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Sound

Introspective music you can dance to, qr5 is a singular combination of pop contagion, folk sensibility, and world rhythms - respecting, yet at the same time defying what is expected from any of these genres.

After spending years perfecting an ambient electronic/indie folk sound, the band fused the style they had created with reggae influenced rhythms to create a truly exciting new voice in Canadian music. Heartfelt and pensive, sometimes even mysterious, but always energized with a life affirming force, this is striking, original, and emotionally evocative music.

With their intimate yet expansive delivery, the vocals portray a new, almost post-modern point of view on the well-worn themes of love and religion. With lyrics that artfully delve into every part of our emotional lives, the instrumentation bobs and weaves with the singing - creating a subtle exterior for music with a fervent conviction.

The band's 2006 release Pharmakon infuses their thoughtful pop sound with more rhythmic influences, creating a recording that is emotionally involving yet upbeat and danceable. The strong songwriting at the core of the group means the simple, central themes of the music and lyrics are never overwelmed by the ambitious production values or the band's iconic visual identity.

Concept

True philosophy tries to find a way to live, and qr5 is its musical equivalent. The music and photography combine to capture, in an attempt to understand, life in all it's beauty and paradox.

The positive vision at the core of the music does not exist in a vacuum. The darker underbelly of both the music and lyrics winds its way into the upbeat. Emotionally unafraid music, it travels through the positive into sombre territory and back in a redemptive cycle.

History

qr5 started as a collaborative effort between Ben Bootsma and Matthew Maaskant. They produced music for theatre and film, but mostly spent their time recording an almost endless amount of material in their home studio. Eager to get out of the studio, the band started booking their own shows at various Toronto clubs, playing, among others, The Reverb, El Mocambo, and The Silver Dollar.

Maaskant, also a photographer, gave the group's promotions a unique look that captured the band's music visually and helped them secure opening slots for Toronto bands like LAL, FIVE BLANK PAGES, and Montreal's MARK BERUBE (as part of the TWO WAY MONOLOGUES music series), as well as NYC's OUTERNATIONAL. With a strong web presence, the band booked headlining shows all over Ontario, while at the same time starting a weekly feature at College Street Bar in downtown Toronto on Wednesday nights.

The group independently recorded full length record 'Pharmakon' on their own label, Draft Tattoo Productions, and released it at the Drake Hotel to a full house. It received rave reviews in magazines such as Exclaim, Eye Weekly, Scene Magazine (London), and beyond - as far away as First Coast News (Jacksonville FL).

The group continued to promote their music on college radio stations, getting played on CIUT (Toronto) and CJSF (Vancouver), and American station KDVS (Davis, California). The album was distributed to record stores across Canada, selling out the first week in dowtown Toronto's Rotate This after being featured in their listening booth. In early 2007 the song Dreams received heavy rotation on CBC radio and web, climbing their charts for several months until reaching #5 the week ending in May 4, 2007.

Throughout this time the band played benefit shows for non-profit organisations such as the Cambodian Land Mine Relief Fund and Artists Against War. The song 'Dreams' was added to L.A. based The Music Library, and is widely available to the film community.

In the summer of 2007 Bootsma left the group to focus on the band's fledgling production company, which was quickly evolving into a studio and a label. Draft Tattoo Productions was born, now a fully functioning artists' centre in the west end of Toronto specializing in every aspect, whether audio, packaging, or website/promotion, of bringing a band's recording to fruition.

Maaskant continues with qr5, filling Bootsma's role by recruiting Toronto keyboardist, producer, and DJ Nuno Green, a distinctive soul jazz player who brings new dimensions to the band's folk/pop songs. The group is rounded out by drummer Dave Chan. A graduate of the jazz program at McGill, Chan is a renowned drummer of the Toronto music scene, playing with groups such as big beat/funk group High Plains Drifter. Bootsma and Draft Tattoo, meanwhile, have completed recordings for several Toronto bands and are currently in the thick of production on qr5's next release, due summer 2008.

Discography

Pharmakon (2006)
There Is No Path Not Taken (2005)
Resound (2004)

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