BeatRoute Magazine BC Print Edition May 2018

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May‘18
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HI, HOW ARE YOU?
- With David Macanulty/
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PULSE - CITY BRIEFS!
CITY
- Bike To Work Week
- Indian Summer Festival
COVER-
DAVID SEDARIS
VANCOUVER CRAFT
BEER WEEK
FOOD & DRINK
-Odd Society Ginger Beer
- Ocean Blu Vodka Soda
COMEDY
- Murder On The Improv Express
MUSIC
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Page 10-11 Vancouver Craft Beer Week
May 2018 3

WITH DAVID MACANULTY OF YALETOWN BREWING COMPANY
JORDAN YEAGER
From fresh, fruity summer radlers to heavy,
hoppy IPAs, Vancouver’s craft beer market has
inspired a wealth of creative new brews. Breweries
are popping up everywhere, and though their
numbers are rising, one amongst them has
remained a constant fixture, tried and true:
Yaletown Brewing Company. Established in 1994,
Yaletown Brewing Co. is Vancouver’s original
brewpub, proving that not only did it start today’s
craft beer trend, but it’s also resilient enough to
adapt to the ever-changing scene. There’s a reason
these guys have been voted Canada’s Best Brewpub
more than once. We spoke with Brewmaster David
Macanulty to find out just what breeds the passion
that’s held strong for decades.
BR: What’s your brewing background?
DM: Part of my youth was spent in Scotland. I grew
up around breweries, distilleries, and drinkers. In
my early teens, I started trying to ferment stuff
and eventually became a dedicated home-brewer.
That led to the professional work. I was at Storm in
Vancouver then a couple of breweries in Montreal
and back at Yaletown Brewing in Vancouver for
almost five years.
BR: What originally got you into brewing? Was
it always an end goal for you, or was there a
specific beer you drank that revolutionized your
world?
DM: I had no plan to become a brewer. I was
playing music and home-brewing in my spare
time, hanging out with Dan Small (of Dan’s Home
Brewing) when his home-brew shop was on the
Drive. He got me mixed up with some other guys
that were making mead and somehow I got a job
at Storm.
BR: As one of the OGs of the Vancouver craft
beer game, what’s your go-to advice for brewers
just starting out?
DM: To become a brewer now, you can go to
school. It’s quicker that way. I would say to read
a lot of the current brewing literature and ask
around for any kind of brewery work. Learn as
much as you can from other brewers, but brew
your own beers and keep records of your methods
and experiences.
BR: How have you seen the craft beer industry
evolve in Vancouver?
DM: The guys who were brewing in Vancouver 25
years ago are still making great beer! Of course, the
movement has blossomed in B.C., so it’s a great
time for any brewer/beer lover and for business in
general.
BR: Favourite craft beer right now (other than
your own)?
DM: Right now it’s really hard to pin down an
overall favourite craft beer. So much depends
on location and other circumstances. If I am at
Bomber or Brassneck or 33 Acres, I love those
beers. I have visited Luppolo and Strange Fellows
quite a bit lately. Also really enjoyed some
Dageraads at the beach!
BR: Best beer you’ve ever brewed?
DM: I like a rich Stout and I think I’ve made a
couple of good ones, especially at the stronger end
of the scale. As far as lighter beer goes, it is always
satisfying if a Pilsner comes out with some kind of
finesse.
BR: What’s the best part of your job, and of the
Vancouver craft beer scene in general?
DM: The best part of my job is of course doing
what I love. The growth of the scene in Vancouver
and everywhere else means that I constantly get to
meet a lot of new people and try new beers!
Yaletown Brewing Co. can be found at 1111
Mainland Street. On May 19 they will be hosting
their annual tasting event, IPA Caskival.
Photo by Glenn Alderson
David Macanulty has witnessed the rapid rise of craft brewing in Vancouver from atop his perch at Yaletown Brewing Co.
4
May 2018

CITY BRIEFS!
Aleph Eatery BC Cider Festival rEvolver Theatre Fest Sasquatch! Music Festival - David Byrne Vancouver Comic Arts Festival
ROOT BEER FESTIVAL
MAY 26 AT STICKY CANDY AND
BAKERY
The third annual festival celebrates
everything root beer at Langley’s Sticky
Candy and Bakery. Take your pick of
fudge, candy, ice cream, floats and more
than 50 — yes, 50! — varieties of root
beer.
ZEE ZEE THEATRE’S 10TH
ANNIVERSARY GALA
MAY 4 AT XY
For the last decade, Zee Zee Theatre
has dedicated itself to telling stories
from the lives of the marginalized. The
company is celebrating the milestone
with excerpts from some of its most
celebrated works, including Elbow
Room Cafe: The Musical and drag
performances from some of the city’s
favourite queens.
BC YOUTH WEEK
MAY 1-7 AT VARIOUS LOCATIONS
This annual celebration places an
emphasis on empowering and
supporting young people across
the province through a variety of
events, from theatre productions and
skateboarding events to block parties.
GIRLS IN POLITICS: CAMP
PARLIAMENT FOR GIRLS
MAY 12 AT MARRIOTT
VANCOUVER PINNACLE
DOWNTOWN
This political leadership program
introduces girls from ages 9 to 15 to
the history and structure of Canadian
Parliament through a variety of
activities and lessons (including one
focused on recognizing Canada’s female
political leaders). Both educational and
empowering.
BEARS
MAY 8-12 AT HISTORIC THEATRE
An award-winning dark political
comedy about the Kinder Morgan
Pipeline, Bears aims to encourage a
dialogue about the devastating effects
industrial expansion has on animals,
the environment, and the First Nations
people. It stars Métis actor Sheldon
Elter.
ALEPH EATERY
1889 POWELL STREET
Aleph is the first letter of the alphabet
in Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, Turkish,
Urdu and Phoenician. This newly
opened Middle Eastern restaurant
utilizes this commonality as philosophy
for its menu, including favourite staples
— like hummus, shakshuka, and lentil
rice — from a diverse range of cultures
under one roof.
VANCOUVER COMIC ARTS
FESTIVAL
MAY 19-20 AT THE ROUNDHOUSE
This annual two-day extravaganza
celebrates the art of the comic, with
hundreds of artists, writers, and more
exhibiting and selling their works, as
well as speaking on panels and doing
readings. Some of this year’s featured
artists include Johnnie Christmas,
co-creator of the graphic novel ANGEL
CATBIRD alongside Margaret Atwood.
REVOLVER THEATRE FEST
MAY 23-JUNE 3 AT THE CULTCH
This festival features a wide variety of
boundary-pushing and adventurous
theatrical works created by up-andcoming
companies and artists. One notto-miss
show is 12 Minute Madness,
a story by NYC playwright Raïna von
Waldenburg in which a young woman
deals with traumatic memories of
sexual abuse.
SASQUATCH! MUSIC FESTIVAL
MAY 25-27 AT THE GORGE
AMPHITHEATER
With Washington’s magnificent
Columbia River Gorge in the
background, Sasquatch! Music Festival
is a festival experience like no other.
This year, don’t miss performances from
artists like Vince Staples, Thundercat,
Japandroids, and Slowdive.
BC CIDER FESTIVAL
MAY 6 AT PIPE SHOP
Part of the fourth annual BC Cider
Week, this festival is a tasting event
that showcases more than 20 cideries
from the Pacific Northwest, including
the Persephone Brewing Company and
Sunday! Cider.
May 2018 5

CITY
BIKE TO WORK WEEK INDIAN SUMMER FESTIVAL 2018
ENGAGING AND EDUCATING TOWARDS A BRIGHTER FUTURE
EMBRACING MYTH MAKING AS PART OF TRADITION
JESSIE FOSTER
The number of participants in Bike to Work Week has more than doubled since its inception.
There’s never been a greater need for occasions
that celebrate and relish in the joys of getting
outdoors and staying active. Bike to Work
Week (BTWW) is one of the many ways local
non-profit organization Bike Hub promotes
healthy lifestyles and works on developing new
and improved infrastructure in Vancouver. The
community fun begins this year on May 28 until
June 3.
Tom Skinner from Hub Cycling and manager
for BTWW finds biking a safe, easy and seamless
way to get almost anywhere in the city.
“It all comes down to convenience. The nice
part of it is not having to look for parking, being
able to lock up right in front of your work space
or potentially even bring your bike inside makes
it a pretty quick option,” says Skinner.
BTWW collects data yearly from its average
18,000 online participants, which is then run
through their municipal partners and helps
plan real inner-city growth where updated
infrastructure might be needed.
“We do take all the data and track commutes,
then compare it over the previous years and
track route choice changes, where they’re
going,” he says.
They run 80 different Celebration Stations
throughout the week in Metro Vancouver. These
offer cyclists free coffee, snacks, tune-ups as
well as ballots to win station prizes, bikes, gift
cards and even a trip to Portugal. From 2012, the
number of bikers participating in the event has
more than doubled from 19,000 to 44,000 and is
expected only to rise.
Tracking personal progress through the Bike
Hub website can offer details such as how many
calories you’ve burned, distance travelled, as
well as greenhouse gases reduced.
Looking to New Zealand for inspiration,
where certain employers have adopted a system
of paying their employees to bike to work,
Vancouver might be on the right track but the
city still has a long way to go. The daily activity
is proven to heighten mood, alleviate stress and
boost how alert and awake the staff are upon
arrival.
“We find once you get people on their bikes
and they find out how easy it is (and fairly
simple and enjoyable) that’s how we get people
converting how they’re moving around,” says
Skinner.
For more information on how to participate in
BTWW, visit www.bikehub.ca
JESSIE FOSTER
Myth Making is an art form that has been
flourishing since the beginning of time. It can be
said that everything we know is merely a story,
written by historians, poets, cavemen and everyone
in between.
This year at Indian Summer Festival, the
annual cultural festival which takes place every
year throughout the city in July, embraces and
encourages the age-old art of creating meaningful
dialogue through artistic practices. With this year’s
theme, “Myth Making,” this will be conveyed
through concerts, visual art exhibitions, panellists
and broadcasts amongst other mediums.
Sirish Rao and Laura Byspalko are the cofounders
of the artistic movement since its
inception in 2011. BeatRoute picks up what they’re
putting down for this 10-day celebration taking
place July 6 to 15.
“It’s really a sense of a multidisciplinary festival.
If the festival were to be seen as a meal, it would be
very omnivorous,” says Rao over the phone.
Last year, the festival tackled the controversial
topic of “War and Peace” and promoted the
discussion, engaging their audience through
multiple platforms to learn, grow and revel in the
significance. The multiple venues around Vancouver
were home to a surplus of everything artistic,
making it one of the leading cultural celebrations of
the year.
“We call it a festival for curious minds, which
ends up being the best way to describe the people
who are coming,” says Byspalko.
The festival has been known to attract some
of the top artists in their discipline, including
internationally known chefs (including Vancouver’s
own restaurateur Vikram Vij), inspirational
conversationalists and powerful authors.
Each year ISF takes the time to honour someone
they feel is inspirational at their annual fundraiser,
Dinner by Starlight, which takes place at a secret
location on May 19. This time, they have chosen
Saroo Brierley, the man who lived the life portrayed
by Dev Patel in the heart wrenching cinematic hit,
Lion.
The ISF events in July will be ticketed separately
and will be held at venues such as the Roundhouse,
Imperial, Orpheum, UBC, Woodworks, in Burnaby
and more daily programming around the city.
“We’re picking up difficult conversations, but we
also know how to celebrate. It’s a combination of
the cerebral and the sensual,” says Rao.
Catch the Indian Summer Festival at various venues
throughout the city from July 6 to 15. For more
information and to purchase tickets visit www.
indiansummerfest.ca.
Indian Summer Festival examines the art and history behind the creation of myths.
Photo by Nick Siu
F
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277 PRINCE EDWARD ST
BILTMORECABARET.COM
6
May 2018

Amy Bessone Unbound (2010) oil on canvas | 79 x 93 in (201 x 236 cm)
Rennie Museum | 51 East Pender St | Vancouver

The Outsider art
of David Sedaris
Short stories for
sharp attention spans
BY JAMILA POMEROY
PHOTO BY INGRID CHRISTIE
David Sedaris is en-route to El Paso to visit the woman
who cut out his tumor — the one he fed to his pet
turtle. This story is actually one of many featured in his latest
book, Calypso, in the chapter of the same name. While Sedaris
is happy to be tumor-free and touring again, he explains his
deep regret in a missed opportunity to have a veterinarian
take it out on stage on his last reading tour. “I always regretted
not getting him to do it, but I didn’t have a way to get to his
office,” says Sedaris, who often uses a bicycle as his main mode
of transportation, having never learned how to drive. The
veterinarian, later, was the one to back out of the operation,
but Sedaris stresses in his signature dry tone, “I probably could
have done it and gone on with the show.” This absurdist tale of
his unusual reality is a great example of his ability to turn the
otherwise mundane into pages of brash, sometimes cringe-worthy
comedy that makes your belly hurt
from laughter. His very matterof-fact,
cool and calm responses,
only echoing the author’s warped
cynisism in text.
His new book, Calypso, is the 11th
in the authors anthology of infamous
stories and essays. Sedaris is known
“THE PEOPLE WHERE WE LIVE, THEY THINK
I’M CRAZY. AND YOU KNOW, MAYBE
THEY’RE RIGHT.”
-DAVID SEDARIS
for his dark, sardonic and often self-deprecating, comedic stories;
stories, which are often personal, addressing the human condition
and connections. He has contributed to the likes of the New
Yorker, Esquire, BBC Radio and the Guardian to name a few. He’s a
New York Times best-selling author and Grammy award-winning
comedian with a career that spans from writing to radio, comedy
and playwriting. Despite his grand accomplishments, Sedaris has
remained unbelievably humble.
“I write about my life, and nothing big ever happens to me,”
he says rather nonchalantly over the speakerphone from his
car. Sedaris is quite disciplined in his practice, writing everyday,
explaining he never has to pressure himself to write. “I just write
about my life and then every four years I turn it into a book.” He
explains that he doesn’t necessarily get inspired by environments,
in their physicality; describing living and writing in Paris as “fine,”
the creative spark perhaps instead coming from daily interaction.
Sedaris currently lives in the Horsham District of West Sussex
in England, with his partner Hugh Hamrick. He explains his
enjoyment in being an outsider and how greatly it contributes
to the generation of stories. “I like being, you know, sort of an
outsider. I mean, not fitting in is fine with me. In England, if I were
to keep my mouth shut, who is to know that I’m from somewhere
else but when I don’t, they do. I like (being an outsider), because
sometimes it means you get treated differently.” Sedaris explains
this treatment of being different, whether negative or positive,
makes for good story content. “I always like to be treated poorly,
it’s like somebody handing me money.”
Sedaris, when not writing or contributing to BBC Radio 4, can
be found cleaning the streets surrounding his home. “In England,
everybody just throws things out the car window,” he says. “The
place where I live is just so beautiful, it drives me crazy.” On any
given day, he spends four to eight hours cleaning the streets, on
foot. He counts his steps using a FitBit and estimates he walks
about 15 to 22 miles per day. Sedaris’ environmental contributions
have been documented in form of his town naming a garbage
truck after him, which he further explains in Calypso. “The people
where we live, they think i’m crazy, and you know, maybe they’re
right. There is a great amount of support though.”
Sedaris and his partner have moved around quite a bit; and
while they love their home, he says he’s open to change, especially
if it provides good content. “I wouldn’t
mind moving. I like everything about
it. I like packing, and I’ve never had to
sell a house or anything. We just kind
of keep acquiring them, and then rent
them out after we leave. I wouldn’t
mind moving to Germany, or maybe
Switzerland.”
While Germany, and Switzerland could perhaps be the
locations of perspective stories, Calypso, primarily takes place
in West Essex or back in the U.S. with his family. His stories are
almost always personal, but Calypso features a much more
intimate side of the author. Sedaris talks about about his youngest
sister Tiffany’s death, a suicide which happened just before
she turned 15, as well as the trials and tribulations of aging. He
explains how tightly-knit his family has become since the purchase
of a beach house on the Carolina coast, and the regular pilgrimage
there, a sort of resurgence in tradition of vacations organized by
his late mother, Sharon.
“I got that beach house so my family started spending time
together,” he says. “Then we all started getting together at the
same time. Pretty much every time we’ve gotten together I was
able to write a story about it.” Sedaris paints a beautiful picture
of the beach house in Calypso, which features a collection of
mid-century modern furniture, something which he said was for
the purpose of depicting a house that “fussy homosexuals lived
in.” Sedaris’ particularities, fussiness and behaviors that have been
described as obsessive, lend greatly to his style and general mood
of his writing. With family members aging, specifically his father,
he says there’s something more special with each time they’re able
to spend time together.
“When I see my father I never know when it will be the last
time, and so every conversation you’re thinking to yourself,
‘Should I remember this for the rest of my life? Is this the last time
I am going to talk to him?’ It makes me, in a way, more observant.
Just thinking, every time we are together, it may be the last time
we are all together.” This level of observance around love and
aging in his family can be felt in every story, perhaps rendering his
best work yet. “You know, my siblings are some of my favourite
people,” he says. “I know plenty of nice, good people, but they
aren’t characters. There is a difference between just a good person
and a good character.”
Stories surrounding family, and friends seem to be the focus of
Calypso, but Sedaris explains that he finds stories anywhere there
is absurdity, or the opportunity for it. “If I can see something as
absurd, or something that seems funny to me…” he laughs and
begins to tell a story of a situation in an elevator. “I was with a
friend of mine. We were at the airport, going to get the car and
we get in the elevator and this woman screams ‘Wait!!, HOLD
ON!’ and two little girls run into the elevator, and this woman -
their mother - walks in. She’s got a luggage cart, and she’s looking
behind her and there is her husband and the elevator doors begin
to close […] and as the door begins to close I say...” We won’t spoil
the rest of the tale, as Sedaris says this may become a story in his
next collection; and if it does, we are all most definitely in for a
good laugh.
Sedaris has this unbelievably engaging ability in storytelling. He
transforms the most mundane tasks into adventures that have
you holding onto the arms of your seat in anticipation. His ability
to do this will surely grant us with many more prospective stories
in the future, in his many mediums. “I have a 12-page attention
span, so these essays seem to work for me. I don’t think i’ll ever
write a novel.” he says. “Who knows. I have written three novels so
far, but they are all 12 pages long; they’re all the first chapters of
novels and then I lose interest in them.” While there’s a possibility
of perhaps releasing a full-length novel in the future, Sedaris
says that should his writing career run dry, he would become
an abortionist at sea. He stresses, “Not on land, but at sea — on
the high sea.” He explains it needs to be at sea to avoid laws and
regulations. This would all be done on a vessel he would name
Row v. Wave. “That’s R.O.W-V-W.A.V.E, and i’m going to perform
abortions at sea,” Sedaris laughs. It’s unclear whether a career
change to full-time abortionist and activist at sea is in the cards
for Sedaris, but until then we’ve got a plethora of his short stories
to entertain us.
David Sedaris will be reading excerpts from Calypso and other
stories at the Vogue Theatre, May 13 and 14. Calypso will be
released May 29 via Little, Brown and Company.
May 2018 9

10
Brew Masters’ Mix-tape
By Jennie Orton
Vancouver Craft Beer Week
If there is one thing we can all agree on it’s that beer and music are
a perfect pairing. The sound of a growler popping open alongside
“Doves in the Wind” is enough to make you levitate just for a sec.
But what about those who craft that brew? What are the beermakers
listening to? We asked some of our favorite breweries what is on their
Spotify and how that music inspires their process.
CODY ALLMAN
TWIN SAILS BREWING
“Although music doesn’t play a huge role in our recipe development
process, it’s something we always use to set the mood for a brew or
pack day and can be very integral when coming up with names and
design for the packaging, which is all done in house. Our Triple IPA,
On Three... that came out in April stemmed from us listening to a
Vince Staples track, ‘Jump of the Roof,’ which features the lyrics ‘On
three let’s jump off the roof,’ which inspired us to make a beer around
that lyric.”
CODY’S TOP 3 TRACKS:
• “After the Storm” – Kali Uchis feat. Tyler the Creator & Bootsy
Collins
• “Come Down” – Anderson .Paak
• “Sweet” – Brockhampton
GRAHAM WITH
R&B BREWING
“I pull ideas for beers all the time but music really plays a role when
I sit down at the computer and start building a recipe. I usually
listen to tracks without vocals since it allows me to focus a bit more.
Genres that are very beat driven like hip-hop, funk, and soul are
usually playing when sorting out what ingredients go into a beer.
When I actually get to brew a beer n the brewhouse, I’ll usually be
playing music which is way more upbeat like garage rock, early punk
and metal.”
GRAHAM’S TOP 3 TRACKS:
• “Hung Up on My Baby “ – Isaac Hayes
• “Daydream “ – Tycho
• “Shampoo Suicide “ – Broken Social Scene
JEFF LEAKE
BRASSNECK
“I’ve always thought about beer collaborations as jam sessions in
some ways. I’ve collaborated on beer recipes with a few of my peers
like Kylo from Four Winds, Ryan from Luppolo and Mitch from
Dageraad. The creative process of sitting around deciding what
goes into a recipe and what does not is pretty similar to watching
any of my musician friends trying to put a song together. Those
brainstorming moments are definitely my favourite part about being
a brewer. Maybe one of us had a crazy chocolate cake the other
day or an Horchata ice cream at a food truck festival or whatever.
It’s trying to figure out how to bring out the same flavours in an
alcoholic beverage. It’s a fun challenge and also one of the few areas
where brewing can be a bit of an art form.”
JEFF’S TOP 3 TRACKS:
• “Beasts of no Nation” – Fela Kuti
• “Quick Canal” – Atlas Sound and Laetita Sadier
• Any mix from Wabi Time
ERIC MOUTAL
STEEL AND OAK
“Music is constantly playing at the brewery, so it infiltrates
everything at Steel & Oak. We have a huge range of music tastes at
the brewery so what’s playing changes drastically from day to day.
Anything from metal, rock, folk, hip hop, jazz and everything in
between. We don’t necessarily think about it, but subconsciously
music is an ingredient in every aspect of the brew, from recipe
development to final packaging.”
ERIC’S TOP 3 TRACKS:
• “Opening Act (The Shooby Dooby Song)” – Bahamas
• “Desaparecido” – Manu Chao
• “Two Shoes” – The Cat Empire
JOHN, CALUM, SEAN,
JAMES AND LOGAN
BACK COUNTRY BREWING
According to the team at Back Country, they use a lot of their
favorite songs to come up with beer names, such as “No Sleep till
Breakfast” – Milk Coffee Stout, “Dark Side of the Moose” – Coffee
Stout, “Juice Box Hero” – ISA, “Pump up the Jam” – Strawberry
Milkshake Double IPA, “She’s a Lady” – Coffee Stout, “Face Down,
Saaz up” – Czech Pilsner. Head brewer John thinks some of their best
names have been related to song names, most of which are coined by
Sean Reece-Ryan.
BACK COUNTRY’S TOP 3 TRACKS:
• “Dancing in the moonlight” – Thin Lizzy
• “Bright white sports car” – Trooper
• “Break Stuff” – Limp Bizkit
VERN LAMBOURNE
THE PARKSIDE BREWERY
“While I’m a huge music fan and am a bit of a vinyl junkie, music
plays no role in my creative process around brewing. I think I’m a
bit of an anomaly in the brewing world as most days I even prefer
to brew without music in the background. When I am brewing I use
all my senses — smell, taste, sight — and I also need to hear what’s
happening around me. That being said, at the end of a brew day,
very little beats having my feet up with a beer in my hand and my
turntable spinning.”
VERN’S CURRENT JAMS:
• “Lately I’ve been re-visiting The Jam and a bit of 90’s Brit-pop.”
By Jessie Foster
Collaboration Brew Day
VCBW Brings BC Brewmasters Together For Annual Event
Vancouver Craft Beer Week (VCBW) kicked off
brew season with their annual collaboration brew
day at Backcountry Brewing in Squamish on April 6.
Brewers from distilleries all over BC joined together
to celebrate the seasonal collab and look ahead to
VCBW’s annual celebration of craft beer, May 25 to
June 3, 2018.
What to get excited for this year is the development
of a recipe for their sea-to-sky collaboration “Double
Dry Hopped Pilsner,” which mashes together Beere
Brewing, Coast Mountain Brewing and of course
Backcountry Brewing’s expertise.
Leah Heneghan is the founder and festival director
for the event and loves the opportunity to create
such an exciting few days and host a fun, collaborative
celebration each year.
“I love this event because it’s the one day that the
whole beer community can get together and hang out
and have some fun and make some awesome beer,”
says Heneghan.
When the festival started in 2010, there were
around 100 people in attendance and approximately
20 breweries. Now, the festival is expecting about
15,000 people and 140 different breweries from across
the province.
James Pierces has been a brewer at Backcountry
Brewing since its opening on April 1, 2017. This is
Pierces’ inaugural craft beer celebration, but loves the
opportunity to “shoot the shit” and drink craft beer.
“Who doesn’t love to smash pints with other
brewers and watch other people work,” says Pierces.
The 10-day festival incorporates something for
everyone when it comes to ensuring beer is enjoyed
responsibly. The festival promises a week and a half
full of music, food, arts and craft beers throughout the
city of Vancouver.
“It’s kind of an amazing community to be a part
of because everybody really likes each other and
everybody likes what they’re doing. It’s awesome,” says
Heneghan.
Vancouver Craft Beer Week takes place at various
locations May 25 to June 3.
MATT BEERE
BEERE BREWING COMPANY
“Music is a huge part of the creative brewing process as well as the
day to day brewery life. Our usual style as we’re brewing is to take
turns picking out full albums - we usually turn it right up and get into
the zone. Some of our beer names are inspired by lyrics or musicians.”
MATT’S TOP 3 TRACKS:
• “This Old Dog” – Mac Demarco
• “Thinking of a Place” – War on Drugs
• “French Press” – Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever
The Vancouver Craft Beer Week Festival runs May 25 to June 3. Get
tickets and more info at vancouvercraftbeerweek.com
May 2018

(L-R) PAUL KAMON, TYLER
OLSON AND LEAH HENEGHAN OF
VANCOUVER CRAFT BEER WEEK ARE
CRUSHING IT ONCE AGAIN THIS YEAR.
BY YASMINE SHEMESH
PHOTO BY SARA BAAR
Nine years ago a group of craft beer enthusiasts gathered at
one of their favourite local watering holes — the Alibi Room
— and decided to dedicate an entire week to one of the
Vancouver’s now not-so-best-kept secrets: really great craft
beer. In their inaugural year, Vancouver Craft Beer Week was a
seven-day festival with a headcount of just 100 people. Today,
VCBW has grown to cover 10 full days featuring more than 100
participating craft breweries and cideries and events throughout
the whole city, including dinner pairings at restaurants and bars
like Jackalope’s Neighbourhood Dive, and live music events. This
year promises an estimated number of 20-25,000 attendees.
“The craft beer scene has exploded,” says festival director and
co-founder Leah Heneghan. “When we first started, I think there
was about 50 or 60 breweries in the whole province. This year,
we are over 170. It’s almost difficult to keep track of all of them
as they keep opening so quickly, which is pretty fantastic. I think
one of the really great things about our scene here is how good
the beer is. The breweries here are really putting out world class
beers and we’ve caught up in that way really quickly to some of
the folks who have been doing it a lot longer.”
Participating breweries range widely from downtown
staples Parallel 49 and Strathcona Beer Company to gems like
Vancouver Island’s Tofino Brewing Company and Gibsons’
Persephone Brewing Company. There will also be about 20 to
30 international breweries featured due to VCBW’s partnership
with the American Brewers Association. “They choose one
festival in Canada to work with each year and this is their third
year with us, so we’re pretty happy about that,” Heneghan
says. “Some people don’t enjoy the fact that we have American
breweries up here at our festival necessarily, but I think it’s a
very good opportunity to showcase how awesome our beer
is. What we’re making up here is definitely comparable [to the
States’ longstanding craft beer tradition] and it’s definitely in
the same category.”
In fact, VCBW has also made changes to their participation
guidelines to showcase only the best of the best. “Because
there are so many new craft breweries in BC, we really wanted
to open it up to the independent folks,” explains Heneghan.
“So now, in order to actually participate, you have to be an
independent brewery, so you can’t be owned by any of the
larger beer corporations, which, unfortunately, cut out a couple
of our breweries that have been supporters of us from the very
beginning. It was a difficult decision to make, but it seemed to
be the only way forward.”
Community, though, is perhaps the strongest ingredient
in Vancouver Craft Beer Week. “It’s really collaborative and
everyone supports each other in everything they’re doing rather
than having a really competitive environment,” Heneghan says.
“Everybody’s friends and they’re working together, which I
think is really special.” The annual Official Beer epitomizes this
component with a collaboration brew developed specially for
the festival by a handful of breweries. This year, Backcountry
Brewing, Beere Brewing, and Coast Mountain Brewing joined
forces to create a Double Dry Hopped Pilsner.
“For the past few years, we’ve really been wanting to tie in
something around the Sea to Sky Highway, because there’s
breweries up in Whistler now, there’s a few breweries in
Squamish, and more have opened up in North Van as well,”
Heneghan expands. “So that was kind of the idea behind
this, was really bringing in people who were just outside of
Vancouver, but close still, and opening it up to that. And who
doesn’t like to show off that beautiful stretch of road between
here and Whistler? Beere Brewing, Backcountry Brewing, and
Coast Mountain Brewing are all kind of known for their hoppier
styles of beer, so that landed us in a Double Dry Hopped Pilsner.
It’s a little bit of a stronger Pilsner. [Traditional Pilsner] can be
quite hoppy, which is expected from a lot of people in that style
because it is very close to a lager and it’s the lager family. We’re
playing on the hops, bringing in more hop flavour and it’s a little
bit of a higher ABV [alcohol by volume] as well. So enjoy, but
enjoy responsibly!”
Partial proceeds from the Official Beer will be donated to
the Eastside Boxing Club’s Self Defense Series, for all femaleidentifying
members of the community. “We really wanted
to support what they were doing and help them to keep this
class free and open it up for more people,” Heneghan says. “We
really love working with Eastside Boxing Club. They have a lot of
fantastic initiatives and the fact that this is female-forward and
female identifying-forward, it was a really important cause for
us to get on board with.”
Vancouver Craft Beer Week runs from May 25-June 3.
Bands//Beers
BeatRoute stage at VCBW
THE GREAT SPECKLED FRITILLARY
Psychedelic folk-rock, inspired by the ‘60s but sounding unlike
anything you’ve heard before. Organs, harmonies, drums, guitars,
and synths abound.
Pairs best with: Four Winds Brewing – Sour Weisse
DAKOTA PEARL
Named after a potato and hailing from Pemberton, Dakota Pearl is
an alternative country band for the adventurous British Columbian
within us all.
Pairs best with: Backcountry Brewing – Widowmaker IPA
THE PRETTYS
The Prettys – formerly known as The Bumpin’ Uglys – draw
inspiration from ‘70s nostalgia with a gritty edge.
Pairs best with: Callister Brewing – Short & Stour Dry Irish Stout
TANGLERS
Surf-inspired indie folk with subtle psychedelic undertones crafted
by four friends who really, really want to be here.
Pairs best with: Beere Brewing – Very Cool, Very Chill Pilsner
THE SPILLIONAIRES
Formed accidentally and maintained intentionally, The Spillionaires
ooze bluegrass and folk from all seven members’ pores.
Pairs best with: Steel & Oak – Roselle Wheat Ale
YOUNGBLOOD
Dreamy vocals are underscored by otherworldly, atmospheric
instrumentals to create Youngblood’s distinct sound.
Pairs best with: Bomber Brewing – Park Life
JORDAN
YEAGER
May 2018 11

FOOD & DRINK
BC/DC
plus Killing in the Name Of
SAT, MAY 12
CAPITAL BALLROOM
12
ROYAL WOOD
plus Fionn
WED, MAY 16
CAPITAL BALLROOM
THE POSIES
plus Hush Hush Noise
FRI, MAY 18
CAPITAL BALLROOM
DANIEL WESLEY
plus guests
SAT, MAY 19
CAPITAL BALLROOM
ODD SOCIETY SPIRITS GINGER
LOCAL DISTILLER SPICES THINGS UP
GRAEME WIGGINS
Odd Society get to the root of the matter.
OCEAN BLU
ECO-CONSCIOUS VODKA SODA BRAND SETS SAIL
WILLEM THOMAS
Photo by RD Cane
Already partial to eco-friendly businesses, BC’s
residents have a new product to try with Ocean
Blu Vodka Soda, a lightly flavoured, all natural and
sugar free canned vodka soda made in BC, which
sports a “Preservation Promise” badge on every can.
The action to be made on that promise is a positive
first sign of where Ocean Blu’s priorities lay; the
packaging is recyclable cardboard, and $0.25 from
every pack sold will go towards ocean shoreline
cleanup initiatives and marine wildlife preservation.
Partnering with nonprofit Ocean Wise to support
its programs (such as the Great Canadian Shoreline
Cleanup), Ocean Blu was recently unveiled with
a glitzy launch party at the Vancouver Aquarium.
An upbeat, social affair with speakers, DJs, and as
much Ocean Blu and food on hand (potentially
questionable: eating Ocean Wise-approved seafood
snacks while gazing at all the still-alive ocean life) as
one could consume.
Ocean Blu will be the featured beverage at the
inaugural SKOOKUM Festival in Stanley Park this
September, and is now available in private liquor
stores across BC. Coming in two flavours, Coastal
Berry and Pomelo Nectar, with more to follow, the
beverages are light, pleasant, and not unlike an
alcoholic melted freezie. The lack of added sugar
makes for an easy-drinking summer drink, although
you may need a beer break for variety if planning on
drinking many of them.
Since the trend’s rise in the 1980s, the pandering
of corporations to a population increasingly
Sometimes solving problems creatively can give
rise to secondary benefits. In the case of East
Van’s Odd Society Spirits, they took standards
they had to fulfill in order to meet certain
government licensing requirements and created
a delicious new ginger beer. So not only did they
manage to solve the restrictions problem, they
ended up further diversifying their menu of
beverages and providing what is sure to become a
go-to summer drink.
“To make our vermouths we have a winery
license,” explains Odd Society brewer and
distiller Joel McNichol, “and in order to get the
winery license we need to produce a certain
amount of wine product per year. Ginger beer
qualifies under that. And the turnaround time is
significantly easier and better than wine. What we
would be required to make for a winery license
is more wine than we would need. We can make
this and get it out the door and can it.”
The end result, Ginger, is a refreshing, low
alcohol drink that retains the spiciness of a ginger
beer without kicking you right in the taste buds.
It’s perfect for picnics and day drinking.
“I hate to say this, but if you’re a total ginger
beer connoisseur, quite often people who are
really into it are hard to please because they
want that punch in the nose and slap in the
face,” says McNichol. “I wanted to do something
concerned with environmental causes, known as
“green marketing”, has become commonplace,
an obvious move when building or expanding a
company. Even massively destructive industries
such as fracking tout their so-called green initiatives.
While it’s an effective sales tool, the attempt
sometimes seems inauthentic. In British Columbia
though, we’re fortunate to boast some of the
western world’s greenest brands and organizations,
transparently committed to doing business in
the cleanest, most environmentally-friendly way
possible. While the efforts of companies like Ocean
more approachable. Even people who don’t drink
ginger beer are drinking this one.”
Unlike some ginger beer, Ginger is not made
like a traditional beer with malts. It uses organic
sugar for fermentation. This, again, arises out of
government licensing requirements.
“Initially I wanted to make it with malt, but
according to license it would be a beer, so we
used organic sugar as the fermentable,” explains
McNichol. “There’s no mash, no malts.” Rounding
out the ingredients are water, yeast, chilli peppers,
dried orange peel, and fresh ginger, lemon and
lime.
“There are all sorts of restrictions on how we
can serve this,” he says. “It can’t be kegged. One of
my dreams is to age this in gin barrels and release
it, but that’s not realistic.”
This, mixed with the fact that it would be hit
with a pretty high tax at liquor stores, means that
it’s only available at Farmer’s Markets around
town and, of course, Odd Society’s bottle shop
and cocktail lounge. For McNichol, that’s an ideal
situation.
“I can think of nothing better than grabbing
some at a farmer’s market in the summer and
having one on the way home,” he jokes. But
joking aside, this ginger beer is seriously tasty.
Odd Society Spirits is located at 1725 Powell Street.
Blu may seem modest, it’s actually fairly impressive
when one considers the slice of profits missed out
on due to the environmental commitments made.
Ocean Blu has the potential to join the ranks
of other local boozy cans like Hey Y’all Ice Tea and
Bomber Brewing’s Park Life as Vancouver’s summer
beach drinks. Expect more environmental initiatives
from Ocean Blu in the future as well. As Matthew
Aubin, Ocean Blu’s Marketing Director says, “With
only 100 calories per can, people can drink well and
do good too.”
Ocean Blu rides the wave of environmentally conscious production, donating proceeds to shoreline cleanup.
May 2018

1
Happy Hour
$
3 Beer til 5pm
2
Happy Hour
$
3 Beer til 5pm
3
Live Acts & Live
Agency present
Mic Check Mash-Up
w. Holy Sock Gang
& guests
4
The Railway
Stage presents
The Mojo Stars
5
Blues Brunch 1-4
Saturday Sessions
4:30-7:30
Live Acts pres.
Daniel James
6
Happy Hour
$
3 Beer til 5pm
7
The Stew
Weekly Cypher Jam
w. guest DJs
8
The Railway
Stage presents
Drag Club
w. hosts Karmella
Barr & Dust
9
Happy Hour
$
3 Beer til 5pm
10
Live Acts & Live
Agency present
WITHOUT A
CROWN w. guests
11
Live Acts & Live
Agency presents
Muscle & Gall
w. guests
12
Blues Brunch 1-4
Saturday Sessions
4:30-7:30
Live Acts pres.
Emily Rowed
13
Happy Hour
$
3 Beer til 5pm
14
The Stew
Weekly Cypher Jam
w. guest DJs
15
Happy Hour
$
3 Beer til 5pm
16
Live Acts & Live
Agency present
Rise & Shine
At The Railway
17
Happy Hour
$
3 Beer til 5pm
18
Live Acts & Live
Agency presents
Pair-O-Dice
Hip-Hop Showcase
19
Blues Brunch 1-4
Saturday Sessions
4:30-7:30
Live Acts pres.
The Lone Palms
20
Live Acts & Live
Agency present
Mud Bay
w. guests
21
The Stew
Weekly Cypher Jam
w. guest DJs
22
Happy Hour
$
3 Beer til 5pm
23
Happy Hour
$
3 Beer til 5pm
24
Happy Hour
$
3 Beer til 5pm
25
Toddcast Podcast
presents
Todd Kerns
of Age of Electric
26
Blues Brunch 1-4
Saturday Sessions
4:30-7:30
Chris Cornell
Tribute Doors 7pm
27 28 29
30 31
Happy Hour
$
3 Beer til 5pm
The Stew
Weekly Cypher Jam
w. guest band
Happy Hour
$
3 Beer til 5pm
Happy Hour
$
3 Beer til 5pm
Safe & Sound
presents
MAYDAY!

CITY
IAN AZARIAH
THE CREATIVE ALCHEMIST REDEFINING BEAUTY STANDARDS
JAMILA POMEROY
Ian Azariah puts a contemporary spin on an age-old art form, the tintype.
Photo by Zach Schroder
Walking into the studio of Ian Azariah, you can
faintly smell the chemicals he uses to process his
tintype photos – Azariah is undoubtedly a creative
alchemist. What is a tintype, you ask? A tintype,
also known as a wet plate collodion, is a one-ofa-kind
photograph made by creating a direct
positive on a thin black sheet of metal, using real
silver. Azariah shoots with either a 1950s Japanese
Toyo (with an 1860s lens) or a 1980s Cambo, both
with custom, handmade tintype holders. Any
photography nerds out there will know this is
wicked cool.
Tintypes were the second form of photography
ever, and were most popular from 1856 to 1867.
For such a vintage style, they yield extremely
detailed photos full of emotion and depth. The
photographs only read UV light, picking up
different tones than our present-day processing,
which responds to a broad spectrum of light.
Although he went to school for photography,
Azariah is entirely self-taught in tintype, using trial
by error, books, and the internet.
On top of pioneering the resurgence of the old
craft, Azariah has made the entire process portable
with a darkroom attached to a tricycle. The original
idea was sparked from a friend who had built a DJ
trike for mobile parties. With an extremely quick
processing time of about two minutes, it was only
rational for him to be mobile if he didn’t want to
be limited to studio portraits. The darkroom itself
is handmade, fashioned from cabinetry and UV
glass with a red gel composite that only lets in safe
light. While Azariah is one of a very small handful
of tintype photographers in Canada, he is the only
one with a mobile tintype trike.
With his portrait photography, Azariah is able to
capture the sincere, genuine attributes of a person;
stepping far from previous trends of airbrushed,
“perfect” beauty standards, he highlights natural
beauty. Azariah describes the process as a strong
collaboration between himself and the subject. It
demands stillness, patience, and accuracy. With
such physical permanence, having just one chance
to achieve the shot, and a 15-minute process per
shot, he has noticed a collective seriousness that
just isn’t present in modern photography.
“What you see is what you get,” he says. “People
often love to see themselves in tintypes, because
for a lot of people, it’s a true representation of
themselves.”
You can find Ian Azariah at East Side Flea, by
booking a private studio session, or on Instagram at
@tintypetrike.
14
May 2018

MURDER ON THE IMPROV EXPRESS
VANCOUVER THEATRESPORTS UNLEASHES A KILLER COMEDY
GRAEME WIGGINS
For nearly 40 years the Vancouver Theatre Sports
League has entertained comedy fans (nearly 60,000/
year) but now they’re ready to deliver some killer
laughs… literally. Their new show, Murder on the
Improv Express – A Killer Comedy, is a comedic
improv take on an Agatha Christie styled murder
mystery. It features all of the necessary tropes of a
good whodunit — a prominent socialite, a retired
military officer, a famous detective and, oh yes, there’s
a corpse!
With a remake of the classic board-game-turnedmovie
Clue on the horizon and the murder mystery
back in the pop culture zeitgeist again it seems like
murder is in the air. As Jay Ono, executive director of
VTSL explains, it came about fairly organically. “They
get pitched. Usually what happens is a cast member,
or in this case one of our alumni Diane Francis pitched
the idea and we’d been thinking of doing a period
drama show or murder mystery show for a while.
It was the right fit. They had just done a remake of
Murder On The Orient Express recently so it was in
the public mind.”
VTSL is not new to genre shows, but one could
imagine pulling off an improvised murder mystery
might seem more challenging. Ono doesn’t think so.
It seems to him to work pretty much the same way
other genres do. “There are definitely Agatha Christie
elements we’re trying to work into the show. Things
aren’t what we thought they were, etc. But we’re
having a lot of fun with it. The characters in those
worlds are so much fun to play. I haven’t found it
more challenging than the other genres we’ve done.”
In theatre, one can rehearse from the script to make
sure everything goes perfectly. In standup comedy
one can try out new material on smaller audiences
to test it out. VTSL doesn’t have that luxury. They
don’t even use test audiences. As Ono describes, “We
rehearse it with the ensemble. And they do such a
good job bringing it life, not only what we’re looking
for but adding suggestions. We see things in rehearsal
that maybe aren’t working, or maybe need adding.
We don’t have test audiences but we do have preview
shows. At this stage we’ve got it down to where it’s
ready for a paying audience, but in that process we
might see if something isn’t flying with the audience.”
Another fun aspect of the show are the themed
cocktails, created by Paul Belsito, VTSL’s bar and
lounge manager, as an homage to the great cocktails
of that era: Corpse Reviver and the Prohibition
Pleaser. Given you can drink them in the theatre while
watching the show, you’ve got the makings of a fun
night out. It’s elementary…
Murder on the Improv Express – A Killer Comedy runs
until May 26 at the Vancouver TheatreSports (1502
Duranleau Street, Granville Island)
TICKETS ON SALE NOW!
COMEDY
DAVID
CROSS
OH COME ON
VANCOUVER
JULY 4 • 8 PM
VOGUE THEATRE
CALGARY
JULY 5 • 8 PM
MacEWAN HALL
EDMONTON
JULY 6 • 8 PM
MYER HOROWITZ THEATRE
REGINA
JULY 7 • 8 PM
CONEXUS ARTS CENTRE
WINNIPEG
JULY 8 • 8 PM
BURTON CUMMINGS THEATRE
Murder on the Improv Express is a fresh take on a classic styling.
Media partner
HAHAHA.COM
May 2018 15

MUSIC
MATHEW V
YOUNG POP SINGER ON THE RISE COUNTS HIS BLESSINGS
SEPEHR RASHIDI
EVERY MONDAY FROM 2-4 PM
Mathew V blends his BC upbringing with London-influenced pop to create a unique sound.
After listening to the sonic maturity in his latest
album, The Fifth, and learning about his songwriting
contributions to some of Vancouver’s top acts, it’s
hard to believe Mathew Van Voogt is only 21. Hot
off the heels of the album’s release, we chatted over
coffee with the young pop singer at the 604 Records
headquarters about the UK pop sound, being an
openly gay musician and what it’s like working with
indie rock daddy Dan Mangan.
After 10 years of operatic training, the BC native
moved to London to pursue a career in classical
music. Soaking up the city’s rich pop history, Van
Voogt’s music recounts UK legends like Emilie Sande
and Amy Winehouse. “I think my style of writing will
always be a UK-style pop,” he says, despite his move
back to Canada to pursue music from home.
Fast forward to 2016 when Van Voogt was ready
to release his debut EP, Sounds. Led with excellent
singles like “No Bad News” and “Day I Die,” the EP
created notable online buzz, landing him a feature in
Nylon magazine and a record deal with 604 Records.
“I think we went into the relationship smart. They
believe in the product I’m creating and they know
what to do with it,” remarks Van Voogt, speaking on
604 Records. “They’ve been so supportive of me and
who I am.”
Gospel influenced pop instrumentals provide the
backbone of much of his music, particularly in The
Fifth’s lead single, “Tell Me Smooth.” With a diverse
list of collaborators including Dan Mangan, Luca
Fogale and DiRTY RADiO, Van Voogt’s foray into
other genres is pulled off with poise. On “Broken,”
you see him experimenting with UK house-inspired
instrumentals, featuring 604 labelmates DiRTY
RADiO. This is contrasted by The Fifth’s ballad,
“Let Me Go,” where Van Voogt employs Dan
Mangan’s songwriting prowess to deliver a tender
and memorable slow-burner. Speaking on the
sonic diversity, he remarks, “I’m such a pop music
listener in the sense of pop songwriting, songs that
are approachable. I’m definitely not a hipster in my
musical taste. As someone who listens to such an
eclectic range of music, I can’t limit my output to
just one style.”
Van Voogt approaches his sexuality with humour
and openness. Instagram stories with genuinely
funny gay jokes or Facebook statuses such as
“‘Thrilled to be featured in Billboard’s ‘Gay Agenda!’”
allow him to come across as open but not politically
charged (to be clear: he was featured in an actual
article called that by Billboard). “I don’t want
anybody to like me because I’m gay, but because
they relate to the experience I went through,” he
says. “Being gay is an aspect of who I am and I
want the music to speak for itself. I’m going to be
unapologetically me. What I’m not going to do is
change who I am for any purpose.”
Mathew V plays the Rio Theatre on May 24 with
Fintan O’Brien.
16
May 2018

YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN
DIVERSIFYING THE CONVERSATION AROUND GENRE STEREOTYPES
KEIR NICOLL
When BeatRoute catches up with Alaska B of
Yamantaka // Sonic Titan, the band is in a Kansas
City diner, on the road to support their new
album, Dirt. She notes that they are the only
Asians in the diner and that it’s like a mirror world.
She recounts their tour itinerary, from Wichita the
previous night, to Kansas City tonight, to Chicago
and Indianapolis in the next few and then back
home to Toronto.
A lot of recent writing about Yamantaka seems
to focus on a supposed fusion between rock or
metal and world music. But Alaska has some very
interesting things to say about this. “I don’t know
if I like the term ‘world-music,’” she says. “It’s just
an othering term for people who are too lazy to
learn the difference between other kinds of music.”
She goes on to state that oftentimes, many people
are trying to attribute origins with this kind of
classifying and that it is usually incorrect. She goes
on to mention the Taiko, Chinese drummer, and
Northern Cree Singers’ groups that have been very
high profile but do not fit into the world-music
descriptor. She also points out that separating
rock ‘n’ roll, in its own western domain, as separate
from world-music, is also shortsighted and
inaccurate. Conversations about appropriation,
where you assign blame to a person as well miss
out on the cultural exchange that is and has been
ongoing between different kinds of music.
There is an unmistakable edge of metal to
Yamantaka’s sometimes baroque instrument
playing. Alaska reveals that she listens to Carcass
and Cryptopsy but that there’s also a progressive
rock influence. They are trying to create a
new form of cultural output, a cultural matrix
of hybridization. It would not be simple but
fragmented and complex. That’s the problem
with ‘world-music’ versus rock and blues and r&b
and pop, it’s too simplifying. People can tell the
difference between new wave and another genre
from the same era, but not the difference between
different cultures. “Imagine a world where you
turn on the radio and it’s not all the same music
on every station. That’s why we span genres more
than anything else.”
When asked about what sort of mythologies
Yamantaka celebrate, Alaska refers to their mixed
heritage of Chinese, Japanese, Filipino and Firstnations.
The media always says what they do is
Japanese, but in fact Alaska’s face paint is based
off of Chinese opera, the Monchichi, a well-known
mythological figure. Angela’s face paint is meant to
represent the characters of the underworld. Alaska
also references Greek and Norse mythologies.
There is a similarity in the aesthetics but people
tend to lump it together and fall on the side
of what feels best to them, often saying it is all
Kabuki. That’s where Yamantaka just stop. She
doesn’t blame people for not being aware, saying
instead it’s a systemic issue, where people have not
been given opportunities to take things on at face
value. “I feel that we’re a band that’s at odds with
Y//ST think critically about genre definitions and their subjectivity.
the way things are supposed to be,” says Alaska.
Yamantaka are doing their part to diversify the
conversation.
MUSIC
Yamantaka // Sonic Titan perform May 18 at the
Biltmore Cabaret.
FROG EYES
A COLOURFUL FAREWELL FROM A DIFFERENT PLACE AND TIME
MICHAEL GRONDIN
Frog Eyes celebrate the end of an era and draw the shades on Violet Psalms.
After 17 years of collaborating and participating
in Canada’s diverse music community, Vancouverbased
experimental pop masterminds Frog Eyes
are closing the book on a weird and fruitful career
with Violet Psalms (Paper Bag Records), their
eighth and final full-length. It’s a carefully crafted
Photo by Lauren Ray
musical collection of tension and unease coated in
hopeful melody.
According to Carey Mercer, Frog Eyes’ lead singer
and guitarist, Violet Psalms isn’t so much a
headstone, but rather a marker of his bands legacy
up to a point in time.
“It seems like there’s been some kind of
demarcation line created in the past couple years
where it feels inappropriate to carry on a project
that started, in a sense, pre-climate change, in
a sense, pre-Trump. Frog Eyes was birthed in a
different time,” he says.
He explains that Violet Psalms was designed to
be disorienting and introspective, mirroring the
strange times we find ourselves in.
“Let’s just put a nice end to it, and you know, the
band comes with so much baggage, and when I
was making the record I never thought it would be
the last one, but it just feels like a right time to put
an end to the name and its legacy and hopefully
gain a new perspective.”
Unlike their previous releases, Mercer self-recorded
Violet Psalms in a studio he built in his Vancouver
home with the help of drummer Melanie
Campbell, keyboardist Shyla Seller and bassist
Terri Upton, which gave him control over both the
sonic elements and ideas.
“From the first instant I started making music I was
very jealous of the engineer’s knowledge, like, ‘Why
do you put this mic there? These are my songs,
why do you get to determine how it sounds?’ So
much of the engineering affects the end product,”
he says with a laugh. “We didn’t want that. We
wanted this claustrophobic, disorientating, swirl
of drums.”
Thus, in an attempt to take the sonic qualities of
this record to a new level, Mercer got creative.
“Every time you listen to a record, every
instrument and microphone is obviously placed,
and there’s a cohesive totality to the sound. Let’s
fail miserably at mimicking that, and in our failure,
let’s create something with a distinct imprint,” he
explains of his end game.
Displaying many such examples of Frog Eyes’
outside-the-box techniques, the finished product
is “a gnashing jubilee.”
“I spent half my life building this studio in my
mind, and then after we built it for real and made
this record, I went and sold everything. I don’t
know if you have to be happy when you make a
record, but you should at least be engaged and
focused,” concludes Mercer. “It took a very long
time, and a lot of dedication to learn how to make
a record on your own, to compile tracks, to make
them fit. And a record, in general, is a real magical
thing we take for granted.”
Frog Eyes perform May 25 at Copper Owl (Victoria)
and May 26 at China Cloud (Vancouver).
May 2018 17

MUSIC
PREOCCUPATIONS
AN EXERCISE IN CALCULATED CHAOS
EMILY CORLEY
For a band that has spent a great deal of time
on the road touring, it’s the time off that can be
the most gruelling, which would explain why the
4-piece post punk outfit is itching to get back out
there. While it may have been a few months since
they’ve all played together, guitarist and synth
player Scott “Monty” Munro is undaunted by
the group’s forthcoming 37-date journey. Munro
is fresh off a tour with Chad VanGaalen but the
rest of the band took a decidedly more laid back
approach to their time in between tours.
Photo by Pooneh Ghana
Fresh off the release of their third album, Preoccupations prepare for a 37-date international tour.
“Danny’s just been watching TV in his
underwear for the last few months,” laughs Munro.
“He’s like, ‘Ah, I’ve got to get out of the house! This
is crazy!’ Rehearsing is always one thing, and then
there’ll probably be five days of the painful part
of the tour, where we’re just getting back into the
grind of it. Once you’re five days in, it’s all the same
from there.”
Preoccupations’ third full-length release, New
Material, combines a markedly more accessible
and melodic post-punk sound with heavier,
authentic lyrical sincerity. Munro describes the
process of writing the album as “therapeutic,” and
it’s easy to see why – lyrically, the record feels raw
and meaningful, with refrains such as “Hopefully
your legacy / Is worth more than you’ll ever
be,” achingly echoing the deeply human fear of
unfulfilled potential.
“I kind of lost my mind a little bit last summer,”
Munro admits. “And [the rest of the band] also
had stuff going on, you know?”
New Material was mixed by Beck’s bass player,
Justin Meldal Johnsen, and his busy work schedule
resulted in some pretty hectic deadlines for the
band.
“Some of the tracks were recorded in an Airbnb
in Silverlake,” says Munro. “We literally turned
up with nothing but the drums and bass for
‘Antidote,’ worked on it all day, and sent it across
to Justin in the evening.”
Despite this seemingly chaotic process, there
seems to be an innate confidence in the band’s
approach this time around. Preoccupations
actively seek opportunities to do the work
themselves and combine different approaches,
locations, and methods of recording.
“With this group of people, we’ve had to work
hard at it, but we haven’t had to work hard at the
same things we used to work on,” he says. “After
three albums, it all feels very familiar now. It’s just
nice to have a record out – no band that any of
us has ever been in has put out more than two
records. So yeah, three records, we’ve made it!”
However, contrary to the self-assured process of
creating the album, Munro admits, “I still just listen
to it and think ‘It just sounds like fucking AC/DC.’
It’s just guitar rock, you know? I want to push it
into an almost non-music zone. On some of the
songs [on the new album], I feel like I came closer
to my vision for how the band should sound.”
The eerie, sci-fi feel of tracks such as
“Decompose” and “Doubt” are testaments to his
attempt to defy the boundaries of the “post-punk”
and “rock” labels often ascribed to the band.
Ultimately, Preoccupations are a band who
record music for the purpose of playing it live,
relishing the opportunity to take their music to
their fans.
“Touring is integral to all we’ve done,” says
Munro. “Honestly, I feel that if a band is willing
to tour, that just trumps everything else. And it’s
great – live music rules!”
Preoccupations perform May 9 at The Astoria.
18
May 2018

POOR BABY
PASSING THE TIME WITH PERSONAL APOCALYPSE
MAT WILKINS
Personal Apocalypse is a delightfully diverse debut
from Vancouver’s Poor Baby, pulling its inspiration
from scattered genres like a discount buffet (a
delicious one, mind you). Yet there remains a sort
of cohesion underlying this album; perhaps it’s Ryan
Walter Wagner’s haunting vocal styling paired with
the band’s talented lineup. Upon closer inspection,
THE HEELS
WALKING WITH A STRUT IN THEIR STEPS
TOM PAILLE
In a time where bro-country and
country-pop are starting to get a bit
stale, country fans are looking for
something different, something a little
more real. Enter The Heels, a local trio
of women who are driven by a strong
passion to create music that is true to
themselves and their ideals.
Brittni Dominelli, Bobbi Smith, and
Kyla Rawlins have their own unique
personalities and draw from diverse
backgrounds and interests. These
differences blend together, just like the
group’s expertly delivered three-part
harmonies, to help keep everyone
motivated, creative, and uplifted.
While they still have day jobs to pay
the bills, more and more of their daily
energy goes into their music. Rawlins has
run the Buddha-Full restaurant in North
Vancouver for the last eight years, which
is where the members of the group first
met. Dominelli is a professional makeup
artist and comes from a musical family.
Smith also works in makeup and had
a previous solo career as a Canadian
country artist. But meeting these ladies,
you would never know they had met
only a few years ago and weren’t best
friends since childhood.
With the upcoming release of their
first album, Love, Heels, the three are
very excited to share the final product
after almost three years of hard work
in the studio. The first single, “He’s Not
Where I’m Going,” is a rowdy, upbeat
example of the group’s confidence as
songwriters and performers.
“The music we want to create is
empowering, feel-good music that
we want to share with everyone,” says
Rawlins. The ladies get very animated
talking about The Heels, their sound,
and their place in country music. “The
harmonies came together so organically,
and the songs we’ve written were
inspired by strong female artists who
empowered us. That’s what we want to
portray.”
With harmonies similar to groups like
the Dixie Chicks and Wilson Phillips, and
upbeat, inspiring songs for the modern
girl, The Heels click.
The Heels play their album release show
on May 27 at the Roxy Cabaret.
Photo by Bernice Jang
Ryan Walter Wagner and friends possess a sonic quality that has delivered the ultimate revelation.
however, it seems like the band’s attitude towards
music making — cool, collected and carefree — is
the secret ingredient that imbues this album with
that special, unifying sonic quality.
“It was something to do, really,” describes Wagner
of the band’s humble beginnings. Wagner would
sit in his studio and listen to his favourite tunes,
blasting cigs between songs until he found the
perfect drumbeat, guitar riff and whatever else
to begin de- and reconstructing around a brand
new song. Poor Baby began as a one-man passion
project, written and recorded whenever there was
time to do so, but with no lofty dreams of exposure
or recognition in mind.
“We play shows when we feel like it, we record
when we think we have enough stuff to record,”
Wagner says.
Poor Baby’s sound is dynamic and involving,
whether it’s the sluggish, fuzzy lead guitar that
pulls along “Slow Burner,” or the blistering punk
drums that prop up the frenetic closing song
“Learning to Party.” Flying high above all the badass
instrumentation, of course, is Wagner’s powerful
rebel yell.
The band — a revolving door of semi-permanent
musical friends that pop in to practice or record
whenever the mood strikes — shares the same
laidback sentiment as Wagner, who explains that
there’s no pressure to do anything.
“That’s probably why we’re still doing it, because
it’s pretty fun.”
Poor Baby release Personal Apocalypse on June 1 and
will be performing for Psych & Soul Weekend at First
Metropolitan United Church in Victoria on June 8 to
9. Vancouver release party TBA.
The Heels are poised to be the next big thing in Western Canadian country.
SUN
8:00pm
TUES
9:00pm
WED
7:30pm
THURS
9:00pm
Karaoke
MUSIC
1901 Powell Street, Vancouver
604-253-6645
End of the Line Jam
w/ Sandy Bone & Double D
Trivia
Karaoke
Sunday Afternoon
MAY 6, 4:30 - 7:30 PM
Sinéad Sanders w/ Sandy Bone &
Double D
MAY 13, 4:30 - 7:30 PM
Ana Bon-Bon with guests
MAY 27, 5:00 - 7:30 PM
Blue Bird Day
Fri. & Sat. Bands @9pm
FRI, MAY 4
SX70 with guests Pink Briks
and Nixie
SAT, MAY 5
Torstrum with guests
FRI, MAY 11
Zafirios with guests
SAT, MAY 12
The Pit, Lung Flower &
Social Silence
FRI, MAY 18
Fresh Goat
THE PRINCETON
SAT, MAY 19
Ampletude with guests The Acoustic
Ghosts and Caustic Soda Pop
FRI, MAY 25
Hastings Sunrise Saints, Witchita
Trip & Daddy Issues
SAT, MAY 26
Hi-Ranger with guests
Check our website for complete
listing www.princetonpub.ca
Daily Food and Drink Specials
Kitchen Hours open till 10pm
Mon – Wed 1030pm Thurs – Sun
14 Drafts on tap - Pool Table
Private room to rent for events
May 2018 19

MUSIC
RAINBOW KITTEN SURPRISE
BLURRING GENRE LINES WITH CAT-LIKE PROWESS
FRANKIE RYOTT
Spring is all about surprises and Rainbow Kitten
Surprise have managed to deliver with the
release of their third album, How To: Friend, Love,
Freefall. The quintet from North Carolina has
re-emerged from their nebulous cloud with an
album that bends all the boundaries of genre while
showcasing their dedication to music and each
other.
PEDRO THE LION
REASSEMBLING TO TAME THE MASSES
JAMIE GOYMAN
Photo by Matthew Salacuse
Rainbow Kitten Surprise change tempo with the release of How To: Friend, Love, Freefall.
Rainbow Kitten Surprise first emerged on the
musical radar in 2013 with their iconic album
Seven + Mary featuring knockout tracks “Devil
Like Me” and “American Hero,“ which introduced
the world to their raw yet infectious sound. Their
second album RKS followed suit, collating thought
provoking lyrics with memorable rhythms on epic
tracks like “Cocaine Jesus” and “Lady Lie.” Their
major label debut, How To: Friend, Love, Freefall,
sees the band take it to the next level while
concreting their dedication to their music and the
lifestyle that comes along with it.
“This album was inspired by our lives,
individually and collectively, and how we came
together. The emotions that come from living
adult life, paying bills, leaving university and
embarking on this lifestyle to create music all
whilst sustaining ourselves,” explains vocalist Sam
Melo. “For instance ‘Mission to Mars’ focuses on
the anxiety of potentially having shelved or put
away other dreams or aspirations to pursue this
journey as a group and what it means to have
bound your life to four other people.”
Many have struggled to categorize Rainbow
Kitten Surprise’s sound into a certain genre, with
their tracks switching from RNB to indie folk, from
fast tempo to slow. How To: Friend, Love, Freefall
continues to harness this genre diversity, however
this time with a clear intent.
“There’s definitely a change of tempo in this
album. We actually are playing slower than our
previous records. What makes it more upbeat is
that there’s more passionate musicianship and
more ideas going on, during the slow songs we
were able to bounce between all the ideas that
were present and create the illusion of being faster.
It also comes from our collective love of hip hop
and swing beats and how you can make a track
more complex and seem faster just by breaking it
down. It’s not a construction of a genre it’s more so
deconstructing existing genres to highlight what
the key elements are,” says Melo.
“I would describe our sound as experimental,
it’s not an attempt to merge genres but instead
push the limits of what genre is. I think it’s about
showcasing what music looks like in the 21st
century. With streaming and shared musical tastes
people can switch from classic rock to hip-hop to
folk all within a span of 10-15 minutes. That’s kind
of what we were going for with this album.”
These cross genre inspirations shine throughout
the album whether it’s in the hip hop folk fusion
filled “Fever Pitch’” or the close to rapping chants
of “Recktify.” Rainbow Kitten Surprise have
managed to take Melo’s signature vocals into a
whole new dimension, solidifying their stance as
an all round musical powerhouse. In celebration
of the release, Rainbow Kitten Surprise have
embarked upon their ‘Friend, love, freefall’ tour
playing multiple sold out shows across North
America. With their energetic and lively stage
presence and an album full of surprises, they’re
definitely a band not to miss out on.
Rainbow Kitten Surprise perform May 4 at the
Vogue Theatre.
Just outside of Seattle in Edmond, WA, the heart and soul of
Pedro the Lion, David Bazan, talks about the progress of his
being in a full band again and the upcoming album.
Beginning in 1995, with the debut release Whole in 1997,
where Bazan made his mark with a sound that emerged,
defining what was to come for him in various ways. The indie
rock scene would feel the musical ebb and flow of Pedro
the Lion over the following 10 years, ending with Bazan
venturing out to explore what would turn out to be a just as
fruitful solo career. Having released four albums and five EPs
under Pedro the Lion, Bazan was well versed and prepared to
continue pulling in his listeners with the intoxicating honesty
he has always seemed able to find within himself and bring to
the forefront of his music. “In the context of making music,
especially what Pedro is about, I really need to hear those quiet
deep down feelings, and I have to be alone to do that.”
Pedro the Lion made a re-emerging blip on the music scene’s
radar in 2017 with the announcement of a small string of shows
at the end of the year, followed by 2018 seeing Bazan join forces
with returning bassist Jonathan Ford and newcomers Erik
Walters (guitar) and Sean Lane (drums), creating a bubbling
resurgence of the mood, tempo, and lyrical touch that Pedro
was known for. “It’s a great band where we have a natural ability
to lock in a way that is really fun and dynamic,” says Bazan, “I
love it and it was a really great choice to play with name again
and play live with a band regularly, these guys are a great band.”
Feeding off the excitement that comes with visiting the past
from a new, regenerated take on life and songwriting, Bazan
has taken that energy and begun pulling it into his music once
again. The new album, which is set to come out sometime early
20
2019, is not only going to be revisiting the band fans loved
throughout the early 2000 era, the music will have trickling
influence from every piece of work Bazan touched on over
the last decade. “It’s the evolution of what I’ve been doing
throughout that past 12 or 13 years,” says Brazan. “I think about
those sounds and whatever was interesting me sonically about
those records, I’m incorporating that back in a way. I’m allowing
myself to mess around in that territory again, I’m more open to
it and it finds its way in when appropriate.”
The live show will as always experience that magic that Pedro
the Lion brings to the experience along with new touches the
band has been working with. Structuring the live act by taking
the idea of stringing energy along in a way that would represent
one big piece while adding lights that emanate the overall
tone he’s looking to harness, Brazan has turned the experience
into something new and more developed. “I have a different
perspective on how to put together one of our shows. We try to
have it start in one place and go someplace else. I don’t know,
I’m really proud of it.”
The never-ending touring cycle is in full swing for Pedro the
Lion, ensuring fans everywhere have the chance to catch the
emotion brought into action through the energy you can only
really catch when in the same room experiencing it. “Touring is
the thing, it’s kind of the main form of what this expression is;
going around and playing songs for an audience, doing a magic
trick on stage in front of them. It’s ephemeral, you can’t bottle
it, you can video tape it and try to do it justice, but it doesn’t do
the same thing.”
Pedro the Lion performs May 8 at the Biltmore Cabaret.
Photo by Ryan Russell
David Bazan is out of the lion’s den, performing with a band and feeling.
May 2018

LAMB OF GOD
AMERICAN DEATH-METAL GROUP SETS FLAME TO CLASSIC COVERS AS BURN THE PRIEST
ANA KRUNIC
Growing up as a teenage metalhead in the mid
2000s, when Revolver was still taken seriously
and bullet belts had a serious revival, Richmond,
Virginia’s Lamb of God picked up the torch left
behind by Pantera’s absence and carried it aloft
with that cocky groove-tinged sound that grew
up and out of the ‘90s, the new wave of American
heavy metal. But before the pieces all fell into place
to form Lamb of God, where it all started was with
the rawer sounds of Burn the Priest – their first
incarnation.
Nearly 20 years of commercial success later,
they’ve decided to pay homage to their roots and
rebirth Burn the Priest by putting out Legion: XX
on May 18. The album covers songs that influenced
them when they were sowing the seeds for what
would eventually become Lamb of God.
“The first song that comes to mind is a song
called ‘Axis Rot’ by a band called Sliang Laos,” says
guitarist Mark Morton. “Pretty much no one that
hears this project will be familiar with them because
they were a local band around Richmond who were
making waves in the local scene when we were first
getting Burn the Priest together. They were one of
my favourite bands, not just locally, but in general.
So it felt really, really good as we were putting
Legion: XX together to be able to include them in
the track list and pay homage to some of our roots,
bands that we aspired to be like back then in the
local scene.”
“Another would be the Melvins song ‘Honey
Bucket,’ because during that time frame in the
‘90s, punk, hardcore, and metal were mingling and
producing some really unique sounding bands,”
Photo by Travis Shinn
Lamb of God’s latest release is a series of covers that influenced them in their early days as a band.
Morton continues.
Burn the Priest as a band had a bit more of a
punk feel to it compared to the direction Lamb of
God ended up going in, which was down a more
technical and refined path. Regardless of whether
they were just working out the kinks within their
first formation, Morton says it was never done with
a clear intention.
“I think we were just developing as a band,
honestly,” he says. “To this day the process is still the
same. I never mean this to come across the wrong
way, but we don’t write music for our fans. We don’t
write any music in anticipation of what the fans
might want to hear. We really construct our songs
just to find common ground between the five of
us, to find something that all five of us like and can
stand behind. That, in and of itself, is quite a feat.”
Their upcoming tour finds them back on the
road with the legendary Slayer, who they’ve toured
with extensively. But this one’s bittersweet, as this is
Slayer’s last run on the road (or so they say). With
Slayer being one of metal’s founding fathers, it’s still
a trip for even someone as renowned as Morton to
be included in their farewell tour.
“It’s frankly an honour,” he says, “and more than
anything, I’m flattered they would include us and
give us that spot on their last tour. We’ve worked
with them a lot and obviously they’ve been a huge
influence on us. I mean, we’ve learned so much from
watching how Slayer does things. Everyone in metal
has.”
Lamb of God plays the Pacific Coliseum with Slayer,
Anthrax, Behemoth and Testament on May 16.
OBITUARY
FLORIDA DEATH METAL ICONS ARE STOKED TO PLAY FAN-PICKED CLASSICS
ANA KRUNIC
When thrash metal gained popularity in North
America, you had the big four: Metallica,
Megadeth, Slayer, and Anthrax. But happening
at around the same time way over in Florida,
centered somewhere around Tampa, the biggest
names in American death metal were brewing
up albums that would become legendary.
Though at this point it’s tough to pick a “big
four of Florida death metal,” Death, Morbid
Angel, Deicide, and Obituary stand out as
having created and defined that massive Florida
sound.
30 years later, few bands can say they’ve had
as consistent a career as Obituary. You can go
from listening to their debut album, Slowly We
Rot, to their most recent self-titled album, and
have no doubt that it’s the same band (and
maybe some of the same instruments). It’s this
stubborn grip on that old-school sound that’s
seen Obituary’s drummer Donald Tardy through
all these years.
“It’s simply happened through 35 years of
hanging out with each other, I think,” says Tardy.
“I mean, I met [guitarist/founding member]
Trevor [Peres] when I was 10 years old, so we’ve
been friends forever. But what’s amazing about it
is that we immediately dove into music together
at a really young age. I was already starting out
drumming when I met him, so once we figured
out that we were metalheads, it wasn’t long
before we figured out our own style.”
For their upcoming North American tour,
they’ve enlisted the help of their fans, taking
suggestions from multiple platforms to finish off
a 17-song setlist.
“It’s funny, you can predict that everybody’s
going to want the obvious ones like ‘Cause of
Death,’ ‘Chopped in Half,’ and ‘Slowly We Rot,’”
says Tardy. “But there are definitely people
throwing out songs that I can’t even remember
having a title for. I guess that’s from 30 years
of releasing records – it’s hard to remember
100-and-something songs nowadays. We’re
looking at the Facebook posts, the Twitter
replies, looking at the official Obituary
inbox and taking what everyone’s saying
into consideration. It’s definitely going to be
interesting for us having to relearn some of
those old songs.”
Tardy and his bandmates have been playing
death metal together since they were 15,
embroiled in the genre for pretty much their
entire lives and being on the road for almost as
long. That may be the reason that they’ve all
stuck together for such a long period of time –
they just don’t know any different.
“It’s not about how many times you’re
onstage playing, because you’re only onstage for
an hour at a time,” he says. “You live with band
members and you have relationships with these
people over the years having to be on tour,
which is not all fun and games. You’ve living out
of a backpack, being shuffled around in vans
and shuttles and buses. Being a professional,
organized, and successful touring band means
that each band member has to be all of those
things. You’ve got to be okay with being told
when you can sleep, when you can eat, when
you can shit. Although that hour onstage is an
absolute blast, and it is the best job in the world
to be able to crack a cold beer right before your
shift and jump onstage and play 15 songs in a
row. There’s nothing cooler than that. We’re just
stoked to play for fans of classic Florida death
metal.”
Obituary kicks off the first of five nights of
Modified Ghost Festival at the Rickshaw Theatre
with Pallbearer, Skeletonwitch, Dust Bolt and
Bushwhacker on May 23.
Photo by Ester Segarra
Death metal icons Obituary have been performing together since they were 15 years old.
May 2018 21

YOB
RESURECTED AFTER A NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE
JAMILA POMEROY
Photo by Orion Landau
Yob return with bleeding conscious and crushing doom.
After receiving what he referred to as a “courtesy call from [his]
eventual death”, Mike Scheidt, vocalist and guitarist of Yob, returns
with a new lease and dedication to life and music.
While grocery shopping not to far from his home, in Eugene,
Oregon, Scheidt was struck with a violent pain down the left side
of his face. This pain lead him to discovering a severe case of acute
diverticulitis, a disease that attacks the intestines. Scheidt endured
multiple surgeries, near death experiences and a grueling recovery
period, which put life on hold not only for himself, but for the whole
band.
While often barely mobile, Scheidt continued to write and play
music with the help of a custom Monson guitar; the lighter guitar
allowed him to play, and write, within the bounds of his weight
restrictions following his surgery. He went six months without singing
and had to rebuild from the beginning with a vocal coach, a delicate
process, as he could herniate any of his incisions if he pushed too
hard. He began experimenting with the new tricks taught by his
vocal coach, to rebuild his technical range and power. “In some ways
actually, my vocals are better than they have ever been,” says Scheidt.
While the band approaches each album from the point in which
they are at in life — lyrically, and thematically — Scheidt’s health
struggles have deeply impacted the new album. “I had no guarantee
any of the music I was making was going to ever see the light of day,”
he says. With the potential complications of his surgeries and recovery
process, Scheidt had this underlying feeling that his compositions
had to be “good enough.” He explains there was an extra level of
love, gratitude and dedication to intention, superimposed by his
illness, both in regards to music processes and his relationships with
his bandmates and family. Thematically, the feeling of losing control
played a heavy roll in inspiration of the new album.
Yob released “The Screen”, earlier this year, and while the song is a
preview of their upcoming album, Our Raw Heart, it features some of
the oldest sets of riffs on the album. The song is sonically in line with
their previous heavy doom metal brutality, but on the heavier side of
their sonic spectrum, which spans from meditative ambience, to skull
crushing riffage. “It’s a song we’ve had around for five or six years. It
just never found a place and there was no album that it seemed like it
fit. Post illness, as I was writing, all of a sudden everything came into
focus, and it became part of this new album” he explains. Scheidt says
he is still writing about the same things, persona and sincere lyrics,
driven by the pursuit of positive influence. Thematically, the band
takes inspiration from eastern mysticism, shamanic practices, poetry
and meditative mindfulness.
Scheidt has been described previously as the zen or Yogi Master
type and in speaking with him, there’s a strong imprint of that. He
is calm, collected and deeply humble. While the music Yob makes is
often brutal and heavy, there have always been conscious tones and a
meditative quality.
“I’ve spent a lot of years sitting and doing meditation. I don’t
pretend to be a great practitioner, but I’m consistent,” Scheidt says.
His conscious and humble attitude carries into all aspects of his life;
and while always present, there is a new level of gratitude his near
death experience has brought him.
Yob perform as part of the Modified Ghost Festival on May 25 at the
Rickshaw Theatre.
22
May 2018

RIVER JACKS
SHOWCASING AN UNDENIABLE BROTHERHOOD
SLONE FOX
The whole band agrees: their accordionist has the nicest butt.
“It’s cozy with five of us in here,” laughs Spencer Jo Burgess, vocalist and guitarist
of Calgary-based punk band River Jacks. Crammed into their tour bus, a minivan
with a small fleet of Lego Star Wars ships velcroed to the dashboard, it’s hard to
picture anything more purely punk rock.
Consisting of Burgess along with drummer Michael Blotto, accordionist Andy
“Mandrill” Shannon, guitarist Jordan Barrett, and bassist Tyler Burton, River Jacks
is bursting with the kind of veteran expertise that many bands spend their whole
careers trying to obtain. With a diverse set of past projects under their belts, it’s
clear that music has always been the only option for the close-knit quintet.
TESSERACT
ADDING AMBIENCE TO PROGRESSIVE NEW RECORD WITH HELP FROM THEIR FANS
BRENDAN REID
For curious reasons, there is a lot of derision towards
the subgenre of djent. The word is onomatopoeic,
and describes the distorted, palm muted thudding
sound that players make against the lower guitar
strings when employing the style. Djent was first
popularized by Meshuggah, and then evolved by
artists such as Animals as Leaders, Periphery, and
UK-based prog royalty TesseracT, who return this
year with a message to share in their new record,
Sonder, released April 20.
“Sonder is a word taken from a web series called
The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows [by John
Koenig]. It’s a made up word, but it’s kind of a cool
concept,” says rhythm guitarist James Monteith,
clearly enthusiastic about the idea. “It means ‘the
appreciation that everyone around you has a life as
interesting and complex as your own.’ It’s a reflection
on how nuanced the world is, as well as the universe
and beyond. It’s a message of non-self-centeredness.”
Sonder is both an understanding of the intricacies
within every life, and a celebration of the individual.
Though people may operate on similar playing fields,
every experience is unique, and TesseracT embraces
this idea, even using it in their songwriting process in
a way that is beautiful and inclusive.
“Our front-of-house engineer is really into field
recordings, which is turning ambient sounds into
music,” explains Monteith. “So we did a call out to
fans to send in their field recordings, and we got
Photo by Jay Munoz
“Without music, I’d probably be one of those boring, typical suburbanites
who raises a family, works from nine to five, watches reality TV, and goes to bed
at nine o’clock,” Blotto says. “Isn’t that what most people who don’t make music
do?”
The band released their second album, Strange Adventures, in May 2017.
With such an immeasurable energy pouring out of them both on stage and off,
you can’t help but wonder what’s going through their heads and fuelling their
explosive shows. Are they thinking about the shortcomings of the government?
The toxicity of our capitalist society? If a black hole can absorb another black
hole?
“Sometimes I think about if my butt looks good,” laughs Shannon, causing a
cacophony of laughs from the rest of the guys in the van.
“Okay, first of all, Mandrill has the best butt in the band,” Burgess exclaims.
“He also wears these off-black pants that just accentuate it in a way that is very
helpful for all of us on stage. It really kind of gives us that little bit of energy we
need. He has this sweet attention-diverting move where he clips his wireless rig
to his belt just above his butt and it attracts attention that way and it’s...” Burgess
trails off, laughing too hard to continue.
“What has this interview gone to?” Blotto yells.
With two albums in the bag, River Jacks have continued to blaze their way
across the Canadian music scene with their unbridled intensity and infectiously
welcoming personalities. With their Quest to the West Tour on the very near
horizon, old fans and new fans alike can expect the band to do what they do
best: play songs as fast and as loud as they can.
River Jacks is playing Pub 340 on May 31st.
Djent royalty TesseracT eliminates self-centeredness with unique fan-driven concept.
about 90 submissions. Of those 90, we managed to
incorporate 40 into the album as subtle textures. A
lot of the ambient effects you hear throughout the
album started off as sounds that people sent in. It
adds a different layer to a few of the tracks.”
Music is one of the most malleable forms of
expression. Every person has a different concept of
what sounds good, and there are countless tools and
styles one can employ to achieve their sonic ideals.
TesseracT, though a powerful creative force in their
own right, realized their fans could offer them a
Photo by Steve Brown
whole new angle, and reached out. Fearlessly, they
embraced the concept of Sonder, and incorporated
it into their own work. Such commitment to an
idea is the sign of truly focused visionaries, and only
bodes well for all projects that TesseracT and their
affiliates conjure up.
You can experience TesseracT live at the Rickshaw
Theatre, alongside supporting acts Plini and Astronoid,
on May 9.
May 2018 23

BPM
MOUNT KIMBIE
ELECTRONIC DUO IS STILL LEARNING ALONG THE WAY
JAMIE GOYMAN
Dominic Maker and Kai Campos continue to push boundaries.
RYAN HEMSWORTH
SURPRISINGLY HAPPY, EXPECTEDLY SOPHISTICATED
ALAN RANTA
Ryan Hemsworth went all over for Elsewhere, his third album.
Born and raised in Halifax, Ryan Hemsworth
is arguably the greatest musician to come
out of Nova Scotia this side of Buck 65.
Hemsworth sure stuck the landing with his
debut solo album. Guilt Trips was released
by venerable Canadian indie label Last Gang
in late 2013 and went on to win the Juno
Award for Electronic Album of the Year the
following year.
Hemsworth quickly followed up Guilt
Trips with 2014’s Alone for the First Time. It
still managed to pick up a Juno nomination,
but didn’t quite resonate as much with
critics, perhaps seeming a bit rushed or
that Ryan was trying to do too many things
24
Speaking to BeatRoute from Jutland,
England, Kai Campos of Mount
Kimbie lets loose on what the duo
known for their always unique take
on electronic music has in store for
2018. Having been releasing music
for nearly 10 years Dominic Maker
and Kai Campos have proven their
ability to continuously push their
boundaries.
“Like most things it seems the
more you do it, it seems like the less
you know,” says Campos, talking
about the artistic growth of the
musical project.
Their last album, Love What
Survives (2017), took what fans
have come to know and recognize
from the duo and twisted it into
a stripped down greyscale audible
adventure. Taking what they
gained while performing live and
Photo by Tonje Thilesen
at once. Four years later, and he’s ready to
silence those critics with Elsewhere. He
practically scoured the globe to make this
record, reaching out to as-yet unnamed
artists in such disparate locales as Atlanta,
Nigeria, London, and the Bay Area, among
others.
“Honestly, a lot of the process for
[Elsewhere] has been getting better at
actually making music in the studio with
people,” Hemsworth muses. “Over the
years, I’d gotten so used to making a lot of
the production at home, and then sending
it to a singer or something. A lot of the
sessions with different rappers in Atlanta,
incorporating the positive aspects of
that immediacy into the recording
process, push Mount Kimbie closer
to the instinctive side of their music.
“The main thing is when you work
in an area where you feel like you’re
learning as well as doing it,” tells
Campos.
The album is splattered with
vocals from the poetic and
stylistically on point King Krule on
“Blue Train Lines,” experimental pop
musician Micachu with “Marilyn”
and the stunning notes of James
Blake with “We Go Home Together”
and “How We Got By” that tucks
listeners into the pocket of Mount
Kimbie while they explore new
horizons.
Mount Kimbie perform May 17 at the
Imperial.
it was really working on your feet. I had to
make a lot of stuff in advance just to have
lots of options for whatever session I would
have with a certain artist. I was trying to
not overthink my production and spend
too much time on certain sounds as I was
making it, because you have to be quick
when you’re working with certain artists like
that.”
Having worked on this Elsewhere project
for so long, Hemsworth has absorbed a
lot of influences along the way. He’s been
listening to a lot of film soundtracks, citing
Johnny Greenwood’s textural compositions
for Phantom Thread and You Were Never
Really Here, as well as Korean music, namely
the R&B and pop that he sees as taking a lot
of risks most wouldn’t care in comparable
North American genres. Elsewhere also sees
Ryan attempt to alter the mood somewhat.
“I’m trying to make happier music,”
Hemsworth laughs. “I don’t know if that
gets across, but I think that’ll probably be
the most surprising if I accomplish that.
Everything up to this point has been fairly
melancholic, and there’s definitely still
elements of that in the music now, but I
was trying to prove myself through the
production, make something more polished.
There’s a couple of R&B songs that I’m really
trying to make sound like the R&B that I
grew up on. I want the whole project to be
surprising, in a good way.”
Ryan Hemsworth performs at Fortune Sound
Club (Vancouver) on May 10.
CLUBLAND
IT’S TRICKY TO TRIP A HOP
ALAN RANTA
What is there to believe in anymore? It may not seem like much
in the grand scheme of things, but the power of live music is
still with us. Catharsis through sound exists. Stuff yourself in one
of these venues and forget the harshness of reality for a couple
hours.
OBJEKT
May 12 @ Open Studios
Born in Japan, raised in the U.K., and currently calling Germany
home, master DJ and producer TJ Hertz studied electronic and
information engineering at Oxford, and subsequently worked
at Native Instruments developing software, so you know his
techno-based, post-dubstep-tinged sets are as smart as can be,
no hyperbole.
THE GLITCH MOB
May 14 @ Commodore
Bass music hasn’t been the same since Los Angeles glitch addicts
edIT, Boreta and Ooah combined forces. Their live sets are all
about channeling their technological process into dance floor
chemistry, so expect some vicious knob-twiddling and mindbending
visuals.
TRICKY
May 15 @ Rickshaw
You shouldn’t need a lot of prodding to go see Tricky. This guy
was at the forefront of the trip-hop movement as a frequent
collaborator on early Massive Attack releases, while his solo
career since the mid-’90s has been as prolific as it has been
challenging, counting over a dozen albums that tackle difficult
lyrical themes over genre-defying instrumentals. You’ll remember
being at this show.
SOSUPERSAM
May 18 @ Fortune
Los Angeles DJ and singer Samantha Duenas makes some damn
impressive R&B-tinged poptronica. To hear her sing, you’d
think she was Britney Spears working with production from the
Neptunes or some shit, but she’s actually far more experienced
as a DJ, dancer and fashion blogger. In more ways than seems
humanly possible, this girl is squarely on point. Better recognize.
MIRA
June 2 @ Open Studios
You’re gonna want to get a bigger boat for this one. My, oh Mira,
she is deep. Honed over a decade plus in front of some of the
world’s most sophisticated audiences, her distinctive sets of
melodic, uplifting yet soothing German techno and deep house
seem to go on into the infinite night of the eternal rave. Rave on!
SOSUPERSAM
Photo by James W
Mataitis Bailey
May 2018

BPM
NIGHTMARES ON WAX
OWN YOUR REALITY WITH SHAPE THE FUTURE
HOLLIE MCGOWAN
George Evelyn is owning his reality and imagination as Nightmares On Wax.
In a chaotic and complex world, how do we as
individuals take responsibility for the roles we play
in our own communities, societies, and on this great
sphere circling the sun we call Planet Earth? This is
the question that George Evelyn, a.k.a. Nightmares on
Wax, is asking all of us, including himself, with his latest
album, Shape The Future.
“I just started to question reality and what that was
about,” explains Evelyn over Skype from his home in
Ibiza. “[I questioned] how everybody has their own free
will of their perception, [and questioned] what is their
relationship to that? Do we even recognize that it’s us
relating to it? If I can at least be responsible to how I’m
relating to my reality, I can make the adjustments that
make things a lot smoother and a lot more pleasant in
the reality that I live in.”
The last 30 years has certainly brought Evelyn into
a wide array of diverse realities from which to build
his theories on the subject. Being one of the most
influential artists in downtempo and hip-hop, one
of the first acts ever signed to Warp Records, Evelyn
has touched just about every continent in his travels
throughout the course of his notable career.
In order to change the world, the people to make
actual change in their own lives.
“The system is so corrupt and broken that nothing’s
going to come from there,” declares Evelyn. “It’s down to
us as individuals to make the change and the shift. We
can talk about marching, we can talk about protesting,
but what are we doing in our own lives? What are we
doing in our own reality to change things? That’s really
where my inspiration came from on this album and
what Shape the Future is about.”
Evelyn believe that global awareness is not just
about social responsibility. It’s also about sharing a
responsibility to the planet itself. If our desire is to heal
the world, then it follows that we must remember that
we are a part of a wider organism, the planet.
“I was thinking about the human race and how we
behave, and what state consciousness is in,” reflects
Evelyn. “I started thinking that, somehow, we’ve gone
into this amnesia state where we think that there’s
nature and then there’s us, like nature is something that
happens in the background. And then I’m thinking, well,
that’s just ridiculous. Everything in this organism [called]
Mother Earth, everything provided like oxygen for us to
be here, how can we even think that we’re separate?”
Ultimately, Evelyn hopes everyone will receive this
message from both Shape the Future and its North
American tour:
“Own your reality. Own your imagination. It belongs
to you. It’s your sovereign right to feel good.”
Nightmares on Wax owns the Imperial on June 6th.
May 2018 25

FILM
DOXA
DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL CONTINUES TO DIG DEEP
HOGAN SHORT
THIS MONTH IN FILM
BRENDAN LEE
THE DAY AFTER – MAY 11, 2018
After rebuilding his marriage from the ground up, book-publisher Bongwan slips,
stumbles, and repeats past mistakes in a cycle all too familiar. From critically
acclaimed South Korean auteur Hong Sang-soo comes a sad yet comic look at what
it’s like to struggle through an exceptionally average existence.
THE SEAGULL – MAY 11, 2018
Based off the late, great Anton Chekov’s stage play of the same name, Michael Mayer
reimagines the classic tale now over a century old. As invigorated with life as it ever
was, Annette Benning and Saoirse Ronan star in this timeless story of love, life, and
how the things that bring us together differ little from those that pull us apart.
MOUNTAIN – MAY 11, 2018
A cinematic homage to the towers of rock and ice that ridge our land, and the ones
foolish enough to try and climb them. Accompanied by a sweeping score from the
Australian Chamber Orchestra, and voiced by Willem Dafoe, Mountain documents
the lives of various mountaineers, their expeditions, and the beauty they find on the
precipice.
FIRST REFORMED – MAY 18, 2018
Ethan Hawke commands the lead in Paul Schrader’s most recent revelation. Dragged
to his wit’s end, a pastor in upstate New York is forced to counsel a married man
turned extremist and his pregnant wife, all the while balancing faith and forgiveness in
this catapulting, spiritual thriller.
Mette Holm translates Haruki Murakami’s debut novel Hear the Wind Sing in Dreaming Murakami.
Documentaries have had a history of falling by the
wayside. The subject matter may not be sexy enough,
they never feature celebrities (obviously), and they
never receive a run in the theatre. Now with on-demand
becoming the go to platform for audiences it seems that
the desire for documentaries is finally getting its due.
Lucky for Vancouverites, DOXA (Documentary Film
Festival) is returning May 3 to 13 for their 17th year.
Watching a documentary can shape an idea, convey a
hope, or possibly shine a light on an unknown issue. To
see these films firsthand with an audience is a one-of-akind
experience and DOXA has an incredible program
to choose something just right for you. There are visually
beautifully films like Cielo, a discussion on the night sky
and our place in the universe from Atacama, Chile, the
best place on Earth to observe the stars. A Six Dollar Cup
of Coffee shows us the real cost of every cup of coffee
we sometimes take for granted. Dreaming Murakami is a
hypnotic love letter, not just to the work of the Japanese
author, but to the unsung art of translating prose from
one culture to another.
Tickets to DOXA can be purchased in advanced or
rush tickets at the door while quantities last. Films will
play throughout the city at fan favourite theatres like
VanCity, The Cinematheque, and even the Museum of
Vancouver. Check your schedule, talk to your people,
and just decide which insightful documentary you
want to truly learn from and experience. The Netflix
documentaries aren’t going anywhere, but DOXA is only
here for a short while.
DOXA runs May 3 to 13 at various theatres.
FUTURE WORLD – MAY 25, 2018
Set amidst a twisted, Mad Max-esque wasteland, Future World tells the story of a
young boy’s pursuit to find a cure for his dying mother. Starring and directed by a
yellow-toothed James Franco, the sheer existence of a film so seemingly outrageous
should be enough to draw a crowd.
THE SEAGULL
26
May 2018

MUSIC REVIEWS
COURTNEY BARNETT
Tell Me How You Really Feel
Mom + Pop/ Marathon Artists/ Milk!
Tell Me How You Really Feel is an open invitation
from Courtney Barnett as she gains momentum
with her sophomore release. Following her 2015
debut full length, Sometimes I Sit and Think, and
Sometimes I Just Sit, and fresh off the heels from
touring with her musical twin Kurt Vile on the
collaboration Lotta Sea Lice in late 2017, Barnett
has come up with a refreshing and edited version
of herself. This trajectory of maturity rounds out
any uneasy feelings one might have about her style
of reserved monotone melodies, lyrical ramblings
and run-on strumming that made it on her first
album.
It seems Barnett may have had similar uneasy
feelings while writing this record. The track
“Crippling Self Doubt and a General Lack of
Self-Confidence” is used as a blunt cathartic
stamp of words saying just that. In her pursuit
of being forthright with these feelings, she has
noticeably stirred up some inner anger. In the song
“Nameless, Faceless” she uses a loose quote from
Margaret Atwood: “Men are afraid that women
will laugh at them/women are afraid that men
will kill them,” and then goes on to say “I walk
with my keys between my fingers,” woven into an
otherwise pop-centric grunge tune. It’s unclear
if she’s directly speaking to the present feminist
climate or possibly just haters online, but the
sharper edge suits the already cheeky attitude in
her lyrics. Again, in the track “I’m Not Your Mother,
I’m Not Your Bitch” she releases a pointed tone to
whatever she perceives to be that opposition with
the snarky “I hear you mutter under your breath/
put up or shut up it’s all the same/ never change
never change.” Whether Barnett is letting off steam
or not, she’s a benevolent artist and the catharsis is
personal yet easily relatable. Better out than in.
In spite of her crippling doubt, Barnett’s vocal
range on this record has progressed into sounding
more seasoned, both sweet and savoury. Her time
writing and touring the album with Kurt Vile
seems to have refined her melodies and guitar
fills relieving some pressure from putting out a
substantial second release after the fast success of
the first. In “Need a Little Time” she presents her
quiet pretty singing voice with catchy ‘eeeeee’s and
‘ooooo’s that really lift her listenability in contrast
to the steady rap like talking from the 2015 release.
It is a standout single and a self-care anthem
perfect for the shower or car sing-alongs.
There are guitar sounds on this record that also
brings out the feels. She is known to play guitars
like a Harmony or a Telecaster, which lends her a
basic, yet rootsy-grungy sound that she manages
to spread evenly over the ten songs. There is a
tempo breakdown in a jangly Velvet Underground
inspired “City Looks Pretty” that showcases what
a soulful rock guitarist with deep pop sensibilities
she is, and only getting better. Then, going back
to “I’m Not Your Mother...” Barnett rides the line
between grunge rock and punk riffs. Knowing she
executes this simple but perfectly rhythmic guitar
hammering all the while playing lefty, with no
pick, gives off the feelings of authenticity and solid
musicianship. Hearing more of that guitar flare
filling space in the songs and less words, proves she
is showcasing her natural talent more confidently
and it also makes for a more light-hearted listen.
When you have as many feelings as Courtney
Barnett, it’s hard to sum it all up without some
redundancies and repeats, but for now her
modesty and self-awareness has been keeping her
relevant and a trusted Melbourne musical export.
• S. Sheppard
• Illustration by Carole Mathys
May 2018 27

Arctic Monkeys - Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino Black Moth Super Rainbow - Panic Blooms Cardi B - Invasion of Privacy Fire Next Time - Knives
ARCTIC MONKEYS
Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
Domino
“I used to want to be one of the Strokes, now
look at the mess you made me make” are the
opening lines of the almost pseudo-Sinatra like,
piano-laden lounge tune “Star Treatment.” The
song immediately sets the tone of Tranquility Base
Hotel & Casino, jolting you into a land of blissful
unexpectation. The album is just as much an
experience as it is a musical portrait, a dreamlike
offering far different from anything Arctic
Monkeys have released prior, building upon the
group’s tendency to continually evolve with each
cut.
Lyrically, the album explores themes of politics,
religion, and perspectives of the future under
the suave songwriting style of frontman Alex
Turner. In many ways Tranquility Base Hotel &
Casino feels like a series of diary entries. This is
especially apparent in the record’s title track,
which opens with a line about seeing Jesus at the
spa. There are also references to reflections of
the past, remembering old friends, and dancing
around alone in your underpants. “She Looks Like
Fun” tells the tale of someone living their wildest
fantasies in the digital world of virtual reality.
It’s clear that the indie-punk days of Whatever
People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not are over.
For the last decade Arctic Monkeys have been
perusing their own creative path, one far greater
than what they may have imagined in their early
days.
As a whole, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
takes musical influence from the past and mixes it
with soundscapes and composition techniques of
the future, also discussing subjects of the present
and where it’s headed. It’s a heavy album to ingest,
but like a fine wine, you must savour every sip.
Pay attention to every flavour, only then will you
understand its richness in quality.
• Johnny Papan
BLACK MOTH SUPER RAINBOW
Panic Blooms
Rad Cult
Black Moth Super Rainbow blasts into light,
kaleidoscope clouds of synth-pop, indieelectronica,
and psychedelic vibrations with the
release of their 16-song album, Panic Blooms.
While the album is much more spacey and simple
than upbeat albums such as Cobra Juicey and
Dandelion Gum, there is a certain familiarity that
lingers while listening. A definite sense of nostalgia
that lays within the charming and lighthearted
synth melodies, vocals dripping with distortion,
and catchy bass-lines, like on lead single “Mr No
One.”
From a direction of tone, Panic Blooms is much
more polished, stripped in complexity, and lacks
the lo-fi warmth and grit of EPs like SeaFu Lilac.
There are no guitars, and these songs are less
vocally driven, vearing far from any previous tones
of psychedelic rock.
Members of the band have been working on a
wide array of musical side-projects, which could be
to blame for the simplicity – should you feel like
you are missing something. To some, the simplicity
and melancholic melodies could be enough to fill
their hearts with emotion, after a nearly six-year
wait for a full-length album. In this case, there is a
beauty to be seen in sonic spaces and simplicity.
• Jamila Pomeroy
CARDI B
Invasion of Privacy
Atlantic Records
Cardi B finally releases her long-awaited first
studio album Invasion of Privacy and does not
disappoint. With an all-star cast of features from
Migos, to Chance the Rapper and 21 Savage, Cardi
does a great job of showing she isn’t a one trick
pony. With perfectly curated productions, the
record can be played from start to finish. With the
success of singles like “Bodak Yellow” and “Bartier
Cardi,” following up with a full-length album that
reflected the chart smashing impact of those
tracks seemed like a tough task for the industry
rookie.
Yet, the Bronx’s favourite former stripperturned-rapper
proved that she is much more than
a few hit singles. Cardi B shows versatility through
the entire project. Jumping on beats of all kinds,
experimenting with her vocal range on tracks like
“Thru Your Phone” all the while staying true to the
rugged and ratchet Cardi B we have all come to
know and love.
• Jordan Stricker
THE DAMNED
Evil Spirits
Search and Destroy / Spinefarm Records
Letting loose to danceable rock à la Franz
Ferdinand and Bloc Party has come and gone
as a trend in the last decade, but The Damned
governed the genre before those bands could
crawl. Often credited with being the first U.K. band
ever to release a punk rock single (“New Rose”) in
1976, the London quintet is back with Evil Spirits,
their first kick at the can in ten years.
From the opening haunting chords of “Standing
on the Edge of Tomorrow,” to the sardonic lyrics
of “Procrastination,” The Damned keep the pace
crisp, light, and tight, largely using clean guitars to
ride a wave of catchy melodies. Sonically, there’s
enough variation here to keep your attention, with
high-energy tracks like “Devil In Disguise” balanced
by mid-tempo jams like “Look Left.”
Evil Spirits is a little more Spinal Tap than
Sepultura, but The Damned manage to avoid
all-out wankery and instead provide us with a
memorable batch of tongue-in-cheek rock tunes.
• Trevor Morelli
FIRE NEXT TIME
Knives
Stomp Records
If 2015’s Cold Hands proved what Fire Next Time
could do with more lavish, epic production,
their latest full-length Knives reveals a band
comfortable to let loose and rip. There’s a ‘90s
punk feel that feels built for crushing decks
and beers at the skate park, though with their
trademark attention to lyricism and moody cuts.
On Knives, the Edmonton band has put together
their most concise set to date.
Kicking off at a breakneck tempo on
“Wanderlust,” the energy is immediate, with
a classic-sounding melodic line setting up the
second verse. The lead single, “Party Foul,” is
exactly what you’d expect in a skate video, unison
palm-muted riffs and a huge sing-along chorus
hanging on the line, “You sucked the life out of the
party,” proving that even in some darkness, there’s
a laugh to be had. “Collars” is a standout, and
closed the first third of the record with the same
driving energy.
Showing an ability to seamlessly blend the forms
of classic folk to punk rock, “Old Scratch” tags its
choruses, while James Renton’s lyrics are close to
the bone, like Townes Van Zandt in Chuck Taylors
on lines like, “betray our names, betray our trust,
then return us to the dust.”
Renton’s voice, Ryan Mick’s guitar, and Kevin
Klemp’s multi-instrumentation have always
defined Fire Next Time’s sound, but on Knives,
Garrett Krueger and Nick Kouremenos have
solidified a driving and energetic rhythm section. If
Cold Hands was a defining artistic moment for the
band a few years ago, Knives shows an ass-kicking,
non-stop punk rock Fire Next Time that hasn’t
forgotten the key elements of the sound they built.
• Mike Dunn
JON HOPKINS
Singularity
Domino
Jon Hopkins blurs the lines between nature and
technology in his meditative, abstract fifth LP,
Singularity. Dense, artificial beats and echoing
soundscapes intertwine with moments of quiet,
solitary piano to deliver an entirely refreshing
record.
Singularity is, funnily enough, split into two
parts. The album opens with abstract single
note soundscapes that give way to bouncing
synthesizer arpeggios, combined with dance-like
drum beats, that do all that they can to encourage
the involuntary bobbing along of one’s head.
Each track blurs into the next and culminates in
“Everything Connected,” which marks Singularity’s
halfway point and a distinctive shift in gear. The
second half of the album opts for quieter, more
naturalistic piano moments that draw the listener’s
ear into a more intimate space. The shift in sound
on the second half of the album perhaps reflects
Hopkins’ own musings on the role of technology
in the natural world, and vice versa.
The philosophical implications of Hopkins’
own aesthetic choices on Singularity will probably
always be up for debate. However, underneath
those interpretations lies a beautiful, cohesive
record that will delight fans of Hopkins’ blend
of expansive electronic elements and intimate
sensibilities.
• Alex Harrison
ICEAGE
Beyondless
Matador Records
Having once been hailed by Iggy Pop as “the only
current punk band I can think of that sounds really
dangerous,” meant as a compliment of the highest
order, Denmark’s Iceage have somehow managed
to retain that knife’s edge feeling of danger and
excitement that has defined their records and live
shows while still crafting their most approachable
record yet.
Beyondless is the Copenhagen-based postpunk
(post-post punk? Iceage continually defy the
catchall genre categorization) band’s first release
since 2014’s excellent Plowing Into the Field of
Love, and their third with Matador and producer
Nis Bysted. Well-paced, with arrangements and
production that at times seem worlds away
from their hardcore-leaning debut New Brigade,
Beyondless takes the best of Love’s Americanatinged,
punk-blues experimentation, setting it
28
May 2018

THE KILLERS • FLORENCE+ THE MACHINE
IN COLLABORATION WITH

FOUNDING PARTNER
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Presented by Concord Pacific
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Curated by Jarrett Martineau (CBC’s Reclaimed)
Featuring Leanne Simpson, Cris Derksen, Ansley
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05.03..................................Edmonton / Starlite
05.04...................................Calgary / Palomino
05.05...................................Calgary / Palomino
05.09...........................Vancouver / The Astoria
More tour dates and tickets available at:
www.flemisheye.com
FLEMISHEYE.COM

Iceage - Beyondless Jon Hopkins - Singularity Parquet Courts - Wide Awake!
against a lush, gothic backdrop, complete with buoyant strings and
horns throughout.
Making for an enigmatic combination of Ian Curtis, a snarling
Leonard Cohen, and Mick Jagger fronting the New York Dolls, Singer
and frontman Elias Bender Rønnenfelt is at his dour, poetic best on
Beyondless. While still covering the requisite darker themes and
imagery found on previous releases, Rønnenfelt and co. have crafted
what is essentially a hopeful, occasionally joyous sounding record.
Experimenting heavily, without compromising what made them
unique, and highly buzzed-about years ago, Beyondless is another
step forward for Iceage that further cements their position as one
of the most consistent, ambitious, and thought-provoking modern
punk bands.
• Willem Thomas
MARK KOZELEK
Mark Kozelek
Caledo Verde Records
The ever-prolific Mark Kozelek returns with a beautiful self-titled
album that maintains his signature quotidian lyricism, sparse
instrumentation and reflective warmth. Mark Kozelek is sure to
satisfy longtime fans, but may alienate newcomers to Kozelek’s
particularly dense songwriting style, with tracks that stretch out
beyond the 10-minute mark.
From the first track, we are lulled into the hypnotic, reflective
ramblings of Kozelek’s lyrics; his ability to craft what seem like his
journal entries into a consistent lyricism is astonishing. Kozelek writes
about everything from his relationships, to world events, to what he
had for lunch. Part of the attraction with Kozelek’s lyrics is traversing
not only the physical spaces that Kozelek writes about whilst on
tour but also his mental timeline, drifting through his memories and
finding moments loaded with profound lessons in everyday empathy.
These reflections are all undercut with sparse, gorgeous guitar
melodies, and bouncing backing vocals that are all tied together with
some superb, delicate production.
All of the above will be familiar to long-time listeners, but the
extensive lengths of some tracks may alienate newcomers. However,
if one sticks around, they’re sure to find some beautiful moments in
Mark Kozelek.
• Alex Harrison
PARQUET COURTS
Wide Awake!
Rough Trade Records
Parquet Courts have managed to top themselves with every release
since their first studio album, Light Up Gold, and they continue
to keep their compelling art rock/post punk sound fresh with
every release. Their brand new album, Wide Awake! is certainly no
exception. The band strays from their usual garage rock sound as
they have teamed up with the prevalent producer Danger Mouse
to create a masterpiece of funk/punk fusion that keeps the listener
engaged through its 13 tracks.
Following 2016’s ballad-heavy album Human Performance,
Parquet Courts come through with a punchy and exhilarated record
full of “joy, rage silliness and anger,” according to the band’s frontman
A. Savage. The opening track “Total Football,” makes reference to
football players choice to kneel during the national anthem as a
protest to police brutality and systemic racism. “Total Football,”
along with tracks like “Violence,” “Almost Had to Start a Fight/In and
Out of Patience,” and “NYC Observation” are fast paced, fun, defiant
punk rock songs that will keep you coming back time and again.
• Darren Wright
THE VOIDZ
Virtue
Cult/RCA Records
The outfit formerly known as Julian Casablancas & the Voidz returns
with a new record that feels more streamlined and cohesive than
their last, without losing the experimental edge that makes them
compelling.
2014’s Tyranny was a massive undertaking, blending punk with
synthpop, industrial noise with Caribbean rhythms. While Tyranny
felt messy at times, one could not shake the feeling that the band
was on to something. That something is expanded in their latest
effort, which trades the most alienating, noisy moments of Tyranny
for infectious hooks and a clearer, listener-friendly sound.
Opening track “Leave It In My Dreams” lies in the uncanny valley,
sounding something akin to Casablancas’ main band The Strokes,
yet distancing itself through off-kilter instrumentation and a warped
vocal performance from Casablancas.
The second track, “QYURRYUS,” sees the band diverting into
Eurobeat while Casablancas’ vocals are run through autotune à la
Kanye West’s 808’s and Heartbreak. “Pyramid of Bones” flirts with
the sounds of nu-metal while the acoustic “Think Before You Drink”
serves to handily cut the record in two.
Like Tyranny before it, Virtue is densely political; the record’s
15 tracks see Casablancas croon about propaganda, government
deception and historical wrongdoings.
• Gareth Jones
May 2018 31

LA VIDA LOCAL
HOMEGROWN VANCOUVER MUSIC RELEASES
BAD STRANGERS
S/T
Independent
Cory Owens and Cassidy Waring are doing
it all on their debut album. Featuring diverse
instrumentation and heartfelt lyrics, the album
intermingles folk, bluegrass, and country twang.
Autoharp, horns, banjos, and plucky percussion
underscore strong vocal performances. But it is
the bare bones moments on songs like “Cheap
Wine” and “Beautiful Shame” that highlight
the duo’s strength: inspired harmonies. Bad
Strangers draw inspirations from across the
map. Songs are sometimes in the vein of Mother
Mother, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros,
and even Bob Schneider. But everything here is
rooted in epic lyrical storytelling.
• Lauren Donnelly
DANTE’S PARADISE
Haunts My Dream
Independent
Dante’s Paradise is vying for a coveted spot on
your summer playlist with the release of theirEP,
Haunts My Dream. Quality not quantity is at
play with these three tracks from this Vancouver
quartet, creating an unpolished yet refined
sound that transports you to a sweaty garage on
a hot summer day. The door is wide open and
you can see the dust particles dance with the
sometimes Melancholic, dreamy guitar.
Dante’s Paradise belts out introspective lyrics
that chronicles a young man’s confusing lust for
love. Of course, after lust comes making peace
with the changes you have to make with yourself
if you want to keep the girl. And eventually
having a beer with your buds when you fuck it
all up. Haunts My Dream is good old fashion
summertime BBQ beer-drinking music.
• Chris Dzaka
HUSH HUSH NOISE
S/T
Red Fawn Records
Experimental pop duo Hush Hush Noise have
unleashed their debut record, and my oh my
is it ever wonderful! Running the entire gamut
of electro-pop, this record features bubbly,
chugging guitar riffs, otherworldly ambience,
and glitchy drum machines. The cherry on
this electronic cake? The stupendous vocal
stylings of singer and drummer Lily Fawn, often
supported by the haunting harmonies of multiinstrumentalist
Eric Hogg. Watch out Vancouver,
here comes Hush Hush Noise!
• Mat Wilkins
THE SOPHISTOCRATS
Together
Independent
The Sophistocrats get laid-back and lovelorn on
their debut EP, Together. Sophie Moreau Parent
meditates on millennial love with her smooth
and folky vocals. Think Frazey Ford meets
Sheryl Crow. “Broken Record” is a loop-focused
highlight with ‘70s-inspired keys, smooth vocals,
and one epic guitar solo. The groovy melody
plays off lyrics like “We hit the same wall/ Over
and over/ Comparing shortfalls/ Skipping over
and over each other.” Together is an anthemic
eff-you to modern dating that begs to be lip
synced to in front of your bedroom mirror.
• Lauren Donnelly
THE SUMNER BROTHERS
To Elliot - In Remembrance of Wolf
Independent
Bob and Brian Sumner are back again with To
Elliot - In Remembrance of Wolf, the type of
album able to reach out and touch just about
any heart there is – country fan or not.
Likely a result of its influences, this coversonly
record features lyrics that are all over the
map, covering everything within the grey area
between love and loss. The beautifying timbre
of the brothers’ voices, both as smooth as apple
skin, doesn’t hurt either.
Each song on the record is understated
but deeply considered, with minimalistic
orchestration that’s at once both intricate and
delightfully simple.
• Mat Wilkins
VARIOUS ARTISTS
CiTR Pop Alliance Compilation Vol. 5
Mint Records
“Anything can be pop music if it makes you feel
good, or makes you feel bad, or makes you feel
something. And hopefully it’s only three minutes
long.”
These are the words that punctuate the
introduction on Mint Records’ and CiTR’s Pop
Alliance Vol. 5. What follows is an exploration
into what CiTR music director Andy Resto and
the rest of the student executive team at CiTR
deem the best pop acts along Canada’s west
coast.
The record features a hearty mix of talent,
from the doomsday chiptune of Shitlord
Fuckerman’s “Cicadabanana,” to the punk
stylings of Passive’s “Vulture Halo.” Eclectic
doesn’t even begin to describe this mixed bag of
Canadian gems.
• Mat Wilkins
32
May 2018

KATE NASH
The Imperial
April 4, 2018
Kate Nash is one of those artists that you know will
never give up. Gaining popularity during the American-
Apparel-indie-rock era of music in 2007, it seemed as if
Nash faded away into the back while her peers thrived.
However, at her Vancouver show, it’s clear that Nash
still has that light to create and her fans are here for it.
Launching her self-funded tour at the Imperial, Nash
performed alongside an all-girl band, which is just as
badass as it sounds. Her newest album, Yesterday was
Forever, was funded by her fans with a Kickstarter
campaign and pays homage to a prepubescent version
of herself. Nash describes the record as an excerpt from
her teenage diary.
Taking the stage in a pink metallic spandex suit,
Nash opened up her set with “Foundations,” the 2007
break-up anthem off her debut album, Made of Bricks.
With a swift transition into “Mouthwash,” also off of
Made of Bricks, Nash delivered a high-energy set only
slowing it down to talk about the importance of taking
care of mental health before performing “Musical
Theatre.”
The UK-based artist demonstrated that she is
unapologetically herself and hasn’t lost her quirky
demeanor, or her potty-mouth. Even with a few
technical difficulties during her set with backtracks, the
show went on and Nash did not miss a beat. Highlights
of the evening included “Merry Happy,” “Dickhead,”
and “Life in Pink” off her latest album, Yesterday was
Forever.
• Molly Randhawa
LIVE
Photo by Jessie Foster
GUS DAPPERTON
The Fox Cabaret
April 18, 2018
Gus Dapperton and his three piece band
floated from smoke-machine mist on a carriage
of cool harmony and cowbell into “Gum,
Toe, Shoe.” The Vancouver stop was the New
York local’s first live appearance on his first
tour. Having amassed social media fame for
his aesthetic music videos and neu-Bowieesque
style, it was as if he came to life from an
Instagram square before our eyes.
The show was an ’80s dream-pop delight.
Even as the foursome traipsed through
moody ballads “Ditch” and “Beyond Amends,”
the crowd kept transfixed by their neon
magnetism. Gus’ keyboardist and sister Megan
Rice served back-up vocals that would’ve had
even Mario quaking in his boots. Despite his
Photo by Darrole Palmer
sister’s vocal superiority, the audience was there
to eat up Gus. With his cotton-candy bull-cut,
bubblegum sweatshirt and iridescent makeup,
he certainly served a sweet slice. Guys and gals
kept gushing “I fucking love him!” at every turn.
The 21-year-old has a mere 11 tracks under
his belt but a whole lot of charisma to back
them up. Gus stretched out the short set-list
with cutesy quips. Waving an affected arm, he
introduced each band member as “being sixfoot-three”.
Au contraire, half the band didn’t
look old enough to drive.
Dancing in the rain of Dapperton’s dazzling
guitar riffs and growled poeticism, amidst a
sea of pastel hair, mesh, and overalls, felt like
a bonafide Internet Party, if there were such a
thing. Their show testified that outsider kids
can cause enough commotion online to take
the world by storm.
• Maggie McPhee
ALVVWAYS
Commodore Ballroom
April 4, 2018
Since their stellar self-titled debut dropped in 2014,
Alvvays have catapulted to ubiquitous indie stardom
and toured relentlessly. The band took the stage at
the Commodore Ballroom as part of a west coast
swing on their international tour supporting their
September release, Antisocialites.
Playing an equal blend of fresh material from
the new record as well as classics from their first
album, the group performed their signature brand
of rollicking, dreamy guitar pop subtly infused with
distinctive Acadian undertones. Buoyed atop the
propulsive rhythms of Sheridan Riley’s drumming,
frontwoman Molly Rankin’s voice flutters between
plaintive crooning, powerful belting, and an airy
porcelain falsetto.
Falling smack dab in the middle of a grueling
three-and-a-half-month, 51-date tour across Europe
and North America, the fatigue seemed to show a
little. The band bobbed and swayed on stage, but for
the most part their stage presence was fairly sedate
and the audience’s involvement was similarly tepid.
Furthermore, Rankin’s wryly humorous lyrics and
Alec O’Hanley’s silvery guitar riffs — arguably the
group’s strongest assets — were often hard to make
out, overpowered by the drums, which were too loud
in the mix.
However, the band still managed to get the crowd
into it eventually with the audience singing along
to new song “Not My Baby,” and by the time Rankin
performed the group’s breakthrough hit “Archie,
Marry Me,” she was emphatically joined by everyone
in the room. Her exceptional gift for melody, coupled
with the group’s ever-forward rhythmic stomp make
for catchy, toe-tapping tunes that stay in your head
long after you’ve left the show.
• Max Szentveri
Photo by Ray Maichin
May 2018 33

NEW MOON RISING
YOUR MONTHLY HOROSCOPE
QUAN YIN DIVINATION
MONTH OF THE FIRE SNAKE
Fire represents warmth, spirituality,
courtesy, and caring but it can also
prove to be hectic, demanding,
surprising and even devastating. With
so much fire in this months flow, we
are likely to see more people indulging
in alcohol (a fire substance), smoking
(a fire activity), and pursuing spiritual
ideals or practices (a fire pastime). Fire
Snakes are known to be great financial
advisors, philosophers and thinkers, but
they are not necessarily hard-working,
unless they are correctly motivated. This
may be a good month to plan rather
than take action, to think through
decisions rather seeking instant results,
and to complete any administrative
tasks that are outstanding.
RABBIT (PISCES):
Spring clean your home and work
environment to improve your state of
mind. Clear the clutter and focus on
food, healing, science, and metaphysical
interests which are worthy of your
invested time.
DRAGON (ARIES):
Inspired and innovative ideas flood
you with creative juice. Use this time
to write down your ideas on paper and
consult with people who may be able to
add light, insight and direction to your
sown seeds.
SNAKE (TAURUS):
Because you are often a linear thinker,
you may sometimes overlook the
softer skills that are required for good
leadership. Listen to your heart and you
will always find the correct solution.
HORSE (GEMINI):
You have a wide audience now – use
your reach to show others your skills
and talents, and use your winning
personality to navigate relationship
challenges with grace and ease.
SHEEP (CANCER):
Your identity is fluid, and people love
your presentation and flair for fashion.
Join in with any crowd that holds your
interest in the moment, and dodge
the heat by watching out for dramatic
people and their games.
MONKEY (LEO):
Feeling sexy? Now is a good time to
talk about your sexuality, build your
sensuality or work on your sex appeal.
Explore what it is that makes you feel
attractive to others, and familiarize
yourself with ways to connect without
the need for sex.
ROOSTER (VIRGO):
Our mind is a great resource but
over-thinking can drain your energy
and time. Go outside, make time to
play, or time to ‘smell the roses’ now.
Experience life and dance/sing/move to
clear any stress that might be blocking
your open heart.
DOG (LIBRA):
Getting fresh inspiration might be more
difficult as the challenges and workload
mount. Choose to use your time well
and make your friends and family a
priority to keep the peace. A humble
attitude paves the way for effective
collaboration.
PIG (SCORPIO):
Think outside the box and imagine all
the possibilities that can lead you to a
happier state of mind. Time for change
is finally here. Cut dead wood to lighten
up your mood and turn over a new leaf.
RAT (SAGITTARIUS):
Tension rises and although sly moves
seem like a good idea, people may be
watching or judging your behaviour.
Choose carefully as your choices now
can affect the outcomes of the year.
OX (CAPRICORN):
Even with limits on your time, you still
know how to enjoy yourself. Be present
with every moment and you’ll never
work another day in your life. Can
you find joy in the simple things – a
tidy home, a good book, a walk in the
sunlight?
TIGER (AQUARIUS):
Appreciation is a two way street. If you
are looking for recognition for your
efforts, devoted service or hard work,
make sure that you are honouring those
around you for their contributions too.
Susan Horning is a Feng Shui Consultant
and Bazi Astrologist living and working
in East Vancouver. Find out more about
her at QuanYin.ca.
41 st Annual
vancouver
folk music
festival
July 13-15, 2018 Jericho Beach Park
meet you at the beach!
EARLY BIRD TIX TO MAY 11
JUST ANNOUNCED!
RY COODER • NEKO CASE • RODNEY CROWELL • DAKHABRAKHA • THE DEAD SOUTH • ISKWÉ • KACY & CLAYTON
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WAZIMBO AND BANDA KAKANA • DARLINGSIDE • GUY DAVIS • JIMMY “DUCK” HOLMES • LITTLE MISS HIGGINS
ARCHIE ROACH • SON DE MADERA • THREE WOMEN AND THE TRUTH • DONOVAN WOODS • ART BERGMANN
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34
May 2018

CANADA’S LARGEST INDEPENDENT CONCERT PROMOTER
UPCOMING SHOWS
WEAVES
WITH KIM GRAY & GETAWAY VAN
May 5 - The Biltmore Cabaret
PEDRO THE LION
WITH DAVID DONDERO
May 8 - The Biltmore Cabaret
KIP MOORE
WITH DRAKE WHITE & THE BIG FIRE
May 10 - The Vogue Theare
TRICKY
WITH YOUNG MAGIC
May 14 - Rickshaw Theatre
ROYAL WOOD
WITH FIONN
May 15 - Fox Cabaret
LA LUZ
WITH ANCIENT FOREST AND PONYTAILS
May 16 - The Biltmore Cabaret
ALEX CUBA & MAKING MOVIES
WITH GUESTS
May 18 - Imperial Vancouver
BRENT COBB & THEM
WITH SAVANNAH CONLEY
May 19 - Fortune Sound Club
TIM HECKER
WITH KARA-LIS COVERDALE
May 19 - Fortune Sound Club
TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE AT MRGCONCERTS.COM