Artificial Joy Club
| Company type | Band |
|---|---|
| Industry | Music |
| Founded | 1993 |
| Founder | Louise Reny, Leslie Howe |
| Defunct | 1999 |
| Headquarters | Ottawa , Canada |
| Products | Albums, singles, EPs |
Artificial Joy Club, originally called Sal's Birdland, was a Canadian alternative rock ensemble active throughout the 1990s. The band produced three albums under different monikers and achieved recognition with a single prominent hit.
History
The group was established in 1993 by Louise Reny and Leslie Howe, who had previously been members of the pop duo One to One. They were joined by guitarist Michael Goyette, bassist Tim Dupont, and drummer Andrew Lamarche. Operating as Sal's Birdland—'Sal' being Reny's performance alias—they released their first album, So Very Happy, in 1994.
In 1995, the band secured an international contract with Discovery Records, which led to a reimagined version of So Very Happy produced by Michael James and issued under the title Nude Photos Inside. After Discovery declined their subsequent project, they signed with Interscope Records and adopted the name Artificial Joy Club. Notably, Goyette, Dupont, and Lamarche had previously utilized Artificial Joy Club as a side project name.
In 1997, as Artificial Joy Club, they launched the album Melt along with the maxi-single Sick And Beautiful. This track attained No. 17 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and No. 11 on the Radio and Records Alternative chart; it also reached #35 on Canada's RPM Top 100 chart. The song "Sick and Beautiful" was included in the soundtrack for the 1998 movie Homegrown.
To promote their work, the band embarked on a North American festival circuit, featuring as mainstage openers at Buzzfest '97 and performing on Lollapalooza's secondary stage.
In 1998, they issued the EP Spaceman, containing several versions of its title track accompanied by a music video. The group dissolved in 1999.
As Sal's Birdland
- So Very Happy (1994), Ghetto Records
- Nude Photos Inside (1995), Ghetto Records, Discovery Records
As Artificial Joy Club
- Melt (1997), Interscope
- Sick And Beautiful (1997), Interscope, Crunchy Records
- Spaceman (EP) (1998), Interscope