The Standstills

The Standstills are a Canadian rock duo from Oshawa, Ontario. They formed together in 2008 and have most recently released From The Devil's Porch on eOne Music. The band is said to use elements of western, blues, and rock n roll in their music.

History

Formation and EP release (2008–2009)

Jonny and Renée met each other in the fall of 2008^[1] while both attending the Music Industry Arts^[2] program at Fanshawe College in London, Ontario. Their mutual interest in rock music led them to a few jams at Jonny's residence where they would eventually write their five track self-titled demo in 2009, recorded at Emac studios in London produced and engineered by JUNO Awards winner Dan Brodbeck. With their first EP under their belt, the band began to tour Southern Ontario and received steady airplay on college and university radio.

The Human Element and Pushing Electric (2010–2013)

In 2010, the band recorded their first full-length album The Human Element in a cottage studio in Fenelon Falls, Ontario.This album was recorded 100% live off the floor in an afternoon with engineer Damien Jacobs. All tracks were written and produced by The Standstills with the exception of Black Betty, originally by Ledbelly. The duo would return to work with JUNO Awards winner Dan Brodbeck who handled all mixing duties with the album mastered by Andy Krehm. On January 21, 2011 the band independently released The Human Element and released a music video for "Black Betty", filmed by Joe Andrus.

In 2012, the band entered 97.7 CHTZ-FM's Rocksearch, as suggested by fans, alongside 140+ bands. They performed live and won the competition by 12 unanimous industry judges' decision- which had never been done in the event's 26 year history.^[3] This allowed them to be included in the winner's circle alongside The Trews, My Darkest Days and Finger Eleven. Later that year the duo independently recorded, produced and engineered their second full-length album Pushing Electric out of home in a temporary basement studio using their skills and knowledge obtained from attending Fanshawe College. Their second effort would be independently released on November 28, 2012. The album is said to be dedicated to Nikola Tesla with a track on the album called "Jesus" paying homage to his nickname, The Electric Jesus.^[4]

With two albums under their belt now, The Standstills toured across Canada and shared stages with The Tea Party,^[5] Big Wreck, Theory of a Deadman, Pop Evil, and Monster Truck. They were able to play some major Canadian festivals as well such as CMW, NXNE, Halifax Pop Explosion, SCENE Fest, Barrie New Music Fest and FAM Fest. In 2013, two music videos would be released from Pushing Electric for the songs "Jesus" and "Good God Damn" directed by Dave Cardoso.

From the Devil's Porch, eOne Music Canada and LP 3 (2015- present)

On June 23, 2015 the band released a new single titled "Orleans" on their website off their upcoming EP From The Devil's Porch. The band announced the new EP would be released on August 21, 2015 through Entertainment One Music.^[6] Their debut single "Orleans" was the first they serviced to Canadian radio and kept them in the top ten for eighteen weeks peaking at #4 on the Canadian rock radio charts. They released the official music video for "Orleans" on November 27, 2015 directed by Saint of Footage Worldwide Productions. iTunes listed From The Devil's Porch as one of their best rock albums of 2015 and "Orleans" was featured on Fido's innovative 360 commercial in November 2015; the video has since then garnered over 3 million views. In December 2015, Spotify listed The Standstills on their 2016 Canadian spotlight playlist. The Winnipeg Free Press reviewer rated From The Devil's Porch four stars (out of five) and called it "a very loud and powerful experience".^[7] Kerry Doole of New Canadian Music noted the duo's "sonic fury".^[8]

The Standstills are set to play Shiprocked^[9] from January 18–22, 2016 alongside Five Finger Death Punch, Seether, Halestorm, Hellyeah and many more. The band is also scheduled to play WTFest^[10] in Brantford, Ontario on June 25, 2016 with Billy Talent, Saint Asonia and Monster Truck. The band will continue touring in support of their latest EP and they are expected to release a new album sometime late 2016 or early 2017.

Members