Canadian music in the U.S.

[whcanuck]

I wanted to get your guys' thoughts on something. Growing up in Canada in the 90s, I was a big fan of Our Lady Peace, Matthew Good Band, Tea Party etc., I was a little too young to appreciate the Tragically Hip at that time but now they're one of my favorite bands. I remember these bands and a lot of other quality groups like Big Wreck, the Watchmen and I Mother Earth get played on Much Music a lot, every Friday my brother and I got home from school and we turned on the MuchMusic countdown, and these bands held heavy influence. Now if you're not a fan of these groups or similar artists, that's ok, you are entitled to your opinion. But for fellow fans like myself, why couldn't they gain an audience in the U.S. Especially OLP and the Hip, they were huge in Canada. Matt Good is one of the most inventive musicians I've heard and he had no audience in the States. Perhaps it's because these artists never sought success in the States? Poor marketing by the label? What do you guys think?

[RUPERTKBD]

The states is more interested in former Disney "stars" than actual musicians...

[etsen3]

Don't worry guys, there's always Avril, Celine Dion, Nickelback, and Justin Bieber to proudly carry the flag for our country.

[canucklax]

I haven't heard any of those bands on the radio here in the seattle area, but I usually just listen to the station that plays seattle rock like alice in chains, soundgarden, and pearl jam

One canadian band I would like to hear down here would be the sheepdogs, from saskatoon. They recenty worked with patrick carney of the black keys on an album, so maybe opening for them in a tour would be a possibility

[TOMapleLaughs]

The Hip wrote a lot of songs that couldn't translate in the US, but they were managed poorly. Now they're quite content with their cult canada status.

Matt Good self-destructed his own success by being an arrogant tool. Also poorly managed. Remember when him and Nickleback were on-par? Chad knew how to cash in.

OLP had some success with Superman's Dead, but since Smashing Pumpkins-style alternative rock fizzled away, so did OLP's relevance. Their immediate follow-ups were 'meh'. Still kicking around though.

The Tea Party was all over the board, musically. Electronic one minute, middle-eastern the next, pop tart one minute, generic guitar rock the next. He was trying. That whole 'I am Jim Morrison Reincarnated' thing reeked of desperation at the start. Never resonated in the states all too well.

Big Wreck's first album had 2 songs, their next had half a song. Then poof! Then comeback 15yrs later or something.

The Watchmen? Boneyard Tree band? Don't remember much else.

Several factors lead to a lack of success in the states. First off, rock in general is fading down there. Second, you need a massive marketing budget, something unknown Canadian content might not ever get. Third, out with the old, in with the new. Avril and the guys from Sum 41 have had some success down there. They related to their teen audience more so than fatso from The Watchmen ever could. And fourth, luck. The Barenaked Ladies were extremely lucky to have their old stuff aluvasudden and inexplicably just take off with the us college crowd, for example. You gotta milk that opportunity, certainly.

Canada's not immune to the US snub. Oasis could never make a go of it there. Sometimes it's just about 'Merica, y'all. Don't think Randy Travis was all that successful in the UK though. Could be wrong.

[UFCanuck]

Jepsen+Bieber+Drake = hundred billions of dollarz

…………………………………..,-””¯””-,

……………………………….,~”……….\

……………………………,~”…………,..\

………………………,-“………………….|

…………….…….,-“……………………/..|

………….………/……………………..’…|

………………../…………………….……|

………………./…………………..,„_„…|

………………/…………………,-,-~-,-~’,

……………../……………….,-“ ( . . o)_º)

……………./………………./ . . .“-~“ . . ¯¯¯¯¯””~-,

……………|………………..| . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,-~“~,

……………|………………..| . . . . . . . . . . . . /::::::::\

……………|………………..| . . . . . . . . . . . . |:::::::::l

……………|………………..\ . . . ._ . . . . . . . . “-,„„„-”

……………|..……………..”-, . .(..”~,————~”

…………….|._………………..”~,..”~-‘—,………………,–~~-,

………….,~” . ¯”~,……………….¯”~~-”,-\………….,-“-,”~, . .”-,

……….,-“….,~”,-~”\…..-‘.,„„„………………”-,……….| . . “-, ”-, .

………..\,,-“,~”……/…..,-“ . .”-,…………..’-,.”-,……..) . . . .”-,,-

………….’-,……..(,–,.,-“ . . . . |…………….”-,”-,,(“-~”-,””~~~”

…………….¯”””¯,-“, .), . . . . ,-“……………….”-,\,.”..,-“

………………….’-, .”.,“-,_„„~”……………………”.”-,”

…………………..”~”-,.\,…,–~~~-,………………,~’,

…………………………¯”~/ . . . . . .)……………,”-~’,

………………………..…./ . . . . . . |–„„„„„„–,~””¯ . . .

[Keslerific]

Great large ocean

[-DLC-]

Actually Matt just had to cancel a scheduled US Tour...he's one of my favourite artists. I've often wondered the same, but also love that these are our national treasures/secrets. I think it's honestly because some of these artists aren't "In It For The Money" (you'll get the MG reference there). They are true artists who are simply sharing their craft vs out there trying to "make it". All my favourite acts (besides Pearl Jam) are Canadian: Matt, Holly McNarland, Moist (they're currently re-uniting yea), The Hip, etc., etc.

My daughter saw The Hip in San Fran in December with some American friends she was staying with....they said to her "we're going to a show tonight for something to do/because it's cheap...a Canadian band, wanna go?". When she asked who it was it was The Hip....none of them had heard of them. She said most of the people at the show were Canadian.

I think the quality of music reflects the fact that they are in it to make music vs make it. And they just don't heavily promote their stuff...they put music out and that's mostly it. Matt just did his first UK gigs recently and is expanding outward a bit. He has a pretty solid fanbase and there are those outside of Canada...just not within the budget to get out there and play for them all.

A good thread OP...I feel proud of the quality of our Canadian music.

Just saw this:

Matt Good self-destructed his own success by being an arrogant tool. Also poorly managed. Remember when him and Nickleback were on-par? Chad knew how to cash in

So not true...the MG is an ass is a myth. His band did break up - yes. People who start bands at a young age often evolve and outgrow things. He took a different (solo) direction and has sustained a career via that route...quite successfully I might add. He's a super nice guy and I can attest to that. He totally interacts with his fans and is very humble and down to earth for those who don't buy into the sheeple report. I've met and interacted with him quite a few times he's always been super cordial and outgoing. Doesn't place himself in a "rock star" status as some do. So this is completely the opposite of what he's all about and I'm quite happy to dispel the myth first hand.

He also had some serious personal and health related setbacks that's he's battled through. Actually, he nearly died as a result.

He's strong and opinionated - nothing wrong with that. And Chad is a sellout, Matt's true to his art, that's the difference. Chad cranks out same sounding radio friendly tunes that are party anthems and have served him well but Matt's music is more of a "craft" and fine tuned for people who want something different.

[TOMapleLaughs]

Chad is a sellout yes, but tell me Matt does envy him from time to time.

I've heard from more than one local source who knew Matt personally say that he was a dick. But also that Chad was a douche. So what's better?

The Hip guys are cool though. Gordo's weird, but that was expected.

[TOMapleLaughs]

Funny story about Chad: For every show Nickleback would hire guys to scope the crowd for hot women to get backstage vip passes to, ahem, 'meet' the band, yada-yada. Par for the course, whatever.

But 'Chad's girl', y'know, the hottest one scoped out, would have a special 'C' marked on the pass. This is so nobody else in the band would receive 'special attention' from said 'C-girl.'

Not sure if the practice is still done post-Avril. (If you believe that relationship is real)

[HTania]

The states is more interested in former Disney "stars" than actual musicians...

[BedBeats™2.0]

Japandroids. Besnard Lakes. Tegan And Sara, NoMeansNo. VoiVod. 3 Inches Of Blood...and many others enjoy good success in the USA.

[GLASSJAW]

neil young, shania twain, rush, bieber, buble, leonard cohen, sarah mclachlan, avril lavigne, sum 41, nickleback, alanis morissiete, metric, tegan and sarah, broken social scene, three days grace (lol), and countless more have made either big or at least significant dents in american music

90s alt rock bands didn't survive anywhere. not here. not america, not anywhere.

lots of great canadian bands aren't discovered in america, just like lots of great british ones aren't. lots of great french ones, etc.

but really, i bet there's more "good" famous canadian bands in america than from anywhere else. america goes through occasional british waves, but for the most part, english music is left undiscovered most places too.

just the way it is. america dominates entertainment

[GLASSJAW]

arcade fire, too

[The Bookie]

The reason you heard those bands so much is because you live in Canada, where there are Canadian Content laws. The reason nobody in the States heard those bands is ... they're not really all that good. They're not bad, I grew up at the same time and listened to some of them, but in retrospect it's mainly because they were force fed to me, most people at school liked them, etc. But really they were alright and t hat's it, there wasn't anything truly innovative or original in their music.

The exception I would argue there was the Tea Party with their Eastern influences on the first couple of albums, and they wound up absolutely HUGE in Australia where mainstream listeners were into that kind of stuff at the time. If they'd been around in the 70s they would have been big down South.

Actually I think I Mother Earth were a step above most of the other Muchmusic frat crowd of the 90s, they might have made it too had Edwin not blown up the band to stroke his own ego.

[Rey]

arcade fire, too

[GLASSJAW]

I always liked that Edwin album Another Spin Around the Sun a lot more than any I Mother Earth stuff. But in hindsight, it seems pretty cheesy. Hang Ten? LOL

Pretty much agree with The Bookie, though. Every country on the planet is bursting with their own version of Big Wreck. There is no reason for a decent-to-occasionally-good/middle-of-the-road rock band to conquer the world simply because our laws forced us to listen to it.

If you love them, that's great. Not saying their music is bad, but we shouldn't pretend they're innovative or something.

In recent years, though, Canada has produced (and continues to produce) some truly, truly fantastic musicians.

And Matt Good tried his hardest to crack American charts. He couldn't do it, not because Americans are low brow and Good is "art," but simply because 99.99999% of all musicians, regardless of their origin, can't do it.

[GLASSJAW]

Remember Rusty? damn I loved their album back in the day. Used to play the first 3 or so songs over and over and over

[The Bookie]

Rusty was awesome, at least the first album! I used to see the singer walking his dog every weekend in my neighborhood in Toronto. Could see his dreads from like a mile off.

[The Bookie]

Should add - I might have an extra chip on my shoulder over Edwin going solo. Because when he did it, he lured away half of my favourite Canadian band at the time right as they were getting big, and that was the end of them. Glueleg: