Beatroute Magazine BC Print Edition December 2017

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BPM HUNDRED WATERS DELVING DEEPER INTO THE IMPRECISE NATURE OF HUMAN CONNECTION BRENDAN REID Photo by Lenne Chai Hundred Waters embrace the intimacy of communication. Communication is something humans have always struggled with, and now we have tools that allow us to miscommunicate over larger distances and in greater volumes. Hundred Waters appreciates how complicated communication can be, especially between two people who love each other deeply. It’s a problem with no easy answer – one that cannot be scapegoated onto the overarching specter of technology. Ironically, the group’s latest offering, Communicating, is a love letter to the concept of miscommunication. And though it expounds the frustrations inherent in relationships and connection, it also implores listeners to strive for joy and comfort, within both oneself and the company that surrounds them. Hundred Waters is a group that thrives on intimacy. The band began within the humorously named “Bro Island,” a former karate dojo/grocery store that was repurposed into University of Florida housing. It was in this liminal space that Hundred Waters began to find their feet. The connection between its members runs deep – percussionist Zach Tetreault and multiinstrumentalist Trayer Tryon began making music together as early as middle school. When lead singer Nicole Miglis joined the group, she and Tryon formed a relationship of their own, deepening the sense of love and emotion the band projects with their unique sound. Despite their closeness, Hundred Waters often examines love with scrutiny, making sure to expose its shortcomings as much as its innate beauty. Communicating explores these themes openly, investigating concepts of longing and change, as well as the efforts we make to communicate our feelings to one another. The lush voice and creative vision of lead singer Miglis carry these ideas to fruition, and the video for “Fingers” is a key example of her fearless artistic integrity. In the video, Miglis lies on the ground in a barren but well-lit room, and finds herself covered in live insects, ranging from cockroaches to mealworms, tarantulas to carrion beetles. There is no special effects trickery going on here; Miglis truly let these creatures envelope her, and for good thematic reason. “[Fingers is] about being in a relationship and not knowing what you really want,” she says. “Being in something for so long that you don’t know where else to go. [This] creates a constant feeling of being unsettled. It was the closest thing to intimacy I could think of, and the furthest.” Anyone who has been in an out-of-touch relationship knows the feeling, and Miglis embraces this sensation in its most literal form, letting her skin crawl in ways that would terrify most. “Part of me just finds insects fascinating,” she admits. “We’re so socially phobic of them. They’re one of the smallest visible forms of life to us, and we fear them the most. Like the lion and the mouse fable… I think the way we consider and treat these smaller forms of life says a lot about us as people.” Her observation is apt. In today’s era, people seem to belittle one another as much as they do smaller forms of life, and a great deal of this can be attributed to simple miscommunication. Many people believe that technology itself is responsible for these problems, but Miglis is inclined to disagree. “Technology evolves with people,” she says. “Any moral issue that comes out of modern communication isn’t technology, it’s us. And those things have always been there. Technology just gives us a tool.” Hundred Waters performs at the Fox Cabaret (Vancouver) on December 9. XAVIER OMÄR DEFYING GENRES WITH MUSIC THAT SPEAKS TO THE SOUL JORDAN YEAGER Xavier Omär is not yet a household name, but that’s not to say he’s new to the music scene. Now 27, the singer has been making music for more than 15 years under different guises. He started as Spazzy Rocket, dropped the vowels to become SPZRKT, and eventually decided to take the mask off altogether. Thus, Xavier Omär was born. “Because of the way I had SPZRKT spelled, it became such a ceiling for me,” he says. “I didn’t want one. It felt more inviting for people to know my actual name, and it’s also a help in humility; the only people up to this point who have called me by my name are my family and friends. It’s the same name your mama called you when you were in trouble. So it’s helped me to keep everything in perspective.” Despite the name changes, Omär’s music has always explored topics in similar veins: relationships, faith, and “the journey along the way.” Where his experimentation often lies is in delivery. Over the years, records like Bonfire, The Everlasting Wave, and Pink Lightning vary from rap to R&B to pop depending on his mood. As much as listeners might try to compartmentalize his sound, Omär doesn’t like to be defined, preferring to focus less on genre and more on creating “whatever [he’s] feeling right then and there.” His energy comes from storytelling, and that becomes most obvious in his live show. “I’m dying in that freaking gym every day getting ready for tour,” he says. “Because of the way that I perform, I need to train like an athlete to a degree. 24 When somebody says they’re going to an R&B show, you expect a particular vibe, but it’s way more than that. And that’s kind of the signature of what I do. The first six to eight years of me making music, I was performing as a rapper. I had a hard time letting go of the energy you would expect from that when I decided to just start singing.” From changing his name to finessing his stage presence, everything Omär does is deliberate. Each song is written with intention and a sense of responsibility to the listener. “I don’t know that I really love to write about anything,” he laughs. “The happier moments, of course. Whenever you’re moved so much in a good way that you have to write about it, that’s awesome. But the records that have a bit of a deeper background story are the ones that fans seem to really stick with and appreciate me for. And it’s great, because I want to be able to be open and honest with them, but the part of it that sucks is that I have to live it first. But there is a lot of beauty in it. I don’t write immediately after I go through a bad situation. I wait a couple months to try to see what the positive side of it is, and then I tell the story. I just don’t want to be irresponsible with the pain. I want to be able to relate to people, but also help them through those times.” Xavier Omär plays The Fox Cabaret on December 21. His new EP, Pink Lightning, is out now. Photo by Joe Gonzales Xavier Omär sings his life story soulfully, drawing perspectives from each experience. December 2017
BPM RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW DJ JODIE OVERLAND ALAN RANTA VIC MENSA A MEANINGFUL MEMOIR ABOUT HOPE AND FREEDOM vCOURTNEY HEFFERNAN Vic Mensa’s debut album, The Autobiography, gets up close and personal, touching on important issues about addiction and depression. Vancouver is a melting pot. Only a third of its population was actually born in the city. With such a flux flexing, this column is here to shine a light on welcome new contributors to our scene. First up is hypnotic techno magnate Jodie Overland. If she’s not in the studio, you may find her going out for ramen, her current obsession, or heading to The VAL Villa, her new favorite rave space. High on her list of achievements, she opened for the legendary Richie Hawtin next to two other prominent women in the Calgary scene, a gig that she found empowering, yet her proudest moment so far was being selected for the 2017 RBMA Montréal Bass Camp, a “most amazing learning experience” that gave her the best tools in order to foster her mesmerizing production skills. Why here? I moved to Vancouver for a number of reasons. The job I had be working at for the past three years had laid me off, and the person I was dating at the time had moved away to Japan around the same time. I wasn’t tied down to a lease in Calgary, and I also had an opportunity to live [in Chinatown] here in Vancouver that I couldn’t pass up. Calgary is in a weird place right now with the economic recession and I figured all of the signs were pointing towards me trying out a new city. I’m a lone wolf for the most part in the scene world, but I enjoy going to all kinds of events. Four months after the release of his debut LP, The Autobiography, and two months into supporting Jay-Z’s 4:44 tour, Vic Mensa sounds more content with his career than he ever has. “It feels phenomenal. I love it. I had a point in time when I was performing music that was not as honest and I just felt phoney on stage, I just felt like I wasn’t me. Just saying ‘Turn up!’ every other song. ‘Turn up!’” Part of the reason why Mensa feels more authentic when he performs is because The Autobiography is a very personal album. He describes the recording process as cathartic. “It was a process of unearthing repressed memories and drawing connections from the past to the present and the future.” He draws on childhood and adolescent experiences on “Memories on 47th St.” and recalls the impact of crime and gun violence on his community on “Heaven on Earth.” Since Mensa first started to record as a solo artist in 2013, he has aimed to be more forthcoming in his lyrics. He says, “I try to be honest in my music.” While he uses his platform predominantly to speak honestly about his own life, he is a vocal critic of social inequalities in America. “Police brutality, mass incarceration, I know the information, I know the truth. So I think along with that comes the responsibility to vocalize.” Though he admits he doesn’t love using social media, “I do at times try to use social media to talk about the things that are important to me.” Among the topics important to Mensa is mental health. He says that when he first started talking about it, “It felt like I was being real with myself first and foremost. I never set out to be a spokesman for mental health.” When he wrote “There’s Alot Going On” for his 2016 EP of the same name he says, “I just told the truth about my own experience. I said exactly the shit I was going through. I talked about how I was addicted to drugs and depressed and suicidal and shit at points in time.” With the EP and with that record in particular, “A lot of people reached out to me to say maybe that song saved their life or got them through a tough time. I just started to realize how silent so many people are about those types of issues. I realized I could help people as a writer who really speaks candidly about mental illness.” It was Mensa’s intention from the outset to speak candidly about his self destructive tendencies on “Wings,” his collaboration with Pharrell Williams and Saul Williams. It is an unflinching look at depression, infrequently depicted in hip hop. “I knew I needed to make a song like that, something that spoke about those things in my life. And so I tried a couple times and when I ended up getting with Pharrell that day, it just clicked. The lyrics kind of just wrote themselves,” he says. The future Mensa envisions on The Autobiography is not without hope. “‘We Could Be Free’ [is] an imagining of what freedom could look like in the future,” he says. “Having a broad, wide angle view of pain and privilege as they present themselves.” Having struggled with and overcome addiction and depression, Mensa is grateful to be where he’s at today and is already excited to get back into the studio. As for the audience response to his self-reflective music he says, “People appreciate it in a different way. It hits you in a different way.” Vic Mensa will perform with Jay-Z at Rogers Place (Edmonton) December 9, host at Caprice (Vancouver) December 9 and perform with Jay-Z at Rogers Arena (Vancouver) December 11. What now? I’m working on my debut EP featuring five acid/techno tracks. I’m holding off on DJing as much as I was in Calgary in order to focus on my production, but I’m hoping to play in four different cities this spring as a mini tour. I would love to open for DVS-1 sometime. He’s my DJ idol. In terms of production, I’d love to collaborate with Lena Willikens or Young Male. DJ Jodie Overland has landed in Vancouver. December 2017 25
Page 2 and 3: wTRIM SIZE: 10.25"W x 11.5" H, RIGH
Page 4 and 5: WITH RUDOLF PENNER GLENN ALDERSON W
Page 6: CITY NO FUN RADIO BROADCASTING AN E
Page 9 and 10: THE FABRIC OF OUR LAND REINFORCING
Page 11 and 12: BeatRoute’s 2017 Holiday Gift Gui
Page 13 and 14: HOLIDAY HOPS CELEBRATING YOUR SEASO
Page 15 and 16: 1 Happy Hour $ 3 Beer til 3pm $ 5 B
Page 17 and 18: BESTsong InsideInfo “Conformity
Page 19 and 20: MUSIC ALEX LAHEY RISING UP FROM DOW
Page 21 and 22: THE PACK A.D. WELCOME TO THE DOLLHO
Page 23: BPM CONTACT WINTER MUSIC FESTIVAL B
Page 27: FILM BEST 10 FILMS OF 2017 (SO FAR)
Page 31 and 32: Angel Olsen - Phase Big K.R.I.T - 4
Page 33 and 34: LIVE REVIEWS Photo by Darrole Palme
Page 35: s at u r d ay j a n 2 0 WEEKEND EDI

Beatroute Magazine BC Print Edition December 2017

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