. Craig Norris, The R3-30 Podcast: Chart 215 Archived 2010-07-13 at the Wayback Machine . CBC Radio 3. Retrieved 22 June 2011.
  7. "The National Top 50 For the Week Ending: Tuesday, October 26, 2010". !Earshot.
  8. "Meligrove Band Bones of Things". Exclaim! , By Chris Bilton, Nov 14, 2014
  9. "End of the road for 'underdog' Meligrove Band". Toronto Star , August 5, 2015.
  10. "Toronto’s the Balconies go out on a high note". JOSHUA KLOKE, The Globe and Mail, January 23, 2018