Band Profiles #4,5,6 Pick up your drum sticks!
With sooooo many awesome bands now on the bill, we decided to triple stack the band profiles!
Recently added to the Sled Island 2010 lineup! Priestess! Montreal metal, baby!
While the rest of the world were keeping their sites on the “Montreal Music Explosion” in the winter of 2003, a band of merry miscreants brazenly turned a blind eye to their poppy surroundings and just hunkered down in their dank rehearsal space, wood shedding on what would become their blazing debut record.
After much industry ballyhoo garnered from their intense live set Priestess finally signed a deal with Indica Records in 2004 and released what is widely regarded as one of Canada’s greatest hard rock debuts ever Hello Master. Unlike most hard rock/metal bands that relied solely on ballast and blast to sear their message into gray matter Priestess had a special trick up their sleeve – they could actually write a song that could walk the rope between being infectious just downright viscous. Armed with far more hooks than your average metal band their unique style of pop driven melody with metal muscle and Marshall stack attack quickly earned them a die hard fan base weary of death metal grunts and other metal cliches. It seems not only was the metal/hard rock underground listening but also shortly after its release major label RCA would perk up some ears and quickly inked a deal with the band, re-releasing the debut and only increasing Preistess’ global grasp. With major label muscle now behind them the band was able to pick up momentum the way REAL bands have been doing it for years – hitting the road hard. Their incessant touring included sharing the stage with such heavy hitters as Black Label Society, Converge, Mastodon, Motorhead, Gwar and others with their sound equally comfortable sharing a stage with Iron Maiden as it was with Dinosaur Jr.
Mini Mansions are a three-piece psych pop band from Los Angeles (w/ Michael Shuman from Queens of the Stone Age), who serve a mix of baroque-pop requiems, Motown eulogies, and Mersey-era break beats. Let’s just say it’s like The Zombies playing at ODB’s funeral.
Formed in January 2009, Mini Mansions have toured the US as main support for Them Crooked Vultures and Autolux, as well as played with bands such as The Dead Weather, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Spinnerette, and Sleepy Sun.
MM will be touring in support of their new single “Monk b/w Heart of Glass” released on Psychedelic Judaism, June 2010. They are currently finishing up their debut full length record at Pink Duck Studios (Queens of the Stone Age, Them Crooked Vultures, Arctic Monkeys, Eagles of Death Metal), which should be released Summer 2010.
Built to Spill is an indie rock band based in Boise, Idaho, United States. The band is best known for its catchy guitar hooks and the unique voice of frontman Doug Martsch.
Former Treepeople frontman Doug Martsch formed Built to Spill in 1992 with Brett Netson and Ralf Youtz as the band’s original members. In an interview with Spin magazine, Martsch stated that he intended to change the band’s lineup for every album, with Martsch being the only permanent member. After the band’s first album, Ultimate Alternative Wavers (1993), the lineup changing idea held true, as both Netson and Youtz were replaced by Brett Nelson (not Netson) and Andy Capps for 1994’s There’s Nothing Wrong With Love. A compilation album called The Normal Years, consisting of recordings by both the first and second trios, was released in 1996. Between recording albums in 1995, the band gained notoriety by playing on the Lollapalooza tour.
Martsch signed Built To Spill to the Warner Brothers label in 1995. Unlike many artists signed to major labels, however, the deal the band brokered with Warner allowed it to retain a large degree of creative control over future albums. Built to Spill produced its first major label release in 1997 with Perfect From Now On. By this time, the band consisted of Martsch, Nelson, Netson, and Scott Plouf.
