Salmonblaster was a Canadian alternative rock band from

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 ...

. The band's lineup consisted of guitarist and singer Matt Werm, drummer Brady Parr and bassist Mat Davis. They were best known for their 1996 song "Freeway" from their ''Salmonblaster'' self-titled album, which received regular play on Canadian music station

Much Music Much (an abbreviation for its full name MuchMusic) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. MuchMusic launched on August 31, ...

. Their 1996 self-titled album was a top 10 hit on Canada's college music chart in 1996 peaking at number 5 in July of that year. By November 1996, they were Toronto's top selling indie band.

Early years (1994-1996)

Salmonblaster's members came together from various London bands in July 1994. Werm (originally known as Matt Wormsbecher) played guitar for Boris is Back, Parr played in Petch and Mat Davis was the guitarist for M.A.D. Davis was the second bassist for Salmonblaster. Originally Dave Hall, who was also in Petch, played bass but left the band when he moved to

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 ...

. In 1994 they released a 3-song cassette that received heavy local airplay on

CHRW-FM CHRW-FM (branded as Radio Western) is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 94.9 FM in London, Ontario. It is licensed as a community-based campus radio station by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. The stati ...

, the University of Western Ontario's radio station. The song "Chomalungma" made it onto the ''London Underground III'' compilation. In 1995 they released a second 3-song cassette that contained two songs that would later appear on their self-titled album: "Sugar Rush" and "Brian Jones".

Self titled album and early success (1996-1998)

On July 16, 1996, Salmonblaster released their debut (and only) album. The self-titled album was a college chart hit, debuting at No. 5. The band toured behind the album throughout 1997 opening shows for

I Mother Earth I Mother Earth, or IME, is a Canadians, Canadian rock band. The band formed in 1990 and reached its peak in popularity in the mid-to-late 1990s. After an eight-year hiatus, the band reunited in 2012. Between 1996 and 2016, I Mother Earth was among ...

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and

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, along with a long list of Canadian independent bands. During this time Davis left and The Gandharvas bassist Eric Howden (now the solo artist

Raised by Swans Raised by Swans is the recording alias of Canadian solo artist Eric Howden. A singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Howden chose the name 'Raised By Swans' in 1997 following a cathartic dream he had after leaving his previous band, The Gan ...

) filled in. On March 20, 1998 the band appeared on the

Tom Green Show Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

. They played a new song called "Secret Agent" with a new bassist who was not introduced and was replaced by Jesse Buchanan who remained with the band until their dissolution. "Secret Agent" was to be the first single off their forthcoming second album which had the working title of ''Headfuls of Chills'', however shortly after appearing on the Tom Green Show the band broke up citing creative differences, though Werm and Parr would form two subsequent bands (Panic Coast and Tournament!). Werm would later tell the UWO Gazette that Salmonblaster succumbed to pressure. The appearance on the Tom Green Show was released as part of the DVD set ''The Tom Green Show: The Complete Series - Inside and Outside the Box'' in 2005.

Post break up

After Salmonblaster broke up, Werm and Parr went on to form Panic Coast, who released ''Future Projected'' in 2000. The band later changed their name to The Black Saturdays and released a self-titled album. Werm was also in Viperscheme who released one EP called ''Sell the Sky'' in 2001. Parr and Howden currently play in critically acclaimed indie band

, while both Parr and Werm are in a band called Tournament!.

References

External links

Video for "Freeway"Video for "Sugar Rush"Salmonblaster on the Tom Green ShowSalmonblaster Live at Much MusicMuch West Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Salmonblaster Musical groups established in 1994 Musical groups disestablished in 1998 Musical groups from London, Ontario Canadian alternative rock groups 1994 establishments in Ontario 1998 disestablishments in Ontario