Ian D'Sa

Ian D'Sa is an ordinary man, of average height, a little plump, but neither fat nor thin. His face resembles a cross between a square and a diamond, his eyes are black and kind, his eyebrows are expressive. On stage or in photographs, his hair is slanted upwards, somewhat reminiscent of the bow of a ship, but in everyday life, he has normal curly hair. He also has a small triangular hairline under his lip and sideburns, but not curly, but as if trimmed to the shape of the face with a clipper. He is originally from England, but his parents are from India, so his skin is a little dark. He can wear a variety of clothes, but usually wears a black short-sleeved polo shirt, black skinny jeans, regular sneakers and a belt, sometimes a red shirt and a black vest instead of a polo shirt. otherwise wears any other clothes that ordinary people wear.

Ian was born in the suburb of Southall, Ealing, London. He is of Goan background. His family moved to Canada when he was three years old. He grew up in Mississauga, Ontario, learning guitar at the age of 13. He attended Our Lady of Mount Carmel Secondary School. In 1991, he formed a band named Dragonflower with some fellow schoolmates. After Dragonflower broke up, he formed another band named Soluble Fish and recorded a five-song demo entitled Nugget Sauces. He eventually met Benjamin Kowalewicz, Jonathan Gallant and Aaron Solowoniuk in 1993 at a high school talent show. He started a new band with them named Pezz (later to become Billy Talent) while also playing in Soluble Fish. Both bands played shows together until Soluble Fish broke up in 1996. Still playing with Pezz, D'Sa went to OCAD and then Sheridan College where he got his degree in classical animation and has worked on the TV shows Angela Anaconda, Birdz, and the film Adventures in 3-D IMAX as a character animator. Pezz changed their name to Billy Talent a few years later in 1998.

In 1998, Pezz changed their name to Billy Talent after the fictional character in Michael Turner's Hard Core Logo book. D'Sa co-produced the album Billy Talent II with Gavin Brown. He also did art direction and package design on the album. He received co-direction credit for the video "Fallen Leaves", for which the band was awarded Best Video and Best Rock Video at the 2007 MuchMusic Video Awards. Released in September 2012, the fourth album of the band, Dead Silence, was produced entirely by D'Sa. He was nominated for Producer of the Year at the 2017 Juno Awards for his work on the band's fifth album, Afraid of Heights. D'Sa produced his first two singles on Die Mannequin's EP Slaughter Daughter, the songs being "Do it or Die" and "Saved by Strangers". He played guitar on Sarah Slean's song "Lucky Me". He makes a cameo in The Operation M.D.'s single "Sayonara" as a doctor pushing Stevo in a wheelchair. He also makes a brief cameo as a year book photo in the K-OS video for "ELEctrik HeaT - the seekwiLL". He also sang guest vocals with Alexisonfire during a few live shows. D'Sa is known for making unexpected appearances at other bands' live shows and to guest as vocalist sometimes with Alexisonfire. He joined Sum 41 as a guest guitarist for a one-off performance of their popular encore song "Pain for Pleasure", and also performed as a guest in one show with British band Reuben in 2006, while the band supported Billy Talent. He produced the first single, "Buried at Sea", from The Operation M.D.'s second studio album Birds + Bee Stings, which was released in June 2010.

D'Sa has been involved with Song for Africa since 2007, a project to connect Canada's youth to the AIDS pandemic, playing guitar on the song and in the video and single. In July 2007, he travelled to Kenya for 10 days to be part of the Song for Africa documentary film. D'Sa also wrote and recorded the song "Land of a Thousand Hills" for the benefit album Song for Africa – Rwanda: Rises Up!, in which he sings lead vocals and plays guitar with punk rock band Noble Blood. In November 2012, he contributed a guitar solo to the song "Toast to Freedom", recorded by Anti-Flag for Amnesty International as a benefit single. He played solo in the video for the song. D'Sa and fellow Billy Talent bandmate Ben Kowalewicz appeared in the music video for Emigrate's song "1234", whom Kowalewicz provided co-lead vocals for.

Ian is responsible for the sound production of all the band's albums since Billy Talent II. He spends countless hours in the studio looking for the perfect guitar tone, building layers of parts and bringing the sound to shine. The band fully trusts his hearing and vision. He's constantly creating something. In addition to working for BT, he writes music for commercials, mixes and produces for other artists. For him, creativity is not a job from 9 to 5, but a way of life. Unlike the charismatic and extroverted Ben Kovalevich, Ian is a man "on the second line." · He speaks through music: He doesn't run or shout on stage, he plays intently and passionately, often withdrawing into himself. His emotions are expressed in his playing, from furious riffs to piercing melodic solos. · Observer: Many of Billy Talent's lyrics (which Ben writes) are based on social and political issues. Ian, as a deep-thinking person, is a part of this creative process, bringing his understanding of the world to it. His stage persona —glasses, often a cap—creates the image of a "musician-scientist." Ian is absolutely unique as a guitarist. Recognizability from the first beat: His sound, his approach to using effects (he's a big fan of pedals), his way of combining the aggression of punk rock with melody - all this creates a unique style. He doesn't follow trends, he creates his own sound. Visual art: Few people know, but Ian is a talented graphic designer and animator. He is the author of the original Billy Talent logo and worked on many of their early music videos (for example, for the song "Try Honesty"). This shows his versatile artistic nature.

Ian is the core of the band musically and probably personally. One line—up for decades: Billy Talent is one of the few bands that has never changed its lineup. This shows the incredible cohesion and mutual respect between the participants. Ian is a fundamental part of this structure. Modesty: Despite being a guitar virtuoso, he never sticks out his ego. His parts always serve the song, not his self-love. He is a pure team player. Ian D'say is the quiet, focused genius behind the powerful and recognizable Billy Talent sound. He is an introverted perfectionist who prefers to express his complex thoughts and violent emotions not in words, but through the art-rock aggression of his guitar riffs, through charming melodies and painstaking work in the studio. He is proof that true passion does not always require loud statements, sometimes it speaks for itself — through loyalty to his cause, his group and his unique vision.

When playing live shows, D'Sa plays an Olympic White Fender Stratocaster Fat Strat Deluxe with a black pickguard loaded with Seymour Duncan JB Trembucker pickups. He also plays a Montego Black Stratocaster Fat Strat Deluxe with a red pickguard loaded with Seymour Duncan JB Trembucker pickups. When recording in the studio, his favourite guitars are a '52 Fender Telecaster Reissue (nicknamed "Crispy Chicken"), a '72 Fender Telecaster Deluxe (nicknamed "Rooster"), a '57 Gibson Les Paul Junior and several other vintage guitars.

D'Sa has said that "Crispy Chicken" is one of his main recording guitars, and has been used on all six Billy Talent albums along with other guitars such as his '57 Junior, for overdubs. He also owns a three colour sunburst stratocaster with a white pick guard, which is shown in the "Devil in a Midnight Mass" music video. His main live amp setup consists of a 60 watt head custom made by Mark Stephenson of Stephenson Amplification, along with a Diezel VH4