The Killjoys is a Canadian

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 mainstream or commerci ...

band who formed in 1992 in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a Canada 2016 Census, population of 569,353, and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington, ...

. The group enjoyed moderate success in Canada during the grunge/alternative rock heyday of the 1990s before disbanding in 1999. The band has reformed and disbanded on and off since 2002.

Overview

The Killjoys released their first album '' Starry'' in 1994 through Cargo Records; the album was later re-released on

Warner Music Canada Warner Music Canada is the Canadian division of Warner Music Group. The label previously operated as WEA Music of Canada, Ltd. (French: ''WEA Musique du Canada, Ltée''), often shortened to WEA Canada, the Canadian subsidiary of WEA Internationa ...

. The singles "Today I Hate Everyone" and "Dana" were played on MuchMusic and

MusiquePlus Elle Fictions (stylized ELLE Fictions) is a Canadian French language specialty channel owned by Remstar Media Group. The channel broadcasts general entertainment programming targeting young adult women. It was first established in 1986 as the mu ...

. Mike Trebilcock was also nominated for a Juno Award with Antoine Moonen in 1994, for "Best Album Design" for "Starry". The band was also nominated for a Rock Radio Award for "Independent Artist of the Year". In 1996, the band released their second album, ''

Gimme Five ''Gimme Five'' is the second album by the Canadian alternative rock band The Killjoys. It was released in 1996. The album was recorded at Ardent Studios in Memphis, Tennessee. The album featured the hit singles "Rave + Drool" and "Soaked", the l ...

''. The album's lead single, "Rave + Drool", was included on the very first Big Shiny Tunes compilation album. The band received a Juno Award for " Best New Group" in 1997. In 1998, the band released their third album, '' Melos Modos''. After filming a

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

for the album's lead single "I've Been Good", the film was stolen by a crew member. The crew member demanded $13,000, threatening to destroy the film otherwise. The ransom was paid and the footage was returned safely. In April 1999, the band released a live album entitled ''Onenight and a Morningafter''. In June 1999, The Killjoys signed to Shoreline Records. In 2000, lead singer/guitarist Mike Trebilcock released a solo album entitled ''Shield Millions''. After three years of inactivity, The Killjoys reunited in 2002 for another performance. A "

best of A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

" compilation was released in 2005 called ''Essentials''. Gene Champagne formed Junior Achiever, and released "All the Little Letdowns" in 2008. His current band is The Unteens, and he is also the drummer for Canadian band Teenage Head. Mike Trebilcock is a film composer, scoring such films as the award-winning 2021 horror/comedy, Crabs!, and The Fight Machine, an action/drama film directed by Andrew T. Hunt, based on The Fighter by

Craig Davidson Craig Davidson (born 1975) is a Canadian author of short stories and novels, who has published work under both his own name and the pen names Patrick Lestewka and Nick Cutter. His style has been compared to that of Chuck Palahniuk. Early life ...

. In 2011, The Killjoys were featured on a compilation entitled, "Today I Hate Everyone - Perfect Songs For A Crappy Day", alongside

The 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 S ...

Ween Ween is an American rock band from New Hope, Pennsylvania, formed in 1984 by Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo, better known by their respective stage names, Gene and Dean Ween. Generally categorized as an alternative rock band, the band a ...

and

Hüsker Dü Hüsker Dü () was an American punk rock band formed in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1979. The band's continual members were guitarist/vocalist Bob Mould, bassist/vocalist Greg Norton, and drummer/vocalist Grant Hart. They first gained notabili ...

. In March 2015, The Killjoys reunited for a show in Hamilton that coincided with the Juno Awards being held there that month. The band played a few more shows over the next two years, after which bassist Shelley Woods quit the band and the band decided to break up again. In 2022, The Killjoys reunited again, performing their first show since 2017 on October 1, 2022 at the

Horseshoe Tavern The Horseshoe Tavern (known as ''The Horseshoe'', ''The 'Shoe'', The 'Toronto Tavern' and The 'Triple T' to Toronto locals) is a concert venue at 370 Queen Street West (northeast corner of Queen at Spadina) in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and ...

in Toronto. Killjoys live 2015

Popular culture

*"Rave + Drool", "Soaked", "Any Day Now", "Today I Hate Everyone" and "I've Been Good" were frequently included in the repertoire of Canadian Alternative DJ, DJ SDGV. *The songs "Monkeysucker" and "Everything" were used in the 1997 film

The Boys Club ''The Boys Club'' is a 1996 Canadian crime drama thriller film directed by John Fawcett, written by Doug Smith (story) and Peter Wellington (writer), and starring Chris Penn, Devon Sawa, Dominic Zamprogna, and Stuart Stone. It was released ...

. *"Candyland" was used in the film "Sweet Karma" (2009). *"Today I Hate Everyone" was used in the 2014 film "

Wet Bum ''Wet Bum'' (retitled ''Surfacing'' in some international markets) is a 2014 Canadian drama film, directed by Lindsay MacKay. The film stars Julia Sarah Stone as Sam, a shy and self-conscious teenage girl struggling to assert herself with those ar ...

Members

Mike Trebilcock is the band's primary songwriter, and he plays guitar and sings lead vocals. Gene Champagne plays the drums and Shelley Woods plays the bass and provides back-up vocals.

Discography

* '' Starry'' (1994), Cargo Records /

* ''

'' (1996), Warner Music Canada * ''Melos Modos'' (1998), Warner Music Canada * ''Onenight and a Morningafter'' (1999), Shoreline Records * ''Essentials'' (2005),

Rhino Entertainment Rhino Entertainment Company is an American specialty record label and production company founded in 1978. It is currently the catalog division for Warner Music Group. Its current CEO is Mark Pinkus. History Founded in 1978, Rhino was originall ...

/ Warner Music Canada * ''Hi-Five'' (2006), Rhino Entertainment * ''Today I Hate Everyone - Perfect Songs For a Crappy Day'' (Various Artists) (2011), Warner Music Canada

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Killjoys, The Musical groups established in 1992 Musical groups from Hamilton, Ontario Canadian alternative rock groups Juno Award for Breakthrough Group of the Year winners 1992 establishments in Ontario