Constantines is an

indie rock Indie rock is a 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 music they produc ...

band from

Guelph, Ontario Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Well ...

, Canada.

History

Constantines was formed in 1999 by vocalist and guitarist Bryan Webb, drummer Doug MacGregor and guitarist Paul Bright, all of whom had played together in the emo band Shoulder from 1994 to 1997; with the addition of bassist Dallas Wehrle. Bright was asked to leave early on and was replaced by Steve Lambke. Their style has been described as "art-punk", and they have been compared to bands like

The Clash The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the w ...

, Fugazi, Bruce Springsteen, The Replacements, and Nick Cave. The name of the band is taken from an episode of ''Coast to Coast with Art Bell'', in which Bell was playing recordings of ghost voices in static, and one of the ghosts' names was Constantine. From their hometown of Guelph the band relocated to

London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...

and then to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, where in 2001 they released their self-titled first album. ''

Constantines Constantines is an indie rock band from Guelph, Ontario, Canada. History Constantines was formed in 1999 by vocalist and guitarist Bryan Webb, drummer Doug MacGregor and guitarist Paul Bright, all of whom had played together in the emo band Shou ...

'' enjoyed widespread play on campus radio and was nominated for a Juno Award for Best Alternative Album. The first track, "Arizona", is based on the suicide of

Danny Rapp Daniel Earl Rapp (May 9, 1941 – April 3, 1983) was an American singer and the frontman for the group Danny & the Juniors. The group is best known for their 1958 hit "At the Hop". Career Rapp's musical career began in 1955 with the formation ...

, the lead singer of

Danny and the Juniors Danny & the Juniors are an American doo-wop and rock and roll vocal group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania originally consisting of Danny Rapp, Dave White, Frank Maffei and Joe Terranova. Formed in 1955, they are most widely recognized for thei ...

of "

At the Hop "At the Hop" is a 1950s pop song written by Artie Singer, John Medora, and David White and originally released by Danny & the Juniors. The song was released in the fall of 1957 and reached number one on the US charts on January 6, 1958, becomi ...

" fame. The song begins with the lyric "This is a song about the death of Danny Rapp. And that great gospel jest called rock 'n' roll." That year they performed at the

El Mocambo The El Mocambo is a live music and entertainment venue in Toronto, Ontario. Located on Spadina Avenue, just south of College Street, the venue has played an important role in the development of popular music in Toronto since 1948. It is best kn ...

in Toronto with Oneida and Grand Total. In 2002 they added keyboard player

Evan Gordon Islands is a Canadian indie rock band from Montreal, Quebec. The group was founded in 2005 by Nicholas Thorburn and Jamie Thompson, shortly after the breakup of The Unicorns, of which both were members. Their current lineup includes Thorburn, o ...

to the lineup and released the EP ''

The Modern Sinner Nervous Man ''The Modern Sinner Nervous Man'' is an EP album by the Constantines. It was released April 16, 2002 on the Suicide Squeeze Suicide Squeeze Records is a Seattle, Washington-based independent record label that releases rock, pop, and metal ...

''. Gordon left the band soon after to pursue his own song writing. He was replaced by Will Kidman, and the band released '' Shine a Light'' in 2003. This album was the band's first to be released outside of Canada on the Sub Pop record label. It topped the !earshot National Top 50 chart in September that year. ''Shine a Light'' also earned the band their second Juno Award nomination for Alternative Album of the Year. In 2004, the label Sub Pop reissued the band's self-titled album. The next year, they embarked on a cross-Canada tour with

The Weakerthans The Weakerthans are an award-winning and Juno-nominated Canadian indie rock band from Winnipeg. The band, led by John K. Samson, has released four studio albums and is currently inactive. History The band was formed in 1997 in Winnipeg, Manito ...

called ''The Rolling Tundra Revue''. Later in the year their album ''

Tournament of Hearts The Scotties Tournament of Hearts (''french: Le Tournoi des Cœurs Scotties''; commonly referred to as the Scotties) is the annual Canadian women's curling championship, sanctioned by Curling Canada, formerly called the Canadian Curling Associat ...

'' was released September 27 by Toronto record label

Three Gut Records Three Gut Records was a Guelph, Ontario, Canada based independent record label. It was founded in 1999 by Lisa Moran and Tyler Clark Burke as a vehicle for releasing albums by their friends; it became an influential player in Canadian music with ...

in Canada, and on October 11 by Sub Pop in the United States. The members of Constantines have occasionally played shows under the name Horsey Craze, covering

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Fur ...

songs. In early 2006, they released a

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...

only split-album with

The Unintended The Unintended is a Canadian indie supergroup, consisting of Dallas Good (died 2022), Travis Good, Sean Dean and Mike Belitsky of The Sadies, Greg Keelor of Blue Rodeo and Rick White of Eric's Trip and Elevator. The band's name comes from a lyri ...

. Constantines recorded four Neil Young covers for the LP, while The Unintended performed four

Gordon Lightfoot Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. (born November 17, 1938) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music. He is credited with helping to define the folk-pop sound of the 1960 ...

songs. In 2007, following the demise of their Canadian former record label Three Gut Records, Constantines signed with Arts & Crafts. On January 15, 2008, they released a limited edition 7" on white vinyl, entitled ''Hard Feelings''. Their fourth full-length album, ''

Kensington Heights ''Kensington Heights'' is the fourth full-length album by the Constantines. It was released on the Arts & Crafts record label on April 15, 2008, in Canada, and on April 29, 2008, in the US. The track "Hard Feelings" was released as the album's ...

'', was released on April 15 in Canada and April 29 in the US. Guitarist Steve Lambke has released four albums and a split 12" under the name

Baby Eagle The Jericho 941 is a double-action/single-action semi-automatic pistol developed by Israel Military Industries (now Israel Weapon Industries) introduced in 1990. It was first imported into the United States in 1990 by K.B.I., Inc. of Harrisbur ...

, and keyboard player Will Kidman has recorded under the name

Woolly Leaves Constantines is an indie rock band from Guelph, Ontario, Canada. History Constantines was formed in 1999 by vocalist and guitarist Bryan Webb, drummer Doug MacGregor and guitarist Paul Bright, all of whom had played together in the emo band Shou ...

. In December 2009, the band celebrated their tenth anniversary with a tour of southwestern Ontario. Shortly thereafter, keyboardist Will Kidman left the band. This, coupled with Webb's move from his home in Montreal back to Guelph, fueled rumours of the band's demise. Although Webb hinted that the band might return. The Constantines at Hillside Festival 2015

The Constantines at Hillside Festival 2015

Constantines went on an unofficial hiatus for several years. In 2014 Constantines reformed for a reunion tour, performing at festivals around Canada, including SappyFest and at Kazoo!Fest in Guelph."Constantines Mitchell Hall, Guelph ON, April 8"
''Exclaim!'', By Tom Beedham, Apr 09, 2017 In May 2015 the band performed at Massey Hall in Toronto with Chad VanGaalen Constantines were on the line-up for Wayhome summer 2017 music festival in Oro-Medonte, Ontario. and once more performed at Kazoo!Fest. In 2020, Constantines digitally self-released charity single "Call Me Out" written in 2017 and recorded in 2018. The song was not published on streaming platforms and instead was only made available as a purchasable

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

download with 100% of its proceeds being donated to

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police br ...

Toronto and the

Unistʼotʼen Camp The Unistʼotʼen Camp is a protest camp and indigenous healing centre in northern British Columbia, Canada. It is located within the traditional territory of the Unist'otʼen clan of the Wetʼsuwetʼen First Nation peoples. Established after t ...

Legal Fund.

Members

Current members

*Will Kidman – keyboards, guitar,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

, backing vocals * Steve Lambke –

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 strin ...

, keyboards,

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 withou ...

*Doug MacGregor – drums * Bryan Webb – vocals, guitar *Dallas Wehrle –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

Former members

– keyboards

Discography

Albums

*''

'' (

) – June 5, 2001 (

Sub Pop Records Sub is a common abbreviation of words beginning with the prefix "sub-". Sub or SUB may also refer to Places * Juanda International Airport, Surabaya, Indonesia, IATA code SUB Computing and technology * , an HTML tag for subscript * SUB designate ...

- August 10, 2004) *'' Shine a Light'' (Three Gut Records/Sub Pop Records) – August 19, 2003 *''

'' (Three Gut Records) – September 27, 2005 / (Sub Pop Records) - October 11, 2005 *''

'' ( Arts & Crafts) – April 15, 2008

EPs

*''

'' (EP,

Suicide Squeeze Records Suicide Squeeze Records is a Seattle, Washington-based independent record label that releases rock, pop, and metal music. Suicide Squeeze releases content on vinyl, CD, cassette, and digital. The label has also released comedy and performance a ...

) – April 16, 2002 *'' Nighttime Anytime'' (EP, Sub Pop) – July 8, 2003

Singles

*''Young Lions'' (single, Sub Pop) – August 10, 2004"A Completely Biased Ranking of the 60 Best Canadian Indie Rock Songs of the 00s Part II"
''Vice'', Cam Lindsay Apr 10 2017 *''Hard Feelings'' (7" single, Arts & Crafts) – January 15, 2008 *''Islands in the Stream'' (7" single with Feist, Arts & Crafts) – 2008 *''Our Age'' (7" single, Arts & Crafts, B-side is cover of " Fuckin' Up" by

Neil Young and Crazy Horse Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...

) – November 25, 2008 *''Too Slow for Love'' (Electronic-only companion for Kensington Heights) – March 17, 2009 *''Thank You For Sending me An Angel'' (7" included in vinyl reissue of ''Shine A Light'' ) 2014 *''Call Me Out'' (digital, self-released) - June 9, 2020

Splits

* '' Constantines Play Young/Unintended Play Lightfoot'' LP (Blue Fog Records) – 2006

Compilation appearances

* ''The 20 Year Design Theory'' (AntiAntenna Recordings) – "The Young and the Desperate" – June 1, 2001 * ''Patient Zero'' – "Young Lions" (Sub Pop) – June 1, 2004 * ''

CBC Radio 3 Sessions, Vol. 1 ''CBC Radio 3 Sessions, Vol. 1'' is a compilation album released in 2004, compiling tracks from live sessions performed on CBC Radio 3. Track listing # Sloan - "Losing California" (3:02) # The New Pornographers - "The Fake Headlines" (2:52) ...

'' – "Blind Luck (live)" – June 15, 2004 * ''Wide Awake, Crescent Shaped: Volume 10'' – "St. You (live)" – June 15, 2004 * ''Songbook Of Songs'' (Sub Pop) – "Working Full-Time" – May 24, 2005

TV appearances

*'' Beautiful Noise''

References

External links

Constantines
official website *
Constantines
on former label

Constantines
on Sub Pop {{DEFAULTSORT:Constantines, The Suicide Squeeze Records artists Musical groups established in 1999 Canadian indie rock groups Musical groups from Guelph Sub Pop artists Arts & Crafts Productions artists 1999 establishments in Ontario