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Wax Mannequin was born in the smoke and industry of Hamilton; a damaged, underdog town; a perfect breeding ground for strange, variant things. Incorporating folk, scrappy prog-metal and a tireless creative ethic, Wax infused his local influences with road-broken experience to forge something unsettlingly new. Solo (accompanied by heavy devices and an angry, nylon-string guitar) or band-backed (with Mark Raymond on bass and Aidan Campbell on percussion), Wax Mannequin has toured incessantly within Canada over the past six years, with more recent forays into Europe and Australia.

Wax Mannequin now finds himself a forerunner in a strange new movement: roaming recluses and attention-seekers -- solo-performers, equipped with laptops, damaged instruments and decaying minivans, making new sounds, informed by hard travel and rough living.

Wax's thought-provoking live performances and acclaimed recordings have garnered the fervent support of the creative underclass in his home country as well as a burgeoning international reputation. After a comparitively sedentary half-year year of close-to-home travel, teaching grade two students and recording with Andy Magoffin, a wiser, drunker Wax Mannequin emerges. He readies himself again for the glories and pitfalls of the trans-Canada, and the trans-atlantic. Wax's impending release 'Saxon' (summer 2009) will mark a gritty return to the psych-folk roots of this rambling iconoclast.

[Wax Mannequin's] Saxon is one of the sharpest bursts of surreal folk-rock to emerge this year... the masterful Saxon, [is an] earnest batch of songs, most of which are performed on classical guitar and blend Wax Mannequin's trademark theatricality and darkly humorous perspective like nothing he's ever issued.
Exclaim! (Canada) | Feature article | August 2009

"By training his inner animal enough to let it run free with his muse, Wax Mannequin has given birth to a brilliant bestial gem of audio mythology."
-Exclaim! (Canada) | Review of 'Orchard and Ire' | August 2007

"Part wandering minstrel, part rock animal, Wax Mannequin combines a fine sense of prog-rock parody with intense sincerity and lyrical smarts. He will indoctrinate you with chilling harmonies, absurd lyrics and the almighty power of the guitar."
- dB Magazine (Australia) | September 2004

"I could start off with a catch-all like 'shockingly good songwriter' or 'eclectic artist,' and while that would partly describe Hamilton's Wax Mannequin, it would do the man a great disservice to leave it at that."
-Now Magazine (Toronto)| Disc of the Week | JUNE 28 - JULY 4 2007 | VOL. 26 NO. 43

WAX MANNEQUIN - Black Bells from Mitch Fillion on Vimeo.