SHAZAM

A multi-faceted artist, David Vertesi is best known as the bassist with the popular Canadian pop group Hey Ocean!, but he has also collaborated with a wide range of other artists and established himself as a promising singer and songwriter with a burgeoning solo career. A native of Vancouver, Vertesi developed an interest in music when he was young and began writing songs when he was 13 years old. His big break came when he saw singer Ashleigh Ball and guitarist David Beckingham playing a club show, and told the duo he was just the man to play bass for them. Ball and Beckingham decided to give Vertesi a try, and Hey Ocean! was born. Incorporating witty lyrics with light funk and Caribbean rhythms, Hey Ocean! slowly but surely developed a mass following in Canada, releasing their albums -- 2006's Stop Looking Like Music and 2009's It's Easier to Be Somebody Else -- through their own Pop Machine label. As Hey Ocean! became increasingly successful, Vertesi began branching out and working with a number of promising artists, including hip-hop artist Shad K., indie pop vocalist Hannah Georgas, and Jose Miguel Contreras of the group By Divine Right. Vertesi also began performing with the over-the-top electronics meets garage-pop band Topless Gay Love Tekno Party. But in 2010, he took a break from the lighthearted music that had been his trademark and focused on more personal concerns as he recorded his first solo effort. 2010's Cardiography was a witty but emotionally potent set of songs about the upsides and downsides of relationships; produced by Vertesi and Contreras, the album received strong reviews and Vertesi played a number of solo shows in support as his schedule with Hey Ocean! permitted. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi