Mir is a Canadian

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

and pop music group founded in 1996 and based in Halifax,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

. Asif Illyas is the band's lead

vocalist 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 singi ...

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

and

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

. His brother Shehab Illyas is the

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), keyboard bass (synth bass) or a low br ...

and

, and Adam Dowling is

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...

and a second

. The brothers were born in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

and raised in England; Dowling is a Nova Scotia native and former drummer for

Ashley MacIsaac Ashley Dwayne MacIsaac (born February 24, 1975) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter and actor from Cape Breton Island. He has received three Juno Awards, winning for Best New Solo Artist and Best Roots & Traditional Album – Solo at th ...

History

In 1997, the brothers independently released their six-track EP, ''What's Wrong With Being Sexy?''. Dowling joined them in 1998. In 1999, they were signed by

East West Records East West Records (stylized as east''west'') is a record label formed in 1955, distributed and owned by Warner Music Group, headquartered in New York City. History After its creation in 1955 by Atlantic Records, the label had its first hit wit ...

and, in 2000, released their debut album, ''Invisible Science''. ''Invisible Science'' garnered four award nominations from the

East Coast Music Association The East Coast Music Association (ECMA) is a non-profit association purposed towards supporting the music industry in the Canadian east coast, i.e., Atlantic Canada. The ECMA hosts the annual East Coast Music Awards (formerly the Maritime Music A ...

: Pop/Rock Recording of the Year in 2001 and, in 2002, the single "Invisible Science" brought nominations for Recording of the Year, Song of the Year and Group Recording of the Year. Asif Illyas was nominated for Songwriter of the Year. Also in 1999, Mir launched its annual event, The MIR Supershow, a 25-band concert that celebrates and raises money for the Centre For Diverse Visible Culture. In April 2003, Mir took part in 'Atlantic Scene', a showcase of Atlantic culture that took place at the

National Arts Centre The National Arts Centre (NAC) () is a Arts centre, performing arts organization in Ottawa, Ontario, along the Rideau Canal. It is based in the eponymous National Arts Centre (building), National Arts Centre building. History The NAC was one ...

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

. That year, the band's song "State of Emergency" was included in the compilation album ''The Great Stupa'', along with songs by artists such as

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan Mitchell (née Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter. As one of the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitch ...

Sting Stimulator of interferon genes (STING), also known as transmembrane protein 173 (TMEM173) and MPYS/MITA/ERIS is a regulator protein that in humans is encoded by the STING1 gene. STING plays an important role in innate immunity. STING induces typ ...

and

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 ...

. In 2004, Mir released their second album, ''7 Directions''. At the 2005 East Coast Music Awards, the album received nominations for Rock Recording of the Year and Video of the Year. Also that year, East West re-released ''Invisible Science'' in Europe, as ''Invisible Science MMIV''. They went on tour in Europe, and played the

Rock am Ring and Rock im Park The (German for "Rock at the Ring") and ("Rock in the Park") festivals are two simultaneous rock music festivals held annually in Germany. While ''Rock am Ring'' takes place at the Nürburgring race track, ''Rock im Park'' takes place at the ...

festivals. Also in 2005, Mir organized a fundraiser for victims of the tsunami in Sri Lanka, and in 2006 they traveled to Sri Lanka with a CBC news crew who were documenting the relief and reconstruction efforts. In 2006, Mir released ''The Acoustic Record'', which brought them to the attention of Germany's Silversonic Records, who signed them to a deal to promote an album which combined songs from ''The Acoustic Record'' and ''7 Directions''. The deal also included another European tour. At the 2006 East Coast Music Awards, ''The Acoustic Record'' brought nominations for Alternative Recording of the Year and Group Recording of the Year. In 2008, the band released the album ''OK2Go!''. It was nominated for Pop Recording of the Year at the 2009 East Coast Music Awards. Asif Illyas was nominated as Songwriter of the Year for "U Dream". While they did not officially disband, Dowling has been playing for the country music singer

George Canyon George Canyon (born Frederick George Lays, August 22, 1970) is a Canadian country music singer. He was the runner up on the second season of ''Nashville Star'' in 2004. He grew up in Fox Brook, Pictou County, Nova Scotia before he moved west t ...

. In 2013, Asif Illyas released a solo project titled ''Synesthesia''. The album won the award for World Recording of the Year at the 2014 East Coast Music Awards. He has also recorded on albums for

Cutting Crew Cutting Crew is an English rock band formed in London in 1985. They are best known for their debut studio album ''Broadcast'' (1986) and their UK Top 40 hit singles, "(I Just) Died in Your Arms" and " I've Been in Love Before". History 1985� ...

Gordie Sampson Gordon Francis Sampson (born July 30, 1971) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and producer from Big Pond, Nova Scotia. Beginning his career as a performer on his hometown island of Cape Breton, both in bands and on his own, Sampson has gone on t ...

Rita MacNeil Rita MacNeil (May 28, 1944 – April 16, 2013) was a Canadian singer and songwriter from the community of Big Pond, Nova Scotia, Big Pond on Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Island. Her biggest hit, "Flying On Your Own", was a crossover Top 40 hit in ...

and

Lennie Gallant Lennie Gallant, CM is a Canadian singer-songwriter and instrumentalist from Prince Edward Island. His music crosses into the folk rock and country music genres, while celebrating the musical heritage of his home province. He has been presente ...

. In 2013, Shehab Illyas, recording under the name 'Knight', released the album ''Top of the World''. It was accompanied by a 30-minute film which he wrote and directed. He has also been recording on albums, and/or shooting videos, for

Alan Doyle Alan Thomas Doyle (born May 17, 1969) is a Canadian musician and founding member of the Canadian folk rock band Great Big Sea. Life and career Alan Doyle was born and raised in Petty Harbour–Maddox Cove, Petty Harbour, Newfoundland, in a Ro ...

and

Ria Mae Ria MacNutt, known professionally as Ria Mae, is a Canadian singer and songwriter from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Career As a child, Mae's family moved around Halifax, switching from school to school while she learned to write songs. Ria has describ ...

and

Beòlach Beòlach is a Canadian traditional Celtic music group specialising in the fiddle and pipe music of their native Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, as well as Scotland and Ireland (amongst other influences). They have recorded and play both tradition ...

Discography

* 1998: ''What's Wrong with Being Sexy?'', Independent * 2001: ''Invisible Science'', East West Records * 2004: ''7 Directions'', MapleNationwide * 2004: ''Invisible Science MMIV'', East West Re-Release Europe * 2005: ''The Acoustic Record'', Independent * 2006: ''7 Directions'', Silversonic Records Re-Release Europe * 2008: ''OK2GO!'', Fontana North * 2008: "A Soldier's Carol" Christmas EP

Compilation Inclusions

* 2003: ''The Great Stupa'', Wintrup Musik Publishing

References

External links

Mir
official website
Mir
at

MySpace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

Asif Illyas official website

Knight official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Mir Canadian alternative rock groups Musical groups established in 1996 Musical groups from Halifax, Nova Scotia 1996 establishments in Nova Scotia