Nearly a year after announcing the relaunch of Simmons Records in Toronto during Canadian Music Week, the first Canadian act – Toronto’s The Envy - has finally been signed to the label.

Simmons Records/Universal Music Canada is a deal between Gene Simmons, the singer-bassist with rock veterans KISS, Canadian business woman Belinda Stronach and Universal, the country’s biggest music company.

“We are proud to announce our first signing: The Envy,” said Simmons in a statement. “You will be hearing a lot about them soon. We have embarked upon fulfilling our mandate to discover new and exciting Canadian talent and to take them around the world. Count on it!”

The deal is actually a joint venture with Remedy Music, a division of Crystal Math Management who represent Metric and The Midway State.

“Working with Gene has been amazing!” commented Shaun Frank, The Envy’s lead singer, in a statement. “We’ve been in touch almost every day for months now, working on the music and planning the release. We’ve all really clicked on a creative level and are excited to show the world what we’ve been up to.”

The Envy, who formed in early 2009, are currently recording with Juno award-winning producer Gavin Brown (Billy Talent, Metric, Three Days Grace) as well as the legendary songwriter/producer Desmond Child (Katy Perry, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Tokio Hotel) for their Simmons/UMC debut release.

Last year, the band toured across the country with such contemporaries as Marianas Trench, The Midway State and Stereos.

Canadian Music Week is currently underway in Toronto from March 10-14.