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For the love of Destineak

Electro-rock duo plays launch party for new night at Pemberton Hotel on Saturday
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Here's a lesson for all you naysayers out there: love at first sight does exist and if you don't believe it, we point you toward Bobby James and Christina Sing.

The two met at a show in Vancouver in 2004. James, a veteran drummer in the metal circuit, was approached by Sing, vocalist for a jazz and funk outfit at the time. Within 15 minutes they were making out backstage.

That night she took him home and showed him some songs she was working on.

"He said, 'Has anyone heard these songs?' I said not really and he said, 'Well, I'm dropping everything and making sure that everyone knows the lyrics to every song you've ever written, and I think you're a total star.'"

In truth, it sounds like a great way — the best way — to get between a lady's sheets but they've been collaborating ever since, dropping their previous projects to focus on what would become the dance-rock hybrid Destineak.

"It was literally love at first sight," she says.

They've been working non-stop since then. Their first EP Sirens, released in 2010, spawned eight singles and earned them modest airplay and constant gigs across the country, including a memorable performance at Masquerave in November. They've been providing music for the cirque troupe Westcoast Contortion, playing with them wherever they perform, leading to massive public gigs of up to 6,000 people.

"The energy in the music is really applicable to almost anything," Sing says. "If you play in a heavy hardcore metal band, you're really stuck to that kind of crowd. Because we're always promoting love and unity, you can fit that in anywhere."

That's part of it. In truth, Destineak freakin' rocks a live show, be it a Canada Day celebration, a gay pride event, a $300-ticket gala — they can move a crowd. James, former member of Noise Therapy and DDT, should be in contention for Vancouver's best drummer while Sing channels everything that made Vince Neil a successful showman. Together, they're about as magnetic a live act as you'd hope to see.

But the live show, as good as it is, can only take a band so far. Destineak has its heart set on the radio.

"We've always wanted to write hits," she says. "We're all about releasing an album and that's why we're always wanting to make interesting sounds."

They've just released their latest single "Falling Back" and are in the midst of recording their second EP, which Sings says will include work from some high profile producers.

"We're keeping that hush-hush because it's kind of big," she says, but adds that the news will be out by in April, with a release date for the EP in late spring.

Destineak is headlining the launch of a new weekly event at the Pemberton Hotel, Extra Large Saturday Nights, where the town pub will be transformed into a nightclub with "a sound system on steroids and a light show on psychedelics."

This is your night, Pemberton.