| Jeff Mathers Vocals and Guitar Aaron Cyr Bass Steve Manning Drums Channel Eight started in October 2007, a reunion of two longtime friends and collaborators. Drummer Steve Manning and Singer / Songwriter Jeff Mathers first shared the stage in1996. Jeff had just joined Steve’s band, which was set to play a Battle Of The Bands in Vernon, BC. Walking away with the cash prize, they quickly gained local recognition, and before long relocated to Vancouver to claim a spot on the city’s thriving scene. Moving eventually split their partnership, each going his own way to get some field experience; Manning played with CFOX SEEDS alumni Pleasure, amongst other Vancouver bands and singer – songwriter Mani Khiara. With Mani Khiara, Steve recorded and opened for Grammy Winner John Mayer Mathers fronted hard rock bands Soma City Ward and Goya; opening for the likes of Puddle Of Mudd and Big Wreck before ditching the ‘rock bar’ scene for acoustic nights at Backstage Lounge and Media Club. Jeff released a solo EP of mostly acoustic material, enlisting his friends Toby Hulse (Retrograde/ Run The Red Light), Dave Benedict (Default) and Michael Johnston (KILL RHYTHM) as additional musicians. While living on the West Coast gave our heroes experience, the hustle of city life began draining their spirits. Individually, each moved back to Okanagan Valley and soon Steve found himself sitting in on Jeff’s acoustic sets. As a duo, they were playing anywhere and everywhere. The acoustic material was well received, but they found themselves missing the rock element. They decided to “plug in” again, add bass player Aaron Cyr, and settle on a name. Channel Eight entered into the studio with local producer Bob Gablehouse at Big Audio Productions and recorded ‘Point Of No Return’. Amped up and up tempo, the single generated over 100,000 Reverbnation widget hits, was included in a video game by VASTstudio.com, and distributed in bags of HevyD Kettle Korn across North America (hevyd. ca). The band began playing clubs, opening for fellow Canadian rock band Art Of Dying (Warner) and Gob while fine tuning new material. They retuned to the studio in early 2009 with producer Travis Saunders (Stutterfly, Secret and Whisper, Kookshow) to record 3 new tracks. “Lights Out”, “Getting Nowhere” and “Suffocating” showcase the band’s attention to writing melodic hooks and infectious grooves. Contact channeleight.net info@channeleight.net Physical inquires can be sent to: 1506 39a Ave, Vernon, BC, V1T 7N2, Canada |
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