Montreal punkers the Sainte Catherines have broken up. The group issued a statement this morning (November 16) explaining that after 12 years in the game, it was time to throw in the towel. A touching Facebook post from the group states that there wasn't one specific reason why the band are axing their longtime outfit, mentioning that the project had just run its course.
"Being part of the Sainte Catherines has recently brought more negative energy to our individual lives than positive," the band explained in the send-off. "We don't want to become pale copies of what we once were, trying to hold on to the 'glory of the past,' or what little we had. Something we are proud of."
Since their inception in 1999, the troupe's high points included the Fat Wreck Chords-released Dancing for Decadence and their most recent disc, 2010's "more methodical" Fire Works. Having felt as if they've accomplished what they set out to do, the band are ready to move onto the next chapter in their lives.
That said, there are things they'll miss about being the Sainte Catherines, "like, dumb jokes in the van, stupidities in hotel rooms, eating boiled peanuts while swimming in the ocean, that peculiar look from that unknown woman, and of course... the music."
You can read the full statement below:
The Sainte Catherines are pulling the plug.
It's been such a long time that we've wondered what to say when the time would come, that we don't really know how to. Here we go.
There are hundreds of reasons for why we are disbanding, some of which even our closes friends would not even understand. Being part of The Sainte Catherines has recently brought more negative energy to our individual lives than positive. We don't want to become pale copies of what we once were, trying to hold on to the "glory of the past", or what little we had. Something we are proud of.
We are who we are because of this band. Our friends went to school, worked day jobs, and travelled the world. We did this all through The Sainte Catherines. Our 20's and early 30's went spent travelling thoughout 14 countries and playing over 700 shows. 12 years of our lives, organized around tours, jamming and everything else that comes with it, whether it be good or bad. The feeling now, is that we have accomplished what we set out to do. Whether it was the good days or the bad months, the memories that will last forever.
What will we miss most about these past years? Things like, dumb jokes in the van, stupidities in hotel rooms, eating boiled peanuts while swimming in the ocean, that peculiar look from that unknown woman, and of course... the music. Although the music only seemed to be the pretext to our unique friendship. "I'll miss the boys..."
Theoren Fleury said at his retirement press conference, "Don't stop before the miracle". We lived "the miracle" many times with The Sainte Catherines. Thank you life.
Thank you to everyone who listened to our band, read the lyrics, came to the shows, bought a record or a t shirt. Thank you to anyone near or far that invested in putting out a record, putting on a show or booked a tour. Thank you to the people that took us into their homes, drove or repaired our van, sold or designed our merchandise, shot a video or a picture, or did an interview. Thank you to all the bands that invited us on tour, anyone that stopped to talk to us, asked for an autograph or just gave us the time of day. Thank you for allowing us to live our adult, teenage and childhood dream.
On a personal sides of things, thank you to all our friends, girlfriends and wives that supported and accepted our choices even if we were not around so often. Thank you to our kids who understood that "dad" had to go play another show.
Finally, we would like to thank everyone that played in the band. Jf Ménard, Mike Sokolyk, François Lessard, Jef Roberge, Rich Bouthiller, Andrea Silver, Pat Sayers, Luc Gagné, Julien Blais, Antoine Parent, Guillaume Nadeau, Pablo Boerr, Jean-Philippe Tassé, Simon Poirier, Guillaume Beauregard, Hugues Simard and Mathieu Guilbault.
Final words are often the toughest things to come up with, but out of respect to you, we avoided using one of our dumb inside jokes.
"All these years seemed to last so long, with the best of times never lasting long enough. It was incredible. It was magical and it was oh so real. Thank you."
Hugo Mudie
Fred Jacques
Louis Valiquette
Marc-André Beaudet,
The Sainte Catherines ( 1999-2012 )
"Being part of the Sainte Catherines has recently brought more negative energy to our individual lives than positive," the band explained in the send-off. "We don't want to become pale copies of what we once were, trying to hold on to the 'glory of the past,' or what little we had. Something we are proud of."
Since their inception in 1999, the troupe's high points included the Fat Wreck Chords-released Dancing for Decadence and their most recent disc, 2010's "more methodical" Fire Works. Having felt as if they've accomplished what they set out to do, the band are ready to move onto the next chapter in their lives.
That said, there are things they'll miss about being the Sainte Catherines, "like, dumb jokes in the van, stupidities in hotel rooms, eating boiled peanuts while swimming in the ocean, that peculiar look from that unknown woman, and of course... the music."
You can read the full statement below:
The Sainte Catherines are pulling the plug.
It's been such a long time that we've wondered what to say when the time would come, that we don't really know how to. Here we go.
There are hundreds of reasons for why we are disbanding, some of which even our closes friends would not even understand. Being part of The Sainte Catherines has recently brought more negative energy to our individual lives than positive. We don't want to become pale copies of what we once were, trying to hold on to the "glory of the past", or what little we had. Something we are proud of.
We are who we are because of this band. Our friends went to school, worked day jobs, and travelled the world. We did this all through The Sainte Catherines. Our 20's and early 30's went spent travelling thoughout 14 countries and playing over 700 shows. 12 years of our lives, organized around tours, jamming and everything else that comes with it, whether it be good or bad. The feeling now, is that we have accomplished what we set out to do. Whether it was the good days or the bad months, the memories that will last forever.
What will we miss most about these past years? Things like, dumb jokes in the van, stupidities in hotel rooms, eating boiled peanuts while swimming in the ocean, that peculiar look from that unknown woman, and of course... the music. Although the music only seemed to be the pretext to our unique friendship. "I'll miss the boys..."
Theoren Fleury said at his retirement press conference, "Don't stop before the miracle". We lived "the miracle" many times with The Sainte Catherines. Thank you life.
Thank you to everyone who listened to our band, read the lyrics, came to the shows, bought a record or a t shirt. Thank you to anyone near or far that invested in putting out a record, putting on a show or booked a tour. Thank you to the people that took us into their homes, drove or repaired our van, sold or designed our merchandise, shot a video or a picture, or did an interview. Thank you to all the bands that invited us on tour, anyone that stopped to talk to us, asked for an autograph or just gave us the time of day. Thank you for allowing us to live our adult, teenage and childhood dream.
On a personal sides of things, thank you to all our friends, girlfriends and wives that supported and accepted our choices even if we were not around so often. Thank you to our kids who understood that "dad" had to go play another show.
Finally, we would like to thank everyone that played in the band. Jf Ménard, Mike Sokolyk, François Lessard, Jef Roberge, Rich Bouthiller, Andrea Silver, Pat Sayers, Luc Gagné, Julien Blais, Antoine Parent, Guillaume Nadeau, Pablo Boerr, Jean-Philippe Tassé, Simon Poirier, Guillaume Beauregard, Hugues Simard and Mathieu Guilbault.
Final words are often the toughest things to come up with, but out of respect to you, we avoided using one of our dumb inside jokes.
"All these years seemed to last so long, with the best of times never lasting long enough. It was incredible. It was magical and it was oh so real. Thank you."
Hugo Mudie
Fred Jacques
Louis Valiquette
Marc-André Beaudet,
The Sainte Catherines ( 1999-2012 )