Luke Sneyd

Men at Work

2009-08-26T15:45:00.003-04:00

Well it's been awhile, I know. Things have been seeming quiet in Sneydville. But trust me there's work afoot, under the surface, out of view. Zack's back from his tour with the Kelly Girls, and Marc's cleared the decks, and the three of us are cobbling together our new musicology. There's some new tracks coming, and a few extra surprises along the way. These are going to be some pretty wicked songs, which is all I have to say about that for now.

I'm not in the habit of posting drafts, but I can't resist posting a peep here and there. Here's a spate of lyrics to tide ya, for a number called "The Defiant Ones":

No way home
The crossroads they came
And they showed me the way
But they faded before I could see

Once we were whole
But it seems like a dream
That fades with the rain
A chill morning that beats on the glass
A face from the past

Turn your back
Just leave me alone
With the blood on the floor
My footsteps will stain every door
Through which I pass

I've paid for my crimes
And served a lifetime
But I can't forget all I've done
I've laid at your feet
And I've prayed for relief
But nothing can change what I feel
The cold steel of love

We've made our beds
Now let's sleep for all time
Drown our sorrows with wine
Forget there was even a word
Forget

I've paid for my crimes
And served a lifetime
But I can't change the man I've become
I've laid at your feet
And I've prayed for relief
There's no breaking this bond, no release
From the cold steel of love

The Toronto One-Timer

2009-06-03T16:20:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow night on Thursday, June 4th we'll be playing our only Toronto gig this summer. Gonna be a wicked night at Lee's Palace, with the Watters Brothers and Ladybird opening, and Exxxtra Juicy closing it down. We're on at 11pm, doors at 9pm and cover's $5.

After that we're playing a few more shows through the golden horseshoe. And then drummer Zack Mykula hops on the bus with Kelly and the Kelly Girls for an extended Canadian and UK tour through July and August. We'll miss Zackula Thundersticks, but we'll be hard at work without him, tracking in the studio with Marc Koecher for our fall release. The new tracks we're working on are pretty fantastic. The moody sweep of the Salvo EP is still there, but we're bringing more verve and crackling energy to these songs. They're gonna be pretty damn cool.

So if you're in Toronto, don't miss tomorrow night's gig. We're working a couple of different things into the set - it's gonna be a blast!

"Fightsong" video online now!

2009-05-25T23:22:00.005-04:00

From Paul Thompson, the director of "The Prisoner" video, comes our latest for "Fightsong". A great vid of a couple's relationship unraveling, the story's told backward a la Memento. Lensed by Juan Montalvo and shot on a high-end RED Camera, it features the full band plus a sexy debut from Deniz Reno. There's even two different cameos from Elena Vardon, star of "The Prisoner" vid. See if you can find her!

Salvo Review on Fazer

2009-04-07T22:38:00.001-04:00

Some fine words for the new EP! Check it out here.

HomeGrown Video show

2009-03-22T23:34:00.003-04:00

Airing in New York City, and now syndicated to the Dish Network! Fun little interview over the waves we did with this show, featuring me and the band, and Elena Vardon from "The Prisoner" video.

The Best of HomeGrown - Luke Sneyd and the Deed Interview

Making “Fightsong”: The Shootist’s Adventure

2009-03-16T21:34:00.006-04:00

Alright. No shootists were involved. Although I suppose you could say I was a shootee.

We shot the video for “Fightsong” on Friday, March 13th (not being a superstitious lot). The video was a great chance for Paul Thompson and I to renew our Martini MacGuffin film collaboration. Paul shot my first video, for “The Prisoner”, and together we’ve made a few short films with him directing, and me throwing words together in a semblance of writing.

The “Fightsong” concept is pretty cool. The song’s a moody, apocalyptic love-song. In the video, we watch a relationship unraveling as a musician (that’d be me) succumbs to the trappings of success. Except that the scenes play like Irreversible or Memento, occurring in reverse. So we begin with me alone in my now empty apartment, and work our way backward through the relationship in crisis to happier days to when the couple first views the apartment together. The video’s being edited right now, but that’s what we’re going for, and I think we got it.

We had a lot of luck getting the video off the ground, and got to work with a bunch of great people and familiar faces. Juan Montalvo was our cinematographer, back after lensing our short Quarantine. Album producer Marc Koecher joined my bandmates Scott Hannigan and Zack Mykula to round out the onscreen band. And Elena Vardon, featured in “The Prisoner” video, was a huge help, connecting us up with both the studio where we shot the film (Walnut Studio), and our gorgeous leading lady, Deniz Maria Reno. A great bunch of friends and newly cast strangers rounded out our cast, and the crew was capable, efficient and a pleasure to work with. Our art director Rahema Mohamed did a wonderful job creating the apartment, with much help and driving around from Carmela Versace.

The capper was the Red Camera Paul managed to lay hands on through David Woods. That thing is a **monster**, a magnificent, gleaming black beast with a resolution vastly superior to Blu-Ray. Geeks can feast on its specs here. That camera alone will lend the video incredible cinematic depth and luster.

The shoot was long, brutal and loads of fun. Of course we blew out the power in the studio at one point, frying some fuses in a terrifying old-school circuit box. By fluke, one of our extras was an electrician’s assistant, and helped us to track down the right fuses to replace, which Carm, ever intrepid, had to source at 11pm on a Friday.

In the party and photo-shoot scenes, energy and exuberance were in abundance, fuelled by a little of the ol’ alkey-haul, natch! The people that came out fell right into the spirit(s) of the shoot, and had themselves a blast. Can’t thank them enough for being part of it.

The couple scenes played really well, too. It’s strange, falling into instant intimacy with someone you barely know. But Deniz was a beautiful trooper, and I managed my acting neophyte status the best way I knew, with fits of blazing dorkiness.

The band played great – so what if half of it was pantomime? One of the night’s many magic moments that stood out for me was a scene we shot in the wee hours, when the band was working out “Fightsong” as if for the first time. Scott hunkered on his bass and Zack took drumming notes (evincing the possibility of consciousness in a drummer!), as I played guitar and Marc the accordion. The accordion’s reedy sound drifted haunting over the strains of the track as we played together, gathered on the couch of my fictitious living room, and sang the song together. A perfect film moment, concocted, artificial, yet for a fleeting moment amazingly moving and real.

With the great contributions we got on Friday, and a generous dollop of luck, “Fightsong” will feel the same way.

Now you see it...

2009-02-09T21:33:00.004-05:00

So warnings, dear readers, listeners and fellow flies on the wall. Our show at Lee's Palace this Thursday, February 12th has been subjected to a do-over, owing to the Pains of Being Pure Heart taking a bigger venue for their Toronto show. Such are the vagaries of the biz.

But fear not! Luke Sneyd and the Deed bows; we don't break. We've picked up a better night anyway, playing The Silver Dollar at College and Spadina (486 Spadina Ave.) on Saturday, February 21st. Take that frown and turn it upside down, and fill it up with liquid jubilation, 'cause we're gonna break out the new tracks and the old tracks and shake it up till it spritzes all over the stage like hot champagne. (This metaphor's really goin' places I wasn't plannin' on....) Cover's $5, and doors are at 10pm. If you're feelin' Facebooky, visit us here. Come spend the weekend with us. We'll make you breakfast in the morning.

Rok Boutique Tonight - The Heavens Pour Forth Their Frigid Wonder

2009-01-28T13:39:00.006-05:00

Yeah. Gigging in the Canuck freeze is always interesting. We're playing Rok Boutique in Toronto tonight, as yet another snow-storm wallops the city. Thankfully this is a hometown gig, so not much running around, and no 401 white-out terror waiting. The show will be a bit different - we're doing an acoustic night with Ryan Christopher, so we'll be kicking off the set with a few purely acoustic numbers. Seeing as we do love it loud, though, we'll be plugging in before the night is done for that full-blown Luke Sneyd and the Deed sound.

Had a great time last night with Rob Spence on SirHijack's the Show at IndieLove.ca radio. Zack and I were in the studio, chatting about recording the Salvo EP and gearing up for what should be a frenetic spring. The best were the constant bleeps and bloops as Rob's various IM windows kept going off during the interview - that man can multitask! I should have a copy of the interview in a few days, which I'll post to the Luke Sneyd Facebook page.

Don't let the billowing frosties keep ya down! Hitch up the huskies, or just make sure there's enough juice in your iPod for that slow streetcar ride. Rok Boutique's at 200 Bathurst, just north of Queen, doors at 9pm, cover's $6.

IndieLove.ca tonight!

2009-01-27T20:41:00.001-05:00

On my way to appear on Sir Hijack Rob Spence's show on Internet radio http:// www.indielove.ca tonight. Gonna be on with Zack playing tracks old and new, around 9pm EST.

Fudagraphed

2009-01-25T19:46:00.003-05:00

We went in for a photoshoot with Joe Fuda today. Had ourselves a blast! His notion was to have us running in place, making for an imaginary chase scene. I had to be gingerly about it - I had a spot of minor back surgery last week, getting a lipoma removed from near my spine - and I'm very much still on the mend. (A lipoma, if you don't know, is an innocuous fat cyst, that hurts like a sonofabitch if it has the bad taste to take up residence in a crappy place in your body. Fucker.) So I found myself in the studio, bouncing up and down in place to "Always on the Run" (Joe was carrying the theme as far as he could), paying careful mind to every twitch and twinge emanating from my bandaged-up stitches. A rough, unedited sample of the work in progress is here. he got some great shots of Zack and Scott, too.

He also wanted to do an outdoor sequence with us in vintage snowsuits, but sadly, the shop he'd seen them in the day before was now sold out. Guess there was a run on 70s frigid-wear - go figure!

Really looking forward to the finished results, coming later this week. Might end up as part of the Salvo EP package. We shall see....

Salvo EP Preview Vid

2009-01-21T12:39:00.004-05:00

Yes ladeez and gents, the Salvo EP is in the can, and trickling through the virtual ether. The follow-up to All of Us Cities features five expansive and melodic new tracks. We're also introducing the live band The Deed on the EP, adding some extra bang and thump to the proceedings. Luke, drummer Zack Mykula, bassist Scott Hannigan, and studio whiz Marc Koecher are all here in this clip of our time in the studio, set to the instrumental rumblings of "Hadron and the Supercollider".

"Wheels Come Off" Online

2008-12-08T10:39:00.004-05:00

Recording is done! The songs are mixed, mastered and put to bed. Me and the boys in the band are pretty pleased with the results, five massive tracks to pummel your brains with a barrage of repeated sonic epiphanies. Hence the title the Salvo EP...

Still a mess of work to be done, the artwork rigamarole, pressing and other release options like download cards, which a lot of bands are using as a cheaper alternative to producing CDs. (Editorial aside: would you be more likely to buy a CD, or a digital download?) Expect the full EP to surface early on in the new year.

In the meantime, because we love you, the lead track "Wheels Come Off" is available now for streaming and download at MySpace and ReverbNation. It's a bit of a soaring, brilliant beast, a six-minute slab of all the new band can do. Check it out, and let us know what you think! Plenty more to come....

Final mix-down at Iguana

2008-12-01T17:50:00.002-05:00

We're into the final mix-down phase for our upcoming Salvo EP. I'm blogging from Iguana up in Downsview as Marc mixes "Fightsong", one of the tracks we've been working on. It sounds great on their absolutely massive SSL board. Trying out BlogWriter, a handy little app for my iPhone. If you like the short and sporadic approach to blogging, check out my twitter feed at http://www.twitter.com/sneydman. We're in the middle of a very long day. The work is painstaking and fiddlesome, but wow when the final mix goes up, it sounds pretty superb. The guys here (Vic, John and Luke) are really laidback and knowledgeable. I'm capturing some pics and video snippets which should see the light of day over the next few weeks. The EP is still a ways off, but we should be posting a lead track in the very near future. Till then!

Demo of "The Real Heart" up at MySpace

2008-11-11T11:39:00.002-05:00

Well we're **still** plugging away in the studio. It's amazing how long it can take. Especially with a couple of compulsive perfectionists in the band! ;p

I can tell you that the EP is close, but you may not see it till the new year. We've got five super-solid tracks coming together, that are 90% done, but there's a lot of finishing and finesse in that final 10%.

You can get a sneak peak at one of the songs at my MySpace page. This is a production demo of "The Real Heart". The final version will sound similar, but with new vocals, drums, bass, guitar, etc. etc. So yeah a totally different song! Nah, it'll be close. Just more polished.

I'm really enjoying working with the band, bringing Zack on drums and Scott on bass into the collaboration Marc and I have been developing over the past few years. The end result should be pretty cool. And a wee bit massive!

In the running for RedGorilla

2008-10-25T23:00:00.001-04:00

While the band's busy recording new material, I'm in the running for a slot at the Red Gorilla Music Fest in Austin in March of 2009. "The Prisoner" is currently at #3 at OurStage.com. Swing on by the site to vote for the song and help put the Sneyd over the top.

Toronto Exclusive Magazine Awards

2008-10-21T22:39:00.003-04:00

All of Us Cities has been nominated for Best Rock Album of the year in the Toronto Exclusive Magazine Awards! Nifty. Adding to the fun, "I'm the Decider" was also nominated for Best Rock Song. Toronto Exclusive is hosting a fun award celebration on Wednesday, October 22nd at the Smiling Buddha (961 College Street), starting at 8pm. We'll be there to join in the festivities. Nice to see the record's still getting good notices. For full details about the gig, check out the Toronto Exclusive site.

We're nearly finished our upcoming EP. Expect some pretty wicked new songs coming your way in the next month!

Daniel Pearl World Music Days

2008-09-26T14:01:00.003-04:00

In 2002, journalist and musician Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and murdered in Pakistan. In honour of his memory, Daniel Pearl World Music Days has been created to bring together harmony, music and humanity. In October, a wide array of performances around the world will be dedicated to Daniel, drawing on the power of music to create cross-cultural understanding. You can find out more about the foundation's concerts at http://www.danielpearlmusicdays.org. Whether you're an artist or no, you can join in by submitting music, art, photos, poems, stories and reporting of World Music Days events at their site, to become part of an eStage.

Vote at Home Grown Video

2008-09-26T12:53:00.004-04:00

New York's Home Grown Video is featuring the video for "The Prisoner", where we're getting some nice airplay. You can check out their MySpace page, and vote for Luke Sneyd there for Artist of the Month to help us pick up more play!

Future Stars on Radio Crystal Blue Tonight

2008-09-21T17:29:00.002-04:00

Dan Herman of NYC's Radio Crystal Blue is doing a feature on Future Stars, starting tonight. And we're included. Nice. Here's the details for tuning in:

(1)LIVE on LIVE365 INTERNET RADIO
www.live365.com/stations/142950.
*Click the yellow 'mic' button on the station page during the time the show
airs live. This opens the listening window. Radio Crystal Blue is a 4-5 hour
show.
*Please ignore the "this station is currently not available" statement on
this
page.
*Turn off all pop-up-blocker software
NEW: Remember you can listen to Live365 with your favorite audio player.
Live365 now features mobile streaming!
Firefox and Safari browser users surfing Live365 can now use the network's
Flash player.

(2) ARCHIVED shows are at http://cblue.lunarpages.com
*Click the .ram streams or the .mp3 downloads at the beginnings of each
playlist.
*Listen with the free (basic) RealOneplayer www. real. com
*Both shows will be uploaded just hours after its completion.
*All archived shows are being kept for 4 weeks after the live ones.

(3) PODCASTS :
Stream shows after-the-fact in my FeedPlayer at http://cblue. lunarpages. com
Click the different glyphs to hear earlier shows, get the mp3 and RSS
feeds.
RSS http://www.bigcontact.com/radiocrystalblu/rss
www. bigcontact. com has other ways to make the audio accessible.
*As with the archives, the shows from the last several weeks are always
available.

Tattoo Rock Parlour!

2008-09-04T22:13:00.005-04:00

Great set last night at the Tattoo Rock Parlour. Thanks to them what came down post- their Labour Day weekend hangovers and dreaded kickstart-the-fall with work / school / name-your-poison futures looming large on the dusky horizon! The denizens of Tattoo were mightily pleased with what they beheld. Mike Celia provided a great opening act with some fine guitar work and a cool blues-folk vibe, followed by the stomp and crunch of Fourlines. We wrapped up the bill with a solid set, breaking out some new tracks including "Wheels Come Off" and "The Real Heart". Thanks to Todd Arkell at Cool Planet Entertainment for booking us, and shout-outs to my cousin Mike for doin' lights and the ever-present Marc Koecher for his wicked shots. Check out the pics!

Coming up.... Tattoo Rock Parlour!

2008-08-28T10:53:00.004-04:00

We're playing Tattoo Rock Parlour in Toronto, Wednesday, September 3rd. Opening are Mike Celia and Fourlines. Doors at 9pm, cover's $5. The place is at 567 Queen Street West. Sign up for the show on Facebook! It's gonna be wicked - we're breaking out a few of the new tracks we've been working on in the studio, as well as your All of Us Cities faves.

Le Giggage

2008-08-28T10:15:00.002-04:00

We played a solid show at Fat Cats in Kitchener last Friday (a few pics posted below). Quirky venue: the place is a pool hall, with the band tucked in a corner stage. Not ideal circs for putting on a performance, especially with the pool tables between us and the seats and tables! But people were into it all the same. Even those pesky stick-wielding interlopers were shimmying around the velvet in time to "Hearts and Minds"....

Looking forward to playing the Live Lounge tomorrow night in Ottawa, courtesy of Live 88.5! C'mon down and check us out, Friday, August 29th, doors at 8:30pm, cover $8. We're appearing with Marc Charron, Tara Holloway and Grace Over Diamonds. Should be a very cool show.

Andrew's Rock Blog

2008-07-31T10:40:00.003-04:00

Nice write-up over at Andrew's Rock Blog. I was ever-so-briefly in a band called Station to Station with Drew, many moons ago. A buddy of mine (the drummer of my high-school punk band) played with them, and invited me in back in the 90s when their original guitarist left. We jammed out a few times but it never really connected. I bump into Andrew from time to time - we caught up recently at a birthday party for that drummer's one-year-old daughter. He's doin' fine working at Jack FM, and his blog is a great corner of the net for tidbits on rock classic and contemporary. Check it out!

What the hell we're up to....

2008-07-29T16:14:00.002-04:00

Posting's been infrequent, I know. And there hasn't been much new going up. I'm glad to say that it's with good reason. The band's in the studio again with producer Marc Koecher. Yep, we've started work on new tracks at long last!

There'll be some samples of tracks coming soon. Right now we've started work on what's either a very long EP or a very short album, depending on your point of view.... One track we've broken out live a few times called "Wheels Come Off" is a rolling romp about plans gone awry. But man it's going to sound a bit different from those first live approximations! I'm pretty excited to be back in the studio, especially working with a few new collaborators this time around. Marc's signature production will be in full effect, but I think there's going to be more oomph, more rockness igniting the epic complexity. Zack's drums are pure thunder, and Scott's bringing some great melodic bass-lines to the table. I'm babbling, but you'll know what I'm talking about soon enough.

Here's a figment of studio life....

Into the Semi-Finals on OurStage

2008-07-29T15:56:00.003-04:00

Well "Unknown" and "The Prisoner" are both in the running on OurStage, for Male Singer-Songwriter and Indie Rock respectively. Click on the banners below and vote for 'em to help further the cause...!!