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Artist
85 East are not Hip Hop. They are not Metal, Rock or Reggae either. Instead, 85east are all of those things and more. With influences ranging from Bob Marley to Jeff Buckley, Non Point to Nas, and Deftones to Depeche Mode, 85 East is a representation of their generation and the music that acted as its soundtrack. After a chance encounter between childhood friends Dustin Wareham and Jon Gillard at a local Toronto mall, both Jon, Dustin, and former guitar player Matt Mooney, decided to have a jam session at Jon’s house. The jam went well and the three decided to jam again the next week, with the results being the same. After close to a month of jamming and catching up with each other’s lives, the trio decided in March 2007 to form a band. Fresh from spending a few years in the local Toronto underground circuit, Dustin now assumed the role of front man. Bringing his vividly descriptive and brutally honest Hip Hop vocals to the songs written by Jon (lead guitar) and Matt (Rhythm and backup vocals), who themselves were former band mates in a previous Hard rock group that had amassed a humble following. The Trio quickly began writing songs, but knew but knew they were missing a few very important key elements. They needed a name, a bass player, and a drummer. When it came to name, the band wanted to choose a one that properly represented there neighbourhood. With all three spending the majority of their lives growing up in Malvern, an area in Toronto often associated with cri