"What an infectious little concoction this is... this beguiling slice of gently psychedelic sweetness... it’s a doozie." -Song review "Alright" -Ben Rayner (The Toronto Star)
1977 is singer-songwriter Julie Kendall, an independent artist making alternative-pop music from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Her self-produced, debut record, Nineteen Seventy-Seven was nominated for a 2010 Juno Award. In anticipation of the next full-length release, Seaforth (due in 2012), 1977 is releasing a digital EP (out November 15, 2011), titled So is the Sea EP, to feature five songs from the sophomore 12” record.
Kendall first appeared in the Toronto music scene in 2005 playing keyboards with Bellevue. After recording two full-length albums and playing a number of shows in support, she left the band to record songs she had started writing three years earlier for her debut release.
Kendall and Brent Hough (Bellevue, Music Maul, and Purple Hill) recorded the songs on Nineteen Seventy-Seven, during the winter of 2007 in her Toronto apartment, and rehearsal space. Kendall played keyboards, percussion, and bass on the recording while old band-mates shared the remaining instrumentation. Hough played guitar and bass, Jordan Bruce (Bellevue, Purple Hill) played drums, and Matthew Rubba (formally of Bellevue, and The Diableros) played drums, guitar, and bass. The collection of catchy numbers on the 12” record was mixed by Alphonse Lanza (Azari & III) at his Parkdalian Sound Space and mastered by Noah Mintz at Lacquer Channel Mastering in Toronto. Dean Torrence (Kittyhawk Graphics founding artist and legendary member of Sixties surf band Jan and Dean) blessed Kendall with permission to use pieces of his design of The Beach Boys album Love You (originally released in 1977) to create the cover art for Nineteen Seventy-Seven.
Kendall and now husband, Hough, recorded the forthcoming album, Seaforth, during the spring of 2011 in Kendall’s hometown of Port Credit, in a barn above her father’s workshop. Taking a more traditional approach for this album, Kendall played keyboards, Hough played guitar, Bruce returned to play drums, and Owen Marchildon (Purple Hill, The Tight Ship, and From Fiction) joined on bass. Kendall headed back to Parkdalian Sound Space for mixing, this time with Ian McGettigan (Thrush Hermit), and then to Montréal for mastering with Harris Newman at Grey Market Mastering. Kendall created the cover art for the EP from a photograph taken by her father, Stanley Kendall, in the family's backyard.
The band, which also includes Julie's sister Sarah Harris for live shows, has been previewing the album during sets at festivals, and with teasers on YouTube, gaining favourable reviews.