Hey Ocean!

Hey Ocean! is a Canadian indie alternative rock and synthpop band formed in 2004 in Vancouver. David Beckingham and Ashleigh Ball had been friends since grade 6, joining with David Vertesi in the 2000s to form the band.[1] The band consists of Ashleigh Ball (vocals/flute), David Beckingham (vocals/guitar), and David Vertesi (vocals/bass). Their music draws from many genres, including pop and acoustic, and the group tours Canada widely. They have performed locally alongside other Vancouver acts such as Shad K, Mother Mother and Said the Whale.

Hey Ocean!
David Vertesi with Ashleigh Ball at AMS Block Party in Vancouver
Background information
OriginVancouver, British Columbia, Canada
GenresIndie pop, pop rock, synthpop, power pop, alternative rock
Years active2004–present
LabelsUniversal
Nettwerk
Websiteheyocean.com
Members

The band ran their own label for many years, being represented by Nettwerk Management,[2] and had overtures from Gene Simmons[3] before signing with Universal Music Canada for distribution in 2011.[4]

Lead singer Ashleigh Ball's voice acting work has drawn international attention to the band from members of the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fan community. Fans have created music videos featuring the band's songs and footage from the show, some of which were featured on the band's official website.[5] At the end of June 2013, the band performed at Fiesta Equestria, a brony convention in Houston, Texas. The band also did a collaborative music video between the staff of the television show My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic and bronies titled #TweetIt. The band was featured in Brent Hodge's critically acclaimed documentary A Brony Tale.

Hey Ocean! was nominated in the "Breakthrough Group of the Year" category for the Juno Awards of 2013, (later won by Monster Truck), and featured on the compilation album released by Warner Music for the event.

Tours

In 2009, the band toured Canada with The Cat Empire[6] and performed at SxSW.[7]

The band again toured Canada in 2010, and played several events[8] for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

In summer 2011, the band performed at the City of Vancouver's 125th Anniversary[9] and "Live At Squamish," an annual 3-day music festival in Squamish, BC.[10]

They finished the year with a cross-Canada tour, including an appearance at the Prince George Winter Festival.[11] Ashleigh Ball suffered a vocal cord injury during a performance, which resulted in the cancellation of the Eastern Canada portion of the tour.[12]

In summer 2012, Hey Ocean! performed at the Osheaga music festival in Montreal. In August, the band joined indie-alternative group fun. for the SeaWheeze After Party and concert in Vancouver, BC.

In 2013, the band toured in the United States in support of the release of their third studio album, titled "IS".

On August 31, 2014, Hey Ocean! performed in Vancouver, BC at the PNE for what Ashleigh Ball dubbed as their final show 'for a long time'.[13] Through 2015 and 2016 the group's performances were exclusively at charity events, such as Sing it Fwd,[14] while Ball and others worked on solo projects.[15]

In July 2017 the band announced through their Facebook page that they have reunited to work on their fourth album The Hurt of Happiness,[16][17] released in April 2018.[18]

Fourth album

On September 19, 2017, they released two more songs from the upcoming album, "Amsterdam" and "Can't Let Go". The band announced on their website that the album would be titled "The Hurt of Happiness", and would be released on April 6, 2018.[19]

Reception

In April 2009, "A Song about California" was featured[20] as a top song on MuchMoreMusic. The band was nominated in that year for a Western Canadian Music Award,[21] and in 2010 for an Independent Music Award.[22]

In 2010 they wrote a short song called "Only You"[23] for T-Booth mobile, which has been used since in television advertising campaigns throughout Canada.

As of November 2011, "Big Blue Wave" is on rotation[24] with CBC Radio 3 and local station 102.7 The Peak.[25] Also in 2011, "Make a New Dance Up" was featured in a promotional video from HootSuite,[26] and the band performed for CBC's Canadian Indie Christmas Special. The band was also voted number one in the "Best Local Band (Unsigned)" category by readers of The Georgia Straight, a popular local news and entertainment paper in its "Best of Vancouver 2011 Readers' Choices" recognition.[27]

In 2012, "Islands" was featured in the episode "Last Known Surroundings" of One Tree Hill. The February 22, 2012 episode of Entertainment Tonight Canada ended with the music video for "Big Blue Wave". On January 29, 2013, the album "IS" was officially released in the U.S. under Nettwerk Records.[28] "Make A New Dance Up" was featured in the episode "Mother and Child Divided" of Switched at Birth.

Band members

Current members
  • Ashleigh Ball – lead vocals, flute, glockenspiel (2004–present)
  • David Beckingham – lead guitar, backing vocals (2004–present)
  • David Vertesi – bass guitar, backing vocals (2004–present)

Session / live musicians
  • Devon Lougheed – Guitar, keyboard, backing vocals
  • Johnny Andrews – Percussion

Former members
  • Dan Klenner – Percussion
  • Adam Cormier – Percussion
  • Tim Proznick – Percussion
  • Andrew Rasmussen – Keyboard, backing vocals

Discography

Albums
  • Stop Looking Like Music (2006)
  • It's Easier to Be Somebody Else (2008)
  • IS (2012) No. 70 CAN[29]
  • The Hurt of Happiness (2018)
  • It's Easier to Be Somebody Else (10th Anniversary Remaster) (2018)

EPs
  • Triceratops (2004)
  • Rainy Day Songs (2005)
  • Big Blue Wave (2011)
  • IS Acoustic Sessions (2013)

Singles
Year Song Chart peak Album
CAN
[30]		 CAN
Alt
[31]
2011 "Big Blue Wave" — 40 Is
"Tonight It's Christmas"[32]  —  — Non-album single
2012 "Islands" — — Is
"Big Blue Wave" (re-release) 88 —
2013 "Make a New Dance Up" — —
2017 "Sleepwalker" — — The Hurt of Happiness
"Amsterdam / Can't Let Go" — —
2018 "The Hurt of Happiness" — —
2020 "Happy Now / Honeydew" — — TBA
"—" denotes a release that did not chart.

Music videos
  • "A Song About California" (2008) by JP Poliquin
  • "Fish" (2008) by JP Poliquin
  • "Too Soon" (2008)
  • "Alleyways" (2008)
  • "Fifteen Words" (2008)
  • "Terribly Stable" (2009) by Godo Medina & Adam Dent
  • "Big Blue Wave" (2012)
  • "Islands" (2012)
  • "I Am A Heart" (2012)
  • "Change" (2013)
  • "Make A New Dance Up" (2013)
  • "If I Were A Ship" (2014)
  • "Sleepwalker" (2018)
  • "Amsterdam" (2018)
  • "Mama Said" (2018)

References
  1. "Hey Ocean Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2012-04-27.
  2. "Hey Ocean Signs With Universal Music Canada; New EP And Canadian Tour Set For November 1". Nettwerk. Archived from the original on 2012-09-09. Retrieved 2012-03-22.
  3. Mack, Adrian (2009-07-09). "Hey Ocean! gets Kissed | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada". Straight.com. Retrieved 2012-03-22.
  4. "HEY OCEAN SIGN WITH UNIVERSAL MUSIC CANADA | Universal Music Canada". Universalmusic.ca. 2011-10-25. Archived from the original on 2012-01-08. Retrieved 2012-03-22.
  5. "Hey Ocean Tour Restarting Soon". Love Hey Ocean. 2011-11-14. Archived from the original on 2012-03-22. Retrieved 2012-03-22.
  6. "THE CAT EMPIRE | Concert Reviews". Pressplus1.com. 2009-11-20. Archived from the original on 2012-09-08. Retrieved 2012-03-22.
  7. "Hey Ocean – SXSW 2009, Austin TX – a set on Flickr". Flickr.com. Retrieved 2012-03-22.
  8. "North by East West: Live Blogging Olympic Music : Hey Ocean! & First Canadian Medal!". Two.nxew.ca. 2010-02-14. Archived from the original on 2012-07-18. Retrieved 2012-03-22.
  9. "Welcome celebratevancouver125.ca - BlueHost.com". Celebratevancouver125.ca. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  10. "LIVE at Squamish gets a rock 'n' roll jolt from Hey Ocean! and Stars | Georgia Straight Vancouver's News & Entertainment Weekly". Straight.com. 2011-08-20. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  11. "Hey, Ocean". Coldsnapfestival.com. Archived from the original on 2012-07-23. Retrieved 2012-03-22.
  12. "Ashleigh Ball's vocal injury worse than first anticipated, Eastern Tour canceled". Ponyville Gazette. 2011-11-04. Archived from the original on 2012-01-08. Retrieved 2012-03-22.
  13. "Photo by ashperson". Instagram. Retrieved 2014-08-31.
  15. "It isn't all sunshine and bubbles for Ashleigh Ball | A.Side". Ontheaside.com. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  16. "Hey Ocean! splashes back with Hurt of Happiness". Vancouver Sun. 2018-04-07. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  17. "Club Scene: The Happiness is back for Hey Ocean! | The London Free Press". Lfpress.com. 2017-11-08. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  18. Yuyitung, Matt (2018-04-02). "Hey Ocean! The Hurt of Happiness". Exclaim.ca. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  20. "One City Journal: Listen Up: It's Hey Ocean!". Onecityjournal.blogspot.com. 2009-03-23. Retrieved 2012-03-22.
  21. "Western Canada Music Award nominees | CTV Winnipeg". Winnipeg.ctv.ca. 2009-07-14. Retrieved 2012-03-22.
  22. "Hey Ocean". Independentmusicawards.com. Retrieved 2012-03-22.
  23. "TBooth Wireless – Only You". YouTube. 2010-09-29. Retrieved 2012-03-22.
  24. Listen! Hey Ocean – Big Blue Wave Archived 2016-03-01 at the Wayback Machine, CBC Music, accessed May 9, 2012.
  25. "Hey Ocean! – Big Blue Wave (Played on The Peak)". YouTube. 2011-09-26. Retrieved 2012-03-22.
  26. "HootSuite Adds Advanced Facebook Management Tools". YouTube. 2011-08-29. Retrieved 2012-03-22.
  27. "Best of Vancouver 2011 Readers' Choices – Best local band (unsigned) | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada". Straight.com. Retrieved 2012-03-22.
  28. "1/29 - Hey Ocean! - 'IS'". Nettwerk. Archived from the original on 2013-01-07. Retrieved 2013-02-20.
  29. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-08-07. Retrieved 2011-08-07.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  31. Canadian Active Rock and Alt Rock Archive, January 5, 2012, America's Music Charts, accessed May 9, 2012.
  32. "Tonight It's Christmas Time – Single: Hey Ocean!: MP3 Downloads". Retrieved 2012-03-22.
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