Bio
The Humane Society? A cardboard box on the roadside filled with adorable, fluffy little mammals just looking for a home?
NO!
The second greatest band in the universe! (Second only to Andrew Lewis and Joel VanKoughnet on guitar hero 4 in Mykala Rodgers TV room)
Free Kittens had our first practice on October 26th, 2008, less than a week before we played our first gig, at a Battle of the Bands in St. Claude, set up by a man we now know (and avoid) as “Crazy Mike.” After three practices, we played far better than we thought we would, and won a plastic trophy for “Best Stage Performance”, which now finds its home on top of Alex (Bassist) Robinson’s TV. After the show, Sam Tomlin, Drummer, said “So, whens the fourth practice?” and thus, Free Kittens were born.
A few shows, and a disc of Demos recorded in the Collegiate Library later, we picked up Jurgen Kaminski to play a few songs with them at Band Aid (a show set up by guitarist and singer Joel VanKoughnet, and unnofficial fifth member (sound man, recording engineer, website guy) Jeremy McGill to raise funds for the high school band program) to fill out the sound of a few specific songs with another guitar. After the show, which went extremely well, Jurgen picked up more and more of the songs here and there, and soon was the fourth member of the band, playing through the entire set of songs.
At the end of the summer, we played our biggest gig to date, kicking off Morden’s Corn and Apple festival with an hour long set, featuring our first performance of original material, considered by all our friends who have followed us to our shows, (traveling from as far away as BC to get to a show) to be the best performance we’ve ever given.
Since then, we’ve written a slew of original songs, that we’ve performed in many different venues, and over time they’ve evolved into quite a strong and diverse repertoire. With Alex being a media student at Assiniboine Community College in Brandon, we were able to use the studio there to record our material, and again, because he’s a media student, Alex had the skills and equipment access to mix and master the album himself, so everything on the CD was done by members of the band.
What do we sound like, you ask? Well! We just put our brand new, first album Aqueous on our Music page, so go check it out! Along with those originals we’ve covered a wide variety of music, from Coldplay and John Mayer to Rush to Muse and the Foo Fighters, all with our own twist on them.
Possibly our greatest weapon though, more than our sound, is our stage performance, the level of intensity in the hammering drums and the speed at which Alex and Joel can be seen flying around the stage, or, in the case of Alex and his wireless, out into the audience. We’ve been told we’re a riot to watch, but that’s something a website can’t really describe, something you’d better see for yourself. So come check us out sometime!
OR!
If you need a band to play for you at a show? A fair? A festival? Let us know!
More? You want more? An extended Bio?
SURE!
Who is in the band? I’ll tell you! (its Joel writing these, by the way, so any information about any of the other band members may be not quite what they would have said about themselves, but if they don’t like it, they can change it themselves, we’re all friends here. 
)
Joel VanKoughnet – Vocals, Guitar, and a Keys part or two.
Joel stands at a microphone and sings, and swings a pick in the general direction of his guitar. He’s also played piano/organ on covers of the Coldplay songs The Scientist and Fix You. He’s amassed a lot of gear over the years, loves his three guitars to a level that probably makes his family jealous, and his voice isn’t too high, but you’ve probably already figured that much out. He runs a lot, goes pretty fast, runs around stage a lot too. His favourite band is unquestionably Our Lady Peace, and wishes he had written 4A.M. himself. though he’d give anything to have written the Foo Fighters song Best Of You as well. He used to be super shy, then Central Manitoba Youth Choir happened, and all shyness was henceforth destroyed. He quite likes his band. Has a lot of fun, and is really enjoying playing original music, which he actually feels pretty proud of.
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Alex Robinson – Bass, and Sweatervests
Alex Plays Bass. Pretty well I might add. When we started, basically the only music he knew was Red Hot Chili Peppers. He’s since expanded on that, to every song we play. (and likely other music too, but I’m no stalker) Still loves those peppers though, and loves to slap. He’s adopted the name “Bassist” after many lighthearted bassist jokes, and wears it like a badge. He also decided, after playing the second half of our first show ever in a Scooby Doo Costume, the show being the day after halloween, (He snuck off stage and changed into the costume while Joel did an acoustic solo version of Apparitions by Matthew Good Band) that he needed a gimmick, or trademark, and since he figured the Scooby Doo costume only worked around halloween, he’s played EVERY gig since, in a sweatervest. Basically, he runs around with a wireless, with a tendancy to walk right out into the audience at least one per show, plays some pretty impressive stuff ( like our cover of Rush’s Malignant Narcissism) and is a lot of fun to watch, and listen to.
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Jurgen Kaminski – Guitar
Jurgen is tall, blonde, and enjoys long walks down the beach at sunset. He found his gorgeous transparent blue Fender Strat in Long and McQuade with Joel one December, the same day, coincidentally, that Joel found his Ibanez. He joined the band about 4 or 5 months after they formed, to play a few songs at the Carman Collegiate Band Aid gig with them, and by the time Corn and Apple festival rolled around, he was playing the full set, full time. He can sing, but we haven’t talked him into doing it with the band yet, we’ve only caught him doing it in the car on the way home from shows so far. But one day… One day… Till then, he’ll stay that tall blonde guy standing stage right with a wicked guitar, making the band sound huge. For what its worth, he’s also pretty good at Halo, better than Joel, though he didn’t used to be, and Joel will be reluctant to admit it. He’s a pretty wicked guy.
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Sam Tomlin – Drums, and Bassist Jokes
Sam play drum. Boom Boom. Naw. Yeah, Sam’s the drummer, and all obligatory drummer jokes aside, he’s a darn good one. And not just because his kit is gorgeous and has a massive rack. (though both of those are true, too) He beats those drums like an ape would probably beat drums, if an ape played drums, except WAY more in time, and is the first drummer Joel has ever played with who’s been able to cover Foo Fighters without making it sound thinner than the real thing. Hes just always always on. And if that wasn’t enough, he plays guitar too, he’s done acoustic breaks in the middle of shows with Joel a few times before, with just the two of them on acoustic guitars, and someday, the two of them might switch for a song, if they can find something instrumental. Sam is also the only one in the band to ever snowmobile to practice.