Wax Mannequin
Encyclopedia
Wax Mannequin is the stage name
of Chris Adeney, a Canadian
indie rock
singer-songwriter
. His style has been described as "a hybrid of Bruce Cockburn
and Frank Zappa
", "Tom Waits
and Type O Negative
jamming on the early Beatles catalogue",
and "Rheostatics
via Savatage
". Carl Wilson of The Globe and Mail
noted that "crowds are often baffled whether to be awed, irritated or amused by Wax's all-rockets-flaring, un-Canadian-like extravagant performances" (2004).
Part of the Hamilton, Ontario
scene, Adeney released his first self-titled album, a solo album in the psych folk
genre, in 2000. He followed up with and Gun in 2002, before putting together an eponymous band for his third release, 2004's The Price, which was supported by national tours across Canada and Australia
. His best known single to date is "Message from the Queen".
His fourth album, Orchard and Ire, was released in 2007 (an EP titled Orchard was released in summer 2006).
His fifth full-length album, Saxon, was released by Zunior on August 4, 2009. It was the first of Wax Mannequin's albums to prominently identify his backing band, Black Blood (Aidan Campbell on percussion and Mark Raymond on bass), and was followed by extensive cross-Canada and European touring.
Stage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
of Chris Adeney, a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
. His style has been described as "a hybrid of Bruce Cockburn
Bruce Cockburn
Bruce Douglas Cockburn OC is a Canadian folk/rock guitarist and singer-songwriter. His most recent album was released in March 2011. He has written songs in styles ranging from folk to jazz-influenced rock to rock and roll.-Biography:...
and Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
", "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."...
and Type O Negative
Type O Negative
Type O Negative was a gothic metal band from Brooklyn, New York City. The band also incorporated elements of doom metal and thrash metal. Their dramatic lyrical emphasis on themes of romance, depression, and death resulted in the nickname "The Drab Four"...
jamming on the early Beatles catalogue",
and "Rheostatics
Rheostatics
Rheostatics was a Genie Award-winning Canadian indie rock band, active from 1980 to 2007.Although they had only one Top 40 hit, "Claire" in 1995, they were simultaneously one of Canada's most influential and unconventional rock bands, a band whose eclectic take on pop and rock music has been...
via Savatage
Savatage
Savatage is an American heavy metal band founded by the brothers Jon and Criss Oliva in 1978 at Astro Skate in Tarpon Springs, Florida.-Early days :...
". Carl Wilson of The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
noted that "crowds are often baffled whether to be awed, irritated or amused by Wax's all-rockets-flaring, un-Canadian-like extravagant performances" (2004).
Part of the Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
scene, Adeney released his first self-titled album, a solo album in the psych folk
Psych folk
Psychedelic folk or psych folk is a loosely defined form of psychedelic music that originated in the 1960s through the fusion of folk music and psychedelic rock...
genre, in 2000. He followed up with and Gun in 2002, before putting together an eponymous band for his third release, 2004's The Price, which was supported by national tours across Canada and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. His best known single to date is "Message from the Queen".
His fourth album, Orchard and Ire, was released in 2007 (an EP titled Orchard was released in summer 2006).
His fifth full-length album, Saxon, was released by Zunior on August 4, 2009. It was the first of Wax Mannequin's albums to prominently identify his backing band, Black Blood (Aidan Campbell on percussion and Mark Raymond on bass), and was followed by extensive cross-Canada and European touring.
Discography
- Wax Mannequin (later reworked as "Uni") (2000)
- and Gun (2002)
- The Price (2004)
- Orchard EP (2006)
- Orchard and Ire (2007)
- Saxon (2009)