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On Tour Across Canada

Well I've been touring for about 5 weeks and loving every moment of it. Canada is a vast beautiful place and touring with the Balconies has shown me what true hard work really is; interviews on the phone while we drive from point A to point B, photoshoots upon arrival at venues. It's none stop but so rewarding and inspiring.

The next year is looking pretty interesting so far! Bond Girls will be working on a new release and The Balconies will be touring a tonne I'm sure. This and some other projects here and there will keep me nice and busy, just the way I like it!

Follow my Instagram to see nice pictures from the road, if you care at all...


Fall Fun for the Mike Man!

Well it's fall, summer has come and gone and the cool weather has brought a brilliant calm to relieve my irritability. That's true folks I don't love the summer heat. All this weather talk aside, I've actually had a lovely summer of sporadic shows and relaxation. 

The fall is looking to be nice and busy. September was a lot of fun, I got to play some pretty rock solid gigs. Notably was the Young and Dundas Square show with The Balconies. I also got to play a couple of Bond Girls shows as a two piece. The band's inception was as a two piece, so that has been a really cool throw back to the early stages. 

November and onward....

Well a good month long Canada wide tour for the Balconies starting November 9th, followed by some demoing and recording for Bond Girls! These two project in tandem keep me in a very happy place creatively and keep the engine revving for more!

Check out The Balconies video for Money Money!! I am a scary masked dude!

Bond Girls Album Release and The Balconies Touring!

I've been one heck of a lucky musician these days! I have gotten to be a part of some amazing groups and projects in my life but right now I am extremely proud to be a part of Bond Girls and The Balconies. These two bands have given me an incredible opportunity to play different styles of music that both rock and scream with energy. 

The new Bond Girls record that was released back at the end of April has been a modest release with some incredible feedback from fans. I've never recorded an album that has made me so proud of my drumming. It's in my honest and extremely biased opinion that DANCER is, at least for me, a significant rock record. Mixing modern and timeless rock music into one beautiful fever dream. It's been a really amazing journey so far and I can't wait to keep melting faces with these cats.
 

The Balconies are coming off of a string of shows around Ontario in promotion of the new record slated to come out this fall. Two singles in and it's pretty obvious to me that this project could continue to make some very serious waves, even bigger than ever before. The new album RHONDA will come out in October but the first two singles are now available on iTunes! The Balconies will be playing a FREE concert at the Beach Stage Thursday, June 23rd at Ottawa's Dragon Boat Festival! We'll be on around 8:45!

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The Balconies - Mini-Tour

Last week I got to play my first little mini-tour with The Balconies. We played three GTA shows testing out new material and a new live setup. It was a challenge and a definite learning experience but completely worth it. 

I look forward to playing more and more shows with these cats and seeing how the world receives their new songs! The new record is pop heaven in my opinion, and I feel very lucky to be a part of it!

It was also my first three day stint of getting to play my new YC Drum Company drum kit. It's perfect, in every way. A booming 24"x 12" bass drum, 12" x 8" rack tom, and a 16"x 16" floor tom. The kit is finished with a beautiful white oyster wrap that gives it quite the swagger I was hoping for. A fortunate boy I must be to be playing these beauts and to be part of the YC drum family!

BOND GIRLS - DARLING

Last year Bond Girls recorded some lovely live off the floor videos at Toronto's NOBLE STREET STUDIOS in association with Converse Rubber Tracks Session, here's one of our favorites! The band has a very exciting next year ahead of us, this is just a little something to get you pumped for that!

The Winter Approaches!

I've been spending the last 2 months busy on a couple recording projects and playing shows with 3 different bands. I've been playing a lot of drums these days and it has kept me busy and happy.

Last night I played a show with ROLEMODEL and it'll be my second last show before the new year. Over the next couple months I plan on honing my craft and writing a tonne of music.

Once 2016 arrives I will become a very busy bee again. BOND GIRLS will be releasing our first full length album. I don't think I've been apart of any project that I have felt this pumped about. It's been a year in the making and it's finally done, soon the sweet riff heavy rock will grace your ears. All of the other projects I am involved with, in some capacity, will be releasing or preparing to release something in 2016. It proves to be a busy year, but I can't wait to keep drumming and living this life the way I've always wanted to!

in the meanwhile, here's some older BOND GIRLS demos for your ears!!
 



AUGUST 25TH! YC DRUM DEAL!!

I'm beyond excited to announce today my collaboration with YC Drums. They're a wicked drum company based out of my home town of Ottawa, Ontario founded by the awesome Jordan Gauthier. I'll be getting my new kit within a couple months and cannot wait to play these beauts!!

BOND GIRLS are rocking the Horseshoe Tavern this evening for a Indie88.1 FREE Tuesday night show! It should be a great time playing a bunch of our new tunes slated to be released on our upcoming full length record!!

May and June were/Are INCREDIBLE!!

Last month and the first half of this one have been incredible so far! I've been a literal drumming machine playing a heap of shows with three different bands! 

BOND GIRLS have been playing shows and recording our first full length album, name still to be determined! This band has me trying to balance accessible drumming with creativity. I love the direction of this album and it is already starting to sound pretty incredible! STOKED!

ROLEMODEL is coming off of the EP "Claire"s release and some great shows. We're taking the summer to work on new material and prepare for a busy fall. This band is heading in a new subtle direction of a more shoegaze meets electro realm. Good things coming and as always this band pushes me in a more subdued almost quantized robotic feel.

I'm pretty excited to announce that I am currently playing for THE BALCONIES! This is a new relationship for me, although I've known the band members for the better part of a decade. Joining a new band is always a feeling out process, but I think it could be a pretty incredible journey! Their new music is heading in a very exciting direction and I am beyond excited to be part of it!

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Up next is finishing the BOND GIRLS album and playing a show July 17th at the Silver Dollar. Then it's some more shows in August with all three groups!

A Crazy Week and Another One to Come!

Last week I had two fantastic shows! One was in Ottawa playing at House of Targ with Bond Girls and the other was in Toronto playing at the Great Hall with ROLEMODEL. I love these two bands and am so grateful I get to play some great bills with them! 

These two bands are quite different from one another but they both teach me very different things and also allow me to practice very different approaches to drumming. ROLEMODEL is a very restricted and subdued yet articulated approach to drumming, whereas Bond Girls is a rock fiasco!

Photo By: Mike Pajak

Yesterday I got to hang out in the studio with Bond Girls for a Converse Rubber Tracks session! We did 5 songs live off the floor and got some video for them as well! Hopefully we'll have something to show for those soon enough!

Coming up next is a series of shows this Friday and Saturday:

Bond Girls is playing at Sneaky Dee's with a sweet lineup of high energy rock bands!

ROLEMODEL is releasing our Claire EP at The Drake Hotel!

A long over due update!

I have been a real busy boy the last little while, working on ROLEMODEL's live set and preparing for our EP release in a couple weeks. I've also been busy with BOND GIRLS, working some heavy pre-production for our first Full-Length slated for a late 2015 release.

I have some great shows I get to play coming up and have also played some great ones in that last couple months, including opening for Viet Cong at The Opera House.

Up next this Thursday is BOND GIRLS playing in Ottawa at House of Targ!! This bill is gonna be extraordinary! 

After that I'll be rocking the Rich Aucoin show for CMW with ROLEMODEL at the Great Hall! I feel really blessed and stoked to be playing another one of Toronto's legendary venues!

Last night was AWESOME! Bring on Saturday!

Last night RLMDL got to play at The Phoenix w/ Big Data and Brave Shores. It was a fantastic show at a fantastic venue, a nice little x-mas present in a way I suppose! This band has really been a blast to play for and it's a unique challenge in its own way. I have to play solid and robotic but still have those elements of a human playing drums. Here's a little pic of soundcheck at The Phoenix!!

Next up is a show this Saturday with Sue Newberry & The Law at The Junction Music Hall. It's gonna be fun to play a show with this band again as it has been about 6 months since our last! 

We were in the studio last month recording the new album so we will be displaying a lot of those tunes!! Come on out and have a lovely ol' time. It's 5$ and in the lovely Junction area in west Toronto!
 

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Busy times for the Mike man!

I've been quite busy on the music front these days. I'm always happiest when I'm busy playing music. This is what's been going on the last little while and also what's coming up!!

BOND GIRLS

Bond Girls has been polishing off our first round of recordings and getting ready to send them out into the world! This group is a blast to play in and a great opportunity for me to let down my locks and get wild. We should have something new to show ya soon enough! In the meanwhile we'll be playing next week Saturday night November 22nd at The Handlebar.

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CULTURE REJECT

This group is a real pleasure to play for. With it's catchy vocals and groovin' bass lines it really is a fantastic breed of complex pop music. Last night I got to share the stage with them again in Guelph at a private event and it reminded me of how lovely they are as a band and as people. It's also fun to play a style that's more groove based and jazzy at times.

SUE NEWBERRY & THE LAW

We are in the final process of pre-production and are getting ready to start laying down bed tracks next week. This is a very exciting time for this group with some great new tunes on the way! I'm also excited to spend a couple days in the studio holding it down and doing what I love to do most!

RLMDL

This group is revin' up to play a couple shows in under a month. First up is next Tuesday evening at the Hoxton in Toronto. We're opening for a group by the name of Electric Youth aka. the band from the movie Drive. This really is the perfect fit for RLMDL and I am sure it will be a great show!

Event details here: FACEBOOK EVENT

The other show that is coming up will be played December 4th at the classic Horseshoe Tavern. It's our first headlining show in quite a little while and are extremely excited for it to be at such a lovely venue and with some fantastic other bands.

Event details here: FACEBOOK EVENT

Always love playing with these cats live as they are two of my more bestest pals. It's also fun to try and duplicate sequenced and programmed drums as it can be a bit of a challenge.

It's been a while and I've been a busy bee!

I've been busier than ever these past 4 months! I've joined another group bringing my total count up to 4 active bands! The most recent addition is a group called Culture Reject. They're a rock solid group who I absolutely adore. Michael O'Connell and his interesting song writing are accompanied by beautiful musicianship and catchy yet provocative lyrics and hooks. I heard this band for the first time at a NXNE show last June and was completely blown away! I had my first show with this group at Hillside Music Festival in Guelph in July and it was a blast! I've since played 3 more shows with them and look forward to many many more!

Michael O'Connell at Hillside Festival - Culture Reject

I'm still working with RLMDL and loving it! We have recently signed to a great Toronto indie-label called Hand Drawn Dracula and are planning a re-release of last years Before Then Was Now. The label will also release RLMDL's next album in 2015(tentatively Spring). Very very exciting times for this group!

Everything with Bond Girls is definitely looking up as well! We have a couple shows on the horizon, the first one being October 26th, part of TwIM fest! We're excited to play a show with our new bass player and hopefully melt some more faces!! We're also currently working on and finishing our first release, so we're a little excited about that!! Details for that show are to come soon!

Hairy Drummer Boy - Bond Girls

Sue Newberry will be starting to write and record within the next couple weeks as well so that'll be another thing keeping me busy and happy!

The grind continues, it's a hard one but I love it.

NXNE AND Basement Session 3

I had a such a blast last week through NXNE. I was lucky enough to play 3 shows in 3 days with 3 different bands. The lovely GIANT HAND, BOND GIRLS and SUE NEWBERRY AND THE LAW. Love all of these groups and am so honoured to be playing for them!

Today is an exciting day! I am posting the last of the basement sessions!! I had a blast making these and it's all thanks to my friends Casey Jones and Sam Seguin. Thanks for helping me throw together some silly improvised videos! Session 3 is by far the silliest, ENJOY!!

Basement Session 2!

I am so excited to show all of you some more ridiculous drumming shenanigans. Here is part two of a three part BASEMENT series. These recordings are a product of silliness!




Mike Laing - Basement Session 1

Here it is! The lovely Casey Jones helped me throw this video together with help from Mr. Sam Seguin on audio. It's an improvised drum solo that is mostly silliness but fun none the less! It is the first of a series, so there will be more from where this came from!
Enjoy!

Sunday, Sunday, FUNDAY!

So tonight I am going to be doing something real fun with a friend of mine. I am going to be putting together a silly little drum real, demo thing. I have no idea how it's going to turn out but it should be fun none the less! Things have been a little more mellow the last little bit which has given me some time to focus on other projects and elements of life! RLMDL has some great stuff on the horizon and Bond Girls is starting to talk pre-production! Exciting times for sure! Bond Girls will be playing a show May 3rd at the Handle Bar, in Kensington Market. It shall be a banger! A couple days later on the 8th RLMDL will be playing a CMW show at the Silver Dollar! More details to come on both!