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Slik Toxik was formed out of Toronto hard rock band Portrait in 1988. Portrait in its final incarnation was made up of singer/guitarist Nick
Walsh, guitarists Rob Bruce and Kevin Gale, bassist Frank Currell, and drummer Alex Munro. With the lyrics being done by Nick's long time
writing partner Dave Mercel.
Pat Howarth soon replaced Currell on bass as the band felt more akin to Howarth due to his musical style and also because he was already a
friend from the neighborhood.
Capitol Records (EMI) signed the band in 1991 and issued an EP, 'Smooth And Deadly'. This was followed in 1992 ...read more
Slik Toxik was formed out of Toronto hard rock band Portrait in 1988. Portrait in its final incarnation was made up of singer/guitarist Nick
Walsh, guitarists Rob Bruce and Kevin Gale, bassist Frank Currell, and drummer Alex Munro. With the lyrics being done by Nick's long time
writing partner Dave Mercel.
Pat Howarth soon replaced Currell on bass as the band felt more akin to Howarth due to his musical style and also because he was already a
friend from the neighborhood.
Capitol Records (EMI) signed the band in 1991 and issued an EP, 'Smooth And Deadly'. This was followed in 1992 by the full album Doin' the
Nasty. Both the EP and full-length album were produced by Paul Gross and co-produced by Anthony Vanderburgh and recorded at Toronto's
world class facility studio Phase One. Slik Toxik toured throughout North America and released four singles which helped the album reach
gold status in Canada and placed No. 61 on the Canadian music charts. They won the 1993 Juno Award for Hardt Rock Album of the Year. The
"White Lies/Black Truth" video won the People's Choice Award for 'Best Video Of The Year' and "Helluvatime" took home the 'Best Metal Video
Award' at the 1992 MuchMusic Video Awards.
In 1992 they played at 'The Great Canadian Party' a Canada Day festival with The Tragically Hip, Spinal Tap and 54-40 at Molson Park in
Barrie, Ontario, and they toured North America as opening acts for Kim Mitchell, Faster Pussycat, Yngwie Malmsteen, and Black Sabbath
before doing their own headlining tours with Sven Gali and Big House as their opening bands.
Hard rock had undergone profound changes in the period between Slik Toxik's formation in 1989 and 1994 when they reconvened to create
their second album. In the confusion of the time, many successful and promising hard rock and glam metal bands were abandoned in favour
of the newer hard rock trends. Bands such as Alice In Chains, Pantera, and Skid Row had successfully added crunch from the thrash metal
scene to their music without compromising their hard rock and glam metal roots. Slik Toxik brought in various producers to add a similar
heaviness to their own sound in order to stay true to themselves and their music. The label contracted Glenn Robinson (The Tea Party,
Kyuss). Things were moving forward in positive ways; they had parted ways with RLM by this point and were trying to make a go of it on
their own. However, there was a lot of turmoil and dysfunction happening within the band. Between depression,rampant drug and alcohol
abuse the members were growing apart.
At the 1994 post-Juno Awards party an intoxicated Pat Howarth stole and smashed a limousine, which led EMI to question the stability of the
band as well as their viability in the changing hard rock climate. After the band had given him a chance to clean himself up, another incident
occurred almost immediately and Howarth was then let go from the band. In need of a bass player, long time friend of Neal Busby's B.I.T.
graduate Adam Headland was brought in as a hired gun to record the album and tour. It was at this time that EMI also suggested that Slik
Toxik be moved to one of their subsidiary record labels with less money,less support and still carrying a huge debt load. So it was decided by
the band to leave the EMI and start fresh considering they had a wide fanbase .
Irrelevant was released in 1994 and distributed by A&M Records and was again produced by Paul Gross and recorded at Phase One Studios in
Toronto. Despite the best efforts of all involved, the album was not well received by the grunge-obsessed general public. It did garner some
critical acclaim, but that was not enough to keep the band going. After many months apart, the band was brought together to do some final
shows to take care of some business affairs. The final touring line up consisted of Nick Walsh, Rob Bruce, Neal Busby, Adam Headland and
guitarist Scott 'T-Bone' TeBeau. « hide |
Similar Bands: Skid Row, Wildside, Sven Gali, Killer Dwarfs, Big House Contributors: Cipher Hour,
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