Sports: The Band
Encyclopedia
Sports is a Canadian
indie rock
band consisting of Nathan Rekker on vocals, guitar and synthesizer, Michael Small on bass, Shayne Cox on drums, and Pete Carmichael on guitar - current and former members of bands The Carnations
, The Meligrove Band
, By Divine Right
, The Diableros
, Detective Kalita
and Polmo Polpo, among others. Keyboardist and vocalist Robin Hatch was a member of the band from 2006 until 2009, after which she joined Sheezer. Pete Carmichael joined the group in 2011.
's Brunswick Avenue in 2004. The band's lineup solidified in late 2006, playing their first show as Sports: The Band in January 2007. Their first tour was through Atlantic Canada
in October 2008, headlining a showcase at the Halifax Pop Explosion
festival. That December they released a five-song EP produced by Peter Chapman through online record shop Zunior. The CD edition was pressed in March 2009, with a release party at Toronto's Sneaky Dee's
. The front and back cover art was created by Sharon Pazner in Jerusalem and shipped to Toronto to be photographed. Another east-coast tour followed in fall 2009, Hatch's last with the band, ending with two shows at the Halifax Pop Explosion festival.
In 2008 and 2009, Sports performed alongside notable artists such as Crystal Antlers
, The Meligrove Band
, Julie Doiron
, Yukon Blonde
, and Two Hours Traffic
.
Across 2010, photos appeared on the band's Facebook
profile, showing progress on a full-length Sports album, working again with Peter Chapman as producer.
In early 2011, finished songs appeared on the Sports Bandcamp
site, and guitarist/vocalist Pete Carmichael (previously of The Diableros
) joined the band. Paris culture magazine Les Inrockuptibles
posted the song "Slacking Scholar" on April 22.
Sports' first full-length album, titled SPORTS, was released Tuesday June 7, 2011 as a "pay what you want" download on the Sports Bandcamp site.
compared the band to a more "amiable" and "laid-back" version of The New Pornographers
and Fleetwood Mac
. Halifax blog Hero Hill describes Sports as "jump(ing) effortlessly from surging, swirling synths to weightless AM pop ... even touching on more gloomy, Brit inspired sounds" while infusing some "Flaming Lips psychedelics."
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
band consisting of Nathan Rekker on vocals, guitar and synthesizer, Michael Small on bass, Shayne Cox on drums, and Pete Carmichael on guitar - current and former members of bands The Carnations
The Carnations
The Carnations were a Canadian indie rock band started in 1995 by Thomas D'Arcy on lead vocals and bass, and Steve Krecklo on vocals and guitar. It expanded in 1996 to include Nathan Rekker on guitar and vocals, and later Patrick Conan on drums.-History:...
, The Meligrove Band
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:...
, By Divine Right
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, bassist Liz Teear and guitarist Steve Berman. They put out a number of independent releases before...
, The Diableros
The Diableros
The Diableros are a Canadian rock band, formed in Toronto in 2004.-History:The band is fronted by singer-songwriter Pete Carmichael. The group started after founding drummer Phoebe Lee suggested to Carmichael that they play his unheard original songs together...
, Detective Kalita
Detective Kalita
Detective Kalita is a Toronto indie rock band, consisting of singer, songwriter and guitarist Andy Swan, guitarist and lap steel player Sandro Perri, bassist Greg Smith and drummer Shayne "The Velvet Fog" Cox.The band releases its material on Kelp Records...
and Polmo Polpo, among others. Keyboardist and vocalist Robin Hatch was a member of the band from 2006 until 2009, after which she joined Sheezer. Pete Carmichael joined the group in 2011.
History
Sports began as Rekker's bedroom recording project when he and Small were roommates on TorontoToronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
's Brunswick Avenue in 2004. The band's lineup solidified in late 2006, playing their first show as Sports: The Band in January 2007. Their first tour was through Atlantic Canada
Atlantic Canada
Atlantic Canada is the region of Canada comprising the four provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec: the three Maritime provinces – New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia – and Newfoundland and Labrador...
in October 2008, headlining a showcase at the Halifax Pop Explosion
Halifax Pop Explosion
The Halifax Pop Explosion is a music festival that takes place every fall, two weeks after Thanksgiving, in Halifax Nova Scotia, Canada.-History:...
festival. That December they released a five-song EP produced by Peter Chapman through online record shop Zunior. The CD edition was pressed in March 2009, with a release party at Toronto's Sneaky Dee's
Sneaky Dee's
Sneaky Dee's is a bar on the south-east corner of the College and Bathurst intersection in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its original location was on Bloor Street west of Bathurst, but it moved to its present location in 1990....
. The front and back cover art was created by Sharon Pazner in Jerusalem and shipped to Toronto to be photographed. Another east-coast tour followed in fall 2009, Hatch's last with the band, ending with two shows at the Halifax Pop Explosion festival.
In 2008 and 2009, Sports performed alongside notable artists such as Crystal Antlers
Crystal Antlers
-History:Early HistoryThe band started as a 3 piece, Kevin Stuart , Errol Davis and Jonny Bell in late 2006 in Long Beach, California. Stuart, Davis, and Bell met while attending a music class in High School...
, The Meligrove Band
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:...
, Julie Doiron
Julie Doiron
Julie Doiron is an award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter of Acadian heritage.-Background:Doiron started playing guitar in Eric's Trip at the age of eighteen, having joined the band at the insistence of her then-boyfriend, Rick White, also of Eric's Trip...
, Yukon Blonde
Yukon Blonde
Yukon Blonde is a Canadian indie rock band originally from Kelowna, British Columbia. Formed in 2005 as a quintet called Alphababy, the band members changed the name in late 2008 at the suggestion of Jon-Rae Fletcher, with whom the band was touring. The band has been based in Vancouver since 2009...
, and Two Hours Traffic
Two Hours Traffic
Two Hours Traffic is a Canadian indie rock band, based in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. They are named after a line in the prologue to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Although often described as the band that Halifax guitarist Joel Plaskett took "under his wing", they have increasingly...
.
Across 2010, photos appeared on the band's Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
profile, showing progress on a full-length Sports album, working again with Peter Chapman as producer.
In early 2011, finished songs appeared on the Sports Bandcamp
Bandcamp
Bandcamp is an online music store, as well as a platform for artist promotion, that caters mainly for independent artists. Artists on Bandcamp have a customizable microsite with the albums they upload. All tracks can be played for free on the website and some artists offer free music downloads...
site, and guitarist/vocalist Pete Carmichael (previously of The Diableros
The Diableros
The Diableros are a Canadian rock band, formed in Toronto in 2004.-History:The band is fronted by singer-songwriter Pete Carmichael. The group started after founding drummer Phoebe Lee suggested to Carmichael that they play his unheard original songs together...
) joined the band. Paris culture magazine Les Inrockuptibles
Les Inrockuptibles
Les Inrockuptibles is a French cultural magazine. Started as a monthly magazine in 1986, it became weekly in 1995. The name is a play on "Les Incorruptibles", the French title of the American television series The Untouchables...
posted the song "Slacking Scholar" on April 22.
Sports' first full-length album, titled SPORTS, was released Tuesday June 7, 2011 as a "pay what you want" download on the Sports Bandcamp site.
Style
The 8 January 2009 issue of Toronto's Eye WeeklyEye Weekly
Eye Weekly was a free weekly newspaper published in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was owned by Torstar, the parent company of the Toronto Star, and was published by their Star Media Group until its final issue on May 5, 2011. The following week, Torstar launched a successor publication, The Grid.-...
compared the band to a more "amiable" and "laid-back" version of The New Pornographers
The New Pornographers
The New Pornographers is a Canadian indie rock band formed in 1997 in Vancouver, British Columbia.-History:The band's first four albums each ranked in the top 40 on The Village Voices Pazz & Jop year-end poll of hundreds of music reviewers. From 2000 to 2006, either a New Pornographers' album or a...
and Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British–American rock band formed in 1967 in London.The only original member present in the band is its eponymous drummer, Mick Fleetwood...
. Halifax blog Hero Hill describes Sports as "jump(ing) effortlessly from surging, swirling synths to weightless AM pop ... even touching on more gloomy, Brit inspired sounds" while infusing some "Flaming Lips psychedelics."