DD/MM/YYYY (band)

DD/MM/YYYY (pronounced Day, Month, Year) was a Canadian experimental rock band from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They were known for their abstract music, which involves the use of unconventional instruments and combinations thereof, steadily changing time signatures and rotating member roles. They played their final show on 11/11/2011.[1]

DD/MM/YYYY (band)
OriginToronto, Ontario, Canada
GenresExperimental rock, math-rock
Years active2003–2011
LabelsInvada Records (UK/EU)
We Are Busy Bodies (CAN)
IMPOSE Records (US)
Deleted Art (SWE)
Out of Touch (CAN)
Itchy Roof Records (CAN)
Associated actsAbsolutely Free
WebsiteDD/MM/YYYY
Past membersTomas Del Balso
Mike Claxton
Jordan Holmes
Matt King
Michael Rozenberg
Sean Champion
Jonathan Macias
Heather Curley

Members

The band was formed from ex-members of Toronto bands Plant the Bomb, The Viking Club and The Newfound Interest in Connecticut. The band members were:

  • Mike Claxton playing Bass, Synth or Clarinet
  • Tomas Del Balso playing Vocals, Guitars or Drums
  • Jordan Holmes playing Synths, Guitars
  • Matt King playing Vocals, Synths, Drums or Sax
  • Moshe Rozenberg playing Drums, Synths or Omnichord

Career

The nature of DD/MM/YYYY's music was explained as "a mess of spastic, specially challenged art rock with jagged, diamondback guitars, '80s video game synthesizers, and drums that roll with all the punches of the discordant dreamy vocals"[2] and self-described as "always changing and always moving"[3]

DD/MM/YYYY eluded many critics ability to label their genre,[4] and to their advantage allowing them to perform with musical groups whose genres range from experimental, hardcore punk, to pop, hip hop and dance.[5] The band's consistent powerful live show[6] proved to be inclusive enough to garner positive international press. Testament to the bands persistency and ambition was another review from Toronto's Eye Weekly[7] for their opening set before Crystal Castles at Twist Gallery in Toronto April 3, 2010. The review added: "The Toronto quintet quickly settle into the gear-swapping groove and once again prove that they have perfected the mathematics of their unique sound by consistently upping the intensity. In case you’re wondering, they didn’t seem tired at all — even after another epic run at SXSW a couple of weeks ago. In fact, their energy is so infectious that there are loads of folks dancing to the angular rhythms and interlocking time signatures; "Infinity Skull Cube" even has the crowd clapping along. And set closer "Bronzage," played at top speed, leaves many a jaw floorwise."

The band members were also known for creating their own artwork for use by the band on Album Covers, Tee-shirts and Posters. Tomas Del Balso [8] and Matt King are both visual artists within the group and are active with commissions and exhibitions.[9] In an interview with Harbour front Centre, they said: "We interviewed experimental indie rock band DD/MM/YYYY (Date-Month-Year), asking for illustrated answers, and their imaginative responses prove a picture really is worth a thousand words. We don’t know if we liked the drawings or the explanations better, but after we’d seen both, it felt like someone had just stuffed our brains with ideas we wish we’d thought up ourselves. Their band name now also makes complete sense. It’s abstract, unconventional and futuristic, not unlike their thinking."

DD/MM/YYYY have had their live performance recorded by different production companies filming higher-quality videos meant for internet distribution such as The Third Floor Sessions, which take place in Toronto on the third floor of the Ryerson Campus.[10]: "On November 12th, 2009, Toronto psych/math/art rockers, DD/MM/YYYY".[11] joined us on the third floor to perform for Third Floor Sessions, a multimedia Ryerson University student project encompassing live streams, mp3 packs, and HD video.

Band name

The band pronounced their name "Day, Month, Year" while in text it appears as "DD/MM/YYYY". Frequent inquiry into their name can be found in interviews and press including with Fawnda Mitrush of Seemagazine. Del Balso says: "We didn’t really want a name — we wanted it to be sort of more like President's Choice, like no-name brand stuff".[12]

Black Square

In 2009, DD/MM/YYYY released Black Square in Canada (We are Busy Bodies, March 17), Europe (Deleted Art, August 18), US (Impose Records, September 15), and the UK (Invada Records, Sept 2010).

The album garnered much national, and international press for the band. The Canadian Dose Magazine gave it 4/5 stars and described the album along its enigmatic terms saying: "Black Square bends time and space, trapping you in a dense mesh of punk noise and math rock that will stay imprinted in your neural pathways long after the album’s final coda."[13]

Tours

The band toured steadily in support of all of their releases, having covered North America and Europe many times over.

In 2010, the band embarked on two 5-week European tours in support of the European releases of Black Square by Invada Records and Deleted Art. The tours consisted of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, The Netherlands, Belgium, The Czech Republic, Slovenia, Ireland, Scotland and England.[14][15]

2009 included the release of their latest album Black Square, as well as two 60-date North American tours with the likes of Don Caballero, sBACH, and These Arms Are Snakes.

Past tours have coupled them with Crystal Castles (2008), Japanther (2007), and Video Hippos (2007) .[16] As well as crossing paths with the likes of Dan Deacon, Melt-Banana, The Blood Brothers, The Chinese Stars, The Yardbirds, Kid Koala, The Death Set, Diplo, Del the Funky Homosapien, The Mae Shi, Juiceboxxx, Holy Fuck, High Places, Fucked Up and more.

DD/MM/YYYY has played headliner to festivals such as Electric Eclectics (Meaford, Ontario), Beats and Culture Festival (Toronto) and performed at Osheaga Festival, Summerworks Festival, Whartscape 2009/2008 and more. In June 2010 they performed at Yonge-Dundas Square before Iggy Pop for NXNE. In the past DD/MM/YYYY performed at 2007's Virgin Festival, which was headlined by acts such as Björk, The Smashing Pumpkins, The Killers and Blonde Redhead.[17]

The band also traveled to Hong Kong to play the music matters conference in 2010.[18]

The band was chosen by Portishead to perform at the ATP I'll Be Your Mirror festivals they curated in July 2011 at London's Alexandra Palace.[19] and in September 2011 in Asbury Park, New Jersey.[20]

SXSW

The band has been to South by South West Music Festival in Austin Texas for 2008, 2009, 2010 and played increasingly more official and unofficial shows by the year. In 2010 the band played 18 shows alongside such groups as Andrew W.K., Maps & Atlases, and many more emerging musical groups.

Redefine Magazine[21] has an interview[22] with the group members during SXSW that takes place in the courtyard between Emos Jr and Emos. That follows one of their busiest days at SXSW.

Break-up

DD/MM/YYYY played their final show on 11/11/2011 at 918 Bathurst Centre in Toronto.[1] 4 of the 5 members debuted their new band Absolutely Free at the M For Montreal Festival on 17/11/2011.[23]

Discography
  • 2004: The Real World is so Unreal (split with Panserbjorne on Culture Industry Records)
  • 2005: Blue Screen of Death (We Are Busy Bodies Records)
  • 2006: "Sell Me Virginity" (included on Out Of Touch Records Volume II 7" compilation)
  • 2007: Are They Masks? (We Are Busy Bodies Records)
  • 2008: 777 inch EP (Out of Touch Records)
  • 2009: "Split 7" (split with Child Bite on Dyspepsidisc/Wham City Records)
  • 2009: Black Square (CD/LP, We Are Busy Bodies (Canada); CD, Invada Records (Europe); LP, Deleted Art (Europe); Cassette, Impose Records (U.S.A) )
  • 2010: "The Blue Screen Of Death and Journey to and Escape from the Fortress of the Fluffy Love Cloud" (Reissue 12" and 7" together in Limited Edition Silkscreened Package, ITCHY ROOF re-k&rds')
  • 2011: Split LP with Beak (Invada Records)

Singles
  • Imagine! from Are They Masks? Music video by Humble Empire Imagine! [24]
  • Infinity Skull Cube from Black Square Music video by Jesi The Elder[25]
  • Digital Haircut from "Black Square" Music Video by Humble Empire[26]
  • I'm Still In The Wall from "Black Square" Music Video by Exploding Motor Car[27]

Television Appearances
gollark: I added much of ale's insanity to potatOS.
gollark: Please DON'T send them to hydronitrogen.
gollark: You should use PotatOS Bin instead.
gollark: This should usher in a new age of skynet-based uselessness.
gollark: The skynet CLI thing is going pretty well.

References
  1. "BlogTO: DD/MM/YYYY go out with a bang". blogTO.com. 2011-11-12. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
  2. "SPIN.com: DD/MM/YYYY". Archived from the original on 2010-09-07. Retrieved 2008-05-13.
  3. Jiwani, Shehzaad (2007-05-07). "Chartattack DD/MM/YYYY Offer New Album And Heiress Sex Tapes". Chartattack.com. Archived from the original on 2011-06-07. Retrieved 2011-05-10.
  4. Bimm, Jordan. "nowtoronto.com". nowtoronto.com. Retrieved 2011-05-10.
  5. ddmmyyyy.net:pastshows Archived April 4, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  6. "dd/mm/yyyy". thetripwire.com. 2009-01-26. Archived from the original on 2009-06-26. Retrieved 2011-05-10.
  7. "Eyeweekly.com". Eyeweekly.com. 2010-04-05. Retrieved 2011-05-10.
  8. Aragon, Karen (2010-05-12). "Tomas Del Balso". Imposemagazine.com. Retrieved 2011-05-10.
  9. Harbourfrontcentre.com:Upfront DD/MM/YYYY
  10. <Third Floor sessions Online
  11. "DD/MM/YYYY perform Digital Haircut/ Van Tan". Youtube.com. Retrieved 2011-05-10.
  12. "Mark Your Calendar For DD/MM/YYYY". Seemagazine. 2009-02-19. Archived from the original on 2012-03-09. Retrieved 2011-05-10.
  13. "Dd/Mm/Yyyy". Dose.ca. 2009-03-11. Archived from the original on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2011-05-10.
  14. Lewis, Carly (2010-02-03). "dd/mm/yyyy tour article". exclaim.ca. Archived from the original on 2012-07-09. Retrieved 2011-05-10.
  15. Daniel Gill. "News Archive » DD/MM/YYYY sign to Geoff Barrow's Invada Records for Europe, announce tour with Women + Daytrotter Session". Force Field PR. Retrieved 2011-05-10.
  16. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-05-06. Retrieved 2008-05-13.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  17. "DD/MM/YYYY at Virgin Fest Toronto". Youtube. 2007-09-24. Retrieved 2011-05-10.
  18. "dd/mm/yyyy". spinner.ca. 2010-06-18. Retrieved 2011-05-10.
  19. "ATP: I'll Be Your Mirror London". Atpfestival.com. Retrieved 2011-05-10.
  20. ATP: I'll Be Your Mirror Asbury Park
  21. <redefinemag.com online
  22. "Redefinemag.com SXSW 2010 interview with ddmmyyyy". youtube.com. 2010-05-09. Retrieved 2011-05-10.
  23. DD/MM/YYYY Break Up, Form Absolutely Free • News • exclaim.ca
  24. "by Humble Empire". youtube.com. Retrieved 2011-05-10.
  25. "Infinity Skull Cube Video by Jesi the Elder". youtube.com. 2008-12-19. Retrieved 2011-05-10.
  26. "Digital Hair Cut Video by Humble Empire". youtube.com. 2010-04-01. Retrieved 2011-05-10.
  27. "I'm Still In The Wall Video by Exploding Motor Car". youtube.com. Retrieved 2011-05-10.
  28. "ddmmyyyy do MTV". Eyeweekly. Retrieved 2011-05-10.
  29. "NOS NEWS:ddmmyyyy release tape cassette in amsterdamn". Player.omroep.nl. Archived from the original on 2012-07-15. Retrieved 2011-05-10.
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