art by Chris Tompkins
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.
Also, check out Carey’s myspace and official website.
For more information on Chris Tompkins and his outstanding graphic design, go to his website
buy “Turn Time Off” by David Myles
article and interview by Isaac Thompson
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.
by Matt Jones
In the first Futurama comeback movie, Bender’s Big Score, one of the best jokes is the recurring gag item, Torgo’s Executive Powder. A thinly veiled jab at Fox for its perceived mismanagement of Futurama, Torgo’s is made of ground-up executives, and is said to have “a-million-and-one uses.” That may be a-million-and-one more than non-ground-up executives.
What is an executive, anyway? We hear the term thrown around a lot, but all too often executive, producer and many other titles are all thrown together. Let’s agree on this: an executive is a management member of a company assigned to watch over a certain sector of said company. The lower executives answer to the chief executive officer (CEO), who is one of the highest authorities above the other executives.
Now, let’s not get bogged down with stereotypes and ignorance. There are probably many executives who are very well-suited to the work they do. There are probably many who do genuinely good work and reap positive results for both their superiors and their staff. But we never hear about those executives. Beyond a company newsletter, you’ll never see the headline, “Executive does great work.” What you will see are headlines about how executives, through their effect on creative talents, cause difficulties in the entertainment industry. And that is our focus today: executives in the entertainment and creative industries.
The biggest problem is this: executives care most and almost only about the bottom line; they care about how much money is being made. Being creative and artistic does not necessarily improve that bottom line, and similarly, focusing on the bottom line does not necessarily result in interesting or exciting art. An executive’s directive to alter creative work to make it more profitable can have disastrous effects.
NBC, The Tonight Show and the greatest comedy duo of all time, Zucker and Ebersol
Ostensibly, NBC’s current problems are a result of low ratings for both Conan O’Brien’s The Tonight Show and Jay Leno’s prime time show — particularly Leno’s, which was hurting the lead-ins for local news shows. The executive solution: move Leno back to late night and move O’Brien back to late, late night. What the executives didn’t foresee, or didn’t care about, was that O’Brien would see this move as cutting the legs off The Tonight Show franchise, and he would not stand for it (so to speak). NBC and O’Brien have reached a settlement, and Leno is expected to return to The Tonight Show after the Olympics.
Dick Ebersol, NBC executive since time immemorial and currently in charge of sports, has been very vocal about O’Brien’s poor ratings, describing him as an “astounding failure.” Ebersol further declared that he had personally offered to help O’Brien increase his ratings, but was rebuked.
Can O’Brien really be blamed for not taking advice from Dick Ebersol?
Ebersol was one of the original creators of Saturday Night Live (SNL), but after Lorne Michaels left in 1980, the program entered into what some fans refer to as the Dark Ages of SNL. Ebersol soon took over the show and attempted to salvage it. After consistently low ratings and clashes with writers and cast members over the tone Ebersol wanted for the show, as well as accusations that he did not understand comedy (particularly the type of comedy that SNL produced), Michaels was brought back to save the franchise.
Ebersol has also been heavily criticized for his approach to Olympic Games coverage, and he presided over a period where NBC lost the rights to broadcast the NFL, MLB and NBA, among others. And, to top that off, he was also one of the driving forces behind the disastrous XFL, which produced record low ratings.
So in what way, precisely, is Dick Ebersol an expert on comedy or high ratings?
Ebersol’s comments did serve to take some of the heat off NBC CEO and President Jeff Zucker. The same Zucker who went to Harvard at the same time as O’Brien, and was the butt of numerous O’Brien-led Harvard Lampoon pranks. The same Zucker who has the final word at NBC.
Zucker, Ebersol and the rest of NBC’s executives appear to be consciously choosing to ignore the growing pains that come with any new show. It takes time to cultivate an audience, particularly when it’s going head-to-head with a seasoned competitor such as David Letterman (and especially so when that competitor is in the midst of a sex scandal that will draw eyes to his program). Let’s not forget that Letterman also trounced Leno in the ratings until Leno was able to capitalize on Hugh Grant’s 1995 adventure in previously unexplored Ugly Hookerland to pull ahead.
NBC had a problem where it had two shows with ratings that were less than it desired. Its solution has resulted in the departure of Conan O’Brien, reams of bad press for the network, and the vilification of Jay Leno. Accurate or not, Leno is now seen as a greedy attention whore who could not allow someone else to take the spotlight. This does not bode well for his ratings when he returns.
(As an aside, it’s interesting to note that NBC almost O’Brien-ed Leno back in 1992. There was a time after it had made its decision to go with Leno over Letterman that the network considered changing its mind and bringing back Letterman. So if nothing else, NBC has been consistent. Repugnantly so, but consistent.)
From pepperoni to piledrivers: the terrible tale of Jim Herd
The thing is, executives are all too often given too much power over subjects on which they may have only the most tenuous grasp. That’s what happened in the terrifying tale of Jim Herd. Yes, this example is from wrestling, but it’s a good one.
Herd was the manager of a St. Louis television station that aired National Wrestling Alliance shows. He then went on to serve in an executive capacity for Pizza Hut, which led to him getting a job with Turner Broadcasting. Since he had once managed a TV station that aired wrestling shows, it was decided that Jim Herd was the ideal person to run Turner’s World Championship Wrestling (WCW). If you think about it, that’s like Conrad Black becoming commissioner of the NBA because his newspapers covered basketball games.
It was a complete debacle. Herd had no understanding of the wrestling business, and made decisions that led to a series of high-profile catastrophes. Most notably, he drove out the company’s best-known performer (Ric Flair), which led to WCW events plagued with chants of “We want Flair!” from the audience. Wrestling legend Dusty Rhodes would (allegedly) go on to describe Herd as, “the most untalented motherfucker in the entire world.” Rhodes had, apparently, never met Dick Ebersol.
“The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There’s also a negative side.” – Hunter S. Thompson
Unfortunately, Jim Herd is far from the only executive to have been given authority over things beyond his grasp. The Pink Floyd song, Have a Cigar, decries this, recounting the typical, two-faced bull that spews out of record company executives. Being asked “Which one’s Pink?” by executives who thought that Pink Floyd was the name of the band’s front man, showed that those who had so much power over the band’s future really didn’t know anything about them.
Currently, the music industry is in flux. Giant music companies still wield considerable power and are able to properly position, package and promote artists for success. However, the advent of the Internet has changed things. While some artists and labels are attempting to develop ways of doing business using the Internet (Radiohead, for example), most companies have simply dug in their heels and are attempting to shut down file-sharing websites. As with any industry, those in charge (that would be the executives) are used to a certain way of doing things, and the idea of venturing into the unknown is terrifying.
Follow the leader: why tread your own path when you could just follow the ass of another lemming?
One of the biggest problems in every industry, but particularly in entertainment, is executive-follow-the-leader. It’s not hard to see the patterns.
In 1991, Nirvana shot to the top of the music charts, surprising record industry executives everywhere. In response, executives offered contracts to nearly every band that could play three chords and wear plaid flannel, regardless of talent, in an effort to find the next Nirvana (reports that several lumberjacks were mistaken for grunge rockers and offered contracts are unsubstantiated — but probably true).
Around that same time, television’s Seinfeld became a surprise hit, and would eventually go down as one of the most popular shows of all time. However, as a result of that popularity, television became plagued with programs about clever people who sat around and said clever things. As network executives searched for the next Seinfeld, original programming became increasingly rare.
This trend continues today. The massive success of The Dark Knight has apparently inspired Warner Brothers executives in all the wrong ways:
“[Warner Bros. Pictures Group President Jeff] Robinov wants his next pack of superhero movies to be bathed in the same brooding tone as The Dark Knight. Creatively, he sees exploring the evil side to characters as the key to unlocking some of Warner Bros.’ DC properties. ‘We’re going to try to go dark to the extent that the characters allow it,’ he says. ‘That goes for the company’s Superman franchise as well.’”
It’s a very narrow mind that sees the darkness of The Dark Knight as the reason it succeeded. Batman and the characters in his world are inherently dark; that tone suited them perfectly. Superman is not a dark character. Nor is Captain Marvel, who was set for an action-comedy treatment before this new dark (in both senses) initiative.
Making a dark Captain Marvel film is completely unnecessary, and a betrayal of the character. It would be comparable to making a James Bond movie into a road-trip comedy, or making Saw VI a love story with Sandra Bullock. It’s an affront to everything the characters stand for. Warner Brothers would have a better chance of replicating The Dark Knight’s success by murdering their supporting actors to try and recreate a Heath Ledger situation than by forcing characters to be “dark.”
Of course, Warner Brothers executives haven’t necessarily always been in touch with their DC Comics properties, as Kevin Smith will tell you.
Fox Television: Where promising shows go to never really live in the first place
The most obvious victims of Fox have been the animated shows, Futurama and Family Guy. Obviously, we can only assume that the goal of Fox Broadcasting, as a television company, is to profit from its programs. As a result, it becomes difficult to understand the reasoning behind the way that both shows were treated, particularly in light of The Simpsons’ status as Fox’s certified merchandising cash cow.
Both Futurama and Family Guy were unveiled to much fanfare, but quickly found themselves without a regular timeslot and little advertising to promote those new slots as they came up. As a result, ratings suffered and both shows were cancelled. Clearly, these decisions did not reflect what the audience wanted, as both shows managed to resurrect themselves due to popular demand, DVD sales and high ratings for syndication.
Fox had two properties that have proven themselves to be so popular that they have escaped the grave, which is all but unheard of in television. It’s hard to understand why the shows were never given the support they deserved, particularly given the popularity of the lucrative Simpsons franchise, which proved the power of an animated property. Of course, Fox’s problems aren’t limited to animated programs.
Television has shown that while there are runaway smash hits, sometimes a show needs time to grow (Seinfeld, for example floundered for three seasons before becoming a monster). Fox has seen both of these phenomena first hand. While both The Simpsons and That 70’s Show were popular from the start, another long-running Fox hit, The X-Files, started as a poorly rated cult favourite before rising in the ratings and becoming a mainstream success.
The X-Files may be the only exception to a depressing and disheartening trend: Fox simply does not allow new shows time to increase their audience . Fox has cancelled a plethora of shows with great potential before they had a chance to become successful.
Another property that Fox has been accused of mismanaging is Arrested Development. Critically acclaimed, the show never gained a huge following, and was canceled after three seasons. However, producer Mitch Hurwitz has since said that, “I had taken it as far as I felt I could as a series. I told the story I wanted to tell, and we were getting to a point where I think a lot of the actors were ready to move on.”
Hurwitz’s comments raise an interesting point. It’s easy to point a finger at executives for bungling their management of a creative property. Sometimes, though, there simply isn’t a big enough audience to justify further investment. Arrested Development may be too smart for a mass audience, and the rabid fans who did love the show can rewatch them on DVDs and wait anxiously for the anticipated film version.
The office would like a word with you.…
General Electric CEO Jack Welch once said, “An overburdened, overstretched executive is the best executive, because he or she doesn’t have the time to meddle, to deal in trivia, to bother people.” And he may be right. He may be very right. Oh, hell, he is right!
But the fact is, we are a consumer society focused heavily on our entertainment. We tend to be very passionate about it, whether it is a band, show, film series, or anything else. Because of this, the interference of executives in the creative process is something at which we lash out. “How dare those brainless executives mess with the creative vision of (insert creative type here)?”
Certainly, there have been some (a few. Maybe.) good executive decisions made over the years, but there have been many more bad ones made by executives with an extremely limited knowledge of the projects for which they were responsible. They are never held accountable for the loss of culture and creativity, so we get less of both with each decision they make. They are held accountable only for the loss of revenue, which means that when they take no risks, they lose no revenue. Balls the size of peas seldom motivate anyone to take a chance on quality.
In 1209, Simon IV de Montfort, captain-general of the French forces in the Albigensian Crusade, was active at the siege of Beziers, where the entire population of 20,000 Cathars (heretics) and Catholics (the faithful) were slaughtered. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of those unfortunates sought refuge in two cathedrals. Those in one cathedral were burned alive when it was set on fire. When Montfort’s Crusaders wondered how to tell the difference between the heretics and the faithful in the other cathedral, the Cistercian abbot, Arnald-Amalric, responded, “Kill them all. God will recognize his own.” Those in the second cathedral were subsequently butchered, man, woman, child, and presumably pet, just in case. In the Vietnam War, Arnald-Amalric’s words were paraphrased by some anonymous soldier as, “Kill ‘em all. Let God sort ‘em out.”
“Kill them all. God will recognize his own.” Or, “Kill ‘em all. Let God sort ‘em out.” Whether your tastes run to the 13th-century philosophy or the less elegant 20th-century variety, it seems eminently reasonable to adopt one or the other where entertainment industry executives are concerned (sorry, Mitch Hurwitz). Their few creative successes are so thoroughly outweighed by their multitude of dreck and cannibalistic re-offerings that a thorough housecleaning could have nothing but benefits. And we’d have more risks like Arrested Development and fewer safe, bottom-liners like Everybody Loves Raymond.
And that could be bad, how, exactly?
(Special thanks to Augustine Funnell)
three difficult lists by Hiedi Irvine
My God, this was a toughie.
Music
Elliott Smith – Figure 8 (2000)
When I sat down to write this, part of me thought that the only CDs my favourite musician in the world had released in the past decade was From a Basement on a Hill, or ‘New Moon,’ both of which were from the grave. But, then I realized, ‘Figure 8 really isn’t so old!’ and was happy to be able to add it to the list. Happiness/The Gondola Man still sends chills down my spine. This was the album that opened me up to Mr. Smith, I was sitting in computer ed class in Grade 11, and then Son of Sam came on. It was love at first listen, I’d never heard such sadness in a voice so soft.
Hey Rosetta! – Into Your Lungs (2008)
My first experience with Hey Rosetta! was during the ECMA’s in Halifax in a church, to candle light. I had heard nothing but good things, but when Tim Baker sang it gave me goosebumps and I couldn’t get them out of my head. Then they released this album, and somehow their sound was perfectly captured in this beautiful, wow worthy kind of way. This is the album played on CBC Radio 3, at friend’s places, or at cafe’s across the country that makes you feel like you’re home.
Joel Plaskett – Ashtray Rock (2007)
No one sings like Mr. Plaskett. The other day while taking a drive to Fox Lake outside of Whitehorse, I asked the question, “Can you imagine a life without Joel Plaskett,”? To which my roommate Emily responded, “Our Lord and Saviour, Joel Plaskett? No.” Nope, there would be no life without the sound of Plaskett, I’ve got nothing more to say.
Arcade Fire- Neon Bible (2007)
Nothing is as haunting and as lovely as this album. It has this raw emotion that I never experienced through an album before, not ever. Intervention is one of my top three favourite songs, beginning with an organ and turning into something you won’t soon forget, with lines like “Working for the church while your family dies. You take what they give you and you keep it inside. Every spark of friendship and love will die without a home,” and “Singing Hallelujah with the fear in your heart”, and with a choir of voices singing things like, “Your life will fall a part.” Truest choir I’ve ever heard.
Patrick Watson – Close to Paradise (2006)
This one was the best free CD I ever got through the Aquinian, and if you’re a person who judges books and albums by their covers, you can tell right away it’s going to be brilliant. No one can hit notes like Patrick Watson. Nobody!
Fiona Apple – Extraordinary Machine (2005)
This is the best break-up album ever. So empowering and catchy, it’s hard to keep crying mixed in with the sweetness and good times that accompany most relationships. It was the only thing in my discman for a year, but don’t worry I got over the break-up before I got over the album, it was just too good to turn off is all.
Dr. Dog – Fate (2008)
Wow.
Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes (2008)
It was just….perfect. The Gregorian Chanting, the simplicity, it was stunning. Every song begins one way and has the possibility to go in completely opposite directions, possibilities, yeah, I think that’s why I’m so attracted to these tunes. Brilliance. ‘Your protector’ always just makes me belt it out, on the sidewalks, in the shower, anywhere, and sure by singing “As you lay to die beside me baby on the morning that you came, would you wait for me…” I may come off as slightly nutty, but it’s worth it.
Damien Rice – O (2002)
This was the most romantic and heart-breaking album of the decade. Easy.
Radiohead – Kid A (2000)
This album really topped one off for Radiohead. While ‘Hail to the Thief’ was still somethin’, and ‘In Rainbows’ marked the first time a band approached the idea of downloading and purchasing music in such a manner, Kid A was just this rare thing, unlike anything else out there. And, 13 year old Hiedi definitely stole this one from her older brother. So worth being called a thief for.
Aimee Mann – Bachelor No. 2 or, the last Remains of the Dodo (2000)
Cigarettes and red vines, just close your eyes ’cause baby you never do know…
I feel bad not having some Tori on this list, since to my own regret, I’m really not that into most female artists. But Aimee beat her out. There are several reasons for this going beyond Magnolia, and her guest appearances on Comedy Death Ray. She’s just an amazing talent. Depending on my mood, I have to say sometimes I think ‘Aimee, baby you’re bringin’ me down’ but more often she makes me smile and think ‘goddamn, Aimee you’ve done it again’.
Ben Folds – Songs for Silverman (2005)
Really, it’s been five years already, Benny boy? While Ben Folds has always been flat out awesome and unique to the nines, this one was just one for the books. One for the top (this has turned into 12) lists of the decade. His tribute to my main music man, Elliott Smith, ‘late’ was this beautiful tribute. Simple, “The songs your wrote, got me through a lot, just want to tell you that, but it’s too late.” And effective. “When desperate static beats the silence up, A quiet truth to calm you down” that on the same album with his infamous cover of “Bitches Ain’t Shit” – Ben Folds, man you’re just an unstoppable music master and I bow down to you. Yup.
Best in Television
*Please note, The Wire should be on this list, but since I’ve only seen ¾ of the first season, it’s not fair for me to completely judge it’s brilliance.
Modern Family (2009-)
Christopher Lloyd is probably one of the funniest fellows on the face of the earth and it seems as though the funniest episodes so far has had his name as the writing credit. Anyone who has ever watched Married With Children had to suspect that there was more life out there for Al Bundy, and what better way to come back than to be a rich man with grown children, and a hot younger foreign bride? Every character in this series is hilarious, they all have their own sense of humour and they all come off believable on some level. Favourite line to date: “I’m like Costco – I’m big, I ain’t fancy and I dare you not to like me?” -the lovable, huggable Cameron Tucker.
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2005-)
This series has quotes out the yin-yang, and anytime Charlie enters a room you just have to wonder ‘What’s he up to!?’ It’s a rare find to come across a show that has some of the most controversial topics out there and still be knee-slapping funny every time. Way to deliver the goods, Paddy’s pub employees!
Six Feet Under (2001-2005)
At times Six Feet Under got a little bizarre. When David was going through some issues, it felt like they were never-ending. But from the start of every episode until the end of every season the originality and acting on every cast member’s part was 110 per cent refreshing and that deserves some serious recognition.
Breaking Bad (2008-)
There are so many reasons why Bryan Cranston won the Emmy award for Best Actor two years in a row. Watch it and you’ll see. You’ll all see.
Flight of the Conchords (2007-2009)
New Zealanders, good music and dry comedy are the things that make up a good life. Simple as that.
30 Rock (2006-)
Alec Baldwin, a.k.a. Jack Donaghy, thank you for letting me use the term ‘business drunk’ like I really mean it. This series is probably made up of the best cast on television right now and funny from start to finish. Every single time.
The Office (2005-)
Next to 30 Rock, the cast in The Office seems to be a match made in heaven. And although I’ve always liked it, I have to say that the Casual Fridays episode this past season made the show tug on my hearts strings that much more.
Law and Order: Special Victims Unit (1999-)
While living in Fort St. John, I started watching a lot more television than I had in years. Outside of the Colbert Report and The Daily Show, and on my everyday playlist was Law & Order: SVU after watching Law & Order: Criminal Intent. And as much as I like Goren, SVU just does it for me. I know it’s wrong, and sometimes there are scenes that are so artificial it’s painful to watch, but I have a special place in my heart for this show, and for detective Benson’s storyline/feminist spark. Like on today’s re-run, Slaves, when the fellow asked Benson for a drink, and her response was,“and I’d like your balls in a blender, but ain’t life a bitch.”
Big Bang Theory (2008-)
Sheldon, the main character has even sparked someone to investigate where his shirts come from. If that’s not proof of how popular the show is, I don’t know what is.
The Colbert Report (2005 -)
It’s hard to believe the Colbert Nation is only five years old. This eagle has certainly spread its wings and I for one, am all too happy it’s still flyin’ high. From shaving his head in Iraq, to ‘Tip of the Hat, Wag of the Finger’ Colbert is comedy gold.
The Best in Movies
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
This film, I hate to say, I’ve only seen once. But it has stayed in my mind in a way no other movie has. It is this beautifully crafted film that not only moved me but made me think anything you love, or have come to know could be gone in an instant. But it also made me realize a person can do anything they put their minds too, even if that’s all they have the ability to use.
Up (2009)
Pixar movies just do it for me. They make me one very happy camper and Up was one of the most beautiful movies I’ve ever seen. There is a lot to be said about the power of silence, and from the opening scene on, you just have to appreciate the story of young love, growing old and losing love too fast.
Almost Famous (2000)
It’s ridiculous to realize that it’s been ten years since high school student William Miller got the opportunity to go on tour with Stillwater and write about the experience for Rolling Stone magazine learning from the great Lester Bangs along the way. Miller was 15 in the movie and when I first watched it, (without my parent’s knowledge) I was two years his junior. I wanted Penny Lane’s good looks, and Miller’s chance, yup that’s what 15 year old Hiedi wanted more than anything.
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
Enough said.
Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001)
The movie was almost as good as the book. This flick was made for women, and I have to say, Renee Zellweger captured our craziness amazingly well.
The Pianist (2002)
Roman Polanski may have done stupid things in his time but this is not one of them. The visuals are tough at times, to say the least, but realistic and moving in ways that are indescribable.
Big Fish (2003)
Magic. Pure magic.
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003)
Because we’re all allowed guilty favourites.
Transamerica (2005)
Felicity Huffman deserves every award possible. The plot alone would normally throw me off, what with trying to get a sex change then finding out along that path that your sexcapades from the past have caught up with you and you have a child and all. But it’s beautifully done and the relationship you watch unfold between father and son is unlike any I’d ever seen.
I’m Not There (2007)
When I first watched this flick I wondered what I could have possibly been smoking. I went into the movie all wrong, with no real knowledge of who Bob Dylan was (I’d say is, but he’s changed, let’s face it) and so was very confused by all the versions of him that existed within this film. I knew that there had to be reasons why some of the top actors in the business passionately portrayed the man, so there was a spark ignited and I had to learn more then re-visit this work. I read Dylan On Dylan trying to understand, and after reading about who he was, I got it. It irked me as a journalist type since I figured if I were having an interview with someone like that, I’d want to lose it….but it was the 70s and perhaps in that time I would have been a different person in every interview too. Maybe no one will know the real Dylan, but the many lives he claimed he lived are brought to life in quite a way, once you figure it out.
another reluctant list by John P. Rairdon
I do not envy Rolling Stone right now. A day after publishing their always controversial top 100 albums and songs of the decade there was, without a doubt, quite a ruckus from the rabble of objectors.
To make things worse Unfiltered Smoke asked me for just 10. A “top 10 of the decade”. I’m not doing that. What I am going to do is to tell you what albums I listened to most and from what year they came. Some years had several good pieces and some had none that made my list. When faced with a ‘tie’ I’ll pick the album I believe needs the props.
I did not compile this list for you to search through and match with your favs, that’s Rolling Stone’s job. I deliberately left off awesome albums by TOOL, AiC, Weezer, Blue Rodeo, Cake, Jack Johnson, Mars Volta, Muse, Queens and numerous others. Get every one of those guys’ albums too.
Nickelback: The State (2000)
I know there are haters. Fuck, I’m a hater too but this album started something. You’ll never learn to appreciate this record after the last decade’s worth of abuse from this band but this album had legs back in the day.
Days of the New: III (2001)
Marked a new, brilliant direction for Travis Meeks. It also marked the last time that fucker ever made some music. It was so good that nobody liked it which may have led to Travis becoming a TV star on TV’s Intervention and he never looked back.
Lovage: Music to Make Love to Your Old Lady By (2001)
This was made to fill the sexy void left wide open by the passing of Portishead. One track, a cover of Berlin’s big hit from the 80’s “Sex, I’m a” made me feel like I was a teenager all over again. The masturbation was good back then.
Jerry Cantrell: Degradation Trip Volumes 1 & 2 (2002)
Jerry teamed up with the original Puffy (drummer) and Trujillo (bassist) to make a masterpiece on 2 pieces of plastic. If Degradation Trip were a body of water it’d be dark, muddy and have sharp, sharp hooks once you sank in deep.
I Mother Earth: Quicksilver Meat Dream (2003)
A beautiful farewell album. Produced by David Bottrill, this album turned the band’s style on its side. Did Bottril make IME sound like TOOL or did TOOL ask to sound like David Bottril? Now, don’t think about it again because you need to focus on Quicksilver Meat Dream as there’s just too much there to process anyway.
Helmet: Size Matters (2004)
Page made a completely new band of some familiar faces and an old name. He changed his voice and sings more often than screams. Together they made some awesome, awesome songs. Not for every Helmet fan but ideal for anyone who wants to drive fast.
Gorillaz: Demon Days (2005)
I’m ashamed to admit that Danger Mouse has trumped Automator with this newer version of Gorillaz. The songs are smooth and sexy. Many styles mash up yet stay well separated. The performers are all top notch and wholly appealing.
Sean Lennon: Friendly Fire (2006)
Sometimes he uses simple words and simple rhymes and simple sounds like hand clapping. Other times it’s off the wall with strange harmonies and organs and more. I love every song on this record and I can’t say why more than this man is awesomeness.
Secret Chiefs 3 – Xaphan: The Book Of Angels, Vol. 9 (2008)
I’ve followed the Chiefs for a decade now and they can be hit or miss with their mostly instrumental recordings. This time around the compositions are written by another man, a John Zorn. Does one avant-garde band playing another man’s avant-garde music make it any better? I don’t know but I can say that it’s refreshing and enjoyable. Vol. 9 is only a small part of many other volumes Zorn wrote. All the other Volumes were performed by other avant-garde bands.
K-OS – YES! (2009)
Look, it’s 2009 right now, I have not had time to hear everything that has come out yet and be objective about it. What I can say right now is that this album works for me. Some tracks are not to my taste but the others taste so great that I endure the bad ones.
Photography by Tiffany Naugler
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…
click thumbnails to see photos enlarged.
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”.
Photo by Tiffany Naugler
by the Fantods
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.
Click the song titles to listen.
Fantods – Betty – From the album “Burn, Wizards, Burn
Fantods – Left A Light On – From the album “Ride the Moose”
Fantod’s Website: www.myspace.com/thefantods
Bunny D. Gallant – vox
Professor F – vox, guitar
Tony E – bass, guitar
Jay Methot – Guitar and stuff
Bango – drums, vox
Record Label: Radiator Collective
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an attempted review by Isaac Thompson
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“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.
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,
gNoshgNosh 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.
by Jason Wilson
As 2009 crawls to an end we will be entering the second decade of the new millennium. Here at Unfiltered Smoke, I want to take a look back on the best from film, music, sports and television in a series from different perspectives and different people. I will be counting down the top 100 movies from the decade starting in January (taking the time between now and then to catch up).
This is where you, the readers and fellow contributors come in.
I am looking for individuals to volunteer to tackle the other media in their own way. It doesn’t have to be a countdown or a list with a piece around it. I want you to think critically and fondly on the decade and write about what worked and maybe a bit about what didn’t for you.
If you listened to a lot of great new music since 2000, let me know and we’ll figure out what you can write. Same for television junkies and sports fanatics. This could be a great collaborative project and if more than one person wants to focus on the same topic, as long as you both take different approaches, this would be fine.
Email me at ratedargh@gmail.com with 2000 retrospective in the subject line and we’ll start a dialogue. I look forward to hearing from you.
As some of you may know, Adam Atherton entered and won on zudacomics.com. He created the comic Lily of the Valley and due to votes, his persistent marketing and high quality of work, he won in a landslide. The story continues on Zuda Comics tomorrow, October 9. Until then, here is an Unfiltered Smoke Q and A with the Woodstock, New Brunswick native.
Unfiltered Smoke:What are the steps involved with writing and designing and drawing a comic?
Adam Atherton: I think of a concept. Something that involves stuff I like to draw! So there’s usually girls in there somewhere… And subject matter I think I know well enough to write about confidently. I write down the main points into point form and start fleshing it out. I flesh out the end first and go backwards. It’s an easy way to ensure everything is building toward the ending. Then I keep filling in the blanks until it looks sort of like a family tree!
Then I break it down into a page count. What’s gonna be covered on each page. Usually this is the scripting process… but I usually know the story enough to go right into things from my mess of an outline. And since I’m drawing it too I can work out storytelling elements visually as I make the thumbnails. Then I draw the full pages with a mechanical pencil on smooth bristol. I constantly switch things around alot. I ink them with a watercolour brush and indian ink(which I think is more fun than anything else cause the page finally starts to look finished) and then I scan the page into my computer and colour it using Photoshop. I slap on the dialogue and word balloons and call it a day!
US: How did you hear about zuda and how did you get into the competition with Bleed (his first attempt last December)?
AA: I heard about Zudacomics.com back in October of 2008. A guy I knew sent me an email asking me to check out his comic which was competing then. The comic he worked on was called Extracurricular Activites and won the contract that month. (The comic just finished it’s first 60 page season pm Zuda last month.) I looked into the submission guidelines while I was there and thought I’d submit my comic Bleed for the hell of it and see what happens. Bleed was something I was just doing for fun at the time and to entertain myself with really. I didn’t have any expectations to hear back from Zuda but they contacted me at the end of November inviting my comic to compete for December.
US: What did you take away from your experience with Bleed that helped make Lily of the Valley a success during your next attempt?
AA: I took note of all comments. The things people liked I carried over into my next entry, and the things people didn’t like, I avoided. For the technical aspects at least. People have different taste so you’ll never please everyone so I still aimed to just make the kind of comic I’d want to read. But just tried to tell it in a technically pleasing way that even those not interested in the genre could respect. With Lily, I tried to put in enough information into the 8 pages to give a reader an understanding of what the story is about. I also learned the importance of marketing in the competition and started planning that side of things pretty early.
US: Who are your biggest inspirations as a comic artist?
AA: Probably Jeff Smith, Mike Mignola, and Paul Pope. I admire these guys cause they’re not just comic artists, they’re comic creators. They write and illustrate their own stories. When the same brain is writing and drawing a story it really brings the writing and art together into one storytelling language. They also all have ridiculously unique and personal styles and utilize design alot. These guys really use the artform expressively.
US: How have other media like music, film and books inspired your work?
AA: Music, films, and books inspire me with comics more than any comic has. Music can set a tone in my mind when drawing a page. I think through the visual storytelling in a cinematic way. I think of the scenes playing through my head like a film and pull out the significant moments and put them on the page. Books, films, and music also all help me shape a world perspective to use in the stories I try to tell through comics. Music that has inspired Lily of the Valley has been anything by Nick Cave and alot of music by The Cure. I actually have a whole soundtrack picked out for the comic and for the newer pages I’ve been hiding the names of songs, that I envision accompanying the scenes, into the page art. Books that have inspired this comic have been Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Notes from Underground. These stories are pretty centered around emotions similar to those I’m trying to express through my comic, so I’ve been able to look to those books and others to see how they’ve conveyed certain feelings visually.
US: How much of the Lily story did you have completed or planned when you submitted the first pages to the contest?
AA: I’ve had the whole thing planned before starting the submission. But it was in point form and I’ve been changing things around constantly. The final comic will likely look nothing like that I’ve written out. (laughs) I like to work organically let changes happen.
US: Do you have plans to finish Bleed? If so, when and is it already sketched out?
AA:I loved making that thing. It was alot of fun and there’s been alot of people who surprisingly liked it as much as I liked making it for some reason. I have it plotted out and know where the story’s going. I have a bunch more pages thumbnailed out too but I don’t know when I will get to them.
US: If you could collaborate with anyone on a story who would it be and why?
AA: I collaborate on Lily of the Valley with my girlfriend Luiza Dragonescu and couldn’t ask for a better partner to work with. She takes a few additional duties upon herself too, like fetching pages out of the trash after I go nutty and throw out just about every other page I draw. If she wasn’t helping me I’d still be getting frustrated and redrawing the first page I’ve ever attempted over and over again trying to make it perfect. Other than that, I can’t really think of anyone I’m dying to work with. I’ve always wanted to be able to wear all hats and do my comics entirely alone.
US: Are there other media that you work in?
AA: I love working with ink on bristol. That’s not an other though. I try out alot of mediums any chance I have. The only other medium I really love but am still learning with, is watercolour. I’d like to do some illustrations, maybe pin-ups or covers for comic series, with watercolour and ink sometime.
US: Are there any other ideas floating in your head for once Lily is done its run?
AA: Bleed. I’d like to find time to do alot more 3 panel humour strips as well. And I’d also like to try a story with a more mature tone where I can challenge myself to work in a more realistic style. I don’t want to get ahead of myself though so for now I’m focusing primarily on Lily of the Valley!
(speaking of 3 panel humour strips, if you missed Adam’s first submission to Unfiltered Smoke, you can check it out here)
If any of you would like to ask Adam a question, please feel free to email unfiltered smoke at ratedargh@gmail.com and perhaps we’ll do another Q&A down the road with reader questions. And now, here’s a picture of Adam and Luiza meeting Nick Cave!
an attempted review by Isaac Thompson
“…Speaking as a child of the 90’s” – Vedder
Before I dive into my review, I feel I should include a disclaimer: I am a die-hard Pearl Jam fan. They are my #1, all time favourite band. Every note of every Pearl Jam album is sacred to me and therefore this review will be as biased as an Aaron Spelling casting call. I love Pearl Jam and I love this album. So prepare yourself for the Seattle Stroke-job of the century.
Another side note: Again, I am extremely biased on the subject, but I’ve noticed that most reviewers are routinely unfair to Pearl Jam, brushing the band off as has-beens. It’s my estimation that those reviewers don’t know what the hell they’re talking about. It can be frustrating seeing someone slag your favourite band when they obviously don’t know the music nearly as well as you do. How can they dismiss something they know so little about? It’s kind of like how people who don’t listen to punk music say it all sounds the same. If you are a punk fan, I don’t need to tell you that all punk music does not sound the same and those people don’t know what they’re talking about. Love for a band is a personal thing and you can’t find it in a press kit. When reviewers make asinine comments about Pearl Jam, such as “they’re just repeating themselves.” I shake my head. Are they listening to the same band I am? They certainly aren’t listening as closely as me and the rest of Pearl Jam’s loyal cult. I feel it’s my duty as a fan to write a review for the album that doesn’t just make lame jabs at Eddie Vedder’s earnestness (as if it were a bad thing) or blame them for spawning every crappy band that’s dominated rock radio since (Creed, Nickelback, Theory of a Dead Man, Default, Staind, Three Doors Down, etc..). That’s like hating Steven Spielberg because of his influence on Michael Bay. Just because someone decides to rip off the obvious, superficially commercial elements of your art minus the soul doesn’t mean it’s your fault! And none of the johnny-come-lately-wannabes who are still trying to recreate Pearl Jam’s Ten can ever stop Pearl Jam from being awesome.
You wish you rocked as hard as this guy.
That being said, the reviews for Backspacer have been almost universally positive. And with good reason, the record kicks ass. The only review I’ve read for the album that I’d consider negative was on Pitchfork.com. They tore Backspacer a new one. This was most likely because Pearl Jam are not an ironic, hipster indie band consisting of like 15 skinny pretty boys from Montreal… I mean, seriously. Am I the only one who is bored with that shit? I’ve been sick of this ‘above it all’, ironically-moustachioed hipster fad since day one. I will be celebrating heavily when sincerity and passion are regarded as positive things in rock music. (suck it, Pitchfork!)
The reasons Pearl Jam are my favourite band are too numerous to mention, but here’s a short rundown of my love affair: I discovered them during the Vitalogy era when I was knee high to one of those bugs that hops around in the grass. The closest thing I’ve had to a religious experience was seeing Pearl Jam live during the Riot Act tour. A friend who was working behind the scenes at that show nabbed Mike McCready’s guitar pick for me. I cherish it like the holy grail. I’ve spent countless hours as a child, teenager and adult worshiping at the Alter of Pearl.
Me offering my most sincere form of flattery to Eddie Vedder. (photo by the rockin' Tiffany Naugler)
The band has my loyalty because they’ve earned it. They’ve never let me down, I’ve never felt like they were phoning it in, and they always try something different. They are legendary for going against the grain (not shooting videos, touring sans ticket-master, accepting awards with a simple “This is meaningless”, etc.) even though when they first came out they were accused (unfairly, IMHO) of being Nirvana bandwagon-jumpers.
Backspacer continues Pearl Jam’s tradition of expanding their sound while staying true to what fans love about them. Everything is in place. Eddie’s vocals sound as unhinged as ever, yet more controlled. Matt Cameron is a goddamn force of nature on the drums. Jeff Ament’s bass lines are much more traditional sounding and it’s interesting to hear. The buzz-saw guitar attack provided by Stone Gossard and Mike McCready is still present, as are the tender ballads. But this time they’ve made good on a lot of influences they’ve only touched on in the past. There are more nods to classic punk rock on this one than any of their previous albums. They even touch on 80’s new wave with some of the tracks, and for once I have to agree with the reviewers’ consensus and say this is the most fun Pearl Jam album of all time.
The Artwork to the album is fantastic, although if you’ve been following the band all these years you know that’s par for the course. Backspacer’s artwork was done by Tom Tomorrow who draws the comic strip “The Modern World”. He does a great job and his cartoonish style is a visual cue for the type of sounds you’ll hear when you press play.
"Why don't you come up here and say that 'Last Kiss' sucks?"
“When something’s lost, I wanna fight to get it back again” – Vedder
Pearl Jam is a band who knows how to begin an album. With the exception of No Code, all of their albums begin with high energy, foot stomping, barn burners and Backspacer follows suit. The one, two, three punch of “Gonna See My Friend”, “Got Some”, and “the Fixer” grabbed me right away. They’re loud, fast and catchy tunes, but less in the aggressive style of Black Flag and more the adolescent jubilation of the Ramones. In fact, I declare”The Fixer” (the lead single off of the album) Pearl Jam’s catchiest lead single since Their first single, “Alive” back in 1991. ”The Fixer” is the one song I can’t get enough of at the moment, however I expect that to happen at one point or another with every track.
Another one of the album’s standout tracks is “Just Breathe”. It’s beautiful guitar-line and Vedder’s amazing vocals remind me of some of the early Pearl Jam ballads that sent millions of bic lighters waving gracefully in the air 18 years ago. Eddie Vedder has told reporters it is the closest thing to a love song the band has ever recorded. I would argue they have written love songs, but most of them are about the love of getting into a car and just driving. This one flirts with typical love song territory while keeping equal portions of pessimism mixed in with the optimism. That’s one of the things I adore about the band; they aren’t the type to sugar coat things, but they aren’t wallowers either. They take the good they take the bad and there we have….the facts of life. Life isn’t a bowl of roses, often it sucks, it’s ugly and indifferent, but life isn’t all misery and pain as a lot of hard rock bands would have you believe. In truth it’s a little of both, and Pearl Jam has always been a band that understood that.
“Johnny Guitar” makes great use of the wah-wah pedal and the chorus makes me involuntarily pump my fist in the air (always a good sign). “Supersonic” is a fun tight pop-rock song in the vein of “Mankind” off of Pearl Jam’s 4th album No Code. It’s also got a touch of Born in the USA era Springsteen and includes the fantastic line “I’m not the paper, I’m more like the fold. Cut the crease and put the shit in the whole.” The album’s closer ”The End” is another beautifully sparse ballad that rounds out the album nicely. At a breakneck 39 minutes, the album hardly ever stops to catch its breath and when the ballads roll around they really stand out.
This might not matter as much to casual fans, but this album marks the return of Brendan O’brian who produced all of Pearl Jam’s early albums and just about every other good 90’s hard rock album you can name. His work speaks for itself, His records always sound great. Go check your record collection, you’d be surprised how many amazing albums he is behind. He also plays a mean surf guitar.
I feel I’m glossing over the specifics of the album, probably because I am. Therein lies the problem with reviewing records, it’s not like watching a movie, where one time through you more or less get the jist of it. With a record you need to live and breathe it for months to truly appreciate it. I know I like this album a lot, I know it’ll never have the same effect on me that Ten, Vs, and Vitalogy had. That’s just impossible. But I don’t feel I know the album well enough yet to really get into the specifics. I’ve only listened to it 5 times, which some might say is enough to write a review, but I don’t think I’ll truly know how I feel about the record until, say, a year from now. That’s one of the joys of a band like Pearl Jam. There are references, inside stories, secret codes and hidden meanings in everything they touch. It can keep a fan busy trying to decipher it all for years. Hell, they’ve kept me busy with it for almost two decades now.
Although it’s still growing on me, I’m still learning its idiosyncrasies, I know this is a great album. It’s a fun burst of high energy pop rock, and the band seems to be letting loose like never before. I give Backspacerthe same rating I give Pearl Jam’s last 8 albums: 10 out of 10, two thumbs up, 100%! I love this band, I wont even try and find fault in them, I’ll leave that up to Rollingstone, Blender, Spin and of course, Pitchfork.
by Hiedi Irvine
I realized having not experienced any music festivals this summer, just how empty the months can feel without the sound of music. Luckily there are those festivals that aren’t limited to July and August, including the Treasure Island Music Festival in San Francisco, happening Oct. 17 and 18.
The line-up is impressive to say the least, with The Flaming Lips, MGMt, The Decemberists, Brazillian Girls, Beirut, Grizzly Bear, Passion Pit, DJ Rush, Girl Talk, among others are all set to take the stage.
Flaming Lips will be performing at the Treasure Island Music Festival in October.
Noisepop Industries is one of the companies behind the festival , partnered up with Another Planet, some of the largest promoters in the San Francisco area. Stacy Horne, events director for Noisepop Industries said the line-up is usually determined by a wish list and convenience for bands.
“I think what drives it the most is the availability and what artists are out and touring and whose around over the summer and because primarily we don’t do fly ins so it’s bands that make sense with their routing,” said Horne.
The festival is located off the Oakland Bay Bridge on Treasure Island and although organizers had originally dismissed the location for the festival, they re-visited the idea. In order to avoid the traffic of people going on and off the bridge, there’s a shuttle bus available.
“We have everyone park at AT& T Park and we provide free shuttle buses then to the island which picks up so it’s really quick and easy and the first year people were really kind of skeptical and worried to be away from their cars and now it’s kind of become an integral part of the festival, where people get out of their cars and their immediately on these really nice shuttle buses that are green buses and they’re really nice and they have TV’s on them and everything so it’s really nice and it’s sort of become part of the festival experience,” explained Horne.
There are about 10,000 people at the festival daily, and many listeners come from the Bay Area. Horne said the location is key to the experience.
“The spectacular location itself is just something that’s obviously very unique, it’s the only place where you can get an uninterrupted view of the San Francisco skyline, the bridges, Alcatraz, quite beautiful. We also have a 60 foot Ferris wheel and that also gives people a really unique beautiful view of the city and a lot of people in San Francisco and the Bay area haven’t been to Treasure Island. It was a military base so it wasn’t opened to the public until about ten years ago, it’s not really a place that people go, so a lot of people that are coming there, it’s right in their backyard and they’re just discovering it for the first time,” she explained.
Treasure Island's lineup for 2009.
Horne said what they pride themselves on is mainly the fact that despite the big acts they bring in, it’s managed to remain relatively small scale compared to some other festivals.
“The venue itself is one big open field, it’s got a really intimate feel to it, there’s really any lines or if there are they’re really short for the food and the porta potties and all the different things going on so you really don’t kind of feel like your whole day is spent waiting on lines, your time is spent enjoying the festival. Another thing is that we’ve got two stages and we have just one band playing at a time so you’re actually able to see every note of every band if you choose to do so so it’s not like a lot of festivals where you have to kind of make choices and sometimes they’re really sucky choices because there’s two bands that you want to see and you can’t possibly see them because the site is so big and they’re playing at the same time. And then of course the spectacular location itself is just something that’s obviously very unique, it’s the only place where you can get an uninterrupted view of the San Francisco skyline, the bridges, Alcatraz, quite beautiful. We also have a 60 foot ferris wheel and that also gives people a really unique beautiful view of the city and a lot of people in San Francisco and the Bay area haven’t been to Treasure Island. It was a military base so it wasn’t opened to the public until about ten years ago, it’s not really a place that people go so a lot of people that are coming there, it’s right in their backyard and they’re just discovering it for the first time,” she said.
It may be something special to Bay area residents, but there is a desire to see it expand and become something people from all over the world want to take in.
“It is definitely a great place to come for the weekend, we wouldn’t mind it becoming more of a destination festival and San Francisco weather at the time is perfect, and hotels in San Francisco are pretty inexpensive for a major city so it’s a pretty great place to come for the weekend, we’d love to have your audience come down,” said Horne.
For more information visit: www.treasureislandfestival.com
Here are just a few of the upcoming Festivals happening in Canada in the months to come:
Pop Montreal from Sept 30-October 4.
Celtic Colours International Festival in Cape Breton Oct. 9-17
Orillia Jazz and Blues Festival Oct. 17-19
Frostbite Music Festival in Whitehorse-February 13-15
Saskatoon Blues Festival from February 26 through March 1.
Canadian Music Week (awesome, like a festival!) in Toronto March 11-14
New Music West in Vancouver May 14-18
For an impressive line up, country by country, date by date check out : http://kadmusarts.com/countries/Canada.html
by Isaac Thompson
Art is important.
I would argue that art is as crucial as mathematics and sciences in our understanding of ourselves and the world around us. In other words, it isn’t merely important, it’s necessary. It’s how we wrestle our intangible experiences and emotions (hate, love, anger, joy, longing, fear et al.) to the ground and share them.
Scientists could write (and probably have written) a million peer reviewed studies about love, but could they ever convey the magnitude of the experience as profoundly as William Shakespeare did when he sat down and wrote Romeo and Juliet?
Think about your favourite band or musician. The one you’ve spent hours alone listening to, studying every lyric, and worshiping every note. There is an exchange going on there. Whether they like it or not, the artist is sharing every hope or fear they’ve ever had. They are giving you a glimpse of their soul, all its faults and virtues. They might not say it in plain terms, and a casual listener might no pick up on it, but it’s there. It lives and breathes in the groves of the record (or these days in the digital code of the mp3… I feel wrong just typing that.).
I’ve been an avid fan of music for so long that I’ve built up an ever-growing arsenal and armoury. It’s better than a therapist, it’s better than a diary. Whatever the experience good or bad, there’s a song that will help me express that feeling. More than that, it will help me compartmentalize the feeling and relate it to another human being. That’s where the exchange comes in. When you listen to an album or (especially) when you see a musician at a live show, you and the artist are relating to each other. You’re reporting the reality of the human condition to each other. I’m sure you can think of a million times a simple three-minute-long-ditty has changed the way you carry yourself, the way you think and the way you interact with the world.
This same magic works for all art forms. That’s the beauty of expression. Art is healing. It’s a teacher, an entertainer, a confidant, a security blanket. It can mean anything to anyone. Everyone benefits from it, we’re wired to create it, we’re wired to appreciate it, and we’ve done it for as long as we’ve been around. It can challenge our minds and our belief systems, It can make (and has made) real change in our society.
The River Valley Arts Alliance is a collection of New Brunswick artists with heaps of talent, passion and vision. They recently put together an amazing arts festival, the first of its kind in Woodstock New Brunswick. It was a great success and it looks like the Dooryard Arts Festival is going to be an annual event. I was lucky enough to take part in the festival, singing a few songs with my dad’s rock and roll band The Debarker Boys.
I’m posting our rendition of “New Orleans is Sinking” by The Tragically Hip, a band who has always meant a lot to me. I had a blast playing that song and I’m already planning a way to weasel into next years Dooryard Festival.
