In the two years we've been a band now, I've written several brief bios about how things came together. But what has always bothered me about them is that they never go into any depth. It's the finer details of things are what really interest me about band that I'm into; I love knowing all the details of how things developed over time, the failed bands, the lost songs, the humble beginnings. So I'd like to take some time to detail the history, in a few instalments. This one is going to focus on where I come from, what I did before I met James and Mike and Camille. High school was a very musically prolific time for me, I was in a great many bands that I can't even remember the names of anymore, I played every coffeehouse I could, and some of the songs Fonfur plays to this day have their roots in those high school bands. For example, Denim Dogs stems from ideas that were created in a friend's basement in 2012, and early renditions of Juno & New Rules were jammed out by my first hight school band, Pryziv. Pryziv was extremely important to me because it was the first time I cut my teeth writing my own songs, songs that I saw potential in and never wanted to let go of. I played an Ibanez Jet King, my first brand name guitar, all through the duration of that band. I also really found my love of gear, and made a pedalboard out of a spare wooden IKEA shelf. As Pryziv, we would play shows at 24/7, a teen centre with a built in skate park in Burlington, where all the music kids in high school hung out. It was there that I really got to know the guys in a band named Dukes, and the two bands began to overlap. Eventually, members of each came together in one project called National Parks; Rob Laska, Kaelan Lupton, Pavel Soltys, Nick Bright, and Dan Walton. They're all people I remain in contact with to this day, and some of them play a further role in this story. Our rehearsal space was in Nick Bright's basement, where we packed 4 amps, an electronic drum kit, and 5 creative minds into a tiny bedroom sized space adjacent to the rec room. We watched movies together, we ate pizza, we developed songs, and we attended a lot of concerts that impacted us greatly. I learned so much in my time with that band and from Rob especially, and I'm extremely proud of the songs we wrote, which can still be found online under the band name Happy Belated (It's a long story.) I eventually left the band due to some dumb arguments, and floated around in other local bands for the remainder of high school, but reconnected with National Parks for their final two shows. The group went on to win Battle Of The Bands, and was given the incredible opportunity to play the Sound Of Music festival, which they invited me back to take part in. And I'm incredibly glad that they did, because to this day I consider it to be the landmark show of my musical career. There is some footage of the show on Youtube. The SOM performance was the last show National Parks would play, as everyone went off to post-secondary school at the end of the summer. It took a while for some, but every member of the band has returned to music in some form or another. Rob fronts the indie pop band Valley, Dan keeps busy with his project Wooly Mantis, Kaelan has a recording project called Slack, and Nick released his first solo track late last year. I think it's pretty obvious where I ended up, but more on that journey next time. ~Pavel Soltys, Fonfur
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A note from the artist about the EP The ceremony of dying generations without any guidelines for how to move forward makes these times easy for the mirror wars to continue. We can hide in the beauty of what has been stolen from us because somewhere there is mystery in not knowing. How can the ruined survive without a back up plan? Let's try the after. I'm always happy when Broken Social Scene announces new music, because I never know what's going through their heads, or what they're going to do next, and it's always a relief to hear that they're not going on hiatus again. Broken Social Scene is one of those bands that really stands the test of time. I still remember when my friend put a copy of You Forgot It In People into my hands in my grade 10 year, shortly after Forgiveness Rock Record came out. I was obsessed with YFIIP, and FRR soon after, enthralled by the art rock collective that was built from 90's bedroom noise experiments and the culmination of friendships. The band was a wormhole of local history, with connections branching throughout the entire Canadian music scene, from coast to coast. I spent endless hours listening and researching, and if there's one band that taught me more about Canadian music than any other, it's this one due to their sheer extensiveness. This new EP is coming out in less than a month, only a year and a half after their last release, which is exciting because it hints they have no plans to slow down this time. The first single All I Want is a solid mix of old and new sounds; it establishes a solid groove, almost recalling their YFIIP days, and phases in and out of verses and interludes while staying consistently true to their individual style. It has me incredibly excited for what the rest of the EP and beyond holds, especially since the EP cover says Vol. 1 below the title... The whole thing drops Feb 15th, and it's gonna be a good day for Canadian music. ~Pav 1/23/2019 0 Comments A Brief IntroductionHey guys,
Thanks for taking the time to check out the Fonfur site. Most of the page is meant to be business-y and professional, but this blog section of the site will be for posting more casual updates about the band, as well as sharing some things that we enjoy, things that got us to the point we're at, and things that keep us going. We'll also be sharing thoughts about new music we enjoy as it comes out, while we gear up and work on writing some more music of our own. Stay a while and read a thing or two, you might find something cool. ~Fonfur |
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April 2019
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