will driving west dossier de presse gérance: daniel fontaine-bégin 514.692.6646 daniel@willdrivingwest.com www.willdrivingwest.com last update: October 24, 2012
Will qui? Will Driving West make acoustic folk, and its songs best evidenced by the stunning Thieves sound like poems carved into postcards by jackknives. - Dave Jaffer, Polaris Prize Jury Member TWO ALBUMS: The Breakout (2010) Castles (2012) BAND MEMBERS: INFLUENCES: TV APPEARANCES: CHARTS: David Ratté: Vocals, guitars, harmonica, melodica Andréa Bélanger: Vocals, piano, banjo Camille Paquette-Roy: Cello Benoit Caron: Drums, percussions Damien Rice, Bright Eyes, Portishead, Radiohead... Penelope McQuade, Radio-Canada (French CBC) [1 million viewers] Rajotte, Musique Plus (French MuchMusic) L Univers Musique Plus (French MuchMusic) Castles Top-Seller of Bandcamp.com (Folk) in the world [June 2012] Featured on itunes Canada s singer-songwriters homepage with Leonard Cohen, Fiona Apple and Bon Iver [June/July 2012] Charted in ten alternative radios in Canada will driving west press kit who s will? The Breakout Top-Seller of itunes Canada (Singer-Songwriter) [August 2011] Featured in itunes Canada s Homegrown Gems, New & Noteworthy and What we re listening to Best album of 2010 according to german mag Der Impuls
Castles is one of those indie albums that has every good thing going for it. The piano is mixed perfectly, warm, but haunting. The vocals are top notch, the male and female vocals even take turns finishing each-others lines sometimes, making for beautiful duets. [...] Castles by Will Driving West is a musical gem, best experienced with the sunset on a fall day. - The Examiner SONGS PLACEMENTS: VIDEOS: OTHER HIGHLIGHTS: MARGO LILY - Directors: Dane Clark & Linsey Stewart [Song: October s Coming] - Presented at Cannes Film Festival 2012 CAMION - Director: Rafael Ouellet [Song: The Breakout] - Won Best Director Prize at Karlovy Vary Film Festival - Presented at Toronto Film Festival, Vancouver Film Festival and many more COMMENT SURVIVRE AUX WEEK-ENDS? Director: Olivier Aghaby - 4 songs licensed to the 4th season of this french canadian web-series THIEVES - Director: Matt Charland 35 000+ views on YouTube Featured on FameTube Shared more than 1000 times on Facebook WILL DRIVING WEST (Acoustic performance) Director: Rafael Ouellet (Our Lady Peace DVD) Records sold in 48 countries Many sold-out shows in the Montreal area (Plaza Theatre, Divan Orange, Sala Rossa, etc.) will driving west press kit who s will? Performed at a benefit concert in the prestigious St-Denis Theatre (sold-out 2200 seats)
The birth of Will David Ratté In July 2008, then aged 23, David left his job of sound designer at Ubisoft Montreal to focus on his new instrumental music project called Man an Ocean. In October that year, he had a revelation while watching the movie Once, which chronicles the life of an Irish musician playing in the streets of Dublin. David then took the $450 that he had left in his bank account (savings melt pretty quickly when you re not working!) and flew to Ireland, where he made a living out of his music, singing in the streets of Galway. A few months later, he returned to Quebec with his head and his heart loaded with unforgettable experiences and decided to do what had been on his mind for quite a long time: starting a folk band. Andréa Bélanger Professional bassist with an experience of several hundred performances, this beautiful young woman met David while they were both musicians for a Montreal singer called Frank Fuller. Following the dissolution of Frank s band in 2009, Andréa and David remained good friends. In May 2010, David sent a new song from a new project called Will Driving West to Andrea and asked her if she would like to eventually sing with him on one or two songs. On May 30, 2010, she entered David s home studio for the first time to add her voice to the song Thieves. At the time, they were only friends. They are now engaged... Camille Paquette-Roy Outstanding cellist holding a master s degree in cello at McGill University, Camille has been playing with Ingrid St-Pierre on stage and on record since 2009. It is at one of Ingrid s shows that David saw the beautiful Camille for the first time. The two quickly became friends and made a promise to each other that they would make music together one day (yep, David indeed has a talent of surrounding himself with super talented pretty girls). One or two days after the recording of Andréa s voice on Thieves, Camille came into David s home studio. The result was magical: she had to become a member of the band. Benoît Caron In December 2010, two months after the launch of the album The Breakout by Will Driving West, David asked his two friends if they would like to add a drummer to the band. Everyone agreed: the shows would be more dynamic if our friend Benoît, also a former musician in Frank Fuller s band, joined the group. However, Ben hesitated. Like he said... Adding a drum to a folk band is like entering a bull in a china shop. He was afraid to break the balance. He finally agreed to join the band for a trial on January 11, 2011 at a show at Divan Orange. A nice surprise awaited: the place was sold out. 200 people were packed to listen to the band s compositions in a magical atmosphere. will driving west press kit the birth of will... he decided to stay.
The things they said... Castles is one of those indie albums that has every good thing going for it. The piano is mixed perfectly, warm, but haunting. The vocals are top notch, the male and female vocals even take turns finishing each-others lines sometimes, making for beautiful duets. Electronic beats and organically played violin mesh seamlessly creating brilliantly constructed musical universes. Vocals are sometimes sung into fat microphones and rich catch choruses emerge, other times vocals are sung intimately around acoustic fingerpicking, such as in Big Blue House a tenderly written song. The more slower written melancholy songs work best, Shooting Black Stars being a good example of intimacy being accomplished with a soft vocal and a wet guitar-line swimming in reverb, violins and woodwinds making guest appearances. The softer selections of Castles always seem to outshine their pop counterparts by just a little bit, due to a richer sound and greater depth and care put into the production. Castles by Will Driving West is a musical gem, best experienced with the sunset on a fall day.
CASTLES: Best-selling folk album of Bandcamp in June 2012