Rich Aucoin

Rich Aucoin is a Canadian indie rock musician, based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He is the younger brother of Paul Aucoin of Hylozoists. He performs and records both as a solo artist and as a collaborator and guest musician in Hylozoists.

Aucoin released his first EP, Personal Publication, in 2007. The album was designed as an alternative soundtrack to How the Grinch Stole Christmas. He supported the release by undertaking a cross-Canada tour traveled entirely by bicycle, to raise money for Childhood Cancer Canada; when that tour was completed, he went on another tour with Hylozoists, but subsequently faced a health crisis when his sudden shift from regular exercise during the bicycle tour to virtually no exercise at all during the Hylozoists tour triggered an iron deficiency. After recuperating, he undertook another solo tour, running partial marathons between stops to raise money for the Canadian Cancer Society.

During both tours, he also recorded material across Canada with a wide variety of musicians, friends and fans for what would become his debut full-length album, 2011's We're All Dying to Live; in total, the album features over 500 guest musicians, including Jay Ferguson of Sloan, Becky Ninkovic of You Say Party, Michael Small of The Meligrove Band, and Rae Spoon. The album's release party, held at the 2011 Halifax Pop Explosion festival, featured over 80 musicians onstage.

The album was named as a longlisted nominee for the 2012 Polaris Music Prize on June 14, 2012, and the video for "Brian Wilson Is A.L.I.V.E." won the Prism Prize in 2013.

Studio albums

• We're All Dying to Live (2011)
• Ephemeral (2014)

EPs

• Personal Publication (2007)
• Public Publication (2010)