www.stylusmagazine.ca
August / September 2016 Stylus Magazine
1
2 Stylus Magazine August / September 2016
Aug/Sept 27 Issue 4 2016 Volume
Production Team
On the Cover
Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gil Carroll
MARIANA MUÑOZ GOMEZ is a printmaker and photographer whose work focuses on language and identity.
Assistant Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . Victoria King
See more of Mariana’s work at: cargocollective.com/mmunozgomez
Art Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kelly Campbell Cover Art . . . . . . . . . . . Mariana Munoz Gomez Advertising Contact . . . . . . . . . Rob Schmidt manager@ckuw.ca Print by JRS Print Services . . . 204-232-3558
Contributors Laura Freisen Joey Bruce Rachel Narvey Maddy Nothing Andre Cornejo QueenHypat1a Kaitlyn Emslie-Farrel Broose Tulloch Daniel Colussi Scott Lercher Joel Klaverkamp Sarah Thiessen Zoe McCrea N. Friesen Harrison Samphir
Stylus is published bi–monthly by CKUW 95.9 FM, with a circulation of 2,500. Stylus serves as the program guide to 95.9FM CKUW and will reflect the many musical communities it supports within Winnipeg and beyond. Stylus strives to provide coverage of music that is not normally written about in the mainstream media. Stylus acts as a vehicle for the work of new writers, photographers and artists, including members of the University of Winnipeg, of CKUW and of the Winnipeg community at large. Stylus reserves the right to refuse to print material, specifically, that of a racist, homophobic or sexist nature. All submissions may be edited and become the property of Stylus. All opinions expressed in Stylus are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect those of the editors. Contributions in the form of articles, reviews, letters, photos and graphics are welcome and should be sent with contact information to:
Stylus Magazine Bulman Student Centre, University of Winnipeg 515 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg, MB, R3B 2E9 Phone: 204-786-9785, Fax: 204-783-7080 Writing submissions: editor@stylusmagazine.ca Graphics submissions: design@stylusmagazine.ca www.stylusmagazine.ca Contributions will be accepted in the body of an email. No attachments please. All submissions may be edited and become the property of Stylus. Unauthorized reproduction of any portion of Stylus is strongly discouraged without the express written consent of the editors.
www.stylusmagazine.ca
Table of Contents Blah, Blah, Blah Events Around Town . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 CKUW Program Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 CKUWho The C.A.R.P . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Prairie Punk Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Local Spotlight Surprise Party // The Heights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Features Disco Needs a Squeeze . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Birthday Tapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 1971 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 White Lung . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Shine on Music Festival . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 L.T. Frank Dickens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Freak Yoga pt II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
August / September 2016 Stylus Magazine
01
02 Stylus Magazine August / September 2016
BLAHBLAHBLAH S u m m e r time and back to school can be bittersweet. Let’s hope for the sugary goodness of live music to take us into a world where time doesn’t exist *** The Tragically Hip are at the MTS Centre on Friday, August 5 while local punks Iskra, Infecter, and Skunk are at The Handsome Daughter *** Vancouver punkers White Lung are at the Good Will Social Club on Monday, August 8 with Greys opening (see feature on page 8) *** August 11 at the Handsome Daughter kicks off the inaugural punk fest - Disco Needs a Squeeze: with Animal Lover (MN), Slurs, Human Music, and Xertz *** August 11 - 14, MEME Fest returns! Shows are happening at the Cube, the WAG, the Pyramid,
and Union Sound Hall *** August 12 at The Handsome Daughter - Disco Needs a Squeeze: with Mueco, Fucking, Skeleton, Indignari, and Whip *** August 13 at the Good Will Social Club - Disco Needs a Squeeze: with Omegas, S.H.I.T., Genex, and Skunk *** Interstellar Rodeo is at the Festival Stage at the Forks between August 12-14, bringing Wilco, case/lang/viers, Lee Fields and the Expressions, Serena Ryder, and so many more *** Sunday August 14 is Freak Heat Waves, Holy Void, and Beth at the Handsome Daughter *** Jane Siberry and Leaf Rapids are at the StuDome on Tuesday, August 16 and that same day, Big Fun presents: Woolworm, Shirley and the Pyramids (SK), and Benowa *** August 18 at the Handsome Daughter, get yelly with Tunic,
LAL AT THE GOOD WILL JUNE 14
www.stylusmagazine.ca
Pleasure Dens, Karoshi, and Small Talk DJs *** Aug 19th at the Handsome Daughter, local up and comers Notme EP Release with Sam Singer, Fever Rose, and Halcyon *** August 19 - 21 is Rainbow Trout Music Festival in St. Malo, MB featuring local bands Odd Outfit, Basic Nature, Orlando Gloom, Lanikai and many more *** August 19 - 21 is the Harvest Sun Festival in Kelwood, MB *** August 20th at the Handsome Daughter, Processer, Kindest Cuts, Gutes Haar, and Subspace *** Shine On runs August 25 28 featuring local bands Black Cloud, Kieran West, and Mulligrub. Check out our feature on page 10. *** September 1 is Real Love Thursday at the Handsome Daughter with Snake River, Champagne Years, and The James Ulysses Gang *** September 15 at the Burton Cummings Theatre,
Royal Canoe release their brand new album with Living Hour opening *** September 17 at the Handsome Daughter, get wild and wet with Dri Hiev and Conduct *** September 18 at The Handsome Daughter, show some love at the Odanah tour kickoff with Animal Teeth, and Marshall Birch *** Harvest Moon Festival is back from September 16-18 featuring Micah Erenberg, A la Mode and Slow Spirit *** Peaches is at the Pyramid on Friday, September 23 *** Toronto rockers, Greys play at the Handsome Daughter on September 24 *** See you there ***
PHOTO BY KELLY CAMPBELL
August / September 2016 Stylus Magazine
03
DISCO NEEDS A SQUEEZE
BY ANDRE CORNEJO There’s a knock at my back door, and in walks Mischa Decter. He wastes no time in expressing what a disgusting day it is outside. After the walk in the brutal heat and humidity, he has no desire to take the turkey breast (with horseradish sauce) Subway sandwich out of his backpack. Eating fresh just isn’t the same when you’re on the surface of the sun, so we got down to business. Stylus: Alright so you, Mischa, are one of the people putting together the Disco Needs A Squeeze hardcore festival. Mischa Decter: Yeah, along with Mike Requeima, and Steve Krysko.
04 Stylus Magazine August / September 2016
ILLUSTRATION BY MADDY NOTHING Stylus: And this is taking place throughout August? MD: August 11 to the 13. And the 14, kind of. Stylus: The majority of the shows are at the Handsome Daughter, but there are a couple of other spots too right? MD: Yeah, mostly at the Daughter, but there’s one at the Good Will, and one at a secret location that’s still to be announced. Stylus: So you’ve been doing things with DNAS for a while now right? There were a couple of shows towards the beginning of the year or something like that? MD: I guess I had the idea to do a festival around
January. I talked to Mike and Steve about it, and they were both really into it. We started deciding what kind of bands we wanted to target, and then we started throwing some fundraisers. We did one in April, and one in May. Since then, we did the Iskra show with OAF, and have the other shows coming up pretty quick. Stylus: As for the concept of a festival, is that something you’ve wanted to try to tackle for a while? I mean, putting on shows is one thing, but flying them under a singular banner is a whole other process. MD: Yeah, I mean, I’ve always wanted to do festival type things. This is kind of something that doesn’t
really happen in Winnipeg. I’ve gone to things like this in other cities, and they’ve always been really fun. I mean, I still don’t think Winnipeg is a place that can really support it, and like, grow that much. Stylus: Yeah, it’s difficult with that demographic. When you have maybe one hundred people that are willing to go to those shows, and you’re trying to stretch that group over a weekend of shows. MD: Yeah, exactly. I feel like if it’s there, people will want to go to it. The people that go to every show are going to go no matter what. My main goal is trying to get people who don’t normally come to these kinds of shows to check them out. Stylus: The timing of the shows doesn’t seem to matter to the people that are always at these things. The Iskra and OAF show was on what, a Tuesday? It was crazy, it was at capacity all night. I definitely believe that if the bands are there, people will show up. It’s cool to have something oriented towards heavy music too. Without Arsonfest, or any weekend things going on at, say, Negative Space, or anything like that, there’s been a massive void in the city. There have been heavy shows, but nothing really branding itself as a festival. So let’s talk about the shows a little bit. The first one coming up is the 11, with Animal Lover? MD: Thursday, August 11 with Animal Lover, Slurs (which is Mike’s band) Human Music, who are kind of the only band that don’t really fit in with the rest of the festival, and a new band called Xerts. Stylus: Those are locals? MD: Yeah it’s Marshall, who plays in Regurgitated Guts, and Genex. Spencer is playing drums, he plays in every band, haha. Spencer has to play a set every night of the festival. Stylus: Alright, the next one is August 12, with Mueco? MD: Mueco is a d-beat band from Montreal. The drummer of Mueco is from Omegas, his name is Paul. He’s actually from Winnipeg. Fucking is playing. They’re a weird punk band from Minneapolis.
www.stylusmagazine.ca
Also Skeleton. Stylus: Indignari and Whip as well, who share a stage very comfortably. MD: The classic locals, haha. Stylus: The Saturday show is at the Handsome Daughter again. MD: Saturday afternoon. It’s an early one, four o’clock. I’m hoping lots of people come out, and do bad things during the day. Mocoso is a band that has members from S.H.I.T. and Omegas, so they’re kind of a hybrid between those Montreal and Toronto bands. Mind Control from Minneapolis is playing. And Denial//Error and Karoshi. They’re local punk bands. Stylus: I was working at that last Sex Fucker and Denial//Error show. From the perspective of someone just watching the gig, it was a lot of fun, but from the angle of someone who was working the floor that night it was more along the lines of ‘oh god everything is broken.’ MD: Yeah, very silly bands. Our big show is on the Saturday at the Good Will. Omegas, S.H.I.T, Genex, and Skunk. There’s an afterparty that night with Taylor Hoodlum Stevenson, who is a member of Omegas. It’s kind of ‘Dark Wave.’ Like, goth type stuff. Also Gutes Haar and Memory Hole. Stylus: Mike (of Gutes Haar, who had recently broken a leg) is feeling firm enough to do the show? MD: I’m sure he will be. I don’t see why he couldn’t play in a wheelchair or something like that. Stylus: Yeah, he could rent a Rascal for the night and do some donuts in the crowd. Anyways, are you planning on doing more of these in the future, or are you waiting to see if there’s any kind of return on this? MD: Definitely. The goal this time around wasn’t to make money at all, it was just to break even. Or honestly, to not lose a ton of money. As long as we don’t lose our houses, we’re going to do it again next year. Definitely do some shows along these lines throughout the year. Maybe start finding some bands. To be realistic, nobody wants to drive to Winnipeg.
Like, the Minneapolis bands drove here, but we flew in the Toronto and Montreal bands. And really, if enough people are going to these shows, then it wouldn’t be too hard to fly in bands throughout the year. Stylus: A band would be so much more inclined to saying yes to something like this, if they can just fly in, bang out the show, and have a good time. As opposed to putting their life on hold for a week or whatever so they can drive out to Winnipeg to play a single show. MD: I don’t want to start thinking about next year too much, there’s still so much to do this year. I just want people that don’t come to these shows to come out. There’s a ton of people that like punk music, but they don’t really know about their local punk scene. And as it is there are like, six different punk scenes in Winnipeg, that don’t seem to get along haha. Stylus: Yeah, it can get fairly clique-y. But there’s definitely something for everyone on here. I was kind of surprised when I saw the Animal Lover show get announced. I mean, they’re kind of a jazzy noise rock band, and to see them as part of a pretty heavy, aggressive festival, was kind of wild . MD: What else was I going to say? Oh yeah! Also, we’re doing a record swap at the Good Will in the afternoon on the Sunday. That’s the 14. Stylus: That’s going to be primarily the organizers working that, or other distro stuff? I know Chris Jacques from Dub Ditch is going to be bringing some goodies down. MD: Yeah, there’s going to be some Dub Ditch stuff there, and I think one of the guys in S.H.I.T. runs a distro that’ll have some things there. We’re going to try to get all of the touring bands to sell their records there too. We’ll be DJing there and all of that. It’ll be a fun time.
August / September 2016 Stylus Magazine
05
L RE
EA SIN G
NE W
AND OLD FRIENDS
BY ZOE MCCREA When you grow up in a city like Winnipeg local talent can be found around every corner, which tends to inspire something different in every person to come across it. Birthday Tapes is the newest project started up by Austin Boulton and Isiah Shellenberg, a pair who plunged into Winnipeg’s music scene as soon as they knew how. Isiah started off young as a solo singer/songwriter working on bedroom recordings, going by notme. Austin, found his own way to be involved by organizing shows at DIY venues, bars and other locations around the city. Coordinating shows became an interest out of the determination to bring close friends the opportunity to showcase their music. These opportunities gave notme and other young musicians their first chance to play live, and keep a string of shows to follow. The duo have known each other for as long as they could remember, and have developed their tastes and interests through each other, always sharing new ideas and music whenever they could. Keeping up with the local music scene together brought them to many new places, where they would meet all sorts of new people. Being immersed in everything the city has to offer has left both of them wanting to be as involved as they can. Sometimes in order to get your stuff out there the best option may be to start a completely new platform. Birthday Tapes creates a space for emerging artists to make their own physical copies of their work on cassette. Tapes are an affordable format for musicians to put out their music, while also not costing too much for the listeners to take
06 Stylus Magazine August / September 2016
ILLUSTRATION BY JOEY BRUCE home a copy. Making the tape itself adds another level of creativity, from adding the artwork inside and out, to designing a logo for the label and customizing your own layout. Each album will have a release show to celebrate all the efforts that went into it. Much like a first birthday, each release show marks the creation of something new and unique being sent out to the world. Birthdays can be unpredictable and maybe even cause unease as you take on a new year. Releases reflect the uncertainty over what’s to come once the music is out there, and that the experience will be different for everyone. Birthday Tapes’ first release will be notme’s first studio-recorded EP Sinking with a second older EP Wasted Time included on the second side. The release show is set for August 19 at the Handsome Daughter with notme, Sam Singer, Fever Rose, and Halcyon. Plans following the first release include a compilation tape called Birthday Wishes: Vol 1. This mixture will feature local artists, mainly from Winnipeg but with a few tracks coming from various parts of Canada. Birthday Wishes will come out in late December with performances by a selection of the great artists used on the comp. With lots of exciting plans to watch out for, Birthday Tapes is open to any new artists or ideas for future projects! Keep up with Birthday Tapes through their Bandcamp birthdaytapesmb.bandcamp.com
BY KAITLYN EMSLIE-FARREL ILLUSTRATION BY SCOTT LERCHER Local punk rockers 1971 have been hard at work. Earlier this year they released a cassette titled Burning Bridges Before They’re Crossed and now they’re getting ready to tour to the east coast of Canada. 1971 is Garrett Iverson on guitar and vocals, Tanner Neil on guitar, Cameron Cranston on bass, and Jory Strachan on drums. Neil is the newest member of 1971, having joined the band in spring. “Playing music with my friends, it’s the dream,” he says. We sat down together and drank some real nice coffee from Thunder Bay. “We’re really bad at making coffee,” says Iverson. Strachan however does not agree; “I think we’re pretty good at making coffee . . . we take the coffee pretty seriously.” Iverson actually knows this because he then revealed his Coffee Punks tattoo to me. “There are about four of us with Coffee Punks tattoos now. It is a gang of punks that are obsessed with coffee. We all have the same tattoo.” Currently only half of 1971 lives in Winnipeg, while the other half is out in Kenora. The worst part of this situation is obvious: “Not being able to jam,” says Cranston, “that’s just the hardest thing.” Strachan adds that even if schedules permit the driving can be a burden with expenses. “I think that for our last five shows we haven’t been able to practice beforehand. That is part of the struggle for sure, is not being able to hone our craft,” says Cranston. The tour struggle is all “hurry up and wait” explains Strachan. “It’s a lot of driving and rushing to get to the venue at a decent time and then you get there, do your thing and what not, then it’s just waiting around till showtime . . . At the same time I think it’s one of the best experiences. I enjoy travelling, I especially enjoy travelling with a purpose. Not just going to dick around but you’re going there with a goal of bringing your music to other people and having these new experiences and then at the same time getting to experience these new cities. I think also too in a lot of ways it can end up a lot more of an intimate experience in that a lot of people who set you up with shows, you end up meeting so many amazing people and then often there are people you meet that’ll show you around the city and show you the cool things and take you on an experience that a tourist wouldn’t get. At the same time we have a lot of close friends that are sprawled out across the country so it’s always very special to see them again and get to go on a little adventure for a day with them.” “Playing music with people you would never have any opportunity to meet. I think that’s the best thing ever. Some of the best friends I have right now I made on tour and they’re closer than people I’ve known my entire life,” says Cranston. “You make good friends that you see again the next tour,” says Iverson. “Even being stuck in the van sometimes is such a perk too. I love all night drives. Sometimes you have the best conversations or sometimes you do really stupid shit,” says Strachan. “You get in such a weird headspace. I love being in that headspace.” And Iverson wraps up the sentimental talk of important notes about tour. “Luckily we all have flasks this time.” Having been around a few years, the band has the live gig and tour experience down. They’ve toured east and they’ve toured long but every tour comes with its own set of obstacles. Cranston tells me one of his hilarious tour situations from the past. “I kind of got too drunk and I rolled around in dog shit cause I was comatose pass out drunk and apparently these guys tried carrying me into the house not realizing I was covered in dog shit. I smeared it all over the people’s house,” says Cranston. His pals naturally stepped in this dog shit as well so the poop was being tracked everywhere. “The worst part was this guy was trying to be too nice about it to the point that it was nauseating,” says Strachan. It’s okay though because apparently Cranston threw up in his air vents before heading out. All jokes aside there’s been a lot of writing happening and when the boys all reconvene in Winnipeg in fall the new music will follow. You can catch 1971 at their tour kickoff at the Good Will Social Club on August 11th.
www.stylusmagazine.ca
August / September 2016 Stylus Magazine
07
WHITE LUNG BY RACHEL NARVEY
It can be hard not to hear the echo of past punk greats when listening to a new, turbulent sound. Originating from Vancouver, White Lung have been compared to 90s influencers Hole, L7, and Babes in Toyland. To guitarist Kenneth William, his band’s sound is an entity unto it’s own, something decidedly modern and of this moment. “Right now is kind of a weird time for music,” he says over the phone, a couple days before White Lung embarks on their summer tour. “For the last five years or so, there’ve been so many bands imitating different eras of music, and we just thought that it made sense for this record to make something that sounded really modern. A lot of our older records get compared to bands that I feel like we don’t sound like at all, so this time we decided to try something new and see where it would take us.” William is talking about White Lung’s latest album, Paradise, a ten-track record that sears with all the soured-milk thrill the band held in the past. The difference here is perhaps the finesse the artists have gained, whittling tracks that used to sprawl down into more focused, taught anthems, like pulling a
08 Stylus Magazine August / September 2016
whetstone over the blade of a knife. “I don’t think I used any of the same equipment I did on the old ones,” Kenneth says. “We’ve also recorded it all on a computer and used that to rearrange the songs while we were writing them. I used a bunch of really strange guitar pedals that were made by these weird new companies just to give each song a different vibe.” New gear or not, White Lung have always carried themselves with a certain dynamic jolt, setting themselves apart from the crowd as soon as their sophomore album Sorry was released in 2012. The band began as a duo, with frontwoman Mish Barber-Way enamored with drummer Anne-Marie Vassiliou’s virtuosity. William hadn’t picked up a guitar since grade-school, but something about hearing the two woman play convinced him this was the moment to return to the instrument. “I had stopped (playing guitar) because I was just kind of sick of it,” William says. “There weren’t any bands that were exciting for me at the time that were guitar based. I was actually playing drums and learning how to use synthesizers to try
ILLUSTRATION BY QUEENHYPAT1A
something new, but I picked it up again. I thought that this band specifically had the potential to be something a bit more special.” As William describes his band’s songwriting method, it becomes clear that the three operate in a different way from most bands. In the early stages of Paradise, William and Barber-Way began their work separately, only coming together when things felt relatively complete. “It let us get exactly what we wanted before we showed it to the other person,” William says. “I would be completely happy with it by the time she heard it, and neither of us would be diluting our ideas. It’s kind of about everyone in the band, and Anne-Marie too, just getting to do exactly what they want without compromising too much . . . it makes it sound like we hate each other but it’s actually the complete opposite. I trust what they’re going to do.” White Lung performs at the Good Will Social Club on August 8.
BEATS BEETS BEER Bring Your Own Vinyl Night
TUESDAYS AT 7PM AT @PEGBEERCO
204.416.2337
www.stylusmagazine.ca
PEGBEER.COM
1 2 5 PAC I F I C AV E . August / September 2016 Stylus Magazine
09
Shine On
fe st i val of m u s i c and art
Stylus: For those unfamiliar, what is the Shine On Festival? How long has it been running? Tabitha Gamble: Shine On promotes creativity through music and art. We have a variety of artists perform every year. We’ve focused mainly on the music aspect but have had parodies performed, improv, I have read a children’s story to the crowd over the last couple of years, and this year we’ll be featuring for the first time Witchpolice Radio who will be broadcasting a special on Shine On. They’ll be conducting interviews with the musical performers in a workshop-style setting, trading off stories and songs. Or at least that’s what I imagine they’ll be doing. This will be Shine On’s 12th anniversary!
10 Stylus Magazine August / September 2016
AN INTERVIEW WITH TABITHA GAMBLE BY LAURA FRIESEN ILLUSTRATION BY SARAH THIESSEN
How the time has flown! Stylus: What is your role with the festival? TG: I am the artistic director of the festival. Stylus: How did the fest come to be? What was the idea behind it? TG: The festival was the idea of the property owner who proposed the notion to a young Robert Turnbull. He and his friends were always playing music and it made sense that they should start a music festival. Rob came up with the name Shine Through Rain and opened the festival to about 20 people during that first year in 2005 and most of the attendees were performers, too. A few years and a name change later, we are still operating on the
‘keep it small’ principle. Stylus: What kind of music and/or art do you want to showcase with the fest? TG: All of it! We don’t discriminate musical talents or artistic expressions. If it’s a neat idea and you present it properly we’ll probably have you out. That being said, it gets harder and harder every year having to turn down genuinely good talents. Stylus: What kinds of musicians/artists have been part of the fest previously? TG: Magnificent Sevens, JD Edwards, The Solutions, Retro Rhythm Review, The Revival, Mahogany Frog, Kieran West and his Buffalo Band, Crooked Brothers, Carly Dow, Micah Erenberg, Roger Roger. We’ve also had an artist named Eli Matas who has performed the festival 11 years in a row in some capacity. Stylus: Tell me a little bit more about your location - it’s a little remote. How did that come about? TG: The property owner owns a huge chunk of land east of Marchand in a small ‘town’ called Kerry, Manitoba. It is a little remote but people usually find us, eventually. The location just worked. It’s large, being able to accommodate the amount of campers we get each year, and we’ve been fortunate to be able to build a permanent stage, ‘tweener stage, and dance floor there. We just re-shingled the mainstage/backstage area so if we get the rain like we did last year everything should stay nice and dry. Stylus: What’s the response been from Manitobans so far? TG: People seem to like us. I’m not sure how we keep getting asked for interviews or how we have all of this interest from out-of-towners. We took down the website and now only maintain a Facebook page and, half-heartedly, an Instagram account. I would guess that the reason we’ve sold out the last several years is that we’ve kept it small and people like that. By the end of the weekend you’ve got nicknames for everyone and have probably shared a few laughs with people that were strangers to you before the fest. It’s like camp, but for adults. Stylus: What are your goals for the fest? How do you see it evolving in the future? TG: Personally, I would like more of a variety in the artists that I book. I would also like to see a theatrical performance. The possibilities are endless with Shine On. We will not be getting bigger in the future. Actually, we’ve joked a few times [about making] the ticket cap even lower than what it is. Stylus: Where can interested folks get more information and tickets? TG: A few tickets remain at Music Trader at 97 Osborne Street. More information can be found on our Facebook page, or you can follow us on Instagram. Shine On runs August 25 - 28. Connect with Shine On on Facebook, or on Instagram (@shineonfest).
www.stylusmagazine.ca
August / September 2016 Stylus Magazine
11
6AM
5AM
4AM
3AM
2AM
1AM
MIDNIGHT
11PM
10PM
9PM
8PM
7PM
6PM
5PM
4PM
3PM
2PM
1PM
NOON
11AM
10AM
9AM
8AM
7AM
6AM
LOCALLY PRODUCED INDIE MUSIC
THE BLACK & RED ROOM
AMPLIFIED RADIO
MODERN JAZZ TODAY
METAL MONDAY
COMEDY
THE JOKE’S ON YOU
CheezePleeze
Sock-Hop-A-Go-Go
DESTINATION MOON
Garage, Punk, Surf,and R&R
THE TONIC
THE World WORLD
ROUGE PRIMATE
INNER CITY VOICES
MADE IN CANADA
GLOBAL ROTATIONS
New Classical
THE HAPPY STATION SHOW
SYNDICATED - WORLD MUSIC
GLOBAL-A-GO-GO
STRANGE WAX
PUNK W/ LOCAL FOCUS
RAUNCH RADIO
LISTENING PLEASURES
MONKEY SPARROW
11 AT 10 Sports: Proper Footaball
PLAYING THE BLUES
BLUESDAY
A Rock ‘n’ Roll History Lesson
IN THE POCKET
Home and No Home
SYSTEM KIDZ
YOUR SHOW HERE
World Music/ Variety
BACK TO BONOBOS
GROUNDSWELL
MAKING CONTACT
THE GREEN MAJORITY
COUNTRY
BOOTS & SADDLE
WINGS
SHORTWAVE REPORT
STATIC ON THE PRAIRIES
POP/ROCK
THIS WAY OUT
DEPARTMENT 13
ROOTS
YOUNG FOLK
TROUBLE WITH THE SANDMAN
THE EXILE FILES
BEHIND THE CURTAIN
Grindcore
BLAST OR BUST
Local Experimental Music
S.A.N.E. * RADIO
Rock ‘n’ Roll
Country/ Roots/ Big, Dumb
TWANG TRUST
So Bad, It’s Good
AMATEUR HOUR
SPACE CADET
MUSIC, OUT OF THIS WORLD
Classical Plus
MUSICNET
FEMISPHERE
R U AWAKE? WOODEN SPOONS
World - Island music
FANTASTIC FRIDAY
THE WONDERFUL & FRIGHTENING WORLD OF PATRICK MICHALISHYN
Electronic
PHASE ONE
THE SEX FILES
POP/ROCK
25TH FLOOR JUKE JOINT
Pop/Rock
TAWNY, THE BRAVE
EAT YOUR ARTS & VEGETABLES
PAGES
YOUR SHOW HERE
Your Show Here
Your Show Here
RADIO ECOSHOCK
99 BALLOONS
SPORTS TALK
FAST FORWARD
YOUR SHOW HERE
MANITOBA MOON
YOUR SHOW HERE
Electric Dance Party
QUADRAFUNK
Funky
CHECK CA
Latin Urban
MAS FLOW
‘PEG CITY GROOVE
Spotlite on Local Music Scene
New Release Music
NOW SOUNDS
NEAR AND FAR
GLOBAL RESEARCH NEWS HOUR
HOW TO SURVIVE A TORNADO
CAFE LATINOAMERICANO
SUNNY ROAD Roots Music
DEMOCRACY NOW!
ALTERNATIVE RADIO
Jazz
VOYAGE
Morning News Magazine
DEMOCRACY NOW!
PEOPLE OF INTEREST
MORNING BREATH
CRYSTAL PALACE
Dancehall and Reggae
DANCE HALL FEVER
Hip-Hop
RED BOX
Hip-Hop
WE BUILD HITS
PSYCHADELIC ROCK
THE TRIP
SMOOTH OPERATOR
Eclectic Mix
INFLUENCED
THE IVORY TOWER
THE ELECTRIC CHAIR
For Kids (Adults too)
MUD PUDDLE RADIO
TEMPLE OF SOUND
THE SATURDAY MORNING SHOW
GROUNDWIRE
WINNIPEG ARENA IS ON FIRE!
Caribbean
ISLAND VIBES
THE GASHLYCRUMB TINIES
TALKING RADICAL RADIO
RADIO FREE WPG
THE C.A.R.P.
The Completely Asinine Radio Show
12
9
ONLY COWARDS SING AT NIGHT 6 Indie
P.I. NEW POETRY
ReSPORTS
Pop / Rock
LOCAL SPOKEN WORD
MUSIC
WEEK
EMAIL:
CKUW@UWINNIPEG.CA
FAX: 204-783-7080
ON AIR: 204-774-6877
NEWS DESK : 204-786-9998
OFFICE: 204-786-9782
WWW.CKUW.CA
ALTERNATING
12 SPOKEN WORD
8
B-SIDES AND OTHER TREATS 3
LISANE ETHIOPIA Human Rights
NEON BEIGE SOUND EXCHANGE
PLANETARY RADIO
RAW COLOURS
Indigenous Artists
THE MEDICINE WHEEL OF MUSIC
Classical and New Age
SHADES OF CLASSICS
Syndicated Music
JAM LIVE!
MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY F R I D A Y SATURDAY S U N DAY
L I E U T E N A N T F R A N K D I C K E N S
BY DANIEL COLUSSI I spoke with Dan Geddes over telephone where, in Vancouver, he is currently in the process of closing down his record store of the last two years, Horses Records. As much a music store as it was a live venue and a mellow, vibey place to just hang out, Horses Records is also the umbrella name under which Geddes self-released his debut solo album, Sunburned, under the Lieutenant Frank Dickens moniker. Stepping out from his previous band of the moody and romantic post-punk outfit Peace - Sunburned represents Geddes in solo rock and roller mode. I should also note that Sunburned is a gorgeous album of ten wistful songs that explore the themes of time, aging, and the general toll of lived experience. I asked Geddes to dish on his new Lieutenant Frank Dickens project - how it was made, what it’s like to go solo, and what it means to release “personal music” under an assumed name. Stylus: The origin story of how you adopted the nom-de-plume Lieutenant Frank Dickens is really great. Can you share it with me? Dan Geddes: The origins of it are that my mother passed away when I was younger and I held onto a few of her things. One of them was her childhood diary. For some reason she addressed all the entries to Lieutenant Frank Dickens. Nobody really knows what that was all about. I mean it was a nine year old’s diary so who knows where her imagination was at the time. But I always just thought it sounded like a perfect fake name, even though I know there must be real people who do have that as their real name. Stylus: Yes I think that some of my cursory Google research revealed a Frank Dickens lawyer in Iowa. DG: I think there’s a cartoonist in England who’s probably the most famous Frank Dickens. Stylus: It seems almost impossible to think of a band name nowadays because you check on the internet and there’s always some band in Florida that already has the name that you thought you’d invented yourself. DG: Yeah. Basically, on some level I think it just sounds odd, which I like. And to me it’s not really a project name, it’s not just an alias, it’s not just a
Stylus 12 Stylus Magazine August / September 2016 Magazine June/
pen name or just a fake name that you’d check into a hotel with. Stylus: So does your attitude to this name - that it’s not a band name, it’s not a project name does that somehow inform how do you define Lieutenant Frank Dickens? DG: I think that the name allows it to be sort of ambiguous as to, like, I’m not opposed to changing the format at any time. And I think that the name relates to the music in the sense that the record sounds like a band but it’s not a band. It’s sort of just my musical imagination. It’s a studio thing in some sense, but I just like it because it doesn’t feel bound by - I’m not really committed in any dogmatic way to it being a solo thing or not a band. It could eventually morph into something like that. Stylus: Does that allow you a kind of freedom, as opposed to say your old band Peace? Does your attitude towards the name Lieutenant inform some desire to get away from a more traditional band type scenario? DG: Yeah I mean the band has positive aspects. You can just work things out, you can have parts in just a musical sense. You can feel things out and let them happen. Whereas the way I’m doing Lieutenant Frank Dickens, constructing it by playing most of the instruments, I really have to be meticulous. I can’t just jam with myself. So I think the band is quicker to write because everyone is responsible for their own thing, it’s more democratic, and that can be nice because you see things take off in a direction that you didn’t predict. I liked that I could come up with a kernel of an idea and watch it take shape with the band. But in the process of making the record I realized that somehow, someway along the line I had a desire to make a certain kind of music that was focused. And I just never had that before. Stylus: So what kind of music is Lieutenant Frank Dickens? How do you think of these songs and this album, Sunburned? DG: It’s changing all the time. The next record will be different but similar, as most evolving things are. I guess for me the way that I picture it is maybe not very musical. I imagine a version of myself that’s pretty close to me. It’s personal music. But it can
be sectionalized in anyway that I want. I kind of seem boundless. I think that when I was making Sunburned I imagined myself as a guy sitting on the town wall at night, singing love songs (laughs). And that was the picture that I had in my mind of myself. I think that’s where I wrote most of the songs, that kind of perspective, a kind of a lovelorn troubadour kind of thing. Stylus: Tell me about the recording process for Sunburned in light of the fact that it’s not really as a band. DG: I recorded it very slowly. It was the first time that I’ve ever taken that much time. I would just go in and do one thing and then leave. So it came together slowly and I think some of that had to do with my inexperience in arranging the whole thing. I would think of things and then I would hear the things I was doing and it wouldn’t sound true to the concept of the song. I would have to go back and try and figure out how to make it the way that I imagined. There was a phase when I was just rehearsing with Jen and Connor (Connor is the bassist of Peace). The way they were hearing them didn’t really make sense. They just had to trust me that it would turn into an actual song. For them there was a kind of a blind aspect and I just worked around what they did in the studio. And even I didn’t really know where it was gonna go, I just trusted that it would work out somehow. Stylus; Would it be safe to say that the fact that you were bringing them in to record it rather than trying to actually form a band where you hammer out a live set, did that allow the process to take on more freedom? DG: Definitely. One thing that I like about doing it that way is that although I think that they ( Jen and Connor) liked it - or I’d like to think that they liked it (laughs) - is that they didn’t necessarily have to invest very much into it. I was overseeing it and making sure that it was gonna work. We could really just get together and have fun and they had no obligation to do anything else. So I do think that does free everybody up a little bit. It just makes it a fun thing. Stylus: Why did you title the album Sunburned?
I’m always curious about when an album is titled after one song, because there can be an inclination on the listener to put too much weight on that one particular song. DG: I don’t think it would be wrong to see that song as emblematic of the whole album. I think I chose that name and that song because to me I guess the word “sunburned” and the song itself is about time. The passage of time. And I think the image to me is - a sunburn is a symbol of the physical effects of time on the body. So I think there’s something like that running through the whole record. Something wistful, looking back. And also feeling the effects of experience and age. I think that those are probably some of the themes that run through the album. Stylus: Tell me about Lieutenant Frank Dickens as a live-entity, as a performance, as a show. What’s it like to bring these songs from the studio into a rock show? DG: Well that’s how they started. So I’m playing them the only way that they’ve ever existed in reality. The record is an ideal version and to me the best version of the songs, the most idealized. I think that when I go and see music that I prefer to hear played differently than it is on the record. I really like going to see people who radically change their songs. I like the idea that the song can persevere through any arrangement and all kinds of dynamic changes. And I’m trying to write songs
that can live through those kind of changes. So I think that part of it is that I feel like the record is in essence a solo album. So the live performance is true to the spirit of what it actually is. I’m also getting a lot more comfortable doing it. It was at first terrifying. But the shows lately have been really good. I’m definitely feeling more relaxed and less like the audience is there to harm me (laughs). Stylus: There’s a difference between an electric band, with a drum kit and volume, versus just being up there on the stage alone. DG: Yeah it really puts what you’re doing under a microscope. I think anyone who plays in a band has had the experience playing a show that they feel is terrible and then walking up and everybody saying, “That was great.” And nobody notices these things that are just so obvious to you. But I do think that when you play alone, it can work like that still. I mean...but I do think that you’re kind of holding it all down on your own, the rhythm the melody, you’re carrying the whole thing. Stylus: This idea that an audience’s perception of a performance can differ so much from the performer’s own impression. There’s something strange about that, don’t you think? Like - can the performer even trust an audience? DG: I think there’s a balance. I think you have to resist that urge that if someone says that they like it, to be suspicious of them. I think you just have to take it and if they liked it...I think you have to
ckuwho?
realize that. Another experience I’ve had is thinking that I’ve played badly and then seeing a video somebody took and it sounds fine. I think it’s just that as a musician you’re kind of feeling how the music unfolds in a different way. And so you feel all these little awkward parts or all the bad parts that other people are just having this more holistic experience that doesn’t have to do with nitpicking of the technical aspects. So I think it’s good to hold yourself to a high standard but it’s also good to just realize that you’re experience is different. Stylus: You’re coming through Winnipeg. Where is this tour taking you? DG: It’s going across the country to Montreal and back. The album already came out digitally and on a tape, but it’s coming out again through Jaz Records in Vancouver as an LP with a new cover and two extra songs. Really the tour is to kind of get the records out there. I’ll be releasing one of the extra vinyl-only songs soon to promote the release of the LP. Stylus: And you’re coming through Winnipeg on October 9 at the Handsome Daughter? DG: Yeah. I have some family in Winnipeg actually. My grandmother lives there. I used to visit Winnipeg once a year, growing up. And I’ve toured through a few times. I’ve spent some time there.
Listen to:
The C.A.R.P. with Chris Friesen
BY BROOSE TULLOCH While Merriam-Webster defines asinine as “utterly foolish,” Chris Friesen, host of The Completely Asinine Radio Program (or the C.A.R.P.) has a more active take on it. “Doing it with mule-headed determination,” he explains, “I fly by the seat of my pants, grabbing whatever music catches my attention.” That ‘whatever’ could be soundscapes, electronic, post-punk, or even Lawrence Welk. Nothing is off the table, as Friesen believes in trying anything at least once. He describes the wide scope of the music as “a real distillation of the entire station.” “Sometimes it really works,” he says, “and someone will call or email me saying they loved how the show, or a segment of the show, flowed from one song into another.” While most of the songs are selected on the spot at random, some are tunes he’s heard throughout the week and would like to hear again, with personal selections rounding out the playlist. That flow quite often contains some his own music, as SeaFreezing or FreakingSnap. “Because I’m a narcissist,” he laughs. “Who knows, someone somewhere may like
www.stylusmagazine.ca
and enjoy it. The most important thing is to listen with an open mind.” Before settling on the C.A.R.P as a permeant name with a somewhat random format, Friesen hosted a pair of overnight shows, Noise Of Carpet and Slow Shifting Forward. The C.A.R.P actually began as an overnight show. Chris remembers (to a degree) one night in particular. “It was late one Tuesday night, between 2 and 3 am, and I put on the Melvins’ “Colossus of Destiny” (an hour-long single live track) to bide time while I put away music I had pulled from the library.” One of the studio monitors in the station is just above the new music section, and when Friesen went to stand up, he connected with speaker and out went the lights. When he came to he recalls his first thoughts were, “why am I on the floor, and why is there was blood on the back of my head?” He regained his senses in time to change tunes, but set up a playlist on the computer to finish the show, and went home to recoup. “I arrived home in a panic and emailed Rob, CKUW’s Station Manager to ask, ‘did i bleed everywhere? I don’t know. If
so I’m sorry.’” Thankfully there was no pool of blood, only understanding. “Oh, I’ve done that,” Schmidt assured him. Friesen’s radio career began with him co-hosting friends’ shows, when CKUW was still in the basement. “It wasn’t about music back then,” Friesen admits, “we’d hang out; it was just cool being around radio.” Now it’s almost exclusively about the music, as Friesen has very little to say during the show; 90 minutes with only a couple of breaks to announce the songs and read the entertainment listings. The website is similarly minimalist and to the point: no logos, no photos, no widgets, no apps, just a text-only archive of playlists. Always an interesting read, given the random nature of the show, a quick glance of a playlist or two will have you waxing nostalgic and at the same time wondering what’s next. The C.A.R.P. can be heard every Sunday evening from 6:30 pm to 8 pm.
August / September 2016 Stylus Magazine
13
F R E A K PART
II:
Y O G A
METHODS OF RELEASE/COMMONALITY OF RELOCATION
BY ANDRE CORNEJO It’s six in the morning, and I’m still trying to wind down after an especially long shift at the watering hole. The deadline for this thing is staring me down like a hungry lion, and the horrendous noises coming from my gut right now, coupled with the memory of the copious amount of cream I had in my coffee earlier is letting me know loud and clear that 2016 won’t be the year my body starts getting along with dairy. I’d like to state, if even only for my shallow sense of pride, that Part 1 was understandably heavily edited. Gratuitous use of curse words is forgivable in a local music publication, but recreational drug use by artists? Whoa, baby. Touchy touchy.. To quote the great Bill Hicks “...if you don’t believe drugs have done good things for us, do me a favour. Go home tonight. Take all your albums, all your tapes and all your CD’s and burn them. ‘Cause you know what? The musicians that made all that great music that’s enhanced your lives throughout the years? RRrreal fucking high on drugs.” I’m just pushing buttons at this point, and there’s a legitimate chance none of this intro will be published. Blessed be the editor that let’s this puppy roll, without sending the Pope and a S.W.A.T. team to take me down on blasphemy charges. Anyways… Part 1 left off with Grimace, SMRT, and Black Phillip, hanging out with Chad and I at our place. Knee deep in a pool of Mango Splash Rum, we start getting to some of the more “industry” oriented questions. Chad: As far as label support, there are definitely a lot more options in the vein of “rock” or “metal” or heavier music like that. With the kind of stuff you are putting out, is the plan to self-release the material, or sort of work the Bandcamp angle? SMRT: There are definitely way less labels, in the way of what we’re doing compared to say, metal bands or whatever. The new thing in rap now that people are doing is like, the indie rock thing, starting their own collectives and shit. But that’s something you can’t squeeze into, it’s just like, ten people in a city that are friends. GRIMACE: We should just do that. S: Yeah, I mean, that’d be sick, but you need money. I dunno, I’m trying to get money and put my stuff out either myself, and have money behind it, or on something that’s going to fund it. C: Alright, so you’re shopping around. S: Yeah, essentially. C: Would you self release though, like, spend the $30 a year or whatever to have your shit on iTunes? S: Yeah, for sure. I did it with that one song, “Buzzsaw,” it’s on Spotify and stuff, and I made some money off of that. I think I’d rather put out my work myself, rather than with a label, but I’d like to do it with grants or something like that, so I’m not just funding it completely by myself.I got a recording grant to record some stuff, and I’m trying to get video money, I just can’t keep paying for everything myself.
14 Stylus Magazine August / September 2016
ILLUSTRATION BY N. FRIESEN G: Someone was telling me that that if you get a recording grant, they want fifty percent? Is that accurate? S: They fund fifty percent of your recording budget. G: I meant off of the proceeds. Do they do that? S: It depends on the kind of grant, and I think it’s ten percent, until they recoup the cost of the investment. C: That’s through Manitoba Film and Music? S: Yeah, that’s through MFM. G: Alright, that makes more sense. I think someone was trying to spout off some sensational shit. Someone tried telling me that if you apply for a recording grant, they’re going to want fifty percent of your profits. Which is crazy. C: It depends on what ‘level’ you’re at too (This is in reference to the F.A.C.T.O.R. level rating system, which establishes what kind of grants and funding an artist qualifies for). For example, I know of a
band that got twenty thousand dollars, and they had to reimburse a lot of that through their album sales. It’s awesome that you got a grant. Did you write up the paperwork yourself? S: I wrote it with Mischa (Decter, mutual friend, and talent booker/show promoter for the Handsome Daughter). He helped me out a lot with it, but I still had to try a couple of times to get it. They’re not really setup to deal with like, my kind of stuff at all. They want bands, and for the most part they want ‘chill’ bands. G: Conventional structure. Like, ‘oh, you’re going to play Folk Fest.’ S: Yeah, exactly. We’ll see. In a year from now it’ll be easy for me to get grants, if everything goes according to my master plan. G: And what’s your master plan? S: I’ll just have already made it on my own. Hell yeah. We’re gonna be living in a mansion with a pool in the back. Black Phillip: Yo I’ve always been into the DIY. My favourite people in the world, musicians that I’m into, they’re DIY. You do see some record labels putting out this shit. Like, now that I’m making the music that I’m making, I’m coming across labels like
Dais Records. They’re putting out High Functioning Flesh, and Youth Code. We’re kind of in the same vein. So in my head I’m like “well I have to be with that.” But remember when we hung out with High Functioning Flesh after their show the other day? I had a very good conversation with them. I was like, dude, I’m gonna be on Dais Records, just watch. The singer had a good talk with me. He was like, ‘yo, you don’t want to do that.’ Essentially it came down to him being like, ‘It’s DIY. This is a label from L.A. Where I’m from. Why would you want to be on this label, from L.A?’ I mean, we’ve got the fucking internet, we can do whatever we want. G: I think this conversation brings up the point that maybe Winnipeg is lacking in those kinds of structures. I mean, there’s nothing preventing us from forming these things. BP: At what point are you good enough that shit (labels, representation) is going to happen for you regardless, versus the idea of say, how much you invest in yourself? G: Well, one thing I want to say is, you think about the people that maybe started out in Winnipeg. Started doing pretty well, and then moved somewhere else. S: Because they pretty much have to. G: Exactly. You pretty much have to. BP: I don’t believe in that whatsoever. Andre: Hold up, expand on these thoughts a little. Why it might be necessary for a lot of people to leave home, and why you (BP) don’t believe in that. G: I mean, maybe you could talk about there being a greater return of investments in areas of greater population density, whatever. But like, we should be trying to render Winnipeg into something that’s more successful. As opposed to thinking, yeah you start out here, then go do your real thing. Maybe that starts with individuals committing to trying to form some sorts of structures here. I mean, yeah, DIY for sure. Obviously it’s not hard to self release material. BP: I just want to say that I can’t believe in being in a bigger city to get ahead. It just doesn’t make sense to me. I just can’t believe in the idea that if we’re all at the level that we’re at, that going somewhere else is going to change everything. I guess first of all, it’s about where you want to be at. If you think of the biggest stars or whatever, where are they from? A lot of them, location didn’t matter. Like, if you have that “thing,” you’re going to hit it anyways...I hear of so many people running away. It’s already in their mind that they’re not gonna fucking be what they want to be because of the place that they’re in. they’ve already lost the fucking game. It’s about the mindset like, it doesn’t matter where the fuck I am. I could be in this little remote village in fucking, WHEREVER! I’m gonna get there regardless, you know what I mean? And I think those people will get there regardless.
PRAIRIE PUNK PERSPECTIVE
BY KAITLYN EMSLIE-FARREL
I started this summer off with a low key tour with my band. We were planning on attending a music festival in Montebello, QC together so we played a couple shows on our way there as well as a couple on our way back. I compared every experience to that of a hometown gig and this what I learned. Small towns are significantly different than playing in large cities of course because there are a lot less options for venues and bands. It’s basic math. The community and scene need to build themselves up on the people alone. In Sault Ste. Marie, we played with musicians that showcased a multitude of genres in a single gig. For a Monday night show in a small town you really don’t have a choice but to book anyone who might be available. It’s really rather non-discriminatory. We were a bit worried about the legitimacy of such a confusing lineup but it proved to be just as much fun. Rappers, acoustic grunge, crust punk, and regular punk offer up enough of a variety to keep you on your toes all night. And the low stage you often find in a dive bar brings the atmosphere of a house show where you can be within an arm’s reach of the band if you so desire. Sault Ste. Marie gets a 7/10 rating for their music scene. It’s small and not necessarily on its way up any ladder, but the people who are involved are 100% committed and friendly as can be.
We also played in Peterborough, which is another small town that rests their heads after 5 pm on a weekday. Peterborough is definitely full of talented artists but apparently their scene has largely become focused on surf rock. The nice thing about the commuter towns that surround Toronto is that there are so many places within a short driving distance that they’re almost more like neighborhoods than towns. We were told that Oshawa has the best punk scene in those parts and that is definitely on the list to be explored in the future. Peterborough gets an 8/10 for quality over quantity. In the middle of our tour we attended Rockfest which showcased punk bands from all over the world, but lots of Canadian ones as well. They routinely book a Winnipeg band and this year was Comeback Kid. It really set the tone for the next few days as all we were interested in at this point was going to see more live bands. Next up we played some of the bigger cities, the first one being Montreal. It goes without saying that Montreal has a thriving punk scene. The disadvantage for musicians however is that it is hard to make a show stand out when there are plenty of options. Our gig was headlined by a ska band from Israel and it was still a low key show. It’s hard to impress a city like Montreal. So although it’d be nice to have access to so many touring bands and so many shows, I’m not sure it’d be as easy to join in on all
the fun as it is in Winnipeg. We live in a big small town where everyone knows each other whether they want to or not and we benefit from this. Aesthetically downtown Montreal is pretty punk. Walking down the graffiti covered streets of downtown to get to the gig creates the right ambience. Montreal gets 10/10, I mean, c’mon. Ottawa was our last stop and here we played with punk bands that fall moreso into the hardcore genre. I’d been told by Winnipeggers that Ottawa has a strong punk scene and told by Ottawa’s punk residents that it sucks. Based on the gig alone I wouldn’t call it strong, but I wouldn’t call one gig an example of an entire city either. So Ottawa sort of slipped under my radar as we didn’t have the chance to talk to many Ottawa punks. Ottawa gets a 6/10 and another chance. My view of Winnipeg’s punk scene has developed over time and experience so it is unfair to simply compare these other cities. However, some of the similarities and differences are quite prominent. It appears that most places operate on a “stick together” basis. Musicians want to help out other musicians, and that is important. We didn’t run into problems with egos or pretentiousness on tour. Canadians are alright across the eastern side of the country.
GREG REKUS AT THE PYRAMID JUNE 11 PHOTO BY KAITLYN EMSLIEFARREL
www.stylusmagazine.ca
August / September 2016 Stylus Magazine
15
Local Spotlight
SURPRISE PARTY Sh-Shake Your Booty
THE HEIGHTS The Heights
It was the late 60s and early 70s. Psychedelic rock was everywhere. Vans. Hippies (not nature hippies,‘Led Zeppelin’ hippies I guess). Weed. Booze. Nudity. More weed. This EP puts you right there. There are curtained windows in the van, and a rug. Lazy smiles and slow reaction times. Sweat it out. Turn up the Hendrix. Surprise Party stands up to this sound, both live and recorded. No tie dyed headbands or bell bottom jeans maybe, but their sound is thick and heavy and full of riffs and catchy hooks. It’s full of melodies and chords that shouldn’t exist in this time. Not knowing anything else about the band, you might just stop there. It’s perfect psych rock, what more do you want? Dig a bit more and you get a hint of their shameless frat boy humour. Imagine not giving a fuck, times that by 10, and you are getting close to the spirit of Surprise Party. The cool thing that Surprise Party captures better than any other band of this style is the progressive sound of the early 70s. By that I mean, you can still hear the catchy, slightly frantic, swaying back and forth, polished early 60s songwriting style. Think “Sugar Sugar” by the Archies for example, so they form a complete picture. You imagine skilled players who would have been playing in early Beatlemania type bands before venturing into psych rock. This makes the music sound even more authentic because the past of these musicians actually would have informed their moving into a new sound and scene. This EP is really solid. On the tenth or so listen (I’ve lost count) now I can say there are no stand out tracks because they’re all great. It’s an easy summer high, and you should check it out, and check them out live. (Transistor 66 Records, surpriseparty420.bandcamp. com) Joel Klaverkamp
After nearly a decade of collaboration, dozens of musical projects and countless jam sessions, three Winnipeg music vets—Scott Malcolmson (The Afterparty), Eli Matas (None the Wiser) and Sam Little (Hollerin’ Pines)—came together to form the
16 Stylus Magazine August / September 2016
Heights, a neo-soul outfit blending elements of R&B, funk and progressive rock in a groove-laden package. Their five track debut EP, released at the Pyramid Cabaret on June 11, brings the danceable rhythms and striking melodies of their live performance to the recording studio. Influenced by jazz-funk proprietors like Jamiroquai and Incognito, and the soulful early work of John Mayer, the disc is a highly listenable fusion of cleanly polished songs indicative of strong musicianship. Malcolmson’s personal and conscience-driven vocals inject a living presence into the robust melodies and carry the strong pop rhythms accentuated by Matas’s bright and punchy guitar. Warm bass lines and groovy riffs from Little help to fill instrumental breaks placed smartly throughout the record (“A Touch of
Grace”) and compliment the percussion which rounds out the sound. Opener “Sweater Season” is sure to be a mainstay in the live venues where it’s performed this summer; it’s a deeply catchy tune complete with keys, backing vocals and a contagious, funky vibe. Let’s hope five tracks is just a sample, and that the Heights are ready to deliver a full-length album of more lively and mature hits. Harrison Samphir
95.9 FM CKUW CAMPUS/COMMUNITY RADIO TOP 30 ALBUMS ( May 23 - July 21, 2016) !=LOCAL CONTENT * =CANADIAN CONTENT re=RE-ENTRY TO CHART #
ARTIST
1 ! Paris To Kyiv 2 Various Artists 3 ! The Zorgs 4 Ceu 5 * The Burning Hell 6 ! Jay Stoller 7 Karl Pitterson 8 A Giant Dog 9 ! Mulligrub 10 Lakou Mizik 11 Deerhoof 12 ! Small Glories 13 Various Artists 14 * White Lung 15 * Forbidden Dimension 16 Parquet Courts 17 * Del Barber & The No Regretzkys 18 ! Dan Frechette & Laural Thomson 19 * See Through 5 20 * Andy Shauf 21 * Supermoon 22 * Holy Fuck 23 * Little Scream 24 Violent Femmes 25 * PUP 26 ! Roger Roger 27 ! Yes We Mystic 28 ! Plain As Ghosts 29 Lone 30 ! Viva Non
RECORDING
Fragmenti Remixes Day Of The Dead Chew On It Tropix Public Library Drum Time 3: That’s Odd! Dub From Space Pile Soft Grudge Wa Di Yo The Magic Wondrous Traveler
LABEL
Balanced 4AD Transistor 66 Six Degrees Headless Owl Self-Released AWG Merge Self Released Cumbancha Polyvinyl Self-Released Wayfaring Strangers: Cosmic American Music Numero Group Paradise Domino Every Twisted Tree Watches As You Pass Sounds Escaping Human Performance Rough Trade The Puck Drops Here True North Between The Rain Self-Released Utilities All-Set! The Party Arts & Crafts Playland Mint Congrats Last Gang Cult Following Merge We Can Do Anything Play It Again Sam The Dream Is Over Royal Mountain Fairweather Self-Released Forgiver Self-Released Rendering Self-Released Levitate R&S Pure Sundowning Sound
winnipeg folk festival UPCOMING CONCERTS aug 11 sep 7 sept 15 sept 27 oct 4 oct 6 oct 20 oct 22 oct 24
sturgill simpson Burton Cummings Theatre
rodriguez
Centennial Concert Hall
Royal Canoe Album Release Burton Cummings Theatre
I Long For hayden Everything 20th Anniversary Tour
Park Theatre
basia bulat
with oh pep!
West End Cultural Centre
andy shauf Park Theatre
Birds of Chicago West End Cultural Centre
Boy & Bear Garrick Centre
Terra Lightfoot Park Theatre
oct Great Lake Swimmers with Megan 27 Park Theatre Bonnell nov donovan woods 1 The Good Will nov james vincent mcmorrow 19 Park Theatre Dec The Paper Kites 2 Park Theatre
winnipegfolkfestival.ca www.stylusmagazine.ca
August / September 2016 Stylus Magazine
17
IT
LLY
OWN
ED
18 Stylus Magazine August / September 2016
@HALFPINTSBREWCO
CA
HALFPINTSBREWING.COM
’S ONLY L O
CR
BA
AFT BRE W
MAN
O
Y ER