Hilotrons 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 ...
indie pop band. Currently based in Ottawa, the band's core members are the singer Mike Dubue and the drummer and engineer Philip Shaw Bova.
["Hilotrons Return with New Album: 'At Least There's Commotion'"]
''Exclaim!
''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...
'', October 19, 2012. Past members have included Paul Hogan, Damian Sawka and Mike Schultz.
["Hilotrons go beyond the beat"]
canoe.ca
Canoe.com is an English-language Canadian portal site and website network, and is a subsidiary of Postmedia Network. The phrase Canadian Online Explorer appears in the header; the name is also evidently a play on words on canoe (or ''canoë'' i ...
, April 2, 2008. The bands current line-up includes Pascal OfLaki, Philippe Charbonneau and Alex Moxon with, as well as occasionally, Adam Saikaley.
Initially an electronic
dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...
band,
they began to incorporate a blend of pop styles into their sound. Their breakthrough album, ''Happymatic'' (2008), was a longlisted nominee for the
2008 Polaris Music Prize.
Before Dubue released ''At Least There's Commotion'', he spent his time composing film scores including ''Smash Cut'' and many silent films with the Lost Dominion Collective. He made a number of musical collaborations including performing
Richard Reed Parry
Richard Reed Parry (born October 4, 1977) is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, best known as a core member of the Grammy Award-winning indie rock band Arcade Fire, where he plays a wide variety of instruments, often switching ...
's ''For Heart, Breath and Orchestra'' appearing on
Socalled
Joshua Dolgin (born December 28, 1976), better known by his stage name Socalled, is a Canadian rapper and record producer, known for his eclectic mix of hip hop, klezmer, and other styles such as drum & bass and folk music. A pianist and accordi ...
's ''Sleepover'' album.
The band performed its final show with its full original line-up at the Black Sheep Inn in
Wakefield, Quebec
Wakefield is one of many villages of the Municipality La Pêche, with the village centre on the western shore of the Gatineau River, at the confluence of the La Pêche River in the Outaouais region of the province of Quebec in Canada. It is thirty- ...
, in October 2012,
Dubue and Bova worked with a stable of guest musicians, including
Michael Feuerstack,
Jeremy Fisher
Jeremy Fisher (born Jeremy Binns; December 15, 1976) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. Fisher is based in Ottawa, Ontario, and was previously based on Vancouver Island, B.C., Montreal, Quebec, and in Seattle, Washington, US. Fisher's work is hea ...
and
Jim Bryson
Jim Bryson is a Canadian singer-songwriter. Briefly a founding member of the band Punchbuggy, he moved to a musical life under his own name with the release of his debut album, ''The Occasionals'', in 2000.
A member of singer-songwriter Kat ...
, Geoffrey Pye (Yellow Jacket Avenger), to complete the band's fourth album ''At Least There's Commotion'', which was released in 2013.
[ Since its release, Hilotrons have played in various incarnations including a noisy duo of Dubue and Adam Sakailey with guests such as Julian Beillard (Wooden Stars) and Mike Feuerstack. At Pop Montreal 2013, Hilotrons performed on the same bill as Bernie Worrell and Fred Wesley as an 11-piece band with members including the original line up (Hogan, Schultz, Sawka, Bova), the new line-up (Pascal OfLaki, Philippe Charbonneau and Alex Moxon) as well Michael Feuerstack, Adam Sakailey and Dan Sauve (Empiricals). The band released its fifth album, ''To Trip With Terpsichore'', on February 24, 2015.
]
Discography
*''Hilotrons'' (2003)
*''Bella Simone'' (2006)
*''Happymatic'' (2008)
*''At Least There's Commotion'' (2013)
*''To Trip With Terpsichore'' (2015)
*''Lonely Cinema'' (2020)
References
External links
Hilotrons
{{Authority control
Canadian indie pop groups
Musical groups from Ottawa
Musical groups with year of establishment missing