| Fond of Tigers | |
|---|---|
| Background information |
Fond of Tigers is a seven-piece instrumental band from Vancouver, British Columbia. The group began in 2000 as a solo project of guitarist Stephen Lyons, and became a full band in 2003. An article states that "the origins of Fond of Tigers' process lies in the group's beginnings. After the demise of his adventurous pop band Beauventure, Lyons embarked on a solo career. But the lone-guitar-slinger project soon evolved to include playing along with tape loops and recorded drones." [1]
On June 20, 2006, they released the debut a thing to live with. Their second album, Release the Saviours, was released on November 27, 2007. Their third album, "Continent & Western" was released on Sept. 21, 2010 and it won a Juno Award in the "Instrumental Category" in 2011. All albums are on Vancouver-based creative-music label Drip Audio[2], operated by Jesse Zubot.[3] Their third album, "Continent & Western" was a co-release with Offseason Records.
The band has performed at the Vancouver Jazz Festival[4] and the Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville.[5], the Guelph Jazz Festival, the Sled Island Music Festival and Sappyfest.
Band members include Stephen Lyons on guitar, JP Carter on trumpet, Morgan McDonald on piano, Jesse Zubot on violin, Shanto Bhattacharya on bass, and Skye Brooks and Dan Gaucher on drums.
An article describes the band's sound: "with cacophonous explosions of percussion and guitar underlying wild strains of trumpet and violin, only to drop out for unexpected, ambient glimmers of a once-roaring piece." [6] In an interview, the band explained how they feel about the fact that their sound is difficult to describe: "The constant seems to be that there is no easy description, and that reviewers and other listeners seem quite content with that fact." [7]
Fond of Tigers has collaborated with Swedish musician Mats Gustafsson and Toronto's Sandro Perri.