Jane Vain and the Dark Matter
Encyclopedia
Jane Vain and the Dark Matter is an indie rock band formed in 2005 from Calgary
, Alberta
, Canada
. The band is fronted by Calgary native Jamie Fooks, and signed to Edmonton’s Rectangle Records. They describe their sound as indie/electro/pop. The Montreal Mirror
called their music “melancholy" and "macabre,” and Fooks has been compared to Emily Haines
, Cat Power
, and Fiona Apple
. They released their first full length album, Love Is Where the Smoke Is, in January 2008.
, Paul Brandt
, and former Alberta premier Ralph Klein. She began writing songs in her late teens, in what she admits was a way to get in touch with emotions “left over from a reckless adolescence,” at a time in her life when she was feeling extremely isolated from people in her age group and looking to find a niche for herself. She began experimenting with recording software, teaching herself to sing, compose and write songs. After learning to record, she set out learning how to play her own songs. At this point she began performing live at open mic nights in Calgary accompanied by guitarist Dillon Whitfield, her future bandmate in Calgary indie band Raccoon. Their sets consisted of drum beats and bass (programmed on Fooks’s computer), Whitfield’s chaotic guitar playing, and Fooks on vocals. Fooks admits that the first nights ended in tears but with encouragement from Whitfield and her friends she was persuaded to continue performing. Later they were joined by a live rhythm section consisting of Shawn Dicey (of Ontario’s alternative country band Ox
) on drums and Stewart Elton on bass., and eventually signed to Edmonton
's Rectangle Records in 2007.
Fooks wrote, produced and recorded all the songs on the band's debut album. Described by her interviewers as modest and self-aware, Fooks cites Cat Power, whom she has been compared to, as a major musical influence. The highlight of her career to date was playing onstage with Power at the Sled Island
music festival in 2007. She also credits Mark Hamilton
, of Calgary’s Woodpigeon
as a mentor and a major collaborator on the album. In July 2008, the group was nominated for two of XM Satellite Radio
’s Verge
Music Awards, Best Album and Best Artist. The band spent the entire summer of 2008 touring Canada.
Asked about the origin of the band's name, Fooks once explained: "Jane is my mother's name....vanity scares me....so does the dark....[I] think it's about overcoming the things that scare me or make me feel sad," adding that "the dark matter thing just kind of popped out in a random conversation."
Fooks was in a relationship with Whitfield for some time, but currently resides in Montreal
, Quebec, where Jane Vain opened a national tour in support of their second studio album, Give Us Your Hands, on June 11, 2010.
Jane Vain and the Dark Matter’s first album, Love Is Where the Smoke Is, features contributions by Calgary musicians Mark Hamilton (ukulele, banjo, guitar, vocals), Foon Yap (violin), Woodpigeon's Annalea Sordi (vocals), Jesse Locke of SIDS, and Matt Flegel of The Cape May
.
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
, Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. The band is fronted by Calgary native Jamie Fooks, and signed to Edmonton’s Rectangle Records. They describe their sound as indie/electro/pop. The Montreal Mirror
Montreal Mirror
Montreal Mirror is a free English language alternative newsweekly based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada with a circulation of 70,000, and reaches a quarter of a million readers per week. It is published by Communications Gratte-Ciel Ltée....
called their music “melancholy" and "macabre,” and Fooks has been compared to Emily Haines
Emily Haines
Emily Haines is a Canadian indie rock singer-songwriter. She is the lead singer and keyboardist of the band Metric and a member of Broken Social Scene. As a solo artist, she performed with her own name and under the alias Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton...
, Cat Power
Cat Power
Charlyn Marie Marshall , also known as Chan Marshall or by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer/songwriter and occasional actress and model. Cat Power was originally the name of Marshall's first band, but has come to refer to her musical projects with various backing bands...
, and Fiona Apple
Fiona Apple
Fiona Apple McAfee Maggart is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Apple met international acclaim for her 1996 debut album, Tidal, which was a critical and commercial success...
. They released their first full length album, Love Is Where the Smoke Is, in January 2008.
History
5’2 Jamie Fooks (vocals, guitar, keyboards) was born and raised in Calgary. She attended Crescent Heights High School, the same school as musicians Tegan and SaraTegan and Sara
Tegan and Sara are a Canadian indie band composed of identical twin sisters Tegan Rain Quin and Sara Keirsten Quin . Both Tegan and Sara play guitar and keyboard and write songs.-History:...
, Paul Brandt
Paul Brandt
Paul Rennée Belobersycky is a Canadian country music artist, known professionally as Paul Brandt. Growing up in Calgary, he was a pediatric RN at the time of his big break...
, and former Alberta premier Ralph Klein. She began writing songs in her late teens, in what she admits was a way to get in touch with emotions “left over from a reckless adolescence,” at a time in her life when she was feeling extremely isolated from people in her age group and looking to find a niche for herself. She began experimenting with recording software, teaching herself to sing, compose and write songs. After learning to record, she set out learning how to play her own songs. At this point she began performing live at open mic nights in Calgary accompanied by guitarist Dillon Whitfield, her future bandmate in Calgary indie band Raccoon. Their sets consisted of drum beats and bass (programmed on Fooks’s computer), Whitfield’s chaotic guitar playing, and Fooks on vocals. Fooks admits that the first nights ended in tears but with encouragement from Whitfield and her friends she was persuaded to continue performing. Later they were joined by a live rhythm section consisting of Shawn Dicey (of Ontario’s alternative country band Ox
Ox (band)
Ox is a Canadian alternative country indie band. The core of the band consists of Mark Browning on lead vocals and guitar, Ryan Bishops on guitar and piano, Shawn Dicey on bass and Max Myth on drums...
) on drums and Stewart Elton on bass., and eventually signed to Edmonton
Edmonton
Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...
's Rectangle Records in 2007.
Fooks wrote, produced and recorded all the songs on the band's debut album. Described by her interviewers as modest and self-aware, Fooks cites Cat Power, whom she has been compared to, as a major musical influence. The highlight of her career to date was playing onstage with Power at the Sled Island
Sled Island
Founded by Zak Pashak in 2007, The Sled Island Music and Arts Festival is an annual independent festival held in over thirty venues in downtown Calgary, Alberta. Sled Island allows many generations of festival goers to gather for four days each year to celebrate the wealth of creative talent that...
music festival in 2007. She also credits Mark Hamilton
Mark Hamilton
Mark Hamilton may refer to:*Mark Hamilton , bass guitarist for the Northern Irish alternative rock band Ash*Mark Hamilton , American sprint canoer*Mark Hamilton , with UK rock band Quench...
, of Calgary’s Woodpigeon
Woodpigeon (band)
Woodpigeon are an independent rock band from Calgary, Alberta, consisting of eight core members: Mark Hamilton , Kenna Burima , Michael Gratton , Annalea Sordi , Daren Powell , Peter Moersch , Foon Yap , AJ Benoit...
as a mentor and a major collaborator on the album. In July 2008, the group was nominated for two of XM Satellite Radio
XM Satellite Radio
XM Satellite Radio is one of two satellite radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Radio. It provides pay-for-service radio, analogous to cable television. Its service includes 73 different music channels, 39 news, sports, talk and entertainment channels, 21 regional...
’s Verge
The Verge (XM)
The Verge is an XM Radio Canada channel featuring new and emerging rock bands from Canada. The channel is produced in Toronto, Ontario for the entire XM platform. The channel's former names included Unsigned, and Signed, which indicated that the channel played a combination of signed and unsigned...
Music Awards, Best Album and Best Artist. The band spent the entire summer of 2008 touring Canada.
Asked about the origin of the band's name, Fooks once explained: "Jane is my mother's name....vanity scares me....so does the dark....[I] think it's about overcoming the things that scare me or make me feel sad," adding that "the dark matter thing just kind of popped out in a random conversation."
Fooks was in a relationship with Whitfield for some time, but currently resides in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec, where Jane Vain opened a national tour in support of their second studio album, Give Us Your Hands, on June 11, 2010.
Collaborators
The band has been described a “revolving door” for musicians from the Calgary music scene. Whitfield, former member of Suicide Boys and the founder of Raccoon, joined in 2005. Other past and present members include Britt Proulx (also of Raccoon), Markus Lake (bass), Jared Larsen (solo artist), and Jzero Schuurman (of Alberta experimental/folk groups Psychic Pollution, and Lucid 44). Shawn Dicey (drums) of Ox and Rocketsmog, and Stewart Elton (bass) have also worked with the group.Jane Vain and the Dark Matter’s first album, Love Is Where the Smoke Is, features contributions by Calgary musicians Mark Hamilton (ukulele, banjo, guitar, vocals), Foon Yap (violin), Woodpigeon's Annalea Sordi (vocals), Jesse Locke of SIDS, and Matt Flegel of The Cape May
The Cape May
The Cape May are a musical act from Calgary, Alberta. Formed in 2003 by Clinton St. John and Jeff Macleod the band released their first album Central City May Rise Again on Flemish Eye in 2005. The band's lineup is now rounded out by multi-instrumentalist Matt Flegel...
.
Sound
Jane Vain and The Dark Matter are often described as a "pop noir" group. The band describes Whitfield’s guitar playing as “haphazard” and Fooks’s experimentation with computerized sounds is evident in the electronic beats strung together with sparse piano arrangements. Her vocals are smoky and breathy and her lyrics explore the trials of being young and modern, and “pay homage to love’s violence.” Calgary magazine FFWD has said that Fooks channels “nervous energy and musical brilliance into a personal outpouring of epic swells, evasive melodies and frenetic force.” The Montreal Mirror describes their songs as being “[n]uanced arrangements of strings, synths, guitar, piano, percussion and electronic beats [that] form an elegant but vibrant base for Fooks’s lovely vocals, and melancholy, even macabre little narratives.” Jane Vain assert that they are “aiming for anxious chaos, but achieving a careful clarity” in their music.See also
- Music of CanadaMusic of CanadaThe music of Canada has influences that have shaped the country. Aboriginals, the British, and the French have all made unique contributions to the musical heritage of Canada. The music has subsequently been heavily influenced by American culture because of its proximity and migration between...
- Canadian rockCanadian rockCanadian rock describes a wide and diverse variety of music produced by Canadians, beginning with American style rock 'n' roll in the mid-20th century. Since then Canada has had a considerable impact on the development of the modern popular music called rock...
- List of Canadian musicians
- List of bands from Canada
- :Category:Canadian musical groups