DO YOU WANNA GO TO TIJUANA
EDITOR
Jason Bolduc
COPY EDITOR Naomi Kelly
PHOTOGRAPHERS Jason Bolduc Jim Smith Mike Marshall
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/
Jason Bolduc Jim Smith Juana Luck
REVIEWS
Jason Bolduc Mike Mccarthy
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Mike Magee/Stomp Records Melanie Racette / Stomp Records Melanie Kaye PR Sacha Miller/Erin Caroll/ AB Co. PR Mike Cubillos / Earshot Media Nikki Law/ Metal Blade Brian S Gross/ P.R.B James Gooson/Brixton Agency Talia Miller/Brixton Agency Dan Gildan /Brixton Agency
Label ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Epitaph Records /Fat Wreck Chords / Stomp Records / Bird Attack Records / Spartan Records Paper & Plastick Records/ My Fingers My Brain Records/ Greenway Records/ Flatspot Records Metal Blade Records/ Cardigan Records / Rebel Time Records/ Victory Records
CONTENTS
POUZZAFEST 6 TYPESETTER talk about Thier latest E.P TYPESETTER #5
RAY ROCKET talks about “Do You Wanna Go to Tijuana” and what’s up
LOUIS VALIQUETTE Talks about ‘Dancing For Decadence” and “Fireworks”
LATEST RELEASE NEWS
MUSIC REVIEWS
Pouzza Fest is a Montreal staple that is currently in it’s sixth year, going strong and looking forward to more years to come. Pouzza founder Hugo Mudie ( Sainte Catherines/ Medictation/Powernap) had worked hard at bringing the ulitmate festival experience and adventure to life over the years and with the help of his co-founder Helene Mckoy has brought a glorious vision to life. This year marks a massive change in the Pouzza foundation adding curator and band mate Graeme Philliskirk (Leatherface/Medictation) to oversee the over 200 bands through seven venue locations.Also the longtime sponsor
Pabst Blue Ribbon was replaced by ultimate tasty Micro breweries “Beau’s/ Trou Du Diable” and Milton Star cider house and the fine folks over at Sailor Jerry’s equipped with their own amazing bar and Tattoo booth of course! What else to do at a punk rock festival than enjoy a fine rum and some fresh ink to a perfect sound track. Of course that soundtrack has been fueled by longtime sponsors Stomp Records who have taken over as one of the 8 partners of the festival.The overall feel of the mainstage area which has always been the Quartier des Spectacles park by UQAM ( Offical Pouzza headquaters) became known as the offical beer gardens “Les Jardin Des Biers”. Equipped with a massive keg orientation of several different varieties of beer flavors, cider and drinks.A small one time fee included a reusuable bright green Pouzza plastic mug that could be seen everywhere throughout a six block radius and a wristband allowing access to the micro brewery lineup.This approach was a logical decision that is very similar to beer festivals and comes with your choice of the sponsors’ draft on the first top up. Within tried to capture the full experience this year by having three media/photographers covering as much ground as possible and even though we were a small media army it couldn’t even touch what this festival has to offer so hold on here’s our tale of adventure and experience of Pouzzafest 06. Friday: Orientation is a thing that is the first order of buisness at any festival, getting to know the schedule and times of the bands along with the locations of the stages and venues is a must. The main UQAM lobby at residence has always been the heart of the operation and run by a group of amazing volunteers including Alex our media rep.There is constantly a flow of bands’ ticket purchasers and something going on all the time at this location. After checking into Media operations and finding the sleeping quarters for our second shooter Mike Marshal, Naomi Kelly our copy editor and I headed out to plan our coverage plan over the seven venues and massive band schedule.What was new this year was the brillant updated mobile app that informed you of the upcoming shows/location/map and brief description of the band that was playing. This became extremely handy without having to pull out a shredded map held together Mcgyver style with a bobby pin and some bubblegum.Even though I’m extremely old school and still found the map and manually printed schedule handy as I could keep notes easier to draw my attention to. After a brief delay we headed out to grab some food which is of course a big part of the fetival and had the iconic Montreal smoked meat Poutine and headed over to capture the first band on the list - Brutal Youth while also capturing Big D and the kids table with Naomi and Mike.
PATTY O LANTERN / BRUTAL YOUTH/ PHOTO J.B
Brutal Youth blasted out some tracks from “Stay Honest” and the Split with Tight rope with “Ghosts/ Glass Houses” and some stuff off “Spill your Guts” to a marriage proposal from Vocalists Patty during mid set to ending with crowd favorite Theroy of Relativity. Big D and the Kids table played Gypsy Hill in entirety at the main stage and got the crowd going to some long time favorite
THE PLANET SMASHERS/PHO ska tracks “Evil Girl,Angry Girl”. Friday night ended in a packed house at Foufones Electrique with New York Hardcore legends “Sick Of It All” playing an unforgettable soundtrack coursing thirty years of amazing albums. Including ‘Road less Travelled” mid set and followed up with D.N.C /Step down and “Let Go” followed up by uprise “Us Vs Them” and ending the set off with “Built To Last”. The night ended off by staggering a couple of blocks to the hotel catching a political protest at the King Edward 7 monument at the Phillips Square.
This protest had nothing to do with Pouzza but when you’re a roaming punk cruising through beautiful nighttime Montreal a political protest catches your attention. The monument is in dedication to Peace/ the Four founding nations/Abundance/ and Liberty. Although it was quite clear from the protest that the voices had something to say. Saturday: First thing to do after a first good night is head over to OTO: MIKE MARSHALL festival sponsor Frite Alors on Sainte Catherines St for an amazing lunch which consisted of pulled duck Poutine and a mighty tasty Ceaser/and the Taco Poutine comes highly recommended by Mike Marshall staff photographer.Of course the Frite Alors location is right below the Pirahana bar, also a festival sponsor equipped with a great selection of early drinks courtesy of a win on the video slots.Heading back over to the quartier Des spectacle there was an art installment in front of the Montreal Muesem of Fine Arts down the entire length of the Street to St Urbain of logs that many hungover punks were enjoying a well needed rest from on an art exhibit of the old logging days.While heading back to headquaters to gather the schedule of the day while hanging in the elevator some band buds mentioned “Wolf Face”. They took the main stage in the park coming out straight out of the Teen Wolf movie set and blazed an amazing punk rock fueled kickoff that set the tone of the day.The next order of buisness is well known in the festival as the place to be. Melanie Kaye PR runs an open house for bands to meet and greet each other, hang and enjoy some drinks on the wicked Sailor Jerry tikki bar that Hugo Mudie built and grab interviews. This media band open house is the highlight of any festival I have ever gone to. The atmosphere and approach is the way it should be done, a well produced orchestrated grassroots approach.Melanie Kaye PR has always been a huge part of Pouzza and is a major part of the Pouzza family that
makes it all work. After slamming several cold Beau’s Lug tread’s getting loose and chatting with Molley Rythem we gathered the crew to interview Typesetter /Graeme Philliskirk and Ray Carlisle on his side project “Ray Rocket” Wasted Potential and ending with Chris Demakes from Less Than Jake! Pounding a few more quick drinks and trying to focus on SAILOR JERRY MEDIA BAR the iternary Mike Marshall headed off to catch Stomp Records “Lost Love” and The Dreadnoughts to hook back up with Naomi and I to head over to a secret show at The Sainte Elizabeth Pub where there was a bit of a time schedule difference which allowed us time to head over to check out Theatre Ste Catherines.A much needed fine coffee brew to break away those hangover blues as the fine smell of organic brew filled the air.Although nothing says recovery options like obtaining another Beau’s lug tread of course,and was invited to join a Improv class about to happen.After joining in on some of the fine amateur comedians it was time to head for the Headliner Less Than Jake back at the Beer gardens blazing through a best of setlist from “Ghosts of you and Me / Dopeman/ Johny quest and Plastic cup politics off “Anthem”, Less Than Jake got the crowd going with the classics spanning over 20 years from Losing Streak/G.N.V/ Hello Rockview/Anthem/ albums including a few from “See The Light”. Yet another Sailor Jerry fine creation while catching the first couple songs leaving the crew and heading to Fou
CHRIS DEMAKES/ROGER LIMA/ PHOTO J.B
Founes in a haze of numbing pleasure to catch “Night Birds”. Feeling a little fuzzy it was easy to navigate back to Fous by following the massive trail of Punks singing and chanting all the way down and concentrated on following the green Pouzza cups like a lighthouse guiding the way of impending doom. Night Birds came on in full fury blazing crunchy oldschool hardcore/surf infused tracks from a setlist from ‘Born to Die in Suburbia” and “Mutiny at Muscle Beach” only to have vocalists Brian Gorsegner blow out his crotch on his pants midset.While getting thrashed shooting from the pit taking a couple shoe prints to the forehead a true souvenier of a packed venue and amped show staggering full speed like the road runner back to my good bud at the Sailor Jerry bar at the mainstage park.After slamming three stiff Pina coladas catching some ink action from the Sailor Jerry tent we reassembled and back to the event of the night with the Suicide Machines playing Destruction by Definition in it’s entirety followed up with the Sainte Catherines playing Dancing for Decadence in entirety to a packed house.That’s when the spirit of Pouzza really came out full on with the entirety of a packed house singing every track as vocalists Jason Navaro shook Fous to its foundation including joining in the heart of the pit during midsets “Punk Out”. Then even when you thought no more people could be coralled in the masses gathered for the main headline Montreal’s own “The Sainte Catherines” who hasn’t played since the Fireworks tour hit the lights and blazed out wearing some funky glowing lights full on to “Burn Guelph Burn” and that’s when the entire crowd showed the true heart of punk rock and amped things up.The Festival is not only geared around the party experience, it’s also geared towards good food and great tastes ranging from the drink sponsors to the Cafe and Food sponsors and Healthy alternatives like the Pouzzasana “Yoga for Punks” that Miguel Chen from Teenage Bottle Rocket came back this year to get going
Improv class /Theatre Sainte Catherines
again.The spirit of Pouzza is not only endorsing the music scene but it also touches on the lifestyle of being a punk rock family. Pouzza Bambino is a family oriented event on the Sunday with face painting and
fake tattoos along with bouncy castles that I wanted to play in.Colorful bright Pouzza ballons and even Ninja turtles and of course pizza. Let’s not forget the acoustic songs from Nick Raz and Ariane Zita singing kids songs.This event was free for anyone to attend and come on out and hang and have a chance to let the future generation of the next wave to be inspired.And even amazing awesome haircuts I probably should have grabbed a free buzz down. Montreal’s own Boids were up hitting the main stage. I left Mike to get the set and Flatfoot 56 while I cruised over to catch London Ontario’s Wasted Potential jam out at the Piranaha bar where I aquired more free fundage on another
win to add to my massive Beau’s bottle collection while hearing some tracks off “Nervous Conditions” Then heading back in a wobbley smirking grin from experiencing some fine hardcore meet back up with Marshall and headed for “Get Dead” at Foufones to another packed almost sold out show. Who started off the set with “The Process” off Bad News and played a mix up of songs with “This one’s for Johnny” midset from Tall Cans and Loose Ends and some hits from Bygones. Then things got really ramped up to see the Canadian punk icons and legends ‘Belvedere” hit the stage.Belvedere came in strong with the first two off their latest “The Revenge of the Fifth with Shipwreck and Hairline. Then mixed up the rest of the set between their albums “Twas Hell Said Former Child” and “Fast Forward Eats The Tape”. There’s one thing that Belvedere knows how to do and that’s pack a venue.There wasn’t a place that wasn’t pogoing or bouncing away to the classics of fast paced skate punk like “Slaves To the Pavement” and ‘Quicksand”. Then some good drinking inspiration with “Brandy Wine” and winding back up to “Archilles” off the latest release “The Revenge Of The Fifth” and right back into it to end off the set with “She Sells And Sand Sandwiches” off their highly regarded album “Twas Hell Said Former Child”. Then it was time for what every band and person behind the curtains of Pouzza to attend - the place to be was at the legendary Katacombes to see the one and only acoustic set of Brendan Kelly of Lawrence Arms. There wasn’t a square inch left on the floor as everyone sang in unison to Bren-
TIM MEHEW /PHOTO J.B
STEVE RAWLES /BELVEDERE PHOTO:J.B
SCOTT MARSHALL/BELVEDERE PHOTO J.B
don’s acoustic set fueling the non stop winddown of fine drinks from Beau’s Lug Tread Pouzzafest special brew and some fine tasting cider for Mike Marshall pounding the Milton Star Cider’s. This show was so intense the only cooling available was to slam the drinks fast to counter act the amount of sweat from the packed venue hitting 42 degrees Celsuis on the upper floor.The price to pay for watching and hearing one of the best perfomances of the weekend and ending yet another perfect Punk festival that can never be explained and should only be experienced.What Pouzza Fest shines as is an independent Grass Roots Punk Festival that has heart and keeps the message alive through literally throwing everything the founders had into it.The amount of dedication and spirit that Hugo Mudie and Helene Mckoy put into this vision has surpassed anyone’s expectations and created a foundation that has become a tradition.This torch has been relayed and carried strong through personal selection to those who value the beliefs of keeping it real and not give into to commercialization and
Through the tears, the stress and the worries they have brought the scene that surrounds them even stronger and continue to keep it alive through hard work and determination and the spirit of the ultimate good time. Through the ages of endless smiles, young and old the spirit of love and friendship, no stranger is alone. For it is known far and beyond as the true place to be and will remain the talks of many parties and stories to come throughout time itself when this dream becomes reality and the voices can be heard only a single word needs to shine across the brightened faces of many as it is heard and yelled “PouzzaFest!� Written By Jason Bolduc Edit: Naomi Kelly Photography: Mike Marshall Photography / J.B Photography Within Punk Zine For more coverage see the Photosets https://www.facebook.com/within-punk-zine-118699204828964/ https://www.facebook.com/PouzzaFest/
WITHIN PUNK ZINE INTERVIEW WITH
TYPESETTER
@POUZZAFEST 06
MAY 21,2016 COURTESY OF
MELANIE KAYE PR J.B: Hey I’m outside at Pouzzafest ‘16 and I’m hanging with? ALL: TYPESETTER! J.B: How you guys enjoying the PouzzaFest experience again? ALEX: Beautiful here! MATT: Ah man it’s exactly the way I remember or then again do I? It’s everything they say it is and more! J.B: So describing the overall scene over here and what the scene has evolved too how do you guys see the current scene where it’s at today? MARC: Ah that’s a really good question! And a really big question especially all the diversity and being at a large festival like Pouzza where there is a variety of different bands happening. And the bands are playing different genres that are sort of blending together and like tonight, we are playing at the exact same time as a really good hardcore band so that’s crazy. So I don’t know, how do you explore that really good question? I tend to like really weird stuff so any band that has a really weird name in it draws my attention to it or if they are trying to do something different, that’s something I tend to gravitate to and that’s pretty much everything at Pouzza. It’s all across the board it’s a pretty cool place to be it’s pretty much a brewing pot and the place to be right now. J.B: And a melding of the scenes that touches base on everything that people like from ska to street punk to hardcore! How do you guys view your own sound as and direction wise? MARC: Em we started off as a straight forward punk band then we experimented with shoe gaze elements. As far as our own sound goes we love delay pedals! Does that count? Loud amps and banging our heads! (Laughing) J.B: Of course the only way! Loud and crunchy! What were your influences? MARC: Ah we are mostly Midwest punks so that whole Midwest punk sound like Lawrence Arms and Dillenger Four those kind of Midwest bands. And we really wanted to explore that sound and base of that..
J.B: And Evolve off that? KYLE: Yeah! J.B: Usually everyone starts out with one thing and then their direction changes! ALEX: Ya I think you can hear that in our sound and it’s one of those things that will always stick around but they will have a taste of the Midwestern punk sound. MARC: Jus the execution of the songs you have to feel it you have to be energetic has to make you want to get and move around you know. J.B: You guys have released a new E.P do you feel it’s easier to release an E.P rather than Full length? MARC: Yes and No! I mean part of the climate not just Punk Rock but the music industry in general I think people are moving away from the full length format to a more sporadic smaller E.P format. So in that way it was really easy I mean Matt just joined our band in January and he’s our new drummer and we wrote a few songs and we decided okay we want to get it out as soon as possible. So there’s no record Cycle or pressing plant that can take up to a year to press a record. We decided okay so let’s do what’s is going to be efficient and easy and get these songs out so we can play these shows live. So the fans can jam along with us and have a good time and to me ultimately that is what is important to me. MATT: I think at the rate the music industry is travelling at right now I think getting as much content out as much as possible right now is pretty important and pretty good strategy. J.B: Yeah ever since the crash of the industry it’s not like it used to be you can’t get paid well so you have to do tours right? MARC: I just want to put out awesome songs and put them out! I just don’t want to wait around for a record that came out a year ago to come out you know? I would rather just put out new material and release it and have people stoked about it and to be stoked to be playing it also. J.B: Yeah! So let’s talk full length anything in the works? MARC: Yeah we are working on the second full length now don’t know exactly where it’s going to take us yet. J.B: Any working title? ALL: Ahh Nope can’t say “Secret” J.B: Ah so what’s the creative writing process? KYLH: Ah the end of the day we try to get together as much as possible, you know we all live different lives but at the end of the day make time to get together and write stuff when we can. ALEX: Usually someone bounces an idea of the wall and everyone sort of
absorbs it and then we each say okay this is what we can do with this and this and we all kind of work on that and break it down from there. We are not really that band that one person writes a song and everyone learns it and that’s it, I know there’s a lot of bands like that we always made an effort to be a group. J.B: So more collaborative? ALEX: Yeah including instruments that you wouldn’t even think of like our drummers help with guitar parts and it’s been every which way trying to keep it creative. J.B: Well that’s just it some bands switch up and some drummers play acoustic or rifts on guitar and so on? MARC: Yeah! That’s just it Kyle played keyboard on new E.P we just put out and Matt plays guitar I can’t play drums though what so ever though! (Laughing) MATT: Ah man you nailed the tambourine though! MARC: I can play some mean Tambo! KYLE: It’s all about being a full musician you know. J.B: So you obviously have to tour a lot to get yourself out there these days or to promoting, is there any tours you guys are doing right now or upcoming you’re going to be on? MARC: Well we put out the full length on October 2014 and toured our as asses off for the “Wild’s End” tour and then we toured our asses off in 2015. So we are doing this and then defiantly Fest! And.. KYLE: We did a week up here and then we are doing a week back home and we are doing Fest for sure and something else is going to happen! MARC: Yeah we have a bunch of dates coming up actually will have to stay tuned for more info on that. J.B: SO what kind of labels do you guys want to work with you did the “Black Numbers” thing?
ALEX: A label chooses you in a kind of way? KYLE: Yeah we want to be excited about it! MARC: We just put out this E.P with Black Numbers again and Dave is doing such amazing job carrying his roster. He’s done a fantastic job for all his bands and he’s always treated us like we are his most important band even though he works with a ton of different other bands. So yeah our relationship with Black Numbers is really good a great label to be on always stoked and anytime Dave asked were like cool. J.B: So who will be doing the producing and mastering on the next one? MARC: AH this E.P we self-produced it and went in the studio’s by our self and did it DYI style all by ourselves. J.B: Off the floor? Or full on Studio? MARC: Full on Studio I love that we did it that way and we did it on our time and not anyone else’s time or feel pressured by someone else’s time. J.B: I always ask that of bands do you feel it’s easier with the evolution of pro tools for bands to be constantly writing and then assembling it in the studio and re working it. MARC: Constantly on this tour I’ve been demoing sounds and on Garage band on my phone. It’s an indispensable writing tool and even if you haven’t gone to engineering school for it you probably learned something about it or about song writing somewhere along the way. J.B: We always end with a famous book or quote that inspired your life anything come to mind? MARC: Kyle you read a lot of books this ones all you! KYLH: I’m going to go with a “100 years of Solitude” we’ve been taking about time a lot today, and time is a series of concentric circles. J.B: Typsetter Check it out!
WITHIN PUNK ZINE INTERVIEW WITH
RAY CARLISLE/RAY ROCKET @POUZZAFEST 06
APRIL 06,2016 COURTESY OF
MELANIE KAYE PR J.B: Hey I’m here with Ray Carlisle and now his new name is Ray Rocket? RAY: Had to go with Ray Rocket some other guy is called Ray Carlisle! J.B: Really? RAY: Ya he’s a truck driver he’s probably form Wyoming too who knows? Look him up on Itunes Ya’ll! J.B: And you know Trucker Hats how can you go wrong right? So “Do you Wanna Go to Tijuana” So how did you come up with the name? RAY: I thought just the name sounded cool and that’s how I wrote the song to it, like how do you come up with a song title well “Do You Wanna Go to Tijuana” Miguel said surprised we haven’t written this song yet… but yeah I said it was going to be this acoustic pop punk but yeah things change! J.B: Last time I was talking to you about how you choose “Todayo” and played that acoustically at a small show “So how do you choose which songs you want to cover acoustically”? RAY: Ah well I had a demo with me before I went into the studio at the Blasting Room with some pre-production done and in the studio during last minute decisions “Without you” sort of spur of the moment cause I wanted to do a Cody song. I always thought it was cool when Chris of Lawrence Arms does a Brendan Kelly Song you know? Or a beaks song? Brendan is one of these guys that you have to say his first and last name every time you say it! Brendan Kelly! So you know that inspired me to do a Cody song at the last minute in the studio so I pretty much had it all planned out after that. J.B: So obviously you released on Rise Records do you like being part of the Rise Records family? RAY: Great dudes over there! And it’s cool they have a lot of followers on
You Tube! So the comments are pretty entertaining it’s pretty ruthless! So ah that’s different! But it’s cool Craig is a cool guys and so is Matthew. They wanted me to do a video for the album and they wanted me to go on tour and I wanted to do the same thing so here I am. So I’m wrapping up these solo shows in a week and Bottlerocket is going to play Punk Rock Bowling in Vegas and we will see what comes up after that? Laura Jane Grace you want to take me out let’s do this! Chuck Reagan let’s party! But I think my headlining Stint is over at this point! After this week and concentrate more on the rock! And play in the band that my mom hates! It’s my acoustic stuff that she likes! Love you mom! J.B: Nice! There you go! Coming back to it obviously it’s easier for you to go to acoustic you play guitar as the front man for Bottle Rocket have you ever written a song that was just your own song and to be done acoustically and not meant for Bottlerocket? RAY: Like in the song Tijuana or something? Like record a Ray Rocket record without a bunch of Teenage Bottle Rocket songs on it? RAY: Yeah I think the next record will be like that but maybe one or two Bottle Rocket songs on there with all fresh stuff. But next up on the plate is a new Teenage Bottle Rocket record. So we will get to that bridge when we cross that bridge. J.B: Any kind of working title yet? RAY: Well we’re working on a title that we can’t agree on! (Laughing) But the next record is going to be cool and different but Bottle Rocket is never going to be the same! Without Brandon so we are going to move forward with Brandon in our hearts and do more records. J.B: I’ve heard your replacement drummer is Canadian? RAY: He is he is from Edmonton, Alberta is where he is from well actually he’s from New Hinton. Lot of these punks in Edmonton are from Hinton ( Small Town) it’s just a little bit bigger than Wainright just smaller than Grand Prairie ‘Ever heard of LloydMinister” anybody? J.B: I can say great things come from Edmonton and similar Prairie Provinces and Wyoming wide open plains? RAY: Oh Ya! J.B: So Lyrical content and the creative writing process?.. RAY: (Looking at his shirt) I got Mayo on my shirt! (Plugging ‘The Varsity Weirdo’s) shirt he’s wearing! J.B: So who’s writing the lyrical content on the next Bottle Rocket Record? RAY: Well I write the songs that I sing and Cody writes the songs that he sings but I don’t wanna give too much away because the next album is going to be a little different?
PHOTO: MIKE MARSHALL J.B: Different? RAY: YA! J.B: Are we talking about returning back to the roots with a sound like “Warning Device” RAY: Well there’s certain steps that happened between each record and we have a different drummer now so I think it’s just going to be its own thing. J.B: Have you ever thought about doing “Dead Saturday” in acoustic? RAY: I don’t know if it would transfer over very well it’s sort of a scream song you know “Pacemaker” is the same way the main goes well but when I
RAY ROCKET/ PHOTO: MIKE MARSHALL get to the Chorus it doesn’t go over well? Dead Saturday I haven’t really screwed around with it but ya it’s one of my favorite Bottlerocket songs to play live so yeah not all of them transfer over easily our songs are around melody so it works out acoustically. J.B: So you’re always wearing the best band shirts and talking about Merch you have the Ray Charles thing going on are you a fan of Soul? RAY: Ha! Ya that was all Rise Records they put together this Ray Charles Ray Rocket shirt and it’s hilarious but do I like Soul? I like that movie Ray Jamie Fox and defiantly the hits of Ray Charles. When I was little at Walmart I was like look mom I have a C.D and it was Ray Charles but they were tapes back
then. J.B: I can’t extract anything form Ray but is it going to be on Rise? RAY: Yeah! And Blasting Room again. Jason Livermore does all our mastering and he’s a magician he also did Tijuana also. J.B: Last two questions you have a Pet Semetary cover song from the Ramones big time Ramones fan? RAY: Yes! I am and I also played the fortieth awards of the Grammies for the Ramones. I don’t wanna say the Grammies themselves but the organization that does music for the Grammies they had this thing for South by South West and they had a bunch of artist come in and play three Ramones song
each. And I got choose last and so I did “I Wanna be a good boy, Loud Mouth and S.L.U.G. And I’ve been playing S.L.U.G with Jamie live and ‘Joey had to go” by Hanson Brothers and especially a couple days ago was Joey Ramones birthday so we did that for him. J.B: We always end with a famous book or quote that inspired your life anything come to mind? RAY: I don’t wanna repeat myself (Laughing) Famous Book? J.B: Yeah famous Book or quote? RAY: Okay let’s go with “Night” by Elie Wiesel
LOIUS VALIQUETTE on “DANCING FOR DECADENCE” ANNIVERSARY
WITHIN PUNK ZINE INTERVIEW WITH
LOUIS VALIQUETTE BY PHONE
APRIL 06,2016 COURTESY OF
MELANIE KAYE PR J.B: Hey this is J.B and I’m hanging here with Louis from the Sainte Catherine’s and we are talking about his set he just did earlier which is coming back from a bit of break there? Louis: Yep we are celebrating the tenth year of releasing “Dancing for Decadence”. J.B: And of course on Fat Wreck Chords Louis: Yeah it seems to be one of our classic albums that everybody loves. J.B: yeah it’s one of the faster releases that people tend to relate to? How do you view that direction? Louis: I guess it needed to have that Fat sound that was happening at the time in the scene. J.B: Yeah I guess that was the era back then and the sound I’m referring to in reference to the direction as compared to “Fireworks” release? Louis: Most of the songs that were written on Dancing For Decadence where written by Fred and half the songs on the Fireworks album where written by me so in comparison they are slower by far. (Laughing) J.B: But I like it! Because Fireworks has that feel on the songs that seem to be the new direction that slower pop punk edge. Louis: Yeah a lot of people said that “Fireworks” sounded a lot like our other band “Yesterdays Ring” and “Dancing for Decadence” was just full out fast hardcore. We were tired of playing slow songs so we were like let’s just play it fast. J.B: That’s one of the questions I was going to dive into was “Dancing for Decadence” was more fast paced Hardcore punk then Fireworks slowed down to the more Indie fused punk sound? Louis: Well it was mostly what we were listening to at that time where listening to bands like “Tragedy” while we were recording “Dancing for Decadence”. Then after that we were listening to other things like The
Bouncing Souls and stuff and I guess it kind of grew out of that sound. J.B: Lyrical content what’s the creative process writing for Fireworks? Louis: Ah the writing process was pretty much the same for the other ones there’s three writers in the band usually it’s the guitar player that writes but Hugo has a shit ton of lyrics that he has written down that he picks up that he thinks fits more or is the theme of it. J.B: you guys are actually one of the punk rock acts that do have three guitarists and that’s quite unique? Louis: It’s good and bad in a way sometimes we are criticized for having that many guitar players. The story behind that is when the original guitar player left the band they asked me to join the band The Sainte Catherine’s and I said “Well I’m only going to join if Mark comes with us”. I think maybe we should have written the songs as having more guitar players but we were busy at that point just playing shows and didn’t have time to write songs.
“We were tired of playing slow songs so we were like let’s just play it fast.” CROWD: PIZZA! WHERE’S PIZZA? I NEED PIZZA! J.B: Don’t we all? Louis: More mouths to feed huh? (Laughing) J.B: I know with the Pouzzafest part of The Sainte Catherine’s playing again was a deal with the Suicide Machines to play according to Hugo is there any possibility of doing a ten year anniversary tour? Louis: We are doing a five show brief tour sort of for the tenth anniversary of the album but right now I don’t think it’s the best time for members in the band with parenthood. It’s tough take your only two week vacation you get a year and go touring and you have to justify that to the wife you know?(Laughing) J.B: (Laughing) Hey where they go? I don’t know! How did “Dancing for Decadence” come to be on Fat Wreck Chords? Louis: Ah we were really lucky we were touring around Canada and the States with Against ME and working really hard and basically they said you guys really should be on Fat Wreck Chords and then we were lucky enough to get noticed and worked with them to put it out. J.B: And of course Stomp Records/Union Label with “Fireworks” Louis: Yeah every Sainte Catherine’s album ever released is on a different label.
L
LOUIS VALIQUETTE/FRED JACQUES : PHOTO J.B J.B: How do you like being part of the Stomp Records family? Louis: Well for us it’s really weird because Stomp conventionally used to be a Ska record label but at first it was a little weird but they are amazing. They have good credibility and they really know what they are doing over there and respected around the world and in the scene. J.B: I think that’s going to change though being only a Ska label there are other genres on it because of the merge with Union Label group and Mayday. Louis: Ya actually “Fireworks” was released on Union. J.B: What’s the new direction, any possibility of a new release coming out? Louis: Ah there’s nothing in the works right now per se but it has always been a reunion of the albums’ anniversaries so next is “Fireworks” I guess. J.B: Of course the iconic cover art for “Dancing for Decadence” which looks like an x-ray of some bones? Louis: X Ray? Oh okay actually it’s not an x-ray - it’s some bones and shit. Our friend Jason did the cover art and he’s really good at it and he’s done some other work on other bands’ cover art. He also does a lot of art pieces here locally and lot of other murals you can see around town. He does a lot for the art also for the festival also with the drawings, the banners, the shirts. J.B: So Producing and Mastering? What’s your favorite studio? Louis: Well “Fireworks” was done by Charles Chaussinand at Stompbox Studio’s in Boston, MA for the mastering and the recording and the producing was done by Marc Beaudet at his studio called “Studio Wild” In Quebec. But
Rich Bouthilier /Photo J.B as far as producers go the first time we had a producer was for “Dancing for Decadence” actually. Fat Wreck Chords brought in Alex Newport and John Greenham did the mastering. There has always been different people that have done the mastering over the albums but I enjoyed everyone and each one brought something different to the sound. J.B: So how did the name Sainte Catherine’s come to be? Louis: Well actually it was about the Broadways and named after famous street names like Broadway in New York and then it was like ‘what’s that famous street in Montreal?’ “Sainte Catherine” okay “The Sainte Catherine’s” and it represents kind of what we sing about and Montreal and the life here you know? J.B: We always end with a famous book or quote that inspired your life? Louis: I’ve always been inspired by my dad. I’ve seen him achieve many great things that inspired him and was always told “To achieve great things is
to learn and work hard”. I’ve seen him do great things in life and I try to copy that”
Hugo Mudie /Photo J.B
https://www.fatwreck.com/record/detail/709
NEWS RELEASES FRIEND OR FOE: Flatspot Records To Issue Foe EP By Richmond Hardcore/Punk Act In August; Shows With Sick Of It All Announced Richmond-based FRIEND OR FOE has hooked up with Flatspot Records for the release of their newly-completed Foe EP this August. Following FRIEND OR FOE‘s 2012 Know Your Rights EP on Reaper Records/ Solid Bond Records and 2014 Outsider EP on Triple B Records, Foe sees the straightedge hardcore/punk outfit at their best yet. Packing five new tracks onto their third EP, the band’s undeniable NYHC influences see the band delivering coalescing the inspiration of Breakdown, Sick Of It All, Killing Time, Agnostic Front, and the like with their own hard-hitting, energetic flow. Foe was recorded in the Winter and Spring months of 2016 at Studio F12 by Sam Deyerle and mastered by Mike Reaves, and features art by Steven Kulesza.
Flatspot Records will release FRIEND OR FOE‘s Foe EP on August 18th, but the label will issue a limited, pre-release cassette single on July 6th, bearing an advance of the track, “True” which features guest vocals by Jimmy Williams of Maximum Penalty -- as well as an exclusive non-EP demo track on the B-side called “Invincible.”
The Bouncing Souls Premiere New Track “Up To Us” New Full Length Simplicity Due Out July 29th via Rise Records Legendary New Jersey punks, The Bouncing Souls, are gearing up for the release of their tenth full length, Simplicity, due out July 29th via Rise Records. In anticipation, the band have shared the album’s first single, the triumphantly infectious “Up To Us.” To make Simplicity, The Bouncing Souls reunited with producer John Seymour (How I Spent My Summer Vacation, Anchors Aweigh) to capture the raw spirit of their earlier work. “Up To Us” maintains all the elements that longtime fans could desire from The Bouncing Souls, and injects them with the songwriting prowess earned through over 20 years of creating anthemic punk rock. The hook-filled track features powerfully lean instrumentation driving a massive chorus that begs to be shouted along to at a show. Preorders for Simplicity are available now. The Bouncing Souls will be hitting the road soon with upcoming European and UK tour dates, as well as several US shows. These include the band’s own Stoked For The Summer shows in Asbury Park, NJ.
NEWS RELEASES FRAMEWORKS ANNOUNCE JULY TOUR DATES IN SUPPORT OF NEW ALBUM : Smother due out next month from Deathwish; Record release shows canvas the East Coast and Southeast. Smother was recorded earlier this year by Matt McClellan (Being As An Ocean, O’ Brother, etc) at Glow In The Dark Studios and mastered by Brad Boatright (Converge, Self Defense Family, etc) at Audiosiege Mastering. Smother is a massive leap forward for Frameworks; the album pulses with hook-laden melodious riffs and moving emotional crescendos, all of it gushing with a rare creative beauty and maturity that will appeal to listeners from all corners of the underground music world. This dynamic new album follows the band’s 2014 LP, Loom (Topshelf Records) and the two-song Time Spent EP released earlier this year. Both were well-received releases that showed the band broadening their approach through the use of darker, more experimental instrumentation leading to their artistic peak that is now Smother.
Gainesville, FL’s Frameworks have announced a string of shows along the east coast and southeast portions of the United States in support of their forthcoming new album, Smother. The shows will span July 6th through 13th (Smother is out July 8th), with a hometown record release show in Gainesville to follow.
Triple Crown Records Announces Partnership With You Did This Records Sign Heart Attack Man “Surrounded By Morons” Streaming Now Heart Attack Man; from Cleveland, Ohio; initially started as a solo recording project of singer/guitarist Eric Egan in 2013. Driven by an engrained appreciation for addictive melodies and hardhitting alternative rock, the project quickly evolved into a full band and was met with an immediate, overwhelmingly positive local reception after releasing a demo. Having since released an EP, Acid Rain, Heart Attack Man has gone on to tour the Midwest, Canada, and the Eastern United States, all the while becoming a regional favorite. In 2015, the band headed to Philadelphia to record their first full length album at The Headroom Studio with Ian Farmer (of Modern Baseball), which will be released in the fall of 2016 through You Did This Records, in partnership with Triple Crown Records.
DIG IT UP
“BAD WATER” AVAILABLE NOW “Bad Water” is the newest album from Montreal’s “Dig It Up” who seem to follow up “Manners” with a vengence right out of the gate. Pulling this disk from the cover art of a symbolic form of Wind and Water one seems to draw attention to this ancient cult symbology around the perimeter of the disk. One can only explain this as the verbal ritual that is about to commence. The moment you hit that triangle shaped icon you expect an over sized Kool Aid man full of beer to bust through your wall saying “FucK Ya! Then the intro to “Anything Goes” comes in as if some dark and ominous cult is about to lay down some serious shit in your living room! And that’s when it all breaks out with the fast paced gritty and pounding riffs, leaving you grinding your teeth wondering if I should have bought a mouth guard first. The beers start pounding the walls start shaking the mood is set” the raw lyrical chorus of “Get Out Quick” sends the message solid chord work, distorted lyrics, loud catchy drum beats and drum rolls get you up and wondering what in the hell can I burn down now? “Arrested on Site” has that no control revolt classic hardcore straight in your face grunt and gritty vocals with drum breaks, some catchy symbol work and twangy riffs, will be enough to sing along and find yourself slamming another pint and nodding your head away in a frantic act of lunacy fist pounding the air.This five piece has redefined the term for something old something new, the hardest and darkest song on this release is “Tell a Hard Luck Story” that has those deep riffs and dark beats.There really isn’t a slower track or less aggressive track on this album from front to back it flows and really is well produced and well written and composed brillantly.What is defintive in this album is that every piece is equally balanced and the balance of equality of sound is what really makes it work.The groove on “Hold your tongue” with that reverberated note sounding like that off a Doctor Who episode with a twangy echo and distortion and catchy drum track make this the best track of the album and would make the best video option.For fans of Brutal Youth/Pears/ Dragged in/ Drunk Couples this album is a must to add to your prized collection.
“Dig It Up” has redined the Hardcore Drive of catchy rifts and Dark ambience with inspiration and heart pounding lryics.
BAYSIDE
“ VACANCY” AUGUST 19/2016 Bayside had to follow up to their most sucessful album “Cult” and their upcoming release “Vacancy” in a way a double metaphor meaning resonates of fallen relationships, broken promises, misdirection and the aftermath that follows, but the aftermath and emotional turmoil and the will to overcome one can relate to these days. Anthony Raneri pushes the boundaries of creativity even further taking his personal experiences to a new level of a well orchestarted showtune infleunced structured well composed full length.What’s different in direction in this release is a well instrumented orchestra of emotion and theatrical element of lyrical content. Two Letters, the first track comes full on with their more classic sound pounding full lyrics of despair and emotional turmoil of where it goes from here? Musically the structure carries the content of showtune element with deep emotional riffs, heavy deep drum strokes with snare rolls into catchy rythyms like “Enemy Lines”, a song about being behind enemy lines and taking the pride of it all and the high road of an ending relationship and the turmoil and haste that follows. The note scales of Jack O’Shea compliments Raneri’s riffs and are reminiscent of orchestra build ups and breakdowns. The basslines are catchy and pop through in definition on this release. On tracks like “Not Fair” it has that twangy country rockabilly feel with roots of country elements shining through and a strong classical gypsy feel equipped with a classical harp sound in the break down and lyrics about not making excuses and wild rides and confusion. The most definitive song on the album is “Mary” which is reminsicent of a Social Distortion track with piano and a flowing deep baseline and more mid tempo drum through with a more southern rock feel in the guitar wizardry. This album has something different than the previous releases over the course of fifteen years and is a different direction for Bayside. The album rounds off with the insight of seeing through it all and rising above what ever comes your way and seeing the silver lining in it all.
“Bayside has created the perfect “SHotune” album reflecting Life’s hardsships choices and risign throuhgh it all”
“Wasted Mind”
AVAILABLE JUNE /16
MEAN JEANS
“Tight New Dimension” AVAILABLE NOW www.fatwreck.com
“Comfortable Scars” AVAILABLE NOW
“Bad Water” AVAILABLE NOW
NEW
NOISE https://friendorfoerichmond.bandcamp.com/
https://drunkcouples.bandcamp.com/
http://hopelessrecords.com/
UPCOMING RELEASES
THE SAINTE CATHERINES “Dancing For Decadence” REISSUE
FAT WRECK CHORDS MAY 20 ,2016
WITH CONFIDENCE “Better Weather”
HOPELESS RECORDS JUNE 17 ,2016
DRUNK COUPLES “Blasted”
BOB RECORDS JUNE 17,2016
DIG IT UP “Bad Water”
STOMP RECORDS JUNE 17 ,2016
FAT MUSIC COMP
“Fat Muisc For Wrecked People ”
FAT WRECK CHORDS JUNE 24,2016
DIRECT HIT “WASTED MIND”
FAT WRECK CHORDS JUNE 24 ,2016
UPCOMING TOURS/SHOWS
TICKETS TO BE ANNOUNCED IN JULY https://www.facebook.com/pullupyourpantsproductions