Smartalex

Smartalex was a Canadian boy band from,. The band was comprised of Max Shiller (the younger brother of FanGirls' Leah Amanda Shiller), Sam Hasekura, and cousins Jace Brannick and Martin Padden. They were signed to and achieved commercial success in Canada, with their song "Destiny" being used in promotional material for the Redwall franchise (wherein Tyrone voiced Matthias). After the band split up, Sam Hasekura went to pursue a rap career under the stage name RisingKidd, while Jace Brannick and Martin Padden have worked together as a vocal, musical, songwriting and producing duo.

Early years
Smartalex were formed in 1999 by manager Morgan Chladek, when 17-year old Max Shiller was joined by 14-year old Tyrone Savage and 18-year old Sam Hasekura. The group came to complete fruition with the arrival of 15-year old Jace Brannick and 17-year old Martin Padden.

Their debut album was with the 2000 album Smartalex. They also signed a publishing deal with Sony/ATV. Grammy-winning producer was among the producers for their debut album. Smartalex achieved success in Canada with the single "Power of My Heart" (written & produced by ), followed by "Destiny" (written & produced by Gabriel Dirks and ), which was used in promotional material for the Redwall franchise, where Tyrone Savage voiced Matthias.

In Japan
Following their success in Canada, Smartalex went to, signing with. They released a second album Double The Power in 2002.

Break-up
Smartalex broke up in 2003 and have remain in touch since. After the break up, Tyrone Savage remained the voice of Matthias until 2016 when he was replaced by Howie Bogaert, while Sam Hasekura took on a rap career as RisingKidd. Jace Brannick and Martin Padden moved to to form a songwriting duo.