The Canadian band Joydrop will make a stop in Plainview during their current tour promoting their second album Viberate.

Joydrop consists of four members, all from Toronto, Canada: Tara Slone on vocals, Thomas Payne on guitar and programming, Tony Rabalao on drums and Tom McKay on bass.

Rabalao and McKay knew each other from playing various projects around Toronto and decided to form their own band. The two knew Payne from seeing him play around Toronto and placed an ad in the newspaper for a lead singer. Slone, who had just moved to Toronto, responded to the ad. Four-and-a-half years later, Joydrop just released their second album.

Eight months after forming Joydrop, a name created by McKay, the group signed with Tommy Boy Records and recorded their first record entitled Metasexual, which was released in February 1999. From that album came a top 20 hit - Beautiful.

The group toured for 18 months promoting Metasexual and then began writing songs for their second album Viberate, which was recorded in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The band recently started touring to promote Viberate, which was produced by GGGarth, who worked with Rage Against the Machine, and mixed by Randy Staub, who has worked with such artists as Metallica and David Bowie.

This current tour, which makes a stop at the Vanderbilt in Plainview on July 23, will run through August, when the band then has a break for one of the members to get married.

"Touring is a grueling process and it is difficult to be away from home and to feel that groundlessness," said Slone during a phone interview with the Syosset-Jericho Tribune from Detroit, Michigan. "At the same time, we all love playing music and it is a great job. We are happy to be out there playing for people, but it is hard."

Slone explained that when the band first started touring, they were traveling in a van and have since upgraded to a bus. "At the beginning when we were in a van, we all started hating each other because we were so exhausted," said Slone who has a musical background in opera and acting. "Now it is easier that we have a bus. We sleep on it and wake up in the next city and have a little bit of time to ourselves."

This will not be Joydrop's first time in Plainview - they also opened for Joan Jett when she played the Vanderbilt. During the July 23 performance, Joydrop will be opening for Our Lady Peace.

The band recently shot a video in Los Angeles for their song Sometimes Wanna Die, which chronicles the pains and strains of a romance gone awry. The video is currently playing on Much Music and M2. "Tommy Lee plays my boyfriend in the video," said Slone. "He was very cool and he was great to work with."

After the band finishes their current tour promoting Viberate, they will return to Canada for some shows there. The CD is available in stores now.