Patrick Pentland (born 20 September 1969) is an Irish rock guitarist member of the Canadian rock band Sloan. All four members of Sloan write, produce, and sing their own songs, but Pentland primarily plays lead guitar for most songs. He occasionally plays rhythm guitar, bass, keyboards in the studio, and occasionally plays drums live. Pentland is one of the band's two main singers, as he sings lead on at least a third of the band's songs, including many of their singles on their third to fifth albums, plus back-up/harmony vocals on most of their other songs. Pentland was born in Newtownards, Northern Ireland, UK. He emigrated to Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia in 1975 with his father (Richard), mother (Patricia) and sister (Danielle). In 1977, Pentland's father's work saw them moving to Montego Bay, Jamaica, for eighteen months. Returning to Nova Scotia in 1979, they settled in Middle Sackville (outside Halifax), where Pentland remained until he moved out of the family home in 1991. Pentland attended Sackville High and Millwood High. After graduating, he attended The University of King's College, entering the school's journalism program. Pentland left the program in his second year, and eventually graduated with a BA in history, of which he claims to have retained very little knowledge. It was during high school that Pentland became serious about playing music, guitar in particular. His father had played in rock bands—or show bands, as they were known—in Northern Ireland throughout the 1960s and early 1970s. This influenced Pentland to follow in his father's footsteps. He had learned recorder in grade school, and played saxophone in his junior high school band, but he eventually settled on guitar as his main instrument. Pentland's first group was a hard rock band, Prosecutor, which came together in the fall of 1984. They covered Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, plus a few originals influenced by those bands. The intended band name was actually Persecutor. Prosecutor played two shows, both in the spring of 1985—one in the local recreation centre that they rehearsed in, and the second on the lawn outside a local music store. By this time, however, Pentland had moved away from the hard rock sound of the band, becoming more interested in harder metal, having discovered bands like Motorhead, Venom, and the first two Metallica records. Through this music, he became exposed to punk rock, especially American hardcore. Several trips back to