THE PITCH

Richard Underhill, 51, is the leader of The Shuffle Demons, a Toronto music institution since 1984. Celebrating the release of their ninth record with a massive party on July 26 at Lula Lounge, we asked Underhill to give us four reasons to attend the jam. 1. “In writing an anthem called Spadina Bus, we’ve become one of the groups associated with the Toronto sound,” says Underhill, whose group consists of three saxophonists, bass and drums. “We started out here as a street band and, by now, we’ve performed so much in Toronto’s clubs, we’re pretty recognizably one of the city’s favourite home-brewed groups.”

2. “We bring the music to the people,” he says. “We walk through the crowd, do Congo lines and our drummer is feared nationwide by sound men and tech

guys — offstage, he’s perfectly normal, but onstage he’s known to climb scaffolding or run out of the club, bring the audience with him, and perform in the middle of the street.” 3. “Our sound’s unique — it’s like what a rapper would do with two turntables and microphone, except without two turntables and with lots of sax,” Underhill explains. 4. “We like to celebrate the everyday things, connect people to each other and make them feel good.” Underhill’s band hails from parts all over, but came together in Toronto to forge their music career. “This isn’t a shoe-gazing band, we’re not moaning about much, we’re trying to celebrate and have a great time.”

❚ The Shuffle Demons play Lula Lounge, 1585 Dundas St. W., on July 26. For more information on the group, visit shuffledemons. com.