José Miguel Contreras

By Divine Right
Performing at the 2015 Hillside Festival
Background information
Origin	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Indie rock
Years active	1989 (1989)–present
Labels	Nettwerk, spinART, Squirtgun Records, Linus, Kinetic, Hand Drawn Dracula
Associated acts	Broken Social Scene The Meligrove Band Wooden Stars Feist Wintersleep Holy Fuck The Golden Dogs
Website	www.myspace.com/bydivineright
Members	José Miguel Contreras Geordie Dynes Alysha Haugen
Past members	Mark Goldstein Brendan Canning Leslie Feist Brian Borcherdt John Hall Dylan Hudecki Darcy Rego Cam Giroux Loel Campbell Derek Downham Colleen Hixenbaugh Michael Small Jason Nunes Stew Heyduk Julien Beillard Scott Maynard Rob Carson Rob Higgins Cam Bull Mitch Perkins Elizabeth Teear Rob Covens Michael Milosh Dave Joseph

By Divine Right is a Canadian indie rock band led by the guitarist and vocalist José Miguel Contreras.

The band was formed in 1989 by high school friends Contreras, drummer Mark Goldstein, bass guitarist Liz Teear and guitarist Steve Berman. They issued a number of independent releases before signing to Squirtgun Records for their 1997 album All Hail Discordia. This recording was re-released by Squirtgun/Nettwerk. Bass guitarist Brendan Canning and guitarist Leslie Feist joined the band for their 1999 release Bless This Mess. Canning and Feist later left the band, and have both been involved with Broken Social Scene.

In 2003, By Divine Right became one of the only Canadian bands to do a concert tour of China.

From 2001 to 2004, the band's line up consisted of Contreras, Colleen Hixenbaugh, Brian Borcherdt, John Hall and Dylan Hudecki. In 2004, drummer John Hall was replaced by Cam Giroux (who played on Good Morning Beautiful), while Borcherdt and Hudecki both left the band. Hudecki was replaced by Darcy Rego and then Michael Small, both of The Meligrove Band, for tours of the United States, Canada and Britain supporting Sweet Confusion. Filling in on drums for some dates was Loel Campbell of Wintersleep.

After these tours, the band's line up changed again, to Contreras, Hixenbaugh and Small with drummer Derek Downham, followed by a September 2006 show at the Drake Hotel in Toronto that had the band performing all new songs with Rego, Small and Jason Nunes (the entire Meligrove Band) under the By Divine Right name.

By Divine Right's first live show since 2006 was on December 31, 2007, at the Tranzac Club in Toronto, at which the band's new full-time line up of Contreras, Stew Heyduk (of The Golden Dogs) and Mitch Perkins (formerly of Rusty) appeared together for the first time.

In 2007, By Divine Right contributed a cover version of Rheostatics' "Shaved Head" to the tribute album The Secret Sessions, with a line up consisting only of Contreras and Julien Beillard of the band Wooden Stars.