The Stills were a

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rock band from

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, formed in 2000 and disbanded in 2011.

History

The band's original lineup consisted of lead vocalist and guitarist Tim Fletcher, guitarist Gregory Paquet, bassist Olivier Corbeil and drummer Dave Hamelin. The band members had known each other since the age of 12 and played in various bands prior to forming the Stills, including Chinatown, Amentum, and The Undercovers. Their EP, '' Rememberese,'' was released on June 17, 2003, by

Vice Records A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character tr ...

(and in the UK by

679 Recordings 679 Artists (formally known as Sixsevenine and 679 Recordings) was a Warner Music Group-owned record label based in London, England. It was started by Nick Worthington who after leaving XL Recordings in 2001, started the company with Warner M ...

), followed by their debut album; both were produced by Gus Van Go. '' Logic Will Break Your Heart'' was released in North America on October 21, 2003, and in the UK on February 23, 2004, and included the singles "Lola Stars and Stripes", "Changes Are No Good" and "Still in Love Song". Keyboardist Liam O'Neil played on several of the album's tracks. The album elicited critical acclaim and comparisons to

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and Echo & the Bunnymen, with

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citing its "brooding post-punk soundscapes and art rock swagger". Paquet left the band in 2005 to finish his university degree, and Hamelin moved to guitar, sharing lead vocal duties with Fletcher. Julien Blais joined as drummer, and O'Neil became a full-time member of the band on keyboards. The Stills' second album, '' Without Feathers'', was released May 9, 2006, on Vice Records (and in the UK by

Drowned in Sound Recordings ''Drowned in Sound'', sometimes abbreviated to ''DiS'', is a UK-based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway. Founded by editor Sean Adams, the site features reviews, news, interviews, and discussion forums. History ''D ...

). Again produced by Van Go, it marked a distinct shift in sound, from the 1980s-influenced post-punk revivalism of the debut to a happier, more

Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana (music), a genre or style of American music *Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...

-oriented sound, which

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termed "cheerful and heartfelt". It featured guest appearances from Sam Roberts, Emily Haines ( Metric) and Jason Collett (

Broken Social Scene Broken Social Scene is a Canadian indie rock band, a musical collective including as few as six and as many as nineteen members, formed by Kevin Drew (vocals, guitar) and Brendan Canning (vocals, bass) in 1999. Alongside Drew and Canning, the oth ...

). They supported

Kings of Leon Kings of Leon is an American rock band formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1999. The band is composed of brothers Caleb, Nathan and Jared Followill, and their cousin Matthew Followill. The band's early music was a blend of Southern rock and ga ...

on that band's UK spring tour in 2007. They signed with Arts & Crafts for the release of their third album, '' Oceans Will Rise,'' which was released August 19, 2008. Critics noted that the album "reconciled the mannered 1980s sound that first got them noticed with the open-hearted earthiness of their sophomore effort". On July 20, 2008, the Stills played in

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, opening for

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

, for the city's 400th anniversary. On February 7, 2009, they played at

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as part of

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's WinterCity Festival, and again supported Kings of Leon on a tour of Australia and New Zealand in March 2009. On March 28, 2009, the Stills were awarded two Juno Awards (Canada's music awards) for their album ''Oceans Will Rise'', in the categories of Best New Group and Best Alternative Album. On April 29, 2010, the band announced that Paquet was rejoining the band and Hamelin was moving back to drums. On April 15, 2011, the Stills announced on their site that they had officially disbanded.

Other projects

In 2009, Hamelin, O'Neil and Broken Social Scene drummer

Justin Peroff Justin Peter Papadimitriou (born October 13, 1977), family name changed to Peroff, is best known as the drummer for the Toronto-based indie rock collective Broken Social Scene. He is a credited actor, appearing in the major motion picture '' How t ...

formed the band Eight and a Half, releasing their self-titled debut in 2012. O'Neil played various instruments on

's 2010 album ''

Come Around Sundown ''Come Around Sundown'' is the fifth studio album by American rock band Kings of Leon, released in Ireland, Australia and Germany on October 15, 2010, followed by releases in the United Kingdom on October 18 and North America on October 19. The o ...

'', and is involved with hip-hop act Da Gryptions. Fletcher sang background vocals on the Sam Roberts Band's 2014 album '' Lo-Fantasy'' and played guitar for Canadian rapper k-os. In 2014, he formed the band Beat Cops with Mikey Heppner of Priestess, releasing the album ''Mean Streets'' in 2015. That same year, Fletcher released the album ''Punks on the Moon'' with his project Voizes. Fletcher then formed Megative with ex-Stills producer Gus Van Go, songwriting duo Like Minds (Jesse Singer and Chris Soper) and dancehall performer Screechy Dan. In 2017, the ensemble debuted with the single "More Time". On July 27, 2018, Megative released their self-titled debut album on Last Gang Records.

Members

* Tim Fletcher –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

, lead vocals (2000–2011) * Greg Paquet – guitar (2000–2005, 2010–2011) * Olivier Corbeil (a.k.a. Oliver Crowe) – bass, backing vocals (2000–2011) * Dave Hamelin – drums, lead vocals, guitar (2000–2011) * Liam O'Neil – keyboards,

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

(2005–2011) * Julien Blais – drums (2005–2010)

Discography

Albums

EPs

* ''The Stills'' promo sampler (2003, self-released) * '' Rememberese'' (2003, Vice Records/

) *''The Stills: Live EP'' (2004, Atlantic Records) *''Live Studio Session'' (2006, Atlantic Records)

Singles

* "Lola Stars and Stripes" (2004, Vice Records/679 Recordings) * "Changes Are No Good" (2004, Vice Records/679 Recordings) * "Still in Love Song" (2004, Vice Records/679 Recordings) * "In the Beginning" promo (2006, Vice Records) * "Destroyer" promo (2006, Drowned in Sound Recordings) * "Helicopters" (2007, Drowned in Sound Recordings) * "Being Here" (2008, Arts & Crafts) * "Don't Talk Down" (2008, Arts & Crafts) * "I'm With You" (2009, Arts & Crafts)

Compilation appearances

* "Retour à Vega" on '' Wicker Park (Soundtrack Album)'' (2004, Lakeshore Records) * "In the Beginning" on '' Music from the Motion Picture "P.S. I Love You"'' (2007, Atlantic Records) * "Soft Revolution" on '' Do You Trust your Friends? (Remix album released by Stars)'' (2007, Arts & Crafts International)

Music videos

* "Still in Love Song" (2003) - directed by Josh & Xander * "Lola Stars and Stripes" (2003) - directed by Oliver "Twist" Gondry * "Changes are No Good" (2004) - directed by Dominic DeJoseph * "Love and Death" (2004) - directed by

Chris Grismer Chris Grismer is a Canadian director and producer of film, television and music videos, now residing in Los Angeles. His credits include '' Designated Survivor'', ''Killjoys'', ''The Vampire Diaries'', '' The Originals'', ''The Nine Lives of Chlo ...

* "In the Beginning" (2006) - directed by Associates in Science * "Destroyer" (2006) - directed by Eddy Morretti * "Helicopters" (2007) - directed by George Vale * "Being Here" (2008) - directed by Teqtonik * "Don't Talk Down" (2008) - directed by Christopher Mills * "I'm With You" (2009) - directed by

Carlos and Jason Sanchez Carlos and Jason Sanchez (Carlos born 1976 and Jason born 1981 in Montreal, Quebec) are Canadian fine art photographers known for their large-scale dramatic images. Thematically, their work centers on the psychological reflections of their subject ...

References

External links

* The Stills biographyat

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

Interview with Tim Fletcher at groundcontrolmag.com
11/8/2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Stills, The Musical groups established in 2000 Musical groups disestablished in 2011 Musical groups from Montreal Canadian indie rock groups Arts & Crafts Productions artists English-language musical groups from Quebec 2000 establishments in Quebec 2011 disestablishments in Quebec Juno Award for Alternative Album of the Year winners Juno Award for Breakthrough Group of the Year winners 679 Artists artists