Category Archives: features

River Vintage

For the Sake of the Song Sundays

photo by Daniel Thomas Williams

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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Brasstronaut

“People call it whatever they call it, and we just make whatever music we make."

illustration by Brennan Kelly

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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Weed

"Being on the road is super sweet... More bands need to get down with that."

Weed | | photo by Flip Sandy

Weed | | photo by Flip Sandy


A year ago, interviewing Weed would have meant a one-on-one with Will Anderson and his tape deck, when the name was applied to his d.i.y. solo cassettes. Today, he’s flanked by Kevin Doherty (second guitar), Hugo Noriega (bass) and Bobby Siadat (drums), who have melded Weed into an epic lo-fi, guitar-sludge quartet. Anderson couldn’t be happier about the change.

I’m catching them at Budgie’s Burritos as they prepare to release their new EP, Gun Control, next month. The excitement of going on tour to support it is bursting from their collective seams, and the conversation is a reminder that underneath the grabby moniker is a band with serious ethos.
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Peace

"It’s kind of funny trying to describe an album in words."

photo by Amanda Cooper

photo by Amanda Cooper


I’m unsure how many bands have their names bestowed upon them by mysterious strangers at Vancouver’s Funky Winker Bean’s, but I can assume that Peace is one of the few. “It was bequeathed to us by a wise native man,” explains Dan Geddes (vocals/guitar) over a mess of half-empty pints at The Whip, just off of Main Street. Geddes and Peace’s drummer, Geoff Dembicki, were talking to a gentleman at the bar and when they went to leave, the man’s friend, who had remained silent throughout the entire exchange, told them that their unnamed band now had a name: Peace.

  The band’s formation, however, wasn’t nearly as mystical as their name’s origin. Geddes and Dembicki met when they were four, over a friendly game of Candyland. “I told him that he would look better with glasses and the friendship blossomed [as a result of Candyland] and aesthetic criticisms.”

  While Dembicki was unable to make the interview, Peace’s two other members, bassist Connor Mayer and guitarist Michael Willock, were also with us on the warm spring night, ready to share the band’s inner workings with the world.
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Nü Sensae

“On tour you just sit and think for so long, like eight hour drives, sitting, thinking about your life... People are like ‘you get to see all these cities.’ You get to see the highway!"

photo by Katayoon Yousefbigloo

photo by Katayoon Yousefbigloo


“Ok, so we wanna be sponsored by what so far? Beer, a gas station; BP, cause I think it would be easy.” Daniel Pitout is sitting on a bench in Tea Swamp Park: a small corner of trees and playground equipment in Mount Pleasant, and the namesake of Nü Sensae’s most recent EP. He and his two bandmates facetiously run a tally on their wish list of band/life financers while we sip drinks and soak up the sun. Among other things, new axe-shredder Brody McKnight has suggested sponsorship from an apartment building, trance-inducing-bassist/spine-tingling-screamer Andrea Lukic is hoping for one from Toyota, and Animal-on-speed drummer Pitout has his fingers crossed for an endorsement from the town of Whistler “…so I can go to gay week every year for free!”

  It is a scene that seems unusually light and relaxed considering the intensely dark and sometimes frightening music the group plays and the pace of their recent schedule. Since McKnight joined, they have recorded their second full length record, toured extensively across the United States and Canada, both as headliners and openers, and had hardly sunk their toes into Vancouver soil before gearing up for another tour in June.

  The new album, titled Sundowning, will be released on July 24 via Seattle’s Suicide Squeeze Records. The recording took place in February and the vocals were barely finished before the band hit the open road, not only for the first time as a three piece but also as support for Denver’s EMA, playing some of the largest venues of their gigging careers.
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Record Store Day

For The Love Of Good Sound

Is there a sound any more satisfying than a needle hitting vinyl?

  Grant McDonagh, owner of Zulu Records in Kitsilano, has invested a lot in the hopes that there isn’t. “Nothing sounds nearly as good as vinyl,” he says.

  Record stores in Vancouver are still at the heart of music culture. They provide a place for fans to gather and trade records, and they support artists by selling independently produced music. They often even buy music up front, ensuring that emerging bands can pay for tours, studio time, and of course, beer. The digitization of music has sunk mega-retailers like HMV and Tower Records, but independent stores are still getting by thanks to the loyal community of audiophiles and a resurgence in vinyl record sales. Record players and seven-inches are hot ticket items again and the reversal is so complete that Geoff Barton, owner of Audiopile on Commercial Drive, can point me towards to two full aisles of new and used vinyl once occupied entirely by CDs.

  Part of the comeback is because of events like Record Store Day, founded in 2007, which brings together fans, artists and independent retailers to celebrate all aspects of musical culture. Record collectors enjoy sales and special releases, and many stores feature unique in-house performances. In just five years, the event has gone from a handful of independent retailers across North America to hundreds around the world.
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Red Cedar

"This record is a by-product of moving beyond..."

illustration by Alex Stursberg

illustration by Alex Stursberg

 
Standing in front of the formerly titled “Red Cedar House” off of Oak Street, I feel like an audience in front of a stage. Once home to four of five members of local psych/indie/folk band Red Cedar, many a passerby has paused in front of this residence to hear free tunes float out into the surrounding neighbourhood.

  Inside there is an overwhelming dimness; the walls are host to dark wood panels and some of the doorways are rounded, adding a subtle curve of character. Sitting in the living room among the company of a Miles Davis poster and an ancient built in wall-bar, I am introduced to Colin Jones (drums, keyboard), JP Doucet (electric guitar, vocals), and Shaunn Watt (bass, acoustic guitar, vocals). Unfortunately, the other two band members, Andy Bishop and Bruce Ledingham are absent. Hanging out together for the hundredth time in this exceptionally malleable space, now only Jones and Doucet call it home. Red Cedar‘s end, like so much of its musical evolution, now seems evident in the house’s roommate composition. It appears the band has a timeline with an address.
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Indigo Kids

"Boom bap! That’s all you need; stripped down."

illustration by Eli Muro

illustration by Eli Muro

 
The term “indigo children” was originally coined in the ‘70s to describe select members of the next generation as supernatural. These days it has come to represent a more general definition, that of kids who are more creative, empathetic, and strong-willed than others. In this general sense, it is a term that suits Vancouver hip-hoppers Indigo Kids to a tee. The group, spearheaded by MC duo Axiom and Kapok, bursts with creative energy culled from their surroundings to deliver uplifting rhymes over funky, danceable beats.

  Since Discorder last spoke with the kids in the summer of 2011, they have released their sophomore effort Higher Forms and assembled a live band that includes Nick Laggassi (bass), Syd Beagle (drums), DJ K-Rec and Francesca Belcourt (vocals). Having just finished their first string of shows, I caught up with Nick, Kapok and Axiom for a coffee on the Drive to chat about how things have been going and what’s next.
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