Edmonton sensations, TEN SECOND EPIC, are headed to Toronto on November 22nd! UNION EVENTS & LiveMusicTO want to send you + a friend to the show for FREE! 

HOW TO ENTER:
- Log on to Facebook and "Like" our page HERE
- Write on our wall about what makes you the biggest/best Ten Second Epic fan
- HINT: The more creative, the better. Get your friends to comment or "like" your wall post for more points
- Include the URL of this contest at the end of your answer
(http://www.livemusicto.com/1/post/2011/11/contest-win-tickets-to-see-ten-second-epic.html)
 
The fan with the most creative response and most activity will win 2 tickets! Winner will be announced/contacted on Facebook by November 20th, 2011. Contest open to all ages.

More info: THE UNION PROUDLY PRESENTS TEN SECOND EPIC
w/ Acres Of Lions, Chasing Amee & Lacerda
TUESDAY NOVEMBER 22, 2011 @ SNEAKY DEE’S
Doors 7:00 PM / All Ages
Advance tickets $13.50 + S/C
Available online Ticketmaster.ca, UnionEvents.com, phone 416-870-8000, Rotate This & Soundscapes 

So a friend of mine recently put me on to this incredible article written by Jon Savage for the September 2011 issue of MOJO Magazine, which is about the history punk rock and what sparked this incredible
movement. The article really got me going, and I haven’t had that experience with a piece of music journalism in a while. Figures, with the state of the music industry being what it is right now, and the serious lack of real deal rock & roll bands, today’s musical atmosphere is strangely tense.

While reading through the article I couldn’t help but notice the clear similarities between the musical atmosphere in the early to mid 70’s right before punk broke, and that which we are experiencing today. In both cases pop music is multi-generational and has completely taken over the airwaves.

In the mid 70’s things started to brew when a sub-group of teenagers became obsessed with the mid 60’s sound and the simplicity and directness of the music. Savage notes that it was as if these teens were seeking “a direct link with pop before the hippie explosion.” Fully a wash in pop music and the stale lingering sent of the hippie movement, teens in the 70’s were searching for a sound that was distinctly theirs. They felt as though they had nothing to connect with but they were attracted to the simplicity and directness of the mid 60’s sound. It was overt and sexy in a rough around the edges sort of way, and many teenagers who were too young to connect with the ideals of the hippie movement saw what came before it as real musical gold.

A lot of that simplicity and directness was channeled into what became punk rock. Today we are seeing something similar with Generation Y, as many of us are still very much obsessed with the grunge era bands of the early 90’s. The general feeling I’m getting is that when the musical landscape gets so foggy that the youth generation can’t pin point their own identity, that generation naturally tends to revert their search back to what’s considered the “good stuff” from one-generation prior. (i.e. teens in the mid 70’s looked to the simplicity, directness, and overt sexuality of the mid-60’s, while the current generation maintains a continued interest in the sound of the early 90’s because the general consensus is that grunge was the last time something really big happened in new rock music.)

So as we come up upon the twentieth anniversary of Nirvana’s “Nevermind” or the PJ20 festivities that just happened this past summer, it makes me wonder, if the youth of the 70’s were compelled to turn their mid-60’s influences into the sound we now know as punk rock, what is this generation going to draw out of our grunge era obsessions?

The stage is already set, and tensions are mounting. The airwaves are once again being flooded with so much pop music that there is barely a dividing line between the music that the youth and their parents are listening to. The heart of rock & roll music is the teenage generation, and history has shown us that you can’t stop an entire generation from believing – that’s a fact. Just like they couldn’t stop the baby boomers from taking back their voice in the 60’s, or the Punks from taking a stand in the 70’s, whatever is bubbling up from the underground right now is about to be something incredible.

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By: Juliette Jagger of www.rockrollandwrite.com

Right For Me is the debut full-length album from Toronto, Ontario’s Brighter Brightest, and the title alone should tell you everything you need to know about the band. Having played together since they picked up instruments, Brighter Brightest have been forging their own path ever since. 

Derek Hoffman (vocals, guitar), Alex Westgate (bass, vocals), Kyle Topping (guitar) and Ryan Mansbridge (drums) are childhood friends who found mutual interest and common purpose in music. Together, they have crafted a timeless, yet relevant take on pop/rock rooted in the punk rock scene. The sound has matured along with the members, and has developed into something honest that appeals to an audience beyond their traditional Warped Tour crowd. 

“Our relationship with one another is really that of four brothers as opposed to band-mates or friends,” says Hoffman.  “We all share the same struggles and triumphs and even though we are all so busy outside of the band, every time we come together we can pick right back up where we left off.” 

It is this sense of camaraderie that allows the band to push forward in creating their own opportunities. In the summer of 2010, the band agreed that their next step needed to be a strong full-length record, preferably produced by someone with experience and notoriety. Together, the band pooled the resources to lock in renowned New Jersey based producer Machine, whose previous credits include a broad range of successful artists – from Every Time I Die to Gym Class Heroes, Four Year Strong to Lamb of God – his trademark is taking a band’s own sound and helping them cultivate it. It was this unique approach that appealed to Brighter Brightest. In November of 2010, the band traveled to New Jersey to begin tracking Right For Me. The four band members, and two of their best friends crammed into a single hotel room at the Howard Johnson in Weehawken, spending their days at the Machineshop, and emerged with something they are extremely proud of. 

“Going to New Jersey was definitely an amazing experience.” Hoffman remarked. “As the record came together to be what it is now, it was a pretty great feeling.” Throughout the process of writing and recording the album, the band was followed by a camera crew from the new MuchMusic program “Discovered” (premieres August 16th at 10PM EST). Over the 6 months or so of shooting, the band discussed the challenges, the triumphs and the adversities they faced as friends and as a band throughout the process of making Right For Me. The documentary style show captured the band in their basement jam-space in Aurora writing, rehearsing and fine-tuning the tracks, then followed them to New Jersey for an intimate look at how the record came together in-studio. 

With the album completed, the most rewarding feeling for the band is that they have been able to do it all their way, on their own terms. That’s the theme of the album’s title track, which not coincidentally happens to be the bands favourite song from the record. 

“Right For Me is about doing what you love and what is right for you, regardless of what others think.” Hoffman explains. “Live your life for yourself, do what you love and love what you do.” 

That is a message that they convey to their fans as often as possible, and try to remind themselves of regularly as well. “As a band, we aren't trying to be anything other than ourselves. We make music that we love and we love sharing it with people. We make music the only way we know how – honestly.” 

With their new video for the lead single, “Everyday” in rotation, the premiere of MuchMusic’s Discovered program and months of touring ahead, the work has only now just begun for the band. Catch them on the road across Canada this Fall, supporting Right For Me, released August 9th.