artist The Porktrashers

The Porktrashers were started by Mark Adilman and Elliott Smith (no not THAT Elliott Smith, a different one), on the porch of Mark's place, behind a pig slaughterhouse in downtown Toronto. Can you guess where the name came from?

Later, we were joined by Steve Morel, and played as a trio around Toronto for some time -- doing opening gigs for other bands or the occasional fundraiser etc. The goal for the most part was to develop our sound and concentrate on original material. In 2005, we recorded an demo EP called "Introducing The Porktrashers" with recording engineer John Magyar at Psychospace Sound. Guitarist Michael Shostak originally joined us only to support the CD release party, but the chemistry turned out to be so great that, well, we wouldn't let him leave.

In summer 2006, we had the wonderful opportunity to work with famed producer Garth Richardson (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rage Against the Machine, Hedley) at his Farm Studios in Gibsons BC. We were a bit of a different sound for him, but we hit the ground running, recording 12 songs in 4 days and working pretty much around the clock.

Our style is diverse -- a little punk, some Brit pop, with the occasional twang -- but it's all based on a garage band pop esthetic: guitar-based grooves, with strong melodies and harmonies. Basically, if you can't play it in in a garage, then we probably don't play it. Probably.