Flatlined

The future is now for Flatlined. The heavy rock band, based in Welland and St. Catharines, signed a recording deal with Toronto’s Voodoo Records earlier this month which will “make or break” the band, says guitarist Jimi Battle.
“This contract is the band’s future,” says Battle, a graduate of E.L. Crossley secondary School.
Flatlined has been together for 2 ½ years and is fast outstripping its roots in the Niagara Penninsula.
Lead singer Wes Stonos says the album deal will enable the band to reach new audiences in Europe and Asia, before giving the group a chance to break into the heavily populated American music market.
“The U.S. is such a dense marketplace, it’s tough to get noticed there,” says Stonos. “Once we break into other markets, we can work our way back into the U.S.”
Flatlined’s roots date back to a decade ago, when Stonos, then aged 10 met Battle and Carmen Celi at their school. Their First band together was called No Such Band. Other Bands followed, until the current configuration and membership was born in 2003.
The five-member group is made up of Stonos and Carmen Celi, both grads of Notre Dame; Dean Beaudoin, a Port High grad; Battle from Crossley and Chris Fraser.
“The name Flatlined represents the deaths of all the other bands we were in, then the rise of this new group,” says Stonos. The group is still in its early days yet. Their trust and respect for each other’s talents comes through strongly during an interview. Those years of playing, touring and learning have clearly helped create a tightly-knit group of five artists, who have definite view on what music should be and what a good band does.
Flatlined is the complete package. “I think that’s one of our best qualities,” says Stonos. “Most bands can record a good album, or perform a decent live show. But there aren’t that many that can have both qualities. There’s nothing worse than going to a show where the band does nothing.”
Flatlined’s popularity has steadily grown, and now sees them playing in well-known venues in Toronto such as the Horseshoe Tavern, the Opera House and in other southern Ontario sites in Brantford, Cambridge and elsewhere. The band has also started making inroads in the State, particularly in upstate New York cities like Buffalo.
The smaller clubs and bars Flatlined started in helped the band hone its live performance, which is a powerful mix of energy and talent. “You’ve gotta start somewhere,” says Stonos. “some of these places are fun, crazed.”
That hard work is starting to pay off, as Flatlined has played with other acts like Skindred, It Dies Today, Stemm, Klear, the Mudmen, Quiet Riot and Helix.
“They didn’t know what to make of us,” laughed Stonos of the Helix show. “We had a great time. I like to think we blew them off the stage.”
The band has strong connections in Port Colborne, where it played Stages, Moe’s, Nickel Beach and at Port High’s Battle of the Bands.
Beaudoin, the band’s drummer, used to live on Port’s Tennessee Avenue and used the street as the inspiration for a metaphoric song Tennessee Ave.
Another one of Flatlined’s strengths is the ability of all five to contribute to the creative process of writing songs. This of course was exemplified in the releasing of their initial CD in 2004. Titled “Guilty Of …, it contains 11 tracks including the band’s signature song “Shiver.” The CD is available locally at In the Mix at the Seaway Mall.
With roughtly 1,500 copies of the album sold, Flatlined hopes to build on that recording.
“We found out the hard way that rushing an album is not a good choice,” says Stonos. “that recording was a good stepping stone, but it wasn’t completely what we wanted.” Work has already begun on the new album, with 20 songs written and some pre-recording started.
“We are aiming to have it done by next summer,” says Battle, followed by a release date in the fall of 2006. A fall tour has been scaled back to allow time for work in the studio. A signing show and party will be held sometime in the near future at a venue in the Niagara Penninsula.
Other shows remain on schedule including an oct. 2 show with the Mudmen at the Lil Big Horn in Cambridge.
- The Welland Tribune

By Lori Littleton

If one charted the success of St. Catharines-based Flatlined, the graph wouldn’t resemble anything horizontal. A 45-degree angle, more like.
After two indie CDs, the group, which comprises singer Wes Stonos, 20, guitarists Carmen Celi, 24, and Jimi Battle, 23, bassist Chris Fraser, 23, and drummer Dean Beaudoin, 20, has signed on with Toronto-based Voodoo Records.
“We were all pretty surprised and very enthusiastic and excited,” Stonos said. “We’re at the point we wished we would be at (in the band’s career) … and it feels good. It’s a stepping stone from where we need to be but it’s a big stepping stone. We’re very excited.”
A trio of the self-described rockers first met as youngsters in the Ontario Conservatory of Music in Welland, where they took lessons for various instruments. There Battle, Celi and Beaudoin formed No Such Band, which played occasionally at competitions.
As teens, Battle, Celi, and Beaudoin formed Sons of Eve. The group eventually broke up, but the three wanted to continue playing so they found a vocalist in Stonos. After advertising for a bassist in the newspaper, they met fraser and Flatlined was born in 2003. “We sat down and decided what direction to go in from there,” said Stonos. “We didn’t play any shows until we had eight to 10 songs ready. We didn’t want to get a bad name for ourselves right off the bat. We wanted to have a good steady set.”
Their first gig was March 15, 2003 at the Moose Goose in Thorold. Soon after, the guys decided to work on a CD, which was released on April 20, 2004. “Guilty Of…” has since sold more than 1,500 copies and is available at Station to Station.
Though Battle completed a degree in engineering from Niagara College in the Spring, everyone else has decided to pursue the band full-time. “We all had to decide what to do,” Stonos explained. “We had a conversation and meeting about whether we should go to school or be in the band. I lucked out with these guys, who are all striving toward that final goal.”
In July, Flatlined releases 200 copies of a live limited edition CD/DVD that sold out. After inking their deal with Voodoo Records a few weeks ago, they are hard at work on their next disc.
“We were recording last week,” Battle said. “We have about 15 songs, but we have 15 to 20 more to write to make sure we have enough (for the album). We’d like to have 30 to 40 songs in preproduction and end up with 14 songs. We are going to have full production in February and the CD should be out mid-way through next year.”
The new record deal means Flatlined will also be introduced to the European, Australian and Asian markets. They plan to tour Europe in December 2006.
“We want to go to the states, but we have to hit those markets first,” Battle said. “Our goal is to get across Canada from the west to east coasts, but we’re working overseas at the same time.”
The quintet just wrapped up an Ontario tour, which also included dated in Quebec City and Montreal. They’ve been trying out their new material on their audiences.
Fans in Niagara will be able to celebrate the record deal with the band at a yet –to-be-scheduled party within the next few weeks. Check out www.flatlinedband.com for more details.
- St. Catharines Standard

“We were a little worried when we first started out,”
chuckles James Loman wryly. “When we first played
Bolero in St. Catharines it was their last night before they
closed up and no one told us. We thought we were doing
pretty well that night and people seemed pretty into it but
at the end of the night the owner told us he was shutting
down. Luckily the new owner—it’s now the Lava
Lounge—was there and offered us Wednesday nights and
that’s been one of our steady gigs ever since.”
To say things have moved quickly in the nearly three
years since the band that Loman plays guitar in,
Flatlined, started betrays a gift for understatement. Since
getting together in early 2002 Loman, co-guitarist
Carmen Celi, bassist Chris Fraser, drummer Dean
Beaudoin and singer Wes Stonos have successfully
released their first independent CD, Guilty Of…, secured
opening slots for hard rock heavies including the
Mudmen and Out Of Your Mouth, shot a video, are
planning a DVD release and begun putting together
material for their follow–up record. All this and both
Loman and Stonos say they’ve got their sights set on
much loftier aspirations. Where Flatlined is concerned, it
seems a certain amount of business savvy has come into
play. Rather than toiling diligently in the Niagara Region
(though they do play here), for example, the band has
already begun infiltrating larger markets like Buffalo and
Toronto to very receptive crowds. As well, both band
members are confident that the United States is where
they’d like to concentrate their energy. “Canada’s great
and all, but when you look at it, the Canadian bands that
have similar sounds to us are getting picked up by
American labels and starting to see quite a bit of success
down there right now while the Canadian labels we’ve
spoken to are more interested in the punk and pop
sounds,” asserts Stonos. “I think our sound is a little
closer to the Nickelbacks and Finger Elevens and the American labels are the ones that are coming up here to
find that so, to us, it seems like that’s where we should be
putting our energy. We decided a while ago that this is
what we wanted to do and if we’re going to do it, we want
to make sure we do what we think is best for us.”
In the coming year, that’s exactly what they plan to do.
Stonos says that while making their first record was a
great experience for the most part (“We had our ups and
downs, but I don’t think making any other record is as
exciting as making your first one”) the band’s sound has
changed since then into something that they are now
totally happy with and can’t wait to get it down on tape.
The band has already hammered four songs out for their
next record and is still working on more. “I think the first
album was good at the time, but the ideas that are
coming together for the second record are – to me anyway
– much, much better,” says Loman. “We’ve already played
them live a bit and they’ve been received well so it’s been
really encouraging. I’ve actually already scheduled the
release party for the next one for July 1st {laughing] to
kind of give everyone the double whammy, but none of it
is about that. When we’re done with this new album, we
want it to be a shoppable record that we can get out there
and hopefully get the level of success that we want.”
[BY BILL ADAMS]
- Pulse Niagara

You may not be familiar with the band: Flatlined, but that’s about to change very soon.
With the release of its album “Guilty Of…” in April of last year and the promise of a new album soon, Flatlined is ready to make a name for itself in Canada’s mainstream music scene. Combining emotive vocals with heavy nu-metal riffs and a solid guitar sound that pays homage to Tool, the band is quickly reviving the mainstream market for poignant hard rock.
Originally hailing from a one-track Niagara Falls music scene, lead singer Wes Stonos of Flatlined admits that the rock band’s future didn’t always look so bright.
“As a rock band, we never really fit in,” he reveals. “There was a lot of emo, screamo and punk in the scene we’re from.” “We found that we had to go elsewhere to get our start,” adds lead guitarist James Lowman. However, since the release of “Guiilty Of…” things are looking much brighter for the band. “2004 was a huge year for us,” says Stonos. “We played 96 shows this year which is five times more than last year; we released an album, we filmed a DVD, and we shot a video,” adds Lowman. It’s safe to say that our expectations were passed this year.” As a not to the future, he offers, “we’re only looking to grow further from here in 2005.”
Lowman and guitarist Carmen Celi formed Flatlined in 2000 with Dean Beaudoin, it arrived at its current lineup in 2003 after the addition of Stonos on vocals and Chris Fraser on bass. With a constantly evolving line-up, Lowman admits that Flatlined’s sounds have changed dramatically since its roots. “We used to have a more metal-type singer, but now with Wes singing, there’s far more focus on melodic vocals. We used to sound a lot like Creed.”
Often, expectations can be higher than reasonable for a relatively new rock band. More often than not, hardships or other unforeseen circumstances prevent the potential of many bands from fully being realized; however, Flatlined has received nothing but overwhelming success and buzz from its fans. And this is all following a mere two years as a full band.
Contributing to Flatlined’s quick rise to the brink of mainstream success is the group’s focus on perfecting live performances. It is evident that Flatlined has stuck by the mantra on its website, which reads: “You haven’t seen a band until you’ve seen Flatlined live.” In addition, live clips (available online) differ little from the quality of studio recordings. As Lowman proudly says, “Our live show is dynamite.”
In the past year, Flatlined has toured with big name acts such as Out Of Your Mouth and Dead Celebrity Status. However, having played on both sides of the border, Lowman has noticed differences between Canadian and American reactions.
“We noticed that American fans were a lot more open to our style of rock music than our Canadian audiences. I think it might be that Americans are used to our kind of music than Canadians.”
Looking at the band’s influences, it’s easy to understand Lowman’s claim. The band spent ample time listening to Tool, Nine Inch Nails and the Smashing Pumpkins, while covering songs from Limp Bizkit, Hoobastank and Rage Against the Machine – all of which are members of the well established American rock scene.
However, meaningful Canadian rock music should not lose hope. “Talking to other bands on tour, there definitely are some good rock scenes out there,” says Stonos. “We find that our scene is very open. We get people out to our shows from all different backgrounds and scenes.”
In contrast to Niagara Falls’ trendy-for–trend’s-sake emo/screamo/punk scence. Flatlined has certainly found its niche.
- Niagara Gazette

Out of Seattle came grunge, out of Jamaica was reggae, out of California was the surfer style, and out of Welland is contemporary punk and hardcore. The only problem is, the local dominance of the Rose City Hardcore sound has made it hard for bands of other genres to prosper.

Welland group, Flatlined, describe themselves as a straight up rock and roll band that are driven to succeed through adversity.

Wes Stonos, James Lowman and Carmen Celi used to play in a cover band over five years ago. Along the way, they split up, joined other bands, but always stayed in contact with each other.

Celi and Lowman played in a band called Sons of Eve with Dean Beaudoni in drums. They needed a singer, so they called up Stonos to join them and the basis of Flatlined was formed.

"[Flatlined represents] the death of all the other bands, and the birth of this new and improved one," said Stonos.

Influenced by Tool and Finger Eleven, they have carved out a niche in Welland.

"Being from Welland, we are kind of at a disadvantage," said Stonos. "There's a big punk scene, and a big hardcore scene, so it was a little difficult because we didn't have any other bands to play with."

The guys took matters into their own hands and have started to play Toronto, Hamilton and other surrounding areas that have a bigger music scene. They also have a tour set up in Los Angeles.

Flatlined is slowly feeling the success their hard work has brought and are working on a new CD to open a new chapter of their life. The new songs are going to be more emotion based as the past CD, Guilty Of..., was based mostly on events that happened to members of the band.

"'Best Intentions' involves the death of a friend, 'Shiver' is about a stalker," said Lowman.

For the new CD, they are hoping to write songs which reflect on events that happen to the band as a whole, because they now have spent more time together and are feeling that 'band bond. 'Locally, Flatlined play Lava Lounge weekly and the size of the crowds may fluctuate, but that doesn't effect the quality of the performances. There is one rare aspect of Flatlined which should not be missed at their live performances, and that is that they are a rock band where the singer can actually sing.

"We throw one hell of a live show," said Lowman. "It doesn't matter how many people are there, 1000 or 10. It's just about playing great music and have fun while doing it."

Whatever happened to those bands that would smash their equipment and spit on the crowd, like The Who and Sex Pistols? They are still alive in the Flatlined spirit. Live shows for Flatlined sometimes involve injuries and they've got the battle scars to prove it.

"I put my tooth through my lip while playing. It was the first song of a six song set, I chipped a tooth at the CD release party, too," said Lowmanand and Stonos.

So, what lies in the future oforFlatlined? Upcoming shows in Toronto, a new CD which is in pre-production and release date early in the new year, a DVD of live shows for November, a showcase in Los Angeles at The Gig, and couple of shows in New York.

"[We want to] make it big, and play big venues, and to be able to be in the green. We are in debt and have invested more in this band, so maybe that's what drive us. We've got nothing to lose."

Flatlined play Opera House in Toronto on Oct. 9 and every Wednesday at the Lava Lounge in St. Catharines.

- The Brock Press

*** Signed to Voodoo Records, Distributed by Fontana North/Universal - GENERAL

*** Over 28 783 fans on it’s North American Myspace account alone.
*** Over 220 000 fans on all other web sites combined
*** Over 162 live shows in 2006
*** The band is currently on a 37 show, cross Canada Tour
*** With dates already set for 2nd tour this summer they are on route to 180 gigs this year
- WEB/TOURING

Niagara hard rockers Flatlined play their final show of '07' tonight at Toronto's Opera House, wrapping up their third tour of Canada this year. They share the bill with 6 other bands. Tickets are $15 and doors are at 8pm. - The Niagara Falls Review