The Flashing Lights were 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 ...

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 ...

band, active in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

History

The Flashing Lights was founded by Matt Murphy, as a side project, performing around Halifax when Murphy was not performing and recording with the band The Super Friendz."Flashing Lights are go!"
. ''

Montreal Mirror ''Montreal Mirror'' or just ''Mirror'' was a free English language alternative newsweekly based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada which was distributed every Thursday. It had a circulation of 70,000 and reached a quarter of a million readers per week. ...

'', February 17, 2000. The band primarily played as a

cover band A cover band (or covers band) is a band that plays songs recorded by someone else, sometimes mimicking the original as accurately as possible, and sometimes re-interpreting or changing the original. These remade songs are known as cover songs. N ...

. The Flashing Lights became Murphy's primary band following the Super Friendz' breakup in 1997. Murphy and bassist Henri Sangalang moved to Toronto, where they recruited Gaven Dianda on keyboards, tambourine and harmonica, and Steve Pitkin on drums. The band performed in Toronto at the Horseshoe Tavern in March, 1999, and shortly after released its debut album, ''Where the Change Is'', in April, 1999 on Halifax independent label Brobdingnagian Records, scoring a hit on

modern rock Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college and commercial rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. ...

radio stations in Canada with "Half the Time". The album's tracks were reminiscent of 1960s British rock. They followed up with the EP ''Elevature'' in 2000; Sangalang also appeared on

Neko Case Neko Richelle Case ( ; born September 8, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and member of the Canadian indie rock group the New Pornographers. Case's singing voice has been described by contemporaries and critics as a "flamethrower", "a pow ...

's album '' Furnace Room Lullaby'' the same year, and the band appeared at Edgefest on July 1. The Flashing Lights' second album, ''Sweet Release'', was released through Toronto's Outside Music in 2001 and was produced by Thrush Hermit's Ian McGettigan. Also in 2001 they performed in Montreal with Duotang and The Datsons. The band subsequently went on hiatus; Murphy reunited the Super Friendz for their 2003 album ''Love Energy'', and then took an acting role in the film '' The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico''. He later joined the now-defunct

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

band City Field, is currently a member of Cookie Duster, contributed a song to the soundtrack for the 2009 film '' Defendor'', and had a small acting role in the film ''

Leslie, My Name Is Evil ''Leslie, My Name Is Evil'' is a 2009 Canadian film written and directed by Reginald Harkema. It was renamed ''Manson, My Name Is Evil'' after its initial release. Plot Leslie is a troubled 1960s teenager who eventually becomes a follower of Ch ...

''. As of 2015, he has joined with Mike O'Neill of The Inbreds and Chris Murphy of Sloan in the supergroup Tuns."Sloan / Super Friendz / Inbreds Supergroup TUNS Announce Debut Album"
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Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...

'', May 20, 2016. Dianda currently plays with the band Saffron Sect, and Pitkin played with The Violet Archers and is currently a member of

Elliott Brood Elliott Brood (often stylized as Elliott BROOD) is a three-piece Canadian alternative country band formed in Toronto in 2002. It consists of Mark Sasso on lead vocals, guitar, banjo, ukulele, harmonica and kazoo, Casey Laforet on guitar, lead ...

. In May 2023, at the Marquee Ballroom in Halifax, Sangalang joined on bass for a one-time mini-reunion of The Flashing Lights, performing the song "High School" with TUNS. In April 2025, Sangalang passed away.https://www.instagram.com/p/DIXV9f4yobr/

Discography

*''Where the Change Is'' (1999) *''Elevature'' (2000, EP) *''Sweet Release'' (2001)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flashing Lights, The Musical groups with year of establishment missing Musical groups from Halifax, Nova Scotia Canadian alternative rock groups Canadian power pop groups