Cornwall ON – Well via Australia where Cornwall’s favorite band The General Electryk are wintering, or is that summering.
Here is the first intstallement of our music documentary, we’ll be posting videos bi-weekly while we’re away. Things are going great here, we’ve played a gig on the Gold Coast and have a couple more this month. We’ll be playing on Christmas Eve at Tommy’s Bar in Lismore, NSW and also at The Lennox Hotel in Lennox Head, NSW on Tues Dec 28th. We are sad for the loss of Truffles and what it meant to everyone’s hard work to get downtown pumping again. We look forward to leading the charge in the spring to rebuild. We hear you’ve had some freezing rain, we’ve had plenty of rain also, however no freezing thank goodness (people would freak out if things froze here!)
Our video blog will be up and running soon via our website www.generalelectryk.com also our iTunes release date is fast approaching and we are looking forward to everything the summer holds in store for us, flying the Cornwall flag in Australia.
Mel and Angus sent in the following release and we’re hoping to hear live from them soon!
When Melanie arrived in Cornwall in April of 2010, we had the makings of what would come to be…”Petty Little Things” – the General Electryk’s debut album.It all started back in January 2010 working with Glenn Forrester in his studio on Augustus right here in town. We recorded some drum tracks and some rhythm guitar and then went to Australia for a quick two month visit. Revisiting those tracks after being away made us realize what we started was something truly special.
In 2009 Jason Ryan joined the General Electryk and having spent most of the winter season playing with us around Cornwall stepped into the recording process laying down the bass accompaniment to Angus’ drum tracks. It was solid!
In April of 2010 Melanie played a few shows with Marc D Muir, namely an Acoustic night at the St Lawrence Stage in Morrisburg. Rehearsal time was at a premium so Marc and Melanie got together just hours before the show to work through the songs. Marc said that this first rehearsal was spent “simply talking rather than playing” as Mel talked about her passion for music and her plans to make it big.
The acoustic show was hugely successful. With you-tube clips going viral around the Eastern Ontario interweb pipelines it was clear this marked yet another evolution in the General Electryk – we had found our lead-guitarist! Marc took the songs back to his studio in downtown Cornwall, worked and reworked the lead guitar parts until he was ready to lay down the love. The parts Marc came to us with were original and bred a new kind of energy into the songs. They stand as a testament to his ability as guitarist and composer. Adding the original and hypnotic Conga style of Mr Noureddine Ismag we were officially ready to take the next step.
It was at that time that we started rehearsing for The Cornwall Kinsmen 2010 “Lift Off” – Cornwall’s biggest festival. Lift off was getting close but the album was not! Rushed for time, we decided to release a 5 track EP affectionately known as the ‘Lift Off EP’. The EP was released the Friday of the festival coinciding with the release of our first run of t-shirts featuring images of Melanie and Angus, lyrics and of course the logo (Moonpod) In the music business all this is affectionately called “swag” and the ‘General Electryk’ brand was launched!
Supporting Chantal Kreviazuk was indeed a highlight for the summer of 2010. With support from Stephen Macintosh on the bagpipes for the song “Grampa”, Lift Off 2010 was a weekend to remember.
After Lift Off, the General Electryk played almost 40 shows over the next 2 months in and around Eastern Ontario and Quebec. There was something special happening – new songs and an undeniable ambition to finish the full length album.
We returned to the studio in September adding 4 more songs – each one seemingly playing a unique role in the album. “All the Animals”, “Deal goes Down”, “Grampa” and the first single off the album co-written by Marc and Melanie “Brulee”.
With support from Eric Sauve (Roche Voisin), Matt Weaver (rock 1019) and Stephen on pipes the album was complete. Glenn Forrester went to work in the role of Producer and throughout the process he knew exactly what sound and feel we were looking for.
With the formalities taken care of the album went to print. Framed Photography and Mr. Joey Gault worked with us to layout and create what we think is a masterpiece! We also got the chance to celebrate the city we call home with a testimonial to its future included in the album layout.
For months previous to the launch we searched and searched for a venue that would encapsulate the feel of the album. It was fitting we chose Schnitzels and it was the right choice! The venue quickly reached capacity even before Graham Greer, who graciously offered to open the night, had even hit the stage.
Joined by Angela Youngs for backing vocal duties and Glenn looking after the sound the General Electryk set sail on playing the album in its entirety for the first time.
To those who were there, we thank you for the support. To those who couldn’t make it we are flattered by the hype we received wanting more release dates and more shows accessible to fans outside of Cornwall. And so with the Album successfully launched we are poised to take the next step! We love this town and want to send the message to the rest of the world that a new Cornwall is here and we will carry that message to wherever we go!
Much Love to everyone!
