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Vincent Wolfgang
. Rob Schmidt manager@ckuw ca
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Bradi Breckman
Stiff Wiggle
Mike Thiessen
Seraphine Crow
Mykhailo Vil’yamson maggie astrid clark
Veronica Blackhawk
Sam Doucet
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:
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On the Cover
VINCENT WOLFGANG (THEY/THEM) is an Indigenous artist from Gods Lake Narrows, who lives in Winnipeg, MB. They are a Photographer, Makeup Artist, sometimes a drag performer and recently started getting into Graphic Design as a hobby. With many different mediums, Vincent is always thinking of what’s the next project, always grabbing inspiration from music, sex, kink, and life experiences. They are always looking through a creative lens.
Cover photo: CODENAME: H E X IG: @vincentwolfgang.photo
Blah Blah Blah
*** Boniface on June 27 at the Winnipeg Art Gallery Rooftop *** Neighbour Andy on June 27 at Times Change(d) *** Attica Riots on June 28 at Blue Note Park *** Mariel Buckley on June 29 at Blue Note Park *** sandman + friends July 5 at the Park Theatre *** Breakout! featuring Moonfield + Jane Fuentez + Sleep/Less+ Matlock + Sunbreather on July 6 at Blue Note Park *** Hollow Ground July 6 at the Handsome Daughter *** Field Guide + Kris Ulrich + Special Guest July 10 at Blue Note Park *** Cell July 12 at
the Park Theatre *** JayWood on July 18 at the Winnipeg Art Gallery Rooftop *** Frail Body on July 19 at the Handsome Daughter *** STELLAR + Sweet Alibi + Fontine on July 16 at Blue Note Park *** Guilty Pleasures on July 25 at Blue Note Park *** Romi Mayes on July 26 at the Handsome Daughter *** Jamboree Album Release on June 29 at the Royal Albert *** Bobby Dove on July 31 at Blue Note Park *** Secret Beach + Zoon on Aug 1 at Blue Note Park *** Dirty Catfish Brass Band on CEC EP Release on Aug 10 at the Handsome Daughter
Live Music Happenings
*** Emo Night on Aug 23 at the Handsome Daughter *** Virgo Rising + Doom Gong + Heavy Visions on Aug 31 at the Handsome Daughter *** Cruel Summer June 30 at the Handsome Daughter *** Real Love Fest July 26-27 *** Bluesaplooza Aug 3 at the Park Theatre *** Big Sun Festival Aug 2-3 at Blue Note Park *** Hot Goth Summer Aug 10 at Blue Note Park *** Metal Madness Aug 16 at Blue Note Park *** Rainbow Trout Music Festival Aug 16-18 *** GentleFest Aug 23-25 ***
Concert review: Manitoba Metalfest
Black t-shirts peppered the landscape of South Osborne on the beautiful evening of May 10th as The Park Theatre hosted the latest edition of Manitoba Metalfest. The annual weekend gathering has been an eagerlyawaited occasion for Winnipeg’s metal community for many years — understandably, given its history of bringing in big-name bands to a city often overlooked on tour itineraries. It doesn’t take much to lure local headbangers to Metalfest — even if the lineup isn’t your scene, the festival’s raucous and jovial atmosphere is unparalleled. But this year’s iteration featured a few reasons for extra excitement.
Notably, the usually two-night affair grew by 50%, touting three an entire weekend’s worth of metal. Festival
organizer Cory Thomas said that the bonus night was something of a happy accident. He explains that Baltimore’s Dying Fetus, originally slated to headline the Friday, had to alter their tour schedule and thus offered to play Sunday instead. While considering a potentially awkward Saturday-Sunday configuration, Thomas opted to take a risk and seek out another big draw and put together another full evening of acts. A winning gamble, as it turns out, with all three nights selling out in the blink of an eye.
With that arranged, that’s where I stepped in - as one of the hundreds of eager Metalfesters keen on taking in bands well-known and unknown to me over the course of an extended weekend.
With Metalfest being so jam-packed
with touring bands, local talent was at something of a premium, but opening night featured the most of it. The first outfit to take the stage was Spectre, a newish five-piece playing the type of grooved-up old-school heavy metal that has often been featured in previous editions of the fest. It’s no easy feat to select the band that’s going to set the tone for the next three nights, but some middle-of-the-road NWOBHM cheese was the right choice to get everybody’s toes wet. Being the first band is often a thankless gig when it comes to crowd engagement, but the energy in the room was already quite high, and I sensed the openers were happy with the reception they got.
Up next was Saskatoon’s Untimely Demise, giving the Park Theatre faithful their first taste of the ripping,
SAM DOUCET
aggressive style that would define the rest of the weekend. Theirs was a more technical and thrashy offering than the death metal to come, but the beefy tone and pummeling drums were an apt omen. Their set was marked by a few technical issues, namely drummer (and performer of three sets over two days) Bryan Newbury having to stop a minute into their opening song due to unsatisfactory mixing. We were also treated to half a song without bass as a rogue cable decided to act up, but UD forged on admirably. Besides, a Metallica cover will always cleanse any awkward memories from earlier in the set.
Next up were locals and Metalfest veterans Endless Chaos, who wasted no time ushering in the blast-beating portion of the evening. The pace, technicality, and endless onslaught of riffs had the crowd responding in kind, with mosh pits consistently raging without the need for gentle reminders. As previously mentioned, death metal was - somewhat by design - the primary focus of this year’s fest. Thomas noted that death metal is enjoying a moment right now, with many up-and-coming bands borrowing liberally from Morbid Angel, Suffocation, and the like. EC’s sound combines elements from all eras of death metal, with a catchy hook and crushing breakdown around every corner.
The penultimate set of the evening was Regina’s Into Eternity, bringing a somewhat more highbrow metallic vibe to the evening. Seismic, brutal passages were interspersed with tremolo noodlings and neck-snapping tempo changes. IE has only released one album in the last fifteen years or so, so the strength of their repertoire relies to some degree on their audience being dedicated fans of their older material. That said, the dynamism and skill on display in their set were enough to keep the crowd entranced. Speaking as someone with little familiarity with their work, it was one of the unexpected better sets of the weekend.
The headliner for the first night was a
slam-dunk crowd pleaser, the type of band that Thomas knew would make the extra day worth all the planning and hassle: the always raucously entertaining 3 Inches of Blood, storming through Winnipeg for the first time in way too many years. The Vancouver power metallers, recently revived after an eight-year hiatus, put a bow on the evening with over an hour of classic tunes, many of which were taken from their sophomore album Advance and Vanquish, whose twentieth anniversary they are celebrating this year. It doesn’t take a tried-and-true 3IOB to appreciate the spectacle they provided that night - their brand of fun-loving, swashbuckling power metal is the type to please anybody within earshot. Horns held aloft and voices raspy from hooting and hollering, the Metalfest faithful went home after night one.
Saturday night’s festivities began with the sole local act, black metal quintet Wilt. Black metal presents a curious quandary for a festival organizer. It’s undoubtedly one of the most popular subgenres, but its esoteric and sometimes deliberately alienating aesthetic can be at odds with the festive atmosphere that a genre-fluid concert tries to foster. Though some elements of black permeated other sets throughout the weekend, Wilt’s was the only true (trve?) black affair. They started with a very sombre, moodsetting number before turning up the heat and presenting us with their atmospheric and trenchant blasting material. Though a black metal set in that vein wasn’t the most obvious way to get the crowd riled up for the night to come, heads were banging, and a rousing appreciation for a hardworking local band was evident.
Sadistic Embodiment came next, with members hailing from all three prairie provinces, including local metal polymath Tyler Augusto as a lastminute hired gun on bass. Theirs was a set of modern death metal packed to the gills with progressive and brutal flourishes. An overly critical reviewer
may say that a lot of the finer details of their performance were lost in the mix, with all members going full-boar with their individual performances. Still, the undeniable energy set the stage for what was essentially a non-stop procession of headliner-caliber bands after them.
Colorado’s Allegaeon took the stage next. The Centennial State has garnered a well-earned reputation in the last number of years as the site of many exciting bands, but these cats play a style that is quite removed from Blood Incantation and their acolytes. When their highly-praised 2022 album Damnum came out, I deemed that it was well-written but not really in my wheelhouse. I did, however, think that this was the type of stuff I knew would be tremendous to see in person. Reader, call me Nostradamus. Allegaeon’s set was an absolute ripper from start to finish. The speed and precision at which they tore through song after song of technically astute melodeath had me and countless others entranced. Frontman Ezra Hayes’ magnetic charisma and twisted bandleader-esque performance brought it all together. Oh, and dropping a straight-up flamenco number in the middle of it all? I’d have watched the same set ten times over and been entertained the whole time.
Whoever had the stage next would surely have a tough time following. Montreal’s Kataklysm certainly didn’t back down from the challenge, as you would expect from a band plying their trade for over thirty years without missing a beat. Their brand of mid-paced, groove-laden death has served them well over the years, and they delivered a set that featured cuts from all over their discography. Singer Maurizio Iaconno offered a considerable number of rallying monologues in between songs, sometimes verging on the bizarre and conspiratorial - along the lines of gatherings like this one being the last vestiges of freedom - but when you’re this deep into such a night of constant
metallic stimulation, you just let those slide.
Another stalwart of the almostprogressive death metal heyday of the 90s came next in the form of Greek legends Septicflesh, who added a symphonic angle to proceedings. Their set was engaging, to be sure - bassist and singer Spiros Antoniou must have broken the record for praising a crowd’s energy. I was left a little disappointed that their keyboard parts were only provided as piped-in additions rather than from a live performer. This made a big part of SF’s unique sound seem a little perfunctory.
Bringing the curtain down on Night 2 of the festival were Polish death-groove darlings Decapitated, undoubtedly the biggest draw of the weekend for many. The razor-sharp guitar work of Vogg, the band’s only remaining member, led the way for their smoke-filled, hookheavy demonstration. Possibly the highlight for me was the lack of inbetween-song mention of the cringeinducing “anti-woke” lyrics from their most recent album, Cancer Culture. Thank goodness they let the riffs do the talking!
All bands from this second night were not shy to point out the energy and passion on display in the crowd. Thomas adds that he heard a lot of the same comments from musicians after they played, some mentioning that the recent renovations completed at the Park Theatre contributed to the overall atmosphere. For many, it was our first time checking out the bones of Sidestage, a new venue set to open this fall thanks to the efforts of Thomas and Mobina Galore’s Jenna Priestner. Sitting right next door to the Park, this more intimate venue, still in its construction phase, was the site of all merch sales for the performing bands, freeing up lots of space in the front area of the main venue at the same time.
The third and final night of Manitoba Metalfest 2024 was the one I was most looking forward to, and it began with Winnipeg’s Tyrants Demise hopping
on stage and delivering a blink-andyou-miss it set of deathcore-tinged death (which I know may seem like intentionally obtuse subgenre word salad to the uninitiated).
Scarcely a moment to breathe elapsed before the night’s slate of touring acts from around the world took the stage, beginning with Tokyo’s Kruelty, who’s taken the world by storm with their brand of shamelessly bouncy hardcoresoaked moshy death jams. Based on the hype, you’d think that Kruelty merited a spot a little later in the evening - and perhaps they did - but they bravely signed themselves up for an afterparty show at the Handsome Daughter later that evening. Racking up nearly two hours of bone-crushing circle piteliciting death is dirty work, and this hard-working quartet has embraced a near-constant touring schedule since the release of Untopia a year and a half ago. Their set was also notable in a different way - for being the only one across three nights and seventeen bands to feature a woman performing. I’m no mathematician, but that’s not the kind of ratio we should aim for!
The final trio of bands all hailed from the Northeastern US, with Cleveland’s 200 Stab Wounds taking the stage with a no-nonsense set borrowing from both the early 90’s beginnings of brutal death and more contemporary “caveman”-style stompiness. Not as concerned with the rest of the lineup with stage banter, they ripped through much of the contents of their debut album, as well as a few cuts from the upcoming Manual Manic Procedures. Their forty-five minutes on stage were another top-3 performance for me, delivered with a tightness and ferocity that belied their tongue-in-cheek aesthetic and overly gory lyrical matter. I expect big things from that new album and for them to rise beyond their Midwest peers in terms of critical appreciation.
The hype train kept chugging along with the festival’s penultimate set, provided by Maryland’s Full of Hell, chameleons of extreme subgenres and
constructors of a prolific and growing discography. Though tastefully arranged feedback had punctuated songs throughout the weekend, FoH were the only ones to introduce harsh noise into their set, artisanally crafted by frontman Dylan Walker in between bloodcurdling screams over furious grindcore spurts. Collaborations with Primitive Man and The Body have shown that Full of Hell are no strangers to melding with other abrasive and inhospitable musical acts. But when given a stage all to themselves, they provided a focused and impassioned set that was so fast and furious that it almost defeated the moshers that still had energy.
Last but certainly not least was Baltimore’s Dying Fetus, a band that has in large part carried the flag for bands that survived the early 2000s low point of technical/brutal death metal and emerged on the other side with renewed vigour. With last year’s Make Them Beg for Death providing a large chunk of their festival-closing performance, the power trio brought an onslaught of razor-sharp songs that filled the room with an aggressive joy and movement that suggested that my fellow Metalfesters appreciated not only the last band but the whole of the weekend that had just washed over them. Like others before them, DF didn’t waste a lot of time on banter but let their impressive oeuvre tell the story.
A mention must also be paid to whoever had control of the house music in between sets, particularly on Sunday, for blasting the Seinfeld and Friends theme songs on repeat in between bands and linking Dying Fetus’ last song with Kool and the Gang’s Celebration as we all filed out in a post-fest daze. Seventeen bands later, I think Cory Thomas can look back on this 150% Manitoba Metalfest with pride and consider that Winnipeg is more than capable of welcoming three nights’ worth of talent to South Osborne every year.
LUANA MOTH/
C. Samms/
Mutable Body
March 22, Handsome Daughter
The prairies have long been identified as fertile grounds for more than merely vegetation — music springs from our soil like so much sage and clover. Much has been said about the way our winters seem purpose-built for the intense woodshedding and creative hermitage which characterizes the habits of artists of legend. But there’s a flip to this that’s much less frequently considered. I feel that when you’re prairie-bound, inspiration can be hard to come by.
If I were to guess what inspires Alison Hain, I’d reckon it’s the tense, visceral soundscapes that colour the galaxies of contemporary science fiction. Performing as Mutable Body, she showcased her tremendous capabilities at harnessing the endless possibilities of
digital sound design, all to a captivating end. We got tastes of Aphexian drill; we got Reznorian lurching stomp, we got seasick soundtracky spooks, we got strident videogamey bleeps. Even better, the music got more compelling as it got more outlandish — a rare, appreciated quality. The tone was set; a night of affecting electronic sonics awaited the audience.
I *know* what inspires C. Samms: It’s the UK synth-pop of the early ’80s, made immortal by icons such as Depeche Mode, New Order, and Human League. His latest project, nominally a solo endeavour, features six hands-on stage deeply devoted to crafting note-perfect homages to the bands that perfected the form of coldly emotional synth-pop that Samms delights in revisiting. You’ve got your obligatory baritone croon; You’ve got your Peter Hook basslines. This would be a tiresome schtick if the music wasn’t deftly executed and the hooks weren’t expertly deployed, and mercifully, that’s what we get. As chief creative of more projects than I could ever hope to name — many will remember Not Animals, but am I the last one who remembers Two Knots Is Lots? — Samms makes good with his latest crew of collaborators. If that sounds tasty, check the album Bouquet, which recently dropped, and you can relive the moment in your own mind. Finally, we know what inspires Antonio Mazza
of LUANA MOTH. From his own telling, it’s his own backyard — our own backyard. The LUANA MOTH live experience features Antonio and his sister Giovanna staging a skillful recreation of their project’s debut song cycle, apparently the first in what will be an evolving self-contained mythological universe of sorts.
No time is wasted. A brief peaceful intro (which foreshadows the gentle dénouement, perhaps?) hastily dissolves, revealing the project’s sonic signature: frenetic psych- and synthinflected prog-math-glitch, polished to a sheen and presented with impressive attention to texture and melodicism. It’s a lot of music per minute, and they make a good show out of it. Antonio *lays it down* on guitar and synth over ornate backing tracks while Giovanna captivates alongside with requisite Nicksian grace. Remember a band called Battles? This stuff pounds some of the same pleasure centers as that band did, albeit with more attention to melody and gestalt. *Caveat auditor* — this can be highly aggravating music if not met with the appropriate setting and set; passive consumption will not spark joy.
MUTABLE BODY
Maybe, though, you’re more like me. If so, perhaps your inspiration comes from a similar place as mine. We need not go any further than the Handsome Daughter on the right night to find plenty to write, draw or dance about. I suppose when you’re prairie-bound, inspiration can be easy to find, after all.
WORDS & PHOTOS: STIFF WIGGLE
C . SAMMS
The CKUW 25th Anniversary Celebration!
WORDS BY BRADI BRECKMAN
PHOTOS BY VERONICA BLACKHAWK
The University of Winnipeg’s oncampus radio station celebrated 25 years of broadcasting on 95.9 FM radio on Friday, May 17th. The station specializes in local music, so it was only logical that they celebrated with a show at The Handsome Daughter, featuring three local rock bands. Cheap Heat, Bloc Parents, and Guilty Sleep all performed during the three-hour run-
band encountered a few difficulties, including some volume imbalance and a broken guitar string, but they carried on with true professionalism. Self-described as “a love letter to prowrestling” on their Instagram page, Cheap Heat delivered on their promise to perform wrestling-related songs. They provided some context, though those who do not follow the sport
time of the show. Doors to the venue opened at 8:00, and concertgoers filed in to see the local talent, celebrate the station, and escape the stormy weather outside.
Cheap Heat opened the show just past 9:00 and brought an instant high energy to the crowd. Their intense sound drew headbangers of all ages to the edge of the stage. The
were still left slightly bewildered if also amused. Overall, the crowd loved this band, who undoubtedly knew how to rock.
Concertgoers didn’t have to wait long to be entertained again. Bloc Parents commanded attention with their fun and engaging sound. The lead singer had a magnetic stage presence, and her vocals, mixed with the guitarist’s
precision and the odd tambourine feature, created a cohesive and haunting sound. Several songs felt quite gothic and would have been at home on the soundtrack of an 80’s horror movie. The band closed their main set with their three-part piece titled “The Conversation,” which was evidently a fan favourite. The song kept the audience on their toes by frequently changing tempos and keys. It was an excellent closer, and the group seemed genuinely happy to play it in front of an audience that appreciated their energy and talent.
Opening with their song “Cocoon,” Guilty Sleep started the last set of the night with an eerie and captivating sound. The floor was fully packed, and some people had clearly come later in the night just to see them perform. Their songs emphasized excellent guitar work, and the instrumentals and vocals blended well. The band cued up dialogue audio between songs, eliminating any chance of awkward silence. Guilty Sleep also treated the audience by teasing a song from their new EP. The crowd got a chance to listen to a sample of “Sleeve,” which ended up on streaming services five days after the show. Guilty Sleep played a special and entertaining set that closed the night on a high note.
After the show, the crowd milled around in good moods, drinking, and looking at merchandise for the bands and the radio station. It was a great atmosphere and a wonderful celebration of local talent and broadcasting. I highly recommend making it out to any future CKUW events and supporting local radio!
GUILTY SLEEP
Charley Crockett at the Burton Cummings Theatre
Two glowing letter “C’s” hung suspended high in the air behind Charley Crockett throughout the course of his nearly two-hour show at the Burton Cummings Theatre on May 27th. He let us know who the star was.
The self-proclaimed “son of Davy” is a showman. Full stop. From his elegantly tailored western wear, his shining white veneers, and backed by a tight band of unnamed sessional/ touring musicians and blazing lights that shifted hues and tones in all sorts of strange ways, Crockett plays his gig with the same pageantry of Las Vegas magician.
Furthermore, it was evident through the set that he was there to do a job.
He was professional, played the hits, and gave the crowd a show, but partly felt lacking of heart or soul. Maybe it was his missing energy (it was a Monday, to be fair), or maybe it was the fact that he played so many songs at such a similar tempo that the show bordered on marathon levels of endurance, but it felt transactional. But for a long-time touring musician of his notoriety, Crocett still brought the house down.
It was the $10 Cowboy tour, so it’s only fitting that he opened the show with “$10 Cowboy.” The audience’s ecstasy was palpable from the first notes of that funky bass rhythm and guitar riff. In pretty typical fashion for country shows these days, the crowd was a mix of rural kids in their baseball hats, blue jeans, and pullover hoodies standing in contrast to the hip city folks wearing their best western shirts tucked nicely into their pants and thrifted cowboy hats. The ironic swapping of styles was no match for the universal uniter, which was, as always, smoking cigarettes in the front patio before and after the show.
Crockett’s songs are short, simple, and as direct as an arrow flying through a windless sky. Lines like “In this life of trouble and regret/I ain’t done losing yet” or “I’m so lonesome I can barely breathe” speak to the universality of country music and why fans of all different backgrounds and styles can share in the communion of the genre. Although he was the star, Crockett’s brown leather jacket was so bright and clean you could almost see your own, or that of your disparate neighbour, in its reflection. “He was a $10 cowboy/Who looked a lot like you,” he sings on his latest album’s title track.
He worked his way through mostly new songs and a few older ones before his sixpiece ensemble left Crockett on stage alone. Bathed in blue light, his solo set proved his songs’ strength and ability to command a crowd all by himself. When the band returned to the stage after a few tracks, he gave it up to them for an extended instrumental.
For the rest of the show, he went full rock star. He played an impressive number of excellent guitar solos, and even when he dropped the axe to sing, he gave into his best karaoke self, leaning and bending into every high and low note.
The $10 cowboy played a $100 show.
PHOTOS BY MIKE THIESSEN
WORDS BY MYLES TIESSEN
WORDS & IMAGES BY SERAPHINE CROWE
Goodwill Social Club, January 29, 2024.
“A newly arrived punch to the ear, brought to you by a congregation of Real Hardcore Guys . ”
Back in the arctic throws of January, I interviewed Nuclear Man, a recent
addition to the local Hardcore punk music scene. The group played for the first time in October 2023, establishing an electrifying presence and releasing their debut EP shortly after. Since then, the group has supported local Hardcore punk acts and played with
touring bands. Earlier in the spring, they were booked to play in Toronto and Montreal, demonstrating a devotion to leaving their mark- and maybe a few broken microphones.
After an intense set at the late
GRAM
KAYLEB
WINSON
Goodwill Social Club, I waved down lead singer Carson and drummer Bekim to meet me outside. The area right outside gradually began to fill with noise and smokers, so we migrated towards the bright glow of a nearby convenience store. The other three band members couldn’t make it due to the risk of leaving the merch table unmanned, a crucial responsibility for musicians, as I’ve come to learn.
Who is Nuclear Man? (what do you play?):
C: “I’m Carson, and I sing.”
B: “I’m Bekim, and I play drums.”
Do you want to shout out the other members of Nuclear Man?
C: “No. We’re making money right now.”
(He was referencing the duty of his bandmates to manage the merch table. It was unfortunate not to speak with the whole group, but who can argue with the fiscal upper hand that selling merch can provide!)
How do you feel about the reception of your new EP? Both locally and beyond:
B: “It’s pretty crazy! I didn’t think people would care.”
C: “Yeah, everyone LOVES it.”
Where else in the world have people been listening to Nuclear Man?
C: “Where was that one place? Sweden, I think. They were number one when we checked our global analytics. Shout out to the Swedes!”
In terms of the local music scene, there really isn’t a mainstream focus on punk/ hardcore bands . Do you hope to see punk/hardcore bands becoming more of a
focal point in Winnipeg? Or are you satisfied with the community that has already been established?
Carson began to answer but suddenly stepped back as if he was overtaken by some internal force. He started to retch and took a few steps away from me. In a
split second, he was projectile vomiting on the sidewalk. Bekim began to laugh, and I just stood there without words while my phone continued recording the audio.
C: “This is my first beer.”
B: “Ever.”
Should we wait for him?
Carson began to collect himself now and returned to us. We continued, now standing within a foot of his pile of vomit.
C: “Sorry, I was just yelling really hard during the show. Anyways ...”
All good, brother! Do you have any thoughts about my last question?
B: “I just want people who care to show up. I don’t really care about the numbers as long as people are stoked!”
Absolutely .
B: “Also, make bands! MAKE BANDS!”
C: “Yeah, if you’re not in a band you can’t come.”
Our conversation ended here. The next band was about to go on, and we all wanted to get back inside from the biting cold of Winnipeg winter. It was my divine pleasure to have spoken with Nuclear Man despite the spontaneous display of bodily fluids!
You can listen to their demo EP currently on Bandcamp or be sure to keep your eyes peeled for upcoming shows on Instagram: @nuclearman.lives
BEKIM
CARSON
CKU Who? Thrash Can Mondays 5-6 PM
(or Wednesdays 10-11 pm on CHLY 101 .7FM)
KEELEY BRAUNSTEIN-BLACK PHOTO PROVIDED BY SEBASTIAN
Thrash Can is a Monday drive home Thrash metal show hosted by Sebastian.
Stylus: If you were to describe your show to someone who hadn’t heard it before, how would you describe it?
Sebastian: It’s loud, hopefully. People can turn the volume down, I guess, but preferably loud. It’s definitely loud on my end. It’s fast, usually, except for at the end of some episodes. I also try to speed through my station IDs as fast as I can; Keep up with the music. It should get the juices flowing.
Stylus: How did you get started?
Sebastian: I joined a program and was placed in Nanaimo, British Columbia, on Vancouver Island. I was placed in a volunteer position at CHLY 101.7fm, the Vancouver Island University campus radio station. I spent six months there, part-time volunteering and part-time working, and I went back again—another year to work just for the summer, just for two months. I did The VIU Meter, a two-hour daily show. Which was a lot to do, but it definitely prepared me for a weekly show.
When I came back to Winnipeg, I wanted to continue on the radio. I got in touch with CKUW, and then Scott was just like, hey, you know, a lunchtime thrash metal show would be cool. You
Local Releases
know, beggars can’t be choosers, so I pounced on the idea, right? It ended up being a drive time drive home time show. Which, I guess, has more people listening.
I was also going to the UW at the time, so it was a good choice for me since I was there anyway.
Stylus: What are some bands that you like to play on your show?
Sebastian: I really like Trauma Shot; I’m wearing their shirt right now.
Stylus: How do you find the music that you play?
Sebastian: Well, a variety of ways of finding them. Probably the easiest is just like, You’re typing in random words that sound metal into the Spotify search bar because I feel like people are running out of names for their metal bands. So they get increasingly more specific and just badly brutal, you know? I guess searching up stuff like “Constipation” might bring up a band you know. That doesn’t sound like a thrash metal band, though. Sounds like a grindcore band, actually.
Stylus: Is your show just thrash metal, or is it just kind of like?
Sebastian: It’s mainly thrash, but also everything fast. So, I play a good bit of death metal and like power metal, too, if it’s fast. But then again, I also end
HAZEL FOG SELF-TITLED
off my shows with Doom Metal more than not because I have a six-minute gap and no more thrash. So I just play a long Doom metal song.
Stylus: Is it always music? Do you ever do interviews with local bands?
Sebastian: I did interviews the first few months. Then I started school. I plan on doing more interviews in the future.
COHOST WANTED
Sebastian is looking for a cohost for Thrash Can!
If you love music, enjoy finding and listening to new bands and stuff, and want to support the local scene, contact Sebastian!
@thrash_can_show
Scan the QR code to listen to and buy the album!
Aside from my partner and a handful of friends with impeccable taste, one of my go-to sources for locating new music is Cam Scott’s UMFM program “Radio State.” In March, this was
things obscure, mysterious, dissonant, and unsettling, so I was hooked immediately.
how I first encountered the ambient drone stylings of Hazel Fog. After some digging—which is what I like to call “doing a cursory Google search”—I found that they’d released a selftitled two-song E.P. on Bandcamp on February 6, 2024, uploaded to the page of local label Makade Star. I’m always on the lookout for
(I pause here to recognize that UMFM, of course, is a competitor station to the one that publishes this magazine, so I must apologize for my impudence and disloyalty.
Rest assured that I turn the dial right back to CKUW for the remainder of my campus radio needs.)
The qualities that make experimental sound collage so compelling to listen to are exactly what makes the genre difficult to review. You can’t do a lyrical analysis, for there are no lyrics to analyze. You can try to describe the sounds themselves—but even then, it’s often tricky to pin down what those sounds are or how to convey that information in an evocative way. You’re now left having to discuss the general “vibe” of the record, but this is highly subjective and not necessarily transferable from person to person. This is where the artist’s self-description can come in handy: per an Instagram post advertising their March 9, 2024, show at the Handsome Daughter, Hazel Fog’s compositions contain “[a]nalog warbling drone, chimes and wild nightlife eventually escaping the fuzz. Distant yet tranquil psych-drenched guitar passages. A soundtrack for all seasons change.”
That last line is interesting. Nothing in the sonic experience of Hazel Fog made me contemplate the changing of the seasons— not on my first, second, or third listens. But upon revisiting it after reading the above passage, I realized that the signs were there: the warped chimes and reverbed cricket chirps permeating the opening track “Land Line” could indeed have been meant to conjure the image of an early fall or late summer evening. In my mind’s eye, I can see the waning daylight and rolling black clouds; in
my mind’s flesh (?), I feel ominous, forceful gusts of wind sweeping across the plains. Perhaps I am standing on a porch, darkly intoning “storm’s a-comin’” to an audience of no one, or perhaps I am being swarmed by locusts in a wheat field as in the climactic sequence of Days of Heaven. Regardless, I am left with an inescapable feeling of impermanence. Nothing—good, neutral, or bad—will last. We are all future corpses and future dust.
It’s possible to have a different reading, of course, and I would know. The first few times I listened, after all, my thought process was closer to “wow, what a neat aggregation of sounds! I am intrigued by this art without a knowable theme!” because I hadn’t yet seen the above Instagram blurb. If, on the other hand, you picked up the “all seasons change” thread faster than I did, our interpretations of the same tunes and imagery will still diverge: you wouldn’t frame autumn winds as “ominous” if you’re someone who enjoys the winter, for instance, and you wouldn’t be so prompt to turn every composition into a meditation on the inevitability of death if you have a more cheerful affect.
What do the lilting guitar riffs of “Chime I – The Ground in the Air – Matrix – Chime II” mean? I don’t know. What does a riverbed or a horse or a grilled cheese sandwich “mean”? What is any of this for? Your guess is as good as mine.
But perhaps you’re not satisfied with this capitulation to the instability of symbols. “You’re the
music critic, maggie; you tell me what to think about this!” But, dear reader, the imagined version of you that I’ve invented for my deranged rhetorical purposes has just committed a critical error: I’ve already told you what to think. The very act of describing this E.P. to you has already prejudiced any forthcoming experience of it. My words, filtered through your brain, have now produced an expectation to which Hazel Fog and, in turn, my review thereof will live up to, fall short of, or exceed. Your reality will differ from mine; though there may be mutual influence at play, the two are ultimately irreconcilable. When it comes to sound art, I—to quote Roland Barthes—“live in the interstice, delivered from any fulfilled meaning.” I was born in the interstice, and I will reside here forever. maggie astrid clark
GUILTY SLEEP SEEDS
When does an explosive become a drug? Scientifically, this happened with nitroglycerin – that highly volatile chemical compound that is used to both produce dynamite and treat heart conditions. But I would also contend that a similar power and instability is found in emogaze, and I’m addicted. The latest release
in this subgenre is the threesong EP Seeds by Winnipeg locals Guilty Sleep (a.k.a. Eric, Haise, Nic, Liam, Los), which is their follow-up to last year’s Passenger. And it’s equally heartbreaking and vicariously curative.
Sound-wise, this project feels to me like a combination of Starflyer 59’s 1994 album Silver, the mid-aughts “Lazy Eye” by Silversun Pickups, and something of that postmodern Winnipeg’s je ne sais quoi. It’s heavy emotionally and sonically, introspectively cathartic in its bleeding honesty. Starting out dreamlike, the echoey guitar opening of “Sleeve” hardens quickly and progressively – broken phrases of regret, punctuated by exasperated breathing and coupled with the repeated line: “I guess you never knew what to say to me.” The song ends with a military-like beat that, in light of earlier lyrics, “I wipe you off on my sleeve,” conveys a moving on. But the effect of past sorrow is ever-present, as also suggested by the final oscillating hum of enduring hurt. This leads into the “Waltz for Fallen Lovers”: a shoegaze-forward track that actually includes a brief 3/4 time signature change and leans austerely into the theme of relationships being blown to smithereens. As for the closing song, “Meal Replacement” – which begins with an airy drum machine loop – it is the third in Guilty Sleep’s successful trifecta of woe, which is Seeds. Just when you think that it couldn’t get any more dreary, the listener feels the impact of words
and the fivetimes-reiterated sentiment of being “alone.”
It’s potent heart medicine, this EP. But handle with care. Rumour has it that they’re likely to explode on a stage near you (like at the Rainbow Trout Festival this August).
Mykhailo Vil’yamson
GREAT WEALTH RUNAWAYS
This album has come on many walks with my dog and I. If I had to pinpoint its genre, I would call it midwest codependent abandonment trauma emo
I hope that singer-songwriter Andy Cole is ok, but judging from the lyrics of this album, he may not be. True to its title, Runaways is a collection of songs about leaving and being left. Throughout the work, our narrator speaks to his feelings of regret and insignificance after a breakup, reflecting on how his family’s histories of relational struggles have played out in his own life. Whether he is recalling bitterweet memories of a past romantic relationship, or telling his sister not to hope for too much from their deadbeat dad, our narrator is often devastated by the loneliness of his
self-sufficient experience. Still, he finds moments of hope in the freedom and possibilities presented by his independence.
I am a big fan of how this band plays together. Both lyrically and melodically, the band takes a theme and repeats it with small variations that allow you to listen more deeply to the instrumentation. Taking turns with twinkly guitar riffs, drum fills, synth patches, saxophone solos, and solo-ish bass runs, the players manage to play off of each other without playing over each other. I can tell they are listening to each otherin particular, bassist Nathan Cron never leaves the pocket
of drummer Kyle Kunkel. I have seen them live and I can tell you, it is real! At times I am reminded of Born to Run by Cole’s intense vocal delivery and, of course, Gage Salnikowski’s saxophone. Other times I am reminded of midwest emo staples such as The Hotelier. I submit as evidence the talked-sung-screamed intro to “What if I Can’t Let Go,” which hovers over a sparse and gentle synth and guitar composition before the drums kick in as Cole wails repeatedly, “Oh, oh, what if I can’t let go?” So sad! I love it.
Kelly Campbell
