BeatRoute Magazine BC Print Edition October 2017

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COMEDY STOP PODCASTING YOURSELF THEY CAN’T THEY WON’T AND THEY DON’T STOP PODCASTING THEMSELVES GRAEME WIGGINS “Not to get too sidetracked again,” warns Dave Shumka, co-host of long running, local podcast Stop Podcasting Yourself with cohost Graham Clark, “I looked up the “Let’s Talk About Sex”, CD release of the single and the track listing was “Let’s Talk About Sex”, “Let’s Talk About Sex (True Confessions edit)”, “Let’s talk about Sex (Super crispy mix)”, “Let’s Talk About Sex (Original Recipe Mix)” but there was another one that was “Let’s Talk About AIDS” and like three skits.” A conversation with the two hosts of SPY is filled with funny pop culture diversions like this, a product of the chemistry and comic instincts gained over nearly 10 years of making the podcast. There is also a lot of tagging of each other’s jokes and observations. Shumka’s comment above itself was a tag of Clark’s story: “I had this Salt and Peppa album and the last track is this high school drama club doing this sketch about drugs. So that would come up when you have things on shuffle.” This October Stop Podcasting Yourself will be recording their 500th episode, a milestone few podcasts can be said to have reached. They started out nearly 10 years ago, in the pre-Serial years when podcasting as a format hadn’t yet fully sorted itself out. Clark and Shumka weren’t entirely sure what they wanted to do with the medium. They started by working with fellow comedian (and early guest) Ben Mills. As Clark explains, the idea was a little different from how the podcast ended up: “we thought we’d write sketches but we weren’t very good.” The three would get together and brainstorm. Shumka follows up, “we had a lot of ideas but mostly didn’t follow through.” These brainstorming sessions formed the basics of what SPY ended up being. Shumka, again: “that’s kind of what the podcast became, the brainstorming would be funny.” Adds Clark, “I remember one time we got together to write sketches and we ended up looking at every video at YTMND.com… …I think we thought that’s what a podcast was.” This history of the podcasts genesis helps makes sense of the fact that if you listen back to the archived episodes of the podcast’s early days, it was a much different show, with a number of segments and bit ideas. Shumka recalls, “we didn’t know how we’d fill the time. What are we supposed to do, just talk? I’m not that good at that so we need an artificial thing to make us talk.” Clark continues, “also it seemed like watching David Letterman or whatever, that that was what a show was. Now we’re gonna do this thing, now we’re going to do that thing.” The show now has pared a lot of the segments down, Shumka puts it thusly, “now we only do the two segments, really. And it feels like anything else would derail what we’re doing. We struggle to keep it to 90 minutes with those parameters.” For a podcast with little in the way of format, or organized topic to centre itself on, it’s hard to pinpoint what exactly the (immense) appeal of it is. Shumka describes what fans suggest, “it has no hook to the show. It has no concept to it. So when people describe it they say it’s joyful and it’s consistent. I don’t think we have bad episodes anymore.” Consistency is definitely a factor. Not only is it one of the most consistently reliable podcasts out there in terms of never missing shows and delivering them on time, it’s also notably consistent in tone, and speed. This is true whether the guest is a famous LA comedian, or a smaller local one. As Clark puts it, “we came to a point where we realized we could have just about anyone on and it would still be fun. There was awhile when we were starting out where we needed someone whose gonna be bigger.” Shumka adds, “the perfect guest isn’t necessarily the funniest person in the world but someone who is the right speed. We work at one speed I think… …and the truth is that at this point [the listeners] are here for us.” Another part of the appeal of SPY is that it never takes itself too seriously, while fairly life changing events have happened over the course of its existence (Many moves, new jobs, Shumka was married (but his wife Abby remains her own person) and has had two children) they never seem to affect the light tone of the show. It’s rare in this day and age that you can listen to hours and hours of a podcast and completely avoid hearing about politics. With SPY, you can. Shumka explains , “I avoid it in life. I don’t want to talk about that. I probably agree with Charlie [Demers, frequent guest, and co-host of the leftist book club podcast, Well Reds] in most things. In our show and in life I just want to talk to people who make me laugh. I hate small talk, I just want to talk to people who do bits.” For Clark, it’s a matter of expertise: “I don’t know too many people who can make politics funny. It’s a rare breed. It’s hard you have to know so much to make all the references. We know Van Dam movies and dumb things.” Tags Shumka, “but we know a lot of dumb things.” In their first episode of the show, the hosts suggested they’d keep making episodes until they hit 1200, so with 700 more to go, hopefully we’ll get to know a lot of dumb things too. Download Stop Podcasting Yourself’s 500th episode on October 16 on itunes, maximumfun.org or wherever you download your podcasts. Dave Shumka and Graham Clark are celebrating the 500th episode of Stop Podcasting Yourself. 12 October 2017
DRAB MAJESTY A MULTI-DIMENSIONAL AND THEATRICAL EXPERIENCE BRAYDEN TURENNE Andrew Clinco as Deb Demure, the alien alter-ego behind Drab Majesty. Photo by Nedda Asfari The human psyche is a cryptic, often illogical thing. Most people go their whole lives keeping secrets from themselves, the unconscious truths of their identity that, from time to time, manifest as fears, desires and simple habits that we pay little heed to. A medium for this realizing of the invisible is, and has always been, art. Something about exercising the mind in the rigors of writing or making music helps to evoke the unseen self. For the L.A. solo music project, Drab Majesty, this is key to what fuels a suitably dream-like sound. In the world that Drab Majesty creates, airy pop rock landscapes are overcast with a brooding danger, bringing to mind the likes of 80’s new wave artists the like of Depeche Mode and The Cure, yet at the same time something wholly other that retains a sense of enticing mystery. “This is what comes out... I would say 95% subconscious and 5% conscious,” noted the sole member and founder, Andrew Clinco. “The music has never felt like it has come to me through some sort of intellectual or technical process, for I know very little about music theory and have never been classically trained on my instrument.” The power of what Clinco is able to emote through Drab Majesty’s music is undeniable. The band’s latest full length offering, the Demonstration, has been praised by both fans and critics. Each track is charged with potent mood and feeling, while at the same time being extremely catchy. MUSIC Drab Majesty seek to create a multi dimensional experience, both through music and theatrical, thematic elements. This is most evident in the appearance of Clinco as he manifests Deb Demure, an alter ego through which Drab Majesty is conjured. Demure is neither man nor woman, but something “more alien.” “It brings a mythology to the history of the live performance and supports the music visually.” Clinco explained. “ The whole process feels like a communion with the void or ‘the other’ and it’s important to honor that visually in the live demonstration.” Whether in press photos or on stage in the flesh, Deb Demure and company appear clad in makeup and attire. Something like fever dream harlequins come out of the ether and their live shows are an extension of this vision, utilizing stage props, fog, and neon light. “It’s important for us to suspend the viewer in a space where we control the parameters. We conduct the ritual. The ritual however is expansive and not strict or rigid. It is meant to be a meditation of sorts. The only thing it requests of the viewer is to just stop thinking.” Sharing much with the artistic philosophy of the surrealists, Drab Majesty looks to be a testament to the potency of the creative unconscious when grasped by the waking intent of a talented artist. Drab Majesty performs on Sunday October 8 at the Cobalt (Vancouver). BLUE HAWAII REWRITING A NEW WAVE OF INTIMACY WITH TENDERNESS JORDAN YEAGER Blue Hawaii specializes in love lost. With song titles like “No One Like You,” “Do You Need Me,” “Searching For You” and “Free At Last,” their second studio album, Tenderness, has a very pointed message. The nostalgia-soaked, synth-heavy record chronicles unrequited love and the changing landscape of emotional intimacy in an increasingly impersonal, technological world. But this isn’t their first time navigating emotionally fraught waters. In fact, a lot has changed in the four years since Raphaelle “Ra” Standell-Preston and Alex “Agor” Cowan last released an album as Blue Hawaii. “Our last record is called Untogether, and it’s kind of about our breakup,” Cowan says. “The breakup happened around when we were finishing the record and touring it, and it was a very emotional experience. And after that, we just didn’t really hang out for a few years. But now we’re really close! We hang out constantly. I feel like having that time off is really important, and now we’re just super strong platonic friends, and that’s really great.” Those in-between spaces of uncertainty in relationships seem to be a driving force behind Blue Hawaii’s creative process. Tenderness was born out of the blue, when Standell-Preston was “experiencing a relationship she wanted to be a part of, but never saw the person because they lived so far away, so the whole relationship took place over instant messaging.” It’s not a new observation, but it’s certainly relatable: technology has brought everyone in the world closer, while simultaneously leeching relationships of their intimacy. And by prioritizing and nurturing online relationships, the reverse becomes true: when you’re constantly accessible via text, are you ever truly experiencing the present moment? “A lot of the themes on the record are this feeling of how you can be so close with somebody because you chat with them a lot – they’re constantly in your life, in a way,” said Cowan. “But it’s about the boundary between that and a real-life relationship. It colours it a bit differently. Tenderness is about being kinder to people, especially in an online sense, and how to know when you are being honest and open and when you’re quickly brushing things off, and just being held accountable.” Despite having not worked with Standell- Preston in four years, Cowan disagrees with critics who say their sound has changed to become more accessible to a mainstream audience. Rather than striving towards a specific sound, Blue Hawaii has expanded upon what they already know and love: ‘90s dance music, acoustic guitar, experimental beats and heartfelt vocals. “We’ve always made electro pop – that’s the kind of project we are,” said Cowan. “It’s funny because people will find a reason to hate on it. This time, they’re like, ‘They’re selling out and making Calvin Harris-style electro pop!’ But to me, it’s not that mainstream sounding. And I’m not even super confident this is a new direction, really. To me, it sounds like a logical progression in things. I’m just excited for our live set. We’ve always been this project where the recordings are a little awkward, and then live we just throw down a heavy beat and want everyone to dance.” Blue Hawaii perform on October 14 at Celebrities. 5 per cent of the album’s proceeds will be donated to the Centre for Gender Advocacy in Montreal. Photo by Landon Speers Blue Hawaii try a little Tenderness on their sophomore album. October 2017 13
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Page 5 and 6: CITY BRIEFS! 1 Hour Photo Carol Saw
Page 9 and 10: CITY ON EDGE EXHIBITION DOCUMENTS A
Page 11: ODDITY KOMBUCHA KEEPING IT SIMPLE W
Page 16 and 17: PETUNIA AND THE VIPERS A MODERN SOU
Page 18 and 19: MUSIC HANSON 25 YEARS OF MUSIC ON T
Page 20 and 21: MUSIC THE BLOW SAILING PAST EXPECTA
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Page 38: NEW MOON RISING YOUR MONTHLY HOROSC

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