Shift-D

Location: Burlington, Ontario, Canada

Band members:
Dan Edmunds
Todd Paron
Nick Smyth
Andrew Dobson
Ken Steepe
Zander Gut
Greg Blower

Start listening:
Shift D MySpace profile

Info:

It all started in autumn of 1996 in Burlington, Ontario, Canada, where Dan Edmunds met up with an eager and amazing guitarist named Andreas Kaiser. The two quickly recruited bass player Greg Blower, and drummer Ken Steepe. After a few local shows at high schools, Andreas left the band leaving Dan as front man. In 2001 lead guitarist Todd Paron was added to the roster, as well as drummer Andrew "Dobber" Dobson. Over the next couple years the band went through yet another line up change with the addition of drummer Nick Smyth and bassist Zander Gut. Finding the right chemistry is the most difficult part for this band. Throughout the years the music has evolved from skate-punk to aggressive, melodic punk rock. The first album entitled "Long Cut" was released in 1997 and it was around this time that the band became known for their entertaining live shows. About a year later "Sellout Skaterock" was released, which struck a chord with the people at Crack Records, prompting them to sign the band. In 2000 "...from the pages of Chad Muskoka" was released on the label, and with nationwide distribution and around 2000 copies of the CD sold, things were looking up. However, after many years of service, Crack Records folded. In 2002 the CD "Hoofin or Goofin" was released, which quickly caught the attention of Seattle-based 206 records, and was added to their compilation CD entitled "Punk Rock Vol. II". In 2006 the most recent album was released in the form of an EP entitled "The Illusion of Sight & Sound", which can be viewed as the band's renaissance album, as it takes the music in a more serious direction. Most notable is the song "The Heartache of William Robinson", which the band views as the best song they've recorded, getting a vocal assist from former Idle Sons front man Mike Eastick. Over the years the band has played some great shows with acts like Guttermouth, The Planet Smashers, SNFU, Jersey, Bigwig, Tsunami Bomb, Downway, Silverstein, Idle Sons, and The Reason just to name a few, in addition to an Eastern Canada tour and a spot on Warped Tour. Since then the band lost a bassist when Zander dropped out due to personal reasons. With the departure of Zander, the band has since been on hiatus, but that hasn't stopped Dan, Todd and Dobber from coming up with new material, as new songs are slowly coming together. The most recent of these being the new single "Serf & Destroy", as well as an acoustic side project by guitarist Todd Paron. "We are so happy about where this band is and where we see it going. We've grown up quite a bit and things have calmed down. Our focus turned to the music, and the message. We attribute the change to the state of the world, and the simple fact that we are always learning and we were all fortunate enough to have some sort of education that allowed us to develop our own opinions. It's not until you see more of life that you realize how fucked up this world is, and how we need to spread the word and take action in educating others about this unequally ranked society and how it blindly effects how we live. Although we insist our music is non-political, it's been said it definitely has that feeling. That's what is great about music. Everyone has their own interpretation. But nevertheless we've grown immensely; spiritually, personally and musically. Whatever happens from here on in, we'll be satisfied that we've found where we want to be, met some great friends, and we've grown so much together that we can't find the words to describe how cool it is. We've found why we started a band in the first place, and there is no feeling that can replace that. Thank you to everyone that has supported us over the years by coming to shows, buying our merchandise and telling us that our music has touched them in someway. We will see you all real soon and always remember to question everything and live for what's really important. YOU, NOT THEM! See you down the road." Shift-D

Discography:
- Long Cut (1997)
- Sellout Skaterock (1998)
- From The Pages of Chad Muskoka (2000)
- Hoofin or Goofin (2002)
- The Illusion of Sight & Sound (2006)

Download:
Shift D - Sellout Skaterock (1998)
Shift D - From the Pages of Chad Muskoka
Shift D - Hoofin' Or Goofin'
Shift D - The Illusion of Sight & Sound (2006)