Mar 21, 2008 - The world's leading world music magazine likes Deep Sleep

Hot off the press, here's the latest review of Deep Sleep, this one from fROOTS (UK), the world's leading magazine covering modern and traditional music with roots from around the globe. Here's what they write in their April 2008 issue:

Formidable - a group of Canadians take on difficult Afrobeat syncopations behind a Nigerian poet, a man bursting with startlingly dramatic diction and much presence, and emerge with credit. Ikwunga The Afrobeat Poet may in waking life be a lovely personality, but in performance he sounds very cold and very cross, exactly the sort of man you wouldn't willingly disappoint. The title Deep Sleep refers to the trance state into which African leaders have been lulled and corrupted. Remind you of someone? Yes, the late Fela, and indeed Ikwunga has been a regular performer at The Shrine in Lagos. So, some pedigree, and the musicians are up to the task: they are sharp, inventive and well-muscled. -Rick Sanders

Jan 14, 2008 - Deep Sleep #1 World Music Album of 2007!

It's official: Deep Sleep was the #1 World Music Album of 2007 on the Earshot "International" Chart, which means that it got more airplay on Canadian college & community radio than any other world music album last year. Not bad for an album released in October! Big thanks to all the radio programmers, hosts and DJ's who kept/keep spinning our tunes.

Jan 5, 2008 - Greetings from Nigeria

As you may know, half the band is currently in West Africa.
Larry is drumming away in Ghana while John & Jen are in Nigeria to perform at an international dance festival. But it's not all work; Johnny recently got a chance to hang out with Femi Kuti (son
of the late Fela Kuti, King of Afrobeat) before Femi's show at legendary Afrobeat venue The Shrine, and presented him with a copy of Deep Sleep. Happy new year from Lagos!

Dec 1, 2007 - EXCLAIM! on Deep Sleep
Check out this nice little article in the December issue of EXCLAIM!

Nov 16, 2007 - Deep Sleep #1 for third week in a row!

For three weeks straight, Deep Sleep has been #1 on the Earshot "International" Chart as well as Chartattack's "World/Folk" Charts.

Nov 15, 2007 - Deep Sleep review:
four out of five in Toronto's NOW Magazine!

THE NEW ALBUM IS HERE!

Video portrait of Mr. Something Something

This little film was made by Chad Nunn of CON Artist Productions. Check it out; you might be in it.

Coming to a dancefloor near you soon!

Hello friends,

We're about to head out on our longest tour yet, a three-month trip that will take us down to the States, out to the Canadian west coast, then all the way out to Newfoundland before we head all the way back out to B.C. again. You'll find all the confirmed tour dates here, more to come soon. Come out and celebrate life with us.

Peace and blessings
/Johan

Food, Fuel & Free Enterprise

Hello friends,
I'm curating a Toronto film series called "(the truth about) food, fuel & free enterprise". Over the next four Wednesdays, starting March 21, i will be showing four of my favourite documentaries from the last couple of years. All these films are saddening, enraging, and frustrating but most of them are also quite inspiring. My hope is that we can start a discussion afterward and channel all that frustration and anger into constructive thinking. What can we as a community do to change things? How do we best take action? Please join us at Tinto or host your own screenings in your community. For more details please visit tinto.ca or our myspace page.

Let's put the public good back in public hands.
Peace and blessings
/Johan

Sound the Alarm video!
Our friend Chad Nunn shot this video for us as a school project. Many thanks to the crew and the dancers who stayed up all night to make it happen. Check it out.

Two-night recording party!



We are once again joining forces with our Nigerian friend Ikwunga The Afrobeat Poet, this time to record an album together, starting with a two-night session on March 9 and 10 at the beautiful and intimate Trane Studio in Toronto. We hope you can join us for this very special occasion. After all, this is your chance to make it onto our next album. Please note that there are only 120 tickets available for each night. More info here.

We are JUNO nominees!



We are proud to announce that "The Edge" has been nominated for a JUNO for World Music Album of the Year. The 2007 JUNO Awards will be hosted by Nelly Furtado in Saskatoon April 1. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Related events:
The extended Something Something family

We've decided to start posting all Mr. Sum Sum related events for those who are interested in checking out what the extended Something Something family members are up to when they are not playing sweaty dance music. Go to the 'tour' page and scroll down to have a look.

New photos in The Archive!

John finally developed the 16 rolls of good old-fashioned film that he shot during the months we spent on the road this summer. He also took some pictures at the videoshoot for "Sound the Alarm". If you want to see tanned and healthy-looking summer versions of our current winter-selves go have a look in 'The Archive' under 'photos'.

Peace and blessings
/Johan

Thanks for making 2006 a great year!

2006 was a very exciting year for us. Jonathan Rothman from BlogTO asked me to write down my personal Top Ten Mr. Sum Sum highlights of the past year, which was a nearly impossible task as so many amazing things happened, but click here if you want to know what I wrote. This past summer we did our longest tour yet: two months of straight touring from coast to coast, playing for amazing crowds in magical and (for a bunch of Torontonians) remote places. We also had the great pleasure of welcoming Derek Andrews on board to manage the ever-growing Mr. Something Something operation. We made numerous radio & television appearances and were featured in magazines and newspapers all across the country. And we were asked to play a number of big festivals across the country next summer.

Many thanks and much love to all of you who supported us during the past year.

Thanks for coming out to clubs and festivals and fundraisers across Canada, thanks for dancing and singing, thanks for taking our music home with you and spreading the word. You make it possible for us to do what we love.
Happy New Year to all of you!

We would especially like to thank all the people who, with open arms, invited us into their homes. Thanks also to all the lovely folks at CBC Radio One and the community radio stations across Canada who kept playing our music, to Derek Andrews for believing in us and working his magic, to Paul Crawford for doing us countless favours, to Chad Nunn and his camera crew, and to the man who left us a $500 tip one night in Wells, BC.

See you in 2007.
Peace and blessings
/Johan

PS. 2006 was also the year that Todd Porter left the band after two years. Todd, thanks for all the great memories, and best of luck with all your future endeavours, musical and otherwise.

Take action now to stop Terminator Seeds

Who do seeds belong to? Does the apple seed belong to the apple or does it belong to a transnational conglomerate?

Agribusiness corporations like Monsanto have patented genetically engineered suicide seeds that become sterile after the first harvest, which means that famers have to buy new seed from the patent holders every season. Don't let the corporate vultures claim ownership to something that doesn't belong to any of us. Please support the ban on Terminator Seeds in Canada.

What can you do? You can email your Member of Parliament before December 7 and tell him or her to support a ban on Terminator Seeds in Canada. It won't take much effort. You'll find all the information you need here, including email addresses, and a sample letter in case you don't know what to write. It's that simple.

Let's make sure the public good stays in public hands.
Thanks for your help.
Peace and blessings
/Johan

What's the word on Mr. Something Something?
Check out the most recent press clippings:
*An article in Toronto's NOW Magazine Sep 28 2006
*!Earshot's feature story of October 2006; scroll down to the end of this interview with jazz & soul singer Coco Love Alcorn to read about her impression of Mr. Something Something and The Edge.

Thanks to everyone who came out and helped make the first Plan B Harvest Fest & Sustainability Day a great experience.

Extra special thanks to Plan B Organic Farm, Maria Solakofski, aka The Guerrilla Gourmet, Brian MacMillan, Janine Stoll, Leslie Jermyn from Global Aware, Jennifer Dallas of Kemi Collective, Tori Allen, Sarah Demers, Mike Angiers, Eden Herzog of New Moon Kitchen, Jasmine Barrette at Envoy Business Services, Another Story Bookshop, YogaSpace, Grassroots, Soundscapes & Long & McQuade.

Peace and blessings
/Johan