The band wins the listeners’ choice competition and a spot on the CBCMUSIC.CAFESTIVAL in Toronto
From synthpop in Cambridge Bay, to alt-pop/rock in London, alt-folk in Montreal, to indie rock from Quebec City, CBCMusic.ca’s SEARCHLIGHTcovered every genre and every inch of Canada, and helped shine a spotlight on Orange O’clock as this year’s winner.
Thousands of artists entered their original tracks, amounting to hundreds of thousands of votes. In the end,SEARCHLIGHT judges Dan Boeckner, Jenn Grant and Saukrates decided the infectious synthpop/ rockriffs and punchy drumbeats of Orange O’clock deserved the bragging rights as Canada’s best new act.
“First of all, I just want to thank all the friends, families and the fans in Sherbrooke and everywhere in Quebec that are following us and that have been following us since the beginning of the contest. It’s just unbelievable,” says Mikaël Fortin, lead singer of Orange O’clock. “Also a big thanks to Jenn Grant and to the other judges to follow the project and to trust the project also. We are so excited right now.”
Of Orange O’clock, theSEARCHLIGHTjudges have said:
“The thing about Orange O’clock that I liked is it kind of reminded me of Joy Division,” says Jenn Grant. “It’s catchy and has a deeper groove. I’ve got to go with that sweet deep groove.”
“I love to dance to music, whether it is slow or fast, and this one makes me want to dance. I love the throw-back feeling. You know, it’s like 1978,” says Saukrates.“The groove on Orange O’clock is deeper, that base is clean.”
”Orange O’clock has that station-to-station Bowie vibe to it,” says Dan Boeckner. “I like how they treat the instruments with the Orange O’clock recording too. Everything’s really isolated and it’s like disco production almost.”
Hailing from Sherbrooke, QC the band formed in 2010 and consists of the Fortin brothers, Mickaël and Raphaël, as well as childhood friend Anthony Simoneau-Dubuc. The trio has created quite a buzz in their hometown, winning a handful of contests including the 2012 Sherbrooklyn, where they took home the prize of $20,000. Since then the band has gone on to record and release their first full length album, Crazy Carnival in 2014 and have been crowned Canada’s best new act by CBC listeners and the judges.
Orange O’clock have won $20,000 worth of music equipment from Yamaha Music Canada and an opening act slot at theCBCMusic.ca Festivalat Echo Beach in Toronto, ON on May 23rd.
You can hear the music of Orange O’clock here.
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