The Dirty Nil, is a trio of guys from Hamilton, ON, who this year, won a Juno for “Breakout Group of the Year” – oh HELLS yeahhhh. We’re already SO interested in knowing more about these guys.
Luke Bentham (vocalist) and Kyle Fisher (drummer), are the founding members of this rock ‘n’ roll band, established in 2006. Having met in high school, the guys recognized their love for music and after some jam sessions, recruited another friend to join their band. That member however, was replaced with current bassist, Ross Miller.
In 2011, the trio released their first single, titled “Fuckin’ Up Young”. From then until 2016, when they released their first full length album, “Higher Power”, they had released several other singles and EPs. Their newest album is an important one to the band though, as it represents themselves not being influenced to be anyone they are not, but rather sticking to their roots through it all.
The Dirty Nil – Higher Power
Since the album’s release, things have simply skyrocketed for The Dirty Nil. Not only have they been on tour with Alexisonfire, Billy Talent, and more, but they have also been recognized on an international scale, by publications in the UK and Germany. As previously mentioned, this trio even won a Juno Award for “Breakout Group Of The Year” which is an incredible achievement. On their win, Kyle says:
“I think I just blacked out for a minute. It was a really intense moment. They announced our award was next, then played what felt like an hour long FACTOR commercial, during which my heart was beating through my chest so hard I thought I was going to have a goddamn heart attack. Then I was on the podium and then I remember talking to Rick Campanelli. It was such a blur.”
Earlier this year, the Canadian alternative rock band released a compilation album, titled “Minimum R&B”, consisting of 11 tracks, all of them being previously released songs. The purpose of this? For newer fans to get a better taste of what The Dirty Nil are all about.
The Dirty Nil – Minimum R&B
As per Chart Attack, on their album influences, Kyle speaks for the band and says:
“I think it comes from all over the place. We all listen to different music all the time, Luke is listening to a lot of country music, especially right now. It’s weird it doesn’t really have any influence on how we sound but we just all listen to music that we like and then when it comes down to writing, I guess all of our different influences come out organically as we’re putting the song together.”
Another big component of the group is their live performance, which they say is always “loud, distorted, and out of control.” This summer, they got to open for The Who at the Festival d’été de Québec, which they said was pretty surreal. Coincidentally, it was Luke’s birthday, to which he claims it was “the best day of his life”. AWWW. The trio says that The Who has been one of their biggest inspirations, so opening for them was such an honour.
As for future milestones they aim to achieve, Kyle tells Canadian Beats that they would like to go to Japan, and that, they are working on a new record! 😎
Catch The Dirty Nil on tour this fall at a city near you! See their tour dates by clicking here.
What do you think of this group? Let us know by commenting/reacting below, or tweeting us @umusic!