The Dreadful Starlings
Toronto, Ontario, Canada | Established. Jan 01, 2010 | SELF
Music
Press
The more I listen to The Dreadful Starlings, the more I hear iconic rock roots —check out their newest EP “Shack Up With The Downside”– a bit of The Guess Who with Chasing Birds (some lovely pure electric riffs), and some CCR’ish bluesy alt-rock with “Breathe Easy”. One of the coolest tunes on the EP is “Bridges Burn” which again reminds me of a young Lennon writing for the Beatles—kudos to Vee and his spot on lyrics, soft harmonies and just the right amount of electric backdrop. Hard to believe these kids were not born in the 60s. “Runover by a Train” starts a tad gimmicky and then BAM—country pop? No, punk-country-rock? No—Hill Billy Punk Pop! Holy moly I think we have a new genre: Starling Pop! You can watch a music video of Vee performing their first track, “Rigamarole Rock” on their website http://thedreadfulstarlings.com or swing by Youtube. I want that guitar Iliya! This EP is well worth the 5 measly buck purchase. It’s not over processed or excessively produced. In fact, it’s simply pure fun. - Listen Up Indie!
The Cameron House played as the opening venue on the The Rainboots and RocknRoll Tour featuring Brooklyn Doran, Jessica Speziale and Iliya Vee. Unfortunately missing the opening set of Doran, I still managed to see her play as all three performers helped each other out. Watching as the soulful Speziale strummed her acoustic guitar as Doran kept the beat with an egg shaker as she combined with Vee on guitar to have high and low end harmonies.
When it came turn for Vee to take the lead he regaled us with a mix of his solo songs and some from his band The Dreadful Starlings, he even threw in a cover of the gentle Beatles song Norwegian Wood. Vee’s style changed up the pace a bit for the night with fuzzed out reverb to bring a bit of grit to his set. The night was also in celebration to encourage the crowd to vote in the CBC Music Searchlight where all three were in the running, you can see Speziale’s profile HERE, Doran’s profile HERE and the Dreadful Starlings HERE. - Live In Limbo
It’s been almost two years since I first wrote about energetic songwriter of Pop substance Iliya Vee and his band The Dreadful Starlings as part of a little note with the show listings for Tuesday March 25, 2014.
As I wrote at the time, my interest had been piqued by the name of the group so I checked out their website and discovered a couple of tracks that mightily impressed me, to the point where I declared that Vee (born Iliya Vukadinovic) “is a budding songwriting alt-Pop star you want to hear right now.”
I’ve had a chance to check out a couple of Vee’s tunes from the new collection, titled Shack Up With The Downside, and have to say that my 2014 predictions about his future seem a pretty presciently safe bet.
His lyrics are clever, with creative rhyming and have punchy substance, while the tunes are catchy and have a familiar construction while also feeling fresh and often innovative, keeping the songs moving in a natural way that feels inevitable and fulfilling. - Toronto Moon Magazine
While preparing listings each week I’ve been finding myself looking forward to discovering which TO indie talents will be featured in that Tuesday’s showcase at The Painted Lady in Ossi-Parkdale. Promoters, A Babe Music —which appears to be an actual babe (club liaison Angela Faithful) as well as a collective of fellow creative multi-disciplinary artists— each week assemble three or four acts, many of which I’d never heard of before seeing them listed on the club’s website but whose names, it often develops, I soon start seeing popping up doing sets in other venues.
I don’t always have time to check out the websites or music of the various names (it would help if there were live links to the artists’ sites on the club’s) but occasionally when I do and a name piques my curiosity, I take a looksee. That’s how I found out about Iliya Vee and his band The Dreadful Starlings, who are part of tonight’s lineup at the PL. Trust me, this guy (who also plays as part of Jessica Speziale’s band on occasion) is a budding songwriting alt-Pop star you want to hear right now. -17 - Toronto Moon - Gary 17
Discography
Shack Up With The Downside: Released Feb 18th, 2016, this five song EP features songs by all four contributing songwriters to The Dreadful Starlings; Iliya Vee, Nate Davis, Dr. Marvin Keys and Tim Clarke.
Murmurations: Realeased May 6th 2013, this is the first full-length release of original material by Iliya Vee and J. Christine.
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Bio
The Dreadful Starlings' music encompasses many themes and displays a variety of emotions. The band are influenced by groups such as Sam Roberts Band, Joel Plaskett Emergency, Arcade Fire, Midlake, Procol Harum, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Beatles, The Moody Blues, Jefferson Airplane, James Gang, Pixies, and The Velvet Underground, among many others. The band strives to deliver the material powerfully and intelligibly, with emphasis on both musical ideas and lyrical content.
Typically performing as a 4 piece Rock'N'Roll outfit, The Dreadful Starlings deliver an all-original, high energy show. With a solid foundation of material ranging from dymanic punk to the more ponderous, lengthy rock ballad, the band is hot off the release of their latest EP: 'Shack Up With The Downside'. Although this is not the band's first release (See Murmurations, 2013) the new EP features tracks by all four current songwriting members of the group; Nate Davis, Dr. Marvin Keys, Iliya Vee, and Rory Fireplace.
The Dreadful Starlings' debut 10-track album Murmurations was recorded from October 2012 to February 2013 at On Parr Studio in Toronto, and was released on May 6th 2013 at the legendary Horseshoe Tavern. It is a collection of material by songwriters Iliya Vee (guitar,vox) and J. Christine (bass, vox) since the band's inception in 2009. With the release of the album, J. Christine left the group to pursue additional artistry. The Dreadful Starlings continue to perform and record with an adjusted repertoire and lineup.
Band Members
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