Chronicle 17-18 Issue 08

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20 The Chronicle March 6 - 12, 2018 chronicle.durhamcollege.ca Entertainment Photograph by Cristina Nikolic Members of the band Excuses Excuses (from left) Jason Nicoll, drummer, Kyle Wilton, singer, Trevor Bowman, bassist, plastered in paint. Photograph by William McGinn (From left) Fynn Badgley, Emily Phillips and Sara Aldsworth rehearsing for the UOIT/DC Drama Club's upcoming play. DC band making a name, no excuses Pierre Sanz The Chronicle Making it into the music industry is a big challenge but three local guys are doing their absolute best to make their dreams come true. Excuses Excuses is an alternative punk rock band based in Oshawa that writes music about mental illness, drug use and the uncertainty of the future. The band has been together for two years and is a group of three: lead singer Kyle Wilton, 21, drummer Jason Nicoll, 21, and bassist Trevor Bowman, 21. Wilton and Bowman have played in bands together since they were 15. The pair grew up just outside Waterloo and have known each other since the age of three. The band formed while studying in Kingston. Wilton was studying engineering at Queen’s University while Nicoll and Bowman were at St. Lawrence College studying musical production and electrical engineering. Wilton and Bowman recorded their first EP with a different drummer. But the band took shape when Bowman and Nicoll started hanging out at school. “After our other drummer left, we went through a couple people and nothing seemed to work out and then out of nowhere Trevor and Jason started hanging out at their college,” said Wilton. After the band formed, the three of them relocated to Oshawa, where Wilton is a second-year Music Business Management student and Nicoll is a second-year Video Production student. Bowman currently works full-time for Clark’s Basement Systems. The band’s first EP, Frame of Mind, was released in November 2016. Wilton says the band draws inspiration from Canadian music. “We definitely think that Canadian music is some of the most powerful music out there right now and it’s highly underrated throughout the rest of the world and we definitely want to be part of changing that,” said Wilton. Growing up, the three had similar musical influences. Wilton grew up listening to AC/DC and Black Sabbath, while Nicoll and Bowman both grew up with bands such as Led Zeppelin and Queens of the Stone Age. After growing up into a rock music atmosphere, the band created its music with influences such as Billy Talent, Hollerado, Mother Mother and July Talk - all Canadian rock bands. The band frequents the Moustache Club in Oshawa and has a big following in Waterloo and Kingston. Away from making music, Wilton is an avid skateboarder and has been since he was 11. Nicoll likes to spend his time doing digital production and Bowman spends the majority of his time at work. “Drinking beers, hanging out, spending time together and getting to know one another is what we like to do together, while listening to music,” Wilton said. While the band is working hard to make music a full-time job, Wilton and Nicoll are still in the works of graduating from Durham College this year and Wilton says it’s difficult to manage time between class and practicing. “It’s totally a balancing act for me. A lot of what I do in school I can apply to the band, but I have to do it separately,” Wilton said. “Finishing assignments and getting in as much practice time as we need is quite a difficult process, but it’s definitely do-able.” The band is working towards a new EP and is hoping for a June release. “The new EP is a lot more mature, the lyrics mean a lot to us and our sound has grown,” said Nicoll. Wilton also says Nicoll plays a huge role in the band’s music becoming more developed than what it used to be. “With Jason as our drummer we’ve inherited more of a rock sound and we feel like our music has matured a lot in two years,” said Wilton. Although Nicoll and Wilton are full-time college students, Wilton says the band hopes to tour full-time in March and April across Ontario on weekends. After school, Wilton believes anything is possible for the band. “The future for the band is to bring this together as a full-time career option, which is a lot easier said than done,” Wilton says. As for what’s next, the band will continue to try to get signed to a record label and will be touring across Ontario all summer - and hopefully across Canada, with a dream to make it across the world and spread the passion that come from their music. Drama Club's play going a little Grimm William McGinn The Chronicle After a year’s hiatus, the UOIT/DC Drama Club is planning to stage a play. But when exactly The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon will be performed has not been firmed up yet. According to Sara Aldsworth, who is currently in charge of the Drama Club and the play, it will be performed in UP 1500 on a date to be announced. The last play performed by the group was Superficial in 2016. The cast of the Brothers Grimm Spectuaculathon includes Aldsworth, Emily Phillips, Christopher McGowan, Megan Graichen, Carl Pilon, Fynn Badgley, Trevor Nieuwohf, Alistair McNamara and Kailey Haskell. Jacob Neil is in charge of sound. Written in 2007 by Don Zolidis, the premise is two narrators are trying to come up with a play combining all 209 of the stories published in Grimm’s Fairy Tales from the 19th century, and in the process they spoof the collection. The actors debate how the play should be written and choreographed, which is part of the actual live performance. The play, billed as a raunchy comedy, includes everything from gore to mockery of today’s pop culture. The play is currently in development and rehearsal, but the club has been in a struggle to get it done, in part because casting has been bumpy. According to Aldsworth, at one time there were 12 actors but three of them had school schedules that conflicted with rehearsal times. Despite the changes, the production has managed to move forward. Last year, casting problems cancelled their planned play altogether. The club attempted to do an adaptation of the play Pure Nectar by Paul Howard Surridge but not enough people signed up for roles. “I chose the [Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon] script because the problem with last year was we had a script where we needed four women and only three women auditioned. So we couldn’t fill the cast,” said Aldsworth. “With this script we actually only need five people, and lots ended up auditioning.” Getting funding to properly promote the performance has been a bigger problem than casting, however. The club has not put up posters for the show. Aldsworth said getting enough posters to put around the whole campus is too expensive. They have Durham College’s TV monitors playing 10 seconds of an advertisement on hallway televisions, but nothing else. The Drama Club is looking for more people to help sponsor and advertise the play. The stage production is bare bones. “As for the sets, it’s very minimal,” said Neil. “We’re mostly just using black backdrops and the actors are going to be running on with contextual props and wigs. [The bare] background gives a lot more focus on the story, which is something that, with our cast of actors, definitely benefits the production.” Tickets are available at the door. They are free, but with an optional $5 donation. Go to the UOIT/DC Drama Club! Facebook page for updates on the play’s production.
The Chronicle March 6 - 12, 2018 chronicle.durhamcollege.ca21 Sports Young Jays ready for next step Bichette, Guerrero want to make an impact in 2018 and beyond Conner McTague The Chronicle How do the best teams in baseball maintain their success? By acquiring and stockpiling young, talented players who can make an impact at the major league level. Toronto Blue Jays fans got a glimpse of their future at the team’s Winter Fest in January. Among the top young players who appeared at Winter Fest were Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette, Baseball America's number four and number eight prospects, respectively. Outfielders Dalton Pompey and Anthony Alford, pitching prospects Sean Reid-Foley, Ryan Borucki, Tom Pannone, Jordan Romano, and infielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. appeared. While Guerrero didn’t speak, many fans showed up at the Rogers Centre to see him. He took photos with fans and signed autographs for season-ticket holders. The 18-yearold third baseman hit 13 home runs and drove in 76 runs while batting for a .323 average, a .425 on-base percentage and a .485 slugging percentage in 119 games between low-A Lansing and High-A Dunedin. Bichette was equally impressive. The 20-year-old shortstop led the minor leagues with a .362 average. He also had a .423 onbase percentage and a .565 slugging percentage in 110 games in Lansing and Dunedin. Bichette says he “can’t wait to get up here (Toronto). “ Pompey is the most experienced of the group. The 25-yearold Canadian has played 59 major league games and was a post-season factor in 2015 as he appeared as a pinch-runner in five games and stole four bases. Pompey appeared to finally secure a roster spot last year, but he suffered a concussion while playing for Team Canada at the 2017 World Baseball Classic and only managed to play 13 rehab games before a knee injury ended his season. Despite the lost year, he's motivated to stay healthy and make an impact in 2018. "The only goal I have this year is just to try and stay as healthy as possible,” he said. “Because if I'm not healthy, then I can't help myself and I can't help the team. That's going to be my focus." Top prospect Anthony Alford also dealt with injuries, breaking his wrist in just his fourth major league game. This limited him to 77 games between the minors and majors, but he still managed to have an average of .299, an on-base percentage of .390 and a slugging percentage of .406 across all-levels. Alford said he hopes to make an impact at the big league level in 2018 and also spoke about getting help from former Blue Jays outfielder Devon White. "He's very passionate about what he does, he really cares about the guys and he's helped a lot defensively. When he passes information onto me, I really don't take it for granted," he said. To help make up for lost time, Alford played with Charros de Jalisco of the Mexican Pacific Winter League during the off-season. It was "very beneficial and I wanted to go make up time for the Photograph by Conner McTague Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson is a free agent after the 2018 season. If he leaves the Jays could begin to rebuild. at-bats I lost. I think it helped me a lot getting to face those veteran pitchers," he said. Alford will likely start the season at Triple-A Buffalo because of the time he lost last season, but with a strong start he could be among one of the first called up in event of an injury. While the Jays have a crowded outfield with Steve Pearce, Kevin Pillar, Curtis Granderson and Randal Grichuk; Pompey and Alford have enough talent to push for playing time and if they can stay healthy throughout the duration of 2018, the Blue Jays could turn what many think is a weakness, into a potent outfield with a mix of speed, patience and ability to hit to all fields. WWE NXT takes over Peterborough A good night of wrestling with family bonding Angela Lavallee The Chronicle There was no shortage of hoots and hollers as the fans were treated to WWE NXT night at the Peterborough Memorial Centre (PMC). The Feb. 24 event drew hundreds out to watch wrestling in the raw. The first to appear from behind a black curtain and hit the ring was Ricochet and Buddy Murphy. Both tried to stare each other down and when that didn’t work, Ricochet lifted his opponent up and slammed him to the ring floor. This didn’t bother Murphy too much who wanted nothing more than to take Ricochet out. After 14 minutes of sparring, Ricochet beat Murphy in the end. The crowd went wild when Kill Dawn and Marcel Barthel entered the ring. Dawn, who resembles the character from Harry Potter, took on a crazed look as he beefed an upper cut to Barthel, who was taken aback at the size of his opponent. But towards the end of the match Barthel took another hard smack to the chops and the match was over, giving Dawn the win. Fans couldn’t get enough. Brothers Shane Rosenberg and Lucas Gilmour drove from Lindsay, Ontario to watch their favourite WWE wrestlers and with floor seating they were able to get up and close to the dynamic bunch. “This is quite the show and this is my sixth time seeing WWE NXT,” said Rosenberg. Gilmour says it was a good time to be out with his older brother. “This is brother time, and this show is amazing and superior to watch,” he says. Longtime fan WWE NXT fan Craig Foster and a Peterborough resident couldn’t get over at how close he was to the ring. “This is so much better than on TV. I can actually hear the smacks and hits. This is what we came for,” says Foster. Photograph by Angela Lavallee WWE NXT took over Peterborough Memorial Centre on Feb. 24.
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Chronicle 17-18 Issue 08

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