If Sublime and No Doubt had an illegitimate lovechild, it would be named illScarlett. With fist pumping punk/pop/reggae jams, these guys will be your new favourite summer band and with due cause. The Mississisauga natives are prepping for their major record label debut album All Day With It, on SONY BMG MUSIC CANADA INC. set to be released July 10th, 2007.

Back in the day:

Vocalist Alex Norman and drummer Swav Pior met up in high school with visions of becoming rock stars, adding like-minded associates John Doherty (bass) and Will Marr (guitar) to flesh out their musical vision. Raised on the music of artists like No Doubt, Sublime and Goldfinger, illScarlett built the initial framework for their infectious sound by cultivating, shaping and finessing its compositions into its own signature creation.

illScarlett’s hardcore DIY Ethic worked as an effective tool to get the band noticed from the get go. Using old school methods (tirelessly touring their asses off) and new technologies (myspace, youtube, etc.) to initiate the groundswell illScarlett manufactured a solid fan base. The story goes that a few years ago, they pulled into the Warped Tour parking lot, fired up a generator and started playing for the people lined up for the concert with the hopes of selling some of the bands independent, self financed EP’s . This got the attention of Warped founder Kevin Lymon, who invited them to play his nightly post-show party. They killed it, have been guests of the warped tour ever since and we’d like to say ‘the rest is history’. Well…

That was 2004.

IllScarlett played hundreds of shows around the GTA (Greater Toronto Area). During 2004 and 2005, the band started with a handful of faithful fans that amassed into crowds numbering over 1000 in what seemed like the blink of an eye. In addition illScarlett played high visibility shows like the Warped tour in 2005 and 2006, Edgefest 2006 as well as the inaugural Virgin Festival on Toronto Island. Sharing the stage with Billy Talent, The All-American Rejects, Slackers, Kardinal Offishall, Yellowcard and Cypress Hill helped position the band as the one to watch. Fellow Streetsville superstars Billy Talent have been known to help out on stage with the corus of “Heaters” when the 2 bands share a bill!

With over 500,000 myspace plays and over 15,000 self-released cds sold between their initial cd, illP, and Clearly In Another Fine Mess, illScarlett has left a trail of up and coming bands with their jaws on the ground. “We watched what was happening with other bands and thought let’s just see how far we can take this on our own” reflects Alex. “It’s not that we were control freaks, we just really knew what we wanted and we went after it. Hard work paying off like that just makes you want to work even harder. It’s such a rush when it all starts to happen.”

EPdemic, illScarlett’s 2006 set up EP on the SONY BMG imprint red ink debuted at #133 on the Top 200 Canadian Soundscan charts and has sold over 10,000 units to date. EPdemic had two rock radio singles, “Heaters” (2000+ spins-rock radio, peaked at #32), and “One-A” (1000+ spins to date, and peaked at #17)

The Video for “One-A” got medium rotation on MuchMusic, heavy rotation on MuchLoud, and spent weeks in the Top 30 of Punch Much (the all-request channel!). mtv.ca continues to play the “One-A” video in regular rotation.

Fast Froward to July 10th, 2007 the scheduled release date of the bands major label debut All Day With It. Recorded with superstar pop/rock producer Matthew Wilder (famous for penning and singing the feel good, smash hit “Break My Stride” in 1984, and producing No Doubt’s Tragic Kingdom) All Day With It features catchy sonic structures and sing along choruses which connect with the strong singles of their red ink release EPdemic (“Heaters”, “One-A”) but take illScarlett in new musical directions. The first single “Nothing Special” hit Canadian rock radio in early May and the response has been remarkable (key add at CFNY The Edge out of the box). Mixed in Vancouver by Vansterdam’s own Mike Fraser, famous in his own right for mixing Metallica, AC/DC, Guns N Roses, All Day With It finds a balance between the poppier side of Wilders producing and Fraser’s harder rock leanings.

“Don’t know what to do, Don’t know how we made it this far, This California weather, This summer in December, Let me go just let me go” (chorus-Paradise Burning)

Summer in December/January/February was definitely a new experience for the members of illScarlett. All Day With It was recorded in Los Angeles at NRG Studios and at Wilders home studio in Malibu during the winter months of 2006/2007, but the band did not get the chance to take in all heat that Los Angeles had to offer. There were no celebrity parties, no surfing in Huntington, no hanging on Hollywood Bvld. “We had all the music done and were struggling a little on the final lyrics for a few of our songs.” Commented Swav Pior on the recording process. “It made paradise a little harder to deal with. It was sunny and hot with beautiful palm trees everywhere, it was February and we had to stay in the studio and work on the final lyrics. It was tough.” Matthew Wilder had big aspirations for an illScarlett debut and put the band to task to create the best album they could. There were times when things were not gelling, where the weight of working with a world class producer got heavy, but it made the band realise they could do better.

The Glass Ceiling

When it comes to the music they make, illScarlett name Nirvana, Incubus, No Doubt, Beck, Sublime, The Police and Foo Fighters as their influences. They also credit The Beatles and Queen for inspiration. Wilder was aware of the bands influences and wanted to make an album that could sonically compete with these superstar acts. Matt took the band aside at the start of recording for a pep talk. “We will build your sound and songs up as far as we can, up to the glass ceiling……. and then we will smash the glass ceiling and make them up even better.” recounts Alex on Wilders empowering rant. “His words definitely inspired confidence in all four of us and I think it helped push our writing and playing way up on this record.”

The 10 tracks of illScarlett’s major label debut All Day With It were recorded, mixed and mastered and there was broken glass everywhere!

Key tracks “Nothing Special”, “Life Of A Soldier”, “Pacino”, and “The Fashion”, benefit from the extra time and focus Wilder spent developing and highlighting the subtle nuances of each songs initial structure. Another album high light “Who’s Got It” will see the FIFA U-20 World Cup Soccer tournament (summer 2007) taking ownership of the song as the official song of the tournament. The wildly infectious song with a cool call/response chorus will have the FIFA fans on their feet. illScarlett’s sound encapsulates the fevered excitement and youthful voice of the fans of this groundbreaking sporting event.

illScarlett will continue with their relentless tour schedule, their DIY ethics and with 10 new tracks from All Day With It under their belt deliver an unforgettable performance.

For more information please contact SONY BMG Media Relations 416.589.3000