The Organ Thieves
Encyclopedia
Organ Thieves is a southern
Southern rock
Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music, and genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country music, and blues, and is focused generally on electric guitar and vocals...

 and 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...

-influenced experimental
Experimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...

 hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...

 side project by Brown Brigade
Brown Brigade
Brown Brigade is a reggae-influenced heavy metal band created by former Sum 41 guitarist Dave "Brownsound" Baksh, after leaving Sum 41 in May 2006...

 guitarists Chuck Coles
Chuck Coles
Chuck Coles is a Canadian musician. He the guitarist for heavy metal band Brown Brigade and the lead singer, guitarist, and "band leader" for the band The Organ Thieves....

 and Dave Baksh
Dave Baksh
David Nizam "Brownsound" Baksh is a Canadian guitarist, singer and producer of Indo-Guyanese descent, best known as the ex-lead guitarist of punk band Sum 41, but has since became a singer/guitarist in his own heavy metal/reggae project Brown Brigade...

, formed by Coles in mid-2008. It has since become their main project.

Formation and God's Favorite Sons (2008–2009)

Dave Baksh
Dave Baksh
David Nizam "Brownsound" Baksh is a Canadian guitarist, singer and producer of Indo-Guyanese descent, best known as the ex-lead guitarist of punk band Sum 41, but has since became a singer/guitarist in his own heavy metal/reggae project Brown Brigade...

 is telling about the band's beginning as "it started when guitarist Chuck Coles
Chuck Coles
Chuck Coles is a Canadian musician. He the guitarist for heavy metal band Brown Brigade and the lead singer, guitarist, and "band leader" for the band The Organ Thieves....

 was getting kind of antsy in Brown Brigade
Brown Brigade
Brown Brigade is a reggae-influenced heavy metal band created by former Sum 41 guitarist Dave "Brownsound" Baksh, after leaving Sum 41 in May 2006...

 in that he wanted to write- he's a natural songwriter. So one day we were set to play a benefit show in Kitchener
Kitchener, Ontario
The City of Kitchener is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It was the Town of Berlin from 1854 until 1912 and the City of Berlin from 1912 until 1916. The city had a population of 204,668 in the Canada 2006 Census...

/Waterloo
Waterloo, Ontario
Waterloo is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It is the smallest of the three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, and is adjacent to the city of Kitchener....

 but Chuck had already booked an Organ Thieves show, and this is at the time when he was using another drummer other than Johnny [Chuck's former Cauterize co-member Matt Worobec
Matt Worobec
Matt Worobec is the drummer for Canadian southern rock band The Organ Thieves. Worobec was one of the three original members of Canadian pop punk band Cauterize. Worobec served as Cauterize's principal drummer for the entirety of the band's existence, and not plays part time with The Organ Thieves...

]. Basically I hadn't even seen the band and they asked me to play a Labour Day show with them. After about two weeks of practice me and the drummer at the time, Matt Worobec
Matt Worobec
Matt Worobec is the drummer for Canadian southern rock band The Organ Thieves. Worobec was one of the three original members of Canadian pop punk band Cauterize. Worobec served as Cauterize's principal drummer for the entirety of the band's existence, and not plays part time with The Organ Thieves...

, had gotten together and played this show. The lineup would have been Ben Davies, Mikesmith, Matt Worobec
Matt Worobec
Matt Worobec is the drummer for Canadian southern rock band The Organ Thieves. Worobec was one of the three original members of Canadian pop punk band Cauterize. Worobec served as Cauterize's principal drummer for the entirety of the band's existence, and not plays part time with The Organ Thieves...

, Chuck Coles
Chuck Coles
Chuck Coles is a Canadian musician. He the guitarist for heavy metal band Brown Brigade and the lead singer, guitarist, and "band leader" for the band The Organ Thieves....

 and myself. We pretty much played naked to a bunch of people at a cottage; it was fun." Dave also stated that he joined the band due to the different members and their musical tastes who all influenced the band's unique musical style, which was very different than what Dave used to play in Brown Brigade
Brown Brigade
Brown Brigade is a reggae-influenced heavy metal band created by former Sum 41 guitarist Dave "Brownsound" Baksh, after leaving Sum 41 in May 2006...

 and Sum 41
Sum 41
Sum 41 is a Canadian rock band from Ajax, Ontario. The band was formed in 1996 and currently consists of members Deryck Whibley , Tom Thacker , Jason McCaslin and Steve Jocz .In 1999, the band signed an international record deal with Island Records...

. Soon, drummer Matt Worobec
Matt Worobec
Matt Worobec is the drummer for Canadian southern rock band The Organ Thieves. Worobec was one of the three original members of Canadian pop punk band Cauterize. Worobec served as Cauterize's principal drummer for the entirety of the band's existence, and not plays part time with The Organ Thieves...

 had to quit the band due to other commitments and was replaced temporarily by Brown Brigade drummer Johnny Owens
Johnny Owens
Johnny "No-Triggers" Owens is the drummer for heavy metal band Brown Brigade. He was recruited by Dave Baksh to join as the band's drummer, after Dave left Sum 41 to focus on Brown Brigade full-time. When playing live, Johnny plays drums along with Cess Rock who joins him on another percussion...

.

In January 2009, the band entered The Boom Cave, a recording studio in Oshawa, Ontario
Oshawa, Ontario
Oshawa is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario approximately 60 kilometres east of downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of both the Greater Toronto Area and the Golden Horseshoe. It is now commonly referred to as the most...

, owned by Chuck's former Cauterize bandmates Jesse Smith
Jesse Smith (singer)
Jesse Smith was one of the three original members of Canadian pop Punk band Cauterize. He sang and played guitar with them for all 12 years that the band was together , and produced Kessel Run's debut album...

 and Jason Bone
Jason Bone
Jason "Jay" Bone was one of the three original members of Canadian pop Punk band Cauterize. He played bass with them for all 12 years that the band was together. Jay played Bass for T.O.E. After mixing Kessel Run's debut album with Jesse Smith, he produced The Organ Thieves' debut EP in March 2009...

, to record the band's first EP. The EP, entitled God's Favorite Sons
God's Favorite Sons
God's Favorite Sons is the debut EP by Canadian hard rock band Organ Thieves , self-produced and released in March 2009....

was co-produced by the band, Jesse Smith and Jason Bone
Jason Bone
Jason "Jay" Bone was one of the three original members of Canadian pop Punk band Cauterize. He played bass with them for all 12 years that the band was together. Jay played Bass for T.O.E. After mixing Kessel Run's debut album with Jesse Smith, he produced The Organ Thieves' debut EP in March 2009...

, and self-released by the band in March 2009, sold only at their live shows, as well as few local shops around the Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

 area.

The band started playing live shows, playing original songs as well as a lot of punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

 covers from The Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...

 and Misfits, which were sung live by guitarist Ben Davies. Not long after, drummer Matt Worobec
Matt Worobec
Matt Worobec is the drummer for Canadian southern rock band The Organ Thieves. Worobec was one of the three original members of Canadian pop punk band Cauterize. Worobec served as Cauterize's principal drummer for the entirety of the band's existence, and not plays part time with The Organ Thieves...

 also returned to the band. In late 2009, Ben Davies left the band, leaving Chuck and Dave the only guitarists.

Somewhere Between Freemen and Slaves (2009–present)

Pre-production for the band's first full-length studio album started in late 2009. The album was set to be recorded in early 2010 with a release sometime in mid-to-late 2010, though the recording was delayed. Baksh has said that the album is totally written, with only transitions to songs left to write with Coles updating on the band's twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...

 that 21 songs were written. The album will be produced by former Sum 41
Sum 41
Sum 41 is a Canadian rock band from Ajax, Ontario. The band was formed in 1996 and currently consists of members Deryck Whibley , Tom Thacker , Jason McCaslin and Steve Jocz .In 1999, the band signed an international record deal with Island Records...

 associate, producer and manager Greig Nori
Greig Nori
Greig Andrew Nori is a producer and musician from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada and is well known as the former frontman, lead vocalist and guitarist of the pop punk band Treble Charger...

, who Baksh has stated that he'll be happy to work again with. The last time the two had worked together was on Sum 41
Sum 41
Sum 41 is a Canadian rock band from Ajax, Ontario. The band was formed in 1996 and currently consists of members Deryck Whibley , Tom Thacker , Jason McCaslin and Steve Jocz .In 1999, the band signed an international record deal with Island Records...

's Chuck
Chuck (album)
Chuck is the third studio album from Canadian rock band Sum 41. The album was released on October 12, 2004. It is the band's last album to feature lead guitarist Dave Baksh...

in 2004. Nori has also worked with Coles and Worobec in Cauterize. With the new album, the band states they are "not sure of who we would want to take this to. Right now as it stands our plan is to basically keep going as a band and if somebody comes along that we do want to partner up with in respect to labels, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

On October 2, 2010, after spending most of the year demoing songs for the full-length album, and pre-producing them with producer Greig Nori
Greig Nori
Greig Andrew Nori is a producer and musician from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada and is well known as the former frontman, lead vocalist and guitarist of the pop punk band Treble Charger...

, the band finally entered the studio to start recording and recorded most of the album in 5 days. Recording took place between October 2–7, 2010, in Dave Baksh
Dave Baksh
David Nizam "Brownsound" Baksh is a Canadian guitarist, singer and producer of Indo-Guyanese descent, best known as the ex-lead guitarist of punk band Sum 41, but has since became a singer/guitarist in his own heavy metal/reggae project Brown Brigade...

's BTown Sound studio. Additional recording continued through 2011.

On October 23, 2010, the band played as a guest act at the Horseshoe Tavern
Horseshoe Tavern
The Horseshoe Tavern is a concert venue located at 370 Queen Street West in downtown Toronto, and has been in operation since 1947. Owned by "JC", Ken Sprackman, Craig Laskey and Naomi Montpetit, the venue is a significant part of Canadian musical lore...

 in Toronto, Ontario, supporting Gentlemen Husbands on their EP release show. At this show, drummer Theo McKibbon of The Bad Ideas, who also played the same night, has filled-in for Matt Worobec
Matt Worobec
Matt Worobec is the drummer for Canadian southern rock band The Organ Thieves. Worobec was one of the three original members of Canadian pop punk band Cauterize. Worobec served as Cauterize's principal drummer for the entirety of the band's existence, and not plays part time with The Organ Thieves...

. Though, a few days after the show, 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...

 page was updated with McKibbon's name in the "Band members" section, hinting on him joining the band permanently as Worobec's replacement, though no official announcement from the band has been made.

The full-length album, to be titled Somewhere Between Freemen and Slaves
Somewhere Between Freemen and Slaves
Somewhere Between Freemen and Slaves is the upcoming first full-length studio album by Canadian hard rock band Organ Thieves, set for release in early 2011....

, was set to be released in summer 2011, but has since been delayed to an unspecified date.

On November 21, 2011, Dave Baksh
Dave Baksh
David Nizam "Brownsound" Baksh is a Canadian guitarist, singer and producer of Indo-Guyanese descent, best known as the ex-lead guitarist of punk band Sum 41, but has since became a singer/guitarist in his own heavy metal/reggae project Brown Brigade...

 has announced through a fansite that the band has signed with MapleMusic Recordings
MapleMusic Recordings
MapleMusic Recordings is a Toronto based record label.The MapleMusic Recordings label is a project of Canadian roots rock band Skydiggers and entrepreneur Grant Dexter...

 in Canada.

Musical style

The band's musical style is unique and although the music is mainly considered hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...

, southern rock
Southern rock
Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music, and genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country music, and blues, and is focused generally on electric guitar and vocals...

 and reggae rock
Reggae rock
"Reggae rock" is a subgenre of Reggae fusion that primarily uses the genres reggae, rock, ska, and hip hop. The term "reggae rock" has been used to categorize bands like Sublime, Pepper, Slightly Stoopid, Iration, The Dirty Heads, Sublime With Rome, and 311. Reggae rock found its rise in popularity...

, the band like to call themselves "experimental
Experimental rock
Experimental rock or avant-garde rock is a type of music based on rock which experiments with the basic elements of the genre, or which pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique....

-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...

-rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

". The band's music takes influences from various genres including reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...

, 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...

, country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

, blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...

, rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...

, folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

, rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...

, punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

, heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...

, southern rock
Southern rock
Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music, and genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country music, and blues, and is focused generally on electric guitar and vocals...

 and more, as stated by the band that they are not limited to any genre and are willing to experiment everything.

They are also influenced by a variety of bands ranging from The Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...

, Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...

 and Blind Melon
Blind Melon
Blind Melon is an American rock band active from 1989 to 1999, and from 2006 onward.Best remembered for their 1993 single "No Rain", the group enjoyed critical and commercial success in the early 1990s with their neo-psychedelic take on alternative rock...

 to Tom Waits
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...

, Grand Funk Railroad
Grand Funk Railroad
Grand Funk Railroad is an American rock band that was highly popular during the 1970s. Grand Funk Railroad toured constantly to packed arenas worldwide. A popular take on the band during its heyday was that, although the critics hated them, audiences loved them...

 and the Pixies. Other influences include The Replacements, Joe Strummer
Joe Strummer
John Graham Mellor , best remembered by his stage name Joe Strummer, was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and lead vocalist of the British punk rock band The Clash. His musical experience included his membership in The 101ers, Latino Rockabilly War, The Mescaleros and The Pogues, in...

, King Tubby
King Tubby
King Tubby was a Jamaican electronics and sound engineer, known primarily for his influence on the development of dub in the 1960s and 1970s...

, Bad Religion
Bad Religion
Bad Religion is a punk rock band that formed in Los Angeles in 1979. Their current line-up consists of Greg Graffin , Brett Gurewitz , Jay Bentley , Greg Hetson , Brian Baker and Brooks Wackerman . Gurewitz is also the founder of the label Epitaph Records, which has released almost all of the...

, James Brown
James Brown
James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...

, Anthrax
Anthrax (band)
Anthrax is an American heavy metal band from New York City, formed in 1981. Founded by guitarists Scott Ian and Danny Lilker, the band has since released ten studio albums and 20 singles, and an EP featuring Public Enemy. The band was one of the most popular of the 1980s thrash metal scene...

, Public Enemy, Kool Keith
Kool Keith
Keith Matthew Thornton, better known by his stage name Kool Keith, is an American rapper from The Bronx, New York. A founding member of Ultramagnetic MCs, Kool Keith has recorded prolifically both as a solo artist and in group collaborations. Kool Keith is the self-proclaimed inventor of...

 and Max Romeo
Max Romeo
Max Romeo is a reggae and roots reggae recording artist who has achieved chart success in his home country, and in the UK. Romeo was responsible for launching an entirely new sub-genre of reggae, whose overtly suggestive lyrics caused an outcry but took a massive hold of the music scene regardless...

. They are also known to play many different cover songs live, mostly songs by such punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

 bands The Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...

 and The Misfits but also such diverse artists as Steve Earle
Steve Earle
Stephen Fain "Steve" Earle is an American singer-songwriter known for his rock and Texas Country as well as his political views. He is also a producer, author, a political activist, and an actor, and has written and directed a play....

 and B-52's.

Current members

  • Chuck Coles
    Chuck Coles
    Chuck Coles is a Canadian musician. He the guitarist for heavy metal band Brown Brigade and the lead singer, guitarist, and "band leader" for the band The Organ Thieves....

     – lead vocals, guitar (2008–present)
  • Dave Baksh
    Dave Baksh
    David Nizam "Brownsound" Baksh is a Canadian guitarist, singer and producer of Indo-Guyanese descent, best known as the ex-lead guitarist of punk band Sum 41, but has since became a singer/guitarist in his own heavy metal/reggae project Brown Brigade...

     – guitar, backing vocals (2008–present)
  • Mike Smith – bass (2008–present)
  • Matt Worobec
    Matt Worobec
    Matt Worobec is the drummer for Canadian southern rock band The Organ Thieves. Worobec was one of the three original members of Canadian pop punk band Cauterize. Worobec served as Cauterize's principal drummer for the entirety of the band's existence, and not plays part time with The Organ Thieves...

     – drums, percussion (2008, 2009–present)


Fill-in members
  • Theo McKibbon - drums, percussion (2010)

Former members

  • John Owens
    Johnny Owens
    Johnny "No-Triggers" Owens is the drummer for heavy metal band Brown Brigade. He was recruited by Dave Baksh to join as the band's drummer, after Dave left Sum 41 to focus on Brown Brigade full-time. When playing live, Johnny plays drums along with Cess Rock who joins him on another percussion...

     – drums, percussion (2008–2009)
  • Ben Davies – guitar, mandolin, occasional lead vocals (2008–2009)

Discography

  • 2009
    2009 in music
    The following is a list of notable events and releases in 2009 in music. Susan Boyle's album I Dreamed a Dream became the biggest selling album in the world for 2009, selling 8.3 million copies in five weeks; more than any other artist's in the whole year...

     - God's Favorite Sons
    God's Favorite Sons
    God's Favorite Sons is the debut EP by Canadian hard rock band Organ Thieves , self-produced and released in March 2009....

  • 2010
    2010 in music
    2010 in music may refer to:*2010 in American music*2010 in Australian music*2010 in British music*2010 in Canadian music*2010 in European music *2010 in Irish music*2010 in Japanese music*2010 in New Zealand music...

     - Somewhere Between Freemen and Slaves
    Somewhere Between Freemen and Slaves
    Somewhere Between Freemen and Slaves is the upcoming first full-length studio album by Canadian hard rock band Organ Thieves, set for release in early 2011....


Sources


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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