The Goodluck Assembly

"With their personal door-to-door delivery system and this knockout of a debut CD, the monster that is The Goodluck Assembly simply begs for love."
Guillaume Moffet - Ottawa Express/Voir - The Express/Voir

"With their personal door-to-door delivery system and this knockout of a debut CD, the monster that is The Goodluck Assembly simply begs for love."
Guillaume Moffet - Ottawa Express/Voir - The Express/Voir

“We’ve got some CDs and stuff. We don’t want any money for them. If you guys wanna hang out, have a drink, and talk shit, come and get a CD. They’re free…” — Mike Libbos, The Goodluck Assembly

It used to be that bands ignored their audience after a show, sneaking out the door to avoid the fans clamoring for their attention, autograph, or a lock of hair after their sweaty, hormone arousing performance. It helped give the band a veil of exclusivity, a play on supply and demand. But now? Now bands are in the business of selling t-shirts. (Read: Dear Musicians: Please Be Brilliant or Get Out of The Way)

Enter Canada’s The Goodluck Assembly. This band is something special, and not just because their music is a beautifully emotional cup of angst with whipped yearning on top. And it’s not because they give their music away for free. No, they go further than that: they want to actually to meet every single one of their fans. Check it: a couple of months ago, The Goodluck Assembly hand-delivered their hot-off-the-burner CD Glowscape to 500 local fans (they’re based in Ottawa) who emailed them their address. (Here are videos of them doing this in Toronto and Ottawa.) Gimmick? Maybe. But, honestly, if a band of good-looking men appeared on my doorstep to shake my hand, give me a lush CD and wholeheartedly thank me for the opportunity to meet me, they’d have a fan for life.

All the songs on Glowscape are available for free on the The Goodluck Assembly’s website: thegoodluckassembly.com Want the CD? I’m sure if you asked nicely via their contact page, you’d get one. They’re bad ass like that.

http://thegoodluckassembly.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/GLAband
http://www.facebook.com/TheGoodluckassembly - Pampelmoose Miusic Media

“We’ve got some CDs and stuff. We don’t want any money for them. If you guys wanna hang out, have a drink, and talk shit, come and get a CD. They’re free…” — Mike Libbos, The Goodluck Assembly

It used to be that bands ignored their audience after a show, sneaking out the door to avoid the fans clamoring for their attention, autograph, or a lock of hair after their sweaty, hormone arousing performance. It helped give the band a veil of exclusivity, a play on supply and demand. But now? Now bands are in the business of selling t-shirts. (Read: Dear Musicians: Please Be Brilliant or Get Out of The Way)

Enter Canada’s The Goodluck Assembly. This band is something special, and not just because their music is a beautifully emotional cup of angst with whipped yearning on top. And it’s not because they give their music away for free. No, they go further than that: they want to actually to meet every single one of their fans. Check it: a couple of months ago, The Goodluck Assembly hand-delivered their hot-off-the-burner CD Glowscape to 500 local fans (they’re based in Ottawa) who emailed them their address. (Here are videos of them doing this in Toronto and Ottawa.) Gimmick? Maybe. But, honestly, if a band of good-looking men appeared on my doorstep to shake my hand, give me a lush CD and wholeheartedly thank me for the opportunity to meet me, they’d have a fan for life.

All the songs on Glowscape are available for free on the The Goodluck Assembly’s website: thegoodluckassembly.com Want the CD? I’m sure if you asked nicely via their contact page, you’d get one. They’re bad ass like that.

http://thegoodluckassembly.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/GLAband
http://www.facebook.com/TheGoodluckassembly - Pampelmoose Miusic Media

Before even hearing a note from this Ottawa band, their fashion sensibility evokes late-70’s New York bohemia, but The Goodluck Assembly is really what an indie-rock band should be, soaring melodies bridged with intoxicating energy. Renowned for hand-delivering CD’s to those who request it, this five-piece played straight-up rock songs mixed with pop-oriented hooks and a hint of post-punk revivalism (and well-timed screams). These guys brim with potential with their chart-friendly combination of flamboyance and sweeping intensity. - Lonely Vagabond

Social media is so impersonal. That’s why the members of the Good luck Assembly are hand delivering copies of Glowscape, their new CD, to anyone who wants one. Send them your address and they promise to show up on your doorstep.

“We just thought it was a good idea to meet everybody on a personal basis and rekindle a connection between the artist and the listener,” says Mike Libbos, guitarist in the Ottawa-based indie-rock quartet. “There are so many avenues you can take with the Internet, but we just think nothing beats a face-to-face meeting. The face-to-face meeting is what starts everything.”

So far, the band has delivered more than 500 CDs to homes in Ottawa and Toronto, earning plenty of smiles and hugs along the way (and some money; the cost is what you can afford). A video compilation of the door-to-door mission in Ottawa (http://www.youtube.com/thegoodluckassembly) shows fans reacting with delight at the unorthodox method of distribution. It’s clear they’re anticipating something special.

Indeed, Glowscape will not disappoint. It’s a terrific disc, full of well-crafted pop-rock songs that glisten with impassioned vocals, muscular guitars and sleek keyboards. Concise nuggets like Find Me Out and Dream of Something may remind you of REM, while the epic track 26th Century follows a path trod by the likes of Radiohead and The Stills. On the softer end of the indie-rock spectrum are the songs Believing In and Beautiful Unknown.

The album is the culmination of three years of effort from the band formerly known as Sojourn. Made up of Mike Libbos, his younger brother Bruce on guitar and vocals, and high-school friends Brad Snider and Matt Viau, Sojourn recorded an EP in 2007 and then took the grand prize in the annual band-development contest run by radio station Live 88.5. The Big Money Shot purse that year was worth close to $300,000 in gear and services.

In 2009, there was another splash of attention when they wrote a song (and shot a video) directed at Bluesfest boss Mark Monahan in hopes of landing a gig at Ottawa’s biggest summer music festival. The campaign was entertaining, although unsuccessful. Not long afterward, the band’s name was changed, mostly because there were other bands named Sojourn that had already claimed the web addresses.

Much of the Big Money Shot winnings went into recording Glowscape with producer Russ Mackay in Toronto. One song, Find Me Out, was co-written with Wide Mouth Mason’s Shaun Verreault and recorded in Vancouver. Various styles of management and methods of distribution were explored, but the band members decided to look after their own affairs.

For the Libbos brothers, who grew up in Maxville, being in a band is all they ever wanted. “We grew up in the early to mid-’90s, with all the alternative rock. That was the best music in our lives,” Mike says. “Music was all we did in high school. It seemed so normal. Everyone you knew was playing an instrument or playing in a band, so it was natural to be playing music. That’s always been our dream.

“We did other things,” he adds. “We went to school and had careers for a while, but it’s all about what makes you happy, so we thought we might as well shoot for the stars and try to do something we love.”

After a CD-release gig at the Live Lounge on Jan. 21, the plan for 2011 is to book tours around requests for CDs. “We are planning on delivering as many as humanly possible, no matter how far and wide,” says Mike. Tours of the East Coast and U.S are already in the works.

For a copy of the disc delivered to your door, e-mail the band at thegoodluckassembly@hotmail.com.

Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/entertainment/Good+luck+great+music/4133260/story.html#ixzz1DNnrZ6w7
- The Ottawa Citizen - Lynn Saxberg

Social media is so impersonal. That’s why the members of the Good luck Assembly are hand delivering copies of Glowscape, their new CD, to anyone who wants one. Send them your address and they promise to show up on your doorstep.

“We just thought it was a good idea to meet everybody on a personal basis and rekindle a connection between the artist and the listener,” says Mike Libbos, guitarist in the Ottawa-based indie-rock quartet. “There are so many avenues you can take with the Internet, but we just think nothing beats a face-to-face meeting. The face-to-face meeting is what starts everything.”

So far, the band has delivered more than 500 CDs to homes in Ottawa and Toronto, earning plenty of smiles and hugs along the way (and some money; the cost is what you can afford). A video compilation of the door-to-door mission in Ottawa (http://www.youtube.com/thegoodluckassembly) shows fans reacting with delight at the unorthodox method of distribution. It’s clear they’re anticipating something special.

Indeed, Glowscape will not disappoint. It’s a terrific disc, full of well-crafted pop-rock songs that glisten with impassioned vocals, muscular guitars and sleek keyboards. Concise nuggets like Find Me Out and Dream of Something may remind you of REM, while the epic track 26th Century follows a path trod by the likes of Radiohead and The Stills. On the softer end of the indie-rock spectrum are the songs Believing In and Beautiful Unknown.

The album is the culmination of three years of effort from the band formerly known as Sojourn. Made up of Mike Libbos, his younger brother Bruce on guitar and vocals, and high-school friends Brad Snider and Matt Viau, Sojourn recorded an EP in 2007 and then took the grand prize in the annual band-development contest run by radio station Live 88.5. The Big Money Shot purse that year was worth close to $300,000 in gear and services.

In 2009, there was another splash of attention when they wrote a song (and shot a video) directed at Bluesfest boss Mark Monahan in hopes of landing a gig at Ottawa’s biggest summer music festival. The campaign was entertaining, although unsuccessful. Not long afterward, the band’s name was changed, mostly because there were other bands named Sojourn that had already claimed the web addresses.

Much of the Big Money Shot winnings went into recording Glowscape with producer Russ Mackay in Toronto. One song, Find Me Out, was co-written with Wide Mouth Mason’s Shaun Verreault and recorded in Vancouver. Various styles of management and methods of distribution were explored, but the band members decided to look after their own affairs.

For the Libbos brothers, who grew up in Maxville, being in a band is all they ever wanted. “We grew up in the early to mid-’90s, with all the alternative rock. That was the best music in our lives,” Mike says. “Music was all we did in high school. It seemed so normal. Everyone you knew was playing an instrument or playing in a band, so it was natural to be playing music. That’s always been our dream.

“We did other things,” he adds. “We went to school and had careers for a while, but it’s all about what makes you happy, so we thought we might as well shoot for the stars and try to do something we love.”

After a CD-release gig at the Live Lounge on Jan. 21, the plan for 2011 is to book tours around requests for CDs. “We are planning on delivering as many as humanly possible, no matter how far and wide,” says Mike. Tours of the East Coast and U.S are already in the works.

For a copy of the disc delivered to your door, e-mail the band at thegoodluckassembly@hotmail.com.

Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/entertainment/Good+luck+great+music/4133260/story.html#ixzz1DNnrZ6w7
- The Ottawa Citizen - Lynn Saxberg