Contest: Win 2 tickets to Operators @ Ritual, Feb. 25
NOTE: This contest is now closed. Scott M. is the winner of this contest. If you are not him, grab your tickets here now for the Feb.25 show: http://bit.ly/1Tiaeca
Dan Boeckner – a founding member of the seminal Canadian indie band, Wolf Parade – is a hard-working guy. When Wolf Parade went on an indefinite hiatus in 2010, many of us felt an emptiness caused by the void caused in the Canadian music landscape after this announcement. Up until the band’s recent announcement that they are getting back together for a string of residency shows in Toronto, NYC, and London (UK), many of us die-hard fans were left with very little hope to hold onto.
Boeckner, being the warhorse musician that he is, kept the tunes coming through various projects. He started the highly successful and Polaris-shortlisted group Handsome Furs with his then-wife Alexei Perry in 2005. This band explored Boeckner’s synth and dance-pop sensibilities, particularly on the acclaimed 2011 album Sound Kapital. After three great records, that band dissolved in 2012 upon their divorce.
Shortly after, Boeckner got back to his sonic roots and formed a new rock band called Divine Fits with a friend that he’d met in 2007 at a Handsome Furs gig. That friend just happened to be Brit Daniels of Spoon, joined by drummer Sam Brown (ex- New Bomb Turks). They somehow managed to find time to write and record their 2012 album, A Thing Called Divine Fits, which is just as great as you’d expect it to be given the calibre of that collaboration.
In 2013, Divine Fits was put on hold and Boeckner returned to Montreal along with Sam Brown and Devojka (of Guests) to form Operators. Although Operators is sonically similar to Handsome Furs, the band and the approach to the music are very different. Describing themselves as “analog post-punk,” the band uses equipment such as analog synths, sampling pads, drum triggers, and yes, his electric guitar. No laptops. No pre-programming.
Along with Brown and Devojka, Boeckner has taken a bold next step in his musical career. They toured with Future Islands following the release of EP1 in 2014, and are now set to release their debut full-length, Blue Wave, on April 1st through Last Gang Records.
Blue Wave can be pre-ordered here.
Operators are playing Ottawa on February 25 at Ritual Nightclub along with the supremely talented group Little Scream, and we are teaming up with Spectrasonic to give away two tickets.
How to enter
Email us at music [at] ottawashowbox.com RE: Operators Contest, or tweet @OttawaShowbox & @LastGangEnt the answer to the following question:
Q: Which song by Operators was featured on the HBO show ‘Girls’?
The winner will be chosen at noon on Saturday, Feb. 20, so better act quick!
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Show details:
Thursday February 25 @ Ritual Nightclub (137 Besserer St.)
licensed 19+ – 9pm doors – $13.50 advance + service charges
tickets available at Vertigo Records and Spectrasonic