Basement Revolver is an

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band from

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...

, Canada. Formed in 2016 by

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

and

vocalist Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

Chrisy Hurn,

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a Bass (instrument), bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboar ...

Nimal Agalawatte and

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one mem ...

Brandon Munro, the band has released two EPs and four singles, with their first album, ''Heavy Eyes'', being released in 2019. While the band largely plays in

Southern Ontario Southern Ontario is a primary region of the province of Ontario, Canada, the other primary region being Northern Ontario. It is the most densely populated and southernmost region in Canada. The exact northern boundary of Southern Ontario is disp ...

, they have toured the UK and have played in the Midwest USA and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. Known for their

alternative Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * ''The Alternative'' (film), a 1978 Australian television film * ''The Alternative ...

dream pop Dream pop (also typeset as dreampop) is a subgenre of alternative rock and neo-psychedelia that emphasizes atmosphere and sonic texture as much as pop melody. Common characteristics include breathy vocals, dense productions, and effects such as ...

style of music, Basement Revolver has enjoyed success on both sides of the Atlantic, and signed onto British indie record label ''fear of missing out'' in 2016.

History

Hurn – a native of

Newmarket, Ontario Newmarket ( 2021 population: 87,942) is a town and regional seat of the Regional Municipality of York in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is part of Greater Toronto in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario. The name stems from the ...

– and Agalawatte, originally from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, had known each other since childhood, and had been working on music in Hurn's basement apartment in Hamilton. When Munro, a college friend of Agalawatte and a

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

native, joined the duo, the band was formed under the name of Basement Revolver. The band's first gig was at Baltimore House in Hamilton, and their second show was playing at the 2016

Supercrawl Supercrawl is an annual art and indie music festival held each September in downtown Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which ...

. Soon afterwards, the band went to Tape Studio and recorded their first EP, ''Basement Revolver''. Soon afterwards, the band signed with UK-based indie record label ''fear of missing out'', and released their second EP ''Agatha'' as well as a single, ''Johnny Pt.2'', a follow-up to the hugely popular track ''Johnny'' off ''Basement Revolver'', detailing Hurn's emotional state following a difficult relationship and breakup. Following this, the band signed Hamilton label ''

Sonic Unyon Sonic Unyon Recording Company is an independent record label based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Their former retail store was located on Wilson Street near James Street North. The label has put out releases by bands including Tristan Psioni ...

'', a record label that also organises the Supercrawl. After touring extensively through Southern Ontario, the band's first concert in the USA was in

Somerville, Massachusetts Somerville ( ) is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a total population of 81, ...

, in September 2017, followed by gigs in

and

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. In May 2018, they played their first concert in the UK, at

The Great Escape Festival The Great Escape Festival is a three-day music festival held in Brighton and Hove, England every year in May. It is operated by MAMA Festivals and showcases new music from a variety of genres. The festival was founded in 2006 and roughly hosts ...

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

. They returned to the UK later that year to tour with

Amber Arcades Amber Arcades is the stage name of Annelotte de Graaf (born 15 December 1988), a Netherlands, Dutch singer-songwriter from Utrecht. Biography De Graaf holds a master's degree in law, and worked as an assistant for war crimes tribunals at the Unit ...

, following the release of two singles, ''Heavy Eyes'' and ''Baby''. On August 24, 2018, the band released their first full-length album, '' Heavy Eyes''. The album included tracks previously released on EPs or as singles, such as ''Johnny'', ''Baby'' and ''Tree Trunks'', as well as several new songs, including ''Dancing'' and ''Friends''. The album was well-received by critics, with

Billboard magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music ...

labelling the album as being indicative of the band's transformation to becoming "heavier, both sonically and topically" with "emotional subject matter". On July 23, 2020, the band announced on Twitter than Munro was leaving Basement Revolver for reasons not made public. The next day, the band announced that Munro would be replaced by Levi Kertesz, who will appear on an upcoming album.

Tours & concerts

2017

The group largely toured Southern Ontario throughout 2017, playing gigs in Hamilton, Montreal and Toronto. Their first tour of the US came in early September, with a five-day, three-show tour across

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

and

2018

Basement Revolver toured with

The Go! Team The Go! Team are an English six-piece band from Brighton, England. The band initially began as a solo project conceived by Ian Parton; however, after the unexpected success of The Go! Team's debut album, '' Thunder, Lightning, Strike'', Parton r ...

in the Eastern USA in April 2018. In September 2018, the band joined The Pack A.D. on their cross-Canada tour. Basement Revolver, alongside Sorry Edith, opened for the

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

rock duo in their Ontarian shows, playing in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

. In October of the same year, Basement Revolver toured the UK as a supporting act for

, playing around

and in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

2019

The band played a two-day gig at the club

Pianos The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

in New York on March 7 and 8th. On April 2, the band played alongside Ellevator, another Hamiltonian band, in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

. The band has also played numerous gigs around Southern Ontario over the course of the year.

2020

The year began with several concerts in Southern Ontario, including a tour which began in Ottawa and ended in

Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario; its population ...

. However, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

and subsequent lockdown restrictions in Canada, the band was unable to perform live for the majority of the year.

Discography

Albums

* '' Heavy Eyes'' (2018) * ''Embody'' (2022)

EPs

* ''Basement Revolver'' (2016) * ''Agatha'' (2017) *''Wax and Digital'' (2019)

Singles

* ''Johnny Pt.2'' (2017) * ''Bread & Wine'' (2017) * ''Heavy Eyes'' (2018) * ''Baby'' (2018)

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Musical groups established in 2016 Canadian indie rock groups Musical groups from Hamilton, Ontario Sonic Unyon artists 2016 establishments in Ontario