Wax Mannequin was born in the smoke and industry of Hamilton; a
damaged, underdog town; a perfect breeding ground for strange, variant
things. Incorporating folk, scrappy prog-metal and a tireless creative
ethic, Wax infused his local influences with road-broken experience to
forge something unsettlingly new. Solo (accompanied by heavy devices
and an angry, nylon-string guitar) or band-backed (with Mark Raymond on bass and Aidan Campbell
on percussion), Wax Mannequin has toured incessantly within Canada over
the past six years, with more recent forays into Europe and Australia.
Wax Mannequin now finds himself a forerunner in a strange new
movement: roaming recluses and attention-seekers -- solo-performers,
equipped with laptops, damaged instruments and decaying minivans,
making new sounds, informed by hard travel and rough living.
Wax's thought-provoking live performances and acclaimed recordings
have garnered the fervent support of the creative underclass in his
home country as well as a burgeoning international reputation. After a
comparitively sedentary half-year year of close-to-home travel,
teaching grade two students and recording with Andy Magoffin, a wiser,
drunker Wax Mannequin emerges. He readies himself again for the glories
and pitfalls of the trans-Canada, and the trans-atlantic. Wax's
impending release 'Saxon' (summer 2009) will mark a gritty return …
Wax Mannequin was born in the smoke and industry of Hamilton; a
damaged, underdog town; a perfect breeding ground for strange, variant
things. Incorporating folk, scrappy prog-metal and a tireless creative
ethic, Wax infused his local influences with road-broken experience to
forge something unsettlingly new. Solo (accompanied by heavy devices
and an angry, nylon-string guitar) or band-backed (with Mark Raymond on bass and Aidan Campbell
on percussion), Wax Mannequin has toured incessantly within Canada over
the past six years, with more recent forays into Europe and Australia.
Wax Mannequin now finds himself a forerunner in a strange new
movement: roaming recluses and attention-seekers -- solo-performers,
equipped with laptops, damaged instruments and decaying minivans,
making new sounds, informed by hard travel and rough living.
Wax's thought-provoking live performances and acclaimed recordings
have garnered the fervent support of the creative underclass in his
home country as well as a burgeoning international reputation. After a
comparitively sedentary half-year year of close-to-home travel,
teaching grade two students and recording with Andy Magoffin, a wiser,
drunker Wax Mannequin emerges. He readies himself again for the glories
and pitfalls of the trans-Canada, and the trans-atlantic. Wax's
impending release 'Saxon' (summer 2009) will mark a gritty return to the psych-folk roots of this rambling iconoclast.
"By training his inner animal enough to let it run free with his
muse, Wax Mannequin has given birth to a brilliant bestial gem of audio
mythology."
-Exclaim! (Toronto/Canada) | Review of 'Orchard and Ire' | August 2007
"Part wandering minstrel, part rock animal, Wax Mannequin combines a
fine sense of prog-rock parody with intense sincerity and lyrical
smarts. He will indoctrinate you with chilling harmonies, absurd lyrics
and the almighty power of the guitar."
- dB Magazine (Australia) | September 2004
"I could start off with a catch-all like 'shockingly good
songwriter' or 'eclectic artist,' and while that would partly describe
Hamilton's Wax Mannequin, it would do the man a great disservice to
leave it at that."
-Now Magazine (Toronto)| Disc of the Week | JUNE 28 - JULY 4 2007 | VOL. 26 NO. 43
