July Talk is a Canadian alternative rock band formed in 2012 in Toronto, Ontario. The band consists of singers Peter Dreimanis and Leah Fay Goldstein, guitarist Ian Docherty, bassist Josh Warburton, drummer Danny Miles and auxiliary musician Dani Nash.[1] The band has also performed and recorded music with artists Kyla Charter and James Baley. July Talk released its self-titled debut album with Sleepless Records[2] on 16 October 2012 and its second album Touch on 9 September 2016.[3]
Universal Music Canada released an extended version of the album[4] in 2013. July Talk received a Juno Award for Alternative Album of the Year[5] in 2015. The album went gold in Canada the same year.[4] It was released to American audiences in the spring of 2015 through Island Records,[6] and was joined by an EP in Canada titled For Your Bloodshot Eyes.[7]
The band's second album, Touch, was released on 9 September 2016 by Sleepless Records in Canada, Island Records in the United States and Universal Music Group/Vertigo Records in Europe.[13] "Push + Pull", the album's first single, held the #1 spot on the Canadian Alternative Radio charts for thirteen weeks in 2016 and was released on American Alternative Radio in September 2016.
Biography
July Talk at Orange Blossom Special Festival, 2022
In 2010, Latvian-Canadian[14] singer Peter Dreimanis approached Leah Fay Goldstein after hearing her sing with art/folk group Mothers of Brides at The Communist's Daughter, a bar in Toronto.[15] Dreimanis had just returned to the city following a European tour with The Mohawk Lodge and Eamon McGrath.[4] Dreimanis and Goldstein began to record demos together, and soon formed July Talk with McGrath, Josh Warburton and Danny Miles.[4] Eight months later, McGrath left the band to focus on his own material and was replaced by Ian Docherty.[4]
Goldstein, the daughter of Toronto Sun columnist Lorrie Goldstein,[16] was usually credited as Leah Fay in the band's earlier years, but has more recently used her full name.[17]
The band's ten-song debut album was released on 16 October 2012, by Sleepless Records. An extended version was released a year later in collaboration with Universal Music Canada.[4] The extended version included four additional songs: "Summer Dress," "My Neck," "Black Lace," and "Headsick."[18] In early 2015, the band recorded three additional songs for an American release with Island Records: "Gentleman," "Blood + Honey," and "Uninvited." These three songs were also released on a Canadian EP entitled For Your Bloodshot Eyes.[7]
In 2015, Dreimanis and Goldstein created July Talk Votes to encourage young voters to participate in the Canadian federal election. More than 1000 voters under 25 tweeted a photo of themselves at a polling station and received a phone call from the band thanking them for their involvement.[27]
Peter Dreimanis is also known for his cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's classic, "Bad Moon Rising" which was used in multiple television shows, films and video games such as The Walking Dead, Green Room and Teen Wolf. The cover was released under the moniker Mourning Ritual.[31] He has also had a number of film credits as a cinematographer, including both Diamond Tongues[32] and Sundowners.[30]
In 2017, the band began putting up posters at their shows titled "Love Lives Here". The posters are put up to help ensure that fans feel they have a safe space at the concerts they're attending- and ones free from sexism, racism, homophobia, ableism, and sexual assault.[34] That year, the band removed itself from dates supporting Nothing but Thieves, who had sexual assault allegations leveled against them. "We can no longer participate due to accounts we’ve read online of misconduct," they said.[35][36]
July Talk was released on 15 October 2012 by Sleepless Records.[40] An extended version, containing three new songs, was released in 2013.[18] Louis Roberts of CultureFly credits the album as "a tour de force in how to refresh a genre," adding, "the debut album from July Talk is an aggressive, assertive and irresistibly mischievous slice of 21st century blues-rock."[41]
On 30 September 2014, July Talk released an EP titled For Your Bloodshot Eyes, which brought the three new songs included in the extended American album to their Canadian audience. When reviewing the album, Alyson Shane of The Spill Magazine wrote, "For Your Bloodshot Eyes serves two purposes: to continue to showcase the band’s exceptional talent, and to reaffirm that they are on the cusp of absolutely exploding in popularity. It is a must-hear."[42]
On 9 September 2016, July Talk released their second album, Touch.[43]
On 10 July 2020, July Talk released their third studio album, Pray for It, via Sleepless Records/BMG.[44]
On 20 January 2023, July Talk released their fourth studio album, Remember Never Before, via Six Shooter Records.[45] In December they followed up with Solstice, a five-song EP collecting cover versions of songs by James, Wilco, FKA twigs, Mclusky and Floyd Crow Westerman that they had recorded over the past decade for release as one-off non-album singles.[46]
Before forming July Talk, Dreimanis and Warburton ran Vulture Culture Films, a Toronto-based music video production company.[48] Both brought their creative expertise to July Talk, staying closely involved in the direction, editing, and production of the band's distinctive videos.[4]
Goldstein has a BFA in contemporary dance from Concordia University in Montreal, and co-founded performance art collective WIVES. She choreographed the video for the band's number one single, "Push + Pull".
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