Black Mastiff - Interview with Clay and Bob

Black Mastiff Seize Control
with Loser Delusions

by Christine Leonard

“All of the songs in my head are Black Mastiff!”

It’s a common condition among those who have been exposed to the Edmonton rock band’s wide-bottomed grooves and soulful vocals. Renowned for their thick curves and intuitive rhythms, the heavy blues-metal trio has eclipsed their local scene and grown in stature and repute on a diet of beefy riffs and Alberta rye.

Far from the desert canyons and rocky peaks pursued by their headbanging brethren, Black Mastiff is most at home prowling the urban landscape and exploring Edmonton’s dark underbelly. It’s where they found the inspiration for their latest album, Loser Delusions; its name a cheeky tip of the bandana to Axl Rose, reflecting Black Mastiff’s state of mind.

“It was first thrown out as a bit of a joke,” explains bassist Clay Shea. “We had a giggle and then we thought about it for a bit and it just kind of made sense to us, with the way the writing process had been going and our dedication to the process of getting together. Our drummer, Allan (Harding), had been living in Vancouver and we were just trying to stay motivated and were a bit delusional about the future.”

It was a trial and a test for the sludgy outfit, who’s self-titled debut appeared in 2011. Working on Loser Delusions, Shea and guitarist/vocalist Bob Yiannakoulias knew they had reached a crucial stage in the band’s development, a high watermark that would see the fuzzy entity sink or swim for its melodic life.

“We’re always going for it, but we had to work hard to make this one happen,” says Yiannakoulias of working long-distance. “It took a lot of motivation because that cathartic thing you get from going to practice, turning up the amps, cranking up, blowing through your songs and having those rewarding jams wasn’t there. Sometimes it was less fun, but we had to stay really focused, and keep our shit together, and put in that time. Everybody had to pretty much step up the level of dedication.”

And step up they did, creating their own record label Grand Hand, in cahoots with tourmates Chron Goblin, along the way. It was a decision that put them in charge of their destiny and once Black Mastiff had the leash in their jaws there was no restraining their artistic impulses.

“We never really lost control,” says Shea, “but I feel like this was all just about regaining control and knowing we can keep doing this. We’ve got the chops to keep doing what we’re doing.”

Black Mastiff perform Fri, Oct. 11 at The Palomino Smokehouse (Calgary), Fri, Oct. 18 at Hard Luck (Toronto) and Fri, Oct. 25 at Temple (Edmonton).

Tuesday 08th, October 2019 / 07:00 

in • Alberta, • Rockpile

Déjà View : Chron Goblin Interview

Chron Goblin Dismantles the Past
on New Album, Here Before

by Christine Leonard

Photo by Sebastian Buzzalino

Good fences make good neighbours, but if you’ve walked down the rambling alleys of Brentwood, Calgary in the past two decades, you might have caught drift of a hidden skateboard ramp and the band that dwells nearby like an ear-blasting company of trolls.

So the story goes, but no one knows the legend of this secret suburban shred-spot better than Devin “Darty” Purdy, aka lead guitarist to Calgary’s preeminent psych-metal outfit, Chron Goblin.

“The Brentwood Ramp, which has consumed the souls of many missed tricks, was built in 1997 by the City of Calgary and acquired by the Goblins in 2006,” says Purdy. “It was the main feature for many parties and band photoshoots and provided a great mental break from jamming. Unfortunately, termites got the best of it and we had to take it down this year, but its memory lives on!”

Purdy’s generosity in sharing his good fortune and square footage made the ramp a destination for members of Calgary’s skateboarding and indie music scene, just as his basement became the rehearsal room of choice for bandmates vocalist Josh Sandulak, drummer Brett Whittingham and bassist Richard Hepp. 

“It formed a hub for weekly backyard skate sessions, barbecues and basement jamming. So many memories of watching some of Calgary’s finest skating the hell out of the ramp well past dark, wheels clacking and trucks grinding, people hollering and dropping off the garage roof into the ramp,” Whittingham says reminiscing. “The band photo in our album Life for the Living is an awesome shot of us sprawled out on a couch in the middle of the ramp with a million beer cans strewn everywhere. Also, those nasty maggots growing in the recycling!”

It’s enough to bring tears to your eyes. Listening to the group’s brand new release, Here Before, it’s hard to believe that six years have passed since that sofa-king-cool snap was taken of the ambitious young punks with their desert-rock-meets-thrash dreams. Having furthered the arc of their ascent with 2015’s Backwater, Chron Goblin are accustomed to challenging themselves to master new techniques, but it’s their interpersonal skills that have truly elevated their game.

“I think the only way we’ve gotten to that 10-year mark is by evolving our relationship as friends and as bandmates in terms of our communication and being crazy honest with each other. Probably more honest than we are with anyone else in our lives. That in itself has caused us all to reflect more deeply on who we are as people and what’s led to a maturing of our band,” says Sandulak. 

Wild at heart, but growing wiser by the minute, Here Before delivers exhilarating maneuvers that come close to the thrill of pulling off rad stunts on the old Brentwood Ramp, but this round comes without the consequence of bruised up shins and beer can maggots.

Friday 20th, September 2019

Album Review: Chron Goblin – Here Before

Chron GoblinHere BeforeGrand Hand Records

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.

Best Track – Giant

by Christine Leonard

12th, September 2019 in • Record Reviews, MUSIC

To Infinity And Beyond, Gone Cosmic - Interview

Gone Cosmic Travel

 Sideways In Time

By Christine Leonard

Photo: Mario Montes

Coming of age in an erratic era, vocalist Abbie Thurgood, lead singer of the breakout band Gone Cosmic, has found herself grappling with the same issues that confront other millennials facing their mid-twenties. Already an accomplished songwriter and recording artist by her teens, she had spent time honing her solo style and building up her musical I.Q. performing in acts such as The Torchettes. Yet she was still restless.

“I was going through a lot of changes during this time,” Thurgood confides. “My life completely shifted in every direction. My work, my love life, my band life – everything did a 180. I was going through this process of wondering why my brain was reacting to things and certain situations, why I was making the choices I was making and what’s bringing me to the point I’m at now.”

The stars aligned and Thurgood found herself in the enviable position of being presented with a body of deeply groovy instrumental compositions that was just begging for her vocal enhancements. The catch? These were no run of the mill verse-and-chorus rock songs. Amassed by the collision of veteran Calgary players, guitarist Devin “Darty” Purdy and bassist Brett Whittingham of Chron Goblin and drummer Marcello Castronuovo of Witchstone, Gone Cosmic’s lysergic catalogue ranges the interstellar abyss between freeform metal and heavy jazz.

“It’s insane. I remember the first time I heard the basement demos. I ended up sitting there for five hours and breaking it all down song by song and making notes on where the deadlocks went into cool stargazy bridges,” she recounts in vivid detail. “All of the songs were a challenge. I love this style of music and I love the heavier stuff, but I’ve never written to it. I was like, ‘Okay, how do I completely step out of my element and throw myself into this?’ It was a matter of finding and placing the melodies, which came rather naturally despite the fact that it was all chaos!”

Taming the turmoil that boils beneath the surface, Thurgood’s agency over Gone Cosmic’s volatile atoms has resulted in a supersonic psych-rock synergy of controlled detonations and harrowing lyrical odysseys.

“I think the intimidation factor for me was that these are heavy, punchy, crazy tracks and coming from a doo-wop, soul and a little bit of rock background ultimately my voice wasn’t pushed to what it is now,” Thurgood observes. “It would be easy to get lost within what the instruments are doing, so it needed to have that powerful grasp. I started to do my best to go bigger and bring the power through the vocals and actually getting that attention because even though I was comfy, I know I have this growl and I have this intensity.”

Bottling that rocket-fuelled energy, Gone Cosmic ventured to OCL Studios in September of 2018, when the golden wheat of Earth was at its highest. There the quartet captured the eight complex and compelling tracks that make up their forthcoming full-length debut, Sideways in Time (Kozmik Artifactz), with the oversight of engineer/producer Josh Rob Gwilliam.

“It was the madness of the songs. It wasn’t formulaic. It may never be. It completely came down to the art of what we wanted to create. And it came through beautifully,” reflects Thurgood. “I was thinking ‘Okay. This is my genre!’ Even as a singer-songwriter back in the day when I went down to Nashville. People were asking ‘What’s your genre?’ I had no idea. ‘I’m not country. I’m not blues. I don’t know.’ So, this is the first time it works!”

Space out at Gone Cosmic’s album release party with All Hands on Jane and The Ashley Hundred April 12 at The Palomino Smokehouse and Social Club (Calgary), April 13 at Bohemia (Edmonton), April 14 at Bo’s Bar & Stage (Red Deer), April 19 at Amigos Cantina (Saskatoon), April 20 at German Club (Regina), May 3 at Wheelies (Victoria) and May 4 at SBC Restaurant (Vancouver)

10th, April 2019  

in • AB - Features, • Alberta, • Rockpile, FEATURED, MUSIC