Photoshoots, Movies and Music

This week has been a CRAZY week for us Pull the Plug kids! We started the week with a killer photo-shoot with Dave Levitt Photography based out of Cambridge. You can see samples of his work on his site, on Facebook and you can check out the shots he took at The Sound Distillery. See how things work? We all know each other. Finally fitting in to this city life. As soon as we get those shots back from Dave, we'll secretly use them for our own pleasure, then post them on our Facebook, Flickr, Blog and of course the Website!

Last night, Justin G. and I stayed up way past our bedtime to catch the midnight premiere of The Hobbit. Justin was geeking hard, so I'll let him tell you all about the flick in his own post and on this weeks PTP Podcast. My quick review? Holy fuck. WOW.

This week's featured Track of the Week is the amazing new single Reaching Back from Mike Vial, available for name your price on his Bandcamp. This Michigan man puts so much of his soul into his songs, leaving you gripping to every word. We loved it SO much, we even put aside our all-acoustic format to include it in this week's Podcast. Please check it out.

The Vid of the Week, Bright Glow by Toronto's Little City, is a live track recorded at the former PTP Studios. Shaun, Frances and Trevor have done nothing short of blow us away with every performance they've done for us including their live set at our PTP Presents... event in May. They are coming out of a brief hiatus to play a Christmas show benefiting Second Harvest and the Toronto Food Bank. Check them out at the Rivoli in Toronto on Dec.22nd.

That's all for now kids, until next time - Stay interesting!

Music this Week & PTP Giveaway

Lots of new music to discuss this week!

Last night was a show that I had been looking forward to for months and had been gifted by my insanely awesome man, Hey Ocean! They are a West Coast band that have exploded onto the scene since I saw them for the first time live about a year ago. Since that show, they have released their new album IS which has some seriously killer tracks including my new favourite Jolene.

Last night's show was an energy-filled set that had the crowd jumping, dancing and singing along, with some minor bumps along the road ie: sound issues and an over-done reverb on the vocals.

Speaking of bumps, the openers, Alvarez Kings a progressive pop outfit from Sheffield England, were losing their minds on stage, when they stopped the track dead in order to attend to a fan who passed out. I can only assume she found their accents just as attractive as I did. I dug these guys so much, we purchased both of their albums before leaving the show and strongly encourage you to do the same.

Also yesterday, an exciting announcement came from Justin Briner about the release of his album that has been 4 years in the making! Silent Imagery is a 9-track work of art featuring some of my favourites Scatterbrain and Mr.Spider. Show this talented musician some love and download this album and if you REALLY love it and have some dollars to spare, send a few bucks his way- he deserves it.

New Album Downloads this Week:
Bat For Lashes- The Haunted Man
Joel Plaskett Emergency- Scrappy Happiness

HIGHLY recommend both of these albums!

Finally, the new Pull the Plug Podcast for this week is now available! Listen and subscribe to it at our website www.ptppodcast.com. Links to iTunes, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and all that jazz is available on there.

-----

Head to our Facebook and Twitter for your chance to WIN an exclusive PTP-Blacktop Bundle, courtesy of Blacktop Records, in celebration of their 6 Year Anniversary. Congrats!! 

PTP Podcast

Hello all,

First, I want to thank each and every one of you for your support of Pull the Plug over the last five (yes, five) years. It's been quite the experience! So many talented musicians have come through the studio, many have remained as friends. As our fans, you couldn't have been more supportive and many of you are the epitome of the word, putting "fan" back into "fanatic".  We have even welcomed a few fans into the studio! Parents, friends, Chad from Elmira, Elish Lisha, Munchixo, Currie and Trista Rochelle and of course we will always remember our late night chats with The Patio Party and the Subway Guys. 

The day of conventional radio has come to an end for PTP. As of the end of August, we are having our Plug Pulled, if you will. However...most of you, I would assume, know that we don't go down that easy. We have been busy at work getting things in place to have a Podcast go live.

We will be recording a weekly show, available for download, featuring the same banter you love, the raunchy sex stories, the crazy drug incidents and of course a ton of great music chat. Each show will feature music from our favourite Pull the Plug artists and friends and we will continue to bring acoustic guests into the studio. 

We have made our new home at The Sound Distillery in downtown Kitchener with Will & Dave being the coolest guys on the planet, stepping in within the first 24hours of our cancellation, picking up the ball and running with it. Here's some kind words from Will about the new project;

"Recently Dave and I had the opportunity to venture into a day of planning with the city of Kitchener and other music minded folk about building Waterloo region's music scene. 

Not ones to wait around for things to happen when Conestoga College's radio station decided to cancel all specialty programming we saw an opportunity for something pretty damn cool. 

We will be welcoming Shannon Bryan, Justin Godelie, and Justin Briner and their program Pull the Plug into our studios to record their show each week. The idea is to go big. Real big. So expect some really awesome music, and good videos. "

We are all super excited about our transition into the booming world of online podcasting, where fucks, dick jokes and donkey sex are fully supported.

Lastly, I'd like to thank my PTP Crew, Justin G, Justin Briner & Michael "Angry" Hawkins. You boys are the fucking raddest kids I know. Here's to new adventures. 

We are now found on Twitter @PTPPodcast, Facebook.com/PTPPodcast and have a new website coming soon www.PTPPodcast.com

-Shannon

Justin Briner: The Man Behind The Legend

Not only is the man the "other Justin" in my life as the co-host to our dynamic trio on Pull the Plug, but he is also the shows true talent. He's the only one of us music-lovin' geeks that actually sings and plays the guitar, and boy can he ever.

Last week, Briner graced us with his melodic tunes and his dreamy hair *cough* playing original tracks off of his new EP Under the Moon. He also played some very new tunes, debuting his latest The Girl (Colours of Spring), a song that would make any gal swoon, but was meant for someone very special. His boyish charm and grungy good looks mixes a unique musical style which I called "Grungy Plain White T's" during last weeks show. Not sure how he liked that, but I'd say it's comparable to listening to a Curt Cobain cover of Hey There Delilah- I'd be on board. If you're looking for heart-felt originals, rock-ballad covers, or a night of laughs on the radio, Justin Briner is your man! But as I said, he can't be your man, from what we can tell, he's taken. Sorry ladies.


Follow Justin on Twitter, check him out on Soundcloud, and see his live sets on YouTube.

For more Justin Briner, listen to Pull the Plug Wednesday nights 10pm-1am www.cjiqfm.com


-Shannon

Jaqy Haps: LIVE

So from my last post, you may have gathered that I'm a big HUGE Jaclyn VanHappen fan and she an artist that always delivers. Last night's Pull the Plug performance was no different- she killed it. Watch the videos of her set including If I Die Young (Perry Cover), Let Go, Today I Was Told, and always a fan-favourite, Last Time.

We will likely also be posting the video of host, Justin Briner's attempt to woe her with a rose while donning a dress shirt and tie and a short Q&A session. Just keep yours eyes locked to our YouTube channel and while you're there take a listen to some of our other PTP friends.

Don't forget to show this girl some lovin' on her Facebook and Twitter.

-Shannon

Coachella Bound: Weekend 1

It's officially less than a week away that I board a plane to Cali. This is just one of those moments in my life that I can't believe is truly happening. Coachella has always been one of those "Bucket List" adventures that will (very) soon become an amazing reality.

My parents have always encouraged concert going- they even spent their 20th wedding anniversary at Woodstock '99 and we took a family vacation last Christmas to Bethel Woods, NY to see the original '69 site and museum. They have raised me on- mostly classic- rock and unlike many in my generation I have seen some iconic musicians including Elton John and The Beach Boys.

Now my own major music festival experience is fast-appraoching and honetly, I just hope I make it out with all of my limbs. The band list at this year's festival rivals that of most mainstream, large-scale events this summer, with some like the At the Drive-In reunion, far exceeding. I can't wait for the "Lonely Boy" performance from the Black Keys, which will be a spectacle with surely the entire crowd singing the lyrics word-for-word while doing their own rendition of the Youtube dance. Florence Welch is another performer who I'm just dying to see, but I'm sure anyone going will say the same.

Truly, I am excited for the vast array of talents that are still unheard to me and the new favourites that I'll be leaving Indio with, frantically searching for their music on iTunes. Wish me luck- I really don't want to lose that limb I mentioned.