biographical info
Brittlestar is a pop-rock band based around principal singer-songwriter, Stewart Reynolds.
Based
in Stratford, Ontario, Canada, Brittlestar has established a worldwide
following thanks to global radio and club play and various songs used
in popular television shows such as MTV's Real World series.
In
2004 Stewart Reynolds set out to make the debut Brittlestar album,
"Waiting" in his personal studio and was fortunate enough to recruit
renowned UK singer-songwriter Stephen Duffy to assist with lyrics and
production. The cd booklet for 'waiting' contains various photographs
by Retts Wood, a much sought after UK photographer who has done work
for Nick Rhodes, Jarvis Cocker, Pete Doherty and more. Three of the
songs on this album have been used on MTV's popular Real Word Denver
and Las Vegas television programs. With an estimated audience of 4.9
million viewers for each episode, the popularity of songs like
'Goodbye' skyrocketed with young Americans online. The song also was a
finalist in the International 2006 Songwriting Competition in the Top
40 category. The promotional video for the song 'Goodbye' was filmed
with one camera in a single take in Sputnik Cafe in Stratford, starring
stage actress, Jennifer Stewart.
Shortly after the release of
the debut album, the e.p. "Pirates" was released as a Limited Edition
cd. The e.p. featured a cover of Stephen Duffy's 'The Darkest Blues'.
Though there were only 100 copies of this cd available for purchase
originally, it is now available on iTunes.
In 2006, the album
'Secrets' was released to favourable reviews by both fans and critics.
The album featured Nick Duffy of The Lilac Time on bass and banjo. The
album also featured the song 'So Close So Faraway' which had the honour
of having a $6.99 promotional video starring Stewart and Amanda
Bradley. Stewart filmed the entire video using a basic digital video
camera and a tripod. The video was featured on CBC Radio's Bandwidth
program and is a favourite online.
In the spring of 2007 the
single "I Don't Want To Be Just Friends" was released as a
download-only single on the Brittlestar web site and on iTunes. The
song featured Canadian superstar, Emm Gryner, as backing vocalist and
providing a unique spoken-rap. The video for the single was filmed in
the abandoned Stratford disco, Rumors.
The autumn of 2007 saw
the release of Brittlestar's third album, 'Arcane Anthems'. This album
was the first to prominently feature live band members Jay Moon and
Ryan Tuer in the studio recordings. Nick Duffy again makes an
appearance on banjo and Emm Gryner provides backing vocals.
The
song "Into Temptation" from the album "Secrets" was used as the theme
song to the first annual Stratford DocFest Documentary Film Festival in
2008.
2009 brings the release of the mini-album 'STOP TRYING'.
A 5 song release that includes backing vocals from Claire Worrall of
The Lilac Time and Robbie Williams, and Gordon Deppe of new wave
pioneers The Spoons.
lineup
Stewart Reynolds admin
influences
Duran Duran
Elvis Costello
Joy Division
New Order
Stephen Duffy