website - http://www.neilleyton.com

Lisbon-born singer, songwriter, rock n'roll guitar player, amateur producer & indie label entrepreneur: Neil Leyton became familiar with the stage while living in Canada in the 1990's, where he fronted Toronto's glam godfathers The Conscience Pilate, after starting out on bass with psychedelic art-rockers Passion'd Flower.

He launched his solo career in 1998 with the release of the critically acclaimed "Secret Avenue" album, throwing himself simultaneously into his music as well as running Fading Ways Music, his Canadian indie label. His second album, "...from the brighter side of her Midnight Sun", was released in the UK via the ChangesOne label in 2003 and in Canada via Scratch Distribution, harnessing critical acclaim throughout all of Fading Ways Music's distributed territories.

"Midnight Sun "extended the boundaries of his songwriting range, both musically as well as lyrically: influences from Shelley to modern day sociologists / psychiatrists Fromm and Gruen. Production-wise, it encompasses everything from the harshest guitar noise (think MC5, International Noise Conspiracy) to the sweetest melodies (from Jeff Buckley's high-registers to latter-day Nick Cave's more understated charms).

In 2004 Leyton launched Fading Ways Music UK, embracing Creative Commons licenses, endorsing file-sharing and cultural freedom while most of the music industry launched reactionary lawsuits against so-called "pirates".

"Blacklight Skies", a compilation featuring tracks from both albums and several Leyton EPs, was released in 2005 by Fading Ways Music UK and the German label Supermusic, raising Leyton's profile in Germany considerably, with some excellent record reviews and radio airplay.

The new FW Finland label also released a 7" split of two of the tracks b/w Finland's Turku Romantic Movement, who had also backed Leyton on tour in Finland, Slovenia, Austria and Germany.

The Betrayal of the Self, Leyton's third self-produced album, followed the Dead Fashion Brigade EP, via FW UK and Feedback Boogie Records (Sweden). Recorded in Stockholm at Acetone studios and featuring Leyton's new Sweden-based backing unit, The Ghosts, this album proved to be his most immediate, urgent, and politicized release thus far, captivating reviewers from Finland, Sweden, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, the Netherlands, Portugal, the UK and Canada - selling units as far wide as Japan.

Leyton and the Ghosts have so far accomplished two central European tours behind the album, while Leyton, on his own, released "Again", a limited edition x-mas '06 CDR release for fans-only (on CDR), covering tracks from several Fading Ways Artists and introducing a few new originals. The Hyperventilating tour followed in the spring of '07, and work is underway on a new album for the upcoming year as well as another tour in fall of 2007.

"Mixing a british strut with a Yankee attitude, his sound is perfectly suited for the next millenium." -Dave Bookman, The Edge 102.1 FM

"A lot to live up to, given the solo billing, and he managed to come through with a tight, captivating set." -Rob Bolton, Exclaim!

"It was so perfect... Neil Leyton's high, urgent rock voice is like a melodic John Lydon... I loved it." -Karen Pace, Nettwerk Records

"Leyton has it: the Songs, the tendency, the voice. A new filming of Velvet Goldmine should line up shortly, and Blacklight Skies would be the better soundtrack, with all its seventies influences from Roxy Music to the Rolling Stones, from David Bowie to the MC5." – Steffen Greiner, Echoes Online, Germany

"Leyton's got a wonderful voice (channelling Nick Cave's sinister whisper on one track and Jeff Buckley's chilling warble on another), and his songwriting skills prove more than worthy of any delusions of grandeur." – Sarah Liss, NOW Magazine

"This album changes color and mood every three minutes or so. No sooner does that mercurial pop song fade but Leyton has switched to a rootsy tearjerker; draws the last remaining punk fibers from his skinny frame; loses himself in a rant about capitalism; creates an asphyxiating atmosphere with soundscapes or has his entire circle of friends roaring along with him. Anyone who's human would yield in a moment and put his shopping list in order: water, bread and Neil Leyton.
- Helmut Boeijen, Oor Magazine, Netherlands

"This one had me playing air guitar within the first minute as it launched into action with the riffed out bluesy rock'n'roll and the
"Rocks Off" energy the Stones used to open their landmark Exile on Main St. — an ass kick of a way to get things going. Leyton's glam rock past as front man for Toronto's the Conscience Pilate injects an extra shot of attitude but he knows when to tone it down. This disc kept surprising me; one minute the Jagger esque "Angie" like ballad "To Jay 17," the next the bouncy "Newspaper Memories," but keeping the whole album together is a raunchy 1970's Rolling Stones brilliance and
a sparkling clarity of songwriting genius. - Coreen Wolanski, Exclaim! Magazine, Canada

"I'm in love, and my significant other has that sarcastic jealousy thing going in response. "This album is so much fun," I told him. "I love this Neil kid!" To which he replied, with pre school surliness, "Why don't you marry him, then?" Personally, I think he was just threatened by Leyton's darkly enigmatic good looks and history in the notable glam/rock band The Conscience Pilate. In any case, his jealousy was a charade sustainable only until he heard From the Brighter Side of Her Midnight Sun. Now we're both in love. And this isn't just the early stages of puppy love, either; Neil and I are in it for the long haul.
- Melissa Amos, Splendid Magazine, USA.

"There are some tracks (on the Midnight Sun album) where Neil sounds like At The Drive-In (the politically fueled "The Fading Ways Manifesto"). He then, somehow, follows up that track with a latin piece called "Sangue Latino". He can easily go from an aggressive style to a sweet melody not only during the length of the album but sometimes within the course of a song. This introduction to the artist shows that he is extremely diverse in his musical endeavors. Not only is Neil an established musician, he has also started a label called Fading Ways. - Dennis Scanland, Music Emissions

"Part Rolling Stones, part Zeppelin but at all times cleverly mixing strong pop hooks with a thoughtful and slightly dark overhead. For an album with so many tracks, seventeen in total, it skips along at a fast pace thanks to several punchy radio ready tracks like 'Whispers', 'Once Upon a Yesterday' and 'Nine'. At times a thinking man's rock record and at others just a dirty bar rock and roll album." - Rob Lane, Trashpit Magazine UK

"To say that Neil Leyton represents the more subdued side of rock & roll would be an inaccuracy. Above all what strikes me is Leyton's brilliant control of dynamics. With an unusually expressive vocal quality, Leyton is able to shift mood almost seamlessly, as epitomised by opening track, 'Whispers'. Meanwhile, in '(I Miss the Times) When the Russians Were Coming', his voice ascends to a genuinely terrifying shriek at the end. Overall, this is more than just a collection of songs - by the time you reach final track and album highlight, 'Twilight of the Gods', you really feel that you have travelled somewhere. Comparisons with Jeff Buckley are perhaps inevitable, but on this record Leyton has undeniably placed the stamp of his own
unique artistry." – Drowned in Sound, UK

Solo Discography:

Neil Leyton - The Betrayal of the Self (Fading Ways Music / Feedback Boogie, 2006)
Neil Leyton - Dead Fashion Brigade EP (Fading Ways Music, 2006)
Neil Leyton - Blacklight Skies (Supermusic, 2005)
Neil Leyton - Beat EP (Fading Ways UK, 2004)
Neil Leyton - ...from the brighter side of her Midnight Sun (Fading Ways/ChangesOne UK 2003)
Neil Leyton - melancholy, understanding (Fading Ways Music, 2002)
Neil Leyton - My New Soul (Fading Ways Music / RCD Music 2000)
Neil Leyton - Secret Avenue (Fading Ways Music 1999)
Neil Leyton & TCP - fires of the heart (Fading Ways Music 1997)
Neil Leyton - s/t collection ‘93-‘96 (Fading Ways Music 1997)

With Galore:
Galore - (as guitarist) Parader (Fading Ways Music 2003)

With The Conscience Pilate:
The Conscience Pilate - Sunday Refugees (Guru Records EEC 1999)
The Conscience Pilate - Living in a Movie Scene (Fading Ways Music 1996)
The Conscience Pilate - never for you 12"single (Fading Ways Music 1995)

With Passion'd Flower (on bass):
Return of the Ugly Warriour (Fading Ways 1998)
The Deaf Condessa (Fading Ways, 2003, recorded 1994)
Live at the Marquee (Fading Ways, 2003, recorded 1992)
Flowers in the Rain (Fading Ways re-issue 2003, recorded 1991)

Production Credits:
Maria Pettersson - debut ep (2006)
Mark Fernyhough (2005)
Silky - The Self Issue (2002)
Sharpkid - Welcome to our World EP (1999)

Click to view Neil Leyton's Toronto rock n roll family tree >> Family Tree