The Luyas are a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band formed in 2006 from

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

History

The Luyas did their first live performance in December 2006. Their first album, ''Faker Death'' came out in August 2007, and was re-released in January 2008 on Pome Records; that label was subsequently disbanded and the album's distribution rights were picked up by

You've Changed Records You've Changed Records is a Canadian independent record label founded in 2009 by Daniel Romano, Ian Kehoe of Attack in Black and Steve Lambke of Constantines.SS Cardiacs SS Cardiacs was a Canadian indie rock band, briefly active in the early 2000s.Sarah Liss"Cardiacs Attack" ''Now'', May 26, 2005. It consisted of Jessie Stein on vocals and guitar, Andy Lloyd on bass and Dana Snell on drums. History SS Cardiacs ...

, is also a member of

Miracle Fortress Miracle Fortress is a Canadian indie rock band based in Montreal, Quebec. The band's studio work is primarily a solo, project of songwriter Graham Van Pelt, who is accompanied by the rest of the band during live shows. Band history Van Pelt, a m ...

. Amato and Schneider are both members of

Bell Orchestre Bell Orchestre is a six-piece instrumental band from Montreal. It was formed in 1999 by multi-instrumentalist Richard Parry and violinist Sarah Neufeld. Both also joined Arcade Fire. They were joined in Bell Orchestre by Michael Feuerstack (ste ...

, Amato also plays in Torngat and was formerly a horn player for

Arcade Fire Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band from Montreal, Quebec, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury, and Jeremy Gara. The band's touring line-up includes former core ...

. The band played at the

Pop Montreal POP Montreal is an annual List of music festivals, music festival occurring in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in the early fall, usually at the end of September or the beginning of October. More than 400 bands are scheduled to play in more than 50 ve ...

festival in 2008 and the

M for Montreal M for Montreal (M pour Montréal) is an annual 4-day music event produced by Avalanche Prod that is held in various venues in Montréal, Québec. It usually takes place on the third weekend of November. Description M for Montreal is an independ ...

Festival in 2009. The band uses an uncommon set of instruments featuring guitars, a French horn, piles of keyboards, drums and percussion. Singer/guitarist Jessie Stein expands the band’s musical vocabulary when she plays the

Moodswinger The Moodswinger is a twelve-string electric zither with an additional third bridge designed by Yuri Landman. The rod which functions as the third bridge divides the strings into two sections to cause an overtone multiphonic sound. One of the cop ...

, a 12-string electric zither designed by the Dutch experimental luthier

Yuri Landman Yuri Landman (born 1 February 1973) is a Dutch inventor of musical instruments and musician who has made several experimental electric string instruments for a number of artists including Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth, Liars (band), Liars, Jad Fair ...

. The band became a four-piece band with the addition of Mathieu Charbonneau in their line-up. The Luyas were profiled by

McSweeneys McSweeney's Publishing is an American nonprofit publishing house founded by Dave Eggers in 1998 and headquartered in San Francisco. The executive director is Amanda Uhle. McSweeney's first publication was the literary journal'' Timothy McSwee ...

in the spring of 2010. In the same year the band signed to

Dead Oceans Dead Oceans, Inc., is an American independent record label founded in 2006 and based in Bloomington, Indiana. History On June 30, 2006, Phil Waldorf founded Dead Oceans with Chris Swanson. Swanson suggested the name Dead Oceans, which came fro ...

for a release of their second album. Working with engineer

Jeff McMurrich Jeff is a masculine name, often a short form (hypocorism) of the English given name Jefferson or Jeffrey, which comes from a medieval variant of Geoffrey. Music * DJ Jazzy Jeff, American DJ/turntablist record producer Jeffrey Allen Townes * ...

(Tindersticks, Constantines), The Luyas have also teamed up with friend and colleague

Owen Pallett Michael James Owen Pallett-Plowright (born September 7, 1979), known professionally as Owen Pallett, is a Canadian composer, violinist, keyboardist, and vocalist. Under their former pseudonym Final Fantasy, Pallett won the 2006 Polaris Music P ...

, who is lending his arranging skills and violin playing to a number of tracks. The Luyas released their second album ''Too Beautiful to Work'' on Dead Oceans in February 2011. The Canadian release of the record was also in February 2011 via a new imprint called

Idée Fixe Records Idee or Idée may refer to: People *Émile Idée (1920–2024), French professional road bicycle racer Other *Idée, Inc., creator of image search engine TinEye *Idée fixe (psychology), a fixation *Idée Fixe (album), ''Idée Fixe'' (album), ...

. On January 9, 2012, the band announced that Stefan Schneider would no longer be playing with the band, stating, "We love him, but he's got other plans.". Schneider was replaced by former

Land of Talk Land of Talk is a Canadian indie rock band formed in 2006 from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The band is led by singer and guitarist Elizabeth Powell. History Before becoming the front-person for Land of Talk, Elizabeth Powell began their career as ...

drummer, Mark Wheaton. Their third studio album, ''Animator'', was announced with an October 16, 2012, release date on

Paper Bag Records Paper Bag Records is a Canadian independent record label, artist management company, and music publishing company founded in 2002 and based in Toronto. History The label was created to focus on the Toronto-area indie rock music scene. Initial si ...

. In June 2013, the album was longlisted for the

2013 Polaris Music Prize The 2013 edition of the Canadian Polaris Music Prize was presented on September 23, 2013

. Following Animator, Stefan Schneider rejoined the band, and the group recorded two releases featuring both Schneider and Wheaton. In September 2016 the band released the six track EP ''Say You'' through Paper Bag Records and embarked on a tour in support. This was followed by their fourth LP, “Human Voicing”, which was also released on Paper Bag. On January 31st, 2023, they released their cover of

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian songwriter, singer, poet, and novelist. Themes commonly explored throughout his work include faith and mortality, isolation and depression, betrayal and redemption, soc ...

's "

I Can't Forget ''I'm Your Man'' is the eighth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, released on February 2, 1988, by Columbia Records. The album marked Cohen's further move to a more modern sound, with many songs having a synthesizer-oriented ...

" from his

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

album I'm Your Man.

Members

* Jessie Stein (

Vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

moodswinger The Moodswinger is a twelve-string electric zither with an additional third bridge designed by Yuri Landman. The rod which functions as the third bridge divides the strings into two sections to cause an overtone multiphonic sound. One of the cop ...

) *

Pietro Amato Pietro Amato is a French horn player with the rock bands Torngat, Bell Orchestre, and The Luyas. He has also performed with Arcade Fire. Career In 2001, Amato, along with keyboardist Mathieu Charbonneau and percussionist Julien Poissant, fo ...

(

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most o ...

, bells,

keys Key, Keys, The Key or The Keys may refer to: Common uses * Key (cryptography), a piece of information needed to encode or decode a message * Key (instrument), a component of a musical instrument * Key (lock), a device used to operate a lock * ...

) * Stefan Schneider (

Drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

) (2006-2012) * Mathieu Charbonneau (

Wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

) * Mark "Bucky" Wheaton (Drums) (2012–present) *

Sarah Neufeld Sarah Neufeld (born August 27, 1979) is a Canadian violinist who is known for her work with indie rock band Arcade Fire, with whom she is a former core member and currently a touring member. She has contributed to each of the band's studio al ...

(

Violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

) (2009–present)

Discography

Albums

* ''Faker Death'', 2007, re-release 2008,

Pome Records In botany, a pome is a type of fruit produced by flowering plants in the subtribe Malinae of the family Rosaceae. Pome fruits consist of a central "core" containing multiple small seeds, which is enveloped by a tough membrane and surrounded by an ...

* ''Too Beautiful to Work'', February 2011,

* ''Animator'', October 2012, Dead Oceans * ''Human Voicing'', February 2017

EPs

* ''Tiny Head/Spherical Mattress'' 7" 2009, Self-Released * ''The Luyas/Twin Sister split'' 7" 2011, Dead Oceans * ''Says You'', September 2016

References

External links

The Luyas (BandCamp)

The Luyas on Paper Bag Records (label)

The Luyas on CBC Music
{{DEFAULTSORT:Luyas, The Musical groups established in 2006 Canadian indie rock groups Musical groups from Montreal English-language musical groups from Quebec Paper Bag Records artists Dead Oceans artists