illustration by Brennan Kelly
Late on a Thursday evening, hunkered down in a basement jam space crammed end-to-end with sparkly drum kits and vintage synthesizers and covered floor to ceiling in cheap but lush-looking Persian carpeting, Brasstronaut embody the calm in the eye of the storm. The big storm is the impending May 15 release of their second full-length album, Mean Sun, which heralds a cross-Canada tour and revving up their promotional media machine.
But there is also a storm within a storm, a whirlwind of online debate and acrimony sparked by a contentious op-ed piece printed in the Georgia Straight that week. The article attacked bands who pursue crowdsourced funding for albums and tours through sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, and author Michael Mann, uses Brasstronaut as an offensive example of what he refers to as “pan-handling online.” The band is not shying away from the discussion.
Earlier in the day before meeting, Tariq Hussain (lap steel, guitar) met with Mann in the CBC studios for a live discussion on the radio show On the Coast. Rather than fueling the fires of recrimination, Hussain left the show feeling positive. “You touch a nerve when you talk about arts funding,” he says. “This particular article [in the Georgia Straight] is a little bit acerbic, but if you look beyond that there are probably a lot of people who have the same questions, so it’s good to have a discussion about it.”
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River Vintage
For the Sake of the Song Sundays
Interview by Alex de Boer
photo by Daniel Thomas Williams
Standing inside River Vintage during the seventh edition of the singer/songwriter event For the Sake of the Song Sundays (FSSS), I whisper to my friend until the crowd’s stirring settles and heavy silence stares me down. In the upper right-hand corner of the room, above the little stage, a picture of wild horses resembling those on Bob Seger’s “Against the Wind” is stuck to the wall. With a plastic sheen and uneven wooden frame, the image hangs like an enlarged postage stamp.
And, as Rich Hope sits humbly on stage, he sincerely delivers blues tunes to the audience. Prior to Hope, local talent Katelyn Molgard addressed the audience; her head occassionally falling forward, catching on hanging cords, her voice wonderfully riveted and chipped. Molgard’s sharp blues were then followed by a sunnier second act as Vancouver musicians, Shawn Hall and Matthew Rogers of the Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer effectively coordinate harmonica and guitar notes into dynamic and dance-worthy roots beats. Both performances are appropriately punctuated by friendly chatter.
Indeed, the evening was a mixture of vibrancy and silent respect; a night of cheap beer, dancing, singing and strumming in a room caught ramblin’, Jack Elliott style. And it continued ramblin’ until a noise complaint forced a folk fan exodus two songs into Hope’s set. As the audience scattered, it seemed like this interruption was significant, like there was suddenly a danger in this safe place. The dreamy living room awoke, once again a venue.
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