Excuse Me.
Excuse Me. refuses to be defined. With the energy of alternative rock, the emotion of folk, and the technicality of metal and jazz; these five neurotic 20-somethings make music that can’t be pigeon-holed. They were forged in fire in 2018 after frontman Aleks Liskauskas’ house burnt down - with the band’s gear inside it - three days before their first show. Afterwards, plagued with anxious recurring dreams about his teeth falling out, Liskauskas wrote about the experience which the band brought to life in their 2018 song “Teeth”. Much of their music is written in this way: by five friends trying to make sense of complex emotions. With this combination of emotional depth and boundary-pushing intention the group has a way of taking complicated song writing and presenting it in a way that both pulls your heart strings and makes you want to scream and move your feet. Hailing from Guelph, Ontario; the band has garnered a loyal following in the southern Ontario music scene and with the release of “Cops”, the first single from their anticipated sophomore LP, they’re set to take on new heights.
Adam Kuhrt
Adam started playing the guitar when he was 12 years old, and grew up listening to and playing everything from indie-rock to post-hardcore and metal. He met the members of Excuse Me. through a music course he took at the University of Guelph while pursuing his Bachelor of Science. His inspirations include artists such as Enter Shikari, letlive., Dance Gavin Dance, Ben Howard, and Everything Everything. Outside of Excuse Me. Adam is currently still pursuing a career in science, and is working on his Masters of Integrative Biology at Wilfrid Laurier University studying Arctic stream ecology.
Heyden Jennekens
Heyden is a multi-instrumentalist and producer. He writes, records and mixes music, along with writing and directing Excuse Me’s music videos. Though he’s primarily a guitarist, one of his favourite instruments to play is the drums. Inspired by the sounds of progressive metal, funk, jazz and neo-soul, he’s worked hard to develop keen ears and hands for rhythm, harmony, and production; all of which he bings to the stage.
Aleks Liskauskas
Music has always been a major part of Aleks’ life. When he was a toddler, he would hand out instruments to anyone who entered the house which led to some wicked jam sessions, followed by nap-time. That’s still the case today, but nap-time is a bit less cute. Regardless, music has never lost its air of wonder and possibility for him. In high school he sang in a metal band and played the drums, but singing and playing piano was always his passion. By the time he was old enough to know better, he made the responsible decision of studying a degree in the arts. This is where he met four incredible artists who changed his life. Aleks looks forward to a long and rewarding future filled with music and friends.
Dylan Creed
Dylan Creed was born and raised in Guelph, Ontario and is a Graduate from The University of Guelph Music Program, specializing in Music Theory and Jazz Guitar. In his spare time, Dylan enjoys taking film photos and shopping for vintage clothes at thrift shops. With regards to his musical side, he is a talented multi-instrumentalist that spends a lot of time and effort practicing theory and enjoys chatting with others about music theory. He is a freelance guitar teacher and shows a deep interest in vintage keyboards and synths despite primarily being the Bassist in Excuse Me.
Dylan Creed has been an active and determined contributor to Guelph Ontario’s arts scene for more than 10 years. When he isn’t writing and playing music with Excuse Me, he can often be found seeing other live music events, performing at open mics, or working on other musical endeavours. He is currently working on a solo project called Dylan Creed & The Bitter Doubt, and his most recent project (COMET) is an initiative that will be used to propel emerging artists’ social media outreach and will effectively engage new audiences at these local events. His efforts are heavily driven towards building a music community through not only performing great music, but also allowing others to be a part of the fruitful music scene Guelph has to offer.
Joey Seymour
As far back as he remembers, Joey’s always wanted to be a musician. This ambition has been bolstered all through his life, keeping close ties to his hometown’s music scene both in and out of school. This eventually lead him to the University of Guelph, where he pursued a Bachelor of Arts degree. He promptly dropped out after a semester, and immediately began teaching drums out of a local music studio, as well as regularly gigging with several groups as a drummer, bassist, and sometimes as a frontman! To supplement that, He attended Fanshawe College, studying live production. Playing genres varying from country blues to progressive metal to tens of people, and a few times, thousands of people. This, combined with his schooling, has given Joey a unique insight as to what goes into a great performance, and he hopes to bring that to Excuse Me as a drummer, but more importantly as a musician.