The Sevenate

“Now I gotta lose a loser...
I want to be free,
free to be me.
I was a junkie...”

Flashback to Montreal in the mid-90’s: One of the most exciting and visual bands around is TALAMASCA. Fronted by a dementedly charismatic singer-songwriter, then known as Chriss Lee, Talamasca was the band to watch for at the time. The local press was following them closely. Their hyper-visual shows in the tradition of Alice Cooper and Kiss, were attracting ever-growing crowds of freaks and hipsters dressed in the requisite “The Matrix” inspired Goth uniforms. Their albums; released on Lee’s own MotherHouse Records label and distributed by Cargo at first, and subsequently picked up by Distribution Fusion 3, were receiving dithyrambic reviews by the media who all agreed their music flew high above the usual Sisters Of Mercy clones floating around. Capable of the most gorgeous melancholic ballads, followed by industrial-tinged hard rock songs with a sound that could compete with the best productions of the hour, it seemed Talamasca was on their way to the big time, so how come you’ve never heard of them?

Good question. The people who were working with the band more closely would speak of an uncontrollable, drug fuelled, difficult rock star who would even turn interviews into some sort of performance art, shedding tears, sometimes bringing a guitar with him to serenade the journalists and turn the tables on them with disturbing stories of addiction, sex and crime/jail... Chriss Lee was everything the press wants in a rock star: a larger than life personality providing them with an endless cornucopia of shocking stories to feed their readers.

But then things got complicated: It all ended on December 9th, 1997 with the best story yet; Chriss Lee’s death by overdose-suicide, followed by an even greater shock: His “resurrection” two months later to the great consternation of all Talamasca fans and Montreal’s media who had reported at length his passing, with heartfelt articles detailing the importance of the mark he left on the city’s soundscape.

Of course, it all came from a misunderstanding: The rest of Talamasca received a call from his girlfriend en route to the hospital, announcing Chriss’ death but never got a call when he was revived...

Flashforward to the present: Eloha, enigmatic singer of Toronto’s THE SEVENATE, who used to be Chriss Lee explains: “My life changed radically. I am a very different person now. Chriss sang mostly about all that is messed-up in this world, the drugs, the prostitution, the homeless teenagers... I sing a lot more about possibilities, about hope and change. I didn’t think I would live to be an old man and I didn’t think the World had much of a chance to get better but now I think we might make it if we use science to heal ourselves and fix the things the baby boomers left us...”

“On our album Revolve, I sing about being allergic to cops, allergic to murder, allergic to guns, allergic to Springer, give me the medicine, give us all the science..., I want to celebrate being alive, being in love or in lust, I want to celebrate good friends and beauty, and creating beautiful art because I want to live forever! It all revolves around you; you are important and you can change the World.”

THE SEVENATE does it by communicating with their fans, one crowd at a time...

...And through their first album, a tour-de-force work of major songwriting, showing the rest of the World what they are missing by not taking Canadian music seriously. Founded in 2005 by Eloha, hard-hitting & dynamic drummer Manny Dasilva (Gut Truck, The Mahones, Telejet, Random Order) & guitarist-singer Hem Advani (The Rails, Universal Love Attack) The Sevenate passed through a series of incarnations with various bass players, performing all over their home turf of Toronto and southern Ontario, slowly making a name for themselves and developing their sound. After releasing an independent album in 2007 and being featured on an L.A. compilation in 2008, the band took a sabbatical in 2010, allowing Eloha to go back to college; get a diploma in Addictions Counselling and Social Services, graduate with honours and create a non-profit organization named Artists With Addictions Discussion Forum & Support Group in order to inspire & help other musicians and artists of all kinds with their own drug problems.

Joined in January 2010 by bassman Brian Richards (Goldirocks, Garler) and later the same year by virtuoso lead guitarist Ben Raftus, The Sevenate returns in 2011 with their strongest line-up to date and having just signed a distribution deal with Cyclone Records, is about to unleash their first official full-length album titled “Revolve”, slated for National release on March 9th through Hamilton’s Sonic Unyon distribution company.

To the age old and always difficult question “What kind of music does The Sevenate play?” Guitarist Hem answers: “You can hear the bits from ‘70’s classic hard rock and from the ‘60’s; even the ‘90’s are in there but with a resolutely modern sound as well. It could be described as new-classic rock but we chose to name our sound Diamond Rock, because it’s the hardest rock with many facets and influences and it shines beautifully.” And “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend!”

“These songs bring back the 70’s in all the good ways, a time when rock stars were rock stars…”

- Moe Berg, The Pursuit Of Happiness

The Sevenate -
Revolve