Hey Ocean! is a Canadian
indie
Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Gaming
*Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies
*Indie game, any game (board ...
alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...
and
synthpop
Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...
band formed in 2004 in
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 ...
. David Beckingham and
Ashleigh Ball
Ashleigh Adele Ball (born March 31, 1983) is a Canadian voice actress and musician, known for performing with the rock band Hey Ocean!, as well as voicing characters in several toyetic movies and television series, notably the ''Barbie'' film ...
had been friends since grade 6, joining with David Vertesi in the 2000s to form the band. The band consists of Ashleigh Ball (vocals/flute), David Beckingham (vocals/guitar), and David Vertesi (vocals/bass). Their music draws from many genres, including pop and acoustic, and the group tours Canada widely. They have performed locally alongside other
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 ...
acts such as
Shad K,
Mother Mother
Mother Mother is a Canadian indie rock band based in Quadra Island, British Columbia. The band consists of Ryan Guldemond on guitar and vocals, Molly Guldemond and Jasmin Parkin on vocals and keyboard, Ali Siadat on drums, and Mike Young on ba ...
and
Said the Whale.
The band ran their own label for many years, being represented by
Nettwerk
Nettwerk Music Group is the umbrella company for Nettwerk Records, Nettwerk Management, and Nettwerk One Publishing.
Established in 1984, the Vancouver-based company was created by Nettwerk principals Terry McBride and Mark Jowett as a record ...
Management, and had overtures from
Gene Simmons
Gene Simmons (born Chaim Witz; he, חיים ויץ, ; born August 25, 1949) is an Israeli-American musician. Also known by his stage persona The Demon, he is the bassist and co-lead singer of Kiss, the hard rock band he co-founded with Paul ...
before signing with
Universal Music Canada
Universal Music Group owns, or has a joint share in, many of the record labels listed here.
According to UMG official site, the main labels are Abbey Road Studios, Bravado, Capitol Music Group, Decca Records, Def Jam Recordings, Deutsche Grammopho ...
for distribution in 2011.
Lead singer Ashleigh Ball's voice acting work has drawn international attention to the band from members of the ''
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic''
fan community. Fans have created music videos featuring the band's songs and footage from the show, some of which were featured on the band's official website. At the end of June 2013, the band performed at Fiesta Equestria, a brony convention in Houston, Texas. The band also did a collaborative music video between the staff of the television show ''
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' and
bronies
''My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' is an animated television series produced by Hasbro as part of the ''My Little Pony'' toy franchise, which is tied in with the My Little Pony (2010 toyline), 2010 relaunch of dolls and play sets and orig ...
titled ''
#TweetIt''. The band was featured in
Brent Hodge's critically acclaimed documentary ''
A Brony Tale
''A Brony Tale'' (originally titled ''Brony'') is a 2014 Canadian-American documentary film directed by Brent Hodge. The film explores the brony phenomenon, the adult fan base of the children's animated show '' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Ma ...
''.
Hey Ocean! was nominated in the "Breakthrough Group of the Year" category for the
Juno Awards of 2013
The Juno Awards of 2013 honoured Canadian music industry achievements in the latter part of 2011 and in most of 2012. The awards were presented in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, during the weekend of 20–21 April 2013. The main ceremony was hoste ...
, (later won by
Monster Truck
A monster truck is a specialized off-road vehicle with a heavy duty suspension, four-wheel steering, large-displacement V8 engines and oversized tires constructed for competition and entertainment uses. Originally created by modifying stock p ...
), and featured on the compilation album released by Warner Music for the event.
Tours
In 2009, the band toured Canada with
The Cat Empire
The Cat Empire are an Australian jazz/funk band, formed in Melbourne, Victoria, in 1999. For most of the band's duration, the core members were Felix Riebl (lead vocals, percussion), Harry James Angus (trumpet, vocals), Will Hull-Brown (drums), ...
and performed at
SxSW
South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...
.
The band again toured Canada in 2010, and played several events for the
2010 Winter Olympics
)''
, nations = 82
, athletes = 2,626
, events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines)
, opening = February 12, 2010
, closing = February 28, 2010
, opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean
, cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...
in
Vancouver, British Columbia
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 ...
, Canada.
In summer 2011, the band performed at the City of Vancouver's 125th Anniversary and "Live At Squamish," an annual 3-day music festival in Squamish, BC.
They finished the year with a cross-Canada tour, including an appearance at the
Prince George Winter Festival. Ashleigh Ball suffered a vocal cord injury during a performance, which resulted in the cancellation of the Eastern Canada portion of the tour.
In summer 2012, Hey Ocean! performed at the Osheaga music festival in Montreal. In August, the band joined indie-alternative group
fun.
Fun (stylized as fun.) is an American pop rock band based in New York City. The band consists of Jack Antonoff (of Steel Train and Bleachers), Andrew Dost (formerly of Anathallo), and Nate Ruess (then-former lead singer of the Format).
Fun fo ...
for the SeaWheeze After Party and concert in Vancouver, BC.
In 2013, the band toured in the United States in support of the release of their third studio album, titled "IS".
On August 31, 2014, Hey Ocean! performed in Vancouver, BC at the PNE for what Ashleigh Ball dubbed as their final show 'for a long time'. Through 2015 and 2016 the group's performances were exclusively at charity events, such as Sing it Fwd, while Ball and others worked on solo projects.
In July 2017 the band announced through their Facebook page that they have reunited to work on their fourth album ''The Hurt of Happiness'', released in April 2018.
Fourth album
On September 19, 2017, they released two more songs from the upcoming album, "Amsterdam" and "Can't Let Go". The band announced on their website that the album would be titled "The Hurt of Happiness", and would be released on April 6, 2018.
Reception
In April 2009, "A Song about California" was featured as a top song on
MuchMoreMusic
M3 was a Canadian English language Category A cable and satellite specialty channel owned by Bell Media. Established in 1998 as MuchMoreMusic, the network began as a spin-off of the youth-oriented MuchMusic, targeting an older demographic wi ...
. The band was nominated in that year for a
Western Canadian Music Award
The ''Western Canadian Music Awards'' (WCMAs) are an annual awards event for music in the western portion of Canada. The awards are provided by the Western Canada Music Alliance, which consists of six member music industry organizations from Br ...
, and in 2010 for an
Independent Music Award.
In 2010 they wrote a short song called "Only You" for T-Booth mobile, which has been used since in television advertising campaigns throughout Canada.
As of November 2011, "Big Blue Wave" is on rotation with
CBC Radio 3
CBC Radio 3 is a Canadian digital radio station operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, which plays a relatively freeform mix of indie rock, indie pop, alternative hip hop, folk, country and electronic music.
The service, which la ...
and local station
102.7 The Peak. Also in 2011, "Make a New Dance Up" was featured in a promotional video from
HootSuite
Hootsuite is a social media management platform, created by Ryan Holmes in 2008. The system's user interface takes the form of a dashboard, and supports social network integrations for Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube an ...
, and the band performed for
CBC's ''Canadian Indie Christmas Special''. The band was also voted number one in the "Best Local Band (Unsigned)" category by readers of
The Georgia Straight
''The Georgia Straight'' is a free Canadian weekly news and entertainment newspaper published in Vancouver, British Columbia, by Overstory Media Group. Often known simply as ''The Straight'', it is delivered to newsboxes, post-secondary schools, ...
, a popular local news and entertainment paper in its "Best of Vancouver 2011 Readers' Choices" recognition.
In 2012, "Islands" was featured in the episode "Last Known Surroundings" of ''
One Tree Hill One Tree Hill may refer to:
* "One Tree Hill" (song), a 1987 song by U2 referencing One Tree Hill, New Zealand volcanic peak
* ''One Tree Hill'' (TV series), a 2003–2012 American drama series named for the U2 song
** ''One Tree Hill'' (soundtr ...
''. The February 22, 2012 episode of ''
Entertainment Tonight Canada
''ET Canada'' (previously referred to as ''Entertainment Tonight Canada'') is a Canadian entertainment news television series, using the same format as the American entertainment newsmagazine '' Entertainment Tonight''. ''ET Canada'' is a broadca ...
'' ended with the music video for "Big Blue Wave". On January 29, 2013, the album "IS" was officially released in the U.S. under
Nettwerk Records
Nettwerk Music Group is the umbrella company for Nettwerk Records, Nettwerk Management, and Nettwerk One Publishing.
Established in 1984, the Vancouver-based company was created by Nettwerk principals Terry McBride and Mark Jowett as a record ...
. "Make A New Dance Up" was featured in the episode "Mother and Child Divided" of ''
Switched at Birth''.
Band members
Current members
*
Ashleigh Ball
Ashleigh Adele Ball (born March 31, 1983) is a Canadian voice actress and musician, known for performing with the rock band Hey Ocean!, as well as voicing characters in several toyetic movies and television series, notably the ''Barbie'' film ...
– lead vocals, flute,
glockenspiel
The glockenspiel ( or , : bells and : set) or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the vibraphone.
The glo ...
(2004–present)
* David Beckingham – lead guitar, backing vocals
(2004–present)
* David Vertesi – bass guitar, backing vocals
(2004–present)
Session / live musicians
* Devon Lougheed – Guitar, keyboard, backing vocals
* Johnny Andrews – Percussion
Former members
* Dan Klenner – Percussion
* Adam Cormier – Percussion
* Tim Proznick – Percussion
* Andrew Rasmussen – Keyboard, backing vocals
Discography
Albums
*''Stop Looking Like Music'' (2006)
*''It's Easier to Be Somebody Else'' (2008)
*''IS'' (2012) No. 70 CAN
*''The Hurt of Happiness'' (2018)
*''It's Easier to Be Somebody Else (10th Anniversary Remaster)'' (2018)
EPs
*''Triceratops'' (2004)
*''Rainy Day Songs'' (2005)
*''Big Blue Wave'' (2011)
*''IS Acoustic Sessions'' (2013)
Singles
Music videos
* "A Song About California" (2008) by
JP Poliquin
* "Fish" (2008) by JP Poliquin
* "Too Soon" (2008)
* "Alleyways" (2008)
* "Fifteen Words" (2008)
* "Terribly Stable" (2009) by Godo Medina & Adam Dent
* "Big Blue Wave" (2012)
* "Islands" (2012)
* "I Am A Heart" (2012)
* "Change" (2013)
* "Make A New Dance Up" (2013)
* "If I Were A Ship" (2014)
* "Sleepwalker" (2018)
* "Amsterdam" (2018)
* "Mama Said" (2018)
In popular culture
Their song "Steady" was used in the Season 4 episode of ''
The Middle'' titled ''Hallelujah Hoedown''.
References
External links
*
I Heart the Music – Toronto
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hey Ocean
Musical groups established in 2004
Musical groups from Vancouver
Canadian indie pop groups
Canadian indie rock groups
Female-fronted musical groups
2004 establishments in British Columbia
Nettwerk Music Group artists