Raleigh pushes pedals, buttons and envelopes

Raleigh reigns 

Trio wins with guitar, cello and drums

by Christine Leonard


Snowblink with Raleigh & SAVK
Palomino Smokehouse April 25, 2013

Local pop-folk trio Raleigh revolves around three distinct voices raised in perfect harmony — the sweet-yet-somnolent reverberations of cellist Clea Anaïs merging with the rock ’n’ ramble wanderlust of drummer Matt Doherty and guitarist Brock Geiger. A popular attraction since rolling off the assembly line nearly three years ago, the rootsy band has picked up some serious speed following the release of their 2011 debut New Times in Black and White.

“Our new album, Sun Grenades and Grenadine Skies, is definitely more of a band effort,” says Geiger. “This time around each person had the opportunity to throw in their own concepts and inspiration. It made it more of a collaborative process and you can hear it in the songs. We’ve been together for a couple of years now and we’ve figured a lot of things out. Guitar, cello and drums is kind of a unique approach from the get-go, so you’ve got to try to use that to the best of your advantage.”

Capitalizing on their natural momentum, the festival-tested Raleigh arrived in Montreal in September 2012 where they spent two-weeks laying down tracks at Hotel2Tango recording studios with noted production nerd Greg Smith and sound engineer Howard Bilerman (Arcade Fire, Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra, Basia Bulat). Thoughtful lyrical pathways opened up into incandescent rocky reveries as Sun Grenades and Grenadine Skies began to take shape.

“If our new album had one theme it would be colour,” says Geiger. “It comes up a lot with Clea. Writing together, I’ve learned to pay attention to the dynamics of how we go about putting colour and mood into a song. I like the idea that music can be visually provoking without relying on the typical methods of storytelling. Knowing how our instruments fit together as a combo and understanding how to leave space, or make things denser, is a big part of it.”

The trio’s tight-knit nature also helps when exploring new sounds. “There’s less room for argument in a small group, but there’s more individual responsibility too,” says Geiger. “There’s nobody to hide behind as you jump from instrument to instrument. Coming from playing in large rock-based ensembles it’s kind of refreshing to be able to experiment so freely, and to know that we can add nice horns and other accessories and effects after the fact.”

An adventurous undertaking, Raleigh’s latest offering merges a trio of artistic narratives into one inscrutably melodic tableau. No strangers to the do-it-yourself motif, these indie-release veterans are now actively seeking a record label to aid in the distribution of the finished product. Geiger remains confident that the band will receive the financial backing and promotional support they’ll need to publish Sun Grenades sometime this fall. But despite the hours spent in the studio, and the number of kilometres they’ve put on the odometer, Raleigh is in no great rush to see their primed and polished LP hit the racks.

“We’ve been touring all of the songs on the new recording for almost a year and have had a lot of time to see how things sit with us, and nothing has been hurried,” Geiger says. “We’ve all put out records on our own, but going with a label seems like the best way to reach more people.”

CALGARY COMIC & ENTERTAINMENT EXPO 2013

CALGARY COMIC & ENTERTAINMENT EXPO

AN INTERVIEW WITH KANDRIX FOONG AND EMILY EXPO

“Shiny!” It’s an apt term to describe an (inter)stellar gathering of fans and talent that has come to be known as the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo (Comic-Con has been trademarked by the San Diego faction). Celebrating its eighth year of exponential growth, this multifaceted exhibition of pop culture and, specifically, science fiction fandom, has much more to offer than staple-rust and hermetically-sealed comic bags. According to event director Kandrix Foong and assistant director Lindsay Thomas (a.k.a. Emily Expo), this year’s show will benefit from some new streamlining and crowd-control measures that were successfully tested when they mounted Edmonton’s version of the Expo late last year.

“We’re on the threshold between being a mid-sized to a large-sized convention,” Kandrix confirms. “I think our expected number of visitors is hovering around 60,000. Obviously, we’ve been working closely with the Stampede Board and fire department to ensure that everyone is safe and happy. High-capacity crowds don’t have to be crazy crowds and we’re implementing initiatives to help alleviate line-ups and take off some of the pressure.”

Embracing a universe of possibilities, this year’s event will see the Expo’s area expand by 47 per cent thanks to the annexation of the Big Four building. This additional 12,000 square feet of outer space will facilitate food services, gaming modules, video games, photo ops and a kid zone. Limiting the number of weekend and single-day passes to the event has also proven to be a key element to keeping the nerfherders in a good mood. Anyone who purchases their ticket in advance is guaranteed entrance to the show and a high-five from Carrie Fisher (just kidding). This means that there will be a limited number of passes available at the door, so buy early to avoid disappointment. Ticket holders will be fast-tracked in through numerous points-of-entry and event organizers have also made it possible for fans to book autograph and photo opportunities with their favourite celebrities in advance via the Expo’s website.

“The bottom line is that, we love our fans and our guests and we want them all to have a fantastic time!” Emily Expo relates. “Creating a comfortable environment and making sure that the foot traffic flows smoothly makes people feel like they’re being taken care of… Little details like meeting guests at the airport, making sure that they’re happy and well fed, have a big positive impact. And I love creating those moments of pure joy, like when we surprised the cast of Star Trek TNG with an appearance by John de Lancie, who played Q.”

Constantly on the hunt for the star-studded event’s next unbelievable guest attendee, Kandrix is thrilled beyond-the-pale to take Firefly “out to the black” as this year’s Expo welcomes Serenity’s Captain Malcolm Reynolds (a.k.a. actor Nathan Fillion) to the fray. Beyond appealing to the renegade sensibilities of the Alberta Browncoat Society members, the Expo has amassed a tremendous roster of cherished performers to grace the convention with their presence. Light-years ahead of the curve, yet still true to its terrestrial origins, the event will also be acknowledging cutting-edge series, like Game of Thrones, while paying homage to never-outdated classics, like 90-year-old Spiderman creator Stan Lee.

“It’s about creating the right mix of hitting stuff everyone recognizes and intermingling those broader classic genres with more niche-oriented projects, like Firefly,” Kandrix explains. “I’m very interested to see the response to Nathan Fillion. He’s an Albertan hero and fans have been asking us to have him at our show for eight years and he finally said yes! We’re competing against conventions in Chicago and Belgium, so it was a bit of a coup that we managed to get him and it’s generating a very exciting vibe.”

It’ll be a feast for the eyes, with everything relating to science fiction, fantasy, horror, animation and beyond on display as over 600 artists, exhibitors, and vendors showcase their wares in the Expo’s impressive marketplace. The ears, however, will not go neglected as the paragon of musical parody, Weird Al Yankovic, delivers a full-blown Alpocalypse concert as one of the Expo’s special events. Other Expo-affiliated events include: The Hub – An Evening Reception with Torchwood torchbearers John Barrowman, Eve Myles, and Gareth David-Lloyd, and An Evening with Game of Thrones, which includes dinner at The Palliser with Peter Dinklage (Prince Tyrion) & Lina Headey (Queen Cersei).

“What sets Calgary’s Expo apart is that we are concerned with producing a unique, solid, stand-alone experience,” Kandrix observes. “In my opinion, having attended conventions throughout North America, [I’ve realized] presenting a vast number of artists at a show is less important than providing a lot of variety. As organizers, we’re huge fans ourselves, so we wanted to touch on a lot of genres and offer an outstanding level of diversity. From Dr. Who and The Terminator, to Weird Al and The X-Files, we’ve gone the extra mile and word-of-mouth is spreading.”

Book off April 26-28 and pull out the sunscreen and spandex, the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo touches down once more!

By Christine Leonard

Originally published  April 22, 2013 · in beatrouteab · in AB CITY, FEATURES. ·

Lauren Mann: a Strange Passion for Sound

Odd future Lauren Mann and Company take new album over land and sea

by Christine Leonard


Lauren Mann & The Fairly Odd Folk
Ship & Anchor Pub  April 10, 2013


There are few things more memorable than those childhood summers spent camping and exploring in the great outdoors. This is especially true for singer-songwriter Lauren Mann and her husband Zoltan Szoges, for whom the past few years have seemed like one extended (and occasionally strange) sleepaway vacation. Having polished off her curatorial collection of songs, Stories from Home, in 2010, Lauren took her partner’s encouragements to heart and set out on a coast-to-coast tour that would become a life-altering adventure.

“It was pretty crazy,” Mann recounts. “When I look back now, I can’t believe we actually did it. It was an incredibly big thing for us to see Canada and meet people from across the country. We teamed up with various transient band members along the road to form an ever-evolving troupe that went all the way to Newfoundland.”

Pages of rhyme continued to accumulate as the kilometres whizzed by, as Mann’s keen eye and quick hand captured her impressions along the way. The finger-snapping folk-pop of her piano keys has always reverberated with colour and joy, but now they also benefit from the grassroots gusto of The Fairly Odd Folk.

Besides initiating her manager-husband in the ways of the keyboard, drums and glockenspiel, Mann has recruited guitarist Josh Akin and another talented married duo, drummer/guitarist Jay Christman and bassist/vocalist Jessica Christman, to fill out her musical retinue. Intensified and electrified, the alt-folk ensemble looks forward to debuting Over Land and Sea, Mann’s latest batch of wildly illustrative campfire tales.

“I’ve been writing the songs on Over Land and Sea for a couple of summers; it’s been a long process,” she says. “Zoltan has remained the visionary behind the music; we are each other’s muses. I was very grateful to be able to take the songs down to Florida to record them with him and work with our wonderful producer Aaron Marsh. The band’s current lineup has been going steady since last fall, and now we’re really comfortable feeding off of each others’ ideas. I’m excited about the future — I feel like we’re honing in on our collective creativity.”

Mann’s passionate observations result in some decidedly fresh and unexpected sounds. Self-discovery by way of exploration is a recurring theme as the pitfalls of love and summits of ecstasy are aptly represented in the alt-folk annals of Over Land and Sea.

“Travelling across Canada and volunteering at summer camps gave me a lot of ideas for the new album. It was really fun just having the option of doing anything we wanted. It opened my eyes to what can happen when you write, dream and imagine,” Mann says. “Finding yourself in a different place every night definitely helps you rediscover who you are and where your priorities lie. It’s cool to find your personal normal within crazy.”

CD release parties abound with the coming of spring and Lauren Mann and The Fairly Odd Folk are poised to bring their piano-based and glockenspiel-enhanced rural-rock mash-ups to patios across the nation. Embarking from their erstwhile headquarters in Brooks, Alberta, Mann and her P.T. Barnum-esque entourage look forward to plying their electro-acoustic craft at Regina’s JUNOFest. Next they’ll dip into the United States for what promises to be a rollicking North American tour.

“It’s kind of funny, but we think of ourselves as one big family on a trip. Musically we’re on the brink of folk, indie and pop. Now that we’re a full band, things are getting tighter and are leaning towards alt-pop with some folky elements. It’s hard to say what the next album will sound like…. I love rock and roll, but I fell into folk quite naturally, so it’ll likely be a hybrid of electric guitar and ukulele.”

INDIAN HANDCRAFTS : An interview with Brandyn Aikins

INDIAN HANDCRAFTS

Mixed Martial Arts & Crafts for Losers

 

SHOOTING ARROWS AT THE SUN: Christine Leonard interviews Indian Handcrafts' Brandyn "Bruce Lee" Aikins

More than just your average roadside attraction, Indian Handcrafts is an exceptionally sharp and hard-hitting power duo from the sweltering burbs of Barrie, Ont. A serious contender for album of the year, the outfit’s November 2012 debut on the Sargent House record label, Civil Disobedience For Losers, is an action-packed thrill ride that leaves no doubt that two can sound as good as four, or more. One half of Indian Handcraft’s devastating onslaught, drummer Brandyn Aikins feels fortunate that destiny arranged for him to meet up with guitarist/vocalist Dan Allen at the recording studio of a mutual friend.

“Dan and I started jamming for fun,” Aikins explains. “But, before we knew it, what was basically a fun distraction grew into the foundations of full-fledged band. By 2003, we had formed an indie folk group, called Fox Jaws, which featured my sister, Carleigh, on vocals. Still, Dan and I loved, and had a tendency to want to play, heavy music. So, it was only natural that the whole time we were in Fox Jaws we experimented with other directions we could go in. After a time, we kind of decided that, if we were going to be completely satisfied with what we were doing, we need to change things up and said, ‘Why don’t the two of us try out some of those heavy riffs Dan’s been working on?’”

Leaner and meaner, the trimmed-down twosome of Aikins and Allen began stretching their performing and songwriting skills to achieve the ample-yet-calculated sonic manoeuvres that characterize their sound. Taking themselves outside the box and out of their usual element, Indian Handcrafts conjured the fighting spirit of Bruce Lee on a track named in his honour and succeeded in exorcising their heavy metal demons the old-fashioned way.

“We had a surplus of energy built up coming out of the old band and that helped us write a lot of songs. Lyrically, we were all over the place, stabbing at a lot of themes, ranging from goofy, psychedelic tales, like ‘Terminal Horse,’ to songs about the uprising of Indigenous populations, or Soviet Union-era politics, or individuals who struggle with mental illness, as we allude to on ‘Centari Teenage Riot.’ I’ve done a lot of things in my life, but I have yet to link arms with strangers to stop a tank in the streets. It may not be too deep, but by making my music the way I want to, I can put forth my convictions in my own way.”

Soon to become a worst-kept secret, Indian Handcrafts is preparing to embark on a cross-Canada tour with Billy Talent, Sum 41 and Hollerado. Having made waves at Edgefest, the band that‘s louder than acts three times their size anticipates that they’ll be kicking off 2013 with a bang. And they’ve got the tenacity to hang in there. After all, Allen recorded their stunning new album with a broken hand!

“We try and sound huge and put out that heavy vibe that we’ve always loved and wanted to play. The fact that it’s so much easier to get our act together, as a pared-down two-piece, is purely a bonus. There’s a lot of serendipity in how it’s all come together for us. For now, this is part of my life. It’s what I’m interested in. And, it’s quite an honour. But, I never forget that it’s important to have fun and I’m looking forward to experience things I never knew existed before.”

Originally published in FFWD Weekly Magazine -- March 2013
By Christine Leonard

Ron Rault : An All-Star Tribute to The Band

Another date with “The Weight”

A tribute to The Band returns to the Ironwood

by Christine Leonard


All Star Tribute to The Band
Ironwood Stage & Grill
Friday, February 15-16, 2013

The year was 1970, and young music enthusiast Ron Rault hadn’t really been up front at a rock concert before. He soon found himself pressed against the trembling barriers of McMahon Stadium as the legendary cast of the Festival Express Tour took to the stage, and he knew there’d be no turning back. Now an accomplished bass player and bandleader, Rault recalls being especially riveted by The Band’s masterful performance, featuring the late great drummer and composer Levon Helm. Helm, who passed away in April, remains as relevant as ever and was honoured at this year’s Grammys with a rousing rendition of one of The Band’s most popular tunes, “The Weight.”

“Being 10 feet away from those incredibly talented musicians was a life-changing and, dare I say, religious experience for me,” Rault, uncle to guitar prodigy Michael Rault, recounts.

Captivated then and now with the soulful reveries and bottom-heavy blues that distinguished The Band’s rustic rock anthems, Rault and his band, the Front Porch Roots Revue, have dedicated themselves to venerating what they consider to be some of the finest material to ever come out of Canada. When it comes to waxing nostalgic with seven-part harmony, you need look no further than The Band. And that’s exactly what Rault had in mind when he came together with a mandolin-slinging ensemble of like-minded musicians to pay tribute to Ontario’s original road warriors.

“I have a feeling that I’m speaking for everyone in Front Porch when I say we were deeply touched and moved by The Band’s music in a way that goes beyond genres,” he says. “They have had an indefinable influence on our musical upbringings, and popular music in general, much in the same way that The Beatles have. It was absolutely no effort for us to learn all these songs so quickly. We went back and studied the roots of The Band’s rough, roadhouse sound and found everything from country, bluegrass, gospel, blues, R&B and soul. You can’t put your finger on exactly what kind of music it is, but when I watch from my perch on bass I am thrilled with how our group immerses itself in every interpretation we do.”

Accompanying bassist and vocalist Rault in his recently reshuffled Front Porch Roots Revue are organist/pianist/accordion player/vocalist Ron Casat (Edmonton Folk Music Festival House Band), guitarist/mandolinist/vocalist Gord Matthews (The Reclines, Ian Tyson’s trio), Calgary’s prodigal son/singer-songwriter/pianist J.R. Shore, percussionist Thom Moon, vocalist/harmonica player Dave “Crawdad” Cantera and Vancouver transplant vocalist/rhythm guitarist Doug Andrew (The Circus in Flames, Shanghai Dog). Rault hopes their wiry and woody ensemble will be treated to the same warm reception they received at last year’s back-to-back performances.

“I was somewhat surprised when we sold out the Friday night show last year and had a very large crowd on the Thursday,” he recalls. “I think it’s interesting that this version of Front Porch has three members from Calgary and three from Edmonton, as well as one from Vancouver. It really is a remarkable collective of accomplished players and singers from the Western Canadian roots scene, and we all share such a great love and admiration for The Band."

“I never consider the songs we present for Up on Cripple Creek as being covers," he continues. "There are wedding bands out there that learn these songs note for note, but we have always asked our guys to take these classic tunes and make them their own. When you hear a young man like J.R. Shore pulling out such raw and deep pieces of Canadiana you gain a sense of the reverence and respect he has for the work; it simply transports you to another time and place.”

SONICWAVES OF ICELAND - An interview with Mark Hamilton by Christine Leonard-Cripps

SonicWaves bridges the gap between Calgary and Reykjavik

 

Sonic Waves presented in conjunction with One Yellow Rabbit's  High Performance Rodeo

Local man-about-town turned international songwriter Mark Hamilton has spent the better part of the last decade nurturing his fledgling folk vehicle, Woodpigeon, into a recording and touring success. Relocating from Calgary to Brighton, Edinburgh, and eventually Vienna, his passion for fashioning new musical constructs has led him to develop relationships that would never have been available to him had he remained static. Best informed by exploring a broad scope of cultural environments, Hamilton will soon return to Calgary, bringing with him the SonicWaves event — a musical mini-fest that will hopefully bridge the gap between Iceland and Calgary.

“The idea for SonicWaves came from my first visit to Iceland in 2009,” Hamilton says. “Since then I’ve come back three additional times, including a performance at Iceland Airwaves 2012, one of the greatest festival experiences of my life. What I took primarily from my visits here was a sense of self-confidence — that if my songs got me here, they could get me anywhere. And with that in mind, I wanted to share that feeling with some Calgary musicians that I’m a fan of.”

Hamilton sought out Icelandic musicians to collaborate on a project that would come to be known as SonicWaves. He also called upon a handful of Calgary’s most prolific songmakers to pair their original creations with the material being generated by his Mid-Atlantic collective.

“As far as kinship, the Icelanders we know are some of the sweetest, most giving musicians I’ve ever met. It’s a great feeling to be working so closely with true friends like this,” he says. “Alongside me stand Clinton St. John, Laura Leif, Samantha Savage Smith and, from Reykjavik, Benni Hemm Hemm and Prins Póló. Our process has been incredibly stress-free, which could be a bit surprising given how we’re each so in control of our own projects. Despite our short time together, this feels like a band already. No one has acted sacred or unwilling to take suggestions. Each member has brought a piece or three of music along to flesh out. It’s been a great experience standing in a circle in a studio space on the waterfront, wandering back and forth between instruments, and seeing what sticks."

“I’ve always thought that coming to Iceland is a bit like visiting the moon,” Hamilton continues. “The colours and the shapes and the nature of the wild around you is unlike anywhere else I’ve been. We chose to take a tour of the country before sitting down to actually write the music. Yesterday, Laura Leif and I went for a walk through Þingvellir, the site of the first Icelandic parliament. We strolled between the Eurasian and Mid-Atlantic Ridge, towering on either side of us. The thought hits you of what exactly you’re looking at — glaciers bigger than you can comprehend, or massive volcanoes that could change the face of the planet with a single eruption.?

"I can’t help but think about the human spirit that keeps us as a species here — that at times the conditions can be so uncomfortable, but the Icelanders stubbornly stay put. I think we’ve got a similar attitude in the prairies, to an extent — I think it takes a special person to truly love the prairies and realize what’s stretching out in front of them. We’ve spent a fair bit of time talking about it this week, actually, despite the incredible differences in the landscapes we come from, (we are) a group of young musicians from seemingly opposite ends of the world communicating with song.”

An intriguing addition to the High Performance Rodeo, SonicWaves is a concept that has been three years in the making. Thanks to the assistance of key supporters Kerry Clarke, Mark Hopkins and Erin O’Connor, Hamilton was able to co-ordinate a sequence of SonicWaves performances.

 “The shows will change from night to night, and these songs themselves will also develop over the course of the three performances at HPR. I think we’ll be starting the evenings off with short opening introductory sets from Benni and Prins, so they can show off their own material to a Canadian audience, followed by the group presentation of the works amassed here in Iceland. We’ve got a song about an Icelandic folk tale, for which the Calgarians received a quick lesson in pronunciation, while another song features our Reykjavik collaborators singing in Icelandic with a beautiful backing bit.”

by Christine Leonard


Originally Published January 31, 2013 in Fast Forward Magazine


 

The Mahones interviewed by Christine Leonard

THE MAHONES SHAKE HANDS WITH THE DEVIL

"Pogue mahone!" is a variant of the Irish phrase póg mo thóin, meaning "kiss my arse"

Keelhauling ancient tradition and giving it forty lashes with a punk rock twist, The Mahones are a notoriously Irish band that just happens to harbour some very Canadian roots. Conceived in Kingston, Ontario one fateful Saint Patrick’s Day, the long-running outfit can proudly boast a 23-year history of music and mayhem. Running the gambit from dirty ol’ town murder ballads to hard-charging hardcore fisticuffs, The Mahones have come to embody the respectable revolutionary. With his ninth album on tap, the quintet’s lead singer/guitarist/mandolin player, Dublin-born Finny McConnell, admits he had a difficult time penning an album that could contend with their previous effort, 2010’s The Black Irish. He decided it was time to for The Mahones to raise the bar, instead of just polishing it with the sleeves of their coats.

“We started working on Angels & Devils almost as soon as we had finished recording The Black Irish,” McConnell reports. “There was no break, which is odd for us because we usually take a few years off between records. A couple times we’ve taken as long as five years in between. Of course, I was drinking a lot more back then. Now, things are coming out much faster for us. We wrote the songs for the new album around springtime, recorded in the summer and we were absolutely thrilled to be able to release it in November of 2012.”

The Mahones, Finny McConnell and his lovely wife Katie “Kaboom!” McConnell (accordion, vocals), Dom “The Bomb” Whelan (drums, vocals), Sean Winter (mandolin, banjo, vocals) and Paul “Cuzo” Mancuso (bass, vocals), each came to the table with big ideas for the dichotomous follow-up.

“You could say that Angels & Devils is a really big production. We felt it was the only way to take things further than we had already gone on The Black Irish,” he confirms. “We moved to Montreal two years ago and the best part is that the studio I work at is just across the street from our house. I get to just roll-out of bed and roll-in to work. That’s what allowed me to put so much time into the album. I worked closely with our producer to engineer and spent a lot of time in the studio adding more layers into the sound. I knew I wanted two things. One: really fucking big stadium sound. And, two: no shortcuts. Up until now, I’ve always wished we’d done more on each record we’ve put out. This time, I made sure we did things the right way and put the cherry on top.”

Applying their love of classic Celtic arrangements to their equally evocative politico-punk railings, The Mahones arrived at the crossroads of good and evil, where saints and sinners reconcile over Guinness and boxty. From the frenetic celebration of “Shakespeare Road” and the spirited “Spanish Lady” to the live off-the-floor feel of “The King of Copenhagen” and “Whiskey Train,” The Mahones throw an enthralling party. Purists can rest assured, pipes and strings a-plenty festoon the inexhaustible céilidhs that comprise the reeling hub of the album’s heady track list.

“I don’t remember the ’90s very well, the drunken heyday when we started up the band. It was all about ‘Drunken Lazy Bastard’ and ‘Paint the Town Red.’ I’m happy to say that I’m very focused on my music at this point. I’m married, I’m a father and I’ve matured a lot over the years. I’m a positive thinker and I think that, despite the fact that there’s a lot of darkness in the world, we’ve got to motivate people to reach for the stars. I always tell people that they can do anything and never to let anybody hold you back. I’ve had teachers who told me I couldn’t sing, let alone lead a band, and I’ve toured and performed all over the world. Never take ‘no’ for an answer. And, most importantly, follow your genre. I knew I was an Irish punk, so I followed that road… past the pint of no return.”

Catch the Mahones at the SAIT Gateway on January 18.

By Christine Leonard

Originally published in BeatRoute Magazine 14 January 2013