IMAGINARY CITIES DEBUT WITH 3 NXNE SHOWCASES
Imaginary Cities have just scored three NXNE showcases in Toronto, Ontario, from June 14 – 20, 2010, that they will be using to prepare the release of their debut album Temporary Resident. These concerts will mark the Toronto debut for the Winnipeg band that formed in late 2009 by Rusty Matyas (singer/guitarist, The Waking Eyes) and Marti Sarbit (vocalist, The Solutions). Their sold-out debut live performance this May had the audience singing and clapping along to songs they’d only ever heard before online.
The power duo have just completed recording and have put together a band of some of Winnipeg’s best musicians. As of early 2010, Imaginary Cities have been managed by The Weakerthans, Stephen Carroll. “I was given the Imaginary Cities demos while on tour with The Weakerthans in the fall of 2009 and got hooked right away: Great songs, amazing vocals, and creative arrangements” says Carroll. While recording over the last year, Matyas and Sarbit would often spend 12 hours straight writing and working on a single song. As Matyas explains, “If it was going well after a few hours, we would stay until we had a finished song to take home. There’s an energy and excitement on the day you’re writing and recording a new song that will almost guaranteed be absent if you come back to it another day.”
“Rusty basically did all of the producing,” explains Sarbit. “He also played all of the instruments and had a very clear idea of the kind of sound we were going for.” Say You is the song that really got things started, and Hummingbird stands out as a key song on the album. “The day we started working on Hummingbird we actually didn’t have a song in mind. Rusty just started playing a few chords and I realized that I had a song that sort of fit with it,” says Sarbit.
Now, almost a year to the day after Imaginary Cities released Say You, they return with Temporary Resident, an 11-song album they say they’re thrilled with. They looked to Prairie Recording Company with engineers Cam Loeppky and Shawn Dealy to perfect the final tracks, all the while being careful not to strip the songs of their original self-recorded excitement. Imaginary Cities are looking forward to the opportunities of touring and going wherever this album takes them.
“People have been really responding to this band,” says Carroll, “They are a great combo. Rusty is a prodigious musical talent, playing pretty much every instrument, and Marti is one of the city’s best singers with a terrific ear for melody. I am stoked to be involved.”
“I can’t wait to play the showcases at NXNE since it’s my first time doing anything like it,” says Sarbit. “I’m extra excited to be playing our songs with a great set of musicians.”
www.myspace.com/IMAGINARYCITIESMUSIC
NXNE Showcases:
Thursday June 17 – 7pm @ Mod Club Theatre
Saturday June 19 – 11pm @ C’est What (Manitoba Showcase)
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