USA: Canadian band 'The Lost Fingers' offers a brutal assessment of its new album, claiming it 'totally sucks'

Record ID: 823164

  • Title: USA: Canadian band 'The Lost Fingers' offers a brutal assessment of its new album, claiming it 'totally sucks'
  • Date: 5th February 2010
  • Summary: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FEBRUARY 03, 2010) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) BYRON MIKALOFF, 'THE LOST FINGERS' BAND MEMBER, SAYING: "That's where our name stems from, is an incident. Actually he suffered a loss of, in a fire caravan accident, his third and fourth finger. He lost the use of these two fingers so he had to redevelop a playing style with just two fingers."
  • Embargoed: 20th February 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVA4CISMLNDMVKXB0WV06QBLXJ25
  • Story Text: You'd think most emerging music artists would want to talk up their new album. Not Canadian band, 'The Lost Fingers'.
    The gypsy jazz trio is hardly 'lost' for words when it comes to their latest work 'Live From Montreal'.
    "Actually, the live album.. it totally sucks... we don't want to talk about it, because, it's, the sound is terrible," backing vocalist and guitarist, Byron Mikaloff, says.
    The band, who is currently performing in the United States, made the startling confession during a recent television interview in New York City.
    'Live From Montreal' is the band's first ever live album, and was recorded in June 2008 at the Montreal Apple store.
    "We're actually going to be trying to work things out with that legally to get it removed and re-do it, I guess," Mikaloff states, matter-of-factly.
    While the group is reluctant to talk about 'Live From Montreal', it's more than happy to promote its quirky style of music and 2008 debut album, 'Lost in the 80s'. The album features covers of 1980s hits such as Michael Jackson's 'Billie Jean', 'Touch Me' by Samantha Fox, 'You Shook Me All Night Long' by ACDC and Technotronic's 'Pump Up The Jam'.
    "I think we just grew up with that music, so we had those songs in mind and it was fun to try some of them in this very different style to see what it could sound like, basically," says lead vocalist and guitarist Christian Roberge.
    The unlikely combination of playing classic pop and rock songs to gypsy jazz has proved a hit for the trio, back home. 'Lost in the 80s' has sold more than 200,000 copies in Canada, achieving platinum status. Mikaloff says its music is slowly creeping over the border into the U.S.
    "We've got a buzz going on right now with university radio stations and we've jumped up to the Top 100 with Pump Up the Jam, so slowly but surely things are moving," Mikaloff says.
    The album has been released internationally in the U.S., Belgium, France, Mexico, Switzerland and Spain. The group hopes to charm its way through America and establish a fan base with a series of performances at smaller venues.
    "We're doing a lot of different stuff now, working on some Milli Vanilli, Iron Maiden, Dolly Parton, The Pointer Sisters, we're going to be finishing up the 80s and stuff, a little G'N'R [Guns N Roses] too," says Mikaloff.
    So why the name, 'The Lost Fingers'? The band says its title was inspired by legendary gypsy jazz musician, Django Reinhardt, who lost two of his fingers in an accident.
    "That's where our name stems from, is an incident. Actually he suffered a loss of, in a fire caravan accident, his third and fourth finger. He lost the use of these two fingers so he had to redevelop a playing style with just two fingers."
    'The Lost Fingers' is performing in New York City on February 11, with more U.S. dates to follow.
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