The New Meanies, originally called the Blue Meanies, are a Canadian four piece

rock band ''Rock Band'' is a series of rhythm games first released in 2007 and developed by Harmonix. Based on their previous development work from the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series, the main ''Rock Band'' games have players use game controllers mod ...

from

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

History

Formed around 1990 by high school friends Damon Mitchell (lead vocals, guitar, harmonica), Jeff Hondubura (guitar, vocals), Sky Onosson (bass, vocals, keyboards) and Jason Kane (drums, percussion) started playing blues-influenced rock. After releasing two independent albums, ''Experience is Lost'' (independently released on cassette only) and ''The Blue Meanies'', they toured extensively throughout Western Canada in the early 1990s. In 1996 the band signed with

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

. The band changed its name to the New Meanies due to the existence of another Blue Meanies based in Chicago, and recorded a new album ''Three Seeds'' in the

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

area with producer

Howard Benson Howard Michael Benson (born July 20, 1956) is an American record producer from Havertown, Pennsylvania. He has been nominated for two Grammy Awards for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical in 2007 and 2008, among two wins and 16 total nominati ...

. In 1997 the band toured with

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock, although their musical style has varied throughout their career. Originally for ...

in the United States. Three Seeds was released in 1998, and the single "Letting Time Pass" achieved major airplay on radio and television, charting at No. 14 on RPM Magazine's

Canadian rock/alternative chart Canadian rock music charts (established June 11, 1995) publishes a weekly alternative rock music chart under the name ''Alternative 30.'' RPM charts On June 11, 1995, Canadian music magazine '' RPM'' began publishing a weekly alternative rock music ...

. In 1998 following the release of the album, the band toured with the

Dave Matthews Band Dave Matthews Band (also known as DMB) is an American rock band from Charlottesville, Virginia. The band's lineup consists of Dave Matthews (lead vocals, guitar), Stefan Lessard (bass), Carter Beauford (drums), Tim Reynolds (lead guitar), R ...

across Canada. In 1999 the band performed in Toronto with Danko Jones and Tricky Woo and played several Canadian tour dates with

Alice Cooper Vincent Damon Furnier (born February 4, 1948), known by his stage name Alice Cooper, is an American rock singer and songwriter whose career spans sixty years. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusion ...

. In 2000, the band went indie again and released a new album, ''Highways'', in 2001.

Discography

Albums

*''Experience is Lost'' (1993) *''The Blue Meanies'' (1995) *''Three Seeds'' (1998) *''Highways'' (2001)

Current status

The New Meanies are currently only performing sporadically.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:New Meanies Musical groups with year of establishment missing Musical groups from Winnipeg Canadian indie rock groups Musical groups established in 1990 1990 establishments in Manitoba