Black Diamond Bay Tour Dates

Montreal's Black Diamond Bay, an offshoot of the Dears, is hitting the road - primarily in Western Canada. For more info on the band and their front man Patrick Krief check out Jade Sperry's interview from their last West Coast swing.




17 Sep 2009 20:00
The Canmore Hotel Canmore, Alberta
18 Sep 2009 21:00
Habitat Kelowna, British Columbia
19 Sep 2009 21:00
The Pit Pub University of British Columbia Vancouver, British Columbia
21 Sep 2009 21:00
Rockwater Bar & Grill Golden, British Columbia
23 Sep 2009 20:00
The Slice Lethbridge, Alberta
24 Sep 2009 21:00
The GAIT - SAIT Calgary, Alberta
25 Sep 2009 21:00
Flow Edmonton, Alberta
26 Sep 2009 21:00
Amigos Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
27 Sep 2009 21:00
LoPub Winnipeg, Manitoba
24 Oct 2009 21:00
Fontanas CMJ green room music source showcase W High Dials New York, New York
13 Nov 2009 21:00
Sala Rosa Montreal, Quebec
28 Nov 2009 21:00
Le Cercle Quebec City, Quebec

Patrick Krief Interview

Patrick Krief

Black Diamond Bay @ Richards May 30, Vancouver

Black Diamond Bay is Patrick’s current band, and they were recently here on tour with The Dears as well as Jets Overhead. Patrick is having fun touring with his ex-bandmate’s, The Dears, because Murray and Patrick are still very good friends, and they hang out when they are at home in Montreal.

We enjoyed a cold beer 2 blocks from the venue on one of the hottest days here in Vancouver so far this year. The staff at the bar we went to were not used to having patrons doing an interview, but we found it amusing. Patrick tells me that since leaving The Dears, he’s been constantly writing music, playing with friends and putting whatever bands he could together. The current line up in the band are his cousin Andre on bass, George (also an ex-member of the Dears) on the drums and Roberto on the keyboards, who‘s been working with Patrick for the last 5 years in different projects. Patrick says that he really wanted to work on this project with all of them.

I ask him about his home city of Montreal, and other than hating the weather, he loves the city. He isn’t as familiar with other cities in Canada so it’s not a safe assessment for him to compare Vancouver or Calgary with Montreal. He isn’t a club person or into the scene there, but instead emphasizes that the standard of living is affordable for struggling artists, and not having your money sucked into paying rent is a plus.

Patrick finds his musical inspiration is based in reality. What he feels, encounters and experiences is his reality and this is what he writes about. The reality of his life triggers his music, and having a “real” feeling that he can turn into sound is very gratifying. He also tells me that he can turn that around and he will remember how he felt in the presence of “sound”.

When I asked Patrick how he sees the current state of the Music Industry, his initial reaction was that the industry is in panic mode. He feels that they don’t put enough energy or focus into any new band as far as the “big labels” go. They don’t want to take a chance and instead they go with what they know. He’s also hearing that people are losing jobs, record labels shutting down and generally hears bad things all the time. Patrick also states that there are many bands who are just in it to be in a band. They have no talent and just want to be rock stars who have a bullshit attitude. These bands and people will not last and they will fade away for bands with substance and talent. He and his band are not in it for the money or glamour and they never will be. They play with a passion for music and for the love of sound.

When it comes to garnering media attention, Patrick states that once you get your foot in the door and you have an interview with someone, suddenly people start to notice you. But he admits that it is difficult to get that foot in the door initially. When they released Calm Awaits, it was hard to get any mainstream press. And he and his band are happy that they have been getting a decent amount of press lately.

When Patrick was asked about the goals of the band and the music, artistically they would like to constantly change it up and evolve, and generally just keep getting better, while career ambitions are to have a sustainable career and make a living with playing music. In a 2 year period, they would like to have another record out and be more on an international level in the US and Europe. Patrick can see this and envision it clearly.

The bands and their music that made Patrick want to be a musician were Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, and The Beatles. He was not inspired by their wild lifestyles which he found out later in his life about. In some of the songs that Patrick writes, particularly the ballads like “First Time I See You Again”, there is a Roy Orbison - John Lennon influence that you can hear, and Patrick is admirers of these musicians as well. He tells me that the working title of that song was “Fifties (1950’s)” because of the melody and the way it sounds, and on the set lists for shows, the song is listed this way. On a musical level, he can relate best to Jimi Hendrix. He feels that his ideals may be similar but he isn’t sure about that - he relates to Jimi’s music. Patrick is musical and he is driven to make music but he wasn’t always like that. The last 10 years have been a creative high for him, and music consumes him by his own admission 24/7. He has on numerous occasions been working on a song and been stuck on something, went to sleep and upon waking, he just knows how to make it sound and it turns out to be right. Ironically when he was in school, he would do the same thing with math equations.

The best venue that he’s played in is a tough one for him to answer. A venue in Mexico stands out. The vibe was there. In Canada, Lee’s Palace and The Horseshoe stands out but really he says they are all similar. He’s happy to play anywhere, but admits that there were some places they’ve played that should never host concerts.

Patrick is a very focused individual and in the long run, this will serve him well. I believe him when he says that in 2 years time, he will have world domination with this band.

You can visit the band's MYSPACE page and their WEBSITE.

Black Diamond Bay Added to the Swim Drink Fish Music Club

Followers of this blog will know that I think Lake Ontario Waterkeeper's Swim Drink Fish Music Club is an excellent way to support a great environmental group and get exposed to great Canadian Music. Check out my earlier posts here and here.

Now the Club has started a Friday Release series, and "It's all Been Said" by Black Diamond Bay is the first instalment. From the Club itself:

In August 2007 Patrick Krief (formerly of Montreal art-rock band The Dears) put out a seven song EP (Take It Or Leave) with Sunny Lane Records under the name ‘Krief’. To play these songs live he called upon his cousin Andre Bendahan (Bass), George Donoso III (Drums) and Roberto Piccioni (Keys). The shape the songs were taking live was so much bigger than that of the recordings that they couldn’t justify not having a name for that sound. So Black Diamond Bay was born. After over a hundred shows together they started to put together what is now their debut album “Calm Awaits”. Krief says, "there are laws to protect clean water, and they need to be respected and enforced". Check out Black Diamond Bay's exclusive track "It's All Been Said", now in the All Music section, only on the Swim Drink Fish Music Club today!

Now - although the Club says the track is only available on Friday - I was just able to download it - so join and see if you can get it too! And if you can't, join anyway for many new tracks every Friday, as well as plenty of other music. Membership is only $9.99 for a year:

All proceeds from memberships benefit Swim Drink Fish Music partners Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, Ottawa Riverkeeper and Fraser Riverkeeper. So get your ears on some exclusive new music, and help Waterkeepers across Canada help continue the fight for swimmable, drinkable, fishable water.

Coming Up at the Phog in Windsor

Because it was recently voted the best live venue in Canada by Radio 3 listeners and because I found their posting and because no one from Windsor has drunk the Kool Aid .. singed up to rep their city yet. These are the shows coming up in April at the Phog Lounge in Winsor:

2 - WAMM Magazine - One Year Anniversary Party - Music Video Contest Screenings
3 - The New Kings (Toronto) w/ High Mother
4 - Slow Down, Molasses (Saskatoon) w/ Valery Gore (Toronto)
5 - Brasstronaut (Vancouver) w/ TBA
7 - University of Windsor Grad Reading & 2nd Installment of Tech Tuesday (6:30pm)
8 - Azeda Booth (Calgary)
10 - The Perpetrators (Winnipeg) w/ Mr. Chill & TBA
11 - Elecroluminescent (Hamilton) w/ What Seas, What Shores
12 - Book Launch - Experiments at 3 Billion A.M. by Alexander Zelenyj (8pm)
14 - The Pack A.D. (Vancouver) 2nd link w/ Another Saturday Knight
17 - Black Diamond Bay with Patrick Krief of The Dears (Toronto) w/ Helsinki Go & The Mustard Branches
18 - The Mindframes w/ Metro4 (London)
19 - Spooky Reuben (Toronto) w/ The Love Machine (Ottawa) & The Tyres
21 - Brzowski & Shane Blakemore & 3rd Installment of Tech Tuesday (6:30pm)
22 - Beast (Montreal) w/ The Peace Leeches (Chatham) & (WH)Y.M.E(??)
23 - Ron Leary Band w/ Gianna Lauren (Halifax)
24 - Alun Piggins (Toronto) w/ The Heels
25 - Barzin (Toronto) w/ Nick Zubeck (Toronto) & Music Minus You
26 - SAC Songwriters Group
27 - Open Mic Surgery with Tara Watts
28 - Shiv and The Shams (8pm)
29 - ???? Immaculate Machine (Vancouver) w/ TBA ????

the Pack A.D. - April 14