Artist description Formed in the summer of 1998, A Golden Hour are a band from Toronto. One thing that stands out about A Golden Hour is the difficulty in pinpointing a specific genre. Although our music falls into the "rock" umbrella, the wide range of influences within and transcending the genre's limitations result in a unique and personal sound.

Music Style Emotional Rock

Musical Influences Radiohead, The Beatles, Sunny Day Real Estate

Similar Artists Radiohead, Sunny Day Real Estate

Artist History A Golden Hour were formed in the summer of 1998. The three members, Jason, Geoff and David, attended high school together (Agincourt Collegiate Institute) andwere all active in the music program (concert and jazz bands and choirs). Aside fromtheir functions in A Golden Hour, Jason plays the piano, violin and alto saxophone,Geoff the tenor saxophone and David the trombone. It wasn’t long until the three of them noticed each other’s musical abilities andinterests, and soon began to collaborate musically. In 1995, Jason (drums), Geoff(guitar) and David (bass) first played together as Tuna Half White, the pit-band in aschool talent show. Playing instrumental originals and covers, they entertained theaudience between acts of school talent. They also played at Jason’s sister’s birthdayparty. Soon after, Jason had Geoff and Dave accompany him in a one-time bandentertainment contest for a class semi-formal. They, along with a few othermusicians, performed Wings’ "Live and Let Die" and The Beatles’ "Something". Inthis case, Jason stepped up to the microphone as the lead vocalist. (They won thecontest, too.) In 1996, Jason and David joined a high school band called LUD. With Jason on leadvocals and David on bass (with other friends filling out the band), LUD practicedpopular rock songs and, well, that’s it. Nothing original was accomplished, whichfrustrated Jason and David but not the rest of the band. LUD had two gigs: anotherone of Jason’s sister’s birthday parties and the school dance. Geoff was playing wherever and whenever he could. Throughout years of musiccamp and other opportunities, he and Dave found each other playing together quitewell. Geoff would work on musical projects with friends from camp or church. He wasasked joined a Scarborough band, Silent Noise, in the summer of '97 as the leadguitarist. As he began to write songs he asked members of Silent Noise to join himto form Stage Left. Dave joined him in this band which perform only once aMcMaster. Throughout these experiences he was seldom completely satisfied withthe end product. Now high school was over. In hindsight, all three guys realized what could havehappened. It was always talked about, but never done. The next September, Jasonwent off to Western for music, David to Waterloo for computer science (co-op) andGeoff to McMaster for mechanical engineering. All three dabbled in some quickiebands, with no end product to show for it. Then, in the summer of 1998, Jasonreceived a phone call from his cousin Geoffrey, studying at the Trebas Institute inToronto. Geoffrey needed a band that night for his student team to record for aproject in their Modern Production class. Jason immediately agreed and that night hebrought Geoff and David with him to Studio 306 in downtown, Toronto. The guys had been working on a couple of songs recently, but nothing substantial.They had yet to find a drummer. So, they were sloppy. All that was accomplished inthe first three hour session was the bed tracks for a cover tune: Radiohead’s "My IronLung", with Jason both singing and playing a borrowed drum kit. During the next week, the guys polished up three solid originals which were recordedin the next 5 weeks during their Trebas sessions. (Chris Drummond, a friend of Geoffand David’s, played the drums when they began recording bed tracks. The band iscurrently looking for a permanent drummer.) Although the Trebas production crewwas often frustrating and borderline incompetent, the three tracks were finallycompleted, with one of them mixed (unsatisfactorily), one of the not mixed and thethird being lost on some digital tapes, somewhere... Through the studio experience, Jason, Geoff and David finally became determined topursue this "band thing" seriously. They chose the name A Golden Hour, taken froma poem on the wall of Geoff’s basement where they practice. All three memberswere impressed with the ease and quality of their song writing. During their Christmas break in 1998, A Golden Hour finally committed three of theirsongs to CD. The Love View e.p. was recorded at Articulate Music in Toronto.Check out the music section the website for mp3s from this session. One thing that stands out about A Golden Hour is the difficulty in pinpointing aspecific genre. Some say "Alternative" or "Modern Rock", but the musical influencessurrounding the band are too varied for their own music to be so generalized assuch. Geoff takes his influences from the guitar playing of Alex Lifeson (Rush), BrianMay (Queen), and bands like The Beatles and Radiohead. David’s enjoys artistssuch as Bootsy Collins and Parliament Funkadelic, as well as bands likeRadiohead, Jamiroquai, the Doors, Jimi Hendrix and Portishead. Jason is currentlyinto hardcore and indie rock, listening to bands such as Zao, Mineral, Sunny DayReal Estate and Roadside Monument . Some of his other favorites include Weezer,George Michael, the Backstreet Boys, Blur and, you guessed it, Radiohead. Allthree band members also love listening to and playing jazz. The members of A Golden Hour all find music to be second nature. Jason plans tobase his career around it (production and a DIY record label), and all three memberswill undoubtedly be playing in some way for the rest of their lives. But for now, AGolden Hour is their focus. And when they’re focused, they’re good. Look out. -fin

Group Members Jason Chu - Vocals Geoff Olsen - Guitars David Pettypiece - Bass

Instruments Bass, Drums, Guitars

Albums Love View e.p.

Location Toronto, ON - Canada

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