|
|
Music Style
Guitar pop, Alt. country |
|
Musical Influences
The Smithereens, The Replacements, Townes Van Zandt, Husker Du |
|
Similar Artists
American Music Club, Lemonheads, Giant Sand |
|
Artist History
Hamilton Magazine -Summer 2000 The Commitment- (Weekday warrior with a song in his heart) If you don’t know songwriter Mike Trebilcock , what you hear about him depends on who you ask. Ask your neighbor, and chances are you’ll get a blank stare and a shrug. Ask your neighbor’s kid and you’ll discover that until last year, Trebilcock fronted popular pop/rock group The Killjoys, who played to tens of thousands of screaming fans across the nation. Ask someone who takes local music seriously and you’ll discover that Trebilcock is one of the best songwriters in the region.Like many of his favorite artists- legendary songwriters such as Steve Earle, Townes Van Zandt and Alex Chilton- Trebilcock has had his share of ups and downs. He certainly hasn’t done prison time or battled heroin addiction, but he has suffered the more painfully mundane trials of the songwriter. “There’s not a lot of places for original music, where you can actually make a living out of it,” says Trebilcock. “Sure you can be a weekend warrior but this is the only thing I do. It’s not that I’m not GOING to do anything else, but it really affects your output when your roofing during the day and playing at night or trying to fit writing in there somewhere.”Trebilcock has been writing music full time for years, but his songwriting history stretches back even further than that. His first band, The Munday Nuns, jangled their way through Hess Village in the late 1980’s. The Killjoys appeared in the mid-90’s, when their independent release, Starry, was picked up by Warner Music Canada. The band’s energetic, punkified take on finely crafted pop songs made the band on of Canada’s best, and for a few years, one of the most popular with young audiences. Eventually, however, two things happened. First, Trebilcock’s songs outgrew the confines inadvertently constructed by Killjoys’ hits such as “Dana” and “Today I Hate Everyone”. Then, fickle mainstream taste strayed into kiddie-pop, second-rate grunge and electronica in all its forms. Warner Music and the band unceremoniously parted ways.Trebilcock, equally unceremoniously continued to write, and those with the good fortune to have seen him playing lately will attest to the understated power and thoughtfulness of the new material. The art/craft of songwriting is his major concern; current recording sessions are likely to produce three-song demos, which may end up leading him into capital-“S” songwriting. - James Hyashi-Tennant |
|
Location
Hamilton, Ontario - Canada |
|
Copyright notice. All material on MP3.com is protected by copyright law and by international treaties. You may download this material and make reasonable number of copies of this material only for your own personal use. You may not otherwise reproduce, distribute, publicly perform, publicly display, or create derivative works of this material, unless authorized by the appropriate copyright owner(s).
|
|