So something pretty cool, Jason and I were featured in this weeks edition of the Fort Nelson News, the local newspaper in our home town. Funny thing about it, I used to delivery that paper all over Fort Nelson when I was a kid, this must be my good karma.
Here’s an excerpt:
Brothers Jason and Shane Lamotte, born and raised in Fort Nelson, moved into a small apartment in downtown Edmonton in 2002 with one goal in mind: to get serious about their music careers. What started as just a few guys jamming in a garage in Fort Nelson was beginning to form into something greater. With little money, a couple guitars, and a whole lot of ambition, the brothers sat in their smoke filled apartment and started to work on their first album. When released it would be a self-titled album called, “Living Illusion.”
Here is the last of our little music videos that we put together using the footage from our CD release party. This one is for our song Disconnected. Enjoy watching the video with your mouth face.
Currently working on the new album, but in the mean time here’s a new little music video for our song Learn to Breathe that you can watch while you wait for us to finish… it could be awhile.
So last week saw the provincial moving of our lead singer, my brother Jason. After working together for 10+ years on music here in Edmonton he has decided to move to Nanaimo to further his education and get away from the frigid weather that Edmonton is known for, what this means for the future of the band is still up for debate. All I know is that I’m never going to stop writing and working on Living Illusion so that is a good sign for the few of you that actually follow the band.
Our last little weekend warrior tour in Lloyminster and Lethbridge was a good send off for Jay, and even though we did have a little acoustic show planned in Edmonton sadly we weren’t able to pull it together before Jason left. I’m doing my best now to not look at this as an end of an era but as the beginning of something new and exciting. There will definitely be a new dynamic style with the band moving forward.
Currently I’ve got a new acoustic guitar and Dave and I are working on new material that we’ll hopefully be able to start recording later this fall. I plan to write an EP worth of new songs all on acoustic to start and just see how that goes. We’re trying to move away from being so attached to writing things with a computer. And hell, I might even give some open mics a shot and get back into singing more again. Only time will tell.
With that, I just want to say thanks to all of you for your continued support and I hope to see you at one of our shows sometime soon.
After 5 years Cold Driven and Living Illusion are teaming up again to rock out and melt faces. Coming to The Phunkin Gruuve – 4516 50 Ave in Lloydminster, SK on July 9th 2011. Doors at 9PM.
After years of our music getting great spins and making it to the Top 10 of the Rock Charts at CKXU the University of Lethbridge Radio Station we’re finally coming to town to play a show in their beautiful city! Thanks to Evolve Not Revolve Productions and the stellar Tongue N’ Groove Venue Living Illusion will be coming down to Lethbridge this Friday July 8th 2011 to entertain and rock out. The band is definitely excited for this show and can’t wait to play for every one down there.
So I went to the theatre by myself today, classy I know, but there was no way I was going to pass up on going to watch X-Men: First Class on opening night at a Silvercity VIP Theatre. I’d heard about these classy alcohol serving movie theatres but had never been to one before. I was pleasantly surprised at how cool it was seeing as it was only an extra $5. There were leather seats (sadly no recliners), reserved seating, a licensed lounge, in-seat food/beverage service, and a full restaurant menu – it was pretty sweet.
As for the movie, what can I say other than – it’s about damn time; finally a new X-Men film that didn’t shit the bed! This is not only one of the best films in the X-Men franchise but probably one of the best in the superhero genre. It had an intelligent plot, well developed characters, great pacing and nowhere during the film did I want to smash my head against the wall like during the last two films. It was a solid combination of action, sci-fi, drama and a hint of Bond. And to get it out of the way now, there is no reason to wait until after the credits like most marvel films, no extras sadly.
The film is a prequel to the previous X-Men movies and is set with the backdrop of the 1960’s during the Cold War although, its central focus is on the relationship between the young Charles Xavier/Professor X and Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto. James McAvoy as Professor X and Michael Fassbender as Magneto did an amazing job of bringing these two characters to life with some great on screen chemistry. Fassbender’s portrayal of Magneto was seriously bad ass; he was the anti-hero all the way and oddly (in a good way) the most relatable. I also have to mention Kevin Bacon as Sebastian Shaw, more films need Kevin Bacon to play villains – he was great.
The story for the film was written by Bryan Singer, one of my favorite directors and the director of the first two X-Men films. The film also had 4 screenwriters who wrote some amazing dialogue, although I would say there were a couple moments during the film when the writing almost went a little “campy” – of course now I’m just nit-picking – but I guess I should also mention there was one moment when I felt like JJ Abrams got behind the camera to add some excessive lens flare, and it wouldn’t have hurt if they spent a little more money on the CG, but again, small complaints.
Overall this was an incredible film, my favorite of the year so far. I really hope this re-invigorates the X-Men franchise and we start to see more great flicks in this universe. X-Men graphic novels are one of the only series that I collect (Ultimate X-Men that is) and I really love the story lines that writers are able to tell within the context of the X-Men characters trials and tribulations. Also I guess I’ll always have a soft spot for the X-Men as I used to watch the good ol’ Fox cartoon back in the 90’s. And with that here’s…
Today’s Pro Tip: Go to the closest movie theatre and see X-Men: First Class. If you like good movies, you’ll like this film, you don’t need to be a comic book nerd or have even seen the previous films to like this. Good film is good.
Shane Lamotte www.LivingIllusion.com
PS I forgot to mention the best quote from the movie – “Go Fuck Yourself” – doesn’t work nearly as well without context – or at all – you’ll just have to watch it yourself to understand it’s sheer awesomeness.
Got up at 6AM today (felt more like 4AM with the time zone difference) and ran a great workshop here in Oakville, On. First off I want to mention that the Oakville Convention and Banquet Centre is a great affordable place to put on events. They had amazing helpful staff and for the price, it can’t be beat. It was overall a great experience and I’ll definitely keep the venue in my back pocket if I do more events in the Toronto area.
It was really nice to run a smaller event this time around with only 100 delegates. The last few events of around 500 attendees we’re much more demanding on my time and this one was stress free and felt like a breeze. Event logistics are so much easier when you only have one speaker and it’s just one day as well. At the last event we had 20 plus speakers and it was 3 days with evening events as well, by the end I just wanted to sleep for a week.
I really enjoy event planning and organizing, from the design and marketing side right down to the event logistics. I’ve become quite good at it over the years and have been able to take a certain level of pride in my work as well. I know I can always improve but I feel like I’m really starting to get into the flow of it all and able to do a great job when it comes to research, planning and execution. And hey, I just found out I’ve been nominated for an event planning award so that always nice too.
I think maybe this summer I’m going to start to focus on putting on an event that speaks more to me as a person. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll still be doing the good ol’ day job but I really think it’s time I did an event on what I’m personally interested in. An event that’s one part Music, Gaming, TED Talks and Nerd Culture. First I’ll need to do the research to see if we even have demand for an event like that in Edmonton… maybe I could convince BioWare to sponsor. Mwhahaha.
I think maybe I’ll just start small by throwing a gaming convention together this winter, who knows, I just want to start applying my skills to areas and industries that I’m personally inspired by and interested in. I do help organize a Vipassana Meditation Retreat every fall, but I want to do something bigger. ComicCon North in Edmonton!
Well that’s all for now I need to get some sleep before my journey into downtown Toronto tomorrow.
Today’s Pro Tip: E3, the Electronic Entertainment Expo that Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo make all there massive new announcements at every year is going to be live streamed over at Gametrailers.com from June 6th – 10th, 2011 for the general public to watch. You can only attend the event in person if you work within the industry, but at least the rest of us can watch it live from home.
Shane Lamotte www.LivingIllusion.com
PS Now I just need to pick a hot date to go to this Meeting Planner International Award Ceremony with me…
Flew to Toronto today, well technically Hamilton. I’m here in Oakville (which is considered part of the GTA) to put on a workshop for professionals that work with kids with special needs, mainly autism. I’m coordinating the event on site at the Oakville Convention Centre on Thursday. Gonna be a busy day tomorrow getting ready.
When I landed it was about plus 28 Celsius here, a fair bit warmer than Edmonton and way more humid. It’s night time now and it kind of feels like evenings in Mexico or Hawaii in January, it’s actually really nice. Part of me just wants to go lay in some grass and chill. It’s warm, there’s no bugs and I’m far enough from downtown Toronto to see stars.
I’m staying at the Holiday Inn and it has been pretty nice thus far. The water is affordable there’s great staff, a decent lounge/restaurant and it has a pool, hot tub, steam room and gym. Will probably go check them out at some point before I head back on Saturday. The event I’m running is only a one day event so I gave myself some extra time here to go hang out downtown Toronto.
I still find it a little weird when ever I fly out to places to put on these events by myself. I’ve done enough on my own at this point for it to be a breeze but I guess part of me still feels like a kid. Running events for teachers and other professionals when most of them are at least 10 years my senior or more. At least I enjoy a good challenge, and if it’s changing older peoples perception of what young adults can do, then even better.
I know this post isn’t really band related even though I’m posting it to the Living Illusion website, but I don’t really care. I wanted to write and this is my outlet so deal with it More of these posts chronicling my journeys and daily thoughts will be coming down the wire as well.
Feel free to post a comment or give suggestions as to what I should do on Friday when I go downtown Toronto for the daytime adventures and nightlife partying.
Today’s Pro Tip: Cable Television Sucks – Cancel your TV packages and get faster Internet, you won’t regret it.
Shane Lamotte www.LivingIllusion.com
there’s great staff, a decent lounge/restaurant and it has a pool, hot tub, steam room and gym. Will probably go check them out at some point before I head back on Saturday. The event I’m running is only a one day event so I gave myself some extra time here to go hang out downtown Toronto.
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