Down with Webster

Down with Webster

Down With Webster performing at the 2010 Edmonton's Capital Ex
Background information
Origin Toronto, Ontario
Genres Rap rock, hip hop, pop rock
Years active 1998 (1998)–Present
Labels Universal Motown / Universal Music
Website downwithwebster.com
Members Tyler "Harms" Armes
Patrick "Pat" Gillett
Cameron "Camm" Hunter
Andrew "Marty" Martino
Martin "Bucky" Seja
Past members Kyle "Kap Ten/OneOh" Fairlie
Dave "D!ggy" Ferris

Down with Webster is a Canadian rap rock band from The Beaches area of Toronto who signed with Universal Motown in April 2009.

Down with Webster was originally formed for a middle school talent show. The band released their first official EP, Time to Win, Vol. 1, on October 6, 2009. The band has achieved success from all three singles from the album, and all three were certified Platinum in Canada. The album itself was certified Gold in Canada. Their second release, Time to Win, Vol. 2, was released on October 31, 2011.[1] In 2014, they put out their second full-length album, Party For Your Life.

Down with Webster has sold over 50,000 albums and nearly 500,000 singles.[1] The band has been nominated for Juno awards, MuchMusic Video Awards and Canadian Radio Music Awards.

History

1998–2008: Early years

Down with Webster was originally formed for a Glen Ames Sr Public school battle of the bands show in 1998 by band members Patrick "Pat" Gillet and Tyler Armes.[2][3] In mid-2003, the band released an independent self-made six-track CDR EP entitled The Reverb Session July '03. This release was primarily sold at shows and local concerts from July 2003 to 2004. In 2006, the band played at the NXNE Festival and in 2007 released an independent self-titled album.[4]

Former band member Kyle "Kap Oneoh" Fairlie was an actor in his youth. He played Rabbit in the TV series Franklin,[5] and had a few other small film and television roles.[6]

The band played at Lee's Palace in the 2008 Canadian Music Week. Their performance was described by Jill Langlois of Chart as "one of the best shows I've ever seen" and "the band exploded onto the stage and never slowed down or stopped. Words will never really describe the Down With Webster experience." The magazine described the band as "flashy and obnoxious, but fun and loveable". DWW was given a grade of 95 out of 100 by Chart for this performance.[7]

In 2008, DWW won the Rogers Mobile/Universal Music best unsigned artist in Canada award, and in 2009 KISS frontman Gene Simmons and Timbaland expressed interest in signing the band to their respective labels. Bassist and keyboardist Tyler Armes commented about Gene Simmons' interest, "To be honest, I don't think it was the right fit. Don't get me wrong, it was totally flattering to have Gene Simmons show up unannounced on every media platform possible to talk about us, but it seemed like there was the potential to lose control of certain elements and no one really felt like gambling at this point. Ultimately, we were already down the aisle with Universal/Motown."[8]

Timbaland wanted to sign DWW to his record label, Mosley Music Group. According to Timbaland, "That group is the most amazing and creative, innovative group that's going to come out in 2010." However, the band had already decided to go with Universal Motown.[9][10]

2009–2010: Time to Win, Vol. 1 and success

Down with Webster played in both the Warped Tour 2009 and the Virgin Festival 2009 in 2009.[10]

The band's debut EP, Time to Win, Vol. 1, was released on October 6, 2009.[10] In the fall of 2009, DWW opened for Forever the Sickest Kids on the Cheap Date Tour. Down with Webster also opened for Timbaland on two dates in February 2010 on the Shock Value II Tour.

The lead single from Time to Win, Vol. 1, "Rich Girl$", debuted on the Canadian Hot 100 at No. 47 for the week of October 24, 2009, and peaked at No. 21 on the issue of January 9, 2010. The video for "Rich Girl$" was posted to YouTube/VEVO on January 12 and crossed the 1 million views mark in July. The follow-up single, "Your Man", was released to Canadian radio stations in January 2010.[11] It has peaked at No. 12 on the Canadian Hot 100, outperforming their debut single. In April 2010, both "Your Man" and "Rich Girl$" were certified platinum in digital downloads by the CRIA.[12][13]

Down with Webster's first headlining tour, WINtour 2010, had the band tour Canada and the United States in January and February 2010.[14] The tour started in Halifax on January 7 and ended on February 1 in Vancouver. MuchMusic's Spring Break 2010 was hosted by Down with Webster. The band also opened for The Black Eyed Peas on one date in the The E.N.D. Tour in Sarnia, Ontario.

Down with Webster were nominated for "New Group of the Year" at the 2010 Juno Awards, losing to Arkells.[15] The band was also nominated for "UR Fave: New Artist" as well as "Pop Video of the Year" at the 2010 MuchMusic Video Awards, although Justin Bieber won "UR Fave: New Artist" and Hedley won "Pop Video of the Year".[16] Down with Webster won the "Online Artist of the Year" at the 2010 Canadian New Media Awards.[17]

The third single, "Whoa Is Me", was released on June 15, 2010 and peaked at No. 13 on the Canadian Hot 100 for the week of October 16, 2010.[18] The band played at the 2010 SCENE Music Festival in St. Catharines on June 27.[19] The band also played in the Ottawa Bluesfest in July[20] and at the 2010 Canadian National Exhibitions Bandshell on August 28, 2010.[3] Down with Webster was one of the six artists featured on the global music event, "Doritos Late Night", where a 360-degree music video for "She's Dope", a new DWW song that would later be released as the first single of Time to Win, Vol. 2, was on the Doritos Late Night website. The event launched on October 20, 2010, and also included Rihanna, Professor Green, Mor ve Otesi, Teargas, and Sensacional Orchestra Sonora.[21]

Down with Webster was featured on 2010 Year End Charts several times. Both "Your Man" and "Whoa Is Me" were on the 2010 Canadian Hot 100 Year End Chart, "Your Man" at No. 37[22] and "Whoa Is Me" at No. 85.[23] Down with Webster was at No. 21 on the Canadian Hot 100 Artists Chart, surpassing both Justin Bieber and Drake.[24] In December 2010, Time to Win, Vol. 1 was certified Gold in Canada[25] and in January 2011 the single "Whoa Is Me" was certified Platinum in Canada.[26]

2011–2012: Time to Win, Vol. 2

In an interview, Cameron "Camm" Hunter stated that after finishing the Streets Of Gold Tour with 3OH!3 and Hellogoodbye, the band would "lock ourselves in the studio for a couple of months" and finish Time to Win, Vol. 2.[27] The tour was completed on November 24, 2010 at Albuquerque, New Mexico. They then performed at the pregame show for the 98th Grey Cup.[28]

In December 2010 Down with Webster announced WINtour 2011, a cross-Canada tour which would support their upcoming album, Time to Win, Vol. 2. The tour began on February 22, 2011 in Lethbridge, Alberta and ended on March 12 in Toronto.[29] The Envy, 2AM Club and Sweet Thing opened for Down with Webster in this tour.

Down with Webster were nominated for two awards at the 2011 Canadian Radio Music Awards: "SOCAN Song of the Year" and "Best New Group or Solo Artist (Contemporary Hit Radio)".[30] On February 1, 2011 it also announced that Down with Webster had been nominated for two awards at the Juno Awards of 2011, Group of the Year and Pop Album of the Year.[31] The band also performed at the awards ceremony on March 27, 2011 at the Air Canada Centre.[32] The band was nominated for four 2011 MuchMusic Video Awards, which ties them for the most nominations with Fefe Dobson and Shawn Desman.[33] The band won one award at the 2011 MuchMusic Video Awards, Pop Video of the Year for "Whoa Is Me".[34]

On May 12, 2011, the band posted on their blog that hype man Kyle "Kap Ten/Oneoh" Fairlie was no longer in the band, citing their reason as "6 guys going in one musical direction that didn't quite fit with the 7th." [35]

The band played at summer festivals and exhibitions including Red River Exhibition in Winnipeg and at Salmonfest in Grand Falls-Windsor on July 9, 2011, where they opened for Kiss. Down with Webster performed at the Calgary Stampede, at the Grizfest Music Festival in Tumbler Ridge and at Edmonton's Capital Ex in Edmonton. They also played Regina's Queen City Ex, at the Saskatoon Exhibition, at the 2011 Canadian National Exhibition Bandshell in Toronto for TDSB@CNE Day, and at the Western Fair in London, Ontario on September 15, 2011.

Time to Win, Vol. 2 was released on October 31, 2011[1] and reached No. 9 on the Canadian Albums Chart. The first single from the album, "She's Dope", was released on May 23, 2011. It peaked at No. 18 on the Canadian Hot 100. "Big Wheels" was released as the album's second single on September 9, 2011. The song peaked at No. 51 on the Canadian Hot 100.

On December 20, 2011 the band released iTunes Session, an EP of seven songs.

The band toured Canada throughout 2012 as well as the United States on the Face The Music tour.

2013-Present: Party for Your Life and Disappearance

As of March 20, 2013 the band released a single, "One in a Million", from an untitled upcoming album, to their YouTube channel. It was later released on iTunes on March 26, 2013, as a single.

On August 13, 2013 the band released the song "Party for Your Life", made available on iTunes. A video was set to be released sometime in September 2013. It was later revealed that Party for Your Life is also the name of the upcoming album, originally scheduled for release on October 22, 2013. On October 14 the band confirmed via Facebook that the album would be pushed back to January 2014 because new songs had recently been written and the band wanted to include them on the album. The album was officially released on January 28, 2014.

The third single from the album, "Chills", was released on December 17, 2013. The video premiered on March 7, 2014.

The band officially released the music video for the track "Going Nowhere" through Sony Entertainment on January 31, 2014, making the video announcement of the release on their YouTube channel.

Amanda Hather of Canadian Beats gave the album a 4.5/5, saying "Whether you are a fan of all of the genres that Down With Webster somehow manage to mix into their songs, there is something for everyone on this album." Davina Sinnatamby of Tangible Sound gave the album a 4/5, closing her review with "So if you feel like a shot of something stronger that caffeine or alcohol; I'd recommend listening to this whole album. The songs don't just make you want to get up and dance; the fast rhythms, smooth rhymes and poetic lyrics make you want to live forever."

From late 2015 to late 2016 the band has not updated fans on any news for shows, new music, and have pretty much disappeared. Dave "Diggy" Ferris has left the band due to the birth of his first daughter, Rosie, in December of 2014 and currently is expecting another child with his partner, Becky Caulford, owner of "Honey Bea Design Hive", a indie bohemian knitwear shop in Toronto. He still DJs at clubs, but has left Down With Webster, without even announcing it, so he can spend time with his family and help raise his children. Tyler Armes now resides in L.A. as opposed to the rest of the band, who all still live in the Toronto area. He often updates his snapchat showing him flying back and forth from the cities often, as well as SOME little updates on new Down With Webster music. Pat Gillett only came on social media to post about his favourite music, so it is unclear what he was up to for the past year (other than working on the new Down With Webster album). Marty Martino has completely disappeared from social media, but it is predicted that he has been busy producing for artists signed to Slaight Music, most notably the up and coming pop singer Jillea. Bucky Buck and Camm Hunter have been busy with their new girlfriends following their splits from their exes in 2014. Bucky Buck has been dating Toronto tattoo artist Nikki Ouimette from Forever Young Ink, following the split from ex-girlfriend Hayley French, Personal Shopper at Saks Fifth Avenue. Cameron Hunter is currently dating amateur model Laura Teeter from Toronto. He was dating successful Torontonian model Laura Rowley from 2010-2014, and had a hard time with the breakup. Laura was in Down With Webster music videos "Woah Is Me', "Your Man", and "Royalty" alongside Camm. Now, she has modeled for fairly large corporations such as Shopper's Drug Mart and has appeared in other music videos such as "Leather Jacket" by Arkells and "Something About You" by Majid Jordan. Camm has also been DJing at club parties weekly alongside drummer/DJ Emmerson Taveres, who is Camm's drummer for his solo act (as well as the drummer for acts such as Riff Raff and Jillea. Camm has also featured on some other artists songs as well as helped to co-produce. He was featured on Jillea's track "Goddess" as well as Darenots' track "Fortunate".

As of November 2016, the band has recently changed all their main account profile pictures on social media to a black image with the date "01.27.17" in white. There was no official announcement regarding this image, however, fans are speculating that the new Down With Webster album will be released January 27th, 2017, or at least there will be a big announcement on that date.

Members

Current members

Past members

Discography

Concert tours

Awards and nominations

Down With Webster awards and nominations
Awards and nominations
Award Wins Nominations
Juno Awards
0 6
Much Music Video Awards
2 12
Canadian New Media Awards
1 1
Canadian Radio Music Awards
2 3
Rogers Mobile/Universal Music Best Unsigned Artist
1 1
SOCAN Awards
1 1
Totals
Awards won 7
Nominations 24

Down With Webster has been nominated for 22 awards including 12 MuchMusic Video Awards and 6 Juno Awards.

Canadian New Media Awards

Year Nominee/work Award Result
2010 Down With Webster Online Artist of the Year Won

Canadian Radio Music Awards

Year Nominee/work Award Result
2011 "Rich Girl$" Best Group or Solo Artist Won
"Your Man" SOCAN Song of the Year Nominated
2014 "Chills" Heatseeker Won

Juno Awards

Year Nominee/work Award Result
2010 Down With Webster New Group of the Year Nominated
2011 Down With Webster Group of the Year Nominated
Time to Win, Vol. 1 Pop Album of the Year Nominated
2012 Down With Webster Group of the Year Nominated
Time to Win, Vol. 2 Pop Album of the Year Nominated
2015 Party For Your Life Pop Album of the Year Nominated

MuchMusic Video Awards

Year Nominee/work Award Result
2010 "Your Man" Pop Video of the Year Nominated
"Rich Girl$" UR Fave: New Artist Nominated
2011 "Whoa Is Me" Video of the Year Nominated
Pop Video of the Year Won
UR Fave: Video Nominated
UR Fave: Artist Nominated
2012 "She's Dope" Video of the Year Nominated
MuchFact Indie Video of the Year Nominated
"Royalty" Directed by Chris Wang Director of The Year Nominated
"Big Wheels" Post Production of the Year Won
2013 "One In A Million" Pop Video of the Year Nominated
2014 "Chills" Pop Video of the Year Nominated

Rogers Mobile/Universal Music Best Unsigned Artist

Year Nominee/work Award Result
2008 Down With Webster Rogers Mobile/Universal Music Best Unsigned Artist Won

SOCAN Awards

Year Nominee/work Award Result
2015 "Chills" Pop/Rock Music AwardWon

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Universal Music Canada – DOWN WITH WEBSTER ANNOUNCE OCTOBER 31 RELEASE OF TIME TO WIN VOL. II". Universal Music Canada. Universal. Retrieved 2011-09-01.
  2. Liss, Sarah (July 24, 2003). "10 teens taking over Now Magazine. Retrieved September 13, 2011
  3. 1 2 Infantry, Ashante (August 13, 2010). "Down with Webster’s at the Bandshell" Toronto Star. Retrieved November 2, 2010.
  4. "Toronto Music Scene, November 2, 2010". Torontomusicscene.ca. 2007-07-10. Retrieved 2010-12-20.
  5. Down With Webster Interview With Canadas Talent!
  6. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0265621/
  7. Langlois, Jill (March 8, 2008)."Down with Webster @CMW 2008." Retrieved December 20, 2010.
  8. Dekel, Jonathan (November 9, 2009) D@m!^n. "Down with Webster not down with Gene Simmons" msn.ca. Retrieved December 11, 2010.
  9. "Getting Down with Webster: Q&A with Tyler of DWW". Killahbeez. 2010-01-29. Retrieved 2010-12-20.
  10. 1 2 3 Down with Webster’s Time To Win, Vol. I in Stores Today Business Wire, October 6, 2009
  11. "AMERICA'S MUSIC CHARTS – 1 2 . 1 4 . 1 0 – powered by MEDIABASE". Americasmusiccharts.com. Retrieved 2010-12-20.
  12. "Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA): Gold & Platinum – April 2010". Cria.ca. Retrieved 2010-12-20.
  13. "Canada Singles Top 100 – Music Charts". Acharts.us. Retrieved 2010-12-20.
  14. WINtour 2010 downwithwebster.com. Retrieved November 7, 2010.
  15. 2010 New Group of the Year Nominations and Winner. Retrieved December 20, 2010.
  16. 2010 MuchMusic Video Awards Nominations. Retrieved December 20, 2010.
  17. 2010 Canadian New Media Awards Winners. Retrieved December 20, 2010.
  18. Whoa Is Me Chart History Billboard. Retrieved November 2, 2010.
  19. Harper, Kate (April 28, 2010)."LIGHTS, Shad, Down With Webster Playing S.C.E.N.E. Music Festival." Retrieved December 20, 2010.
  20. "Arcade Fire, Weezer, Drake, Metric to play Ottawa Bluesfest | MuchMusic.com | Blog". Blog.muchmusic.com. 2010-04-21. Retrieved 2010-12-20.
  21. Doritos Unveil Interactive Musical Experience For Fans Worldwide. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
  22. Canadian Hot 100 Year End Chart Billboard. Retrieved December 17, 2010.
  23. Canadian Hot 100 Year End Chart Billboard. Retrieved December 17, 2010.
  24. Canadian Hot 100 Artists Billboard. Retrieved December 17, 2010.
  25. "Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA): Gold & Platinum – December 2010". Cria.ca. Retrieved 2011-01-07.
  26. "Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA): Gold & Platinum – January 2011". Cria.ca. Retrieved 2011-02-02.
  27. INTERVIEW: Down With Webster. Retrieved November 24, 2010.
  28. CFL.ca Staff (November 24, 2010). "Down With Webster to rock GC Pre-Game Show". CFL.ca. Retrieved November 26, 2010.
  29. WINtour 2011 downwithwebster.com Retrieved December 13, 2010
  30. 2011 Canadian Radio Music Awards Nominees. Retrieved December 20, 2010.
  31. 2011 Juno Awards Nominees Retrieved February 1, 2011
  32. Jane Stevenson (February 1, 2011). "Juno noms announced". torontosun.com. Retrieved February 1, 2011.
  33. Stevenson, Jane (May 17, 2011). "Dobson, Desman top MMVA noms" Toronto Sun. Retrieved May 23, 2011.
  34. List of MMVA 2011 winners Retrieved August 4, 2011
  35. http://www.downwithwebster.com/blog/a-message-for-our-fans/
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