Arietta

ARIETTA is no more.

2010-07-15T11:43:00.000-07:00

It's with great sadness that we inform everyone that ARIETTA has decided to throw in the towel.

Kyle has made a tough personal decision to leave the band and after many member changes over the past seven years, and after finally solidifying a line-up that resonated both creatively and personally, the rest of us feel it's time to lay the band to rest. We've come to define ourselves as a whole with each member contributing equally, and we've decided that to go on with Arietta without any one of us would be unfair to the time, energy, dedication and love all five of us have spent establishing and defining our style and identity as a band. We want to thank everyone single person who has ever supported us in our seven year run; friends, families, bands, fans, promoters, den-mothers, etc... Thank you for being a part of the best experience we could ever ask for. We've accomplished so much as a band, as people, and as friends. We've had the privilege of sharing the stage with our best friends and favourite bands, leaving us with feelings of gratitude, self-worth and achievement.

Thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts, we will cherish all of the memories and will never forget the life changing experience that was ARIETTA. We're leaving the band behind in a completely amicable and understanding way, and, most importantly, we have nothing but love and support for one another.

We will be releasing two new songs that will be available on our MySpace page later this month. We all plan to continue playing music to some degree, so keep posted for updates on new projects, including Shehzaad's side project GREYS, playing Sneaky Dee's on August 20th.

We have two more shows coming up, and as many of you know, being a band for seven years means you accumulate a serious amount of debt, so please come out and grab all of our shirts/albums/etc., which will all be discounted because, sadly, everything must go. You'll be able to catch us for the last time at these two shows. We hope you can make it out and share in what is sure to be a bittersweet blast.

Thursday July 22nd @ Sneaky Dee's - Toronto
Thursday August 19th @ Sneaky Dee's - Toronto

Thank you,

Sean, Tyler, Brian, Shehzaad and Kyle

ARIETTA was:
Tyler Johnston - Vocals
Sean Ramesbottom - Guitar/Keys/Vox
Brian Craig - Guitar
Kyle Smith - Bass
Shehzaad Jiwani - Drums/Vox

2010-04-29T07:04:00.001-07:00

ARIETTA EAST COAST TOUR 2010

Saturday May 1st - Montreal @ Green Room

Monday May 3rd - Quebec @ Bateau de Nuit
Wednesday May 5th - Charlottetown @ Hunter's Ale house
Thursday May 6th - Fredericton @ Charlotte Street Arts Center (all ages)
Friday May 7th - Halifax @ The Pavilion (all ages)
Saturday May 8th - Halifax @ The Seahorse

Back From Holidays, Goin' On Tour!

2010-04-23T11:15:00.000-07:00

Holy crow it's been a while. How's everyone doing? Sorry for the lack of posts, but to be fair, half of us weren't even in the country!

A few of the guys decided to go on a quick vacation before jumping back on the road. Sean went to Mexico, Tyler went to Montreal, and I headed on over to Japan for the last couple weeks. Pretty darn fun. We all got back this weekend and went back into the rehearsal space to tighten everything up prior to tour, so we're ready to go!

After not playing for about three weeks, it was kind of great to get back into show mode. Pretty much the second we grabbed our instruments, we started playing a new song that is starting to sound really cool, and very different from anything else we've written. This song has kind of a salsa vibe, and we've been comparing it to Dismemberment Plan and Mew in the sense that it's pretty choppy and syncopated in certain ways. This one is still cookin' to a large degree, so it will probably change drastically by the time we're done, but we're all excited about it.

We haven't really talked much about the new tunes, so I'll let you guys in on some of it. The one new song we've been playing live for a little while now is called "Framework," and it is definitely our new favourite. It's got some interesting rhythmic parts and some confusing guitar parts (even for us), but the chorus is super catchy. We feel that it represents both sides of the band - the technical and the melodic - pretty accurately. The overall tone of the song is somewhat dark, but not overbearingly so. If any of you have heard it, definitely share your thoughts - we'd love to hear what you think!

The third new song that we have is actually sort of an old song, because the main riff was written back before we even went into the studio to record Migration. The rest of the song got a complete overhaul, though, catalyzed by an incredible bassline that Kyle wrote. This one is probably my favourite song to play as it is a lot of fun rhythmically, there are several different parts in the song, and it is the most aggressive tune we've written in a while. I think it's an interesting cross between the contemplative aspects of Minus The Bear and the ethereal tones of These Arms Are Snakes. Very cool.

Everything else is under wraps for now, but we are hitting up the east coast at the beginning of May, so you MAY get a chance to hear some of these tunes. Har. We're stoked to head back out east. We're going all the way out to P.E.I, which is gonna be great. The last time we went out that way, we had nothing but fun, so we're stoked to see some old friends, meet some new ones, and eat tons of lobster. It is lobster season there, right?

Aside from that, we are playing with our buds Farewell Cool Reason for their album release party at the El Mocambo tomorrow (Saturday), and our best buddies Lost Cities are on the bill as well, so that should be a hilariously good time. We just played with the Farewell guys last night in Burlington with their tourmates Assemble Me, who are also great dudes, and that was a blast. Looking forward to playing with both of them some more in the future.

Check out our MySpace for all our east coast dates, because we added a bunch. We also just confirmed a few gigs with great bands like Titan, This Town Needs Guns, and Balboa, so make sure you write all of them down in your calendar ASAP.

We made one of those Formspring things where you can ask us questions directly, so check that out HERE. Ask us whatever you want, and we will give you a sarcastic, possibly offensive response.

If you haven't already, do check out my online magazine Signal right HERE. There's some cool stuff coming soon, including a guide to record shops in Tokyo. One day I'll post pictures of the insane amount of records I grabbed while I was in Japan. I can't wait to tour there!

So that's about it! Sorry for the long wait, it won't happen again. Come out Saturday to the El Mocambo if you're in Toronto, or if not, we'll see you in the east!

Love,
-Shehzaad / Arietta

Shit Is Cookin'!

2010-03-31T08:02:00.000-07:00

Sup fools,

Had a killer weekend, I gotta say. We played one of the most fun shows ever in Guelph, who tore the roof off the Shadow. It was wicked playing with our buds Canyon City, as well as getting to see Thunderhawks for the first time. Ulysses And The Siren played an unreal set and it's super sad to know it was their 2nd last show, but word on the street is the brothers van Helvoort have something up their sleeves. Footage of that show should be up soon, complete with grunge covers featuring members of both bands.

Saturday was equally rad as we got to hang out in St. Catherines a bit before our show. We grabbed some good Mexican then headed on over to the Mansion House for a rad, if mismatched set. Lots of fun.

Sunday was the video shoot for the special acoustic version of "Northearned" that we did a couple times before. It was real interesting, and without giving too much away, it's a long take (meaning no cuts, all one shot) of an in-house performance that is also live off the floor. So, no cuts, and no overdubbed music - EVERYTHING is done live in one shot. It looks amazing and we can't wait for you guys to see it. Definitely a challenge but so worth it.

We're still rippin' out some new tunes, as that is the M.O as of late. New songs and tons of shows. Speaking of which, we're opening for RX Bandits this Friday @ the Mod Club, and it's also all ages, so that is gonna be unreal. Their new stuff is pretty killer so I'm excited to see them live.

If you haven't checked out Signal Magazine already, check it out HERE, cuz there's a ton of rad shit up there. I did an interview with Mac from Superchunk (who is also the founder of Merge Records), and our friend Amanda took some rad shots of a bunch of bands including the Bronx and Cancer Bats. So, check that shit out.

Other than that, we are playing our butts off as much as we can. Here are our upcoming dates. See y'all soon!

April 2 / Toronto, ON @ The Mod Club (w/ RX Bandits - ALL AGES!)
April 3 / Brampton, ON @ All Star's (w/ The Imports)
April 22 / Burlington, ON @ Red Rooster (w/ Farewell Cool Reason)
May 1 / Montreal, QC @ Green Room (w/ The Balconies, This Invention Matters)
May 3 / Quebec City, QC @ Le Bateau De Nuit
May 5 / Charlottetown, PEI @ Hunters Ale House
May 6 / Frederickton, NB @ Charlotte Street Arts Center (w/ Michou - ALL AGES!)
May 7 / Halifax, NS @ Pavillion (All Ages)
May 8 / Halifax, NS @ Seahorse
June 1 / Toronto, ON @ Sneaky Dee's (w/ Native and This Town Needs Guns)
June 7 / Cobourg, ON @ Cobourg Public Library (All ages)

-S / A

Weekend Update

2010-03-22T18:32:00.000-07:00

Hey friends. How was your weekend? Ours was pretty rad. We're finally getting ready to jump out of our rehearsal space for a while, so we played a couple shows over the weekend and had a blast.

We played Peterborough with our new budz Sandman Viper Command who were a lot of fun to watch. Their bassist has a nice Rick which he played the shit out of all night. They were good but then we WHOOPED THEIR ASSES WITH A KILLER SET OF ROCK N' ROOOLLL. No, just kidding. They were rad dudes all around, looking forward to playing with them again.

It was our buddy Zac's birthday as well so we partied with him afterwards big time. Him and his housemates were kind and patient enough to teach me how to ollie. For some reason I've felt this weird urge to skateboard since it was sunny out the past few days, but I never skateboarded as a kid, so I am really bad at it. It was kind of embarassing to watch Sean and Tyler do it with no problems, but maybe by the end of our next tour, I'll be the next Tony Hawk. Anyway, Zac rules, and the show was a great time had by all.

(Side note: Zac used to play in this band Rockets with our buddy Johno, and they started a new band called Canyon City, whose demos I recorded at our rehearsal space a few weeks ago. My buddy Cam, who I play with in another band called Greys, is also in this band, and we're playing with them next Friday in Guelph. Check out their MySpace HERE, as the songs are pretty killer.)

Sunday we were all beat from the night before, but we managed to make it to Orillia for a set with our best budz in Lost Cities. We ate some food, hung out by the lake, and played to a few drunk people who were entertained, confused, and amused by our sets. Lost Shitties and Gayrietta Tour 2010!

We just finished rehearsing for this special new music video we're doing. I know, I know - we haven't even posted the first one. That's just how things work in Arietta. We're already sick of one thing by the time it's done, so it's on to the next one immediately, like that one Foo Fighters song. But yeah, stay tuned for some really cool shit over the next couple weeks.

Tyler, Brian and I are gonna be participating in a covers set hosted by our good friends The Balconies tomorrow (Tuesday) night. The Facebook event is HERE, so come out if you aren't doing anything. We're gonna be playing some fun tunes that I think are kinda-sorta curveballs so come be surprised at what we picked! Plus, it will just be rad to watch the Balcs do a bunch of covers all night. A bunch of other friends are gonna be performing with them as well so you won't want to miss it.

We just found out we're opening for the RX Bandits when they roll through Toronto on April 2nd. I think that's Good Friday, so you guys have no excuse for not coming. Jesus and chocolate bunnies will be in full effect, so come out and get nuts! It's all ages, too, and we never get to play to younger crowds in Toronto, so that will be a lot of fun. Grab tickets HERE.

Other than that, nothing too much to report. We're playing Guelph this Friday @ The Shadow with Ulysses And The Siren, Thunderhawks and Canyon City, then St. Catherines on Saturday @ Mansion House. Both should be a rad time. I believe it's Ulysses' second last show ever, so definitely come out to that and sing "Fake Problems" with me at the top of your lungs, cuz you know that shit rocks hard.

I'm gonna practice my Tony Iommi solos for tomorrow night...

-S / A

CMW Recap

2010-03-16T09:47:00.001-07:00

So this has been a pretty grueling week. I don't know about you guys, but being sick as a dog during Canadian Music Week is definitely not the best situation. That said, it was still a ton of fun - minus the feeling like crap part.

We started the fest somewhat early as Ty and I were DJing on Wednesday night... until 4am. This sounds like an amazing time, but when you feel like your head is encased in a tomb of snot, it isn't the most fun thing in the world. However, I discovered that for quick relief of cold symptoms, dancing to Gang Of Four, Hot Snakes and Minus The Bear does the trick. Until the next morning when you feel like you got hit by a bus.

Thursday was spent mostly in bed, but I made it to the Wreckroom in time to catch Burning Love's amazing set. They absolutely slayed, and their new stuff sounds even better and more intense than the old stuff. It was nice to see the amps we borrowed from Dave and Pat for our music video, too. Standing in front of a 4x15 bass cab does wonders for your headache, let me tell you.

After that I passed out for a couple of hours, unfortunately missing Harvey Milk and Coalesce's sets, but waking up in time to catch the end of Besnard Lakes at the Horseshoe. Hung out with the Great Bloomers and got a surprise visit from Billy Hamilton, aka Billverstein himself, just hours before he shaved his beard and became a completely different person. Guy looks like James from Titan now, only taller, if that's possible.

It was awesome to see the Bloomers for the first time since they got back from their west coast tour. The guys played a set filled with new tunes, all of which showed the band playing tighter than I can ever remember. An added bonus was watching Kek and Hindle sing along with their old band.

Then it was our turn. Playing at 2:30 in the morning has its perks, such as everyone being completely wasted and not caring whether your set is good or not. Aside from that, it's not the most fun, especially when 3/5 band members are sick and tired, but we played a decent set regardless. Two large brown men demanded that we play an encore (literally demanded), so who were we to say no? We did, then we all passed out.

Friday I decided to sleep until our show at Sneak's, so I let the other guys do all the heavy lifting before showing up right before our set. Watched Brett Caswell play one of the best sounding sets I've ever heard at Sneaky Dee's in my life. Added bonus was Rajiv jumping on stage to play guitar for the closer - two minutes after he showed up. Amazing.

We played a set that was a whole lot better than the one the night before due to all of us being awake for it, then went our separate ways. Even though we were completely bagged, a bunch of us decided it would be best to catch Titan's set at the Bovine. They have to be the loudest god damn band in Toronto, by a mile. Unbelievable set that made Sean and I vow to make our next record twice as heavy, just to say we can. Jumped in Sean's van and passed out immediately.

Saturday we weren't playing, but a bunch of our buds were, so we all grabbed dinner with our lovely and talented producer Mike before heading to the Horseshoe to watch the Balconies and Wooden Sky play killer sets. Also saw Yukon Blonde for the first time, whose drummer is pretty killer. After that, we all got food, noticed the Daylight Savings time change, then went to bed. I spent the next day puking my entire life out while Ty got to go see Dillinger Escape Plan, so, that ruled.

All in all it was a pretty great week (minus the last part). It's a real novelty getting to be in the same city at the same time as a ton of your friends, and I realized how rarely that actually happens. What made me really happy was seeing so many familiar faces at different shows. Seeing Lowell from Great Bloomers at Burning Love's set, Chris from Titan at not one but two of ours, and Jacquie and Liam from the Balconies as they were about to catch Metz... all that made me realize how great our community is.

But enough of that. We're better than all those bands cuz we're the god damn best, so come see us this weekend in Peterborough (Saturday March 20th @ Ossia) and Orillia (March 21st @ Studabakers).

Love,
-Shehzaad / Arietta

Sean is building music!

2010-03-08T08:53:00.001-08:00

Sean has expanded his gear obsession into guitar building! here are some pics of him working on an acoustic!

Demos

2010-03-02T22:14:00.000-08:00

Just finished recording demos for two new songs. It has been described as "shit hot" by those who have heard it (including the pizza guy and my girlfriend).

Added another date in St. Catherines which should be a bliggity-blast.

Tyler, Brian and I went to see North Of America last weekend and it was friggin' amazing. If you've never heard this band before, and you like good music, do yourself a favour and check them out. They're from Halifax and they rule. I did an interview with Mark from the band for Signal Magazine, which you can read here.

We may have posted it but I don't think anyone mentioned that we will be doing a Weezer cover set on April 1st @ Sneaky Dee's. We'll be covering the first two albums (the good ones) plus some b-sides. There may be some special guests... maybe. Stay tuned for that one.

Other than that, we are ready to come out of hibernation! Our van is calling our name and we are stoked for all the shows we're piling up. See y'all at CMW!

-Shehzaad / Arietta

CMW, Music Video, etc.

2010-02-26T13:00:00.001-08:00

Hey friends,

We're playing a couple CMW shows during, uh, CMW. We're playing Thursday March 11 @ Horseshoe as a part of Chart Magazine's annual showcase, and we're on at around 2am, after our best buds the Great Bloomers.

We're also playing at Sneaky Dee's the next night at 11pm, so if you can't stay out past your bedtime, we are playing at a reasonable hour that Friday.

In additional CMW-related news, I (Shehzaad) just did an interview with Chart regarding the show on the 11th. You can read that here.

Lots of stuff has been going on as of late. We're writing some new tunes and have been playing one of the new songs at our past few shows. It's called "Framework," and scientists are saying it's pretty badass. We got the final edit of our music video recently and you guys should be able to view that pretty soon. Other than that we are solidifying some tour dates as I write this, so we should be coming out your way (assuming you live in and around Ontario) very VERY soon.

Hope everyone's keeping warm in this stupid snowstorm! See y'all soon.

-Shehzaad / Arietta

UPCOMING SHOWS:
March 11 / Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern (Chart CMW Showcase) w/ Besnard Lakes, Hollerado, Great Bloomers
March 12 / Toronto, ON @ Sneaky Dee's (CMW) w/ The Schomberg Fair, Corduroy + more
March 20 / Peterborough, ON @ Ossia w/ Sandman Viper Command (Ty + Shezz DJ Set after)
March 26 / Guelph, ON @ Shadow w/ Ulysses And The Siren, Thunderhawks, Canyon City
April 24 / Toronto, ON @ El Mocambo w/ Farewell Cool Reason

And so it begins...

2010-02-18T11:21:00.000-08:00

Attn: Blog.