Sweet Thing (band)
Encyclopedia
Sweet Thing are a Canadian pop rock
band based in Toronto
who have been signed to EMI Music Canada since 2008. They are best known for their singles "Dance Mother" and "Change of Seasons".
and Lindsay, Ontario
, and Victoria, British Columbia
. Bassist Morgan Waters
, guitarist Nick Rose, and drummer Tyler Kyte
all had acting careers in Canada prior to the formation of Sweet Thing. (Waters won two Gemini Award
s for the television series Cock'd Gunns
and one for The Morgan Waters Show
.) The band took their name from the song by Van Morrison
. They cite such influences as The Beatles
, The Band
, Stevie Wonder
, Creedence Clearwater Revival
, Michael Jackson
, Sloan
, and Ted Leo
. They worked with producer Rob Schnapf
(Elliott Smith
, Beck
) in Los Angeles for their debut album. Billboard
wrote that the album "is full of chiming guitars and chugging rhythms, recalling other guitar-based groups searching for a danceable groove like Franz Ferdinand
." Critic Ben Rayner of the Toronto Star
wrote, " 'Lazy Susan' and 'Lorraine' prance like Spoon
after a '70s soft-rock bender, while 'Winter Night' makes a run for the children-of-Coldplay
club and succeeds with a smashingly universal and emotive girly-boy chorus."
Sweet Thing toured Canada in 2010 to promote their debut album.
Their single "Change of Seasons" was featured in the 2010 film Easy A
starring Emma Stone and Amanda Bynes.
- Produced & Mixed by Rob Schnapf
- Engineered & Miixed by Doug Boehm
Pop rock
Pop rock is a music genre which mixes a catchy pop style and light lyrics in its guitar-based rock songs. There are varying definitions of the term, ranging from a slower and mellower form of rock music to a subgenre of pop music...
band based in Toronto
Toronto
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...
who have been signed to EMI Music Canada since 2008. They are best known for their singles "Dance Mother" and "Change of Seasons".
History
Band members are originally from OttawaOttawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
and Lindsay, Ontario
Lindsay, Ontario
Lindsay is a community of 19,361 people on the Scugog River in the Kawartha Lakes region of south-eastern Ontario, Canada. It is approximately west of Peterborough...
, and Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
. Bassist Morgan Waters
Morgan Waters
Morgan Waters is a Canadian actor. Waters was first seen on the CBC's children's program The X, which was canceled in 2003. Born in Victoria, British Columbia, Waters moved to Toronto, Ontario to host the The Morgan Waters Show, which aired on CBC Television in 2006. Waters competed in the 2000...
, guitarist Nick Rose, and drummer Tyler Kyte
Tyler Kyte
Jonathan Tyler "Ty" Kyte is a Canadian actor and musician. He began his acting career with commercials and performing in the Musical Tommy in Toronto. Kyte was made famous amongst Canadian youth as a correspondent on the Canadian TV series Popular Mechanics for Kids alongside fellow Canadians...
all had acting careers in Canada prior to the formation of Sweet Thing. (Waters won two Gemini Award
Gemini Award
The Gemini Awards are annual television broadcasting industry awards in Canada.First awarded in 1986, the Geminis celebrate the achievements of TV members of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Essentially, it presents awards for the best television productions in Canada. Awards are...
s for the television series Cock'd Gunns
Cock'd Gunns
Cock'd Gunns is a Canadian English language mockumentary television series originally produced for IFC and later broadcasting on Showcase. The series documents the members of fictional rock band, Cock'd Gunns, as they try to become the biggest band in the world...
and one for The Morgan Waters Show
The Morgan Waters Show
The Morgan Waters Show is a six-minute sketch comedy show starring Morgan Waters, made by CBC Television for its afternoon youth programming lineup, next to the 3 minute Mr. Meaty and Yam Roll...
.) The band took their name from the song by Van Morrison
Sweet Thing (Van Morrison song)
"Sweet Thing" is one of the songs included on Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison's 1968 acclaimed second album Astral Weeks. It was on the first side of the album, that was under the heading: In the Beginning...
. They cite such influences as The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, The Band
The Band
The Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm...
, Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
, Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival was an American rock band that gained popularity in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a number of successful singles drawn from various albums....
, Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
, Sloan
Sloan (band)
Sloan is a Toronto-based alternative rock quartet from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Throughout their 20-year tenure Sloan has released 10 LPs , two EPs, a live album, a "best of" collection and no less than thirty singles...
, and Ted Leo
Ted Leo
Theodore F. Leo , called "Ted," as a short form of "Theodore," is an American punk rock/indie rock songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, though he is most known for his singing and guitar playing...
. They worked with producer Rob Schnapf
Rob Schnapf
Rob Schnapf is an American record producer and musician. He was the co-producer of Elliott Smith's albums Either/Or, XO , Figure 8 and From a Basement on the Hill, for which he was recruited by Smith's family to complete after Smith's death.Schnapf, along with Rothrock and partner...
(Elliott Smith
Elliott Smith
Steven Paul "Elliott" Smith was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and resided for a significant portion of his life in Portland, Oregon, where he first gained popularity...
, Beck
Beck
Beck Hansen is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known by the stage name Beck...
) in Los Angeles for their debut album. Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
wrote that the album "is full of chiming guitars and chugging rhythms, recalling other guitar-based groups searching for a danceable groove like Franz Ferdinand
Franz Ferdinand (band)
Franz Ferdinand are a Scottish post-punk revival band formed in Glasgow in 2002. The band is composed of Alex Kapranos , Bob Hardy , Nick McCarthy , and Paul Thomson .The band first experienced chart success when their second single, "Take Me Out", reached #3 in...
." Critic Ben Rayner of the Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
wrote, " 'Lazy Susan' and 'Lorraine' prance like Spoon
Spoon (band)
Spoon is an American rock band formed in Austin, Texas. The band is composed of Britt Daniel ; Jim Eno ; Rob Pope and Eric Harvey .-History:...
after a '70s soft-rock bender, while 'Winter Night' makes a run for the children-of-Coldplay
Coldplay
Coldplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...
club and succeeds with a smashingly universal and emotive girly-boy chorus."
Sweet Thing toured Canada in 2010 to promote their debut album.
Their single "Change of Seasons" was featured in the 2010 film Easy A
Easy A
Easy A is a 2010 teen comedy film written by Bert V. Royal, directed by Will Gluck, and starring Emma Stone. The screenplay was partially inspired by the novel The Scarlet Letter. The film was shot at Screen Gems studios and in Ojai, California. Screen Gems distributed with a release on...
starring Emma Stone and Amanda Bynes.
Band members
- Owen Carrier – lead vocals
- Nick Rose – guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, vocals - Alex Winter – guitar
- Morgan WatersMorgan WatersMorgan Waters is a Canadian actor. Waters was first seen on the CBC's children's program The X, which was canceled in 2003. Born in Victoria, British Columbia, Waters moved to Toronto, Ontario to host the The Morgan Waters Show, which aired on CBC Television in 2006. Waters competed in the 2000...
– bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Tyler KyteTyler KyteJonathan Tyler "Ty" Kyte is a Canadian actor and musician. He began his acting career with commercials and performing in the Musical Tommy in Toronto. Kyte was made famous amongst Canadian youth as a correspondent on the Canadian TV series Popular Mechanics for Kids alongside fellow Canadians...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
Track listing
- "Change of Seasons"
- "Lazy Susan"
- "Gun"
- "Winter Night"
- "Over Me"
- "Dance Mother"
- "Spider"
- "Lorraine"
- "Duotang"
- "Kite Fight"
- "We're on Fire Tonight"
- "Please"
- Produced & Mixed by Rob Schnapf
Rob Schnapf
Rob Schnapf is an American record producer and musician. He was the co-producer of Elliott Smith's albums Either/Or, XO , Figure 8 and From a Basement on the Hill, for which he was recruited by Smith's family to complete after Smith's death.Schnapf, along with Rothrock and partner...
- Engineered & Miixed by Doug Boehm
Doug Boehm
Doug Boehm is an American record producer and sound engineer who specializes predominantly in the rock music genre and has worked in collaboration with Rob Schnapf on a number of occasions. He produced the releases of the American group French Kicks and served as the recording engineer for Dr...