Jackson MacIntosh

Montreal musician Jackson MacIntosh was a vital figure in that city's indie rock scene in the 2010s, singing and playing guitar with his band <a href="spotify:artist:7rkVJB7ZekCLtOZ2PWD2mM">Sheer Agony</a>, playing bass in <a href="spotify:artist:2SdK1QDmZIP2hk94rSaLl9">TOPS</a>, co-running a studio that recorded <a href="spotify:artist:4DMSJzGjw2SMkKAT5EEE5u">Homeshake</a> (among many others), and making records under his own name, too.

MacIntosh got his start in the noisy indie rock band <a href="spotify:artist:0MRDcVOP0r2Xjktw4G5jQN">Play Guitar</a>, playing a variety of instruments on the (Rated) PG album from early in 2010 and the self-titled album they released later in the year. During this time, MacIntosh and two partners (Christian Simmons and Mike Wright) started the recording studio/performance space the Drones Club and set out to work with many of the bands in town. MacIntosh and Simmons also formed the buzzy new wave/power pop group <a href="spotify:artist:7rkVJB7ZekCLtOZ2PWD2mM">Sheer Agony</a> and released a single (Hungry? Why Wait) in early 2011. The group released two singles in 2012 and the Drones Club stayed busy recording bands. MacIntosh contributed to fellow Montreal artist <a href="spotify:artist:5QDHwW2nfD4H09cKtBuw7e">Jef Barbara</a>'s 2013 album Soft to the Touch, and <a href="spotify:artist:7rkVJB7ZekCLtOZ2PWD2mM">Sheer Agony</a> began work on their first album. The Drones Club also hosted <a href="spotify:artist:4DMSJzGjw2SMkKAT5EEE5u">Homeshake</a> as they recorded their debut album, In the Shower, which came out in 2014. They also recorded their second record, 2015's Midnight Snack, at the Drones Club. <a href="spotify:artist:7rkVJB7ZekCLtOZ2PWD2mM">Sheer Agony</a>'s cheekily titled Masterpiece came out that year as well, and saw MacIntosh expanding his songwriting beyond spiky power pop into classic late-'60s and early-'70s pop territory.

The next few years saw an uptick in activity as he continued to record bands (including <a href="spotify:artist:4DMSJzGjw2SMkKAT5EEE5u">Homeshake</a> again), played bass on tour and on record for the Montreal band <a href="spotify:artist:2SdK1QDmZIP2hk94rSaLl9">TOPS</a> during 2016 and 2017, collaborated on a song with <a href="spotify:artist:0tMnuEXTeJeHbslcV8OybJ">Drugdealer</a> for the 2017 album End of Comedy, wrote and recorded songs for a second <a href="spotify:artist:7rkVJB7ZekCLtOZ2PWD2mM">Sheer Agony</a> album, and worked on a solo album made up of songs not quite right for <a href="spotify:artist:7rkVJB7ZekCLtOZ2PWD2mM">Sheer Agony</a>. Ballad-heavy and indebted to the smooth sounds of <a href="spotify:artist:0Lpr5wXzWLtDWm1SjNbpPb">Todd Rundgren</a>'s early period, not to mention prime <a href="spotify:artist:3RTzAwFprBqiskp550eSJX">Harry Nilsson</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2jgPkn6LuUazBoBk6vvjh5">the Zombies</a>, the album took three years to finish and was one of the last things done at the now-defunct Drones Club. My Dark Side was released by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Sinderlyn+Records%22">Sinderlyn Records</a> in March of 2018. ~ Tim Sendra, Rovi