Spygirl plays lush, melodic, elegant, and dark pop/rock. If Spygirl were a martini, they’d be equal parts sonic assault, naked duets and lush harmonies with a dash of drum & bass, and garnished with a twist of Canadiana - shaken vigorously, of course. If Spygirl were an outfit, you’d look geek-slick, full in all the right places and your ass would look hot.
Spygirl recently completed their second full-length album, pieces of evidence, slated for national release March 2008.
Spygirl was overjoyed to work once again with favourite musical wizard Tom Rothrock, who mixed a few songs on their 2000 self-titled debut. This time he came on board as Producer in full. Mr. Rothrock (who has also created records with some of popular music’s great recent innovators such as Beck, Elliott Smith, Elbow, Sloan, Badly Drawn Boy and James Blunt) helped the band create a spontaneous, relaxed and raw recording, due in part to his laid back mix of confidence, spontaneity, knowledge and love of music, and in part to recording much of the album live off the floor. The result is a group of songs that belong together, sharing a landscape that is lush, melodic, elegant and dark.
This is the band’s 12th year. The Vancouver-based 6 piece group was born out of a musical bond between founders Koralee Tonack (lead vocals, guitar) and Jane Gowan (trumpet, keyboards). The two initially formed Time Waits - the acoustically charming mother of today’s luscious pop child. The group included Jon Roper (guitar), performing mostly original songs written by Gowan. Several recordings were released on cassette. Now those are hidden away in boxes...somewhere. Eventually James Ong (keyboards) and Eduardo Ottoni (drums) joined, and with a fuller sound developing, the band released their debut CD entitled This Thin Disguise.
A collective desire to streamline the sound resulted in a less acoustic, more pop/rock sound. The viola da gamba and accordion, previously played by Ong and Gowan respectively, were abandoned in favour of keyboards, fender rhodes and trumpet. By this time other band members had begun contributing to the songwriting, creating excitement and freshness. As the direction of the music changed, so did the name, and band’s self-titled debut (informally known as The Yellow Album) was recorded just as the transformation to Spygirl took place. The disc was nominated for a West Coast Music Award and also gained much positive media attention.
In 2005 Al MacInnes (bass) joined the band to add substance to the style. Now with a full line-up to carry the tunes, Spygirl released a 5-song EP as a precursor to the full-length album in August, 2005. The songs on this disc are homages to the band’s constant quest for the perfect pop epic. All the tracks from this disc were re-recorded on pieces of evidence.
Spygirl has toured in Canada and the UK, and plans to be out on the road again in early 2008 to support the new album.
Hi there Spygirl first of all we'd like to say thanks for being our myspace pal. We wanted to make sure you knew the reason incase we suddenly vanish off of your friends list. The movement we've started for indie artists has grown significantly and consumes all of our time these days. We seldom sign into our myspace account and this is making several people believe that we are ignoring them. We are not ignoring anyone, we wanted everyone to know that. What we're doing has become so busy we just don't have the time for myspace any longer, so in all honesty we are probably going to just close our myspace account.
Many people wanted to use us in the future so if you were one of those people make sure you bookmark the link below so that in the event that we do close our myspace account you won't lose contact with us. I wish you the best of luck in your music career. Thanks again for being our myspace pal.
We have also built a pretty big music community which you are welcome to join if you want to meet new artists like yourself!
Hello friends! You're very kind, thanks for the early toasting! :) Best wishes to Vancouver, where is a seat of so many wonderful bands! Just like Spygirl. Melinda xx
It's been far too long. We're playing Sat Sep 22 at the new hipster hole known as Hoko's - but I may see you first since Richards is a damn fine place to see a performance.
Hello Spygirl!I was just surfing on myspace yesterday night and found your profile. I really liked what I heard! Koralee`s voice is great and
the songs are pretty cool and refined.
Coming to Montreal soon?
I am currently getting my drink on but I wanted to stop by and say it is wonderful to befriend you. You are making some wonderfully, haunting sounds. Are you guys playing out anytime soon?
Hey just dropin by to check in. Hows life? We've been busy booking the summer tour. We'd love to know what you are up to though, so drop by and say hello.
