OCEAN CITY DEFENDER

Jan 26 Show!

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 08:13:59 -0500

I will be playing January 26th at DefSup’s DERELICTE 5: A Fashion Odyssey event.

I am thinking of wearing the most unfashionable thing I can think of and will be taking suggestions via the internet. Maybe a onesie made out of fire. Wait, do they make those?

Twenty Twelve

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 15:06:54 -0500

Thunder Bay’s best arts and culture magazine, The Walleye, held a vote a while back highlighting the city’s best things in 2012. I’m really humbled that my record, The Golden Hour was voted third best! You can check out the results here. I am in great company; my good friend Jean-Paul De Roover was voted second for his excellent EP; and my friends Merk and Martel had their graphic novel Nowadays voted as Best Book AND Merk voted as Best Visual Artist! Well deserved.

This closes out 2012 on another positive note. I’m looking forward to 2013. I’ve just received the masters back on my EP and hope to have that out soon.

I am extremely excited to let everyone know that I will be a...

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 19:08:15 -0500

I am extremely excited to let everyone know that I will be a part of CMW’s Canadian Music Week in March, 2013. The first round of bands was just announced at at Canadian Music Fest website! I will have more information soon. In the meantime, here’s the link:

http://canadianmusicfest.com/

Recording & Other Events

Wed, 07 Nov 2012 20:28:07 -0500

Thanks to everyone who came out to the string of shows I just did here at home. It was great to work on new material in front of people and get feedback on it. It also helps on developing how I do it on record. Speaking of which, I am finalizing several new music things which have been often referred to as “songs” in certain circles. These “songs” are currently being recorded and mixed and then will be mastered and then after that hopefully inside of your ears. Or your walkman or whatever.

I have some really great announcements coming up on how I intend to release said music things and also on some festival and tour dates in the coming year.

END OF SUMMER UPDATE

Fri, 31 Aug 2012 19:30:26 -0400

Well, after a seemingly short summer where I spent my days shirtless on a sun-kissed beach, and my nights shirtless piloting stealth get-away helicopters on billion dollar diamond heists, I am ready to play some shows.

I have the following coming up in Thunder Bay:

September 14 @ The Study w/ Jon Cohen Experimental and my good friend Jean-Paul De Roover

September 21 @ The Foundry as a part of Thunder Bay’s gigantic Music for the Masses festival.

September 25 @ Crocks w/ Secret Broadcast and Pedestrian Lifestyle

October 27 @ TBD as a part of Definitely Superior’s The Hunger

November 2 @ Definitely Superior Art Gallery as a part of the launch of the Nowadays graphic novel release party. I will likely be playing an atmospheric music set.

I’ll have more details on each soon.

FRIDAY NIGHT (August 10, 2012)

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 19:10:42 -0400

Hey everypeople, I am playing THIS FRIDAY NIGHT. That’s August 10, 2012. I will be at one of my favourite places in the world, The Black Pirate’s Pub, and will likely be 2 or 5 drinks deep before playing. I strongly suggest you come see me play. I haven’t played since June, and won’t be playing again until September! I will be playing with a few great touring acts: The Shrugs, and Salinas. What with all the ‘the’ I intend on playing as THE Ocean City Defender that night.

Also, if you haven’t noticed oceancitydefender.com got a lot more awesome lately. What with the gorgeous new layout and whatnot. If you’re reading this on a phone, or a twitter, or a friendster, or an AOL I STRONGLY SUGGEST you get on that Netscape Navigator and chart a course for oceancitydefender.com

Wait, what?

See you all Friday!

Nowadays - Contribute! Read!

Thu, 21 Jun 2012 07:57:00 -0400

Some very good dudes of mine will be publishing their massive 300-page graphic novel Nowadays, but they need contributions for the printing funds. They have an IndieGoGo campaign here: http://www.indiegogo.com/Nowadays

If you watch a few of the trailers, you can hear some ambient, creepy music I did for them.

Please check out the campaign and contribute. This is a unique story with incredible artwork.

In other news, I am home from NXNE and have started working on the follow-up to The Golden Hour. I should be playing a few shows through the summer, but will be focused on the new record primarily. Also working on my head-spins, and watching the new episodes of Futurama.

Hi Friends, Here’s my video flyer for my NXNE show! Pass...

Thu, 07 Jun 2012 18:20:30 -0400

Hi Friends,

Here’s my video flyer for my NXNE show! Pass it around! It’s recyclable!

NXNE!

Wed, 16 May 2012 18:40:21 -0400

Ocean City Defender will be playing North By North East this year. I am extremely excited for this opportunity. My set will be Wednesday, June 13 @ 12AM (Midnight) at Czehoski on Queen St.

I am working on a few other dates to build a micro tour around this date. Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, and Windsor are all TBA. I’m really hoping to play Sudbury with my good friends Calendars.

I have a few other shows lined up locally as well. June 1st at the magnificent Black Pirate’s Pub in Thunder Bay with some other awesome local bands. I’ve also got the gigantic Music For The Masses event in September coming up. I played this puppy last year and it was an insanely good time.

!earshot review

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 08:35:42 -0400

The Golden Hour was reviewed by !earshot! The review can be read here. This is very exciting.

I figured I would also take this opportunity to say - again - if you haven’t downloaded the album, to do so as soon as you can at Bandcamp. I got a call from the internet and they said that they were running out of mp3s and to get them while you still can.

Also if you’re wondering how the album was made, you can watch that documentary here.

Okay, bye!

We're talking about practice.

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 19:45:41 -0400

So, I have been practicing for tomorrow’s show. “Tomorrow” as in Friday April 6, 2012. And “show” as in THIS SHOW RIGHT HERE.

The point of this post, you ask? Come to the show if you can. There will be two new songs and some re-workings of existing joints off the EP.

I am on at 1:30am. Black Pirate’s Pub.

There will also be Ocean City Defender shirts for sale.

(Insert Radio Pun)

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 12:52:23 -0400

Alright, just a reminder to everyone that I will be on CILU today between 4 and 6 playing two songs as a part of their fund drive. It would be rad if everyone donated some money to the station.

The show can be heard online today at http://luradio.ca/wp/?page_id=40 from 4 - 6pm. Or on old timey radio, like the following photo, at 102.7 fm in the Thunder Bay area.

(Actual photo of old timey radio with sound-lines present)

Between episodes of Murphy Brown and Full H today, I finished a new song that I will be playing. So it’s BRAND new. As of today new. That’s got to be worth SOMETHING.

Above is The Making of The Golden Hour the documentary...

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 18:56:00 -0400

Above is The Making of The Golden Hour the documentary (mockumentary?) on the recording process behind The Golden Hour EP.

Lots of news on shows and radio appearances and new music coming soon!

Shows & Radio

Sat, 17 Mar 2012 18:52:30 -0400

I have a few shows and a radio performance coming up!

I will be playing on CILU March 29th on the Digging Through the Rubble program as part of the LU Radio fundraiser. I will be playing a new song on air. The working title of the song is The Mechanical Boy. It is not a cover of The Mechanical Boy from H.R. Pufnstuf, but it really should be. The show can be heard online that day at http://luradio.ca/wp/?page_id=40 from 4 - 6pm.

My next show is March 31st as a part of the Definitely Superior Art Gallery’s fantastic Urban Infill art event. I will kick off the after party starting at 10PM.

Following that is April 6th at the Black Pirate’s Pub with Jean-Paul De Roover.

More information will follow soon!

The One Where Ocean City Defender Plays Music

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:39:15 -0500

Some excellent things lately. The record has been getting some really great features on some really better than great blogs. Sounds Better With Reverb, BIRP.fm, Mistaken for Strangers to name - and link to - a few.

I will also be playing on February 29th with local geniuses Jean-Paul De Roover and Jamie Smith for Jean-Paul’s Loopy Leap Year quadrennial event.

Lots more to come music and video wise. I intend to have the documentary mentioned in an earlier post up on the site in a week or two. I also also intend to be posting some remixes of the album. Not in the ‘somebody-else-did-the-remix’ vein, but in the vein of remixing myself. It will be a fun experiment.

Interview on Independent Music Promotions

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:19:00 -0500

An interview I did with Independent Music Promotions was published on their site today.

I always worry I come of as a “negative nelly” or a “un-positive pal” or a “total asshole” in these things…

The whole interview can be read here: http://www.independentmusicpromotions.com/2012/01/18/exclusive-interview-synth-pop-indie-rocker-ocean-city-defender/

Also, has anyone been keeping up with Elite: The Private Jet Lifestyle Magazine? What a great publication…

The Golden Hour EP

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 10:36:00 -0500

“The Golden Hour has set the bar very high for electro-pop in 2012. This is essential listening for anyone with ears and a heartbeat.” - Voyage North (CBC Radio One)

The Golden Hour EP is now available. It is downloadable from http://oceancitydefender.bandcamp.com as pay-what-you-want-or-can. Physical copies are available on CD for $5 from shows. I am working on a limited run of 8-Track copies, because, why not?

Also, if anyone missed my interview on CBC, you can check it out here: http://www.cbc.ca/voyagenorth/episodes/2012/01/06/ocean-city-defender/

CBC Radio Interview Tonight

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 12:46:00 -0500

Hello everyone,

I will be on CBC Radio’s Voyage North tonight between 4 and 6 pm.

The show streams here:

http://www.cbc.ca/video/radio-popup.html#networkKey=cbc_radio_one&programKey=thunderbay

The Golden Hour has 22 Minutes & More

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 08:09:00 -0500

Here are some things that are happening:

The Golden Hour EP will be available online and at shows January 6, 2012

I am conveniently playing on January 6, 2012 at The Black Pirate’s Pub in sunny Thunder Bay.

I have two new videos available to look at. One is called Movement and can be found right here by clicking on these words; the other is called The Freddy Shelly Throat Punch and can be found over here by doing the same. Both videos should be look-at-able in the videos section of this website.

I will be on CBC’s Voyage North January 5, 2012 talking about the EP.

That right up there at the beginning of this post is a screencap from the documentary I am finishing editing called Ocean City Defender: The Making of The Golden Hour: A documentary made by Ocean City Defender during the making of The Golden Hour the title is subject to change. But the interesting part about that is the documentary is A) going to be available to look at online in January and B) going to be hilarious.

The Golden Hour EP & Shows

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 19:04:00 -0500

Friends,

I have finally completed The Golden Hour EP. If you haven’t guessed yet, that above is the artwork for the “jacket cover” (that was for you, Spinal Tap fans).

Anyone remember when albums had covers and not computer-compressed JPEGs on a 3 inch screen that no one really cares about and they only listen to one song and don’t know the artist or song name and when they tell their friends about it they forget the name and just transfer a file instead of making a big thing about it? Me too.

The Golden Hour will be released in the following formats: Physical (Compact Disc) and Metaphysical (Digital). Metaphysical in the sense that you will be able to download the album to a “computer” and play it on a “computer music playing device” commonly known as a Walkman. But you won’t actually get to hold it, and smell the ink on the artwork. That’s part of the process, right?

All of this will go down January 6, 2012.

In the meantime, I will be uploading videos with songs and other incidental things.

Along with the EP release will be the ‘making of’ documentary which follows the process of making the EP.

Finally, I will be playing a few shows at the top of the year in town as well. January 6th at Thunder Bay’s Black Pirate’s Pub (which will act as an unofficial release party) and then a few times in February. Dates are coming on that one.

Keep checking back here for more information, shows details, and for videos, etc.