[photo by Chris Fertnig]
Ontario-based SIERRA is preparing to unveil 72, a sprawling, progressive, psychedelic EP with a very personal story line based on a hometown murder and long tale of injustice and revenge. As the record nears release, the band has sanctioned the creation of a video for one segment of the solitary twenty-three-minute track.
Produced by Phillip Cope (Kylesa), 72 tells the true story of a murder that took place in SIERRA‘s hometown of Kitchener-Waterloo, back in 1972. A man, now in his sixties, told the band how his girlfriend was taken and murdered by a group of men on her sixteenth birthday, and as he was the last person seen with her alive, he was accused and harassed by the town and police for a solid year. It wasn’t until one of the men killed himself and in a suicide note admitted what he had done that this man was cleared of all charges. 72 pays tribute not only to the bands love of all things progressive but also to a great friend of the band, and what he lost.
SIERRA chose director Torin Langen’s gritty style for the video of “Prologue 72,” and while the segment is based on the tragic tale the EP tells, out of respect to the victim the video is in no way a re-enactment of the events, but simply the directors inspired vision to help convey the song’s depth. The video makes its debut through Exclaim Magazine, who issues, “Shot entirely in black and white, the clip shows a girl coming back from the dead to get revenge on her killer with the band’s dark, brooding prog-indebted suite serving as a worthy score.”
See the visuals for SIERRA’s “Prologue 72” only at Exclaim at THIS LOCATION.
The 72 EP will see self-release by the band on March 4th, on both CD and digital formats. Preorders are now available right HERE.
SIERRA has confirmed several new shows, including providing support for Indian Handcrafts at their record release show in Toronto on February 26th, and a show just days after the release of 72 in Waterloo with Hawkeyes and Public Animal. Additional shows will be announced soon.
SIERRA Live:
2/26/2016 Velvet Underground – Toronto, ON w/ Indian Handcrafts
3/18/2016 Chainsaw – Waterloo, ON w/ Hawkeyes, Public Animal
SIERRA has dug deep into their prog rock roots and their local history for their 72 EP. This marks the first release since 2012’s Pslip (Retro Futurist Records) which took the three piece across the globe on tours with Kylesa and Karma To Burn across North America and Europe. The band traveled south once again to record with Philip Cope at The Jam Room in South Carolina to capture the new EP. 72 takes the listener on a journey of love, loss, grief, injustice, and revenge. The record and artwork is presented as a musical theatre piece, and comes with the script with the cast and acts. Musically, SIERRA has expanded the limitations of a three piece with added percussion, keyboards and other psychedelic noise. The EP gave the band a chance to flex a bit of creative muscle in-between albums, and to immerse themselves in their love of classic progressive rock. The package is completed with standout cover artwork by Felideus.
http://www.sierrariff.bandcamp.com
http://www.facebook.com/sierrariff
http://www.retrofuturistrecords.com