The Waking Eyes is a Canadian rock band from

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

and Steinbach,

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

History

The band formed after the break-up of two other Manitoba bands, The Pets from Steinbach and

Novillero Novillero is a Canadian indie pop band formed in 1999 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Their musical style has been dubbed "mod-pop". History Novillero was formed in 1999 by keyboardist Roberta Dempster, guitarist Sean Stevens, and keyboardist-guitarist ...

from Winnipeg. In 2002 The Waking Eyes released a full-length album, '' Combing the Clouds''. In 2004 The Waking Eyes followed up with a second album, '' Video Sound''. The album won a 2005 Western Canada Music Award. Shortly before the album was released, bassist Russ Dufault left the band, temporarily replaced by

The Meligrove Band The Meligrove Band is a Canadian indie rock band, based in Toronto, and consisting of Jason Nunes on vocals, guitar and piano, Darcy Rego on vocals and drums, Brian O'Reilly on guitar and synthesizer, and Michael Small on bass guitar. History T ...

's Michael Small (for a short tour and the "Watch Your Money" music video), before Joey Penner was introduced. The band went on several tours, traveling across Canada, as well as into the United States and to overseas locations including Germany for POPKOMM's "Kick it like Canada". In 2005 the group was nominated for a

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

for New Group of the Year but lost to

Alexisonfire Alexisonfire (pronounced "Alexis on Fire") is a Canadian post-hardcore band formed in St. Catharines, OntarioRoss, Mike.Band is a scream", CANOE JAM!, April 30, 2004. Retrieved on July 17, 2007. in 2001. The band's members are George Pettit (vo ...

. The Waking Eyes spent the better part of 2006 holed-up in their Winnipeg jam space, writing and demoing songs for an album. Pre-production took place in Winnipeg during February 2007. The band recorded the follow-up to ''Video Sound'' in a Winnipeg studio in May 2007 with producer/engineer John Paul Peters (formerly of

The Undecided The Undecided was a p op punk band from Steinbach, Manitoba, Canada. History The Undecided formed as a punk band in 1994 with members singer Matt Fast, drummer Steve Dueck, John Paul Peters guitar and Mike Kehler. In 1996 they released a demo ...

). The Waking Eyes' record, ''Holding on to Whatever It Is'', was released digitally via iTunes in July, 2008. The band released the record on vinyl in September, and CD copies became available in November. The album won a Western Canada Music Award for best independent album.

Hiatus

In July 2010, The Waking Eyes went on hiatus, allowing the members of the band to concentrate on other musical projects. Matyas formed a soul-pop band,

Imaginary Cities Imaginary Cities was a Canadian indie pop duo based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The project consisted of multi-instrumentalist Rusty Matyas, formerly of The Waking Eyes and a sometime collaborator of The Weakerthans, and vocalist Marti Sarbit.

, with Winnipeg singer Marti Sarbit; he also performed solo as Terrier and with Ewan Currie as The Mothers Brothers Band. Peters' 2010 album by his band,

Royal Canoe Royal Canoe is a Canadian indie pop band from Winnipeg and Steinbach, Manitoba. History The band formed in 2010 from members of Manitoba bands The Waking Eyes, The Liptonians and TELE. They have toured with Alt-J and Bombay Bicycle Club. In 2014 ...

, titled "Co-Op Mode," included collaborations, co-writes and performances with all of the members of The Waking Eyes. Peters continues writing, recording and/or producing in the Winnipeg area for/with The Liptonians, Slattern, Demetra, Ruth Moody,"The timing was right for Ruth Moody's solo debut"
''Georgia Straight'', by Tony Montague on November 3rd, 2010 This Hisses and Triunfo do Gato. Milk is a joke hip-hop act featuring Matyas and Peters, and Racket (pronounced "Racket in Brackets" is a Ratatat-like dance act fronted by Peters.

Discography

* '' Combing the Clouds'' (2002) * '' Video Sound'' (2004) * ''

Holding On to Whatever It Is ''Holding On to Whatever It Is'' is an album by The Waking Eyes, released in 2008. It was released on July 1, 2008 on iTunes, and a physical CD was released in stores on November 4, 2008., ''Chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a ...

'' (2008)

Music videos

* ''"Watch Your Money"'' * ''"The Beginning"'' * ''"On a Train"'' * ''"But I Already Have It"'' * ''"Taking the Hard Way"'' (With scenes showing their live shows) * ''"All Empires Fall" '' * ''"Wolves at the Door" ''

Radio singles

* "Watch Your Money" * "Beginning" * "On a Train" * "If You Know Why" * "All Empires Fall"

References

External links

*
"From the Ground Up" – A November 2006 article about The Waking Eyes
– October 15, 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Waking Eyes, The Musical groups established in 2002 Musical groups disestablished in 2010 Musical groups from Winnipeg Canadian indie rock groups 2002 establishments in Manitoba 2010 disestablishments in Manitoba Mennonite musicians