Artist description Power Poppers from Canada

Music Style Power Pop

Musical Influences The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Chicago, ELO, The Four Seasons,

Similar Artists Weezer, Sloan, Phantom Planet, The Apples In Stereo, Ultimate Fakebook, The Flashing Lights

Artist History Canadian power poppers The Perms formed in 1997 in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada when Shane Smith asked his brother Chad and his high school friend to form a band to help write and record a full length album. After three months of jamming and demoing material, they recorded their debut album - Tight Perm over the winter of 1997. They then signed on with Hugtight Records who released the CD later on that summer. They shot a video for their first single " Love at First Sight ", and then for the next two years they were on the road touring. The record attracted a very positive buzz and allowed the band to open for acts such as Nickelback, 54 - 40 and Big Wreck. Shane Smith began playing bass at the tender age of fifteen. Influenced by the likes of The Beatles and The Beach Boys, he soon fell in love with music. At age nineteen he started writing his own songs which were inspired by Ben Folds Five, Sloan and Weezer. Prior to forming The Perms, Shane performed with alternative indie rockers The Flower Pots. Chadwick Smith was first inspired by music at a young age. The Beatles album Rubber Soul turned him on to music and he hasn't looked back ever since. Although Drums were Chad's first instrument of choice, he later started playing guitar and writing his own songs. Chad played with the alternative rock group The Savants before forming The Perms. Ian Feist began his musical career in his late teens by taking several years of instruction. Always one for showmanship, Ian acquired his influences from a variety of musical styles. Ian performed with the band My Tragic Sister before joining The Perms. Nick Kolisnyk began playing trumpet in high school while listening to influences such as Chicago, Blood Sweat and Tears and Electric Flag. Before joining The Perms, Nick furthered his music education at the University of Winnipeg and played with various jazz and rock 'n' roll groups. The Perms will be releasing their sophomore album in August in 2002 and will be touring over the next several months. For more info you can check out their website at www.theperms.com.

Group Members Shane Smith, Chad Smith, Ian Feist, Nick Kolisnyk

Instruments Shane Smith - Vocals, Bass / Chad Smith - Vocals, Guitar / Ian Feist - Drums / Nick Kolisnyk - Trumpet

Albums Clark Drive (2002), Tight Perm (1997)

Press Reviews Making a permanent mark in music By Clare Elias Gazette Staff "I have some money and 10 songs," says Shane Smith to his brother Chad and their friend Paul Thorsteinson. And that's how The Perms got started. For about a year and a half, The Perms have been trying to reach their goal of entering the music scene full-time. "Each time we're closer to our reality," says the guitarist Thorsteinson, who considers himself to be the soul brother of the band. In the meantime, the group is maturing in sound, style and lyrics. Despite minor setbacks on the road (two ditches, a weird porn encounter and a U.S. border search), The Perms are improving the dynamics of their music. "The experiences of being on the road are shaping the way we see things and varying our lyrics," says Thorsteinson. Their first album, Tight Perm, is filled with love songs and the trio is expanding their new music to include "songs more about life because being out of the town you grew up changes your outlook." The success of The Perms, in terms of having their name known in the industry, is forcing the band to practice harder and prepare for bigger and better things. The independent band is enjoying its freedom of creativity, but also admitting, says Thorsteinson, "that if the right label came along we wouldn't exactly turn our backs from it. But for now we're right where we want to be in the Canadian music scene." For the guitarist, his purpose for being a part of this scene is the opportunity to leave his mark. "I want to finish my life and look back and see that I've done something, or at least left some kind of dent." Thorsteinson says he realizes that the best way he can do this is to use music as his vehicle. Perhaps this need for immortalization comes from The Perms' influences. Drawing upon the music from their childhood, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and Joe Jackson have helped shaped the sound of the band. "We couldn't get away from our parents' music – there was just no escaping it," says Thorsteinson. Without denying the strong family influences, the three members took their own musical tastes from Weezer, Tool and early music from Sloan to complete the Perms' pop groove. The wide range of musical sounds has also created a varied audience ranging from 10 years to 50, says the guitarist. Without any more problems, The Perms can establish their name in the Canadian industry and perhaps even in the U.S., but that's if the U.S. border patrol doesn't try another search. Hey, maybe that will give them new lyrical ideas.

Location Winnipeg, Manitoba - 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).