The Dead Projectionists

If The Dead Projectionists know one thing, it is the distance between Dartmouth, Nova Scotia and Toronto, Ontario. In fact at this point, the band could put both down for their hometown. Toronto music cornerstone Dan Burke (The Silver Dollar) has called them one of the city’s “best up and coming bands.” Even their influences are hugely ambitious: drawing on decade-spanning artists like PINK FLOYD and RADIOHEAD, these east coasters aim for a huge sound and they deliver it in spades, both live in concert and certainly on their debut album Detractor. The Dead Projectionists evolved from a friendship beginning in a Nova Scotian Grade 7 homeroom, the “Als” (lead singer Alex Goyetche and guitarist Al Purcell) eventually formed a high school band with guitarist Aaron “Skippy” D’Souza. Less than 4 years later, they have all separately migrated to Toronto, reforming the band, and finally completing the lineup when three more were brought on board: Scott Walsh on drums, Stefhan Iwaskow on Bass, and Kirby Schiemann on keyboards. These are hard-working musicians. Alex recalls an early gig at a local Dartmouth grocery store: “It was so cold that I remember playing my guitar physically harder, praying I could fix a broken string in a warm room somewhere.” The Dead Projectionists have come a long way since then, about 1800 km or so. Since moving to Toronto, the band has played in front of a thousand people at the Ossington Folk Festival, released their first album Detractor, and booked their own east coast tour, culminating in a sold-out hometown show at Gus's Pub in Halifax, NS. Self-recorded and self-released album Detractor represents a major musical accomplishment for The Dead Projectionists: a 7 song EP that can and will excitedly jump from malaise to optimism to even ecstasy within the same song. In the Alley features an extended and haunting introduction before giving way to an absolutely pulsating bass line and a truly hum-able chorus, the band’s love of GRIZZLY BEAR certainly lurking in the background. Right Next to the Dynamite musically and lyrically reminisces for a simpler time when we humans were a little hardier, right back to the hardiest of them all, Clint Eastwood himself. Finally, All This Time effortlessly moves from 12 bar blues to melodic pop from verse to chorus and back again. The songs are complexly simple, allowing the audience to discover more with multiple listens, yet each track still immediately impresses upon its first listen as well. One of the Toronto's “best up and coming bands.”