LIVESTREAM CONCERT FOR MUSICTOGETHER ON APRIL 30

CLENCH FILMED DURING TOUR FOR NEW ALBUM LOSS

WATCH LYRIC VIDEO FOR WRECK

Toronto, ON – April 27, 2020 – Multifarious artist, instrumentalist and producer, Jean-Paul De Roover, shares a new music video for his song, Clench, today. The visual, filmed by Adrien Harpelle, was captured as Jesn-Paul rocked Ottawa’s Cinqhole in March with his band, The Bandaid Solution, before the venue shut down due to Covid-19. The show was the latest Jean-Paul performed before the global pandemic, while on tour supporting his new project, LOSS (released February 21). Nothing is stopping Jean-Paul from sharing the fresh tunes, and he’s doing so this Thursday, April 30 through an exclusive livestreamed concert for MusicTogether – the live stream will be happening via MusicTogether’s website at 7:30 pm ET. See below for more details, and watch Clench here to preview Jean-Paul’s incredible stage presence. 

On LOSS, Jean-Paul covers the devastating hardships experienced by his friends and family. Lyrically, the songs are about different types of losses that he has either experienced or been very close to. Highlighting his extensive career as an artist, always experimenting with sound and structure, LOSS is a brilliant display of Jean-Paul’s work to date. Listen to the album here.

“Sure, it still has a lot of elements that still sound like me, but many are very fresh. The heavy progressive lean, the anti-looping composition, the added orchestral instrumentation and the fact that I’m literally screaming on more than one song instead of relying on my most recognizable asset (my singing voice) means that I’m intentionally making myself very vulnerable and very uncomfortable,” Jean-Paul says of creating LOSS. “Make no mistake, there is strength and determination behind my conviction to release this album under my name instead of a pseudonym/side project, but that doesn’t make this type of risk any less scary on the inside.”

Jean-Paul shared insight on the making of LOSS, highlighted in features with Canadian Beats, Pure Grain Audio, V13, FYI Music News, Soo Today, The Sudbury Star, The Sault Star, St. Catharines Standard, Rogers Ottawa – Daytime, RX Music, The Creative Imbalance Podcast, Apt613, an addition to Exclaim!’s The Eh! List on Spotify, and interviews on CBC Radio One Points North, CHUO, and CKCU. Jean-Paul was recently featured in a national news story by The Canadian Press, where he shares his thoughts on how the pandemic is impacting artists. 

Touring with a live band for the first time in 13 years, Jean-Paul hit the road with The Bandaid Solution, kicking things off with a hometown release show in Thunder Bay, Ontario at Black Pirates’ Pub, followed by performances in Marathon, Guelph, Windsor, Sarnia, Hamilton, Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa. 

LOSS is a sibling project to his 2019 album, LOVE (released May 31, 2019). Jean-Paul started a new decade with the album’s first single, Wreck, a highly collaborative song with personal depth and connection to Jean-Paul’s community. It features group vocalists that contributed to the Indiegogo campaign that helped fund the album, and voices from those that attended the LOVE album release at Cambrian Players Theatre in Thunder Bay, ON and participated in the live group chants. The strings are comprised of layers of multiple violin parts performed by Adam Iredale-Gray (of Aerialists and Fish & Bird), with additional orchestration and arrangements by Jean-Paul. Watch the lyric video for Wreck here.

On LOSS, Jean-Paul shares a deep facet of the human experience. Songs include the loss of a close friendship (Clench), the closing of a friends’ recording studio (Holes), loss of sanity (Wreck), the divorce of his parents (I Need), and the tragic passing of some extended family members (There’s Been An Accident). Musically, this album falls somewhere between alternative/rock/progressive featuring typical instruments (electric guitars, bass, drums) and vocals (everything from distorted metal screams to pristine choirs), but with additional instrumentation including harp, organ, electronics and orchestral arrangements for string and horn sections. 

About Jean-Paul De Roover: 
Jean-Paul De Roover’s musical upbringing was anything short of ordinary. Inspired to play music after reading a book about a child violinist, he begged his parents to learn to play violin where he was promptly coerced into piano lessons. After two years, he was given the chance to learn violin in Pakistan where he was immediately disappointed with his progress and stopped. Moving forward to his early teens, he was gifted a handmade Bolivian guitar from the local market and self-taught himself how to play his first Beatles song. A smattering of lessons with a Brazilian jazz bass player, Dutch singer-songwriter and Chilean vocal coach encouraged Jean-Paul to continue pursuing music, but following his own inspirations. Upon returning to Canada in 2001 he explored everything from concert band to barbershop while forming his first rock and punk bands before studying theory, composition and orchestration at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, ON where he graduated in 2009.   

Since then this Belgian-Canadian has toured across North America and Europe, sharing stages with artists such as the Beach Boys, Goo Goo Dolls, Said The Whale, Beardyman and more, and showcasing his work at multiple international music festivals (including Canadian Music Week and NXNE). His music and videos have also been featured on CBC, MuchMusic, reviewed in Exclaim, Earshot! and The Georgia Straight and charted on campus radio stations nationwide.

Jean-Paul’s early career was defined by his innovative approach to music using live looping, where he used his voice and a wide range of musical instruments to construct his songs piece by piece in front of an audience. But his constantly evolving palate has seen him exploring his earnest acoustic singer-songwriter side on LOVE (2019) as well as his passion for emotionally and aurally heavy alternative and progressive rock on LOSS (2020), the two of which are sister albums. Jean-Paul continues to push his own musical limits both in form and substance, daring others to try and categorize him. Because of this, Jean-Paul’s music retains a distinct identity whether he is playing solo, with a band or even a 30-piece orchestra.

Even when he’s not on-stage he’s active in the music and arts communities. For over eight years, he created and coordinated festivals and events for the City of Thunder Bay, and is currently the Artistic Director for the Live From The Rock Folk Festival in Red Rock, ON. He is also a long-standing member of the three-person team at TBShows that promotes and presents music in Thunder Bay. But when he’s not performing live or parenting his toddler, Jean-Paul can be found in his studio, Blueprints, where he not only recorded his latest two albums but also works with the music, film, and television industries as a producer, composer and engineer. 

Upcoming Livestream Concert – MusicTogether:
Thursday, April 30 – 7:30 pm ET – MusicTogether – Tune In Here

Buy and stream LOSS: smarturl.it/jpdrloss

Watch video for Clench: youtu.be/z8bC8wwuKsQ

Watch video for Wreck: youtu.be/3rhjYoMSv2o

DOWNLOAD – LOSS Album Artwork | DOWNLOAD – Clench Live Photo|  DOWNLOAD – Hi Res Press Photo

www.jeanpaulderoover.com