Billy Talent
| Billy Talent | |
|---|---|
 |
|
 Billy Talent (2019) |
|
| General information | |
| origin | Meadowvale, Ontario , Canada |
| Genre (s) | Punk rock , alternative rock , post-hardcore , emo |
| founding | 1993 as Pezz |
| Website | billytalent.com |
| Founding members | |
| Benjamin Kowalewicz | |
| Ian D'Sa | |
| Jonathan Gallant | |
| Aaron Solowoniuk | |
| Guest musician | |
| Jordan Hastings (since 2016; replacement for Aaron Solowoniuk due to illness) | |
Billy Talent is a Canadian rock band from Mississauga , Ontario . The band initially played punk , but on the later albums they tend to be in alternative rock .
Band history
Beginnings as Pezz (1993–1999)
The lead singer Benjamin Kowalewicz (born December 16, 1975 in Montreal ) met Jonathan Gallant (born July 23, 1975 ) at school, with whom he played in the band To Each His Own . Today's band members, who were still playing in different bands at the time, met at a band competition and decided to play together in the future. The new band was called Pezz , and the style of music at the time was still punk . In addition to some local appearances, they recorded the 1998 album Watoosh! on.
In 1999 there was a reorientation towards alternative rock and due to disagreements with a band of the same name, the name was changed to "Billy Talent", a character from the film Hard Core Logo . The new image and style sparked interest in Toronto's biggest radio rock show, and the producer got them a record deal with Warner Records .
Billy Talent (1999-2004)
In winter 2002/2003 the band recorded the first album under the new name in the studio The Factory in Vancouver . Billy Talent was released on September 23, 2003 on Atlantic Records . The tracks Try Honesty , The Ex , River Below and Nothing to Lose were released as singles .
Billy Talent II (2005-2007)
The second album under the new band name was released on June 23, 2006 and went three times platinum in Canada . On February 19, 2007, the band achieved platinum status in Germany with their second album. As singles were Devil in a Midnight Mass , Red Flag , Fallen Leaves , Surrender and This Suffering decoupled. In the United States, the band was not very successful. The emblem of the album is a screaming mouth.
In March 2006, it was announced that the band's drummer, Aaron Solowoniuk, had had multiple sclerosis for ten years . In the meantime Solowoniuk has been able to bring the disease under control so that he can continue to work as a musician. In 2007 the live album 666 Live was released , which contains concert recordings from Brixton , Düsseldorf and Rock am Ring on DVD and CD .
Billy Talent III (2008-2011)
In August 2008, Billy Talent presented a song called Turn Your Back along with Anti-Flag from the album Billy Talent III , which was produced by Brendan O'Brien . Another song, Rusted from the Rain , was released as a second single. The album Billy Talent III was released on July 10, 2009 in Germany. On the first day it was sold over 300,000 times. The first single was Devil on My Shoulder . The song Saint Veronika was released on February 26, 2010 as the third single. The fourth and final single, Diamond on a Landmine , was released on June 22, 2010.
Dead Silence (2012-2014)
.jpg)
On July 11th, 2012 it was officially announced on the band's website that the new album was called Dead Silence and would be available for purchase worldwide from September 11th, 2012. To work on the new album, the band bought their own recording studio. John Gallant described this step as the band's first major investment. They placed particular emphasis on the vocals during the recordings. The songs are mostly in a high pitch, said Ian D'Sa, who in addition to the guitar and vocals for this album also took on the production.
In February 2012, drummer Solowoniuk underwent surgery, and while he was recovering, the rest of the band continued to work on the new album. They took the operation as an opportunity to incorporate the slogan of the foundation "FUMS (Fuck You Multiple Sclerosis)" of the drummer, Turn Anger Into Hope ( Turn anger into hope) into their song Don't Count on the Wicked . After This Is How It Goes this is the second song that refers to Solowoniuk's illness. Despite a few complications, the band was able to meet their scheduled release dates.
On May 25, 2012 they released the single Viking Death March from the album Dead Silence as a download. On August 7th followed Surprise Surprise , which was able to place in the German charts. The music video for Viking Death March consists of excerpts from the band's appearance at Rock am Ring 2012. On September 7, 2012, Dead Silence was released in Germany and Austria.
In April / May 2013 the band went on a European tour - at the two German concerts in Fürth and Bochum with the Donots as the opening act. In June 2013 they performed at the Southside and Hurricane festivals . They were nominated for the Echo 2013 with the album 'Dead Silence'.
Hits (2014)
On August 22, 2014, the band announced the release of Hits , a greatest hits album with two new songs. On September 25, 2014, the first song Kingdom of Zod was pre-released. On 4 November 2014, the release followed the entire album hits , which consists of twelve songs from the first four albums and next Kingdom of Zod the second new song Chasing the Sun contains.
Afraid of Heights (2015-2018)
On November 26, 2015, Benjamin Kowalewicz announced in an interview that Billy Talent will start recording a new album on January 4, 2016, which will finally be released on July 29, 2016.
Due to his multiple sclerosis disease, the drummer Aaron Solowoniuk was unable to record the new album. The Alexisonfire drummer and long-time friend of the band Jordan Hastings acts as a replacement on the album and is currently on tour . The band hoped that Aaron would have been able to play again for the European tour in October 2016 at the latest, which was not the case.
Upcoming sixth studio album (2019-present)
On November 26, 2019, the band released a new song called Forgiveness I + II . The single Reckless Paradise followed on January 24, 2020 . On April 3, 2020, the song I Beg To Differ (This Will Get Better) was released.
social commitment
A benefit concert is held in Canada every year to support people with MS. Since the band couldn't be there due to the work on the new album, they came up with an alternative event called "Cut to the Drummer". 50 artists made portraits of 50 drummers. The images were sold at auction and the proceeds donated to the MS Society of Canada Scholarship Fund .
Discography
Studio albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 AT
|
 CH
|
 UK
|
 US
|
 CA
|
|||
| 1999 | Watoosh! | - | - | - | - | - | - |
First published: July 23, 1999
as Pezz |
| 2003 | Billy Talent |
DE97  (2 weeks)DE |
AT38 (6 weeks) AT |
- |
UK-  |
US194 (1 week) US |
CA6th × 3
(101 weeks)CA |
First published: September 16, 2003
Sales: + 560,000 |
| 2006 | Billy Talent II |
DE1 × 2
(66 weeks)DE |
AT4th (84 weeks)AT |
CH31 (39 weeks) CH |
UK46 (2 weeks)UK |
US134 (1 week) US |
CA1 × 3
(65 weeks)CA |
First published: June 23, 2006
Sales: + 580,000 |
| 2009 | Billy Talent III |
DE2 (28 weeks)DE |
AT2  (18 weeks)AT |
CH3 (14 weeks) CH |
UK35 (2 weeks) UK |
US107 (1 week) US |
CA1 × 2
(53 weeks)CA |
First published: July 10, 2009
Sales: + 270,000 |
| 2012 | Dead Silence |
DE1 (15 weeks)DE |
AT2 (10 weeks) AT |
CH3 (8 weeks) CH |
UK23 (1 week) UK |
US135 (1 week) US |
CA1 (5 weeks)CA |
First published: September 7th, 2012
Sales: + 180,000 |
| 2016 | Afraid of Heights |
DE1 (13 weeks) DE |
AT1 (10 weeks) AT |
CH1 (10 weeks) CH |
UK23 (1 week) UK |
US62 (... weeks) US |
CA1 (7 weeks) CA |
First published: July 29, 2016
|
Artist awards
-
Juno Awards :
- 2005 Group of the Year and Album of the Year (Billy Talent)
- 2007 Group of the Year and Rock Album of the Year (Billy Talent II)
-
ECHO Pop :
- 2007 Newcomer International and group Rock / Metal / Alternative International
-
MuchMusic Video Awards:
- 2005 Best Video (River Below) and Best Rock Video (River Below)
Web links
- Official website
- Official German website
- Billy Talent at laut.de
- Billy Talent at Discogs (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ muchmusic.com Biography ( Memento of the original from September 26, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on May 24, 2008)
- ↑ Karen Bliss: Billy Talent ( Memento of the original from June 12, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on accessmag.com (accessed June 10, 2008)
- ↑ Information about Billy Talent III on the official website ( memento of the original from April 25, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b c [1] , biography of the band on the official website (accessed on September 9, 2012, 1:06 pm)
- ↑ a b [2] , VISIONS, issue 234, volume 23 (September 2012)
- ^ Billy Talent Release New Single "Kingdom of Zod." Listen Here! - Riffyou.com . In: Riffyou.com . Accessed April 3, 2020
- ↑ Billy Talent to Deliver the 'Hits' on New Compilation . In: exclaim.ca . Retrieved April 3, 2020.
- ↑ Ben is talking to Fred at 102.1 The Edge about the new album . In: The Edge . November 26th, 2015. Archived from the original on December 11th, 2015. Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Billy Talent Take Musical Journey With New Song 'Forgiveness I & II'. In: https://loudwire.com/ . Accessed April 3, 2020 (English).
- ↑ Billy Talent share the first single of their upcoming album, "Reckless Paradise". In: https://www.warnermusic.de/ . January 30, 2020, accessed April 3, 2020 .
- ↑ Billy Talent's Facebook post announcing the new song "I Beg To Differ" . 2020-04-31. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
- ↑ http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Charts/ALBUMS.html ( Memento from August 31, 2005 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Charts/ALBUMS.html ( Memento from September 4, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Charts/ALBUMS.html ( Memento from July 23, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
