Wax Mannequin was born in the smoke and industry of Hamilton, Ontario; a damaged, underdog town; a perfect breeding ground for strange, variant things. Incorporating folk, scrappy prog-metal and a tireless creative ethic, Wax infused his local influences with road-broken experience to forge something new.
Band-backed, or solo (accompanied by heavy devices and an angry electric guitar) Wax Mannequin has been touring incessantly within Canada (and Australia) over the past five years. Oblivious to the trend and trap of the big cities and the cultural propaganda machines, Wax Mannequin now finds himself a forerunner in a strange new movement: roaming recluses and attention-seekers -- solo-performers, equipped with laptops, assorted instruments and decaying minivans, making new sounds, informed by hard travel and rough living.
Wax's thought-provoking live performances and acclaimed recordings have garnered the fervent support of the creative underclass in his home country as well as a burgeoning international reputation.
“By training his inner animal enough to let it run free with his muse, Wax Mannequin has given birth to a brilliant bestial gem of audio mythology.”
-Exclaim! (Toronto/Canada))| Review of Orchard and Ire | August 2007
"Part wandering minstrel, part rock animal, Wax Mannequin combines a fine sense of prog-rock parody with intense sincerity and lyrical smarts. He will indoctrinate you with chilling harmonies, absurd lyrics and the almighty power of the guitar."
- dB Magazine (Australia) | September 2004
"I could start off with a catch-all like 'shockingly good songwriter' or 'eclectic artist,' and while that would partly describe Hamilton's Wax Mannequin, it would do the man a great disservice to leave it at that."
-Now Magazine (Toronto)| Disc of the Week | JUNE 28 - JULY 4 2007 | VOL. 26 NO. 43 | Rating: NNNN
Wax Mannequin has been here for something like one hundred centuries, but right now, Wax Mannequin is the only knife-face. He is the fighter. He is roses out of his skin that bleed him as he pulls. But most important, he is music of the biggest fight style. It’s where you punch and slice your own dying stuff into fresh, ripe meats for selling and sharing. It’s where you give everything you had for an instant in his arms. Because he can seriously change the way you feel inside.
Do you know the painting that you see on some greeting cards where all of the animals are sitting together, stoic and proud in the forest, and there in the background, rising in the sky, it's the earth? You have to ask “why aren't the animals trying to fight and eat each other? They are fucking enemies!” and “why is the earth rising into the sky? If the earth is in the sky, then where the fuck are we?” That shit is Wax Mannequin. Kind of lame... but so important and gripping.
Wax Mannequin is on his fourth record. The first two were quiet bedroom recordings featuring eerie computer melodies and other noises. With his third -- the Price -- Wax brought powerful rock abilities into the studio. It's a record of supreme catchiness and ridiculous aggression. It is performed with great focus and sincerity. The songs sound like jokes at first, but they are serious. It's kind of an extreme form of joke that pushes through funny and becomes serious all over again -- but serious in a loud, dizzy, pukey way. The dizziness and sincerity communicate the complexities of being a human in interesting times -- the insecurity, the doubt, the triumph and the wisdom gained through experience.
Wax Mannequin's fourth disc -- Orchard & Ire -- is being released now on Infinite Heat. This record does many of the same things as The Price, but this time, as you listen, the music places the white hot sun in your spine. Heavy, dramatic, melody-driven songs like 'Everything Proper' and 'Animals Jump' counter pose surreally subdued tunes like 'Almost Everyone' and 'Animals Come Home'. Lyrical themes interweave: the absurd becomes profound and the funny becomes sad as the careful listener is drawn deeper into the ridiculous yet strangely logical mythology that Wax has been weaving since he began.
He has been touring back and forth in Canada for the past five years. He also brought his shit to Australia. In the beginning he played his classical guitar and gave people cards where they collected points and "super powers" for coming to his shows. But, disturbed by the cultish success of his "system", Wax stripped down the shenanigans, and upped the supreme power by adding heavy machines and an angry electric guitar. Now the roses come out of his skin when he gets excited. They are a problem, and he throws them at the audience, but it hurts and they keep coming back.
If you can deal with that, Wax Mannequin will change your life. If not, you get to eat a blade.
wax mannequin is siick. every time you come to sudbury i hope ill make it home with one of those roses but alas i never do. next time you're coming through these parts you can count on me being there.
Hey man. I totally enjoyed the couple shows. Sorry me and my friends had to take off so fast at better than freds. I hope you enjoy the cd i gave you and i hope to see you again when you come through GP.
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You must have a huge bulk collection of fake red roses to tape to yourself for performances. Have you got an entire room of your home dedicated to housing them all?
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