iTunes free download of the week!

Hey friends, This week “Habit Over Heart” (from a CBC Radio 3 session we did a while back) is the iTunes free download of the week. Check it out here: http:www.apple.com/ca/itunes Some of you may have heard the song on the FREE Mint/ CBC Radio 3 cd that was being given out on the tour we did in October with The New Pornographers and Immaculate Machine. Speaking of which- that was an amazing tour! We played 10 fantastic shows and people were there early enough to see us open the show in nearly every city (Damn you tardy Regina folk!). We did have nearly all our gear stolen in Montreal though. So if anyone notices in your local pawn shop a left-handed blue Rickenbacker bass, a Moog Prodigy, a brown Epiphone Sheraton, a black Fender P-bass, a sunburst Gibson 135, and a well-stocked pedal board- kindly let us know! Don’t worry about the Yamaha keyboard, apparantly they are going for a mere 60$ on ebay.

“Hypothesist” video nominated for WCMA

Novillero and Mighty Kracken Films are excited to announce we have been nominated for best video for “The Hypothesist” at this year’s Western Canadian Music Awards (held in Winnipeg, no less).

Mr. Monk goes to iTunes!

Hey fans of Novillero and Monk. Our episode is now on iTunes and is the #6 top downloaded show today! So far it’s only available from the American site. The Candian airdate should be sometime in November; we’ll let you know as soon as we have an exact date.

Novillero in Eureka episode

In Episode # 6 of the new hit show Eureka, Novillero is featured doing their version of Barry McGuire’s “Eve of Destruction”. The episode aired in the US on the Sci-Fi channel on August 23rd, and will air here in Canada on the Space Channel sometime in October. You can listen to the song on the Novillero myspace page here.

Novillero to appear on Monk

Winnipeg, Canada’s mod soul power explosion, Novillero, is set to appear on USA Network’s hit TV series, Monk (starring Tony Shalhoub) on August 25 (Canadian air date tba). Two original Novillero songs are performed and lines are spoken, but will Mr. Monk solve the crime?

This June, Mint Records act Novillero spent three days in Los Angeles on the set of Monk, playing themselves, as headliners of an outdoor rock festival. Tony Shaloub’s detective, Monk, jumps up on stage interrupting their performance. While Monk stands centre stage, trying to get the audience to co-operate in his investigation, Novillero yell out, “Forget this guy”, and crash into their song again.

Most of the band had never watched Monk until a few days before the shoot, except for Rod, who’s been a huge Tony Shaloub fan since his “Wings” days, but they were all very excited about the opportunity. “We arrived on set at 6:45 a.m. and there were about 250 extras already there, many of whom were wearing Novillero t-shirts. I didn’t really realize until then that we were the “headliners” of the fake festival. As if! ”

The band were asked to do the show after a music supervisor caught their SXSW set, noting The Flaming Lips were originally tapped to appear but had to drop out due to a scheduling conflict. A true SXSW success story!

Novillero’s Sean, Grant and Rod had the grand opportunity of ‘having lunch’ with Monk co-star Ted Levine (known to many as the serial killer “Buffalo Bill’ in Silence of the Lambs). Ted opened up to the boys, sharing his thoughts on one of his latest movies “The Hills Have Eyes” (‘a little too bloody’) and his favourite music (‘David Bowie’s”Heroes”’ is the tops) among other things. In return Novillero shared some of the Great White North’s secrets, for example why cars have to be plugged in during Winnipeg winters.

The world of TV seems to be catching up with them, as crowd sizes continue to build for Novillero from their intense live shows and busy schedule. A fall tour with The New Pornographers in Canada and their own string of dates in the USA is in the works to help celebrate this great opportunity for the band and a chance for audiences to see the dynamic live show in person.

“Embracing power pop harmonies, sunshine pop horn arrangements, and Krautrock-inspired synths, [a] near-perfect debut” - All Music Guide