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SPF Editor-In-Chief Janet Adamana
Associate Editor Ally Sigurdson Promotions Director Steff Shields
Contributors & Photography Credits Marc A DC Normal State Charlene Casillas Ally Sigurdson Special Thanks Mack Behm Brad Hosler Nathan Amstine Owen Hamilton Geoff Hermann Jonny Mays Braden Wilks Joel Leonhardt Andrew Free Kyle Monkman
Sound, Phrase & Fury is a Canadian music magazine out to help promote musicians not usually covered in mainstream media. All music, photos and articles used are for the sole purpose of spreading the knowledge of these artists and their music. We always encourage readers to support every act through purchasing releases, merchandise and attending live shows.
Sept/OCT 2015
Hoodie Weather Note from the Editor
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Embracing Change An update on Nothing Gold Can Stay
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SPF Recommends Our picks for artists to listen to
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Home Sweet Home Triggers and their new EP, Prairie Resilient
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Sound-Phrase-Fury.com info@sound-phrase-fury.com @soundphrasefury facebook.com/soundphrasefury
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Editor’s Note
hoodie weather Our favourite season has come and gone (according to the calendar anyway). This summer was a blast. We made some memories, worked on our tans and most importantly, fell in love with brand new music. As we bid farewell to the greatest season full of sun and sweet tunes, we give you a preview of the amazing new music that awaits this fall. While you take in the last little bit of that summer love, and prep yourself for the impending cozy sweater weather - we hope you take the time to check out these amazing new albums.
smash and scatter
Janet Adamana Editor-In-Chief
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Facebook.com/AestheticHeartPromotions Sept/OCT 2015 • Sound, Phrase, & Fury 5
Q&A
embracing change AS: Give me an update on Nothing Gold Can Stay; you guys have been through a few changes since we last spoke. OH: We started really taking ourselves very seriously, and started making realistic goals for NGCS. Now, we’re doing everything that we can to achieve them. We had new influences in our music and we began branching out from pop punk towards more of an alternative sound. We also have a new vocalist, Mack Behm and guitarist Nathan Amstine. We’re really stoked to have these guys with us. They’ve been a great addition to our band. MB: Our song writing has just completely matured. Not just lyrically, but everything. We are actually creating music that means a lot to us, and a lot more people are able to relate to. AS: Tell me about the new EP, Familiar Faces. MB: When I think of the recording process, all I can picture is Brad and I sitting in my room for days on end, just writing and creating about 20 songs. 6 Sound, Phrase, & Fury • SEPT/OCt 2015
BH: We demoed about 20 songs before landing on the five we all thought did the best to represent us as a band. The writing process of this EP was pretty ridiculous. We were all thrown into new elements. In the beginning, I wasn’t comfortable with having someone else write the instrumentals. That felt weird to me at first but being in a band really forces you to trust other people. NA: We spent just under a week with Doug Organ at Edmontone Studios and I feel like those days just flew by. It all happened so fast. MB: After that, we had Nick Steinborn from The Wonder Years and Red Hand Recordings mix and master our EP, which was pretty fantastic. We completely love how it turned out. AS: Let’s talk about your musical influences. NA: R Kelly. [Laughs] OH: I personally draw a lot of influence from old Brand New, especially for my drum parts in this EP, as well as Silverstein.
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Q&A
A lot can change in two years, and for Edmonton’s Nothing Gold Can Stay, change is something they welcome with open arms. From adjusting to new band members, to two crossCanada tours in the past year, this pop-punk band shows zero intentions of slowing down. Members, Mack Behm (vocals), Brad Hosler (guitar/vocals), Nathan Amstine (guitar/vocals), Owen Hamilton (drums), and Geoff Hermann (bass) are touring across Canada, hoping to play for anyone who loves music. We sat down with them to get the scoop on their new EP, Familiar Faces.
words BY Ally Sigurdson Photos by Marc A DC MB: I really turned to Real Friends and Knuckle Puck a lot during the writing portion of this EP. Brad really got me hooked on them, and it stuck with me. BH: Lyrically, I took a lot from Taking Back Sunday. They’re a great band and their lyrics are sick. My Chemical Romance is pretty up there for me too. GH: Brad and Mack wrote my guitar parts for me, but I like to believe that my parts have a lot of a Real Friends and Silverstein influence in them. AS: What do you want people to take away from this EP? MB: We’re really trying to stay away from sounding like a generic pop punk band. We want to be different. We want people to listen to us and pay attention, you know? GH: This EP was a chance for us to show people that we aren’t Smile For The Bullet anymore; that we’re a new band, with a new line up, and we’ve grown up since SFTB. This is the first major thing we’ve done in a while, and the first major thing we’ve done with this group. We want this EP to be what people think of when they think of Nothing Gold Can Stay.
AS: Let’s talk about tour life. How is it treating you? OH: I feel like we’ve been on tour for about fortyfive minutes so far, and the rest of the time is a weird road trip with these guys. BH: I have met more kinds of farm animals than shows played. So tour is pretty sick so far. [Laughs] MB: In all seriousness, tour life has been great. Traveling across the country with my best friends is a total dream come true. It is stressful, but we knew that coming into this. Trying to find places to crash, hoping to shower every few days - It can be tough sometimes. 11 shows in three weeks is pretty crazy, and timing is important. But, if this tour is anything like our last one, I’ll have no complaints. There is nothing like tour, and it’s an incredible experience. NA: We’re going as far as Quebec City, and we’re pretty stoked to see that part of Canada. Some of us have never been out this way before, and it’s pretty great to be traveling with these guys.
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Like them at Facebook.com/NGCSofficial Grab a copy of Familiar Faces at NothingGoldCanStay.Bandcamp.com Sept/OCT 2015 • Sound, Phrase, & Fury 7
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Recommends recommends
emo/rock Richmond, VA
Photo by Normal State words BY Janet Adamana
watermedown
facebook.com/WATERMEDOWN - watermedownmusic.com - twitter.com/WATERMEDOWN Pulling together undying anguish and angst and plastering it against a backdrop of early emo elements, WATERMEDOWN is sure to win the hearts of every heartbroken kid and diehard emo fan. The Virginiabased one-man band is the newest addition to the Equal Vision Records family, joining the roster that includes genre predecessors Say Anything and Saves the Day. Where many emo artists of late tend to gravitate towards more selfexplanatory lyrical storytelling, artist, Jonny Mays bleeds unforgettable metaphors, poetry and raw, uninhibited passion into WATERMEDOWN. Melding such candour with an innocent everyday-man grace, you’d have to try your hardest not to be drawn in. &
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recommends
at the edge
pop-punk- Southern California
facebook.com/ATExband - atexband.bandcamp.com - twitter.com/ATExband As summer comes to an end, one cannot bid farewell without highlighting At The Edge. The Californian pop-punk quintet bottle endless profile sunshine and pep and roll it into upbeat, energetic tunes that beg to be blasted through rolled-down car windows. Their current record, I Know I’ll Be Okay, boasts addictive, fast-paced aspects reminiscent of Four Year Strong’s Enemy of The World, with a dash of Set Your Goals and a tinge of Blink while adding their own take on the self-proclaimed “SoCal Pop Punk” style. All in all, what you get from At The Edge is pure feel-good pop punk. &
Photo by Charlene Casillas words BY Janet Adamana
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Q&A
home Sweet HOme
Photos & words BY Ally Sigurdson
Winnipeggers either love this place or hate it. There really is no in-between when it comes to Canada’s heart and center. From the icy winters to the construction-filled summers, most pop punk bands write about escaping their hometown and never looking back. But not all punk bands feel this way; and Winnipeg’s Triggers sets the perfect example of loving where you’re from. For Braden Wilks, (rhythm guitar/vocals) Joel Leonhardt, (drums) Andrew Free (bass) and Kyle Monkman, (lead guitar) loving Winnipeg is everything and they have their new EP, Prairie Resilient, to prove it. AS: So, how did you become Triggers? BW: Andrew and I played in bands together for as long as I can remember - back in middle school and high school. Eventually, I reached out and told him that I was interested in trying our own thing. From there we found our own studio space and began jamming. We wrote three songs and then realized we needed other members to complete the band. We came across these two kids, and that was essentially all the looking we did. BW: We’ve all known each other for a long time and
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hung around in the same circle of friends, so it was pretty easy and natural for us. JL: My audition was basically Braden asking if I could thrash. When I said yes it was like “Bam. You’re hired.” BW: It was actually pretty funny. Growing up, Joel listened mostly to rock and he didn’t really play the music I was talking about so we kind of introduced him to thrash. AF: We basically taught him all he knows. [Laughs]
sightsspotlight & sounds Q&A
Real Love Winnipeg began as a small record company with the sole goal of supporting a strong local music community. Since their start in 2012, RLW has grown into a multifaceted music and show promoter, with Real Love Thursdays, and the annual Real Love Summer Fest. Olivia Michalczuk, takes us through the Sights & Sounds of the grassroots fest, capturing the real feeling of Real Love.
words by olivia michalczuk photos by Chris P. Bakon (@craspybakon)
AS: Where does your inspiration come from? AF: The music that inspires me is the same music I’ve been listening to since I was 13. It’s all that pop punk, skate punk, feel-good stuff. It stuck with me. Bands like The Menzingers and Against Me! are big ones for me as well. KM: I also play in a metal band, so my music taste is a little different than these guys, but I look to Living With Lions and The Story So Far for some inspiration for Triggers. JL: I listen to a little bit of everything - from punk rock when I was in junior high to more classic rock in high school. Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Doors and stuff like that. Playing in [Triggers] really reignited my love for punk rock again. BW: I don’t really know. I play in a band for fun. I love it. The music and lyrics that we write and everything we do is along the lines of what I grew up with and really enjoyed. It’s easy and natural for me to listen to. It’s not the only music I listen to, but it’s what I know and what I really love to play. My go-to
music isn’t always Blink 182, but if I’m in the mood for some old school pop punk, you better believe I’m listening to Dude Ranch. AS: You just finished your new EP, Prairie Resilient. Tell us about the recording process, and what highlights we should be looking out for? BW: It’s our first actual EP that we all put a lot of time and effort into. The stuff we did before was more of a demo. It took forever to write and this was our first time coming together and really creating something in the studio. We had three days to lay out all of our music and about 40 hours to really create the vision we wanted. We re-did a song from the old record, just because we felt that it deserved a re-recording. I feel like the songs that we’re about to release are a bit more developed and a bit more technical. We’ve grown up, and so has our music. This is the first real assessment of our band, you know? It’s like “THIS is our band. THIS is Triggers.”
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sights & sounds Q&A
AS: What do you want people to take away from listening to the EP? AF: I want people to have a good time listening to it, and I want people to feel “Winnipeg” when they hear it. This EP feels like Winnipeg. KM: We want everyone to have a beer, remember how cold it’s going to get, and just feel this place. JL: It would be really cool to remind people what Winnipeg punk is about. It’s a pop punk EP, so it’s a little different, but in a positive way. I just want people to want to move or pick up an instrument. It’s catchy and I want them to really feel it. BW: I know a lot of people don’t like Winnipeg or don’t totally appreciate it. A lot of the songs on this EP were written about how this is an awesome place, and people should know why it’s awesome; it’s a tribute to them. It’s for everyone who sticks out the long winters and the short, wicked hot summers. It’s for the people who tough it out.
with everyone checking up on Andrew. BW: We put Andrew on a two-beer limit. KM: Other than that, we really just mingle with people and have their energy pump us up before we run on stage. We make sure Andrew doesn’t have another drink, and then we play. [Laughs] JL: It’s pretty effortless. We’re pretty much ready to go even before we get to a venue. BW: We honestly don’t do a lot of warming up before a show. We’re there to have a good time, and drinking a beer is usually all I need to fully prepare.
AS: Where can people find your music now and where will they find your new EP when it comes out on September 15th? BW: Our music is pretty much everywhere you can stream it. We’re on Bandcamp. We’ll be on iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify, CDBaby -all that stuff. Right now, the only place you can buy a physical copy of our new EP is at our release show, which is comAS: How do you guys prepare for a show? ing up really fast on September 11th. We’re all super KM: Pretty much the night starts and continues stoked to share our music with everyone.
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Like them at Facebook.com/triggers204 Check out their music at Triggerswpg.Bandcamp.com Head to the Park Theatre on September 11th for the Triggers EP release with Dangercat, Elder Abuse and Fox Lake. 14 Sound, Phrase, & Fury • SEPT/OCt 2015
Youtube.com/LivMayesTV Sept/OCT 2015 • Sound, Phrase, & Fury 15
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