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AWAY FORWARD

AWAY FORWARD

Bio:

Toronto Shoegaze/Dreampop band formed by Andrew McAllister (Guitars, Vocals), Greg Chambers (Bass), Paul Boddum (Drums) and Lisa Nighswander (Vocals). Away Forward began when the members formulated a plan to start a Shoegaze/Dreampop project at a show in a Toronto club. A combination of experienced musicians from various bands coming together to bring their joy and vision for this shoegaze project to life.

Bio:

Toronto Shoegaze/Dreampop band formed by Andrew McAllister (Guitars, Vocals), Greg Chambers (Bass), Paul Boddum (Drums) and Lisa Nighswander (Vocals). Away Forward began when the members formulated a plan to start a Shoegaze/Dreampop project at a show in a Toronto club. A combination of experienced musicians from various bands coming together to bring their joy and vision for this shoegaze project to life.

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Deep Dive:

The members first met when their bands shared a rehearsal space in an old World War 1 munitions factory in the Liberty Village area of Toronto. Lisa and Greg were in the band Mean Red Spiders, the preeminent Shoegaze band in Toronto at the time, and Andrew and Paul from the post-punk powerhouse, Neck/Christiana. Both bands were signed to the now-defunct label, Teenage USA and released several albums on the label through the late 1990s and early 2000s. Both bands toured, with the Mean Red Spiders touring several times to the US and across Canada. As the new millennium progressed, both bands would go through changes and in the end, break-up, with various members forming new groups. At the time of Away Forward’s forming, Andrew and Paul were playing in a band called Soft Copy, which had run its course, and Greg was playing in the noise/improv band Ghostlight. Lisa had not played in a band since the breakup of Mean Red Spiders. At a Swirlies show at the Drake Hotel in Toronto, Greg, Paul and Andrew decided the time was right for them to get serious about their love of all things Shoegaze and form a band committed to bringing that vision to the public. Convincing Lisa to join, the band's final line-up was complete.  The result was the 2018 debut, “Away Forward”, establishing the band's originality and quality of songwriting to critical praise. The band's sophomore release, “Catching the Sun,” continues the lush, concisely structured songs with Lisa’s immaculate vocals. Recorded at an old log cabin farm on the Bruce Peninsula called Applewood, “Catching the Sun” was mixed and produced by Greg Chambers at Pod Studios in Toronto.

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