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Inside this Issue Editor’s Desk: The unwritten rules… Key Notes: It’s not spending; it’s investing… Band Van: Darkness Rites Interview… Skate Feature: SkateFest 2010 & Ripper Team Demo… Band Line Up… Recipe Book: The Big Wac… Month in Review… The Record Store: Weezer - Hurley… Weird Wiki: Brain in a Vat…
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Marpi Production’s
SMALL FRY HERALD Volume 4 Issue 3 Editor in Chief: Mario-Pierre Gaudreau Senior Editor: Kimberly-Mai Therrien Contributing Writers: Maurice Gautreau, Christopher Artuso, Josh Hogan, Anon Amos, Craven Moore, Davey Zegarac. Photography Director: Mario-Pierre Gaudreau Senior Photographers: Kimberly-Mai Therrien, Mathieu Beaulieu Contributing Photographers: Ian Legris, Ken Daigle, David Couturier Stock Editor’s Desk background by http://Nocreditsto ck.deviantart.com Key Notes Background by http://Gimptutorial.deviantart.com The Reco rd Store Background by http://p0rnstock.deviantart.com
Above: Jeremie Landry crosses the Gap with this wick nosegrind on the Bench, sportin’ his sponsor’s shirt, Jessom ’s, and doing them proud. Way to go b ro! Photo: Mario- Pierre Gaudreau Right: The Belle Comedians who played with She Roars! At the Bar “en Haut” last month, these guys really rocked it out. Hope to see more of these cats in th e near future. Photo: Kimberly-Mai Therrien
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There are a many things in the industry that isn’t written down but people should know, understand and respect. Back in the early 90’s, before MySpace ever became popular and before the internet was the ultimate means of communication, everything was done very differently and with a much different attitude. Still, there are many unwritten rules that persist and should never be forgotten. I understand that many promoters get a bad rep from not knowing what they’re doing, setting up half assed shows in their own garage with no PA, no posters and sadly enough, no guarantees but these kids never last very long. The same applies to bands that travel to a city and then decides to switch venue once they get there while starring down the promoter that invested time and money into promoting the event, buying ads in the paper and making sure everything runs smoothly. Why would a band do such a thing? That’s exactly what I
asked “Hallows Die” when they pulled that on me last month but received nothing but a few giggles and some blank stares. At least they were nice enough to leave a note apologizing, leaving behind some shirts that I’ll gladly use to wipe my ass with. You give no respect and you receive no respect; it’s as simple as that. But bars also need to offer respect to bands and to the community. The fact that the bar they went to kicked me out just for being there seems to be oblivious about these unwritten rules and why they are so important. The consequence will be very apparent when people turn away from these establishments, these promoters and these bands. Yes, the internet allows almost any band to be able to book a decent enough tour by themselves, it’s almost too easy for any kid to be able to put a show together and bars get the pick of the litter for a fraction of the price of what it was years ago when I started out. But this technology and easy of
communication becomes a double edged sword when you act like a total idiot since it also allows the negative aspects of the news to spread like that plague. So for these unwritten laws, there’s also the unwritten justice that will always find a way to come back to you no matter what. So if you want to achieve some amount of success in the industry, no matter what your goals are, you surely don’t want to start off on the wrong foot because a bad reputation can cost you everything. Be polite, shake hands and most importantly of all be honest and offer respect where respect is due and you won’t end up in a column of a webzine sent out to hundreds of people from the industry across the country. Remember, your word is everything because it’s all you’ve really got to go on, lose respect of the people by not keeping it and you lose pretty much everything. ■
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By Josh Hogan The old tired argument of band money never seems to end. Most artists I know have had plenty of battles with other band members about chipping in cash for expenses such as recording, album pressing, merchandise etc… The same excuses about “I can’t afford to spend that much” is a continual battle with many artists but the truth is that you’re not “ S P E N D I N G ” y ou’r e ac tually “INVESTING” and sadly not many musicians see it that way…
now-a-days and b) it’s a advertisement for your band.
w alking
Let’s say your band gets 50 T-Shirts made for $350.00 ($7/unit) and you sell 40* of them at $15.00 (*I say 40 since likely some w ill be given aw ay, traded, kept by band members, limited sizes left and not sell etc…).
Many musicians I know have no issue putting a new $1000+ guitar on a payment plan (especially when they already have 3 other perfect ly good guitars, ha ha) but when it comes to band expenses ( r ec o r d i n g , pr e s s albums, or making merchandise) they don’t want to “SPEND” the money. A band, like any other business, is an investment. If you ever plan to make money you need to first invest and like most business you are looking at 3-5 years of investing before you’ll turn a profit. Obviously playing shows and banking ALL band money upfront is important for starting bands but w hen the band fund run dry the members need to be w illing to pony up some cash and “INVEST” it in their band! Take for example getting band T-Shirts made. Although a much higher cost per unit then CDs the T-Shirt is a valid mar ke ting tool. a) it’s mor e likely to sell then a CD at a merch table
40 x $15 = $600.00 this means that you’ve paid off the bands initial $350 investment in full and you have $250.00+ to go tow ards your next run of shirts. Assuming you sell another 40 of the second run that means you (as a band) hav e made $500.00 profit!! Repeat this cycle and you can see that getting a new run of shirts every few months is a self-sustaining idea that your band can and should be doing. I know bands w hic h have us ed this theory to pay f or studio time, album
pressings and many other expenses. Truth is investment in your band might never pay dividends but worst case scenario, you’ll play shows, get to travel with people who w ill likely become some of the best friends you could ever a s k f or , y o u ’ l l p u t o u t albums w hich w ill live on forever (thanks to torrent sites on t h e internet…), create some merchandise you’ll see on people for years to come and overall have some of the most fun you could have. These memories a r e the very things that you should never put a price on… Perspective is a big part of being in the music industry and every time I’m hard on myself about the money I’ve invested in the industry without seeing a return I have countless memories to reassure me that my investment w asn’t in vein… Plus I’d rather be thousands of dollars in debt from perusing my passion then thousands in debt from some flashy car I don’t need, so I can drive to a job that I hate just to pay for the flashy car I didn’t need in the first place. I know I’ve got a lot of investing left in me…. Do you?
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About the Author: Over the past four years, Josh Hogan has strived to become a dominant voice in the East Coast music scene. Beginning his musical career as the vocalist for the metal band Orchid's Curse, Hogan quickly discovered the lack of support for the underground music community and formed the Halifax-based heavy metal label Diminished Fifth Records. During this time, he has been helping provide exposure and recognition for bands not only in the metal scene, but from all walks of the musical spectrum with his publicity company Hogan Media Relations. No stranger to sharing his thoughts, he has spoken at organizations and conferences such as The Halifax Pop Explosion, Noctis Metalfest, Music Nova Scotia, The ECMA Conferences and the Nova Scotia Community College. His efforts in the music community lead to him being named in The Chronicle Herald's "Top 20, 20-somethings" to watch and he has been featured in such publications as Canadian Musician, The Coast, here[NB] Magazine and the Ryerson Review of Journalism.
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Band Van
Interview by Mario- Pierre Gaudreau
It's been a while since you guys have been out east, what's been keeping you busy and what's new with the band? Well the recording process for The Accuser was very time consuming, along with some setback s with member changes we haven't had as much time to tour as we would have liked. But now we have the most solid group of guys we have ever had. And it has given us the time to practice, we are the tightest we have ever been. Over the next few months we will be hitting the road as much as possible.
The difference between our Self Titled album and The Accuser is huge. the two can’t even be compared.. The writing, the recording, the general sound is much more
The accuser, your latest album, where was it recorded and who produced it? This album was recorded and The Accuser: Darkness Rites’ New Album produ ced b y Chr is tian Now Available! Donaldson (Cryptopsy) and he did a fantastic job, we couldn't technical and mature than anything have been happier with the end we have done prior. and with the product. We actually just booked newer material we are writing some time with him in April 2011 now.... its looking like songs from to record our next album. So on The Accuser won’t be able to comthis tour, you guys will be hearing pare either. This newer stuff has a some new material. heavier more dark feel . Has that changed the dynamics or the sound or DR, if so how?
Who wrote the songs on the album? Evan, Stevie, Cory and I take on all the music side of things. The lyrics on The Accuser were written and recorded by M ike McFadden (our original vocalist). But looking ahead, we now have Josh Ryant, who is a power house vocally. Is any band joining you on this tour? Yes we are doing Ontario and East dates with Terrorhorse, they are a Technical death metal band from London Ontario. They are amazing live, and a lot of fun to party with. This should be one of the more fun tour we have ever done What can we expect from DR this time around? An Intense, LOUD and hard hitting performance. We are defiantly one of those bands you need to see live to really "get it" come see one of our shows and you will understand.
■ www .myspace.com/darknessrites
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Skate Feature
It wasn’t the ideal conditions to shoot, dark and cloudy overcast but that didn’t stop the Ripper Team from tearing up the park and turning up the heat during the Skatefest 2010 in Edmundston, NB. There was a fairly good turnout and people from all over the province and also some people from Quebec turned up at the event. The Skate Jam contest was held first but this year they also featured a Bike Jam contest which feature a dozen or so riders. In short, everybody won since it really wasn’t about prizes, although they probably did give some away. This was way more about shredding concrete and having a blast than anything else. The entire Jessoms skate team had showed up. Mic St-Onge, who also organized the event, skated alongside the Ripper guys while they did their things during the demo as well as some skaters from StJohn. Seems these guys have all the grounds covered; they destroyed everything the camera was aimed at starting with the quarter pipe, then onto the Words and Pictures by Mario-Pierre Gaudreau
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flat box and then finally on the fun box. They had the air, the ground, the old school and the tech going on. It was a very tight demo with a bunch of very nice guys. The locals really stepped up their lines as well, I guess morale was up and that’s why there was crazy shit going everywhere. Hopefully we’ll get to see more events like these in the near future.
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The Skate fest started out around 1996; the first was featured in the St-Basile arena with five bands and old broken down skate modules, skate Tuesdays then started up with the efforts of the sports and leisure center and led by the late Pierre Pelletier, so the event had been popping up sporadically throughout the years. Now it seems that the
scene is gaining momentum once again as more people are getting involved and those who are organizing the events have been doing it consistently for the past few years.
Page 7. Mic goes big off the spine again, with a signature indy grab. Previous: Marius of the ripper team was going big all day, seen here doing a nollie flip off the box. Top left: Going tech can sometimes hurt, blood was gushing here when this skater got decked with his, well, deck.
■ Top right: Marius again, this time doing a FS 180 at the 11 deck mark and he was making it look easy. Above: Did someone say Bike Jam? Yves Belanger doubles down with this 360 over the hip, siiiiiick. Boy.
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Left sequece: Flatbox time, FS 180 to switch manual BS 180 out. I think that’s about right yeah. Right sequence: Again on the box, Nose manny shove-it to manny out. Oh this guy was getting even more tech but this is all I managed to get on film. Left: Oh shit, David Couturier nose stalls while I wasn’t done setting up the strobes, enjoy this back light bro! Bottom: The team and random people chilling out’ relaxing, acting all cool… yeh yeh, sing it.
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In the bars
Moncton Paramount/Manhattan Sept 16th-Slowcoaster @ The Manhattan $15 Sept 16th-The Caravan w/The Swiftkicks @ The Paramount $5 Sept 17th-IPN w/BONES @ The Paramount $6 Sept 17th-Rock’n Rebels w/Gunsmoke @ The Manhattan $6 Sept 18th-Serge And Tom @ The Manhattan $5.75 Sept 21st -BA Johnston w/Burning Hell @ The Paramount $5 Sept 23rd- Matt Mays Sept 23rd- CFL Street Party Sept 23rd-The Official Suckers w/Kit Wilson-Yang @ The Paramount $5 Sept 25-UFC@ The Manhattan $5.75 Sept 28th-ALL AGES Comeback Kid w/Living With Lions/Motorleague @ The Manhattan (6:309:30) $20@door Sept 30th- Comeback Kid w/Living With Lions/Motorleague @ The Manhattan $20@ door Sept 30th-The Great Sabatini w/guests @ The Paramount $5
Plan B Sept 15th Danny Roy Sept 16th JByrd Sept 17th To be announced Sept 18th The Light Brights Sept 19th Karaoke Sept 20th HCS Sept 21st Open Mic Sept 22nd TBA Sept 23rd EDIT - BA is playing the Paramount this time around. Sept 24th Haunted Hearts CD Release Sept 25th TBA Sept 26th Karaoke Sept 27th HCS Sept 28th Open Mic Sept 29th JByrd Sept 30th Kate Reid
Edmundston
Bar en Haut
October 17th - Darkness Rites & Terrorhorse October 30th - Lonesom e Line
Oct 1 Chris Cullen Oct 2 Romi Mayes Juno Nominee for Album of the year Oct 3 Karaoke Oct 4 HCS Oct 5 Open Mic Oct 6 Long Haul Canada Oct 7 MNB Week Showcase Oct 8 MNB Party early - Decade of Sleep (late show) Oct 9 Strawmen -East Infection Release - MNB afterparty Oct 10 Karaoke Oct 11 HCS Oct 12 Open Mic Oct 13 TBA Oct 14 Tim Hus
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Recipe Book: The BIG WAC By Mario- Pierre Gaudreau This is f or all the people that get Big Mac Attacks yet don’t want to stray from their vegetarian diet. Although this one here isn’t vegan, it can easily be made into one by trading the mayonnais e for nayonnais e and the real cheese for veggie cheese. A friend of mine posted a version of this up on her facebook account and it had been a while since I had made one, this was the perfect opportunity. I like to make my ow n special sauce but this one was made with Ricardo’s version of it, which is pretty much the same thing as the generic special sauce recipes found just about anywhere on the net. Also I didn’t use sesame seed buns but rather texas style buns in this one.
For f our burgers you’ll need: 8 Veggie patties 4 thick buns 4 pickles cut into slices lengthw is e 4 slices of processed cheddar cheese/ veggie cheese Shredded lettuce Special Sauce: ¾ cup of mayo/nayonaise ¼ cup of finely chopped onions 1 tbsp of French dressing 1 tbsp of relish 1 tbsp of finely chopped pickles 1 tsp of brown sugar 1 tsp of ketchup 1 tsp of white vinegar Salt and pepper Do you really need instructions for this one? If so, check out this youtube link: http://www .youtube.com/watch? v=Xedkk1xvgeo Just use the products mentioned above instead. Oh and the onions are in the special sauce, tastes much better that way in my opinion. Why not have this w ith some cola? Alright, if you want to make this a more pleasurable experience, try pairing this w ith something such as an inexpensiv e yet ideal Gato Negro Sauvignon.
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Top Three: Old School Detention Rocked out the Cheminée, old school style. Top right: Diego gets on stage and ro cks out with the band. Photo: MPG Sequence: Biggest Melon I’ve ever seen, mic pops the lawn gap Photo: MPG Above: She Roars! @ “Bar en Haut” Photo: KMT Opposite left: MPG Heelflips photo: KMT Left: Mic transfers from the quarter to the drop in with a FS indy, he could air over Ken!! Photo: MPG
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Weezer: Hurley (Epitaph, 2010) Browsing through many albums online I noticed Weezer’s new release but hesitated; they’re definitely a band that I enjoy very much and that is certainly due their idiosyncratic sound. There were many albums I wanted to check out before this one but then I noticed this was released on Epitaph, I was more than c u r i o u s enough to check it out. This is by far the best release since their first album. They’ve managed to preserve their unique style and they deliver it with the same raw intensity, the main difference with this one is that it has the same consistency as the “the blue album”. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still all over the place but I guess there’s a right way of doing it ‘wrong’ and this is definitely it. You can expect the familiar
catchy riffs and melodies here and there, mixed with raspy vocals echoing through the clean tone, tons of unexpected elements, a touch of chaos, tons of fun and it sums up this album very well.
The album kicks off with the very catchy “Memories” and carries the same momentum up to “Unspoken” which starts off acoustic but switches to distortion like an awesome gritty surprise. A few of the tracks still do seem out of place but I expect them to grow on me. Still, most of the tracks are
just so good that it definitely makes up for the few that don’t blend in with the rest of the album as well. Noteworthy songs include “ruling me”, “Trainwrecks” “Smart Girls”. All these songs are very reminiscent of their earlier works and this is due to being on an indie label which we will hopefully see more of. Epitaph was certainly a good direction for Weezer, they’ve created an album which is fun to listen to and that will keep you listening from the first track to the last. The deluxe edition features a few more tracks but both are worth checking out for sure. You can also expect a plethora of various contributors on this album such as Michael Cera, Mac Davis, Linda Perry and many more. ■
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Brain in a vat buster hit the ‘Matrix’ (which is more of like bodies in vats than brains) and the Canadian film “Pos sible Worlds”.
By Mario-Pierre Gaudreau
You, ri ght now, are nothing more than a brain in a vat with wires attached to it which are connected to a super computer feeding you constant streams of information. All of what you see, smell, tas te, know is not real and even this computer you are typing on at this moment is not real. All of what you know is part of the program which is fed to the brain. Sounds absurd? This sounds like many of the science fiction movies you’ve seen? Well then, prove me wrong. Brain in a Vat is a popular philosophical thought experiment which is used to discuss our ideas about reality, truth and knowledge. Now consider this; if we cannot disprove the fact that we are a brain in a vat, then ho w can we prove anything else? This puts in question everything we know as ‘real’ everything from religious faith to scientific fact, can never be proven. Of course we’re all familiar with the movies, there are so many of them but some of my favourites include the American block-
Brain in a vat isn’t new though, the model is very similar to the one presented by Pl ato in the allegory of the cave in which prisoners who have spent their entire lives in a dark cave know nothing of the r eal world except shadows that are cast on the wal l from people outside who stand in front of a fire. To these people, their entire
worl d consists of these shadow figures and they know no thing else. Plato makes a reference that a phil osopher is like someone wal king out of the cave and understanding what constitutes these shadows and what “true reality” actually is. It is also similar and s omewhat of an extension to Descartes’ Evil daemon hypothesis . It is a very disturbi ng idea to think that there is no way to prove or disprove that we are mer ely a brain in vat. Harry Putnam, who introduced this thought experiment, argues that one can never know if they are actually a brain in a vat. It goes by saying that if a
brain claimed to be a vat but was actually not then it would obvi ously be false but if it were in a vat then it would still only be implying that it knew what an actual brain or a vat was by the electrical stimuli and not an actual brain in a vat in that sense at all it would be like saying "I'm a brain-image in a vat-image". Confused yet? All this is like saying “Everything I say is a lie” or like Pi nocchio saying “My nose will grow now”, it is incoherent and cannot ma ke any sense. As you can see, it is a very complicated matter and makes the entire issue of ‘reality’ that much more confusing but it is definitely a good convers ational piece. For now, though, I’ll leave it at that before my brain explodes. For fu rther reading/viewing ch eck out these links: http :// en.w ikip edi a.o rg/ wi ki/ Brain_in_a_vat http :// en.w ikip edi a.o rg/ wi ki/ Liar's_paradox h ttp :/ /w ww .imd b. com/ title/ tt0222293/ h ttp :/ / w w w . yo u tu b e. co m / watch?v=ursdoT66JlU
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“I shall think that the sky, the air, the earth, colors, shapes, sounds and all external things are merely the delusions of dreams which he has devised to ensnare my judgment.” -Descartes
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Darkness Rites & TerrorHorse Sunday October 17th @ Bar “En Haut”
New Bar Now Open in Downtown Edmundston Week Long Specials Such as Draft Pitchers @ 6,75$ Live Bands & Much More 53 Canada Road Edmundston, NB. 506-737-1110