Biography

Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, We Are The City has steadily gained the reputation of being Canada’s consistently exciting, yet markedly unpredictable, cult-bands. Their previous full length, and sophomore album Violent was released in Europe by Sinnbus, in America by Tooth & Nail Records, and in Canada by Boompa Records. Violent (both the album and the film), went on to achieve international success.

“This is a remarkably assured effort,” noted the Georgia Straight. “(We Are The City) has always balanced pop songcraft and unabashed prog-rock leanings. It’s clear right off the top that, in making Violent, We Are the City’s intention was to push itself as far as possible in both directions at once.”

"Violent is almost a defiant request to step inside McKenzie’s head, and by the time you emerge from underwater after the catharsis of Baptism and the solitary Punch My Face, you’ve encountered a band that dares go where many will not,” reviewed Canada’s music monthly, Exclaim.

“Violent is tinged with swirling psych, pristine chart-worthy hooks and dreamy atmospherics, and their Bowie and Mew inspirations can be easily gleaned,” raved UK’s The Line Of Best Fit.

“The music is thoughtful and considered, while each lyric and image feels loaded with meaning, “ said London In Stereo.

Violent, the film was made in conjunction with family and friends at Amazing Factory Productions and featured an original score by We Are The City. The movie screened at a number of prestigious film festivals all over the world and picked up over a dozen awards internationally including; The Prix Spécial du Jury (Special Prize of the Jury) at Le Festival International du Premier Film in Annonay, France and was awarded Best Canadian Film at the Vancouver International Film Festival. Violent was on the short list as Canada’s foreign language film submission to the 2015 Academy Awards as well as making the short list for critic's week at Cannes Film Festival.

We Are The City took an impulsive and experimental approach to their third full-length album, Above Club, set for release on November 13th. From an undisclosed location above a club, the band live streamed the entirety of the writing and recording process of their new album on an embedded video player on their website. The stream aired 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and gave a window into the creation of their music, even allowing the viewer to listen in on conversations yet at other times was a baffling piece of visual art that filled with analog distortion, low-tech interference, and absurd, hard-to-believe sequences that question the legitimacy of the entire broadcast.

With their always progressive, boundary-pushing music, We Are The City are navigating their career in an about face, non-traditional manner and embarking on an idea with the intent to outdo all that the band has previously created. Above Club delivers exactly that with its own modern version of cleverly written pop. First it seems to be noisy, loud and intense but inside it shines of beauty that is above anything else. Recorded above a club, mixed by Ryan Dahl (Limblifter, Mounties) and Steve Bays (Hot Hot Heat, Mounties) it creates a new genre that is a bit above everything. And, if we’ve had you along for the ride this far, don’t you want to see what happens next?