The Bankes Brothers & Vox Rea

The Bankes Brothers & Vox Rea

w/ Nicky Mackenzie

Friday February 2nd
Upstairs Cabaret
7:00PM

The Bankes Brothers are ready to jump back on stage in Febuary 2024 for the hometown crowd, and they’re bringing Vancouver’s Vox Rea along for the ride! The two acts have forged a new musical alliance and are now known to create magic on stage.

See you on February 4th for this “brothers meet sisters” co-headline bill!

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The Bankes Brothers:
With the release of their forthcoming In Waves EP, The Bankes Brothers are about to light up Canada’s indie-rock scene and ignite audiences everywhere.

The Victoria, BC four-piece—brothers Nelson and Morgan Bankes on vocals and guitar, lead guitarist Carson Cleaver, and drummer Gray Oxley—formed in a pool hall one Friday night in 2017. Less than a week later, they played their first gig. Delivering a dynamic set list ranging from Otis Redding to Talking Heads, the former high school classmates were overwhelmed by an undeniable musical chemistry. Within three days of the first show, they had written a handful of original songs, including an early version of “See Me Run”, the EP’s soulful, swelling closing track.

Determined to grow their own sound, over the next year the band played every gig available—from community fairs to jazz clubs—and rapidly built a reputation for wailing new life into classic hits. This acclaim landed the band a residency at the former Canoe Club in 2019, where they sharpened their live show every weekend in front of raucous audiences—until the pandemic abruptly pulled the plug. Filled with the electricity and drive of their live shows, the band used the pressure cooker of lockdown to channel their creative energy into writing fresh songs. When the world opened back up many months later, The Bankes Brothers came bursting out with a refined sense of direction and purpose.

Vox Rea:
Features Kate Kurdyak (lead vocals/piano/guitar/violin) and Lauren Kurdyak (vocals/piano/percussion). The two sisters released their debut album, To Bring You My Heart, on 604 Records in 2017 under the name “The Katherines.” The album garnered over a million spins on Spotify with songs featured on playlists including New Music Friday, Pop All Day, Hot Hits Canada, Indie Pop Chillout and the Canada Viral 50 chart. Their songs were also featured on TV shows Orphan Black, Reboot, and The Order. The album attracted media attention from Vice, MTV, the Vancouver Sun and the National Post. The band also performed on morning shows in Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver.

After a hiatus to study philosophy in the mountains, the band resurfaced under the moniker, Vox Rea, in the fall of 2020. The new name’s intentional ambiguity allowed for an identity beyond the stereotype of being labelled a “girl-band” and represents the reclamation of their creative control. Every part of the project – the music, the image, and the message – is created by the band. Vox Rea focuses on art as an experience as opposed to a product and their music chronicles the odyssey of a group of artists trying to come to terms with their generation’s place in the human story. Themes of addiction, self-doubt, lust, identity, independence and grief form the undercurrent of lyrics that are deeply introspective. Hell bent on creating a meaningful life amidst the siren songs of consumerism and efficiency, Vox Rea believes in the revolutionary power of art.

The band’s special brand of noir pop blends string arrangements and harmonies into the dreamy collection of songs on their self-titled debut. “Vox Rea” was written in collaboration with fellow Canadian artists Luca Fogale, Begonia and Joël, and produced by Connor Seidel and Tim Buron (Charlotte Cardin, Matt Holubowski), JUNO nominee Derek Hoffman (Arkells, RALPH, The Elwins) and multi-platinum producer Joel Stouffer (Dragonette, Kayla Diamond).

Since the release of their first single “Dose Me Up” in 2020, Vox Rea has garnered over 700k streams on Spotify and their music has been added to various editorial playlists including New Music Friday Canada, Indie All Stars, Indie Pop and Chill. Their songs have been played on CBC and local radio stations in British Columbia. Their single “Damn (Unstuck)” was featured on the cover of Folk & Friends and made Spotify’s Top Folk Songs of 2021. Vox Rea has played in music festivals across North America including Reeperbahn, Treefort Music Fest, Laketown Shakedown and Capitol Hill Block Party. In 2022, they were the recipients of CreativeBC’s Career Development Grant, Canada Council’s Research & Creation Grant and were chosen to be a part of RBCxMusic’s First Up Program.

Thank you to the Zone @ 913 and Upstairs Cabaret