The Pocket Dwellers are a seven member experimental hip-hop group from the 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...

 area. They have been performing since 1996. The band's main genre is hip-hop, but their music is influenced by jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

, funk

Funk

Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...

, soul

Soul music

Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...

 and breakbeat

Breakbeat

In 1992, a new style called "jungalistic hardcore" emerged, and for many ravers it was too funky to dance to. Josh Lawford of Ravescene prophesied that the breakbeat was "the death-knell of rave" because the ever changing drumbeat patterns of breakbeat music didn't allow for the same zoned out,...

.

History

They released their first full length record in 2000 after they signed a recording deal with the ill-fated Song Corp. Soon after the October release the label had investors pull out and the label went bankrupt in early 2001. It left the Dwellers in limbo because the highly anticipated release of Digitally Organic was sort of lost in the labels inability to support the product.

The next release was the album recorded live at a club in Toronto called th Reverb. It included excerpts from back to back sold out performances. The recording was released under Urbnet records and did well in re-establishing the band's image for performing live and with unparalleled energy.

In 2005 they signed with Blue Note/EMI and released PD-Atrics. The recording was more hip hop based and involved less live instrumentation than had been employed in the past.

Members

• Dennis Passley "Deknow" – tenor saxophone
  Saxophone
  The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
  
  
• Nigel Williams "N.I.Gel" – vocals
  Singing
  Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
  
  
• John Griffith "Quest" – saxophone, flute
  Flute
  The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
  
  
• Marco Raposo "Red" – drums
  Drummer
  A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
  
  
• Gord Shields "Jupiter" – bass guitar
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  
• Christian McKibbin "Holy C" – guitar
  Guitar
  The 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...
  
  
• Sheldon Moore "S-luv" – turntables
  Phonograph
  The phonograph record player, or gramophone is a device introduced in 1877 that has had continued common use for reproducing sound recordings, although when first developed, the phonograph was used to both record and reproduce sounds...
  
  

guest musicians:

• Brownman Ali – trumpet
  Trumpet
  The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
  
  

Albums

1. Limited Edition - EP (1998)
2. Digitally Organic (August 29, 2002)
3. Lifecheck (August 19, 2003)
4. PD-Atrics
   PD-Atrics
   PD-Atrics is the fourth album released by jazz-based hip hop and pop rock band Pocket Dwellers. It was released in 2005.-Track listing:#"Stop" – 3:48#"Circus" – 3:18#"Trust Us" – 2:56#"Electrify" – 3:26#"Critical Acclaim" – 4:08...
   
   (October 4, 2005)