Down with Webster


Down with Webster is a Canadian rap rock band from The Beaches area of Toronto who signed with Universal Motown in April 2009.
Down with Webster was originally formed for a middle school talent show. The band released their first official EP, Time to Win, Vol. 1, on October 6, 2009. The band has achieved success from all three singles from the album, and all three were certified Platinum in Canada. The album itself was certified Platinum in Canada. Their second release, Time to Win, Vol. 2, was released on October 31, 2011. In 2014, they put out their second full-length album, Party For Your Life.
Down with Webster has sold over one million albums and nearly one million singles. The band has been nominated for Juno Awards, MuchMusic Video Awards, and Canadian Radio Music Awards.

History

1998–2008: Early years

Down with Webster was originally formed for a Glen Ames Senior Public School battle of the bands show in 1998 by band members Patrick "Pat" Gillet and Tyler Armes. In mid-2003, the band released an independent self-made six-track CDR EP entitled The Reverb Session July '03. This release was primarily sold at shows and local concerts from July 2003 to 2004. In 2006, the band played at the NXNE Festival and in 2007 released an independent self-titled album.
Former band member Kyle "Kap Oneoh" Fairlie was an actor in his youth. He played Rabbit in the TV series Franklin, and had a few other small film and television roles.
The band played at Lee's Palace in the 2008 Canadian Music Week. Their performance was described by Jill Langlois of Chart as "one of the best shows I've ever seen" and "the band exploded onto the stage and never slowed down or stopped. Words will never really describe the Down With Webster experience." The magazine described the band as "flashy and obnoxious, but fun and loveable". DWW was given a grade of 95 out of 100 by Chart for this performance.
In 2008, DWW won the Rogers Mobile/Universal Music best unsigned artist in Canada award, and in 2009 KISS frontman Gene Simmons and Timbaland expressed interest in signing the band to their respective labels. Bassist and keyboardist Tyler Armes commented about Gene Simmons' interest, "To be honest, I don't think it was the right fit. Don't get me wrong, it was totally flattering to have Gene Simmons show up unannounced on every media platform possible to talk about us, but it seemed like there was the potential to lose control of certain elements and no one really felt like gambling at this point. Ultimately, we were already down the aisle with Universal/Motown."
Timbaland wanted to sign DWW to his record label, Mosley Music Group. According to Timbaland, "That group is the most amazing and creative, innovative group that's going to come out in 2010." However, the band had already decided to go with Universal Motown.

2009–2010: ''Time to Win, Vol. 1'' and success

Down with Webster played in both the Warped Tour 2009 and the Virgin Festival 2009 in 2009.
The band's debut EP, Time to Win, Vol. 1, was released on October 6, 2009. In the fall of 2009, DWW opened for Forever the Sickest Kids on the Cheap Date Tour. Down with Webster also opened for Timbaland on two dates in February 2010 on the Shock Value II Tour.
The lead single from Time to Win, Vol. 1, "Rich Girl$", debuted on the Canadian Hot 100 at No. 47 for the week of October 24, 2009, and peaked at No. 21 on the issue of January 9, 2010. The video for "Rich Girl$" was posted to YouTube/VEVO on January 12 and crossed the 1 million views mark in July. The follow-up single, "Your Man", was released to Canadian radio stations in January 2010. It has peaked at No. 12 on the Hot 100, outperforming their debut single. In April 2010, both "Your Man" and "Rich Girl$" were certified double platinum in digital downloads by the CRIA.
Down with Webster's first headlining tour, WINtour 2010, had the band tour Canada and the United States in January and February 2010. The tour started in Halifax on January 7 and ended on February 1 in Vancouver. MuchMusic's Spring Break 2010 was hosted by Down with Webster. The band also opened for The Black Eyed Peas on one date in The E.N.D. Tour in Sarnia, Ontario.
Down with Webster were nominated for "New Group of the Year" at the 2010 Juno Awards, losing to Arkells. The band was also nominated for "UR Fave: New Artist" as well as "Pop Video of the Year" at the 2010 MuchMusic Video Awards, although Justin Bieber won "UR Fave: New Artist", and Hedley won "Pop Video of the Year". Down with Webster won the "Online Artist of the Year" at the 2010 Canadian New Media Awards.
The third single, "Whoa Is Me", was released on June 15, 2010, and peaked at No. 13 on the Canadian Hot 100 for the week of October 16, 2010. The band played at the 2010 SCENE Music Festival in St. Catharines on June 27. The band also played in the Ottawa Bluesfest in July and at the 2010 Canadian National Exhibitions Bandshell on August 28, 2010. Down with Webster was one of the six artists featured on the global music event, "Doritos Late Night", where a 360-degree music video for "She's Dope", a new DWW song that would later be released as the first single of Time to Win, Vol. 2, was on the Doritos Late Night website. The event launched on October 20, 2010, and also included Rihanna, Professor Green, Mor ve Otesi, Teargas, and Sensacional Orchestra Sonora.
Down with Webster was featured on 2010 Year End Charts several times. Both "Your Man" and "Whoa Is Me" were on the 2010 Canadian Hot 100 Year End Chart, "Your Man" at No. 37 and "Whoa Is Me" at No. 85. Down with Webster was at No. 21 on the Canadian Hot 100 Artists Chart, surpassing both Justin Bieber and Drake. In December 2010, Time to Win, Vol. 1 was certified Gold in Canada, and in January 2011, the single "Whoa Is Me" was certified Platinum.

2011–2012: ''Time to Win, Vol. 2''

In an interview, Cameron "Camm" Hunter stated that after finishing the Streets Of Gold Tour with 3OH!3 and Hellogoodbye, the band would "lock ourselves in the studio for a couple of months" and finish Time to Win, Vol. 2. The tour was completed on November 24, 2010, at Albuquerque, New Mexico. They then performed at the pregame show for the 98th Grey Cup.
In December 2010, Down with Webster announced WINtour 2011, a cross-Canada tour which would support their upcoming album, Time to Win, Vol. 2. The tour began on February 22, 2011, in Lethbridge, Alberta and ended on March 12 in Toronto. The Envy, 2AM Club and Sweet Thing opened for Down with Webster in this tour.
Down with Webster were nominated for two awards at the 2011 Canadian Radio Music Awards: "SOCAN Song of the Year" and "Best New Group or Solo Artist ". On February 1, 2011, it also announced that Down with Webster had been nominated for two awards at the Juno Awards of 2011, Group of the Year and Pop Album of the Year. The band also performed at the awards ceremony on March 27, 2011, at the Air Canada Centre. The band was nominated for four 2011 MuchMusic Video Awards, which ties them for the most nominations with Fefe Dobson and Shawn Desman. The band won one award at the 2011 MuchMusic Video Awards, Pop Video of the Year for "Whoa Is Me".
On May 12, 2011, the band posted on their blog that hype man Kyle "Kap Ten/Oneoh" Fairlie was no longer in the band, citing their reason as "6 guys going in one musical direction that didn't quite fit with the 7th."
The band played at summer festivals and exhibitions including Red River Exhibition in Winnipeg and at Salmonfest in Grand Falls-Windsor on July 9, 2011, where they opened for Kiss. Down with Webster performed at the Calgary Stampede, at the Grizfest Music Festival in Tumbler Ridge and at Edmonton's Capital Ex in Edmonton. They also played Regina's Queen City Ex, at the Saskatoon Exhibition, at the 2011 Canadian National Exhibition Bandshell in Toronto for TDSB@CNE Day, and at the Western Fair in London, Ontario on September 15, 2011.
Time to Win, Vol. 2 was released on October 31, 2011, and reached No. 9 on the Canadian Albums Chart. The first single from the album, "She's Dope", was released on May 23, 2011. It peaked at No. 18 on the Hot 100. "Big Wheels" was released as the album's second single on September 9, 2011. The song peaked at No. 51 on the Hot 100.
On December 20, 2011, the band released iTunes Session, an EP of seven songs.

2013–2015: ''Party for Your Life'' and hiatus

The band toured Canada throughout 2013 as well as the United States on the Face The Music With A Vengeance tour.
As of March 20, 2013, the band uploaded the single "One in a Million", from an untitled upcoming album, to their YouTube channel. It was later released on iTunes on March 26, 2013, as a single.
On August 13, 2013, the band released the song "Party for Your Life", made available on iTunes. A video was set to be released sometime in September 2013. It was later revealed that Party for Your Life is also the name of the upcoming album, originally scheduled for release on October 22, 2013. On October 14, the band confirmed via Facebook that the album would be pushed back to January 2014, because the band wanted to include some recently-written songs in the album. The album was officially released on January 28, 2014.
The third single from the album, "Chills", was released on December 17, 2013. The video premiered on March 7, 2014.
The band officially released the music video for the track "Going Nowhere" through Sony Entertainment on January 31, 2014, making the video announcement of the release on their YouTube channel.
Amanda Hather of Canadian Beats gave the album a 4.5/5, saying "Whether you are a fan of all of the genres that Down With Webster somehow manage to mix into their songs, there is something for everyone on this album." Davina Sinnatamby of Tangible Sound gave the album a 4/5, closing her review with "So if you feel like a shot of something stronger that caffeine or alcohol; I'd recommend listening to this whole album. The songs don't just make you want to get up and dance; the fast rhythms, smooth rhymes and poetic lyrics make you want to live forever."
After a few years without producing any music or performing any live shows, the band posted on their Facebook on June 2, 2017, that they would be going on a hiatus. Gillett, Armes, Hunter, and Martino formed a new band called Honors. Bucky has started a new project called Karter Park with original Down with Webster member Kierscey. Ferris has built a following as a DJ in Toronto.

Members

Current members

Awards and nominations

Down With Webster has been nominated for 22 awards including 12 MuchMusic Video Awards and 6 Juno Awards.

Canadian New Media Awards

Canadian Radio Music Awards

Juno Awards

MuchMusic Video Awards

Rogers Mobile/Universal Music Best Unsigned Artist

SOCAN Awards