Shunt

Originally performing as Sinister Sam, the group issued their lone recording, Trudge, in 1994. After a legal conflict developed with a similarly named ensemble from San Jose, California, the Ottawa musicians adopted the new designation Shunt. An electronica act based in France had already issued material under that same title, drawing the Ottawa group into a second naming dispute. Trademark filings nevertheless establish the Ottawa band’s earlier rights, and it was under this name that they issued their self-titled e.p. in 1998 on Sinister Music.