Greg Janssen
Toronto, Ontario, Canada | INDIE
Music
Press
"The Urban Aesthetics [EP] is a dizzying musical journey that takes listeners through jangly pop, driving rock and roll, folksy social commentary, a rousing wall-of-sound epic and beyond. It is an extraordinary document that covers more ground in five songs than many a band has mustered over the course of a decades-long career." - Allan Wigney, THE OTTAWA SUN
"this, of course, is the reason the EP is astonishingly good: the songs are great. [...] Songs like "See The Sunshine Through The Haze" and "Don't Go Takin' It To Heart" are radio-friendly pop anthems (think Stars), while "You Get Used To It" has a bit of a twang to it. The two sides come together on "Heavier Than Heaven", and the results are so spectacularly, gorgeously catchy that it seems incredibly likely that The Urban Aesthetics will be getting heard far beyond Ottawa's borders very, very soon." - i (heart) music blog
Their sound is refreshing, without pretension. - Ottawa XPress
Their sound is refreshing, without pretension. - Ottawa XPress
"The Urban Aesthetics have collected here all of the important parts of an indie pop lover's dream: pretentious, long-winded name; illustrated album cover; intelligent lyrics; violins and trumpets; cheery female back-up vocals. ... It'll be interesting to see what sort of sound they settle into with their first LP."
- CHARTattack
"The Urban Aesthetics have collected here all of the important parts of an indie pop lover's dream: pretentious, long-winded name; illustrated album cover; intelligent lyrics; violins and trumpets; cheery female back-up vocals. ... It'll be interesting to see what sort of sound they settle into with their first LP."
- CHARTattack
Discography
- LISTEN TO GREG JANSSEN II (EP): released May 14, 2013
Tracks from this EP in rotation on Jango.com internet radio
- LISTEN TO GREG JANSSEN (EP): released May 14, 2013
Tracks from this EP are in rotation on Jango.com internet radio, and have been included on Tunecore compilation THE POWER OF INDEPENDENCE, VOL. 2
- THE URBAN AESTHETICS (EP): released Oct 2, 2008
Tracks from this EP placed in TV show Around The Next Bend, and played on CBC, college, and internet radio
Photos
Bio
His songs have been covered by Juno-winner Dan Mangan (“See The Sunshine Through The Haze”), placed prominently on satellite TV show Around the Next Bend (“Heavier Than Heaven”), and played extensively on CBC, college, and internet radio. He has been profiled in Canadian Musician magazine and has received rave reviews for his FACTOR-funded Urban Aesthetics EP (2008) in the Ottawa Sun, Chart Attack, and the indie music blogosphere. His promising start in the Ottawa music scene of the late-aughts ended badly, with a broken-up band, an unplayed NXNE 2009 showcase, and a fruitless recording expedition to Marin County CA, courtesy of a generous arts grant from the City of Ottawa.
Emerging from the ashes of that crash-and-burn experience, Greg Janssen is back with a new career in a new town and an indie rock mixtape in two parts. Relocating to Toronto and recording in between classes at the University of Toronto's School of Graduate Studies, the artist has crafted the best record yet of his skill as a songwriter, performer, and producer. Featuring five songs ranging from apocalyptic Black Keys hard rock ("Time Falls Apart") to Feist-y upbeat pop ("Don't Go Takin' It To Heart") to expansive Nick Drake-ish folk balladry ("My True Love Has Gone Away"), Listen To Greg Janssen brings the singer-songwriter to life with the bombast of Brian Wilson and the electronic tinge of Berlin-era Bowie. Barely out of the gate, the mixtape's opening track has already been selected from more than two thousand applicants for inclusion on the Tunecore artist compilation The Power of Independence, Vol. 2 (available at Amazon MP3).
Listen To Greg Janssen II, meanwhile, mixed to ragged indie perfection by Ohbijou's James Bunton, offers a somewhat more mellow counterpoint and covers an entirely different stylistic range, from majestic indie rock instrumental ("Now Is Not The Time") to serene electro soundscape ("Strange Double Life") to noisy protest ("The Man On Top"), climaxing in a heartfelt duet with his wife on a song he sang to her at their wedding ("Can You See The Good In Me?"). With the new mixtapes digitally available via major music retailers, Janssen is looking forward to kicking off summer 2013 with live appearances at Toronto’s Fringe Festival and, from there, to conquering the indie music world one listen at a time.
Band Members
Links
