Brownsound's Brown Brigade Sign With Aquarius

09/21/06 7:00pm

Former Sum 41 guitarist Dave "Brownsound" Baksh, who left the band in the spring to dedicate himself to Brown Brigade, will sort of rejoin the group after signing with Aquarius Records.

Sum 41 signed with Aquarius in 1999, and the Montreal-based label has been the multi-platinum-selling rock group's Canadian home ever since. Baksh started Brown Brigade with his cousin, bassist/songwriter Vaughn Lal, a few years ago. But he elected to change it from a side project to a full-time gig this year, after 30 months of pondering his future with Sum 41, which he had become increasingly unhappy with despite maintaining friendships with the other band members.

Brown Brigade also includes guitarist Craig "The Craigulator" Pattison, drummer Johnny "No-Triggers" Owens and Lenni-Mon on back-up percussion and other sounds. Baksh sings, while Cess Rock does some MCing and will accompany the group on their upcoming tour opening for Pennywise.

The band have been in the studio for the past few months working on material for their Aquarius debut, which is expected to hit stores early next year. Three songs are currently available on the group's MySpace page.

"Since the first booking I put together for Sum 41 on a Warped Tour date years ago, I have been a gigantic fan and admirer of Dave 'Brownsound' Baksh's incredible musicianship and stage presence," says Donald K. Tarlton, the head of the DKD group of labels that includes Aquarius.

"Brown Brigade represents a new musical vision and exciting challenge for him and his new partner, Vaughn Lal. Promoters of the world should get the tandoori chicken ready. Brown Brigade will be touring loads."

Brown Brigade released this statement about signing with Aquarius:

"Donald accepted us with open arms, as he does with anything he believes in. Our primary concern was our creative freedom. Donald showed he backed the creativity in us 100 per cent by signing us in good faith without hearing any music. You can't beat that kind of trust. So to work with Donald again makes us feel really comfortable. Especially since he has been there since the start of Dave's career. Plus, anyone that can manage to find Slash a new bottle of Jack while Olympic Stadium is burning to the ground can obviously get shit done."

Here are Brown Brigade's upcoming tour dates. Aside from the first show, which they're headlining, all are support slots for Pennywise.

Sept. 29 Edmonton, AB @ The Nest
Oct. 3 Vancouver, BC @ Croatian Cultural Centre
Oct. 4 Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
Oct. 6 Edmonton, AB @ Edmonton Events Centre
Oct. 7 Calgary, AB @ MacEwan Hall
Oct. 8 Saskatoon, SK @ The Odeon
Oct. 9 Winnipeg, MB @ Burton Cummings Theatre For Performing Arts
Oct. 11 Guelph, ON @ Club Denim
Oct. 12 Toronto, ON @ Phoenix
Oct. 13 Ottawa, ON @ Capitol Music Hall
Oct. 14 Montreal, QC @ Metropolis
Oct. 15 Quebec City, QC @ Imperial