Don Pyle is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

record producer and musician, who has been a member of a number of bands. Pyle is openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

Life and career

His first group, from 1979 to 1981, was a

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

band called Crash Kills Five. They released one EP in 1980, ''What Do You Do At Night?''. It was in this four piece band that he first played with two members, Reid Diamond and Brian Connelly, who would later become his bandmates in

Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet are a Juno Award-winning Canadian instrumental rock band, formed in 1984. They remain best known for the track "Having an Average Weekend", of which an alternate version was used as the theme to the Canadian sketc ...

. The Shadowy Men were together for 11 years; during this time, they recorded three LPs and thirteen EPs and became widely known when their song, "Having An Average Weekend", became the theme for ''

The Kids in the Hall The Kids in the Hall is a Canadian sketch comedy troupe formed in 1984, consisting of comedians Dave Foley, Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney and Scott Thompson. Their eponymous television show ran from 1989 to 1995, on CBC, in C ...

''. They won a

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

for Instrumental Artist of the Year at the

Juno Awards of 1992 The Juno Awards of 1992, representing Canadian music industry achievements of the previous year, were awarded on 29 March 1992 in Toronto at a ceremony in the O'Keefe Centre. Rick Moranis was the host for the ceremonies, which were broadcast on C ...

. They also recorded with

B-52s B5, B05, B-5 may refer to: Biology * ATC code B05 (''Blood substitutes and perfusion solutions''), a therapeutic subgroup of the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical Classification System * Cytochrome ''b''5, ubiquitous electron transport hemoprotein ...

vocalist

Fred Schneider Frederick William Schneider III (born July 1, 1951) is an American singer, songwriter, arranger, and musician, best known as the frontman of the rock band The B-52's, of which he is a founding member. Schneider is well known for his ''sprechge ...

for his solo album ''

Just Fred ''Just Fred'' is the second solo album by the American musician Fred Schneider, released in 1996. Its first single was "Bulldozer". Schneider promoted the album by playing shows with his band, the Slobs. Production Produced by Steve Albini, the a ...

''. During hiatus from the Shadowy Men, Pyle played with several other bands such as

King Cobb Steelie King Cobb Steelie is a Canadian indie rock band formed in 1991 from Guelph, Ontario,"Sonuvafreakin' Eh!"

and

Fifth Column A fifth column is any group of people who undermine a larger group or nation from within, usually in favor of an enemy group or another nation. According to Harris Mylonas and Scott Radnitz, "fifth columns" are “domestic actors who work to un ...

. He also began producing recordings for other bands, including the debut single and LP by King Cobb Steelie and a record by Phleg Camp. After Shadowy Men broke up in 1994, he and Reid Diamond then formed the band

Phono-Comb Phono-Comb was a Canadian instrumental/modern surf rock group that formed in 1993 in Toronto. History Phono-Comb first materialized when Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet played with Jad Fair when he was performing in Toronto to promote a film ab ...

with

Dallas Good The Sadies are a Canadian rock and roll / country and western band from Toronto, Ontario. The band consists of Dallas Good, Travis Good, Sean Dean and Mike Belitsky. Dallas and Travis are the sons of Margaret and Bruce Good, and nephews of Brian ...

for the express purpose of playing and recording with

Jad Fair Jad Fair (born June 9, 1954) is an American singer, guitarist, graphic artist, and founding member of lo-fi alternative rock group Half Japanese. Biography Fair was born in Coldwater, Michigan. In 1974, he and his brother David formed the lo-fi ...

. After releasing one single and an LP, Fair returned to solo performing, and the trio released another single.

Beverly Breckenridge Beverly Breckenridge is a musician, composer, and actress from Toronto, Ontario. She played bass for the bands Fifth Column and Phono-Comb. In 1986, Beverly Breckenridge joined the post-punk band Fifth Column. Beverly's first appearance on film ...

of Fifth Column then joined the group to play bass and the quartet recorded the LP ''Fresh Gasoline'' for Quarterstick/

Touch and Go Records Touch and Go Records is an American independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois. After its genesis as a handmade fanzine in 1979, it grew into one of the key record labels in the American 1980s underground and alternative rock scenes. Tou ...

, with

Steve Albini Steve Albini (pronounced ; born July 22, 1962) is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman and Flour, and is a member of Shellac. He is the founder, owner and principal en ...

producing. After Phono-Comb came to an end, Don Pyle began a new musical project with Andrew Zealley called

Greek Buck Greek Buck were a Canadian musical duo, consisting of Don Pyle (formerly of Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet and Phono-Comb) and Andrew Zealley. They are best known for "Spunk", the theme song to the American television series '' Queer as Folk''.

. More

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...

than his previous outfits, the group is noted primarily for their soundtrack compositions, such as those composed for the films of

John Greyson John Greyson (born March 13, 1960) is a Canadian director, writer, video artist, producer, and political activist, whose work frequently deals with queer characters and themes. He was part of a loosely-affiliated group of filmmakers to emerge in ...

including ''

The Law of Enclosures ''The Law of Enclosures'' is a 1996 novel by Dale Peck, which was adapted into the 2000 film '' The Law of Enclosures'' by Canadian director John Greyson. A cross between a conventional novel and a memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction ...

'' (1999) and ''

Proteus In Greek mythology, Proteus (; Ancient Greek: Πρωτεύς, ''Prōteus'') is an early prophetic sea-god or god of rivers and oceanic bodies of water, one of several deities whom Homer calls the "Old Man of the Sea" ''(hálios gérôn)''. ...

'' (2003),

Sarah Polley Sarah Ellen Polley (born January 8, 1979) is a Canadian actress,Howell, Peter (September 24, 1999)"Nobody's Starlet: Toronto's Sarah Polley is Only 20 but already a veteran actor so secure in her craft she can thumb her nose at Hollywood" ''Tor ...

's film ''

I Shout Love ''I Shout Love'' is a 2001 Canadian short film written and directed by Sarah Polley. The film stars Matthew Ferguson and Kristen Thomson as Bobby and Tessa, a couple who are on the verge of breaking up when Tessa convinces Bobby to spend one last ...

'', and most famously, the theme song of the series '' Queer As Folk''. In April 2007, Pyle launched his "Trouble in the Camera Club" photography show at The Beaver Cafe/bar in Toronto. The extensive collection of photographs documented the birth of the punk music scene in Toronto clubs during 1976–1980. An on-line version of the show was available on his official website. ''Trouble in the Camera Club'' was published as a photo and essay book by

ECW Press ECW Press is a Canadian book publisher located in Toronto, Ontario. It was founded by Jack David and Robert Lecker in 1974 as a Canadian literary magazine named ''Essays on Canadian Writing''. They started publishing trade and scholarly book ...

in 2011 and included over 300 photographs of Toronto punk bands such as Viletones, and Teenage Head. His photos of international artists include

Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter and actor. Called the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Godfather of Punk", he was the vocalist and lyricist of ...

Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first true punk rock group. Despite achieving a limited commercial appeal in the United ...

Dead Boys The Dead Boys are an American punk rock band from Cleveland, Ohio, United States. The band was among the first wave of punk, and regarded by many as one of the rowdiest and most violent groups of the era. They were formed by vocalist Stiv B ...

The Heartbreakers The Heartbreakers, sometimes referred to as Johnny Thunders' Heartbreakers, were an American punk rock band formed in New York City in 1975. The band spearheaded the first wave of punk rock. History Johnny Thunders (vocals/guitar) and Jerry N ...

Vibrators Vibrator may refer to: Technology * Vibrator (sex toy), a device for massage or sexual pleasure used by both men and women * Vibrator (mechanical), a class of devices which create mechanical vibrations for uses such as signaling annunciators, d ...

and

The Troggs The Troggs (originally called the Troglodytes) are an English garage rock band formed in Andover, Hampshire in May 1964. Their most famous songs include the US chart-topper " Wild Thing", "With a Girl Like You" and "Love Is All Around", all o ...

.Ben Kaplan, "Snarl for the camera; The birth of punk rock, through Don Pyle's lens". ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...

'', May 6, 2011. As a producer, music recorder, and mixer, his credits include releases by

The Sadies The Sadies are a Canadian rock and roll / country and western band from Toronto, Ontario. The band consists of Dallas Good, Travis Good, Sean Dean and Mike Belitsky. Dallas and Travis are the sons of Margaret and Bruce Good, and nephews of Bria ...

Peaches The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in Zhejiang province of Eastern China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and others (the glossy-skinned, non-fuz ...

John Doe John Doe (male) and Jane Doe (female) are multiple-use placeholder names that are used when the true name of a person is unknown or is being intentionally concealed. In the context of law enforcement in the United States, such names are often ...

Andre Williams Andre Williams may refer to: * Andre Williams (musician) * Andre Williams (American football) * Andre Williams, British DJ better known as Shy FX {{hndis, Williams, Andre ...

, and others. He composed and produced music for films by

Ron Mann Ronald Mann (born June 13, 1958), credited professionally as Ron Mann, is a Canadian documentary film director. His work includes the films ''Imagine the Sound'' (1981); ''Comic Book Confidential'' (1988); ''Grass'' (1999) and ''Go Further'' ( ...

, and

as well as composing and/or producing music for The Inside Out Film and Video Festival,

TV Ontario TVO Media Education Group (often abbreviated as TVO and stylized on-air as tvo) is a publicly funded English-language educational television network and media organization serving the Canadian province of Ontario. It is operated by the Ontario E ...

, ''

Dragon's Den ''Dragons' Den'' is a reality television program format in which entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to a panel of venture capitalists in the hope of securing investment finance from them. The program originated in 2001 in Japan, where it is k ...

'', and others. His former band Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet reunited in 2012. In 2012 and 2013, he released recordings by his two bands. The Filthy Gaze of Europe, his collaboration with

, had a 7" released by Ugly Pop records, with vocals by

Damian Abraham Damian Abraham (also known as Father Damian, Pink Eyes and Mr. Damian) is a Canadian musician and presenter who first came to prominence as the vocalist for the band Fucked Up. Career Abraham formed Fucked Up in Toronto in 2001. To date the b ...

, and

Chris Colohan Cursed was a Canadian hardcore punk band formed in 2001 and dissolved in 2008. It featured members from Montreal, Toronto, and Hamilton of various other Canadian DIY bands such as Haymaker, Left for Dead, The Swarm aka Knee Deep in the Dead, Acri ...

, with cover art by

G. B. Jones G. B. Jones (born 1965) is a Canadian artist, filmmaker, musician, and publisher of zines born in Bowmanville, Canada. She is known for producing J.D.s with her acclaimed''Tom Girls'' drawings before going on to create more musically, cinematica ...

. Black Heel Marks released an album called Feel Free in June 2013 that included Pyle in collaboration with Tacoma rock band Girl Trouble,

Sandro Perri Sandro Perri is a musician and producer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. His music has been called post-rock, electronic, experimental, ambient, folk among others. He has been producing, mixing and mastering records for other artists since 2003. ...

, and others.

References

External links

Official websiteThe Shadowy Site On A Shadowy Web
(Unofficial Shadowy Men Home Page) {{DEFAULTSORT:Pyle, Don Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Living people Canadian electronic musicians Canadian record producers Musicians from Toronto Canadian indie rock musicians Canadian alternative rock musicians Canadian gay musicians Canadian film score composers Canadian television composers Fifth Column (band) members 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people 20th-century Canadian drummers 21st-century Canadian drummers