Pure / Guilty About Girls at A Change of Frequency

Saturday night was a full night of music at the Change of Frequency festival. Eight bands on stage in total, but it's been suggested that the highlight of the evening went to Todd Simko's former bandmates.  Performing three classic Pure songs from back in the day, as well as two more current Guilty About Girls tracks, the remaining original members were joined by  other friend's of Todd's to recreate those songs.

Jordy Birch and Mark Henning were complimented onstage by Justin "Juice" Kadis and Misty Reid (formerly of the Yoko Casionos and currently members of Combine the Victorious) as well as Stefan Sigerson and Guilty About Girls drummer Lucas Poth.   Leigh Grant, original drummer of Pure, was also called up to make a special appearance on the kit for a very authentic version of Denial.  Isabelle Dunlop from Combine the Victorious joined the group for the last two Guilty About Girls songs as well.

With eight acts to perform in one night the sets were fairly short, but Pure / Guilty About Girls managed to squeeze in several old favorites.  The set order ran as follows:
Blast (from the Pureafunalia album)
Anna is a Speed Freak (off Generation Six Pack)
Denial (Generation Six Pack)
Candy Candy (The Very Best of...)
Polygraph (The Very Best of...)

The band for the evening comprised:
vocals: Jordy Birch
keyboards: Mark Henning
drums: Lucas Poth / Leigh Grant
lead guitar: Justin "Juice" Kadis
rhythm guitar: Misty Reid
bass guitar: Stefan Sigerson
guest vocals; Isabelle Dunlop



(Thanks to Rod Grim for shooting video on the night)

It was a great event, for a good cause (Canadian Mental Health Association), and everyone had a great time.  Big thanks must go out to Minna Simko for organizing the entire thing, as well as the excellent crew who ensured everything went smoothly and professionally: Bob, Brian, Chris, Boris, and Jason all deserve special praise for their professionalism and great spirit!

Thanks for reading.

Pure and Combine @A Change of Frequency Saturday!

It's been quickly coming up on us, and this weekend is the first ever Change of Frequency music festival in New Westminster.  Put together by Minna Simko in memory of her husband and our dear friend Todd Simko, this is the realization of a dream Todd held to bring live music back to the Columbia Theatre in New West.

We've been rehearsing away in the studio, both bands making a lovely racket in our peaceful neighbourhood (thank you to out extraordinarily tolerant neighbours!) and things are sounding really amazing.  Combine the Victorious has the best line up ever with the additions of Juice and Misty.  The new songs are epic and masterful sounding, and there is even a brand new song written specifically for Todd Simko that will open the show.

Pure has expanded its lineup for this one off performance.  All good friends of Todd's, Jordy Birch and Mark Henning have even managed to get a hold of Leigh Grant (Pure's original drummer) to join them for a definitive version of Denial on stage this coming Saturday night.  With eight bands on the bill, it set is relatively short, but the music is sounding great and we're all excited to be playing some of the classic tracks. 

Come on out for both nights of great music, Friday night promises a more folk bases start, but concludes with the music of Fake Shark Real Zombie.  Saturday night is jam packed with indie rock, punk rock, garage rock, electronic experimental pop and of course the songs of Pure and Guilty About Girls.  It'll be great, not to be missed!

Tickets available online right now, but they are almost sold out, so get em quick!

New song from Pure "So West Coast"

In honour of our friend Todd Simko, we are making available a free download of the last song he ever performed on as the guitarist in Pure: So West Coast. 

We recorded this song back in 2010 at the Boutique Empire studio as a bit of an experiment.  Joined by the wonderfully talented Juice and Misty of the Yoko Casionos on drums and bass respectively, Jordy Birch, Todd and I all got together for a fun-filled afternoon of music.  The song came together in just a few takes and then we did the usual overdubs of vocals and percussion.  Everything went quickly and easily, it was probably one of the smoothest Pure recording sessions we'd ever had! (Big thanks once again to Juice and Misty for helping that vibe!) The result is the track you can hear below, which was recently remixed by none other than John Webster (the same guy who'd mixed Generation Six Pack and recorded the initial demos that got Pure signed to Reprise Records back in the 90's).



Please feel free to download and share this song, we'd be happy to have Todd's work remembered by as many people as possible.  Also remember to join us on May 10th & 11th for a mini Pure reunion at the "A Change of Frequency" festival in New Westminster at the Columbia.  

Thanks for checking it out,
MRH