The Luyas are 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 rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band formed in 2006 from

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

History

The Luyas did their first live performance in December 2006. Their first album, ''Faker Death'' came out in August 2007, and was re-released in January 2008 on Pome Records; that label was subsequently disbanded and the album's distribution rights were picked up by

You've Changed Records You've Changed Records is a Canadian independent record label founded in 2009 by Daniel Romano, Ian Kehoe of Attack in Black and Steve Lambke of Constantines.SS Cardiacs SS Cardiacs was a Canadian indie rock band, briefly active in the early 2000s.Sarah Liss"Cardiacs Attack" ''Now'', May 26, 2005. It consisted of Jessie Stein on vocals and guitar, Andy Lloyd on bass and Dana Snell on drums. History SS Cardiacs f ...

, is also a member of

Miracle Fortress Miracle Fortress is a Canadian indie rock band based in Montreal, Quebec. The band's studio work is primarily a solo, project of songwriter Graham Van Pelt, who is accompanied by the rest of the band during live shows. Band history Van Pelt, a m ...

, and is the sister of

By Divine Right By Divine Right is a Canadian indie rock band led by guitarist and vocalist José Miguel Contreras. History The band was formed in 1989 by high school friends Contreras, drummer Mark Goldstein, bass guitarist Liz Teear and guitarist Steve Berma ...

's José Miguel Contreras."Cardiacs Attack"
''

Now Now most commonly refers to the present time. Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to: Organizations * Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization * National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization * Now ...

'', May 26, 2005. Amato and Schneider are both members of

Bell Orchestre Bell Orchestre is a six-piece instrumental band from Montreal. It was formed in 1999 by multi-instrumentalist Richard Parry and violinist Sarah Neufeld. Both also joined Arcade Fire. They were joined in Bell Orchestre by Michael Feuerstack (ste ...

, Amato also plays in Torngat and was formerly a horn player for

Arcade Fire Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury and Jeremy Gara. The band's current touring line-up also includes former core member S ...

. The band played at the

Pop Montreal POP Montreal is an annual music festival occurring in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in the early fall, usually at the end of September or the beginning of October. More than 400 bands are scheduled to play in more than 50 venues across the city, most ...

festival in 2008 and the

M for Montreal M for Montreal (M pour Montréal) is an annual 4-day music event produced by Avalanche Prod, which is held in various venues in Montréal, Québec. It usually takes place in the third weekend of November. Description M for Montreal is an indep ...

Festival in 2009. The band uses an uncommon set of instruments featuring guitars, a French horn, piles of keyboards, drums and percussion. Singer/guitarist Jessie Stein expands the band’s musical vocabulary when she plays the

Moodswinger The Moodswinger is a twelve-string electric zither with an additional third bridge designed by Yuri Landman. The rod which functions as the third bridge divides the strings into two sections to cause an overtone multiphonic sound. One of the copi ...

, a 12-string electric zither designed by the Dutch experimental luthier

Yuri Landman Yuri Landman (born 1 February 1973) is a Dutch inventor of musical instruments and musician who has made several experimental electric string instruments for a number of artists including Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth, Liars, Jad Fair of Half Japan ...

. The band became a four-piece band with the addition of Mathieu Charbonneau in their line-up. The Luyas were profiled by

McSweeneys McSweeney's Publishing is an American non-profit publishing, publishing house founded by Dave Eggers in 1998 and headquartered in San Francisco. Initially publishing the literary journal'' Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern'', the company ha ...

in the spring of 2010. In the same year the band signed to

Dead Oceans Dead Oceans is an American independent record label formed in 2007 and based in Bloomington, Indiana, with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Austin, London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Berlin. Dead Oceans is part of Secretly Group, which also ...

for a release of their second album. Working with engineer

Jeff McMurrich Jeff is a masculine name, often a short form (hypocorism) of the English given name Jefferson or Jeffrey, which comes from a medieval variant of Geoffrey. Music * DJ Jazzy Jeff, American DJ/turntablist record producer Jeffrey Allen Townes * ...

(Tindersticks, Constantines), The Luyas have also teamed up with friend and colleague

Owen Pallett Michael James Owen Pallett (born September 7, 1979) is a Canadian composer, violinist, keyboardist, and vocalist. Under their erstwhile moniker of Final Fantasy, Pallett won the 2006 Polaris Music Prize for the album ''He Poos Clouds''. Pallet ...

, who is lending his arranging skills and violin playing to a number of tracks. The Luyas released their second album ''Too Beautiful to Work'' on Dead Oceans in February 2011. The Canadian release of the record was also in February 2011 via a new imprint called

Idée Fixe Records Idee or Idée may refer to: People * Émile Idée (born 1920), French professional road bicycle racer Other * Idée, Inc., creator of image search engine TinEye *Idée fixe (psychology), a fixation * ''Idée Fixe'' (album), 1978 album by Aer ...

. On January 9, 2012, the band announced that Stefan Schneider would no longer be playing with the band, stating, "We love him, but he's got other plans.". Schneider was replaced by former

Land of Talk Land of Talk is a Canadian indie rock band formed in 2006 from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The band is led by singer and guitarist Elizabeth Powell. History Before becoming the front-person for Land of Talk, Elizabeth Powell began her career as a ...

drummer, Mark Wheaton. Their third studio album, ''Animator'', was announced with an October 16, 2012, release date on

Paper Bag Records Paper Bag Records is a Canadian independent record label, artist-management company, and music publisher founded in 2002 and based in Toronto. History The label was created to focus on the Toronto-area indie rock music scene. Initial signings w ...

. In June 2013, the album was longlisted for the

2013 Polaris Music Prize The 2013 edition of the Canadian Polaris Music Prize was presented on September 23, 2013

. Following Animator, Stefan Schneider rejoined the band, and the group recorded two releases featuring both Schneider and Wheaton. In September 2016 the band released the six track EP ''Say You'' through Paper Bag Records and embarked on a tour in support. This was followed by their fourth LP, “Human Voicing”, which was also released on Paper Bag.

Members

* Jessie Stein (

Vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

moodswinger The Moodswinger is a twelve-string electric zither with an additional third bridge designed by Yuri Landman. The rod which functions as the third bridge divides the strings into two sections to cause an overtone multiphonic sound. One of the copi ...

) *

Pietro Amato Pietro Amato is a French horn player with the rock bands Torngat, Bell Orchestre, and The Luyas. He has also performed with Arcade Fire. Career In 2001, Amato, along with keyboardist Mathieu Charbonneau and percussionist Julien Poissant, for ...

(

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...

, bells,

keys Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) * Stefan Schneider (

Drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

) (2006-2012) *

Mathieu Charbonneau Avec pas d'casque is a folk music, folk band from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, composed of members Stéphane Lafleur, Joël Vaudreuil, Nicolas Moussette, and Mathieu Charbonneau. The band's French language, French name literally means "with no hocke ...

(

Wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

) * Mark "Bucky" Wheaton (Drums) (2012–present) *

Sarah Neufeld Sarah Neufeld (born August 27, 1979) is a Canadian violinist who is known for her work with indie rock band Arcade Fire, with whom she is a former core member and currently a touring member. She has contributed to each of the band's studio alb ...

(

Violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

) (2009–present)

Discography

EPs

* ''Tiny Head/Spherical Mattress'' 7" 2009, Self-Released * ''The Luyas/Twin Sister split'' 7" 2011, Dead Oceans * ''Says You'', September 2016

Albums

* ''Faker Death'', 2007, re-release 2008, Pome Records * ''Too Beautiful to Work'', February 2011,

* ''Animator'', October 2012, Dead Oceans * ''Human Voicing'', February 2017

References

External links

The Luyas on Paper Bag Records (label)

The Luyas on CBC Music
{{DEFAULTSORT:Luyas, The Musical groups established in 2006 Canadian indie rock groups Musical groups from Montreal English-language musical groups from Quebec Paper Bag Records artists Dead Oceans artists