Paul Hogan (left) and Micheal Dubue perform songs from their new album Happymatic at a recent concert in Ottawa.
One of Ottawa’s hometown bands, Hilotrons are breaking outside of the city gates to bring its music to cities around Ontario.
To celebrate its new CD Happymatic, released at the start of April, the band kick started their tour at Barrymore’s Music Hall on April 4.
The tour will continue with stops around Ontario with stops in Toronto and Sudbury and a stop in Montreal.
Happymatic, the band’s third CD, is being released by Kelp Records, an Ottawa label, which the Hilotrons signed with in February.
Hilotrons member, Mike Dubue, said that working with a label makes it much easier to focus on the music.
The label can deal with all the promotion and publicity while the band can just worry about the music, said Dubue.
Jon Bartlett, the owner of Kelp Records, said he has known most of the members of Hilotrons for many years and has always loved their live shows and recordings.
“I just think the music is so accessible and it’s criminal that they aren’t known outside of Ottawa,” said Bartlett.
This is why Bartlett wants to expand the tour out West this summer. Although no dates are scheduled yet, the band has had offers for summer festivals. The Hilotrons have already made number 23 on Canadian Campus Radio .
Compact Music Owner, Ian Boyd, said he thinks the band could be popular outside of Ottawa however it will take a lot of hard work to get to that point.
“They pull a very good crowd, they have a good sound but it will be an uphill battle,” said Boyd.
But Bartlett said he believes their unique sound and high energy shows will gain them the following they deserve.
“How can this band not be massively popular?” asked Bartlett.
Formed back in 2002, the band consists of Mike Dubue on synthesizer and vocals, Paul Hogan on guitar, Philip Bova on drums, Damian Sawka on bass and Mike Schultz on keyboard.
The band's first two CDs, Hilotrons in 2003 and Bella Simone in 2006, were produced independently. They established the band with a strong Ottawa following because of the live shows that both Bartlett and Boyd described as fantastic.
The CDs the Hilotrons have produced are able to capture the energy of the live shows and Happymatic continues this trend.
This album only took about eight to nine months to compose, compared to the year-long process for Bella Simone, said Dubue.
“We had the songs pretty much done so we walked into the studio knowing what we were doing,” said Dubue, about the recording of Happymatic.
Bartlett said he hopes the exposure of a Hilotrons’ song, which appeared in a recent Oh Henry! commercial will get the band noticed outside of Ottawa.