FACTOR just aproved us. Therefore, it’s official… Tin Star Orphans will return to the studio in December to record our sophomore album!

Tentatively titled The Days of Blinding Fear, the record will feature material that we’ve been crafting over the past year, as well as some brand new songs.

Here’s what we’ve got planned:

1. Jaw Wired Shut
2. Year Of The Wave
3. We Are Lions
4. Fire
5. Fighter
6. Men With Guns
7. Three Cheers For The Coward
8. Deadly Medley
9. Hand Me Down
10. Someday Tourniquet

We’re brimming with excitement and look forward to beginning preparations next week!

Stay tuned…

- Zachary (October 9, 2009)

We will be appearing live at Yonge and Dundas Square (Friday Sept 11, at 6pm) in celebration of TIFF and in support the theatrical release of, Suck. The film, which makes use of TSO’s single, Let You Down, stars Malcolm McDowell and Dave Foley and includes onscreen appearances by such musical luminaries as Iggy Pop, Alice Cooper, Henry Rollins and Moby (to name a few).  Also appearing will be LA’s Burning Brides and Toronto’s own, Blue Peter.

Todd Harrison has decided to leave the band to focus on other interests. We completely support Todd in this decision and there is nothing but respect and honour between him and the rest of the boys. He has been a true brother in arms. Todd’s commitment to TSO has been amazing. He has single-handedly maintained our website since the beginning, updating fans with personal reminders and afterthoughts. His energy and humor in rehearsal and during shows will never be forgotten.

On a personal note, Todd is one of my dearest frinds and I will sincerely miss his support and camaraderie on-stage and behind the scenes. I know I speak for all of us when I say: Thank You, Todd. We love you and we’ll miss you, buddy.

W.C.O.C.  FOREVER!

- Zachary (August 9, 2009)

The new stuff has a bit of a different feel than the tunes on Yonder. Traces of the twang remain, but the scope and the sound is a bit bigger. The arrangements are along the lines of some of the other newer songs we’ve been playing for the past few months, like “Jaw Wired Shut” and “Someday Tourniquet.”

Maybe it’s lame to say something like this about music by a band you play in, but whatever: I friggin’ love these songs. They’re just so…epic. Even the short ones. Playing them makes me want to jump out of my skin.

Hope you’ll like them as much as we do.

– Todd (July 29, 2009)

You can click on the poster to see/grab a bigger version of it. Perhaps it would look nice on your corkboard at work, right next to that tenacious kitten hanging onto a branch (who put that there anyway?).

After the intensity of NXNE, we’re looking forward to playing a show that’s truly “ours” — where we can stretch out the set a bit, and not have to frantically set up and tear down our gear. Expect to hear at least a half dozen new songs, including one that we’ve never played before (well, actually, Zach played it during our NXNE showcases at College Park and the airport, but this’ll be the official unveiling).

We learned a lot from our festival experience. We learned that five showcases in three days is a lot, but is the kind of thing that makes or breaks a band. We were also reminded that, although it’s fun and comfortable and in many ways logical to play gigs with bands you know and love (which is what we almost always do, especially for Toronto shows), it’s often valuable to expand the circle a bit and play with people you might otherwise never think to work with. Cue that “the more you know” rainbow they used to show on TV.

See you in the Junction on July 18th. Come at 9pm, and use what money you might have otherwise earmarked for a cover charge — and then some — to avail yourself of the fine refreshments offered by our gracious hosts.

On Tuesday, we’re at College Park at noon and Terminal 3 at Pearson Airport at 3:30pm. These sets will feature a super-stripped-down version of the band.

All five of us will be at Supermarket at 9:45pm on Wednesday with The Lovely Feathers, Derek Miller, and The Reason.

Then, on Thursday (though, technically, it’ll be early Friday morning), we play two late-night sets on two different stages in three hours. Call it our Extended Last Call Celebration Tour of Queen West. Drinks are served ’til 4am at most Toronto bars during NXNE.

We start at the Cadillac Lounge (1296 Queen St. W.) at 1am, following Ayla Brook, Bowery Boy Blue, David Newbould and The Hunting Horns. Then we pack up our shit and flee like jilting lovers down the street to the Horseshoe (368 Queen St. W.) for a 3am set, preceded by Spookey Ruben, The Burning Hell, United Steel Workers of Montreal, The King Khan & BBQ Show, Health and Opopo.

We were worried for about five seconds that playing two shows so close together would have disastrous consequences. But the Beatles played for, like, 12 hours straight in Hamburg, big bands in dance halls routinely do three, four full sets in a night, and the Vivian Girls had 18 showcases at SXSW earlier this year. We like to think of our NXNE shows as a slightly less insane variation on this theme. See you in the wee small hours.

– Todd (June 6, 2009)

We have all kinds of fun and shenanigans planned, including special guest performers and a full set of songs both old and new. Graham Wright (from Tokyo Police Club) and his band are also performing.

Doors are at 9pm. Cover is $10. See you there.

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We had a great time. The XM people are very cool, and their studios come complete with all the Red Bull (!) and table hockey (!!!) a band could ever want. Still, though, playing on the radio feels kinda weird. It’s halfway between a recording studio and a gig; you get a headphone mix, and you need to do things like stand by while the recordist saves the session, but it’s still meant to have the spontaneous feel of a live performance. I found myself taking far fewer “chances” than I might do at a show, since the notes I was playing were being recorded for broadcast (and, probably, Internet perpetuity), instead of dissolving into the beer-soaked ether of a rock club. Also, there was far less dancing and jumping around than normal because, as they say, radio is in black and white.

The performance space at XM is at street level, which means you can see the hot girls that pass by the windows — and they can see you, especially if you’re our casanova drummer, Mr. Johnny Rowe (who, according to the host of the Verge, who interviewed us, made eyes at a passerby during one of our songs). It’s a broadcast model invented by Moses Znaimer for Citytv and MuchMusic and used to great effect by Edge 102, and it adds to the aforementioned weirdness — providing equal parts excitement and distraction.

We did five tunes, and talked about the record, and upcoming gigs, and how bands connect and interact with their audiences. We’re looking forward to hearing the finished product. Listen for us on The Verge sometime next month, and keep your eye on this site after that for excerpts from the session.

– Todd (May 12, 2009)

Directed by Sammy Ray Welch
Filmed at Chemical Sound, Toronto

We’re playing three very different Toronto shows this month to celebrate the release of our album, Yonder, on Sparks Music.

Here are the show details:

Tuesday, May 5
Horseshoe Tavern
370 Queen St. W., Toronto
doors at 10pm | no cover
w/ The Balconies and Bella Clava
On the day our album is released, we’re playing the Edge 102.1 Nu Music Nite.

Sunday, May 10
Whippersnapper Gallery
587A College St., Toronto
doors at 3pm | PWYC
w/ Boys Who Say No
Facebook
A special matinee show for the whole family. We can’t necessarily promise to play quieter than usual, but we can promise to play…well…earlier.

Friday, May 29
The Rivoli
334 Queen St. W., Toronto
doors at 9pm | $TBA
w/ Graham Wright (of Tokyo Police Club)
Facebook
This is the official release party for Yonder, so we thought it fitting to return to one of our favourite Toronto clubs, the Rivoli. Expect an extended set of favourites, new stuff, and a few surprises.