Blaze up in the saddle for a ride through a bygone era as singer/songwriter/guitarist Tad Hynes traces the bloodlines of American folk-rock and psychedelic pop through the hazy hills of yore.
As he explains, “Around the time I released the first Little Lamb album I had fallen head over heels for Buffalo Springfield, which lead my attention to bands like Poco, The Byrds, The Flying Burrito Brothers and many more. This late 60s surf/country/western/psych/rock sound had a great influence on the way I wanted the new album to sound.”
The sauntering Morricone-tinged opener “Sun Dance Kid” lays the scene with a sultry Stratocaster strut. All the good vibes continue to shine down on “Mr. Squito” and “Thirteen Lined Ground Squirrel” with their weightless falsetto vocals and rippling strings.
Fleshed out by the presence of singer/guitarist Sunny Dhak (Pride Tiger, Three Inches of Blood), who appears on the title track and a couple more, Elephant Shoe Two bounds through a Woodstockian meadow of honeyed harmonies and subversive lyrics. Bravely capricious explorations such as the rocky “Tiger Lily” and “Cool Autumn Breeze” find their counterpoint in melodies as delicate as spider webs on “Carnation” and “Needles of Green.”
Reposed yet acutely observant of its environment, Little Lamb’s bespoke second release recalls the efforts of genre-kaleidoscoping bands like The 13th Floor Elevators and Ween while remaining entirely laced up in thread-puller Hynes’ daisy chain of thought.
Black Mountain Burns Rubber On High Octane Space Age Highway
by Christine Leonard
Hovering over your metropolis like a sleek black leviathan, Destroyer is but the latest vehicle of deliverance for Vancouver space rockers Black Mountain. Armed with digitized pop tentacles and pulsating with vintage video game vibes, the time-travelling album harvests riffs and rhythms from across decades and devices. Customarily nonchalant about their earth-quaking creations, founding guitarist/lead vocalist Stephen McBean and lynchpin/keyboardist Jeremy Schmidt, have always gravitated towards generating deadly sonic vortexes that defy chronological classification.
“We’re definitely in tune with our aesthetic pasts. I guess that’s pretty evident, just from what our preoccupations are,” says Schmidt of the new album’s retro-tronic soundscape. “I feel like the past is something that’s always revealing itself. Even though it seems like it’s all behind us, variations of it seem to be revealing themselves in the present and continuing to do so in the future all the time. So, to me, it’s like the past is an ongoing project.”
Crashing into mid-life with phasing synths set to stun, Schmidt and McBean hit the virtual reset button following the appearance of the band’s previous full-length release, IV (2016), leaving them alone in the cockpit for the first time in years. Approaching an age when a man’s thoughts might run to HRT and hot rods, the duo fixed upon the title Destroyer, a nod to the discontinued single-run 1985 Dodge testosterone factory on wheels.
“Steve is actually a new driver. He recently learned how to drive, so that kind of informed a couple of the ideas in an off-handed, casual way.”
The “Boogie Lover” persona that flows from McBean’s newfound sense of freedom comes through loud and clear on new tracks such as the easy ridin’ “Future Shade,” the power-mongering “Horns Arising” and the Manson-child recruitment anthem “Pretty Little Lazies.” Pieced together between their coastal outposts in LA and Vancouver, the resulting production carries the weight of Black Mountain’s ample experience and a burning thirst for untested waters.
“To me, the results sound like a progression,” Schmidt says. “The record fits well within the canon of everything else we’ve done. It seems similar enough to what we’ve done in the past to sound like a Black Mountain record and different enough that it sounds new.”
Determined to repopulate their psychedelic utopia with a fresh crew of supporting players, the long-time friends opened the studio pod bay doors to a brave new world of artistic possibilities on Destroyer.
“We’ve always liked the balance of female and male vocals. It adds a different kind of narrative and it creates a dynamic which I think is very appealing and very much a part of the band,” he continues. “One could say our ‘happy place’ is where the organic meets the electronic. It’s kind of like this yin and yang thing where the two sort of egg each other on. Blending artifice and things that people regard as being more organic has always been something of interest to me and the band. In a lot of ways, it’s the nucleus of our sound.”
Atomic poet/vocalist/keyboardist Rachel Fannan (Only You, Sleepy Sun), alt-metal drummer Adam Bulgasem (Almost is Nothing, Dommengang, Soft Kill) and bassist Arjan Miranda complete Black Mountain’s live invasion force. After a decade and a half as an insular entity, the influx of new contributors to their recording sessions has brought vital energy to Black Mountain’s monolithic stage presence.
“Stepping back and looking at the album, it’s obviously different than you imagined it might have been from the beginning,” Schmidt says. “Live we’re pretty true to the album, but we leave room in the recording, so we have the freedom to change things up. There’s always some headroom to interpret things as they start to take on a different life on stage. When we approach performing stuff it’s almost like we just listened to the record and thought ‘Okay, let’s be the best Black Mountain cover band we can be!’ Just kidding.”
The refuelled Black Mountain will cut a modest swath of destruction through Canada and the US this September. Keep your eyes on the skies as they make contact with Black Mountain Army converts at sightings scheduled to touchdown from British Columbia to Manitoba.
Black Mountain performs Saturday, Sept. 14 at the Vogue Theatre (Vancouver), Sunday, Sept. 15 at Distrikt (Victoria), Tuesday, Sept. 17 at the Starlite Room (Edmonton) and Wednesday, Sept. 18 at Commonwealth (Calgary)
Ascending from their role as local skatepark punks to that of Canadian psych-rock tastemakers, Calgary’s legendary curb-grinding garage band Chron Goblin isn’t the same old thrash ‘n’ grab outfit they once were.
Here Before, marks a deliberate recalibration from the hard-rolling crew as they crank the production values to eleven on volatile numbers like “Giving in to Fun,” “Slipping Under,” and “Out of My Mind.”
Singer Josh Sandulak’s raucous vocals and poetic lyrics are thrust into the spotlight as never before and his confident, yet bitter, mouthfuls come washed down with an unerring supply of acidic guitar riffs and dexterous rhythms. Haunted by a shared history and infectious back catalogue, the group navigates a jagged path through the dank underbrush on “Oblivion” before diving into the lazy river of the lumbering “Giant.”
Intricate, intentional and gritty to the bone, Here Before challenges the maturing quartet to supersede their former selves with dangerously divergent compositions; including eerie banshee ballad “Ghost” and pugnacious ripper “War.” The defining wallet-chain swagger, bluesy breakdowns and ballsy bravado that set them apart from day one may remain the same, but Chron Goblin’s best just got a whole lot better.
Miami sludge-slingers Torche open the floodgates to a tide of bludgeoning downstrokes and impenetrable riffage with Admission.
A prelude to fear, the first cut, “From Here,” surveys an urban wasteland through eerie melting harmonies before the divine onslaught of “Submission” strikes an authoritative stance that strains and heaves over what it has conquered.
The uphill battle continues as Torche dives into the deep end of the groove mine, demonstrating what 15 years of grinding down their rough edges sounds like. Wall-high guitar surges and stealthy percussion reflect the punishing summer heat, while oiled up “Slide” and pyroclastic “Time Missing” model their muscular mortal physiques.
Power and restraint collide as “What Was,” “Extremes of Consciousness” and “Infierno” wrestle against internal strife and social self-immolation. Even still the cascading crescendos and cool fluidity of “Reminder,” “On the Wire,” and “Changes” prove hardy enough to bear the weight of Torche’s soft underbelly.
One of the bright spots that parts the album’s apocalyptic clouds, the beautifully intricate title track pierces polluted heavens and heart with brilliant streaks of inspiration. A pensive but passionate album, Admission radiates an ominous sadness that descends directly from the seasoned band’s realization and appreciation of life’s impermanence.
By Christine Leonard
Best Track: Submission
Torche perform in Vancouver at Venue Nightclub on Saturday, Sept. 14
Portland’s favorite shoegaze quartet honing their craft over the holidays
Sometimes the best thing about traveling abroad is when you finally get back home and can sleep in your own bed again. That couldn’t be truer for Portland’s Red Fang. Having just returned from a month-long run through Europe in support of their latest album, Only Ghosts (2016, Relapse), guitarist/vocalist Maurice Bryan Giles, bassist/vocalist Aaron Beam, guitarist David Sullivan and drummer John Sherman genuinely enjoy kicking back with family and friends over the holidays. But, true to the anthemic stoner rock band’s virile nature, just four days into their sojourn Giles is already thinking about mixing business with pleasure and getting the pack together to make fresh tracks in the studio.
“I’m feeling reinvigorated and looking forward to digging back in, but it’s just a matter of discipline,” says Giles. “We try to take advantage of our downtimes and do things creatively and differently.
Bulldozing their way through the songwriting and production process like a moose in a headshop, Red Fang has produced a quartet of thunderous LPs since its inception in 2005. Renowned for the heavy hooks and ominous overtones displayed on their self-titled debut on Sargent House in 2009 and subsequent releases, Murder the Mountains in 201.1
Whales and Leeches in 2013 (both on Relapse Records), the vulpine outfit is actively reaping, and savouring, the fruits of their labours.
“We’re all in our forties, and have been in this band going on thirteen years, and it’s still really mentally engaging for us because we share a lot of influences musically, but also our tastes extend in very different directions. There are certain traps and pitfalls that we tend to fall into, so whenever we can do something outside of our usual thought process I think that’s where the good stuff is coming from.”
More than just a bunch of hard-partying, beer-quaffing hooligans, Red Fang have proven themselves as cunning songwriters and string-slingers. Still, their ears are always to the ground. Because, according to Giles, the next great riff might be lurking right around the corner!
“The guys are always surprising me, and over the years, I’ve learned to trust them.
For example, in the middle of “Wires” there’s a quiet sort of breakdown, and we called it the Spaghetti Western part. At first, I thought, ‘What in the hell is this? This is ridiculous!’ But at some point I was like, ‘Well, I’ll try it.’ And I learned it. And it grew on me like a fungus and now I just can’t see that song existing without it. So, the things that are outside of my comfort-level are the things that ultimately give me the most joy in the long run. To me, it’s fun when something’s like ‘Ick!’ initially. I kind of like that.”
Pushing past the yuck-factor has yielded impressive results for Giles and company whose music videos have put their sludgy melodies on the map. The ultra-violent shorts built around “Prehistoric Dog”, “Blood Like Cream”, “Shadows” and other viral video ventures have singled Red Fang out as perpetrators of the most entertaining headbanger daydreams on the planet. We’re talking over ten million views here, dudes.
“The credit for the majority of our videos lies with Whitey (McConnaughy), the director. He’s just a super motivated guy who’s really passionate and creative, so he’s always coming up with ideas and occasionally he’ll call us to see if we’re interested. We’ll just laugh our asses off and say, ‘Hell, yeah! We’ll do that!’ None of us consider ourselves actors, we’re more re-actors. He doesn’t really have to tell us what our motivation is beyond ‘Drink beer!’ We’re just lucky to have him. I’d say that his videos are a large part of the reason that people know we exist, which is nice.”
Prepared to deliver a tidy cross-section of their piledriving library on their upcoming North American tour, Red Fang feels a stronger connection to their audience than ever. The scene-stealing foursome may have displayed (and destroyed) their living rooms for the camera, but the magnitude of that explosive exposure is secondary to the soulful unveiling that occurs when Red Fang opens up on the stage.
“The videos are a great reflection of our sense of humour because we never wanted to be, and never could be, a band that walks out of the fog and flexes our muscles,” says Giles. “We’re just not those guys. And no one would believe it if we tried. But the music is very much from the heart with us. It’s still a riff-driven band, but when it comes down to the vibe I want it to mean something because we’ve got to go out on the road and play those songs hundreds and hundreds of times. That’s why I’m really excited about the new songs. It’s the most modern version of the musical headspace we’re in these days and we hope that the crowd is along for the ride.”
Red Fang performs Jan. 16 at the Rickshaw Theatre (Vancouver) and Jan. 18 at the Big Winter Classic Festival (Calgary)
There are few surnames in Canadian culture that carry an immediate association with musical tradition like that of Rankin, and as a member of that line of East Coast entertainers, Heather Rankin has accumulated a half-century of unique insights and artistic inspiration. Gracefully applying her manifold talents, the award-winning singer and songwriter has now struck out on her own, simultaneously upholding her family’s multi-platinum country-folk legacy while taking the adult contemporary market by storm.
“My live show is a combination of the songs I did with my family, my original material that’s on my debut solo release, A Fine Line (2016), and then a smattering of songs written by other people some that are familiar and some that are newer, but traditional. So, it’s a good mix,” Rankin explains.
“I travel with a trio; acoustic guitar, piano and stand-up bass, and we’ve really pared-down the arrangements for the songs that I would have performed with my family.”
Although she’s certainly no stranger to the perils of a Cape Breton winter, Rankin has plenty of reasons to feel warm and fuzzy about the arrival of that bitter season this year. Reunited with producer/arranger Stephen McKinnon, who produced a handful of tracks on The Rankin Family’s 2008 album These Are the Moments, Heather has been busily crafting her next poetic gift to her fans.
“I’m on the back end of a second recording,” Rankin divulges.
“They’re holiday songs, but they’re not all Christmas. It’s a very contemplative collection of songs… I think it’s somewhere in the middle of my solo release and what I would have done with my family. I’m really happy with it; I’m proud of the songs and I really feel a peace with the arrangements.”
New doors continue to open for Rankin as she embraces her role as touring solo artist and elder stateswoman of Canada’s Celtic music heritage. Penning fresh melodies and promoting her performances would seem like more than enough to keep the average person fully occupied, but Rankin somehow finds time to squeeze the distinction of ‘venue owner’ into an already impressive list of accomplishments. And, having headlined at her fair share of establishments over the decades, she’s confident she knows what goes into running a successful show – from both sides of the copper rail.
“I own the Red Shoe Pub with three of my sisters and this is our 13th season,” Rankin reports.
“It’s a great little old general store that’s been converted to a pub. It’s smack dab in the middle of Inverness in the County of Mabou, where I grew up. And it’s rocking and rollin’ this time of the year. We’re open for five months and it’s just slammed. We feature live music every day and have a fantastic menu and a great staff in our kitchen. It’s got a wonderful vibe there when you go you’re immersed in the kind of music that people of Mabou have experienced for generations. People seem to be flocking there; some to witness first-hand what we sing about in The Rankin Family songs.”
She continues, saying “I’m always looking for an intimate setting where it’s easy to connect with the audience, and make eye contact, and has a nice acoustic ambience, and people are comfortable and that’s pretty much what we offer at the Red Shoe. It’s really cool and that’s what I look for when I’m going to perform, those little places are the ultimate venues where you feel the energy and there’s no separation between artist and audience – no grand gaping hole between you.”
HEATHER RANKIN performsOctober 19at the Ralph Klein Trans Canada Centre (Olds) andOctober 21at the Ironwood Stage and Grill (Calgary).
September’s back-to-school regime is a questionably welcome event, but for Calgary students-of-life Mammoth Grove the requisite first essay question of ‘How I spent my summer vacation?’ is one worth crowing about. While others spent their dog days mowing lawns and painting fences, Mammoth Grove has been growing its fuzzy beard, working on its psychedelic moontan and observing the migratory behaviour of the Cowtown concertgoer.
“In my experience music has been one of the most consistent, most enjoyable, most beneficial ways to make a living,” extolls lead singer-guitarist Devan Forster of his summer employment of choice. “I have a pretty hard time sticking through things I don’t care about, don’t believe in and don’t want to be a part of, which how I’ve felt about most jobs in the past. So music has been great, especially recently I’ve been jamming a lot. I’ve been downtown playing gigs, solo shows, open mics and just being out there and it’s working really well.”
Catching the waves of humanity that wash across the core throughout July and August, Forster (who also performs solo under the name Silver Moss) has had ample opportunity to exercise his mind, polish his craft and gain a more fulsome understanding of the relationship between performer and audience.
“I was out a lot for Stampede which is great, of course. Happy, smiley, drunk people everywhere. I was playing outside of the gates of the [Calgary International] Blues Festival as everyone filtered out and the middle-aged crowd was having a lot of fun. I’ve never been offered more joints, roaches, doobies, piece of hash, one-hitters. Mom and Dad like to have a good time out! On the train ride home afterward I had the entire car singing along to “I Won’t Back Down” on the Green Line. What can I say? Tom Petty’s been a gold nugget for me.”
Sure he gets plenty of requests for CCR, Neil Young and Steve Miller, but it’s Petty who’s illuminated Forster’s quest for authenticity and self-awareness. By his estimation, it’s not just looking the part and delivering the goods, but bridging the gap between generations while exuding a signature sound that is entirely unique.
“I play very few covers, I don’t really know many at all,” explains Forster.
“Right now the point of busking for me is to try out all these new songs I’ve been writing. And I’ve been writing lots! Mammoth Grove has this massive back catalog that we want to record and do stuff with, but we’re just kind of relaxing right now. After we went toured out to B.C. in May we figured let’s do our own things and enjoy the summer by soaking it up on the coast and playing on the streets back home.”
Although this post-tour summer hiatus has been the longest of their collaboration, Mammoth Grove has been busily cultivating all of the elements necessary to flourish throughout the dark, cold winter months. Bound with wood, wire and an unquenchable thirst for beauty, Forster’s methods and approach have only grown stronger thanks to weeks spent pounding the pavement during his 21st-century troubadour bootcamp.
“The biggest thing for me was just getting over that initial fear of busking. I was scared and I was nervous, but now I’m really into being able to rely on my voice and guitar," he continues.
"Mammoth Grove is always electric, but this summer I’ve been really only playing acoustic because it’s lighter to carry around. So, that definitely changes the sound and dynamic and everything about it. I’m really focusing on simple songwriting. I’ve noticed while busking that people connect with your voice way more than your guitar. I’ve been working on my vocal technique and range and it feels great to be confident in just what I am right here and now. ‘Blam!’ Until recently I felt like I had to be the singer, now I feel like I get to be.”
Mammoth Grove performs September 21st with Yawning Man and Alex Perrez & The Rising Tide at The Palomino Smokehouse & Bar (Calgary).
“I think music is a gift from God. I want to portray core human natures, such as light and darkness, and life and death through our music.”
Trade-specialists when it comes to splitting subatomic particles of sound, Tokyo’s Mono (stylized as MONO) is no stranger to the polyharmonic era of post-rock dissonance. Equal-parts pleasure and art-house, the innovative commune of musicians has been generating massive volumes of their unique sonic philosophy since the end of the last century. According to founding member Takaakira “Taka” Goto (electric guitar, glockenspiel) approaching music from a position of humility and reflection is Mono’s gateway to producing mindful music.
“For me, a composition is a process of going deep inside of my heart. I pull out a bright, shining, soul-like inspiration from the dark abyss, and construct them into songs,” explains Taka. “It’s an important process to continue to remain true to myself, and by getting saved by my own songs, it assures me that it’s ok for me to continue to live and there is a reason for me to continue to be who I am. By writing down all those feelings into songs, there is this definite feeling that you can sympathize with all the people in the world through our music.”
The curiosity stirred by the spores of Mono’s early emanations, Under the Pipal Tree (2001 Tzadik Records) and One Step More and You Die (2002 Music Mine Inc.), rapidly mushroomed under the Temporary Residence Ltd. Record label, resulting in a heavy & heavenly run of releases; Walking Cloud and Deep Red Sky, Flag Fluttered and the Sun Shined (2004), You Are There (2006) and later Hymn to the Immortal Wind (2009). An earthshaking live album, Holy Ground: NYC Live With The Wordless Music Orchestra, followed in 2010 and in October 2016 Mono revealed their latest (and perhaps most ambitious) creation to date, the symphonic Requiem for Hell.
“I have always been hugely inspired by classical music’s deep spirituality that composers like Beethoven and Mahler had been portraying from back in the day. It’s been my lifelong wish to make them co-exist with Rock music’s big energy and destructiveness,” Taka explains. “I have actually never learned music properly in my life. Whenever I compared myself to some of the other great composers in history, I have never felt truly satisfied with my own process. But I noticed something one day. I think that kind of incompleteness is my true originality. I think this kind of originality is the most important thing.”
Interweaving metallic technicality and lyrical humanity into one undulating flesh fractal is child’s play compared to standing out in a city with 6,224 people per km2. Fortunately, Taka and bandmates, Hideki “Yoda” Suematsu (electric guitar, glockenspiel), Tamaki Kunishi (bass guitar, electric guitar, piano, glockenspiel), and Yasunori Takada (drum kit, glockenspiel, synthesizer) have learned to dive below the surface to liberate the immortal muse within the machine.
“I’m personally more drawn towards things that you can’t see, rather than things you can see. I think music is a gift from God. I want to portray core human natures, such as light and darkness, and life and death through our music. Every time I write for an album, I always try to do something new and grow, instead of repeating what I have done in the past. This is an interesting feeling. It almost feels like creating a great cathedral over my lifetime… I want our show to be an emotional turning point of life, almost like gaining a new life experience through our music after witnessing our show.”
MONO perform at Sled Island June 21-25th [Calgary]
Margaret Cho brings her psyCHO comedy tour to the Jack Singer Concert Hall
by Christine Leonard10th, November 2016
Considering that she’s one of the most versatile and prolific performers working in the entertainment industry today, compiling a list of the things Margaret Cho isn’t doing right now would probably take less time than recounting the plethora of ventures and causes that she’s currently involved with. A Grammy and Emmy Award-winning actress, comedian, author, singer, and activist; her resume of accomplishments is as impressive as it is honestly come by. Cho’s road to success has never been clear, or straight (for that matter), but her determination to find her voice and make it heard has paved the way for countless artists to come.
“I don’t really make a plan. I kinda like to sort of see what’s going to happen,” says Cho from her home in the rolling no-cell-phone-reception–hell-mouth hills of California. “I’m always so busy anyways. I don’t have the luxury of thinking ahead, I just sort of let everything kind of happen as it will. I will continue to expand in my field; I’ll do all sorts of different acting projects, as well as a lot of different television projects. I would love to have a talk show, that’s kind of my big dream. That would sort of encapsulate all of the worlds I’m in: whether it’s music, or journalism, which I’m very interested in, or comedy. That’s something I would love to do.”
A return to the sitcom universe would not be entirely inconceivable for the 47-year-old Cho, who has made her own unique mark on the genre on a number of fronts. Her Korean-American family loosely inspired the groundbreaking 1994 sitcom, All-American Girl, in which Cho portrayed Margaret Kim, a rebellious teenager who flaunted her tattered denim and modern moxie much to her traditional parents’ chagrin. The short-lived show continues to be referenced as one that set the stage for those all-too-rare sitcoms that have dared to enter into the forbidden realm of immigrant and non-white households. Looking back, Cho could not have anticipated the exponential affect those first tentative steps would have on the rest of Hollywood.
“No, not at all. I had hoped that it would and I wish it could have continued, but it’s great that people remember it,” says Cho of All-American Girl. “And also, I think now with shows like Fresh Off the Boat, Master of None and Doctor Ken we can see how our show had a great impact on the people who would grow up to make these shows. And I’m very proud of the legacy of it.
“And now, I’ve got to step into the role of the elder statesman, which I love too and now I realize that this is necessary. To know that you’ve broken ground for all of these people, and Asian comics in particular like Ali Wong, and Bobby Lee or Ken Jeong, making way for a new archetype. That is the elder statesman. I love that role and I’ve very happy to play it.”
Fourteen years after the conclusion of her pioneering series, Cho would return to the small screen at the head of her own reality-sitcom on VH1, The Cho Show. The “semi-scripted” program focused on Cho’s lifestyle, and relationships with her family and a retinue of celebrity pals such as Sandra Bernhard, Michelle Rodriguez and, perhaps most memorably, Joan Rivers. Cho would go on to become a co-host of E!’s Fashion Police in 2016, applying her eye for style and acerbic wit to that television panel just as Rivers’ had prior to her death in September of 2014.
“I love the sitcom format, it’s one that I grew up with — one that I spent a lot of time on,” Cho confirms. “To me, it’s a really great old-fashioned way to tell a story. There are a lot of single-cam shows these days, but I do love a multi-cam show. I just do anything that makes me laugh, that makes me think, and that makes me feel like I want to be a part of it. You know, something like Fashion Police is great, because I love clothes. I make clothes. I love the art of it and all of it is very pleasing to me; also that fact that it’s the legacy of the Rivers family: the family that I am a part of. Joan Rivers was like my mom; she was great. So, it would have been something she wanted, for me to be a part of that show.”
Sadly, Cho had just lost another of her showbiz parents with the death of Robin Williams in August of 2014. Cho was often scheduled to appear after Williams during her early years of performing in comedy clubs. A strategic move that she’s pretty sure he’d arranged just to make her work that much harder, and thus get that much better at. With the help of friends, Cho organized the Be Robin charity campaign to provide outreach to San Francisco’s homeless population. A cause that was extremely important to the late comedian.
“Yeah, it’s fun being involved in all this charity work like the #BeRobin project. It was a way for all of us to come together and honour our dead dad. Robin Williams was like our dad. It’s horrible, you know. So getting together and have a place where we can just get crazy is something that Robin would have loved. And raising money for people in need, it’s really exactly something that he would do. And something that was great fun to do in order to deal with our grief and incredible sadness about it, and have a blast!”
Touching hearts and minds with her penchant for delivering social scrutiny with a jolt of humanist humour, Cho has steadily moved beyond self-parody into the realm of self-actualization. The reality of having finite resources to distribute between many avenues of creativity has codified how Cho prioritizes her endeavours. Building off of the momentum of her Off-Broadway acts “I’m the One I Want” and “The Sensuous Woman,” she most recently recorded her stand-up special “psyCHO” and is currently touring a comedy show of that name. Accustomed to her role as the brave face of the generic Asian-American, Cho strives to bring grace and fortitude to her ever-expanding role as model citizen and comedic orphan.
“One of the things that I really love about my profession is that I feel like I make comedy very safe for people who do identify as outsiders. Whether you’re gay, or any ethnic minority, or a feminist. Comedy clubs were never safe for women, even now. It’s pretty rough sometimes. Especially with a lot of comedy about rape that’s not really anti-rape. There’s a lot of misogyny in comedy that I feel is not addressed. So I like to work with that. I think ultimately it’s about being funny and then finding some kind of levity in the pathos. You want to really address very deep subjects, but also it’s got to be filling, and ridiculous, and really side-splitting. I don’t wanna get just bogged down with messages and ideas. I want things to be funny always, but I want to find my way through it.
In end, it all boils down to a microphone and a spotlight.
“I identify myself as a stand-up artist outside of everything else I do. I’ll always return to stand-up comedy. It’s something that is a constant in my life. It’s something that I do every day. I’d just feel weird if I didn’t do it every day. It’s just who I am. You just have to love what you’re doing. I think you have to fall in love with it every day and try to connect with it every day. Being an artist is not any different from being a human being. Art is as important as breath, or movement, or water, or anything. It’s just vital to practice it.”
Slow Down Molasses crystallizes their melancholy jam with ‘100% Sunshine’
by Christine Leonard 3 October 2016
Celebrating a decade of rolling the haze and rocking watering holes across the Great Plains, Saskatoon’s Slow Down Molasses is slightly bemused by their own longevity. Long dark winters and hot dusty summers have left their mark on the melodious and moody ensemble, prompting pragmatic lead guitarist/vocalist Tyson McShane to take stock of all that has been accomplished and that is still left to be done.
“It has been a long while and I’m actually somewhat amazed that we’re still doing stuff,” says McShane, the band’s principal songwriter.
With a barrel-full of enduring releases to their credit, including; I’m An Old Believer (2008), Walk Into the Sea (2011), Bodies of Water: Remixes (2012), and Burnt Black Cars (2015) McShane and company are now poised to step into the sunlight, and maybe even show off their rumoured farmer-tans, with the release of their latest LP, 100% Sunshine (2016).
“This album is the first time we’ve recorded with the same lineup that we toured the previous album with,” reports McShane, who pioneered Slow Down Molasses’ last two albums with bandmates keyboardist/guitarist Aaron Scholz, guitarist Levi Soulodre, bassist Chris Morin, and drummer Jordan Kurtz. “Previously, it was always a very solid group of people, but there were a lot more that we’d bring in for recording sessions and we definitely weren’t playing the same arrangements all the time. Now it’s the same five people playing all the time and it has definitely made things a lot more concise and a lot more exciting in ways. It was very wonderful to be very collaborative in the past and get to play with a lot of local people I was a fan of, but it’s kind of amazing to have a good idea of what everybody else is going to do when we’re writing and performing live.”
Just because they’ve reigned in the guest list doesn’t mean Slow Down Molasses has turned off the tap when it comes to creating multifaceted pieces of recording studio pop-art. On the contrary, the quintet’s fantastically communal compositions have blossomed and grown in ways that are equally unexpected and consistent with their reputation for generating melodious melancholia.
“I think its quite funny how this new album is similar to how we used to indulge a lot of layers, except this time we were much more deliberate with what we were doing. That laid the foundation and now it’s a really exciting album to play live, because we can improvise around those more focused dimensions.”
As deceptively loose sounding as the cold-plagued McShane’s stogy sinuses, the album’s first single, “Moon Queen,” embodies the super smooth fulsomeness and echoing vibrancy that we’ve come to expect from this post-punk synth and sawdust ensemble. Intertwining the esprit of modern electronica within a traditional wire and wood framework, Slow Down Molasses crystalizes the momentum and portent of a civilization teetering on the edge of tomorrow. Toeing that barbed line between a fleeting fad and a steady fade.
“It’s really a key thing in what we do,” McShane acknowledges. “A least of couple of us are into drone and free-noise type stuff, while half the band came-up through playing in punk rock bands. So, there’s always a bit of desire, especially in a live situation, to tend to be more energetic. My songs are relatively simple and I tend to nail them, so we decided to be fairly chaotic onstage.”
Wise enough to know when a semblance of order is merited, Slow Down Molasses recorded 100% Sunshine’s eleven lugubrious tracks with Barrett Ross and Chad Munson at Ghetto Box Studios in their hometown before entrusting to Glasgow-based producer Tony Doogan (Belle & Sebastian, Mogwai, Teenage Fanclub) with putting a platinum-polish on the final mixes. According to McShane working alongside Doogan, at his infamous Castle of Doom Studios, was an invigorating experience. One which provided him with a valuable new perspective on something he’s been so close to for so many years.
“We were so incredibly excited to get to work with Mr. Tony Doogan on this album. He definitely challenged our preconceived notions of ourselves,” McShane recalls. “All of the records he’s done sound like big rock albums, but with a lot of chaotic stuff going on around them. He’s known for being able to balance those moments and he definitely delivered. It was above and beyond anything we expected. It was a fantastic experience and nice way to wrap up this album.”
A concerted attempt at preserving the dynamism of a live jam for future consumption, 100% Sunshine essentially bottles the emotional weight of McShane’s dreamy yet desolate narratives. But the vitriol and gloom of Slow Down Molasses’ humming-and-thrumming heartbeat cannot be constrained. Like the fount of his nostrils, it flows forth with an irrepressible force and a desire to spread free-wheelin’ and truth-dealin’ tunes like a virus.
“100% Sunshine is definitely a very sardonic title,” he confesses. “We tend to write ‘depresser’ songs and this album for me is probably the bleakest album we’ve done. Initially, I just wanted to call it ‘Disorientation’ because a lot of the lyrical themes deal with dissociative and obsessive behavior and that idea of presenting a façade that doesn’t necessarily reflect what’s underneath.”
Slow Down Molasses perform October 7th as part of UP+DT Music Festival in Edmonton,October 9th at Nite Owl in Calgary, and October 14th at O’Hanlon’s in Regina. They then head out to Reykjavik for Iceland Airwaves next month.
A New Universe awaits at the Decidedly Jazz Dance Centre
By Christine Leonard 19 May 2016
Jazz is coming out from behind closed doors thanks to the construction of the impressive Decidedly Jazz Dance Centre in the heart of the New West. Ten years in the making, the cutting-edge facility will provide a much-needed growing room for the professional company and dance school, which has been in its current home since 1993. Designed by architect Janice Liebe of the DIALOG design firm and built by CANA Construction, the new structure embodies the kinetic movement of a dancer’s body with its graceful application of glass and steel. While a versatile modern theatre and seven well-appointed dance studios rank highest amongst the new institute’s assets, the abundance of natural light and flowing floor plan are sure to infuse the environment with positive energy.
“It’s a spectacular facility. It’s not just for us, we feel that it’s really a space for Calgary,” says DJD’s artistic director, Kimberley Cooper. “It’s also just such a beautiful, vibrant, glass-filled open place that I think it will add to the landscape of Calgary. You’ll be able to look in and see dancing all the time, which is something we don’t see that often. The beacon at the top of the building is a 10-metre penthouse that’s kind of like a light-box and we’ve just been working with some artist to create a public art piece that’s going to be in there. That will really draw your eye to the building as well. The artists’ names are Hadley+Maxwell. Without giving too much away, they are big on the Canadian art scene and they were here taking images for a beautiful concept that will let people know that is dancing going on in that building.”
Located within the new 12-storey Kahanoff Centre on Centre Street and 12th Avenue SE, the accessible space offers a 327 sq. m dance studio, a comfortable 232 sq. m community living room, multiple smaller dance studios (to be available for booking) and will additionally provide storage for the Company’s wardrobes, dressing rooms, media room, library, box office and administrative offices. A home that has been custom-fit to accommodate the present and future needs of an organisation that anticipates great things to come. To accomplish this lifetime goal, DJD worked closely numerous supporters including the philanthropic Kahanoff Foundation, who rents office space to charitable organizations at affordable rates. Construction of the Decidedly Jazz Dance Centre within the context of the burgeoning complex, located at Centre Street and 12th Avenue S.E., means that the first five floors of the new building are inhabited by Decidedly Jazz with the six floors above them being occupied by DJD’s co-residents the Calgary Foundation.
“This building has been a long time coming,” says Cooper. “As the economy has risen and fallen a couple times it’s taken a lot longer than we thought it would. So, there have been many incarnations of what it has now turned out to be. We’ve had really great partners all around. We have had a lot of support from the government and the Kahanoff Foundation, individual donors. You can name a seat in the theatre for $1,000 or donate more and have the building named after you. Everyone from millionaires to the dancer alumnus who are pulling funds together to buy a couple of seats. There are lots of ways you can claim your space within the Centre, which I think is really cool!”
As a member of Calgary’s dance community and DJD’s resident choreographer, Cooper shares her company’s passion for innovation. Aiming to demonstrate that the new facility will consist of more than sprung floors and wires, she is busy rehearsing the first work to be presented in the Centre’s crown jewel studio theatre. Cooper’s latest choreographic work, New Universe, featuring nine dancers and five live musicians performing the music of NYC jazz legend William Parker, is sure to leave a lasting impression as it premieres at the Decidedly Jazz Dance Centre’s Opening Gala on May 27th.
“For me, what I’m really looking forward to is being able to create in the space that the work will be performed in because that is so rare in the dance world. It’s pretty spectacular and that’s where the company will rehearse every day,” says Cooper. “The nice thing about being in this smaller space is that we can run for longer and that’s better for everybody. The artists get to do it more, the work gets stronger, the word of mouth can travel throughout the city and that’s our best ticket seller. I think that all of those things will help to make us more successful.”
A one-of-a-kind place of business that offers a unique forum and launchpad for the performing arts, DJD’s headquarters will undoubtedly make it a cultural focal point as Calgary progresses through a ribbon-cutting Year of Music. Cause for celebration on many fronts, the completion of this new facility marks not only the realization of a dream but denotes the value that citizens continue to attribute to the arts and the ways in which artistic disciplines continue to benefit the community at large.
“We’ve been talking to board for Fluid Festival, we’ve been talking to One Yellow Rabbit, we’ve been talking to the Old Trouts, and Sled Island has approached us about utilising our new spaces. People have already asked to have a wedding on our main floor because it’s gorgeous. And, really, we want to be an arts hub,” Cooper confirms. “Everybody’s excited about it because it has the ability to change the cultural landscape in Calgary. And we’ve had great neighbours; the National Music Centre and Arts Commons are only a few blocks away. We feel like Calgary is building a new arts district right now and it’s really nice to be a part of that.”
DJD’s Opening Weekend Gala that shows off their new studio and performance space takes place May 27 and 28. Then New Universe, DJD’s new work choreographed by Kim Cooper featuring original music composed by New York jazz composer William Parker, who will also lead the live band during performances, runs until June 12.
They say that life is something that happens while you’re busy making other plans and, when it comes to Calgary’s cello-embellished pop-purveyors, Axis of Conversation, the old adage definitely holds true. The past three years have been demanding ones for lead vocalist/guitarist Chris dela Torre who, along with bandmates bassist/vocalist Eric Estor, keyboardist/glockenspieler Gerald Dacanay, violinist/keyboardist Shelly Groves, percussionist Matthew Doherty and cellist Cheryl Bergen, has been burning the candle at both ends.
“The actual recording took two-and-a-half years to complete from first day in studio, if you count songwriting it’s even longer than that,” dela Torre relates. “Since before the band started, I’ve wanted to do an album where we had gift of time, to be able to enter into the process with no real deadline and no real parameters. It ended up being too much of that. By time the third anniversary of start the project rolled around, I thought, ‘This is ridiculous!’ but it was also a case where we just had to make it that kind of record. As a group, we have six children between us now, so working at that pace was less of a luxury and more of necessity.”
Pulling together the many-stringed, Axis of Conversation made the decision to move forward with the production of their latest offering, The House of Stay Together, despite the challenge of balancing creative endeavours with meddlesome day-jobs and domestic distractions. What began as an exercise in exploring the themes of teenage love and tempestuous relationships became a 10-track tribute to the band’s own internal struggle to overcome the mundane and craft something of lasting portent.
“We had been working with our engineer, Cody Coates, for quite a while and loved working him with him – he’s like family, but due to everyone’s schedule the task of putting an album together with him was difficult. We had been stuck for a while when we called up local engineer/producer/musician Arran Fisher (Ship Shape, The Summerlad) in the spring of 2012. We thought he’d be a good choice, because he’s done so much work with Woodpigeon, which requires a lot of recording of strings. Even though he and Cody have a totally different style, I think it was a really great working relationship. I spent a long time finalizing the mixes with our friend Reuben Ghose, who produced our first full-length, Delusions of Safety, six years ago. Reuben and I both knew that success of this new album, in terms of it being a step forward for the band, was in the mix.”
From the deft backmasking on the opening track, “We Make Dew,” to the symphonic spree of “Prince’s Island,” The House of Stay Together is a brilliant coming-of-age album for the subtly sophisticated Axis of Conversation. Lyrically mature yet consummately dance-able, the album that took so long to make allows each situation to build and flourish in its own fashion. Fear and acknowledgement dominate the emotive storyline as dela Torre and company come full-circle and hold a mirror up to their collective mortality.
“I think we were subconsciously approaching this album like it was our last,” confesses dela Torre. “Essentially, it’s a document of the six of us working things out in the basement. I’d describe our current sound as one of confidence, especially compared to our first full-length album. We’re no longer that experimental band that was in the midst of the feeling-out process. We’ve gained a lot personal maturity as people and it’s inevitable that those age-related changes will factor into our music. If this was our last album I’d be okay with that because I think we did a really good job.”
Axis of Conversation will release The House of Stay Together at the Palomino on September 13 and at an afternoon, all ages show at the Cliff Bungalow Community Association on September 14.
Originally published in BeatRoute Magazine September 9, 2013
By Christine Leonard
Photos: Damian Espinosa
TREKKIE CONVENTION GOES INTO ORBIT WITH THE LAUNCH OF THE TREKCETERA MUSEUM
An annual, community-wide Star Trek Convention, Spock Days, is occasion for perking up one’s ears and pursuing a bit of recreation in Canada’s Star Trek capital. Four fun-filled solar rotations of costume parties, celebrity appearances and mingling in the interest of inter-planetary friendship, Spock Days has been turning other bastions of science-fiction fandom green with envy for the past 21 years. A crop-circle-worthy locale on the undiscovered prairies, the festival’s birthplace in Vulcan, Alberta is more than the namesake of Spock’s logic-espousing home world it’s a cosmically certified tourist destination.
“The Town of Vulcan is genuine,” confirms Star Trek enthusiast and repeat Spock Days attendee Shannon Sigvaldasson. “For the residents of Vulcan and the surrounding area, this weekend is their Mardi Gras and they go all out! The whole community sees the benefit of aligning with Star Trek culture and, in so doing, creates a larger, world-renowned identity for their town.”
Enhancing Vulcan County’s reputation for being a veritable Rigel 7 of dark skies and space culture, curators of fandom Michael Mangold and Devan Daniels have announced the impeding launch of Canada’s only Star Trek-themed museum. The Trekcetera Museum is set open during Spock Days with an official ribbon-cutting ceremony featuring this year’s special guests. Actors Robert Picardo “The Doctor” and Ethan Phillips “Neelix,” of Star Trek Voyager fame, and senior illustrator Rick Sternbach are slated to headline this year’s festivities.
“The real joy of seeing celebrities in Vulcan is that the setting provides for more up-close encounters and one-on-one time,” says Sigvaldasson. “There is a kind of freedom and safety that being in Vulcan allows the stars versus the comparatively rigid schedule of a typical convention.”
Guest of honour and Spock Days emcee Robert Picardo, who is also known for his roles as Richard Woolsey from the popular TV series Stargate, will be delivering an original live performance along with his former Voyager co-star and astro-gastronomer, Ethan Phillips. A senior illustrator and designer for Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager and the first two seasons of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, special guest Rick Sternbach will also regale the congregation with insights into his role in creating hundreds of props and set-pieces for the franchise and personal stories of assisting the show’s writers.
“Go for the whole weekend, there’s no reason to leave! Book a hotel room or campsite early, they fill up quickly. Be sure to catch the Parade! Walk the main streets; each shop you wander into will have some fun and unique Trek memorabilia. And, if a group of Klingons invites you to drink with them, do it!”
Spock Days runs from June 7 to 9 in Vulcan, AB.
Originally published in BeatRoute Magazine June 4, 2013
By Christine Leonard
Having added terms such as “rectilinear,” “Diogenes” and “entropy” to the punk rock lexicon, the band that wrote the book on anti-establishmentarian hardcore has come to a personal crossroads. With some fourteen studio albums ensconced in the hallowed halls of music history, So-Cal rock legends Bad Religion must face their own music and address the burning question they posed to the world so many years ago: quality or quantity?
“It’s always a good thing to venture into new territory. We like to hit the reset button once and while,” affirms founding member and bassist Jay Bentley. “We’re always looking to the next project because we view every album as a plateau: making this record took us into the unknown and that was a huge learning experience. Whenever we put our heads together over a record, things inevitably come down to the question, 'How do you define power?' There’s always going to be another punk band out there who’s louder and faster and is bound and determined to try and prove it. We’re more concerned with sharing ideas. That conveyance can be achieved in many ways and in the end, those interactions are the longest standing. Even things that seem diametrically opposed to one another can be quite powerful."
Fuelled by a lethal combination of “caffeine and naivety,” Bad Religion set off album number fifteen with a bang. Bassist Jay Bentley, along with bandmates singer-songwriter Greg Graffin, guitarist Brian Baker, guitarist Greg Hetson and drummer Bruce Wackerman, celebrated guitarist Brett Gurewitz’s 48th birthday in true punk rock fashion by heading into long-time friend and collaborator Joe Barresi’s studio to lay down some tracks. The ultimate result of their labour of lush, The Dissent of Man, resonates with three decades worth of political unrest and social turmoil with a peppering of midlife pith thrown in for good measure.
“The days of the late nineties were about the deepest valley we ever entered as a band,” Bentley admits. “There were moments when we thought quitting might be justifiable, but going through that experience of being humiliated made us appreciate all the things that we’ve been given in life. That was the point where we knew that we either had to dedicate ourselves completely to the craft or just stop doing it all together. In times of doubt, it’s often best to move along from your comfort zone. If you settle in, you’ll never know what’s out there waiting for you to find it.”
A fitting follow-up to The Empire Strikes First (2004) and New Maps of Hell (2007), both also produced by Barresi, The Dissent of Man is an album that can stand on its own merit despite being dubbed a thirtieth-anniversary release by some punk rock pundits. As far as the band is concerned, this new effort is a fresh attempt at getting closer to the truth behind the fleeting human interactions that motivate them to create their indelible audio art. From the bleak urban unrest of “The Day That the Earth Stalled” to the cathartic mockery of “The Devil in Stitches,” it is abundantly evident that Bad Religion has spent the past three years thumbing the scales in their own favour without short-changing the little guy.
“I believe that we’ve struck that awkward balance between ego and taking pride in our work,” postulates Bentley. “Truly, we are humbled that anyone even pays attention to what we have to say. Finally, we’ve just settled into this area of gratitude and as we move into the future our focus is placed on pure enjoyment.”
