The Hazmatics

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The Hazmatics are Cam Wilson (Van Django, Mad Pudding) on fiddle, piano and vocals,  Dave Gibbons on lead vocals and guitar, with Finn Manniche (Van Django) on bass and Allan Dionne (Mad Pudding) on drums and vocals.

Originally formed a few years ago as an eight-piece mariachi-inspired rock 'n' roll band called 'Rocabrones', they scaled down to a smaller outfit playing covers including songs by the Pogues, Tom Waits, Steve Earle, both Elvises (Presley and Costello), some reels (thanks to Cam) and some 50s R'n'R classics. What we have here is four very talented musicians putting a tasteful spin on everything they play. As far as genres goes, they really have no boundaries, but they put the "Hazmatics" spin on it all. A good comparison would be to buckled winkle-picker shoes ... very cool!

Violinist Cameron Wilson has been a fixture on the Vancouver music scene for the past three decades. He is recognized as one of the most versatile violinists able to play a wde variety of different musical genres. He was a long standing member of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, and currently performs with classical crossover piano trio, Joe Trio as well as the Gypsy jazz quartet,Van Django, The Wahs, Hard Rubber Orchestra, Mariachi del Soul, and the Marc Atkinson Quartet. He is one of the city's most sought after studio musicians and he is also a composer/arranger whose works have been performed by a number of symphony orchestras and chamber ensembles across Canada and the US.

David Gibbons was born in Kent, England. He started playing trumpet at age 8 and progressed to include guitar and bass by 16. He is also a vocalist and has written many songs and arrangements for various projects. He was a member of the band ‘Groove Connection’ in the 80s & 90s and toured in Europe extensively working with bands including Jamiroquai, Bad Manners and Billy Childish. Recordings involve many albums as band member or session musician including several with ‘Groove Connection’, also ‘Billy Childish and the Blackhands’ and notably for ‘Sub Pop’ and ‘Verve’. In the mid-2000s he took to sea working for cruise lines as a member of the party band M.I.T. Dave is currently leader of the Vancouver based band ‘Rocabrones’ as lead singer & guitar, plays trumpet and guitar with ‘Mariachi del Sol’ and guitar and vocals as part of the ‘Wilson-Gibbons Duo’.

Finn Manniche is a versatile and passionate musician with a music degree fron UBC and a penchant for playing anything and everything, whether on guitar or cello. He plays swing and new music, Bach to Bacharach, surf and other worldly sounds. He can be heard playing live and on CD with: the Armadillo String Quartet, Ensemble Symposium, the Jazzmanian Devils, Soul Crib, the Paperboys, Denzel Sinclair, 54/40, Murray McLauglin, Mae Moore and Cam Wilson’s varying orchestral extravanganzas.

Allan Dionne has been an active part of the Vancouver music scene for many years. Since obtaining a Bachelor of Music degree in percussion from UBC, Allan has performed with such notables as Ashley MacIsaac, Jocelyn Pettit, Alpha Yaya Diallo, Stephanie Cadman, Shona Le Mottee, Tim Readman and, of course, the Celtic funk band Mad Pudding, with whom he has performed at festivals worldwide. An accordionist and composer as well as a drummer, Allan is currently a full-time member of the Francophone trio Pastiche, with whom he plays accordion and bodhran, and is currently active in the Vancouver Brazilian music scene, playing accordion and specializing in Forró and Choro. He also plays the drum set in both the eclectic rockabilly-Mexican band Rocabrones and the progressive rock band The Undoing. In addition to recordings done with Mad Pudding, Shona Le Mottee, Tim Readman and Jocelyn Pettit, Allan has recorded with many other artists, playing drum set, accordion, mallet instruments and bodhran. He has also performed with the VSO, as well as both the Prince George Symphony and Vancouver Philharmonic Orchestras

Put 'em all together, and ... you've got The Hazmatics!