Within punk zine 13

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AMNESIA ROCKFEST

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BILL STEVENSON on

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THE BLASTING ROOM AND DESCENDENTS

RUSS RANKIN talks about “PEACE IN OUR TIME” THE NEW GOOD RIDDANCE

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J.R / Less Than Jake

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TROY ZAK on The Real Mckenzies

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THE EXPERIENCE / THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY LINEUP

SLAVES ON DOPE TALKS ABOUT THE UPCOMING RELEASE “HORSE” and METAL

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Phil Langelier on BOOKAKEE

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DANIELLE PRUDHOMME

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The Dark Abyss the Silent Abyss / Triston Whitehead

TALKS ABOUT THE FAMILY AND FRIENDS THAT IS ROCKFEST

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EDITOR

Jason Bolduc

COPY EDITOR Naomi Kelly

PHOTOGRAPHERS Jason Bolduc Jim Smith

COLUMNISTS

THE TOWER

Hamilton's Anarchist Social Centre 281 Cannon St. E Hamilton, ON L8L 2B4 Hours: Sundays 11am-5pm* Mondays 2-6pm* Thursdays 12-5pm* http://the-tower.ca/

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Jason Bolduc Jim Smith Juana Luck Mike Mccarthy

REVIEWS Mike Mccarthy

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Mike Magee/Stomp Records Melanie Kaye PR Epitaph Records Caroline Bergevin / INFAROUGE Amnesia Rockfest/Alex Martel Triston Whitehead

Piston Head/Brutal Brewing My Fingers My Brain Reords Paper and Plastick Records

THE EXPERIENCE BY JASON BOLDUC PUNK ROCK noun 1. a type of rock-’n’-roll, reaching its peak in the late 1970s and characterized by loud, insistent music and abusive or violent protest lyrics, and whose performers and followers are distinguished by extremes of dress and socially defiant behavior. “WEBSTERS DICTIONARY” “The real road to achieving an anarchist utopia is not through violence, disrespect, and chaos. All of these activities only lead to more government. An entirely free society, where government is no longer necessary, can only exist where people respect one another, accept responsibility, treat each other fairly, and have compassion for their fellow man. In short: we don’t need government if humans are humane.” “ACTIVIST POST.COM”

What happens when you take a small farming community between two major

metropolitan areas - Ottawa and Montreal - on a scenic rural area alongside a calm river and embed an idea since childhood to believe in something so pure as to be simply different in the mind of its founder, the answer can only be what is known in its abbreviated form both heard softly and loudly in the eyes of those who have experienced the reality of “ROCKFEST”. The stories and tales could no longer validate in the glistening eyes of those who told the tale and lived the experience it had to become and thus the mission was clear, upon assembling three of my colleagues/columnists of Within Punk Zine we started our journey. What transpired before us may have been a sleep deprived hallucination or the tale of what was the longest weekend of lost time and amazing stories. After all this year is Amnesia Rockfest’s Tenth anniversary, the largest to date of band lineups curated by Fat Mike and Tim Armstrong.

FRIDAY : After overloading with everything four punk rockers can start a small commune in the middle of nowhere with especially the essentials, large qualities of alcoholic beverages and travelers. After being conscious for over 20 hours the distant seven hour drive seemed to be focusing on how fast the white and yellow lines can form a sketch a doodle drawing, the vast and sudden swerving and often two tire road application was no match for the blaring

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punk tracks. The quick layover in the back lot of the greasy sketchy truck stop had the familiar sense of childhood memories only to awaken to a bathroom conversation of truckers playing connect four on the counter with beans and the familiar sound of the Hoover cranking the dust control in the stalls. We arrived on site in a timely fashion to be diverted from the main turnoff as the sun started to back our pale blank faces. The signs were clear and visible and the staff directed us to the unload location and pointed to what seemed like the line up to the pearly gates of heaven - Rockfest Official Campground. After hauling the gear and setting up the task at hand was done and was time to descend upon the masses. As far as you could see the diversity and equality was shared between the crowds. Regardless of the ethnicity or language (Mostly French) the common word that was clearly understood was “ROCKFEST”. The staff at the campsite scurried around in every direction and held ground in keeping it tightly together supplying directions, multiple Porta-Jonny sanitizations and running lights and keeping things going like the wheels of well-greased machine. After getting the credentials from Jackie (Alex’s grandmother) and wobbling off into the distance I found myself staring at some expensive Yachts only to reason this isn’t the S.S Minnow that I need to take to the stage! After a brief stroll through the park glancing at the beautiful Chateau Montebello and almost drifting into the drink, I was swiftly boarding on the band and media water taxis where I ran into Alex Erian from “Obey the Brave” and a discussion on Hardcore commenced. The day started off with an amazing set as I caught “The Bouncing Souls” playing some favorites and stuff from “Comet” to catching “The Voodoo Glow Skulls” and then made my way to orientate my surroundings between the two Tony Sly Stages and the long walk around to the Main stage ( Loto Quebec) through the crowd that stopped me every couple

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paces for a high five or make me watch in anxious anticipation the ability to consume alcohol and smoke a reefer at the same time. Running to catch up I saw Greg Graffin and Brett Gurewitz blast some iconic Bad Religion songs.

Meeting up back stage I ran into Melanie Kaye PR who hooked me up with the golden ticket, the Photo Pass. I directed my motivation back to the far Tony Sly stage to catch some iconic founders of Punk “The Exploited” as the crowd exploded in a frenzy of spilt beer, lost shoes and anything that could become a projectile, the sheer look of fright overcame the camera media on concern of equipment and looked frustrated by such behavior as I took a beer off the back of the head and turned to only capture my companion smirking and giving the finger for his attempt at getting his picture embedded forever in time. Back furiously through the onslaught of merging lanes of faster moving patrons I gathered my senses to stop for a couple Octane sponsored energy drinks. The friendly staff realizing my half awaken stare off into the distance supplied me with a two for one special to make sure to adhere to the task at hand. Parkway Drive was on the Jägermeister stage - one of the larger well equipped sound and lighting rigged monsters located left of the main stage. Like any high fidelity top end surround system, sound filled the site no matter where you were but never interfered with another stage’s attraction. Catching story time with old man Steve-O and listening to his tales of debauchery brought back memories of an earlier life of mayhem and glory. The coin was tossed in the air - Sublime with Rome or the infamous Hardcore legends Cro-Mags? Was I really comprehending making this

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decision? After furiously trying to get the Cro Mags in a stable picture shot, the darkness set in. As the exhaustion crept before me I heard a familiar voice “Lou Koller” and the chords striking in from the bent down “Pete Koller” the surge of the familiar sound of “Sick Of It All” purged my weakness to its knees and I awoke to the message. After a quick refresh of the water mixed with the G.N.C anabolic “Pump” I bolted over to catch “The Offspring” from backstage and the immensity of the crowd all singing “Americana”. Throwing back some beers I glanced at Noodles and Dexter blaze through their set in amazement to be playing “Americana” in entirety for the first time. I hauled double time back through the merging lanes of intoxicated fellow brothers and sisters to make it in time to catch the Swedish energy known as “Raised Fist”.

After hearing mostly “From the north” played in its entirety it was back to straying off the path to stop at the Fat Wreck merch booth to pick up a limited edition Fatwreck Canada shirt.

The crowd seemed to moving in one direction rapidly towards the Jagermeister stage and for a good reason old man Jourgensen was about to go off and Ministry by far would be the biggest turnout of the festival other than longtime metal gods Slayer. More consumption of energy drinks and alcohol mix followed up by a much needed chicken sharmawa as I stared off in the distance wondering if the bats were really there - has it been 48 hrs without sleep? Over to see Descendents and Milo kicking some old favorites as Bill Stevenson’s drums reverberated my brain, the blazing bass rolls of Karl’s snappy fingers and Stephen’s chords brought me back to life. With the pupils highly dilated I ventured over to catch some of Linkin Park play from “Living Things”. Soon it was time to start the walk back to camp. Along the way I can say that the Village of Montebello was more than accommodating to festival goers because they became one with the people. The generosity, openness and laughter was everywhere. There wasn’t a single home that did not have tents or cars or some form of lodging setup on their properties. Make shift stages, mini bars and restaurants were set up in garages and the people playing musical instruments at 2:30 in the morning surprised me none the

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least. After making it back to a well-lit camp ground I met up with my columnists for some drinks and much needed rest.

SATURDAY: After tossing and turning in the cold and a brief 2 hours it was back up and getting nourished for the day ahead. Noticing our neighbors crawling like the walking dead the common theme could be felt everywhere. As the silence grew slowly the sound of the awakening main stage off in the distance brought the undead back to life. Assembling my gear and heading out I caught some much needed sustenance from a Montreal smoke meat Poutine and went off to catch a glimpse of Slaves on Dope opening the day on the Jagermeister stage.

The main stage was ready for one of the iconic Ska legends Less Than Jake who played a best-of that got the medium size crowd ready for what the main day would become. After catching some Real Mckenzies it was time to head back to the beautiful Chateau Montebello for the media open house where I caught up with some bands and some great interviews. I made it back in time to see the reformation of The Suicide Machines doing some Destruction by definition and then Russ Rankin and the boys of Good Riddance blast some new tracks from Peace In Our Time. The Planet Smashers (of Stomp Records fame) stole the show with a wedding proposal mid-way through the set. I took a little walk around tour to see what was going on and grabbed some much needed coffee back at the media center and returned refreshed to catch Slayer briefly. Then over to see the highlight of the festival, All. After seeing Scott Reynolds all day hanging out watching bands it was amazing not only to watch both Chad Price and Scott Reynolds down in the photo pit singing along to the songs. A follow up amazing set was done by Satanic Surfers. Then it was back to the interviews to end a perfect weekend with a conversation with Bill Stevenson. The extensive trip back home was just as thrilling as the ride up and I have to say of all the festivals I have ever attended in the past 22 years, Amnesia Rockfest is a utopian society (if only for three days) that had no fights, no aggression, mutual respect unity and most importantly the feeling of family and remains to be one of the most well-orchestrated productions I have seen thus far.

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BILL STEVENSON

TALKS PRODUCING RECORDS @ THE

AND WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE

JASON BOLDUC SARA MAI CHITTY CHRIS FORREST

INTERVIEW WITH BILL STEVENSON @ ROCKFEST 2015

JUNE 20,2015 COURTESY OF

MELANIE KAYE PR

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BILL STEVENON: PHOTO: J.B

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SARA:So Bill how are you liking Rockfest?

BILL: It’s cool, it’s got a lot of good bands. It’s pretty cool to see how far it’s come from when we first played it like four years ago, I’ve played it three times now ya!

CHRIS: Did you manage to catch any bands today?

BILL: For some reason our hotel is like two hours away so I kinda showed up and got here in enough time to organize my drum kit and set up so I haven’t really got a chance to see any bands play so no!

CHRIS: So Fat Wreck’s 25 year anniversary is coming up. How does it feel to be part of such an iconic wave of punk?

BILL: Actually pretty cool we got to do a lot of recording with most of Fat’s bands like Russ and Good Riddance and Joey Cape and Lagwagon and we had the capacity to do the No Use For A Name record and when I say we I mean myself and my colleagues at The Blasting Room Jason and Andrew. It’s been fun you know and those are lasting relationships you know and I get phone calls every now and then or I fly out every so many years and go and record Fatty and NOFX so yeah it’s cool.

CHRIS: So how did the blasting room start?

BILL: We built it 21 years ago so we would have a place to record Descendents and ALL, our own place you know instead of paying for studio time. Then it sort of turned into its own thing you know it sort of turned into a professional studio or whatever you want to call it - we just built it for ourselves but as soon as it was built bands started calling to record there. It sort of took wings and took its own life so we sort of

let that happen.

J.B: You ever think about going back to an old Soundcraft board and go all analog because a lot of studios are all digital now?

BILL: We just threw an A.P.I (Analog Console) in the studio so we’re in there already and we’re using our tape machine too in Studio A. We’re doing the tape machine in synchronization called the CLASP (Closed Loop Analog Signal Processor) I mean we haven’t really left it and that’s how we started out and that’s a important element of what really sounds good.

SARA: We were talking to Suicide Machines earlier where they said that you are their mentor when it comes to drumming as so do a lot other bands. How do you feel about that?

BILL: (Laughing) Well if you stick around long enough and don’t die from a brain tumor you earn yourself some respect, I don’t know I mean I really don’t know there where no geniuses in my family, you know my family were all just normal blue collar working people. So

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whatever I’ve been able to accomplish or whatever respect I’ve earned from somebody hopefully I’ve earned it by being a decent guy and showing people respect and then expecting some respect back from them. It’s flattering to hear that of what you’ve said but I couldn’t imagine being anyone’s mentor. I would like to be probably my son’s or daughter’s mentor but I probably don’t even qualify for that!

SARA: Well you’re very humble to say the least!

BILL: If my kids look up to me enough to stay away from drugs KARL ALVAREZ : PHOTO : J.B

and shit dude then I would be stoked you know.

J.B: I was going to ask as you get older do you find it’s harder to keep pace with what it used to be like - but then that wasn’t the case when I saw the set today and you blazed through it! Do you find that you’ve been playing for so long it’s just so natural and just comes to you easily?

BILL: I’m 52 now so you know I have to really struggle to find the energy for it and it’s little things like making sure I have enough sleep or not eating too much junk food. It’s all those little things that add up to see if I can manage to keep up to what I wrote when I was fifteen (Laughing) but all honesty besides the diligent practicing the other thing and quite seriously is a ton of coffee. I mean I drank ten cups of fucking coffee before we played just to get it done. I mean yesterday it was ninety minutes before we played and I couldn’t find any coffee anywhere and everywhere I looked I couldn’t find any or anyone I asked couldn’t speak English so I was like “Fuck”! So I was having a panic and I real-

STEPHEN EGERTON: PHOTO : J.B

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ized I was talking to myself and I was like “dude! You can’t play your songs unless you’re artificially jacked. You’re not able to because you’re fucking old” and I had a moment and so thankfully where this tent was were the crew guys were they had this big fucking coffee maker like the ones at A.A meetings.

And they fired it up and I drank like a hundred cups of coffee and me and Milo found some of those energy drinks and stuff and drank those, I mean anything short of speed

I don’t want to get into that I don’t want to go that far (Laughing).

J.B: So your Descendents “House Blend” what’s up with that?

BILL: Oh man we have a unique situation with that! We work with Jackie’s Java in Fort Collins and we worked with her and she roasted us about a million different things, I mean her Dark Roast is amazing, her Amistad Dark Roast has already won her awards and it’s amazing but we tweaked it a little bit more and made it a little bit more extreme. It takes a bit from that Dazbog Coffee blend K.G.B so we came up with something that we really liked and it was a lot of tasting you know. It was very cool we were very involved in it and it wasn’t just a slap a Descendents sticker on it you know.

J.B: You ever try Deathwish Coffee?

BILL: Emm oh ya that’s great too!

CHRIS: In Filmage they said you pay attention to detail and meticulously do things over and over again and do take after take. Do you do

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that to all the bands?

BILL: I guess every situation is a little bit different so I recorded two bands in the past year that I use as examples - Akaline Trio and Hot Water Music. Okay so they both have two lead vocalists so on an album Dan will sing six and Matt will sing six. And on an album Chris will sing six and Chuck will sing six so I noticed the way I recorded Matt’s vocals was way different than the way I recorded Dan’s vocals even though it’s the same band it’s

MILO AUKERMAN : PHOTO J.B

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not ‘psychology’ - I wouldn’t use that big of a word for it, but you have to find a way to get that sound perfect on the album, and it’s not a set way you know it’s not a method. I don’t have any set methods, I have some methods or tricks in my play book but essentially I have to get a relationship with each person (Bill Always ask to fill a U.S.B drive with a least a hundred favorite songs they listen too to understand them) to understand them and to make it work. And it was the same with the Hot’s with Chuck. Completely different than the way I did Chris’s vocals so I always refer to that when people ask “well what your method how do you work it? I really don’t know I just try to get it right you know, sometimes it’s meticulous ya then sometimes it’s let the person sing for twenty or thirty minutes and then you got it all there you just got to dig through it and assemble it all. It’s easy to get focused on all those details and get into it and obviously be professional. You have to sort of be mindful of those things but at the same time none of those things are going to make a good song or a shitty song. What I get into is when they bring a song in. It’s like let’s analyze this song and get into it, we got demos for twelve songs - well six of them suck so let’s hang on to it, let’s try it again and do some more and then you write another twelve and maybe six of those are good and then you’ve got an album. And I feel the song writing is more important than any microphone preamp or fucking details or any of that. None of that shit really matters if you really think about it, a great song is what people really want.

CHRIS: Is Matt Skiba really as weird as he lets on?

BILL: No! I wouldn’t call Matt weird he’s a very interesting person and very dear to me. I love him immensely. I love all those guys, Matt’s interesting - if he’s interesting then the world should be so weird you know. People ask me about that all the time about Mike Wad or Henry and its like come on just because they’re not boring doesn’t mean they are weird. Frank too you know Frank was weird by conventional terms, you know but he was my best friend you know I love it. I love things that aren’t regular.

J.B: Talking about best friends do you still get out fishing - maybe some lakes, rivers and streams?

BILL: I’m trying to come to terms with fishing. I went last year to Alaska after not going for eighteen years. I went, me and Jason Livermore my partner and Dr Martin and we got Salmon and Halibut and stuff but I’m really wresting with all of that. I saw this thing in the news and there’s this guy who is a ground keeper for this park area and he’s on a riding lawn mower and he turned and mowed down this brood of

ducks and they all died and he even backed up and mowed over some he missed. So only the mom and two chicks got away and when I read about that it made me feel kind of bad right? And I’m like why am I worried about the ducks and I’m eating a burger? And then I’m going fishing in Alaska and what makes the ducks special and not the fish?

And a lot of us like myself are a walking hypocrite and I have to come to terms with that, so I’m trying to figure it out. I like being on the lake or river and just enjoying it all I like that more than the actual catching.

I love the water and just being on the boat.

J.B: Lyrics. You guys have been known mostly for lyrical content with Descendents for life’s experiences and relationships and that sort of thing but on “Merican” you wrote more of a political song. Is that a direction you might be looking into?

BILL: You’re talking about the song “Merican” the album “Cool to be You”. It isn’t any more political than the others. It might be less political on that album. I wrote four songs - one about my daughter, one about my father and one about my wife so my relationship thing is...well they say write about what you know about and for me that’s what I know about. I’m not a wise man, I’m not a educated man you know. I bailed out in the middle of my literature degree to go on the “Damage” tour with Black Flag (Laughing) so..

J.B: But it panned out so it’s all good right?

BILL: Ya it panned out ya but I definitely will go back to school at some point because it feels like unfinished business.

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STEPHEN EGERTON : PHOTO J.B

BILL STEVENSON : PHOTO : J.B

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J.B: Other than that six albums, three lives three COMPS and a documentary...

BILL: What did you just say three cocks?

J.B: Ahh no Three COMPS! BILL: No say that over again it sounded like a song. Like a partridge in a pear tree...

J.B: No three comps.. What’s next after for the Descendants?

BILL: Well that’s the cool thing about the Descendants. we have never been that professional band you know or business really it’s always just been for fun and we do it whenever we want and we record and it might take us awhile to record and to finish but ya that’s happening.

SARA: So it seems you are quite the family man and you are part of the Fat Wreck family so how did you contribute towards 25 years of Fat Wreck Chords?

BILL: I really don’t know fortunately I got to record most of the better Fat Wreck Chords bands and I think mostly the bands did most of the work. If I could pin point the Blasting Room reference on it all it would be we made the bands sound more like they do on the album live and not so much metal influenced like a lot of the early Fat Wreck Chords albums had a metal sound to them, and we had influence to take that out of it. It really wasn’t a conscious effort, it’s just how I hear things and I like things about punk rock more than what Metal albums sound like.

I think I just disrupted it you know “Operation Phoenix” that changed the era in Fat Wreck chords and it never went back.

J.B: Coming back to that, what do you think of the scene today because the fusion of metal in punk is definitely now and it wasn’t back in the day with the older punk. What’s your thoughts on the scene today?

BILL: Are you talking about Fat or in general?

J.B: No in general the punk scene and what it is today?

BILL: I don’t know I might be too old to say there’s all these weird things with crap core and then they splice in this thing with E.D.M in there into the middle of the song and its a thing I genuinely do not understand. I think I’m too old to comment on the music - I think I don’t know!

J.B: Do you think without the S.S.T and Cruz Records influence in the scene it would have been a lot different?

BILL: NO that shit was going to happen one way or another and Fletcher would have had something to do with it sooner than later.

J.B: I always end with a famous book or quote that inspired you in your

life. Anything come to mind?

BILL: Books, ya let’s see! There’s one called the “Royal Path of Life” it’s almost like a bible but without having to have the god part and that’s my favorite and Walden is my second favorite and then the “Unbearable lightness of Being” those are probably my favorite three books.

SARA: Okay please explain why “Walden” is one of your favorites?

BILL: Ah man every great quote is in those books just everything, that book is life changing. If you’re able to sit down and read through it all it changes who you are! And it will change about how you feel about life. I wouldn’t mind working a couple of those quotes in?

J.B: That’s why I ask!

BILL: “Rise free from care before the dawn, and seek adventures. Let the noon find thee by other lakes, and the night overtake thee everywhere at home. There are no larger fields than these, no worthier games than may here be played” and that’s Walden...It’s a fucking amazing book!

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INTERVIEW WITH RUSS RANKIN /GOOD RIDDANCE

JUNE 20,2015 COURTESY OF MELANIE KAYE PR @ ROCKFEST 2015

J.B: So we are sitting here with Russ Rankin from Good Riddance.

How’s it going?

RUSS: Great!

J.B: So how’s it going with “Peace in Our Time” tour?

RUSS: We are slowly but surely working our way through probably the busiest time we’ve had since we’ve started playing again since 2012. It’s really because of the new album and we really wanted to play these new songs. And we really wanted to play in front of people and as many as people as possible so given that our reality is not planning out the next

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nine months it’s just playing as many places as possible.

J.B: You’ve made that comment previously that you didn’t want to be that band that just put stuff out for the sake of doing something and then you guys did a Hiatus and now your back full strength do you feel more energized with that break in there?

RUSS: Ya we’re all acing ourselves, what’s cool with us is we have a better band/life balance now, you know we didn’t play for five years and guys got the chance to raise their children and do their careers that are completely divergent from music and for me it makes Good Riddance the right side to be at in that perspective. I don’t feel pressure and I don’t worry about what the rest of the band is doing and I am really in touch with how fortunate we are and have been. We get to do something cool that not too many people get to do and I am super humbled by that.

J.B: On “Peace in Our Time” it doesn’t have those sound clip intros?

RUSS: Ya I’ve been catching a lot of slack for that actually. The album before that (My Republic) didn’t have it either. A week before it was going to be mixed Chuck was like hey you should put some samples, and I was like ‘I would have liked some notice’. It’s not something that a guy can just rush into, you have to carefully cultivate those over time.

In some ways I felt I kind of out grew it but then I know people who are long time listeners of the band miss them. So maybe if we do another album I will think ahead of time and start collecting them.

J.B: The song “Half Measures”, do you think people face their demons or do you think people come to terms with their demons?

RUSS: That’s a good question I think it’s a little bit of both it depends where a person is in their life and how far they are willing to take it on and it’s about self-appraisal. I think that has a lot to do with it. I think if a person is not accurately able to take a self-appraisal then they don’t have any demons and it’s everybody else’s fault, so I think if I am able to look at myself and see my strengths, my flaws, my faults; that’s what it’s really about, and to be able to live them because you know they are there is prominent because I don’t think they ever really go away.

J.B: You guys came out with the video for “Disputatio”. Any thoughts on another video perhaps?

RUSS: Ah no, not at this time.

J.B: The Hardcore scene has really changed from the West coast scene to East Coast scene and now world wide. What do you think of the scene today?

RUSS: I think the whole body is different, the way that the music is created and produced and made and the way people buy it or don’t buy

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it and the way the shows are promoted. The nineties was a cool time because there was this cool little enclave of revolutionaries that suddenly became Teen Beat. Like it or not the music that we cherished became mainstream and what happens in any case when the culture machine grabs ahold of anything it gets commoditized and to me, everything that seems vital about it gets sucked out of it and then it blows away in the wind and it just gets replaced by the next thing. And you know I never thought that would happen to punk and then it happened to punk and the fallout has been really strange lately. Like, our band is one of those bands that can go play at a picnic or at a park and a bunch of people would come and watch with their kids because that’s the music they grew up with and we would be trusted to not destroy or break things and punk is really different now.

But in the same sense there is just as many bands out there doing it the way it has always been done, so for us it was being a Punk Rock fan to being in a Punk Rock band then being in a Punk Rock band now and doing this revival circuit. So that is why we made this album, we didn’t want to be this Karaoke machine and just push play! It was like, let’s actually make some really good music or let’s just really stop for good. So it was cool to come back again and it was cool to play live again and see everybody and a lot of fans were happy, but inside we were like, we can’t keep doing the same thing over and over again, can we? So for us it was really important to us to write something new and different. So back to your question I know you have to define Hardcore - is it punk? Are they the same? Are they different? And if so how? Some kid played me a Hardcore band the other day and it sounded like metal to me! And I was really confused. So it depends really on how old the person is, what they grew up to and what they listened to, so it’s really hard for me to classify what bands are anymore.

J.B: There are so many subgenres of Hardcore now that it’s hard to keep up because everything is fused together now!

RUSS: Well if you watch the documentary “American Hardcore”, have you seen that?

J.B: Oh ya RUSS: That’s a pretty novel thing to probably show someone who’s in their twenties now I guarantee if I played that movie to that kid that played me that metal or hardcore he wouldn’t think any of those bands were hardcore, but they were and then who gets to decide? And I think you have to view that through the lens of your own experience and where you are as far as your age and on the musical timeline where you

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RUSS RANKIN grew up and who the bands were and how strong the scene was in your area so there are so many variables that go with it.

J.B: All of your lyrical content has been intellectual and in perspective.

What’s the process in creating content?

RUSS: For me I have always been attracted to political punk rock and social political punk rock not so much, not so much towards the phony party music and I’ve always been gravitated towards that and so that’s what I’ve been motivated to write. When I first heard punk rock it was after Van Halen was on the radio and then there was this other stuff and it wasn’t just music or entertainment, it was trying to carry and convey a relevant message of social awareness and political awareness and that was really a big moment for me. I was like wow, people are using this music as a vehicle to try and change the fucking

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world and not just singing about whatever comes to their mind. And that’s what I try to do. I want to try and say something relevant in my songs like everybody else I was influenced by. Bad Religion got me to think about things and look up words I didn’t know and I felt like I got a lot out of it. Bands like the Dead Kennedys, Bad Religion, Pennywise, T.S.O.L - they were singing about stuff that was going on in the world that I thought was important and now when I write a song I don’t even think about it because it’s going to come out as a political or social awareness song - or unless it’s about a girl that broke up with me.

J.B: So I thought “Mother Superior” was a turning point for you guys, it gave a direction that was a little different and now on this new one you have “Grace and Virtue” and the album is little bit more melodic than the previous ones and the songs kind of flow that way also in comparison to “They all fall down”. Is that the direction you wanted to take with this one?

RUSS: So I had this really weird identity crisis earlier in the band’s history. I wanted to sound like Born against screaming one minute, to Descendents the next, so what happened on a lot of records was this Bi polar extremities and a hundred percent of credit goes to Bill Stevenson.

When he got ahold of us and he told us every song has to sound like you, they have to have the same tone, they can have different melodies, different affection, different melodies but they have to have the same harmonies. He said the albums before this, the lyrics sound like two different dudes, it’s got to sound like one guy and that’s something that really got through to me and that’s how we do records now (Bill quoted “Darkest Days” as one of his favorite songs and “My Republic” as all-time amazing album). So ever since Bill came onboard probably the last four albums it has been that way. So some songs are harder and some not so much, so it should have the same intensity and vocal range throughout and it sounds like one band and one singer.

J.B: Fat Wreck is coming up on 25 years. You like being on such a tight family and iconic label?

RUSS: We’re probably the wrong band to ask! We got on to Fat just as the boulder was about to start rolling down the hill, we were super fortunate. I mean we were a local band in a small beach town in California and we were working our asses off trying to get on a label and we sent them enough tapes and pestered them enough we ran into Mike at a couple spots where he knew we were and he was like “Yeah I like your guys demo” and then as our band progressed and we opened up for other bands we heard all these other horror stories about all these other

labels and it dawned on us that we were really fortunate. So that was our first label and just by talking to other bands about it we realized wow it could be really worse because were really lucky so the way they treat us and the way they continue to treat us as compared to the other labels is amazing and we always felt really fortunate to be a part of that.

J.B: I always end with a famous quote or a famous book that inspired your life anything come to mind?

RUSS: There’s a quote I used on our first album that I really like it’s by George Bernard Shaw “Custom will reconcile people to any atrocity”.

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INTERVIEW WITH J.R/LESS THAN JAKE @ ROCKFEST 2015

JUNE 20,2015 COURTESY OF

MELANIE KAYE PR

J.B: Hey I am sitting here with the Legendary..

J.R: J.R with “LESS THAN JAKE”!

J.B: And he plays the Sax and man can he play!

J.R: Yes most times yes!

J.B: You guys came out with “See the Light”, an amazing album once again. You guys did a tour with Teenage Bottle Rocket and now you are on a tour with Reel Big Fish?

J.R: Yeah Reel Big Fish and a band called Ballyhoo they are from Baltimore Maryland today is an off day from that tour because we came to play Amnesia and we pick back up with them tomorrow in Toronto.

J.B: The last show I’ve seen was at Toronto with Teenage Bottle Rocket and it was a packed house and it was at the Opera house.

J.R: Ya it was at the Opera House that was an awesome show.

J.B: Do you guys like playing festivals more because it started the FEST in Gainesville or do you like the smaller venues?

J.R: You know they’re both good for what they’re good for, you know festivals it’s cool because you get out there and play in front of the enormity of the crowd and the fun that goes on but club shows can be just as much fun you know. It’s kind of a toss up so it depends on the day so today I’m glad I’m here - tomorrow maybe not so much.

J.B: So today - amazing set list!

J.R: Thanks J.B: Last time in Toronto you played mostly “Hello Rockview”. Today

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PETER “J.R” WASILEWSKI :PHOTO J.B

you guys did sort of a best of from everything from Pezcore to some tracks on E.P’s to some new ones off of “See the Light” but you really tried to touch base on everything?

J.R: Ya it’s really hard to take 23 years of music and collapse it down to forty five minutes so we try to kind of go with what we call “The Hits” but there are no real hits just certain songs that people really like so we’re trying to play things that will really get people going and things they like and know.

J.B: Except for “Shin-

do” J.R: Didn’t play “Shindo” today that’s right!

J.R: I feel like we played it in Toronto last time and those are one of those songs that are like in the top 80 of our songs and you’re like trying to figure out, should we or shouldn’t we? We actually got here an hour before we are supposed to go on, literally because we crossed over last night into Canada and there was traffic and stuff so we are glad we made it!

J.B: Nothing like on the wire!

J.R: Ya tell me about it!

J.B: So I am trying to find this shirt that has the Less than Jake Molson Canadian logo on it? But I can’t find it for some reason?

J.R: It’s Merch limitation we were allowed two T-shirts only and one other item and I think we are selling a record. But yes we really should bring that back up here when we come and it’s printed up here so it

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should be here. I’m not even really sure what we have anymore (LoL).

Honest to goodness though the bus rode up we got off, we played, the bus drove back here, I had some lunch then started doing some interviews.

J.B: I managed to grab a hoodie with the dynamite and 92 on the back and oh ya “Rolling papers”.

J.R: Yes! And oh ya “WE MAKE GRINDERS TOO” J.B: Grinders! I didn’t see the grinders ah man!

J.R: Yeah they sold like real fast! We like to make things, we like to make things and items that people would want, you know! You can only buy so many Less Than Jake t shirts you know what I mean but hey Less Than Jake hot sauce!

J.B: WHAT! J.R: Yeah we made Less Than Jake hot sauce! It’s actually really good, it’s a company out of New Jersey called Hank Sauce and it’s a garlic

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Hotsauce - it’s not really hot it’s more flavorful.

J.B: I grow seven of the world’s hottest peppers and make my own hot sauce. I call it Satan Spit.

J.R: That sounds like it would burn your dick off?

J.B: Sometimes! After “See the light” what’s going on?

J.R: So we are finishing this tour here, going to Europe for most of the Summer then over to some shows in Japan and then Australia and then in the Fall start writing again. Whatever that may be we

BUDDY SCHAUB: PHOTO: J.B

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CHRIS DEMAKES : PHOTO J.B

are not really sure yet what it will be but it will happen.

J.B: Any idea’s yet on some new tracks or concepts for the album?

J.R: Yeah we always have some ideas kicking around and the way it works is we all sit in a rehearsal space and around a table and everyone goes okay “What you got” and that’s how it starts off very organically like that. You know it’s trendy to be organic these days so we will just go

PETER “J.R” WASILEWSKI :PHOTO J.B

with that!

J.B: Yeah organic to me used to be ‘ya get out and plow the field’!

J.R: Ya exactly and now it’s ‘oh I will spend another five dollars because someone put a label on it’.

J.B: So Paper and Plastick?

J.R: Yeah that’s Vinnie’s side project, he does that on his spare time and it’s really taken off and he has some great bands on there.

J.B: Yeah you guys have come a long way. I mean since old blue and that iconic oldschool rocker van?

J.R: Yeah that thing was a piece of crap. I think the wheel fell off, we sold it to a church don’t know what happened to it. That was a long time ago.

J.B: Yeah that was at the first Warped Tour I saw you at. But Warped tour is weird now?

J.R: Well we played last year 2011,2009,2006,2003,2001,2000,1999,98..

J.B: That’s when I seen you!

J.R: Not done yet 96 so were “GOOD” for the Vans Warped tour! (LOL) But we like it and we try to not do it every year or every other year or

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every third year. We haven’t done it consecutively since the nineties, though if Kevin asks us next year we probably would do it but we either do All of it or none of it.

J.B: Are you guys happy with Fat Wreck Chords and being on the label?

J.R: Ya we are super happy being on Fat and we don’t have any other labels that we are speaking to sort of speaking and Erin and Mike have always been really good friends of ours and they put out good records and they’re good people so I can’t really say until we have a record which direction we would go with it. To be honest we have been a band for a really long time and we are just having fun.

J.B: So you guys have been a band for over 23 years. What’s the secret to get you going before the show?

J.R: You know what the secret is? To have fun with it, to really like what you’re doing and to have fun and I don’t mean bands that go on stage just to do whacky stuff and have fun. That’s why we are here, that’s why we do it and for me personally that’s why I do it and I enjoy performing with those four guys and hopefully they would say the same thing. It’s

VINNIE FORELLO : PHOTO J.B

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natural if it looks like we are having a good time it’s because we are. Sometimes it’s not fun but I would say ninety percent of the time it’s fun.

J.B: Well when it’s not fun anymore what’s the point of doing it?

J.R: Well you know when I woke up at eleven o’clock to go on a stage at twelve it’s like alright breakfast at Montebello!

J.B: Is there anything here that you’re looking forward to seeing?

J.R: No ALL no really ALL! J.B: Anything else…

J.R: ALL! That’s about

ROGER LIMA : PHOTO J.B

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it I think I would like to see the Pixies and the Melvins. I seen Buzz walking around here somewhere.

J.R: Daffy Duck or Bugs Bunny had a quote: “Don’t take life too seriously because you will never make it out alive” and I always thought that was a good one.

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INTERVIEW WITH TROY ZAK /THE REAL MCKENZIES @ ROCKFEST 2015

JUNE 20,2015

COURTESY OF

MELANIE KAYE PR

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J.B: Hey I’m sitting here with Troy Zak of The Real Mckenzies!

TROY: BOO! J.B: And we are going to be talking about the tour wrapping up and the latest release “Rats In the Burlap” out on Fat Wreck Chords and Stomp Records here in Canada.

And you guys just came out for a video for “Yes” which is fantastic!

TROY: Ah ya it’s okay!

J.B: That was actually a quite controversial lyrical song about the vote in Scotland. “Do you think that they are ever going to separate”?

TROY: Who knows maybe it might you know we were in California when that whole thing went down and we were recording the new album when that Referendum took place and we were surprised as shit what the outcome of it was. Paul was more about that and he could go off about it more but I think it was total bullshit and it was padded so no surprise there.

J.B: You guys definitely have the new release happening from start to finish and as Paulie says it’s full of good ancient Celtic music that is punked out. Is there anything new that could lead to a new direction maybe?

TROY: As far as the new direction goes it’s a little bit of the old and little bit of the new, we went in there with about sixteen or nineteen different songs and Mike wrote a song with us and little Joe of Lagwagon had a couple of idea’s and Gord Taylor our Piper got together and we hammered out some. And Mark our guitar player, he wrote a couple and we only had two weeks to record it so we did it in two days in full recording then went back and trimmed all the fat. And we did everything there except for the vocals and then flew back to Vancouver and did the vocals in Vancouver and that was that.

J.B: I mean at the beginning of the tour - the heart attack. What was that all about?

TROY: Well you know the Mckenzies are known for all kinds of debauchery and the band actually lives hard and it’s one of the last bands out there that actually lives hard and we really wear it on our sleeves and we don’t really hide it too well. So I guess consumption and everything caught up and it wasn’t actually a heart attack it was a stressed heart. We took the fellow in question to the hospital and he’s fine but we sent him home for a weeks rest then he flew back out and we met back up with him in Montreal and he finished the tour as a fucking trooper would and that’s that.

So the Mckenzies live hard and play hard and not a lot of bands can do

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TROY ZAK / PHOTO J.B

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that you know.

J.B: That would explain the lineup over the past years?

TROY: Yeah Paulie is the only original guy then “Bone” for about fifteen years, so ya we’ve had quite a extensive lineup change over the years the rest of us are relatively new.

J.B: I know you guys are infamous for shit that happens on the road and I know Paulie collects scabs. Is there anything that you do?

TROY: In particular? I do a lot of things but I generally try to keep my sanity by not getting too fucked up, so I micro manage in North America tours which keeps me off the Hooch and dope and that works really well for me but tour is a grind so you find your happy place and carry on. We have been on tour since March 5 and we have spent over four hundred hours in the van and we’ve played well over a hundred shows since March ‘05 and been on two continents and I don’t know how many fucking countries that we’ve been through so ya.

J.B: Is that the same van that blew the brakes in the Rockies?

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TROY: So ya that van we actually bought for eighteen hundred bucks and it almost ended up costing us twelve grand we drove from Jasper to Banff with no brakes..

J.B: NO FUCKING BRAKES DOWNHILL? TROY: YA no brakes and we made it to the show and the van caught fire at the Calgary Airport as we boarded a plane for the Bahamas and we did a cruise with Flogging Molly. We got back to the van and it was fixed and we didn’t even make it to Medicine Hat and the rear axle blew out and we lost

the rear axle so we rented a van did a couple of shows in West Vancouver and then did a fifty hour drive back to drop off the van get the new one and get to Hamilton and then finished the tour at the last show in Seattle heading back to Vancouver. That van caught fire at the U.S border. So it’s a cursed van on this tour. The van was supposed to meet up with us in New York and it didn’t so we had to pack into the BOIDS’ van - our label mates and tour mates for four shows across the U.S. J.B: So what got you into the bass?

TROY: Because no one else wanted to do it and I wanted to be in a band and I could play it and I knew people needed bass players like right away and picked up on it and got really good gigs after that.

J.B: But you’re fucking fantastic at it so..!

TROY: YA I know! Lol I don’t mean to toot my own horn but ya!

J.B: Oh ya! So you guys are finishing this tour and supposed to slow down but you are infamous for not slowing down.

TROY: Oh ya not really slowing down, small break back to Vancouver tomorrow and then a few peppered dates in Canada and the States in November then back into Europe for December and January and then next year we will be slowing down. Kind of taking the summer and then touring in winter again.

J.B: Does it suck touring in winter with Kilts?

TROY: Ya it sucks ass but you know what our Kilts are wool and wearing highlander socks keeps us warmer.

J.B: SO you guys did a street version of “Yes” acoustically. Is that something that might happen in the future?

TROY: Ya we are open to everything and we had the video for “Catch

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TROY ZAK / PHOTO J.B

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Me” and the video for “Yes” and then we have one coming out for “Stephens Green” and “Bootsy the Haggis-eating cat” so ya we are releasing later on and we are open to anything.

J.B: So “Bootsy” - Paulies cat and a homage?

TROY: Ya remember that cartoon in the seventies “Felix” it’s like that and I‘ve seen some prints of it and its good.

J.B: So we always end with a famous quote or book anything come to mind?

TROY: Let’s see I got one “She gave me a bird’s eye view of her love nest it made my pecker flutter like a Pigeon having a heart attack “.

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INTERVIEW WITH SEBASTEIN DUCAP /PETER TZAFERIS/SLAVES ON DOPE @ ROCKFEST 2015

JUNE 20,2015

COURTESY OF

MELANIE KAYE PR

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J.B: So Slaves on Dope, how’s it going here this year at Rockfest?

PETER: Yeah it’s going really well!

SEBASTIEN: It always seems like it’s always sunny here every time we are here!

PETER: I always leave here with a sunburn among other things so it’s great!

J.B: I was pretty trashed earlier. Do you consider it Metal if you hurl into the crowd? I know people have been launching beers which I can’t get that one) it’s a beer crime and two) that’s eight bucks gone? But is it alright to hurl in the pit?

SEBASTIEN: That’s something I haven’t heard yet, that’s pretty crazy!

J.B: So the new album you guys have been talking about, how’s it going so far?

SEBASTIEN: Well the new album is going good, the drum tracks are down, the guitar tracks are almost complete, working on the vocals and it should be done by Fall hopefully.

PETER: Well hopefully a copy before Heavy Montreal but for sure at the very least a new video.

J.B: So what’s the working title?

PETER: “Horse” SEBASTIEN: Not “Horses” “Horse” J.B: All done in digital?

PETER: Ya the whole thing is recorded and mastered in digital.

J.B: Ya who’s got the money for Analog anymore right?

SEBASTIEN: Ya you know it’s really crazy expensive and we’re relatively a new band so we’re poor. It would be cool though one day to go back in the studio and just redo the tracks over and over again and see what the difference is you know it always gets screwed up at the end.

J.B: But it’s easier right - to record with a pro tools rig when you’re touring around, you can record faster?

PETER: Ya it’s easier to record albums and faster to get them out there than it is spending a lot of time in the studio.

SEBASTIEN: I like it because you can send it to other band members and they can learn it right away and then add to it and play it and certain shows you know.

PETER: I miss sitting in the studio in a big room for a like a whole month you know and just doing it over and over and now it’s done in a day you know.

J.B: Ya especially with an amazing engineer so..!

PETER: Ya our guitarist Kevin Jardine owns his own studio so it’s easier

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SEBASTIEN DUCAP

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for us to get it done, it’s just a matter if he’s freed up or not.

J.B: So what do you think the scene has evolved into these days?

SEBASTIEN: Total chaos and madness! Each year it grows and more and more people are getting into it.

J.B: Do you think its Sub Genre specific now?

PETER: I have a response to that - it’s all about music! I don’t want to separate it, it’s all about emotions in there. Whether it be Punk or Metal or Pop for that matter, it’s all about the emotions.

J.B: What Label is “Horse”” going to be?

SEBASTIEN: Amazing that’s what label!

J.B: No as in what Record Label?

PETER: I think it’s going to be independent this time, we have to see once it’s done. I guess there’s a couple of options that we are looking into to so we will have to see.

J.B: There’s a lot of bands that are leaving Labels that are doing it on their own.

SEBASTIEN: Ya it’s always easier to do your own release and the way things are now it’s quite easy to do your distribution and marketing and digital downloads.

J.B: So the name, how did you come up with “Slaves On Dope”?

PETER: Because we are the most sober people you will ever meet actually, a lot of people think it has to do something with drugs but we actually have never done drugs in our life at all.

J.B: True Hardcore. I see a lot of people going to Hardcore shows you

JASON ROCKMAN know all under the influence and I’m wondering to myself, are you there truly for the music, for the message or the heart?

SEBASTIEN: I know right!

PETER: It’s funny though when you see all the guys in the crowd and they’re all getting into it and their eyes are all cross eyed and staring off into the distance lol.

But hey some people like that and some people live by it, so how can we say what’s normal.

J.B: So what’s “Horse” going to sound like?

PETER: Ah it’s going to be heavier and catchier and less screaming and more melodic harmonic.

SEBASTIEN: Ya I think it’s going to be going on and definitely our best stuff we’ve put out yet and it’s definitely heavier than our last.

J.B: Do you feel the metal and hardcore message is still strong and the scene is going strong and the message is there?

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PETER: Well it’s like you said most people at the shows are so fucked up they don’t catch on to what the message is and then you get a lot of people that do and that’s cool. It’s great to see a bunch of people singing the songs and liking what you’re trying to put out and staying positive.

J.B: We always end with a famous quote or a book that inspired your life anything come to mind for you guys?

PETER/SEBASTIEN: “Live and Learn”

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INTERVIEW WITH PHILLIPE LANGELIER/ BOOKAKEE @ ROCKFEST 2015

JUNE 20,2015

COURTESY OF

MELANIE KAYE PR J.B: So we are sitting here with..?

PHIL: ...Phil from BOOKAKEE J.B: How’s it going my friend, how is Rockfest? You guys opened the crown on Friday?

PHIL: Yeah we opened on Friday on the Jagermeister stage and at first the crowd was slow to unfold in front of us but we still played in front of a good crowd even though we were the first band on at eleven thirty opening up with our theatrical death metal.

J.B: And you guys opened up one of the bigger stages which is the Jagermeister stage?

PHIL: Yes that was epic!

J.B: So is that moving up from the smaller venues that you guys normally play?

PHIL: Ah we played Heavy Montreal in 2011 so that was our first

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big taste of a huge stage and that was pretty cool and it’s a bigger stage than Jagermeister stage and ya we played at Club Soda in Montreal and we are used to playing in bars and to play on a stage like that outside is pretty awesome.

J.B: So what’s the latest?

PHIL: We are playing mostly the latest of the 2013 release ‘Whorrific” and it’s a hour long of awesomeness and a mix from instrumental to a Nintendo medley about Donkey kong to an extremely progressive Death Metal.

J.B: Do you have that sample of eight bit sound from the game in there?

(Super Mario Bro’s 3) PHIL: Ah ya we have the beginning of the game intro in it and the sample mixed in and then it goes off and the guitars jump in.

J.B: What inspired the overall sound of the album?

PHIL: Ah I’m a big fan of the Death metal scene and the Black Metal scene in there so a lot of Brutal Death. And the band likes Slipknot and Otep. My drummer listens to Cryptopcy and Cannibal Corpse. My first inspirations were like Deicide and Cradle of Filth and I merged the two together - you look at me in real life and I’m like 6’1 ft and 380 pound so it looks like I ate Dani Filth.

J.B: Well that’s Metal I remember my step brother kicking Deicide and everyone thought we were a cult and that we were performing Satanic rituals in the forest.

PHIL: Hahah fuck yes!

J.B: How do you feel about the Metal scene today - because it’s different with harmonics and so many sub genres and the fusion of them?

PHIL: I’m not against the Fusion of it. I’m not a fan of the Trash metal coming back though and people being older and playing stoner rock and thinking they are Metal and to me that’s not cool. I’m not a purist though you know, ahh your black metal it’s not in the four riffs “Fuck You” and bands are still going on.

I mean Slayer should have stopped about fifteen years ago man and not keep trying to make things better. I think it’s good to fuse things but I like it fast so the faster you go the better you know, just break the sound barrier.

J.B: Lyrical content - what inspires the lyrical content in regards to the songs?

PHIL: Ah I replaced the original singer and we write about like Horror movies and death and subjective manner but also with the name Bookakee we were subjective to the Porno and adult themes like bondage and sex stuff. People think we are grind core but we are really gore theatrical metal.

J.B: Is that what why you named the band Bookakee as after the Porn thing?

PHIL: Yeah the band named Bookakee a different way but when people reference to what they know about it and it comes back to that Japanese come back thing where we are all covered in Green Jizz and covered in Alien sperm and it’s because we really wanted to, it’s because if you google our name it won’t mistake us from something else so... You know it’s always a tongue in cheek kind of thing and you’re always flabbergasted when you actually see what it is.

J.B: Anything new being released?

PHIL: Ah ya we got something in the mix it’s going to be pretty good. Our guitarist has it all recorded on tracks already and there’s about a good six or seven songs in there so it’s going to be a good one. And we are working on some new visual to go with the release as part of the theatrical content of it and that should be out in June 2016.We are trying to get up to around 260 B.P.M

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so it’s going to be fast and push our own limits - we are not the fastest but we are trying to get there.

J.B: We always end with a famous book or quote that inspired you in your life, anything that comes to mind?

PHIL: Ya I went to school, it doesn’t show but my favorite book is “The Painted Bird” Jerzy Kosinski.

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DANIELLE PRUDHOMME COURTESY OF MELANIE KAYE PR

J.B: So we are sitting here with Danielle, Alex Martel’s mother and Amnesia Rockfest office manager. So how long has this been going on for.?

I know ever since the beginning his family built the initial stage?

DANIELLE: Yes his father and uncles built the stage and I sold the tickets and my mom made the hotdogs in the snack bar so that was eleven years ago. It’s the tenth anniversary because the second year I didn’t want him to do it because he was in university in Ottawa but after that it got bigger and bigger and bigger.

J.B: Do you think it ever gets too big?

DANIELLE: I told him so but he doesn’t believe that it’s getting too big and he still believes it can get bigger all the time and I say listen there is a limit to the space you have and the amount of people the village can take. Every year I say that but it’s as big as it can be but I know Alex doesn’t agree with me so...

J.B: That’s one of the questions I had, it probably gets so big it probably would outgrow the site. He responded with “no, that won’t happen, we still have lots of room”.

I know the village is behind you and I’ve noticed everywhere I’ve gone everyone has had very positive reviews and it seems everyone is very open not only to help but to support it and everyone’s home is open to Rockfest.

DANIELLE: It wasn’t always the case you know some of the festival goers - not all of them- but some of them look a bit weird and you know a small village and it’s not in the middle of nowhere, but it’s in between Ottawa and Montreal and it’s really like the country side here and they have never seen that many people with that kind of look, and you know you always fear what you don’t know. And after a few years they noticed that everyone was peaceful, kind and polite; they started warming up to them and it’s been great ever since.

J.B: Well not only that, the expression in the punk rock clothing and style and personality and tattoos and piercings and the metal scene, but I noticed people are wearing other things now like costumes and stuff. Do you think it gets more and more extravagant year after year?

DANIELLE: I think so if they see one person wearing a costume one

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year then it gives them an idea that they want to do the next year. I saw someone dressed as a rabbit on the way here. It’s alright you know, it’s a big party, it’s a festival. It’s all part of it and they want to have fun on the weekend and they do things they wouldn’t do otherwise. The fact that they do it peacefully and respectfully and don’t make trouble is good and for the village welcoming these people it really opened up their minds and whatever people look like it’s only on the outside.

J.B: Yeah never judge a book by its cover that is for sure. I’ve noticed that the actual production of it all is working quite well and it seems very organized and there’s lots of staff and everything is working as a production should and this year it seems to work really well from the Chateau again.

DANIELLE: I think I couldn’t tell you exactly but the other Inn on site at the other end was getting too small for running things so the only option left was here, so Alex made some kind of arrangement with the Chateau management - and I’m speculating because he does keep things secret sometimes - but he said a lot of the production of it this year is going to happen at the Chateau. Especially works well for the bands, the V.I.P’s and the media, it’s secluded and it’s beautiful and a beautiful surrounding. I like it because it’s much more comfortable and perfect than a small office and the other hotel doesn’t have air conditioning outside the rooms or big enough areas and is perfect to house

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media relations and other important people, except I miss being in the middle of the action. You know despite that the other hotel is perfect for parties and meet and greets, you can go on the roof top and see everything from there. I’m here and it’s spectacular and I’m part of Rockfest but not into the Rockfest at the same time.

J.B: Do you find it stressful?

DANIELLE: I don’t have much stress. My stress is on Alex because he is very stressful coming into it, he doesn’t eat much, he doesn’t sleep much weeks before Rockfest and he’s really a perfectionist so he’s able to delegate but he’s keeping an eye on everything. So I keep on him and email him frequently to give him reminders to eat and sleep but he’s so passionate he will be up all night working on things.

J.B: Was he always talking about concerts growing up?

DANIELLE: Oh yes he was always waiting to go to the next big show and I would take him most of the time and I look back on it and we had this side split where the dining room was raised from the living room and he would make us be the audience and he would put on a show in some way.

J.B: What’s the site when Rockfest isn’t going on?

DANIELLE: Ah it’s a campground mostly with a few trailers and it’s mostly empty. We do use it for some other festivals throughout the year.

The main one is a festival that is an exchange between both sides of the river in different products between Quebec and Ontario.

J.B: I always end with a famous quote or a famous book that inspired your life, anything come to mind?

DANIELLE: Yes when Alex was growing up he always said the other kids have this or the other kids do that and I told him “Dare to be Different”.

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From a homeless man who finds a great treasure, to zombies running amuck in the icy streets of Winnipeg, this nasty collection of short stories is bursting with the black humour and raunchiness for which Chris Walter is known. Perfect for those who desire to tour the dark side without placing themselves in actual danger. 135 pages of brutal fun.

As gentrification closes in on Canada’s poorest postal code, rival factions battle for control of the lucrative drug trade, plunging the neighbourhood into chaos. Politically charged yet darkly comic, Up and Down on the Downtown Eastside is sure to both horrify and delight.

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“DIVISION OF SPOILS” AVAILABLE AUGUST 07/15 www.fatwreck.com

“NOT SORRY”

AVAILABLE NOW @

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www.fatwreck.com

THE BEATDOWN MEETS HUGO MUDIE AVAILABLE NOW @

“BURN INTOTHE EARTH” AVAILABLE NOW @

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WRITTEN WORD THE DARK ABYSS. THE SILENT ABYSS.‫‏‬ TRISTON WHITEHEAD

My fathers hands squeezed the faux leather steering wheel. Whatever was outside was clawing to get inside our SUV. We had taken the short way back home ,as usual. But this situation was far from usual.

My father and I had been talking about Vietnam. More specifically, movies about it. About how brutal the movies were and how frighteningly accurate they were. None of that mattered now. Now those... Things... Those creatures were out for blood. Clawing, biting, scratching the car doors to shreds as if it was tin foil. It started when something ran out in front of our car. My dad cursed and the car stopped. Whatever the damned thing was weighed enough to bring our car to a complete halt. My dad ,nervous that it might’ve been a black bear, leaned out the window. What he saw was definitely not a bear. It wasn’t any creature that existed on Gods green earth, but existed solely in Satans black pit. He quickly rolled the window up and turned the key.

As you would assume it didn’t start.

Again. Didn’t start. Again. Gave hope of starting but kicked off.

We were stuck. With them.

At this point my sister ,who was sitting silently in the back seat, started wailing.

I had no words to comfort her. In no time at all one of the beast rammed the car. It rocked on its springs hard. Again they hit the car. We had no clue what they looked like or how big they were but no matter what we were terrified. All except for myself. For some reason I had already came to terms. If I died I died.

I suppose that death had been such a major part of my youth that I had adapted an immunity to deaths fearsome gaze. Suddenly the ramming stopped but soon afterwards a horrible shrill noise rang from the darkness. The sound of nails on a chalkboard amplified one-hundred times. They were opening the car...

Like it was a can of sardines.

Luckily our car wasn’t a plastic piece of Japanese garbage... Or Vietnamese for that matter so it gave them a hard time to crack. My sister had stopped crying.

She was stolid. Same with my dad. It was over. All of the sudden we heard a guttural screech and then the breaking of the headlights. My father and I were

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in a daze when my sister blurted out “The Lights!”

The lights.

Those two words saved us.

We noticed that the beasts were so repelled by the lights that they smashed them with haste and anger. The sight of the zombies smashing the headlights of the car in front of the survivors house in Night Of The Living Dead, rushed me.

We frantically search for every flashlight we could find. All we found were keychain flashlights and a swamp light that hooked up to the car battery. Which we couldn’t get to. The small ones may keep them somewhat at bay but then what? Thank god my dads “ingenuity” ,he called it another word but it’s... It’s rude, came into play here. We found a few big batteries and hooked the light to them. The only issue was that the light drew so much power that it was a flash of bright light for two or three seconds and then it went out. The creatures kept clawing at the doors and opened small holes to where we shine the small lights.

They screeched and ran from them. Then they all ran to my door. They clawed and clawed. I had one shot. A hole opened up the size of my fist. I saw it. It saw me. It might be my wild imagination but it looked to be smiling. For some reason my 80’s action movie side of me surfaced when I whispered “Say cheese you son of a bitch.” And shone the light in the fuckers eyes. They bolted from the car screeching something not to be meant for human ears and then... They were gone. We waited. And waited. My father sat stone faced and rigid. I shook him. He didn’t respond. I called his name once loud but again louder. The second time he came to. A little bit. I knew that one of us had to go out there and fix the car. I knew some about mechanics but I didn’t know how well my dad could function or if he could at all. I had to do it. I again composed myself and accepted the fact that I could very well become some bastards snack out there.

I grabbed a mini flashlight and composed myself a bit more but then leaped out of the the car slamming the door behind me. Quiet. Nothing. Just a dark abyss which surrounded me. Swallowed me. I flicked the light on and shone it around. Nothing. I stayed glued to the car and headed towards the hood, all the while glancing around into the darkness. I spun around when I got to the front.

It took multiple times for me to open the hood because at every noise I heard ,or perhaps imagined, I spun around quickly only to be met with nothing. I reached down onto the hood and my hand swept against a viscous fluid. My god did it burn. I wildly rubbed my hand onto my jeans which burnt a hole into them. My hand quickly went numb. I pulled open the hood which was bent in deeply. Luckily ,as I shone my light on the inside, none of the important parts of the inner workings were damaged. I looked around to see the issue and noticed that the battery had been smashed and acid leaked out onto the bits of metal on the inside. This was great news because I knew that we had another one in the back. But this was horrible news because I had to walk around

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the car to get there. As I turned my back to the car and put my hand to the bumper my hand burst into hellfire. The place on my arm where I touched the beasts blood felt as if it had acid pumping through its veins. It took me some time to steady myself and then I walked to the back taking care to not even graze my hand against anything but keeping it as near to my body as possible to prevent one of them from ripping my arm from its socket. I crept slowly to the back as my sister looked on in fear. My dad stared forward. He was gone.

I was a few steps from reaching the trunk when one of them jumped onto my chest. The smell reeked of something that even Christ would turn his nose from, it’s black form blended into the dark but I saw its eyes. Black, beetle-like things with minuscule white pinpricks which I assumed to be its pupils. It breathed heavy and, harshly. I fortunately had enough of my mind left to jam the lit flashlight into its eye causing it to fall down and die bIt’s eyes gushed that same liquid and the flashlight was gone. “Damn!” I hurried to the back and threw the trunk open. And grabbed what I needed and just sprinted towards the front. When I got there I unhooked the old battery and threw it to the side. I then jammed the new one in its place and hooked it up. Suddenly I heard a screech from the silent abyss. “TURN THE KEY!” My dad snapped to and turned the key. It started, but died. “DAMMIT DO IT AGAIN!!” He turned it again. It started and kept going. I ran back to my door and saw it. It was crawling into the hole in the door. I ran forward and kicked it in the head with all of my power. It fell backwards but my ankle broke. I jumped into the car and slammed the door behind me. My dad slammed on the gas and got out of there. That’s how we escaped. My sister now attends therapy and my dad... My dad doesn’t speak. Or work. Or move. I don’t know how I am. I dealt with death and the unknown and now I feel cold...

The burn spread by the way. Now my whole arm and thigh have turned black.

Black and invulnerable. I cannot stay in light for too long and it gets worse every day. That’s the reason your interviewing me in my basement. That’s why I’m wearing sunglasses in the near pitch black. That tiny light on the ceiling is about the most I can handle without experiencing the feeling of boiling. I fear I have little time left to be human, I’ll be one of them. Which is why I have spoken to you. I wanted my story heard. I wanted my last words put down into history. Yes, I know all of what I said has been recorded and I know it will be made public. You ask yourself if I’m mad, to which I assure you that all of what I said is true. Now, I leave to wander in the black abyss myself. Before you leave however, I might advise you to not drive at night.

You never know what could be out there.

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THE PENSKE FILE

“BURN THE EARTH”

AVAILABLE NOW STOMP RECORDS

Folk Punk is a common theme over the past couple years but Burlington Canadian punk rockers “The Penske File” are fast paced folk punk that will keep coming back for more. On this second release they kick it in full force with heavy fast bass lines and balzing harmonica’s and deep lyric’s that will leave you mesmorized and singing along. From the opener “Damned” to “Wasters” the theme carries strong with well placed drum beats and a roots feel that is complexe and keeps the album following from track to track. Each song carries through to the next either lyrcially in content or by catchy guitar chords or Harmonica rhythms leading it to one of those albums that is an all around party favorite or just feel good hanging out relaxing playlist. The Penske File have been around for awhile and continue to progree playing more intricate rhytems or well thought out lyrcial content. The songs “Put your Dreams to bed” has that upbeat folk indie feel and the song “Old Dogs” resoante deep in the chorus chants and sing alongs that resonate that punk upbeat goodtimes feel. Lyrcially The Penske File write about local life and lifes problems and situations that occur. And the final track called “Home” is a for sure favorite among everyone.

“it’s been a long damn time since I’ve been home…” “ A FEEL GOOD SING ALONG FOLK PUNK ALBUM FROM START TO FINISH”

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“FREEDOM”

AVAILABLE NOW ON

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UPCOMING RELEASES

THE HOLY MESS “SELF TITLED”

A-F RECORDS JULY 07,2015

GOLDFINGER

“HANG-UP’S VINYL”

SRC VINYL

JULY 07,2015

SUBLIME WITH ROME “SIRENS”

SONY/BMG RECORDS JULY 17,2015

MEMPHIS MAY FIRE “UNCONDITIONAL”

RISE RECORDS JULY 17,2015

KNUCKLEPUCK “COPACETIC”

RISE RECORDS JULY 31,2015

FAT MUSIC VOL 8 “GOING NOWHERE FAT”

FAT WRECK CHORDS AUGUST 07,2015

MISS MAY I “DEATHLESS”

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RISE RECORDS AUGUST 07,2015

UPCOMING

SHOWS

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SEPTEMBER 19/20 2015