BLURRED VISION

Crossover Prog • Canada

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Blurred Vision biography
Blurred Vision, to quote Classic Rock Magazine, "have genuine individuality and flair" and Record Collector Magazine hails them as a band with an "arena, stadium sound with intellectual clout". They aren't wrong. This trio of Canadian musicians, now based in the UK, have a substance and a commitment. Indeed, to use a much maligned word but one that is entirely apt here - they have passion. But their story starts way back. The two Iranian brothers Sepp and Sohl Osley fled their home country early on and ended up in Canada at a very young age. One day at a gig, motivated by the violence they were witnessing through social media in Iran, they changed the words of "Another Brick in the Wall" to "Hey Ayatollah Leave Those Kids Alone". The song worked, Roger Waters gave his blessing and his endorsement of the band, something rarely seen from the legendary Pink Floyd founder, and his support continues on to this day. Celebrated film maker Babak Payami heard about them and made a video. On February 1st 2010 it was uploaded to YouTube. The impact was immediate. When the YouTube hits reached 100K Sky News got involved. When word spread to the US, Associated Press wrote a piece and the President noticed. The video had gone viral.

Much media followed including BBC GMT (watched by 75 million). But there was a problem - after all the crazy coverage the brothers still had no band. Enter legendary producer Terry Brown (Rush,The Who, Jimi Hendrix). He introduced them to drummer Ben Riley and it was band at first sight. Still the video wasn't over. It had been submitted for two film festivals including London's Soho Shorts. It won best music video at the first ever Beverly Hills Film and New Media Festival in October 2010. It was an official selection in the Atlantic City Film Festival and, most notably, it was chosen by Televisor Germany in association with MTV Europe as one of the Top 100 Most Influential Pop Music Videos of All time. It was also displayed in the Museum of Modern Art in Cologne and at Fact Liverpool.

The next four years were spent gigging and honing their craft. In 2012 they became official ambassadors of NYC based hunger and poverty charity Whyhunger, joining the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Yoko Ono, amongst others. Blurred Vision became the only Canadian band invited to perform at The Beatles 50th Anniversary Concert in New York playing a sold out crowd at Manhattan's Hudson Theatre. They then played at the US annual WhyHunger Awards a...Blurred Vision, to quote Classic Rock Magazine, "have genuine individuality and flair" and Record Collector Magazine hails them as a band with an "arena, stadium sound with intellectual clout". They aren't wrong. This trio of Canadian musicians, now based in the UK, have a substance and a commitment. Indeed, to use a much maligned word but one that is entirely apt here - they have passion. But their story starts way back. The two Iranian brothers Sepp and Sohl Osley fled their home country early on and ended up in Canada at a very young age. One day at a gig, motivated by the violence they were witnessing through social media in Iran, they changed the words of "Another Brick in the Wall" to "Hey Ayatollah Leave Those Kids Alone". The song worked, Roger Waters gave his blessing and his endorsement of the band, something rarely seen from the legendary Pink Floyd founder, and his support continues on to this day. Celebrated film maker Babak Payami heard about them and made a video. On February 1st 2010 it was uploaded to YouTube. The impact was immediate. When the YouTube hits reached 100K Sky News got involved. When word spread to the US, Associated Press wrote a piece and the President noticed. The video had gone viral.

Much media followed including BBC GMT (watched by 75 million). But there was a problem - after all the crazy coverage the brothers still had no band. Enter legendary producer Terry Brown (Rush,The Who, Jimi Hendrix). He introduced them to drummer Ben Riley and it was band at first sight. Still the video wasn't over. It had been submitted for two film festivals including London's Soho Shorts. It won best music video at the first ever Beverly Hills Film and New Media Festival in October 2010. It was an official selection in the Atlantic City Film Festival and, most notably, it was chosen by Televisor Germany in association with MTV Europe as one of the Top 100 Most Influential Pop Music Videos of All time. It was also displayed in the Museum of Modern Art in Cologne and at Fact Liverpool.

The next four years were spent gigging and honing their craft. In 2012 they became official ambassadors of NYC based hunger and poverty charity Whyhunger, joining the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Yoko Ono, amongst others. Blurred Vision became the only Canadian band invited to perform at The Beatles 50th Anniversary Concert in New York playing a sold out crowd at Manhattan's Hudson Theatre. They then played at the US annual WhyHunger Awards and in 2014 performed at what would become one of the world's biggest festivals - World Pride in Toronto - which brought in 2 million + attendees to the pride parade.

The band released their debut album 'Organised Insanity' in April 2015, a celebrated and critically acclaimed first release that has been widely received by fans and critics alike. They followed the release with a tour of the UK with none other than iconic British band Uriah Heep. The band's explosive live show was set in stone when critics praised the group's unique sound and stadium persona and UK music writer Malcolm Dome called them an "iconic band in the making". They worked on an inspiring video for their new single, "Dear John", dedicated to John Lennon which was released on the legend's 75th birthday on 8th October 2015. Fans and musicians world- wide took part and the end result was a poignant tribute to the man and his legacy. (100% of download sales are being donated to WhyHunger.)

Most recently, the band inked a deal seeing 7 original songs featured in the latest motion picture release from Paramount Pictures called 'Manhattan Undying'. 5 songs were used from the band's debut album, and 2 tracks written exclusively for the film. The band linked up with PledgeMusic UK for their release of 'Manhattan - The Music Of Blurred Vision in Feature Film Manhattan Undying', released on 30th September 2016, exclusively through their Pledge Store. The soundtrack album includes the material heard in the film plus bonus tracks that were not used in the final cut.

In 2017, Blurred Vision announced their new single "Democracy" for digital release on 20th January 2017. The date coincided with the inauguration of the 45th US president Donald Trump. The single was accompanied by two official music videos that brought the band's fiery critique and passionate lyrics to life in a candid way. The band will be working on their highly anticipated follow up album to their debut for the remainder of 2017, connecting once again with Terry Brown at the production helm. A 2017 release is expected. Articulate, talented, globally ambitious with a healthy vision for peace, these boys mean business!

Peace is the message and Rock 'N' Roll, our particular tool, is our conduit - Blurred Vision

Biography provided by the artist and used with permission
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