Partnering with Sailor City Promotions, Toronto-based graphic artist Christ Tompkins is designing the art for rock shows at the Foggy Goggle. Last week we posted his design for Carey Beck’s rockabilly show. This week brings two more. The first presents Tommy Green Jr. (of Halifax’s Telfer) and Mike Bochoff with opening guest David Mudge on Friday, May 7. The following night features Moncton rocker Marco Rocca with Jason Haywood. Check out their music online at their respective MySpace profiles (hyperlinked on their name) and hit up the shows this Friday and Saturday. Life is better with live music.
This Saturday, May 1st, rockabilly musician Carey Beck performs at the Foggy Goggle in Halifax. Chris Tompkins, a graphic artist based in Toronto and originally from Centreville, New Brunswick, designed the poster for the show. Check out the poster, check out the music.
If you haven’t heard of David Myles, fear not; now you have heard of him and you no longer have to worry about missing out on one of the most gifted songwriters Canada has to offer.
Myles’ list of musical accomplishments is incredible and well earned. Here’s a small sample of what David Myles has been up to:
- His albums “Things Have Changed” (2006) and “On The Line” (2008) have brought him to national attention including a radio hit with “When It Comes My Turn”, a song about growing old with a little grace and a smile on your face.
- Yesterday (April 20th 2010) saw the release of Myles’ fourth album “Turn Time Off”. The album was produced by Joel Plaskett (!) of Thrush Hermit and Joel Plaskett Emergency fame.
- He won the 2009 International songwriting competition. The judges for this competition included Tom Waits (!!) and Brian Wilson (!!!), both of whom know a thing or two about quality songwriting (Take that, Simon Cowell!).
- He was selected to represent New Brunswick (he’s originally from Fredericton) in CBC Radio’s Great Canadian Song Quest, where he was asked to write and record a song about the popular tourist destination the Hopewell Rocks.
- He was nominated for Male Entertainer of the Year and won Folk Recording of the Year at the 2009 East Coast Music Awards for “On The Line”. He also won the Folk/Roots Recording of the Year for Music Nova Scotia in 2007.
- He joined Nova Scotia Rapper Classified onstage at the Much Music Video Awards last year, playing trumpets on Class’ hit track “Anybody Listening” (He told me that he met the Jonas Brother’s, who were hosting the show, and was surprised how nice they were. “They didn’t come off like cheese heads at all” he told me).
- On April 16th , 2010 he had the honour of playing a gig with Symphony Nova Scotia.
His accomplishments sound like those of someone twice his age who’s carreer might be wrapping up, but Myles is just getting started.
Myles’ sound is a seamless mixture of jazz, folk and blues with heartfelt and honest lyrics that pinpoint the hard-to-articulate pressure points of the human condition. Seriously he’s that good, but the thing that impressed me the most about David Myles (who was kind enough to take time out of his busy schedule to chat with me last November while in the middle of recording “Turn Time Off”) is that he is without a stitch of pretence. He’s soft spoken, kind, funny and thoughtful, and his ego seems to be non existent. It was a pleasure to be able to pick his brain about his craft, his success and his views on music.
If you haven’t heard of David Myles before you are in for a treat. He’s a great interview, full of interesting anecdotes and practical advice for all you artists out there. He’s a man who’s found success on his own terms without letting it get to his head, and that’s all any artist should be after.
Unfiltered Smoke: You’re living the dream a lot of artists are striving for. You’re a professional musician with no day job. I think a lot of our readers would like to know how you’ve accomplished that.
David Myles: I was lucky. Basically when I decided I was going to go for it I had about 5000 bucks saved up. I made a record and then moved out west. I started to play all the time and once my savings dwindled I moved to Halifax and worked a few temp jobs, then I made another record and then started touring again. I took some time off work, and eventually things started to happen. In the last three and a half years I haven’t worked [a day job] at all
US: That’s an amazing feat.
DM: It’s great because as it develops you get further away from it making sense to get a job. I’m starting to realize I have a couple of years where music is going to be my career.
US: That’s what every musician wants to do
DM: That’s it, and that’s what you have to keep perspective on. For me the big thing is to always realize that this is what I want, that my goal in life is to make music. It’s seemed ambitious enough and it seemed kind of crazy enough that I figured if I could make a living at it then I’m like the luckiest dude ever. But each year that goes by I feel like ‘when is this going to run out?’
US: It seems to me that you’re on the cusp of getting a lot more exposure. I’ve been hearing more and more about you from places like CBC radio.
DM: It’s definitely getting busier. That’s the other thing though, it takes time. I mean it depends on the type of music you play, but I suspect that the type of music I play, or at least how I kind of built my career, I’m hoping it is going to be a long career that slowly builds. Like a 40 year thing hopefully
US: Well your music doesn’t ride any fads or trends.
DM: That’s right, and it’s not going to become really popular over night.
US: People who like it are going to like it because it’s really good not because of some sort of flavour of the month type deal.
DM: Yeah, hopefully. I mean I think there’s a lot of really good music that was only popular for like a couple years. I think music I was into when I was 17 wasn’t the same stuff I was into when I was 25. When I was 17 I cared so much about certain bands that might not be popular right now, but they had some big years. That kind of career you have to capitalize on and it’s like how do you take advantage of that little time? I’m sure there’s a little bit of that in every career but my whole thing has always been not to spend very much money so I can always float by. So I’m never finding myself making big compromises or doing something just to make money.
US: You don’t strike me as that kind of musician.
DM: I keep hoping that the records I have made will grow and people will go back and listen to them and maybe they’ll become really popular in ten years, you don’t know. But that’s how I’ve tried to focus on it and stay positive about everything. I focus on the record and make sure it’s really good and people will eventually come around if they want to come around.
The weird thing is that it kind of happens that way. Because I’ve never had huge commercial success, so it basically means that each of my records slowly builds, like I’ll get an email from somebody who’s just picked up a record that I made five years ago. It’s slowly getting around and I end up selling more copies of that first record that I did four or five years ago, and that’s pretty cool, you know what I mean? Because it means your back catalogue still works for you. It’s not like it’s over as soon as you put it out, like one shot at banging a number one hit and if it doesn’t happen it’s over. I think there’s a little bit of that protection too for people who might not be in the music industry. When I first got in I was like ‘Ok, I’m gonna make a record and it’s either going to be something really popular or I’m not going to have a career’ and it’s just not really like that. You just slowly build. Sometimes early records are better. Everybody has a band they love the old stuff. The early stuff wasn’t as popular but you come to it later.
US: I know, personally, when I discover a band it’s only a matter of time before I go back and comb through their back catalogue.
DM: That’s how I hope it goes but it seems that each record gets a little bigger. I mean I’m lucky, man. I have a cool life, I get to do a lot of cool things. I don’t tour all the time, but I do fun tours that I want to do. I feel lucky because I don’t have too many pressures in terms of what I do. I really don’t have that
US: So there’s no one breathing down your back saying “Put more hooks in this song and gives us more singles”?
DM: Yeah, I don’t think so. I’m making the new record right now with Joel Plaskett and I basically paid Joel to be that guy who says ‘lets put this hook in here’ but it’s great because I totally trust him. This is the first time I’ve paid a producer to produce the record and be part of the process. I’ve only worked with Chuck (Hoffman) before and that’s been amazing, but it was way more chill. He’s like, lets just try everything out and see how it goes. And I take a pretty strong production role in that kind of relationship.
With the new record it’s been like ‘ok, Joel I want you to produce this record, I’m gonna play you my songs and you tell me what you think.’ It’s cool. I’ve definitely learned to step back and say ‘go with it, what do you think?’ and he’ll say ‘why don’t you do this, this or this’ and we really end up with some cool stuff. But the reason I think he’s such a great person for this kind of thing is that he’s a pretty good model of exactly what we’re talking about. Just kind of doing your own thing over a long period of time and have it pay off. It’s pretty friggin’ amazing to see his career develop and it’s pretty friggin’ well deserved. Working with him I realized just how hard he works. It’s pretty impressive. I’ve known him for a few years but now working with him closely it’s like he operates on a pretty high level. He can stay focused for so long, and listens so carefully and has great ideas. It’s pretty inspiring.
Joel and I have the same management and that’s kind of how we met. I knew him a little before but we started spending more time together because of our manager, and we’re both lucky because our manager isn’t the type of manager who says you should do this or that. She’s really supportive, she’s a really, really good manager
I feel lucky too because I don’t have a label. My albums are released on my own label.
US: How did you get started with that?
DM: I just decided I wanted to put a logo on my first record. That was before I had distribution but I figured why not have a little novelty logo? I come up with a logo, came up with a name of my company and eventually the record got distribution. Just like any independent record it took a long time. I’d been selling it off the stage while touring. Once I’d done enough touring and sold enough copies of my record off stage and over the internet I made a pitch to a couple distribution companies. I said ‘listen, I’ve sold this many records, I’ve toured across the country and I want my record in stores.’ They really couldn’t ignore what I had done. It’s pretty ideal. I mean the only advantage that a label provides is that everything is in the same place; publishing and distribution. I don’t want to borrow money from a label, it’s not my style, I don’t like going into debt. I’m not a debt kind of dude [laughs] and basically it’s something they can hold over your head and I don’t want that. I’d rather spend less money or save money for along time or put it all on my visa cards. At lest it’s on my own terms and I’m not making hundred-thousand dollar records. If I needed that kind of dough I’d need a label but that’s not the kind of records I’m making
US: Your records still sound great regardless of the money behind them.
DM: Yeah, thanks, well you can make a good sounding record for cheap these days if you focus on what you’re doing. They do get more expensive as you go but they’re doable. As for a publicist you can basically hire a publicist yourself without having a label publish it and again, I like that because I get to choose instead of having it published by the label.
US: So you started as a one man show.
DM: It’s pretty cool. The management helps. It keeps everything together, and that’s the biggest step. I had a distributer and a publicist. Publicists are more a matter of if you wanna send them money you can get them. Distribution is harder to access. Once you start touring it becomes a lot easier to access though. Management is a big step. They can put me in touch with agents, someone who would work out well with what I was after.
Everything is in place and everyone is working on stuff but my business isn’t floating their boat. How I like to work is invest in the long term. Build your team and get people close to you. So my records might not be making them a lot of money right now but the thinking is if it grows, eventually everything will pay off. As an artist you have to grow.
US: Doing an album with someone as famous as Joel Plaskett must come with certain expectations, do you feel like there are higher expectations out there for the new album?
DM: There was quite a bit of expectation in the last record because the record before was a big jump, it’s what helped me build a team and get some attention. This time there is more expectation because all the team behind it were in place before I started recording. This record will be done recording by about Christmas and we’re releasing it in April. So it gets done and there’s 4 months to release it, which is awesome, but I’ve never been this organized before [laughs]. It’s always been like the day before release and I’m going through the boxes to make sure the right records are inside.
This time I feel if there’s more expectation it’s because everything is in place to make it work. Joel is a great guy to work with because he focuses on the important stuff.
US: If there is added pressure it doesn’t seem to be getting under your skin.
DM: I guess I’ve just been more chill in general. I wrote a lot before this record. I had a really chill winter last year so I just wrote and wrote and wrote and got a whole bunch of stuff. I’ve been playing with the band more, developing the songs, so I feel good about it. To be totally honest I always hope for the best and expect the worst
I focus on making a great record and that’s all I focus on. It’s the other factors you can’t worry too much about. Like there’s so many records you hear and you think ‘this is going to be a huge record’ and it’s not and there’s another record you don’t think anything of and it becomes huge. There are x factors in the business that I’ve come to realize I have no control over. All I can do is put out the best record I can and I think this is going to be a really good record. I’m really excited about it. I’ve had more time to focus on the important things.
A huge part of my career is playing live. I put a lot of pressure on my records but I realize if I’m going to have a career, a 40 year career, I have to be a great live entertainer.
I love playing live too. I write songs to be played live. I love the fact that when you play a song live it exist in only that moment. I love records but there’s something unique about playing live.
That’s the other thing, I know it’s not the records that build my career. Ideally they will help and this new one is the best so far, but the live show is what reaches the most people. I mean what are the chances I’m going to be played on commercial radio? There’s like ten artists that get commercial radio time. Either it becomes super hip for young people, which doesn’t seem likely, or I have one song that sticks. That did happen to me a little bit with “When It Comes My Turn”. That song has done well. It’s been a huge part of building my career and I’ll always have that. I don’t mind the idea of playing that song night after night, year after year. That sounds great to me.
US: “When it Comes My Turn” is a great song and I’ve noticed when you play it now it has evolved a lot from the recorded version, it almost has a different feel now.
DM: Yeah I went back and listened to it and I didn’t even realize how much it had changed, but that’s what happens with records. After time you play with it and change it until certain phrases are totally different.
US: Your lyrics are astounding to me. They are so simple and direct and evoke the desired emotion so well that it floors me. One of my favourites is a line from “Cape Breton” that goes “We’ll kiss like we kissed when we kissed the first time, with our minds on our hearts and our hearts on the line”.
DM: It’s funny you mention that because I’ll get little lines in my head and… not a lot of people have told me they like that one but I really like that one, that’s where the title of that record “On the Line” came from.
US: You have a gift for being sincere and emotionally profound while keeping it simple.
DM: Yeah, well I’ve always loved guys like John Prine, people who are easy to understand…Don’t get me wrong, I love Bob Dylan, but a lot of his songs require multiple listens and some of them I don’t think even he knows what they’re about [laughs], I love his music but I knew from the get go that I wasn’t going to be that kind of lyricist. In high school you couldn’t pay me money to write a poem or write fiction because I was so embarrassed. As a writer I didn’t think I was good enough. I wasn’t poetic in a traditional sense, I wasn’t confident that I had that ability, so when I decided to write lyrics I knew I would write exactly how I talk or how I think.
It’s funny because I got into music by way of instrumental music, I never listened to lyrics. I don’t think I knew the lyrics to any songs until I was about grade twelve. Even all my favourite songs, like when I was super into Metallica and Guns n’ Roses, I could sing every guitar solo and every drum fill on every record, but I couldn’t tell you the lyrics. I just wasn’t a lyric guy. And even when I started playing music I decided I like to sing and if I’m going to sing I have to write lyrics so I slowly got into it. Now I’m so into it. I realize how important it is. I used to think if the melody is good enough you can say anything and a lot of people get away with saying a lot of foolish things but they often sound ok. It’s a really weird thing, sometimes the meaning of something is hard to understand but the sound is great. I think there’s a lot of choosing sounds. There’s nothing worse than hearing a singer use some word that sounds so stupid. Like no one ever uses it in speech. That’s one thing about Dylan he has so many awesome sounding words that’s just him riffing. It hardly makes sense but the words he’s chosen sound great. I like being more direct.
US: Another song of yours with great lyrics is “When it Comes My Turn”.
With lines like: “I worry about my money. I got bills that I can’t pay. I swear I’m more like my father everyday”
and the chorus: “I’m getting old, but I’m not old yet. I’m already worried that I might forget, how to laugh, how to love. How to live, how to learn. I wanna die with a smile when it comes my turn”.
It speaks about something a lot of people can relate to. When you came up with those lines did you realize that you really had something profound that people would understand from their gut? Did you set out to write a song about growing old and coming to terms with it, or was it happenstance?
DM: It comes from weird places, you play and hum a melody and from humming syllables comes words. I didn’t say to myself ‘I’m going to write a song about getting old’, I had the melody and was humming it to myself on the bus one day and all of a sudden it came, “I’m getting old but I’m not old yet.”
US: Like you work hard to facilitate that kind of thinking and then one day your muse just shits on your head with a formed idea?
DM: Exactly [laughs] the muse shits on your head. Those moments are a magical thing when it just comes to you. I wrote the entire chorus to that song on a bus trip. Once I have the chorus I can build the rest. It might take awhile but the song is kind of happening.
I feel lucky, It’s good to have a song that will be remembered even if I die now. I’m glad that’s the song people really like because it’s a totally positive song with a positive message. It’s something I thought about all the time. Everyone thinks about that, I always think about aging. I totally wrote that song thinking it would be a song that my generation would relate to, that quarter life crisis where you’re about to get a real job, you’re out of university and now you’re becoming an adult, trying to become the adult you want to be. But it’s totally had a different impact and the people who are drawn to that song are the people who have retired, people my parents age, 65 or older. That’s the funny thing, everybody can relate to it. Because the older you get the more your idea changes of what old is. When you’re a teenager people in their thirties seem ancient. I’m glad that’s taken place and most of the notes and feedback I’ve gotten regarding that song are from people in their 60’s. Like “I’m just going into retirement and trying to figure out how to retire in style and not get too bored with no job and stay feeling young.” People get used to going to a job every day and it’s a shock when they don’t have that. The Kids are gone, the house is empty and they don’t know how to fill their day. The song has totally become a song for senior fitness groups.
A cool thing happened the last time I was playing in P.E.I., a woman about my parent’s age came up to me after the show and said “I want to thank you for sending me the song and lyrics (for “When it Comes My Turn) because my whole family now performs it together at our reunions.”
I said “oh I remember that email you sent me. That’s very nice.”
She said “Yeah, we all get together in Saskatchewan and play it. My niece, Feist, plays guitar on it.”
I said “Oh cool, your niece is named Feist, that’s a cool name.”
She says “Yeah, Leslie Feist.”
I’m like “You’re kidding, Leslie Feist plays “When it Comes My Turn” on guitar at family reunions?!”
That was the coolest thing, such a fun coincidence. The song has become a bit of a folk song and a lot of people are playing their own versions, which I love.
US: Not a lot of music is that universal
DM: Yeah, I kind of feel, if anything, that young people don’t listen to my music, but a lot of older people come around. You can’t choose your audience, it just kind of happens. I’ve been at shows where people come up to me and the audience is mostly over 50, you don’t choose, but I like playing for anyone, I’m glad to. They are a wicked audience because there aren’t a lot of bands playing music that people that age, so they really get into it and I love that. That’s not my only audience but specifically because of that song there was a certain point where my main audience was older. It kind of spreads slowly and you have to have faith that it will.
US: There’s a lot going on in your records, but the songs themselves remain fairly simple standard structures, which I’m a big fan of, It’s hard to get much better than 3 or 4 chords and a lot of heart.
DM: I get such a kick out of that. One of the reasons I like writing songs so much is I love hearing other people play them or play on them. It’s so exciting when another guitar player comes up with a solo to one of my songs. I like writing songs that are easy to play, especially lately. I really dig an idea of 3 or 4 chord songs. It is hard to get better than that as long as the other elements are in place, the rhythm section is so important for that.
I picked up a guitar in my 3rd year university so I’m still pretty new to it. I used to play trumpet but once I moved to guitar and I learned my first two chords I wrote a song. I don’t do fancy finger work up the neck, I leave that to my lead guitar players. I mean John Prine consistently blows my mind with 3 chords over and over. Neil young is a great example too, because he does play solos but they are so ramshackle. Seeing him last year, I realized how amazing he is at guitar. He is such a visceral player.
Ultimately it’s all about finding your own voice. You can’t just ape someone else’s sound. It takes time to find out what kind of writer you are, what you want to write about and how you want to go about writing it. At this point, now that I’ve worked at it so long, I don’t think I could sound any different. I sound like me and that’s what I want.
When I start to write a song I sit down and I get obsessed with different types of music so I tend to jump around a lot with styles, which is probably a weakness. I have to learn to reel that in a bit. Most of my influences aren’t modern. I base my music on older forms. I’ll write a blues song or a jazz song or a three chord folk song because that’s the world I exist in. From song to song sometimes it’s hard for me to pull it together with different styles and make the songs sound consistent, but that’s where finding the right band comes in
US: Have you always played with the same group of guys?
DM: I’ve always had the same bass player and drummer and then gotten different players to fill out each song. This time there is five of us and Joel.
US: Do you like having a fixed group as your band?
DM: I like it for this record. If I had gotten a different rhythm section the songs would be too different. The rhythm parts on the last record are insane. I’m lucky to play with good players and Halifax is filled with great players.
US: There’s some great Youtube videos you’ve put out where it’s you and one or two people playing in your living room or back yard. That’s about as real as any performance gets.
DM: I love Youtube videos because everyone knows how awesome it feels to jam in your living room, but how can you translate that? You can record from your living room but there’s a certain aspect to the performance that is missing and Youtube is a cool way to watch music because there’s no distance. you see it as it is, if someone makes a mistake it stays there and that adds an intimacy. I love it. I want to do that for all my songs on the new record.
US: I wanted to get your opinion on spontaneity. Do you feel as an artist that it’s important to take your time and labour over the fine details or is it better to keep the freshness and emotion of the song intact by recording it when it’s still fresh?
DM: As the creator of the music you can get really bogged down by what you’re hearing as opposed to what the world is hearing. I listen to so much music from the 50s where they laid it down, they got one take. These guys were so good, they played every night and when they recorded it was exactly what they sound like and they were good enough to pull that off. There’s less mystery to that kind of recording. I mean there’s mystery like how are they so good and how are they doing whatever the hell they’re doing but the recordings are so real, there’s no mystery as to what they actually sound like, it’s all right there. I wanted the band to get there.
We practiced a lot before we went into the studio and that was different. There isn’t as much questioning, there is a lot of stuff that changes but I don’t go over the mixes for months and months. Right now, there are two tracks on the album that we recorded live which was amazing. Joel’s studio is cool, it’s like a suped-up garage. It’s not all that big but the sound is great. And we were nailing it on the first take, it was a great feeling. The rehearsing helps. We’ve been able to move quickly. We haven’t had much choice because Joel is a busy dude but when he’s there he’s entirely there, no distractions.
This record is all on tape. Joel doesn’t use computers to record. Besides the advantage of how it sounds, the real advantage is the working method. You can’t fret about it too much, you cant drop it in or fix mistakes. if your in the middle of the phrase you cant do it, you can only over dub in certain sections or physically record over the tape. I like that element of it. It’s almost is starting to sound like Fleetwood Mac to me [laughs]. It sounds like the 70s. I thought it would sound more like the 50s but it sounds like the 70s. I think the fidelity of recording on tape has something to do with that. I’m having a really good time with it.
US: What happens after recording is done?
DM: We fly to Arizona to mix it and then back to Halifax to master it with Jay Lapoint.
US: Thanks a lot for taking the time to talk to me, most of our readers are artists and I’m sure they will find your story as inspiring as it is fascinating.
DM: I love conversations like this. I think it’s cool that your site is so free form and inclusive. It helps too that you know the music and know what you’re talking about. You’ve actually listened to my records. I’m used to sitting down for an interview and the guy goes “Okay, so tell me, what do you sound like?” [Laughs] That’s the worst.
Friday April 16th 2010 10:30pm – Jokers Comedy Club on Spring Garden Rd.
Review – Isaac Thompson Photos/Video – Tiffany Naugler
Jokers Comedy Club on Spring Garden has decided that folk might appreciate their laughs spiked with a little hard rock and heavy metal, so on Friday April 16th , Halifax was treated to Jay Malone (Nova Scotia’s comedy champ) followed by the double-barrelled-buckshot-stylings of Johnny Dick Project and Zero Split.
Now, since we were only asked to cover the music portion of the night, Tiffany and I didn’t catch Mr. Malone’s act. I did, however, hear first-hand accounts of people laughing until their asses fell off (which no doubt will result in some lengthy and painful reconstruction surgery).
Johnny Dick Project was the first band of the night to be unleashed and those of you familiar with the Halifax rock scene may recognize JDP’s lead singer Heather Doran from the band Halcyon. She is a magnetic front-woman with a low, raspy voice forged by the gods of 90s rock. The music backing Doran is an eclectic mix of blues, grunge and heavy metal. Heather’s deep soulful vocals are backed up by the two guitar players (Rick Ferris and John Macdougal) who provide straight ahead rock harmonies and guttural speed metal screams. The strange vocal mix works best during the climactic peaks of their heavier tunes.
Drummer Ian Kean was able to switch from a typical rock 4/4 timing to a speed-metal, double-bass pitter-patter quite nicely. Bass player Kirk Shane was a blast to watch, dancing around the stage in an energetic seizure-hop that was comparable to the universal “I have to pee really badly” dance. I liked his enthusiasm. I always enjoy rock shows more when the band members lose themselves in the songs with a total lack of self-consciousness. That sort of euphoria is as contagious as a yawn (or the clap).
VIDEO:
After a short breather, Zero Split was released from their cage like the mighty Rancor. You Star Wars fans may remember that the Rancor is described as “a walking collection of fangs and claws, with no thought other than to kill and eat.”, which is as pretty good description of Zero Split as well.
I’ve seen Zero Split a ton of times back when they were known as Janus and I’ve always enjoyed their music. It was great to see these guys back in action. Their songs reference some of the best bands heavy metal has to offer. I hear everything from Tool and the Deftones to Pantera and Slayer in their music. They aren’t afraid to switch up styles within any given song giving them an epic feel you don’t find often in local clubs.
Zero Split’s vocalist, who goes by the handle of Hemo, is fantastic. I was in total awe of his elastic vocal abilities. His voice can come off as soaring and beautiful, almost classical sounding, and at other times he’s screaming like a werewolf baying at the moon. Hemo is an extremely fun front-man to watch. His onstage persona is trance-like. He meditatively slithers around as he delivers one seemingly effortless mind-blowing vocal line after another.
VIDEO:
It was a short night of rock & roll but it got the job done. Both bands had a lot to offer and were great examples of how diverse the Halifax music scene is. Like I said, euphoria is contagious and it’s good to know there are so many bands in town eager to spread the disease.
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Want us to come to your show/ review your album? Shoot us a message! noisography@gmail.com
Review – Isaac Thompson (Guest writing for Noisography.com) Video – Daniel Nightingale & Tiffany Naugler Photos – Tiffany Naugler
Halifax has always been home to a diverse group of musicians. In this city there are artists of all types delivering tunes in any style you please. The show I attended last night (March 5th 2010) at Gus’ pub was indicative of just that. The four bands that played (the Voice of Russia, the Baketones, Ocean Towers and Kestrels) all sounded completely different from each other, but it wasn’t awkward or disjointed it really gave the night a well rounded, eclectic feel.
The night opened with the debut of Voice of Russia. The first thing I noticed about them, besides their massively complicated looking setup of effects pedals, was how much stage presence they had for a new band. The Voice of Russia owned the stage during their set, especially when their songs would build to fever pitch climaxes. Their sound took me by surprise too. The songs were ethereal sounding yet very danceable. They made good use of trippy delay effects on the vocals, giving their sound an unearthly quality that was unlike anything I’ve ever heard preformed at Gus’ Pub. I look forward to hearing more from these guys.
Next up were the Baketones who barrelled through a set of down and dirty rock and roll. They were by far the showiest band of the night and their set was nothing short of electric. Their first song, an explosive cover of the Yardbird’s “Train Kept A-Rollin”, was a perfect introduction to what followed. Their sound was like a cross between the Who, the Mc5 and a package of firecrackers.
The Baketones’ keyboard player, Rob Corrigan, blew me away. He strutted onstage dressed in coveralls with an old plastic keyboard strapped to him like a guitar. The Energy on the stage was unbelievable, especially for so early in the night, and Mr. Corrigan performed like a man possessed. During their last song, Rob began bashing his keyboard with his fists, sending keys and various bits of plastic flying in the air. Not content with merely disabling the keyboard, he flung it off the stage and it landed in the middle of the dance floor. Its impact sent plastic debris in all directions like a Fisher Price hand grenade. While the band pounded out the last sustained chords of the song one of the waiters approached Rob with what I thought was a broom, turns out it was a baseball bat. Rob used the bat to bash the ever-loving shit out what was left of his keyboard and then handed the bat off to audience members to finish the job. It was really, really badass.
After a bit of a delay due to a busted amp we were treated to Ocean Towers, who again sent the night in totally different direction. Ocean Towers were pure unabashed stoner rock and I loved them for it. They slowed it way down and cranked it way up delivering Sabbath style grooves you could get lost in for hours. It was a nice departure. Their songs barrelled along like a road trip in the desert. The band was tight and played well off of each other. Their set came at just the right point in the night for me. It was nice to take a breather after seeing the destructive bombast of the previous band.
The last band of the night was Kestrels. They brought a 90s shoe gazer style to the proceedings. Their music managed to be both laid-back and energetic. They had sweet pop melodies lurking beneath a wall of effects laden guitar in the vein of My Bloody Valentine. The song writing in Kestrels was solid, they had some really nice hooks and they played their set with spitfire jubilance. Kestrel’s set was short and sweet, nicely capping of one of the most musically diverse evenings at the pub I’ve ever experienced.
In the interest of expanding horizons and becoming major-league ass-kickers, we’ve decided to try something new. We’ve teamed up with Tiffany Naugler and Daniel Nightingale from the incendiary music blog Post-Rock Love Affair to document The Great Sabatini as they touch down in Halifax, N.S. on their east coast tour in support of their newest record: Sad Parade Of Yesterdays.
we met up with Steve (drums, vocals) and Sean (guitar, vocals) Sabatini before the show and they were kind enough to let me interview them. Tiffany recorded the conversation and it’s posted below.
They were really cool chaps, even after I retardedly flubbed their band name during the interview ( I referred to them as “the Great Santini”, which is not a kick ass metal band from Montreal but rather a Robert Duvall movie. That’s pretty dumb of me I know, but I will say this: if Robert Duvall did have a metal band, they would be best damn metal band in town!). The Great Sabatini, however, are a most excellent metal band from Montreal and their new record completely owns.
Sad Parade Of Yesterdays is a massive slab of heavy grooves and ear-blasting energy. The record sounds crisp and polished while maintaining an unhinged rawness. It contains some startling combinations of styles. The heavy metal barrage often gives way to trippy explorations and moments of beauty. There is a running monologue throughout the record containing some really interesting snippets about man, nature and machines. The record also boasts some very creative song titles (my personal favourite being Rosemary’s Abortion).
What follows is taken from post-rockloveaffair.blogspot.com
many thanks to Tiff, Dan, The Great Sabatini and Robert Duvall.
post-rock love affair:
As mentioned in our last post, PRLoveAffair worked with Isaac Thompson, from Unfiltered Smoke, to bring you an exclusive interview with the guys from The Great Sabatini.
We met outside of Gus’ Pub, in the cold, and had a little chit chat while the opening bands set up and did some sound checking…
After the interview, we all piled into Gus’ for one of the loudest and most energtic shows I have seen at that bar for a LONG time!
The night opened up with Cicada, from Halifax. They certainly had an interesting setup, with a hand drum and a pretty full looking drum set (I counted at least 5 cymbals and 3 toms, if not more), plus guitar and bass. They were definitely of the modern metal variety, and the first half of their set did sound a little generic – over technical, as some bands are prone to – too many scales and textbook drum patterns with a lack of melody.
But the second half of the set actually improved, with the band at one point actually pulling out something that sounded like a standard chord progression from an AC/DC song. A good contrast before plunging back into heavier territory. All 3 members at the front of the stage provided vocals of varying styles, which was nice to hear after too many one note, one scream lead vocalists. Over all the crowd dug them and they put on an energetic set.
Video:
Next up was Fistfight, another Halifax staple. These guys have been around for a while and really know there stuff. They clearly came from the same territory as Cicada, but they were able to stretch the sound a little further – the riffs were clearer and catchier, with more defined chords and melodies. Their lead singer really worked the crowd (and the growing mosh pit) and had a really wide range of vocal technique – sometimes deep, deep growls, and sometimes higher pitched screams that really worked well adding texture to the music. Clearly the vocals are not just an after thought to the music.
Their sound was definitely unique and it was a good to hear a heavy band with their own identity, instead of a copy of copy. Over all the progression of bands made sense, as Fist Fight pumped up the crowd for the Great Sabatini, who would prove to take the typical metal sound and expand it even further.
Video:
After another short change over (metal bands never seem to be able to share gear), Montreal’s The Great Sabatini took the stage. The crowd was still pretty pumped up from the previous bands, and the Great Sabatini didn’t let the energy down. Once again the band started from a very much standard metal origin, but branched out even further. The music had a good range of tempos, starting from stoner/doom slow to a good Iron Maiden/Metallica speed, which is pretty much the top range for me for metal. The breakdowns and song structures clearly showed that these guys had a huge range of influences, from Tool to Neurosis – heavy, thrashy metal riffs with deep screams would transition to ethereal, washing post-rock guitars; dissonant distortion blast beats would switch up into chunky rock beats, and there was even the tiniest hint of dub and progressive rock floating around.
Once again multiple members handled vocals with a pretty decent range – not as far as Fist Fights singers but everything worked. Only screaming with no singing might seem to work against a band who incorporate metal with rock and experimental components, but in this case it worked – heavy riffs warranted heavy vocals, and spacier breakdowns held their own thanks to tight instrumental work from two guitars and bass.
Over all all three bands kept the crowd majorly riled up: there were at least 3 stage dives – with at least one ending up face first on the floor, oops – and one or two crowd surfs, and no one went home disappointed. The Great Sabatini continue on with shows in Trenton, Moncton, and PEI.
Earlier this month, seven Halifax musicians, including Tiffany Naugler, Jay Methot, Tim Topping, Dan Nightingale, Nichole Wilson, Isaac Thompson and good-guy-super-hero Brad Lucknowski* (*not pictured above), banded together to create a Christmas album at a break-neck pace. The goal was to have everything on the record completed in time for the holidays.
Recorded in a few short sessions over a period of a couple of weeks, The O By Gollies first collection of Christmas classics is an eclectic mix of styles and influences. Maniacal-music-mastermind Jay Methot worked around the clock on recording, mixing and mastering the record in his apartment studio, while all-around-superstar Tiffany Naugler created the eye catching album insert.
The goal was achieved. The album was finished in time for Christmas and the group was very pleased with the results. They wanted to spread the good will and holiday cheer with you, the Unfiltered Smoke reader. Here’s the album in it’s entirety.
A 90% self taught photographer from the North End of Halifax, Nova Scotia.
I can normally be seen at any of Halifax’s bars or clubs taking photos of my favorite local artists or scoring a couple of sweet shots/video for my blog (http://post-rockloveaffair.blogspot.com/).
Although a good portion of my work seems to land in the Concert Photography genre,thats not all that I am about.
I take photos as if I am going to forget today, tomorrow.
This leaves my portfolio full of many wonderful treasures, from my cat to the first snow fall to breakfast foods and portraits.
Now, lets get aquainted by starting off with a collection focused on this years Halifax Pop Explosion…
A four-piece heavy rock band formed in 2002, Big Game Hunt plays to a large mix of heavy music fans drawing on the origins of metal such as Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin but also mixes up heavy sounds with groove oriented riffs found in more modern bands such as Queens of the Stone Age, Tool, Clutch and Down. With 2 full length albums under their belt BGH is ready to take their riff rock across country and borders to expose the masses to Nova Scotia’s own home-grown style of heavy groove.
Discography:
The Gods Drink Whiskey (2006)
Goliath (2009)
And now, two tracks from Big Game Hunt’s 2009 record Goliath!
Albums can be purchased on www.cdbaby.com or itunes or by contacting the band through www.myspace.com/biggamehunt or by joining their facebook page
Also, albums can be purchased at HMV on Spring Garden Rd in Halifax.
Also, BGH will be performing at The East Coast Music Awards in Sydney NS March 4-7 2010 and the new album “Goliath” has been nominated for an ECMA award for “Loud Recording of the Year”.
“I didn’t laugh. I wept. It was so close to the truth.”
- U2’s the Edge on the first time he watched “This is Spinal Tap”.
The “rockumentary” is an idea that’s been around just about as long as rock and roll has, and why not? It makes perfect sense; rock and roll music is such a visceral art-form and the lives of rock stars are so chaotic that they translate effortlessly to film. There have been moments in rockumentaries that stand shoulder to shoulder with the greatest scenes in movie history:
- The Beatles final performance on the roof of the Apple studios in “Let it Be”.
- The infamous and truly haunting Rolling Stones film “Gimme Shelter” where the Stones organize a free concert in San Francisco and hire some local Hells Angels members as security guards resulting in the murder of an audience member during a performance of “Sympathy for the devil.”
- “Dig!”, a movie that documents the contrary paths of The Dandy Warhols and The Brian Jonestown Massacre. As the Dandy Warhols build a steady successful career, the Brian Jonestown flounder in the self sabotage of their drug addled leader Anton Newcombe, culminating in a disastrous industry showcase gig/brawl at the L.A. Viper Room.
- Every second of Martin Scorsese’s Brilliant “The Last Waltz”. The Band’s last hurrah and one of the best concerts ever caught on film.
- and of course, the rockumentary, mock-umentary masterpiece, “This is Spinal Tap”.
But no marriage is perfect. Rock and roll and film often have a rocky relationship. With all the power they are capable of, rockumentaries have their shortcomings. Often documentaries are victim to the necessary trappings of film; Filmmakers have the need to build a story, with an arch and character development, something that has a well defined beginning, middle and end. Rock and roll, however, is a genre that was born out of a disregard for the rules, it is a force that hates constriction and film can often be too rigid a medium for such a spitfire entity. The biggest problem with rockumentaries is, like most film genres, predictability. They can be as formulaic as slasher movies or mobster flicks. And it’s because of that I consider “It Might get Loud” one of the best rockumentaries I’ve seen, it wasn’t at all what I expected it to be.
The setup for “It Might Get Loud” is simple enough, three great guitar players from three different eras of rock and roll (Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, U2’s the Edge, and The White Stripes’ Jack White) get together to jam and shoot the shit. They share a few tricks of the trade and talk a bit about how they got where they are today. It’s a premise that could really go either way, but this is a film that rises above a mere premise and becomes something much more interesting. “It Might Get Loud” is a love letter, not just to the guitar, but to passion. That’s the driving force behind the film, its three stars play different styles of music and may appeal to different audiences but they share an obsessive passion for music, and they all hold this passion dear to them. It’s the most obvious and endearing theme in the movie.
The entire film has an inviting, laidback jam-session feel and some amazing musical performances. My favourite being a jam between Jack white and his ten year old counterpart (I can’t explain that part, you just have to see it) in an old run-down house. Jack bashes on a beat-up clunker piano, stomping his foot to the beat like the possessed love child of Jerry Lee Lewis and Stompin’ Tom Connors, with a dash of Ledbelly. You can feel the floor boards shake as if the entire house might come tumbling down in submission to the awesome power of the blues.
The film interweaves the footage of the epic jam session with the personal history of each musician. Director Davis Guggenheim managed to get his stars (all three very elusive, private and interview shy) to open up about their pasts and share more about their beginnings than ever before. Even Jimmy Page, whose entire history is legendary, has revealing new stories to share. The more they share of their past the more similarities begin to pop up. They are three true stories of how passion and drive conquered.
What makes “It Might Get Loud” better than the typical rock movie with talking heads and concert footage is that the musicians don’t just talk about how they create, they show how they create and that makes for fascinating film. Even if you don’t care for U2, Led Zeppelin or the White Stripes by the time the credits role you’ll have a fonder appreciation for their sincerity and what they’re trying to accomplish.
I am a passionate fan of big bands and have been to a lot of live shows be it Metallica, Ozzy, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Dave Matthews etc. Some of the best experiences of my life have been in large crowds at Dave Matthews Concerts where every fan in attendance is singing along with the songs and for me it is better display in spirituality then any church could ever bring me; but at all of these big band stadium shows I am amazed at the lack of demand from fans. Last evening November 23rd STP played at the Moncton Coliseum and from my point of view limped their way through the set. I left the concert being happy I witnessed one of my favourite groups on stage playing hit songs but a little saddened by the holes in the performance of songs that they have played for almost 15 years. My main disappointment is that many of the fans that are there and star struck by the big band leave saying what an amazing show, either not noticing the holes in the performance or just unwilling to admit the $70.00 they spent was not earned by the band. I also looked around the Moncton Coliseum and thought how many of these people would think it is outrageous to pay 5 or 10 bucks to see a local band in a bar in town and from what I’ve seen the local bars have bands that give it 100% every night. Sure every player has a bad night and the crowd in Moncton is not a crowd in Montreal or Boston but from local and small bands that I have seen it does not matter be it 5 or 500 people in attendance they give it their all.
Now I do not want to be a wet blanket on the STP show the songs they hit they certainly hit dead on but the point of this rant is to raise the awareness that stadium shows are great but the local bars have bands that are earning their money not bands that get it either way. For anyone that was at the STP show or at another show where you could hear them drop it take 10 bucks out of your 70 dollar ticket or your 120 dollar ticket for your next stadium show and hit up the Capital or the Seahorse and check out bands that are earning their money.
A drug problem, as seen on TV, tends to follow a certain predictable arc: it begins as an escape from a world that the user feels poorly equipped for. Perhaps there are undiagnosed personality or mood disorders at play, maybe poverty plays a role, or complicated situations at home or at work. Whatever the problems, the drug soon becomes the biggest cause of them. Yet, in those elusive highs, you can feel for a moment like everything is all right: it’s okay that you’re afraid, it’s okay that you’re weak and small and powerless, because you have that one moment of glory. And that moment is only made stronger by contrast with an otherwise sour, unfulfilling existence. Even real addicts don’t tell you much about that part. Probably because they’re looking for your pity.
We now present to you our very special addiction, with our heads hung in shame and a sercet pride in our hearts. For years, this band has been our drug. And the drugs. Drugs have also been our drug.
Photo by Tiffany Naugler
Before I continue, I must acknowledge that every human pursuit or interest that stands in the way of productivity has been considered an addiction at one time or another. Is it really a fair comparison to make here? After all, we’ve been very productive: five albums, numerous EPs, and shows in almost every venue in Halifax proper. And if I were to claim that our posters have lent a singular charm to the telephone poles and corkboards of the city, none would contend me. Moreover, our songs have dotted the local airwaves: CKDU, CBC, Q104 have delighted listeners with our wierd and passionate sounds.
Naturally, we are not content to rest on our meager laurels. We have already crawled our way from the frozen swamps, lurched between the dark acidic trees, skulked over forgotten graveyards, and took the bus for like seven hours to get to where we are today: haunting the taverns of Halifax. We intend to go even farther.
Photo by Tiffany Naugler
Our newest CD (Ride the Moose), recorded live without overdubs, speaks for itself – and it says “play me for all the world, or I will devour you.” So give us a listen, a good listen with both ears well open, and I’m certain you’ll agree with me and our haunted album. Come on, all we need is one more hit.
“Might paint something I might want to hang here someday.
Might write something I might want to say to you someday.
Might do something I’ll be proud of someday.
Mark my words I might be something someday.”
- Tegan & Sara: Someday
For once in my life, I’m at a loss for words. Tegan and Sara’s new album Sainthood is like an orgasm made of candy.
I’ve had this album since it came out a week ago and my roommates & friends can vouch for me, I’ve been listening to it non-stopped. It’s only been out a week and I already know it like the back of my so-and-so.
Problem is, I’ve been unable to write anything about it because it’s too good. Words can only cheapen it. I quickly realized that all of my attempts to review “Sainthood” just came out looking like a high school love letter, so I figured “fuck it” I’m just going to write Tegan and Sara a love letter:
You think you don't stand a chance with Megan Fox or Angelina Jolie?....Imagine how I must feel about my celebrity crushes; Tegan and Sara....sigh.
Guest – Vanessa Furlong
Local professional actor and musician. Has been featured in Tom Selleck’s “Jesse Stone” series recently, and has had 5 films in the Atlantic Film Festival.
Best known for her vocal versatility in the local hip-hop band Three Sheet.
Currently busy modeling and has worked with the likes of Steve Richard, Brian Larter, Nick Rudnicki, Blair Doyle, Josh Boyter, Eric Boutillier Brown etc…
Woodstock based rock band gNosh had been on a bit of hiatus as far as playing shows is concerned. This month marks the debut of some new tracks as well as a live show that just happens to be happening tonight. Instead of paraphrasing their own words, I’ll bring their article over from the gNosh website…with permission of course (thanks Andrew).
Yes, it is true. Whether you like it or not, gNosh is back and they plan on coming back hard!
Where have we been?
Yes, we know it has been quite awhile since good ol’ gNosh has been out and out playing shows and releasing tunes. We’ve been getting a lot of questions like “What gNosh up to these days?”, or “Are you guys still playing”. Well, we really haven’t stopped playing…we just have chosen to hole ourselves up in “the loft” and get some ideas recorded. The time has come to finally open the door and let us out.
Let’s give a little update. Back about a year or so ago, Andrew, Randy and Corey got together and started jamming and working out some new song ideas. At the time we weren’t sure if we would even get out playing but we had a lot of fun writing, recording, drinking tea, laughing at silly youtube videos and hanging out every Wednesday and Sunday evenings. Over that time, we took five of those songs and started recording. Over the course of a few months we had these five songs all recorded and decided to walk away from them for a bit and write a couple more. At the time, we really did not know exactly how we would be releasing these tunes…but as you will read later in this post, we figured it out.
After writing two more we started getting the itch to play out and do shows again. Sure, people apparently can hear us for miles while we are practicing but we need the crowd to be right in front of us, not across a river. So, we asked Peter Lockhart (from bands Moment Of Inertia and Holophonic Porno) to jump aboard to play bass and off we went tightening down our set of both the new gNosh and a few old favorites.
gNosh Going Forward
Here’s the thing. While we were working out the new songs and getting the recording gear set up again, we came across literally a ton of material that was recorded, half recorded, half written songs that never got finished for some reason, etc. Some stuff dating back as far as the old Monday Conspiracy days (Andrew, Randy and Corey’s band previous to gNosh). We expect to be dusting off some of these songs and giving them the life they deserve. And, of course, we will always be writing new ones as well. All that we ask in return is to share them, spread the word, and come out to the shows!
Love,
gNosh
gNosh is:
Andrew Bull – vocals/guitars
Corey Palmer – guitars
Peter Lockhart – bass
Randy Ross – drums
To coincide with this reuniting of the music, unfilteredsmoke is posting the new tracks…below! Enjoy.
