Constantines

Constantines
Constantines playing the Vancouver 2010 Olympics
Background information
Also known as	Horsey Craze
Origin	Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Indie rock
Years active	1999 (1999)–2010, 2014-Present
Labels	Three Gut, Arts & Crafts, Sub Pop
Associated acts	Shoulder, Baby Eagle, Woolly Leaves, Deloro
Website	arts-crafts.ca/artists/constantines.html
Members	Will Kidman Steve Lambke Doug MacGregor Bryan Webb Dallas Wehrle
Past members	Evan Gordon

Constantines is an indie rock band from Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

The band was formed by Steve Lambke, Bryan Webb, Doug MacGregor, and Dallas Wehrle in 1999, following the break-up of Webb and MacGregor's emotional hardcore band Shoulder. Their style has been described as "art-punk", and they have been compared to bands like The Clash, Fugazi, Bruce Springsteen, The Replacements, and Nick Cave.

The name of the band is taken from an episode of Coast to Coast with Art Bell, in which Bell was playing recordings of ghost voices in static, and one of the ghosts’ names was Constantine.

From their hometown of Guelph the band relocated to London, Ontario and then to Toronto, where in 2001 they released their self-titled first album. Constantines enjoyed widespread play on campus radio and was nominated for a Juno Award for Best Alternative Album. The first track, "Arizona", is based on the suicide of Danny Rapp, the lead singer of Danny and the Juniors of "At the Hop" fame. The song begins with the lyric "This is a song about the death of Danny Rapp. And that great gospel jest called rock 'n' roll."

In 2002 they added keyboard player Evan Gordon to the lineup and released the EP The Modern Sinner Nervous Man. Gordon left the band soon after to pursue his own song writing. He was replaced by Will Kidman, and the band released Shine a Light in 2003. This album was the band's first to be released outside of Canada on the Sub Pop record label.