26 November 2003
Just got back from two days driving friends in Arrested Development to Kingston and Montreal.  What a great trip!  Class acts all of them.  Had a chance to talk at length with Speech about music, history, religion, and life.  Very stimulating and very educational.  Good Luck to all of you and "SPEECH - GIVE ME A CALL AND WE CAN GO OUT AND GET SOME DAIRY QUEEN"!!!

In other travel news....  Spent a weekend in Montreal for Drum Fest.  Randy Cooke was in the studio editing tracks for his performance.  I put together a collection of 8 songs he has played on including tracks by David Usher, Hilary Duff, Rik Emmett, and Sass Jordan.  We spent a number of hours editing down the songs to showcase the interesting bits without putting the audience to sleep!  His performance was great.  Lots of great playing and humor.  The crowd loved it and Randy really gave them his all.  Congrats to him for playing the festival and for pulling it off with class!

At present I am finishing the mix on Latte's record.  We met with an artist who is helping with the artwork for the CD.  I don't want to give it away, but let's just say Jonathan has worked up the beginnings of the design from some of Latte's concepts that will look killer.  Watch for it.

Suzanne Brown has begun pre-production (read rehearsals) with the boys from the Chain Gang.  Featuring Maple Blues Award Nominee Julian Fauth on Piano and Wayne Charles on Blues Harp - her new record will be a showcase of '20s and '30s deep Mississippi blues that promises to be unique and extremely musical.

08 September 2003
Latte-D-Kyd will start her trek towards mega stardom this coming Friday, September 12th @ around Midnight with a showcase at AFTERLIFE (250 Adelaide St, West, Toronto).  She'll be performing two tracks from the session we recently completed.  A page at this site and an official site to come very soon!

18 August 2003
A friend of mine and great bass player named Craig McMillan passed away of a massive heart attack on stage Saturday night with a Shania Twain tribute called Twain's Twin.  I played with him in the tribute for about a year.  We had our differences, but in the end, he was a great guy and loads of fun to be on the road with.  On this site you can listen to two tracks for Marion Andrew we recorded together in Vancouver while we were on tour (trk1).  I signed the guest book at his site a long time ago this is what it said: 

"Craig, Over the past 6 months we have had the chance to play together on stage, record together in the studio, travel together, and become good friends. You are one of the heaviest bassists I have played with. Reach for the stars and they shall be yours."

I will miss you - You owe me a beer!!
Flavio

16 August 2003
Marianne has started her media campaign with an appearance in Eye Magazine.  Check it out!

08 August 2003
Been busy!  What can I say? Latte is busy getting her flows to tape.  It's sounding great.  Can't wait to show those tracks off!!  Began working on the new material for Marianne Baker's debut disc.  Sounds great - Will be mixing over the next few weeks.  Spent some time in the company of Cormac Cleary.  Very talented singer / songwriter from Cork, Ireland.  Wish you all the best my brother - you're gonna go far!!  Jungle Tshongo, Katriona Murphy and I have started pre-production for a collection of songs to be recorded at the "Shack" in the woods of Quebec in late October.  Very interesting stuff.  Instrumentation consists of Vocals, Bass, Drums, Violin and Loops.  In discussions with Jenn Beaupre for possible work with her in the new year, as well as a full-length Fake Reality disc scheduled for the early part of 2004.  Plus, working with Greg Vyrostko, Nina, and Tony on an 80s tribute that will knock you socks off!  Sonic played at the CHIN picnic with Gino Vanelli and Alfie Zappacosta and we're gearing up for a radio campaign in the fall.  "Rain", a Beatles cover has been selected as the first single from "Welcome To Evolution".
Back to work! - All the best to you, Flav

13 May 2003
Wow!  It's a strange trip to do a search on the net that yields a blast from the past!  I found a chart that is pretty amazing.  Check out where Velour 3 is positioned vs some of the world's biggest bands.
Flav

07 May 2003
Big changes to the web site in the last few days (Though not finished yet!!!).  Hope you dig it!  You can now listen to Marianne Baker's first five songs and there are a number of new design features to explore!

For the next little while, I will be working on finishing the Just Drums catalogue and Latte's EP.  It's working it's way to becoming a very interesting collection of Hip-Hop songs that are out of the ordinary.  The original concept was to try to incorporate a jazz flavor into the songs.  I think we have achieved that and I look forward to hearing the tunes when they are finished.  Our take on traditional Hip-Hop is a great departure and will prove to be a great way for Latte to establish herself in her own unique way.  Stay tuned - you won't be disappointed!
Cheers, Flavio

10 April 2003
Just returned from a gig in Dublin, Ireland with ska band Random Order.  What a great trip.  Thank you to Lynn and John for choosing me as their substitute drummer for the trip.  Thank you to Jungle for being such a great bass player and awesome friend.  Traveling brings out the best and worst in people.  We had a great time and I'll never forget the trouble we got into!  Thank you to Karin and Teresa, and Ceri, and Barbara and Nerilee, and Michelle, and everyone else who made my stay so great.  You all rock and can come stay with me anytime!  Petra - What more can I say, It was great to meet you!!
Dublin rocks, can't wait to go back!

Also, before leaving for Ireland, I finished the preliminary mixes for Marianne Baker's EP.  We will finish with the gloss and the tunes will be posted on this site very soon.   Watch for her....

For the next little while I will be working on Latte's EP which is coming along, with input from Greg Vyrostko on Guitar and Geoff Stairs doing some programming...  Extensive work on the new Just Drums catalogue will commence next week as well.
More very soon, Flav

16 March 2003
Well, lots has happened in the past month.  Played the CD release party with Sonic.  It was sold out and everyone seemed pleased with the performance.  Completed recording with Marianne Baker.  Mix will be done this week.  Did a great gig with a woman from Vancouver named Andrea Klas for Canadian Music Week.  What a blast that was!  Can't wait for the chance to play with her again.  Sonic was also invited to perform at a late night CMW party hosted by Sennheiser.  I didn't perform, but Nina and Tony attempted to play "Grounded" with a mish mash group of musicians.  Funny to watch!!

The bass player for Andrea was Jungle.  We played great together and as a result, I was offered a gig playing a music festival in Dublin, Ireland with a ska band called Random Order.  Rehearsals are underway before our April 1st departure
Later! Flavio

17 February 2003
Wow!  Been busy of late again!  I have recently finished producing a new song by Fake Reality.  Be sure to check out their link to the right to check in out.  Also, have just started production on a Jazz Pop album for an artist named Marianne Baker (Watch for her, she's gonna be huge!) and a Hip Hop album for a yet to be named project.

Sonic is preparing for the launch of the CD to take place on Thursday, February 27th, 2003 at Caffe Demetre's at woodbine Centre.
More soon, Flavio