The Awkward Stage is a Canadian

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...

 indie pop

Indie pop

Indie pop is a genre of alternative rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid 1980s, with its roots in the Scottish post-punk bands on the Postcard Records label in the early '80s, such as Orange Juice, Josef K and Aztec Camera, and the dominant UK independent band of the mid...

 band, based in Vancouver

Vancouver

Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

, British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

 and fronted by singer-songwriter Shane Nelken. The band's supporting lineup currently consists of Tygh Runyan on lead guitar, Tony Koelwyn on drums and Chris Mitchell on trumpet and keyboards.

Nelken, who works as a cremation

Cremation

Cremation is the process of reducing bodies to basic chemical compounds such as gasses and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high-temperature burning, vaporization and oxidation....

ist, had a longtime side career in music as a supporting musician for artists such as A. C. Newman and Sparrow before forming his own band, which consists of Nelken with a rotating cast of other musicians. The Awkward Stage's debut album, Heaven Is for Easy Girls, was released on Mint Records

Mint Records

Mint Records is a Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada-based independent record label founded in January 1991, by friends and campus radio enthusiasts Randy Iwata and Bill Baker....

 in 2006 and quickly charted on Canadian campus radio

Campus radio

Campus radio is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively by students, or may include programmers from the wider community in which the radio station is based...

 and CBC Radio 3

CBC Radio 3

CBC Radio 3 is a radio station that consists of two parts devoted to Canadian arts and music: a radio service which is available on Sirius Satellite Radio and streaming audio, and several daily and weekly podcasts from the CBC Radio 3 website...

, which named the band's song "We're Going for a Ride" one of its Top 94 songs of 2006.

Nelken is also a contributor to Radio 3, hosting a humorous audio advice column

Advice column

An advice column is a column in a magazine or newspaper written by an advice columnist . The image presented was originally of an older woman providing comforting advice and maternal wisdom, hence the name "aunt"...

 feature titled Dear Shane, and serving as an occasional guest host.

Discography

• Heaven Is for Easy Girls
  Heaven Is for Easy Girls
  Heaven Is for Easy Girls is the debut album by Canadian indie pop band The Awkward Stage, released in 2006 on Mint Records.-Track listing:# The Morons Are Winning# So Stupid, So Smart# Heaven Is for Easy Girls# Sad Girl Radio# I Drive...
  
  (2006)
• Slimming Mirrors, Flattering Lights
  Slimming Mirrors, Flattering Lights
  Slimming Mirrors, Flattering Lights is the second album by Canadian indie pop band The Awkward Stage, released June 10, 2008 on Mint Records.-Track listing:# The Sun Goes Down on Girlsville# Your Heart Serves Only You# Anime Eyes#...
  
  (2008)

External links

• The Awkward Stage official site
• The Awkward Stage profile at Mint Records
  Mint Records
  Mint Records is a Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada-based independent record label founded in January 1991, by friends and campus radio enthusiasts Randy Iwata and Bill Baker....
  
  
• Interview with Shane Nelken, October 8, 2008.