Fond of Tigers is a Canadian seven-piece
post-rock
Post-rock is a subgenre of experimental rock that emphasizes Texture (music), texture, atmosphere, and non-traditional song structures over conventional rock techniques. Post-rock artists often combine rock instrumentation and rock stylings wit ...
instrumental band from
Vancouver
Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
. An article in ''Exclaim!'' describes the band's sound: "with cacophonous explosions of percussion and guitar underlying wild strains of trumpet and violin, only to drop out for unexpected, ambient glimmers of a once-roaring piece."
History
The group began in 2000 as a solo project of guitarist Stephen Lyons. After Lyons' indie rock group Beauventure disbanded, Lyons performed solo, and soon began playing along with tape loops and recorded sounds.
In 2003 the project expanded to become a full band. Band members include Stephen Lyons on guitar, JP Carter on trumpet, Morgan McDonald on piano, Jesse Zubot on violin, Shanto Acharia on bass, and Skye Brooks and Dan Gaucher on drums. In June 2006, they released the debut album, ''a thing to live with''. Their second album, ''Release the Saviours'', was released on November 27, 2007.
Fond of Tigers' third album, ''Continent & Western'' was released on Sept. 21, 2010; it appeared on the !Earshot National Top 50 Chart soon after, and it won a Juno Award for best instrumental album in 2011.
["Fond of Tigers Uninhabit (Drip Audio)"]
''Georgia Straight'', Alan Ranta on December 23rd, 2016. The albums were released on Vancouver-based label Drip Audio, operated by Jesse Zubot. Their third album, ''Continent & Western'' was a co-release with Offseason Records.
The band has performed at festivals such as the
Vancouver Jazz Festival
The Vancouver International Jazz Festival is a jazz festival held every summer in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
The festival grew out of a local jazz scene that centred on Vancouver Co-op Radio (CFRO-FM), a community radio station, in the ...
and the
Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville
The Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville () is an annual international music festival held in Victoriaville, Quebec that showcases contemporary music.
The festival is known for its small scale (usually no more than 20 perfo ...
, the Guelph Jazz Festival, Hillside Festival, PuSh Festival, the Sled Island Music Festival, and Sappyfest.
After a hiatus of several years, in 2016 the band reconvened and released an album, ''Uninhabit'', once again through Drip Audio, in conjunction with Offseason Records.
In 2017 they were nominated for a Western Canadian Music Award.
Lyons also lead
Limbs of the Stars which features Acharia and Brooks.
Collaborations
Fond of Tigers has collaborated with Swedish musician
Mats Gustafsson
Mats Olof Gustafsson (born 29 October 1964) is a Swedish free jazz saxophone player.
Career
Gustafsson came to the attention of lovers of improvised music as part of a duo with Christian Munthe (started in 1986), as member of Gunter Chris ...
and Toronto's
Sandro Perri
Sandro Perri is a musician and producer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. His music has been called post-rock, electronic, experimental, ambient, folk among others. He has been producing, mixing and mastering records for other artists since 2003.
...
.
References
External links
Fond of Tigersofficial website
ArticleEcho Weekly articleCBCFond of Tigers
Bandcamp page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fond Of Tigers
Musical groups established in 2000
Musical groups from Vancouver
Canadian post-rock groups
2000 establishments in British Columbia
Juno Award for Instrumental Album of the Year winners