Imaginary Cities

Last updated

Imaginary Cities
Origin Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Genres
Years active2010–2016
Labels
  • Votiv
  • Hidden Pony
Past membersRusty Matyas
Marti Sarbit

Imaginary Cities was a Canadian indie pop duo based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The project consisted of multi-instrumentalist Rusty Matyas, formerly of the Waking Eyes and a sometime collaborator of the Weakerthans, and vocalist Marti Sarbit. [1]

Contents

History

Matyas and Sarbit began collaborating in 2010. That year, they played a few live shows and began to record tracks for an album. In 2011, they continued performing, at first serving as the opening band for more established groups. [2]

Their debut album, Temporary Resident, was released in 2011 on the Hidden Pony label; [3] [4] it went on to top Canada's campus radio charts. [1] That year, the band won a Western Canada Music Award for Best Pop Album of the Year [5] and was subsequently named as a longlisted nominee for the 2011 Polaris Music Prize. [6] To support the album, they played several dates in Eastern Canada and the US [7] as an opening act for Pixies. [1]

Imaginary Cities performed at a number of pop festivals, including the 2013 NXNE, [8] and gained a following in Germany. [9] The band released their second album, Fall of Romance, in May 2013. [10] [11] Fall of Romance was produced, engineered, and mixed by Howard Redekopp, who has also worked with Tegan and Sara, the New Pornographers, and Mother Mother. [12]

In 2014, they collaborated with Porter Robinson on his song "Hear the Bells". In the same year, Matyas toured with The Sheepdogs as a guitarist following the departure of Leot Hanson from that band. [13]

Imaginary Cities stopped performing and recording in 2016. [14] Sarbit launched the new band Lanikai the following year. [15] Matyas suffered from alcoholism-related liver disease in 2017 [16] and spent some time recovering before reemerging in 2021 with the solo project Rusty Robot. [17]

Discography

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Imaginary Cities are here to stay". National Post , February 21, 2011.
  2. ↑ Alex Hudson, "Indie rock and Motown meet in Imaginary Cities". The Georgia Straight , July 13, 2011.
  3. ↑ "Imaginary Cities Perform "Hummingbird"". Exclaim! , December 13, 2011.
  4. ↑ Alex Hudson, "Waking Eyes Offshoot Imaginary Cities Set Up for NXNE". Exclaim! , June 15, 2010.
  5. ↑ "2011 Western Canadian Music Award Winners". breakoutwest.ca. Archived from the original on January 15, 2013. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
  6. ↑ "2011 Polaris Music Prize Long List announced" Archived October 2, 2015, at the Wayback Machine . aux.tv, June 16, 2011.
  7. ↑ "Imaginary Cities Announce North American Tour". Exclaim! . September 7, 2011. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
  8. ↑ "NXNE 2013 in Review: Five Days That Will Live in Infamy". Torontoist, June 17, 2013.
  9. ↑ "Imaginary Cities Is the Best Indie Band You Don’t Know Yet". Huffington Post, 06/04/2013/ Andrew Blackmore-Dobbyn, Ellen Dobbyn-Blackmore
  10. ↑ "Imaginary Cities set to release highly anticipated second album". CBC News, May 16, 2013.
  11. ↑ Ryan Reed, "Imaginary Cities: Fall of Romance". Paste , May 28, 2013.
  12. ↑ "Fall of Romance - Imaginary Cities | Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic .
  13. ↑ "The Sheepdogs 'parting ways' with guitarist Leot Hanson". CBC News Saskatoon, July 2, 2014.
  14. ↑ Sarah Murphy, "Imaginary Cities Serve Up 'Leftovers' EP Before Going on Indefinite Hiatus". Exclaim! , July 27, 2016.
  15. ↑ "Marti Sarbit takes a trip from Imaginary Cities to Lanikai". CBC News Manitoba, March 18, 2017.
  16. ↑ "'Dryuary' a lifestyle choice for some, but quitting booze was a question of survival for Winnipeg musician". CBC News Manitoba, January 13, 2019.
  17. ↑ Eva Wasney, "Delivering delight: Musician's Rusty Robot project is two scoops of fun with a cherry on top". Winnipeg Free Press , July 8, 2021.
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