Stabilo (band)

Stabilo
Stabilo
Background information
Years active	1999 – present
Members	Jesse Dryfhout Chris Moerman Nathan Wylie Karl Williaume

Stabilo (originally Stabilo Boss) are a rock band from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Formed around 1999, they are best known for their songs Everybody and One More Pill, Canadian hits in the 2000s.

Band History

Members Jesse Dryfhout and Chris Moerman were high-school classmates who played in a band called Molly, who released their only EP Ghosts of Yesterday in 1997. Dryfhout was originally the drummer of the band until he came to the band with the first song that he had ever written: Everybody. Soon after, he and Moerman started to share song-writing and singing duties.

Molly played their last show at a barn in Maple Ridge only to walk back onto the stage as Stabilo Boss, sporting a new line-up with both Chris and Jesse leading the band. The band's acoustic-rock sound featured Nathan Wylie, an accomplished drummer and friend of Dryfhout and Moerman and Karl Williaume on bass.

In 1999, the band recorded Kitchen Sessions, so named as it was an independent recording made in a kitchen. The EP was a completely home-made affair, the band and their university friends burning and distributing the discs themselves. Around this time, Stabilo Boss began to grow a solid local fan base based on the core support of their peers in school.

In the summer of 2000, the band recorded their self-titled debut, releasing it independently in early 2001. The album quickly sold out of its first pressing as Stabilo Boss began to become regulars in the local Vancouver music scene. The band's big break came roughly a year later when a DJ at the Vancouver's XFM decided to play Everybody on their music competition show "Chaos".

The band's solid songwriting and loyal fan base lead to the song beating out other offerings from more well established artists and dominating the station's "Top 7@7" charts for nearly a month. With this exposure, the band sold 5000 copies of their album independently and began to be courted by major labels.

In the midst of all of the excitement over Everybody, the band quietly released The Beautiful Madness EP which they sold only at their shows. The four song disc was recorded live off of the soundboard and prominently featured a grand piano on all tracks. It quickly sold out.

Rather than accept the first offers coming in from major labels, the band began to record their next album at Mushroom studios. According to Moerman, the studio's owner John Wozniak (Marcy Playground) liked the band so much that he "basically just gave us free time there". By 2003, the band had completed their next album, produced by Wozniak and local musician/producer Jon Anderson (Radiogram/Jonathan Inc.).

At this point, the album was not released as Stabilo Boss was courting the record companies. After a search, they signed a deal with Virgin Canada. With this transition to the big time, the band shortened their name to Stabilo. According to popular report, the band came to its original name in the middle of a heated argument over what to call themselves. Unable to stand the noise any longer, one of the band's siblings threw a pen at them, yelling at them to stop their bickering. The pen was a Stabilo Boss branded highlighter.

After touring Canada and then waiting a year, the new material recorded in 2002 was included in the album Cupid?, released on May 11, 2004. The radio-friendly release was somewhat of a let down to longtime fans who had been waiting for the release of a new albums worth of material for two years. Most of the new material recorded was shelved in favor of a seven song disc featured only three previously unreleased tracks.

For the uninitiated, the album was well received across Canada with Everybody repeating much of its original success in many new locations. The re-release of Everybody was followed the single One More Pill, which was also culled from the self-titled disc. Stabilo are currently preparing their second album for Virgin Canada, slated for release on April 4, called Happiness and Disaster. Their new single Flawed Design is already being played across Canada.

Discography

• Kitchen Sessions (1999)
• Stabilo Boss (2001)
• The Beautiful Madness EP (2002)
• Cupid? (2004)
• Happiness and Disaster (2006)

External links

• Official site
• One More Pill fansite
• Stabilo Myspace