Stinky Artists

Schoonderbeek. The seeds of Another Blue Door, whose members now reside in Toronto, hark back to the mid-nineties, when a teenaged Schoonderbeek first met fellow high schooler T. Craig Toutant, now Another Blue Door’s drummer. Mutually stultified by life in small town, rural Canada, Schoonderbeek and Toutant joined musical forces. After playing in several high school bands together, Toutant struck out on his own, joining popular Canadian indie band The Carnations.

In the meantime, bored by the proliferation of what he regarded as synthetically “angry” rock bands, Schoonderbeek took refuge in penning more personal, introspective songs, which he began showcasing as part of solo acoustic sets. Growing increasingly frustrated at being pigeonholed by club promoters onto folk bills, Schoonderbeek re-joined forces with his old high school chum/former bandmate Toutant. With Schoonderbeek on guitar and Toutant manning the drums, the two, in turn, recruited Toutant’s Carnations bandmates Steve Krecklo and Thom D’Arcy, who assumed bass and guitar duties, respectively, for the newly-formed band. Rounded out by mutual pal Pete Carmichael on guitar, the new band was christened “Another Blue Door”. Eventually, D’Arcy, juggling membership in The Carnations and in punk band All Systems Go, passed his guitar mantle onto another Carnations colleague, Nathan Rekker.

With their current, five-piece line-up in place, Another Blue Door proceeded to hit the Toronto club circuit, recording three home-grown, self-released EPs, which prefigured their debut album, “Haulers”. Originally conceived as a shoegazer outfit, over time, Another Blue Door’s music evolved into a more introspective, song-based hybrid of Pavement, Neil Young, The Band, Bright Eyes, Dinosaur Jr. and The Replacements. The band soon began to draw attention for its soulful and powerful live shows on the Toronto club circuit.

In Summer 2003, Stinky Records signed Another Blue Door, after receiving a tip about the band from Dan Burke, the promoter of The Silver Dollar venue in Toronto and one of the band’s earliest champions. Another Blue Door’s debut album, “Haulers”, was recorded by erstwhile member Thom D’Arcy, in September 2003, and mixed at Chemical Sound in Toronto by Ian Blurton, formerly a creative principal in legendary Canadian band Change of Heart and currently fronting his own outfit Blurtonia. Ranging from the languidly powerful “Nova Scotia”, to the heartbreaking “Xmas ‘98”, to the guilty pleasure of “American Guitars”, to the poignant longing of “Streetlights”, “Haulers” is an accomplished and powerful work, with Schoonderbeek’s emotionally raw lyrics painting a richly nuanced landscape of love, loss and longing -- achingly vulnerable yet unflinchingly honest.

Another Blue Door’s debut album, “Haulers”, was released throughout North America in Spring 2004, followed by two mini-tours of the US, including a performance at the South By Southwest Music Festival and dates with bands such as Preston School Of Industry and Singapore Sling. For more information regarding Another Blue Door (not to mention a chuckle or two), check out the band’s website, at: www.anotherbluedoor.com.