EXtério

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eXterio are a francophone rock band from Île Bizard, Quebec, Canada. They were formed in 1992, by drummer Daniel Mayrand and guitarist Nicolas Désormeaux. They were quickly joined by their friend Sylvain Bolduc (guitar) and Jessy Fuchs on bass.

Contents

[edit] Early History (1992-2000)

In the summer of 1992, all four members bought their instruments, and played them for the first time. None of them had any previous experience with playing music, and all simultaneously taught themselves to play, practicing, as many bands do, by playing covers of popular bands, ranging from the likes of Nirvana to Metallica. They eventually became skilled enough to write their own material, and in the spring of 1993, began playing shows in local areas. Many of their shows were played in the school they were attending, or in various celebrations, such as the June 24th celebration of St-Jean-Baptiste Day. In 1994, they added Jean-François Gauvreau on keyboards, who eventually left the band in 1996.

The band never had a steady vocalist until 1996, when the band recruited Daniel Gosselin (Goss) to play guitar and to sing lead vocals. Goss would turn out to be a good songwriter as well, writing most of the band's demos, and even writing the future hit "Bonhomme 7 Heures". Unfortunately, in 1997, the band would split up, as Jesse was more actively participating in another band, and would focus on various other solo projects as finishing High School or mowing his mother's lawn.

In 2000, drummer Dan contacted the members of the band, Nick, Jessy and Goss, just to practice together as a group again. This practice session was meant to be just for fun, but it ended up being a weekly ritual, which made eXterio become every member's main occupation once more.

[edit] Recent History (2002-present)

In 2002, singer Dan Gosselin left the band, as he moved away to Vancouver to live with his girlfriend, leaving the band without vocals. Lacking a lead vocalist, every member tried out the vocalist part, but with little success. However, the voice of guitarist Nick can be heard on one of eXterio's demos, which contains the song "400$", which the band continued to play live until late 2005, when Nick left the band. Desperate for a legitimate new lead singer, the band placed an ad in a local newspaper. They received a call from a man named Marc Loiselle, who auditioned and was picked as new lead singer. The band recorded a final demo, before being signed to SlamDisques, and beginning the production of their first full-length album, Vous êtes ici!!, which would be released in May 2003. The album allowed the band to truly break through in the Quebec music scene, spawning four hit singles, Whippet, Bonhomme 7 Heures, 450, and Chien Blanc, which was the only single to be only released to radio, not being accompanied by a video. The album would go on to sell over 10,000 copies. In the summer of 2003, the band decided to tour France and England, where they were very well-received. Upon their return, the toured Quebec with various big names of the Quebec scene, such as "Les Pistolets Roses", "Haang Upps", "Les Trois Accords", and many more. In the winter of 2003-2004, the band took a break from touring to focus on their personal lives for a bit.

In spring of 2004, they engaged on a tour with "Eric Panic", a tour named "eXterPanic", which was very successful. Following this tour, founding members Nicolas Desormeaux left the band, stating personal reasons. He was immediately replaced by Nicolas Cyr (ex-Fishguts). The band started writing songs for the new album, which they tried out in their shows to very receptive fans. In December of 2004, it was announced on the band's official website that Marc would be leaving the band for personal reasons. He played his last show in January 2005, leaving eXterio without a lead vocalist, in preparation for the production of their second album. The band held auditions to find a replacement, but with no success. In late February of 2005, the band were starting to get worried, and entered pre-production of their second album, Le Délire du Savant Fou, at Power Plant Studios, on February 26th.

Around that time, the band had received word that a band played covers of a few of their songs, in western Quebec. They quickly got in touch with the lead singer of the band, Martin Brouillard, and asked him to come in and audition. He was an immediate hit with the band members, and on February 27th, 2005, at 9:35, Martin officially joined the band. They continued their work on the new album, this time with the safety of a lead singer with them, at Power Plant Studios, with Frank Joly, who had produced their first album, and would end up producing the second as well.

On March 2nd, the band entered "Studio Piccolo", a recording studio where such artists as Simple Plan and Céline Dion had recorded, and recorded the bass and drums for the album. Unfortunately, lacking the funds necessary to remain in that studio for longer, they moved recording back to Power Plant Studios, to record the guitar for the album. Vocals were recorded at Studio ConceptSon, with Jérôme Boisvert, who had helped record the vocals for the first album. Lead singer Martin recorded his vocals by reading the lyrics from printed copies of them, not knowing the songs by heart yet, as he had just joined the band a few weeks prior to recording. All recording went well, and on April 15th, 2005, the album was declared complete.

In May 2005, the band filmed the video for the first single from the album, "Savant Fou", and released the album. The video received a lot of airplay on MusiquePlus, the francophone version of MuchMusic, and the album launch was a complete success. They would go on to film a second video, this time for the second single, "Campanile", which would be a big hit as well. In late April 2006, the band released "Pédalo" as a radio-only single, which was successful enough to cause the band to release a fourth single, "La Plonge du siècle", in September 2006. In January 2007, they filmed their fourth video from the album Le Délire du Savant fou, "La 138", the video is a tribute to the music of Quebec. The band now plan to tour for a few months, before returning to the studio to record their third album, set for release in summer 2008.[1]

[edit] Members

[edit] Current

  • Martin Brouillard: Vocals, Guitar
  • Daniel Mayrand: Drums
  • Jessy Fuchs: Bass, Backup Vocals, Screams, keyboards
  • Martin Laframboise: Guitar

[edit] Ex-Members

  • Nicolas Cyr : Guitar (2005-2006)
  • Marc Loiselle : Vocals, Guitar (2002-2005)
  • Jean-François Gauvreau : Keyboards, Vocals (1994-1996)
  • Daniel Gosselin : Vocals, Guitar (1997-2002)
  • Nicolas Desormeaux : Guitar (1992-2005)
  • Guillaume Bédard : Vocals (1994)
  • Sylvain Bolduc : Guitar (1992-1993)
  • Stéphane Corneillé : Vocals (1993)

[edit] Discography

[edit] Demos

[edit] Full-length Albums

[edit] Trivia

  • The band are a big fan of solo artist "Le Skieur Fluo". The character is now well-known amongst eXterio's fans, and appears in the videos for Whippet and 450, as well as appearing in many of eXterio's live performances.
  • Popular Quebec icon Youppi appeared in the video for Whippet, and was a surprise guest at Marc's final performance with the band, in January 2005.
  • The band travels in a modified school bus, which they refer to as the eXterbus.
  • All band members of the 2001 line-up had an interest in professional wrestling at some point in their lives, and can be seen at a WWE promotional event on the DVD that comes with their second album, Le Délire du Savant Fou. Also appearing in this segment of the DVD are wrestlers The Big Show, The Godfather, Edge, and Ivory, who is seen with the WWE Women's Championship Belt.

[edit] References

  1. ^ eXterio.ca - Le délire du savant fou - Rock Alternatif Francophone

[edit] External links

Languages