BeatRoute Magazine [AB] print e-edition - [May 2018]

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NORTHWEST FEST real life doesn’t have to be depressing Canada’s longest running non-fiction film festival has completely rebranded. After a careful evaluation by festival and program director Guy Lavallee, the NorthwestFest team has worked hard to reach their goal of becoming Western Canada’s premiere non-fiction film and arts festival. Previously known as Global Visions Film Festival, the event aims to create an inclusive, educational and fun atmosphere. “We open our doors and minds to everyone,” explains Lavallee. “We try to program films that tackle a diverse array of topics and reach many interests of all types of people, groups, and communities.” Choosing to host the festival in May following important industry film festivals like Sundance, Tribeca, SXSW and HotDocs has been another big change in regards to the type of films Edmonton will be able to see on the big screen. Heavy hitters at the festival include Our New President, “The story of Donald Trump’s election told entirely through Russian propaganda”; On Her Shoulders, which follows Yazidi massacre survivor, Nadia Murad; and The Cleaners, the story of the people who have the dirty job of removing the worst images from the web. ARTISAN LOYALIST power pop meets complex ambience Third album marries stadium rock and electronic buoyancy. photo: Seth Hardle How can artists ever be blamed for their own natural evolution? It’s oddly selfish to impose upon somebody’s creativity and expect the same sound across several albums or different projects. 40 | MAY 2018 • BEATROUTE Also playing are films like Kusama – Infinity, which focuses on the renowned Japanese artist; and Bad Reputation, a Joan Jett documentary, which is a huge grab for NWF as it has only screened at Sundance for its premiere. Though the team is excited about creating an opportunity for Edmontonians to see critically-acclaimed docs before they hit the general market, they say it’s the small independent films that make NorthwestFest feel complete. “Our program is made up of around 30-40 per cent submissions,” says Lavallee. “It’s really important as a film festival to give these small independent filmmakers exposure so they can go on to become veteran film makers. [Filmmakers] can go to distributors, broadcasters and funders and say, ‘Look, I made this movie on my own with a tiny budget. It’s played these festivals and won this award and this award.’ When you have that in your back pocket, it’s easier to keep making films.” “Screening these small independent films and watching them become successful makes everything worth it to us,” he adds. NorthwestFest may be primarily video, but in an effort to reach their goal of creating more of a fun atmosphere there will be community driven activities, partnerships with other local not-for-profits, hosting panels and the creation Adding fun to the documentary and non-fiction film genre. of a podcast series among other events during the festival. “Yes, we are doing documentaries that address serious topics, but it’s okay to entertain people as well,” asserts Lavallee. “You can have some films that may be done in a beautiful manner; entertaining doesn’t have to mean it was funny or that there was song and dance. You might find yourself enlightened and engaged but also entertained by the way the With Artisan Loyalist’s new album Caustics, there’s so much value gained in letting the artist create outside of such boundaries. If you’ve listened to either of Rob Batke’s previous offerings via Artisan Loyalist, it’s likely you’ve noticed structural growth. From the nearly formless synth and drone-like ambience of 2013’s You’re Glory to the subtly more upbeat jams à la ambient musician Tycho featured in 2015’s Lonely Ghost, his evolution is audible. Fitting then, that Caustics is a culmination of both styles, but as Batke points out, features more of a stadium rock feel. BeatRoute: What have you been up to since we last spoke? Rob Batke: A couple things! I was working on a Masters over the last few years and I finished that. And what I’ve been working on within that is proposing we allow kids to use music technology to create and compose; to be more music producers than consumers. I now teach a course based on that principle. And I finished the new album. It was a slow process for awhile. BR: Within all the work you’re doing in music theorizing, how does that feed into your own personal process? RB: Every project I’ve been involved with kind of speaks to the next one. What I’m realizing through my work as a teacher and artist are the things I struggled with when getting into electronic music after playing in bands for many years. I’ll always be creating and making something, but it’s in facilitating work with kids that I know I’m not the BY NICOLE BOYCHUK photo from When They Awake story is told.” “10 days of total depression is a bit much for anyone so we try and mix things up for people!” NorthwestFest Documentary and Media Arts Festival takes place May 3 - 13 at Garneau Theatre and The Art Gallery of Alberta (Edmonton). Tickets are available online at www.northwestfest.ca, at the door and passes available at TIX on The Square. BY BRITTANY RUDYCK authority in anything. I’m there to support their goals in creating music. BR: You briefly mentioned a struggle in transitioning from traditional rock music to electronic. Can you elaborate on what that looked like for you? RB: I bought a laptop in 2006 and I had no idea what I was doing. Which was a valuable struggle. I desired to make different sounds and felt kind of bored with the guitar. I didn’t want to get more athletic with it. A lot of those lines have blurred over the past few years and I find myself coming back to my guitar more and more. I think some of the sound on Caustics is heavily influenced by ‘80s stadium electronic rock like Tears for Fears. That’s something I’ve been trying to marry for the last few years. BR: How does that come out in the new record? RB: I tried to be more intentional about stripping things back for this record in the sense of having specific synth parts, specific guitar parts. Limit the layers and have a certain palette to work with. I wanted to get heavier into distortion because of my kind of infatuation with that stadium sound. The idea of Genesis and big power pop sounds. Artisan Loyalist releases Caustics at the second Tim Hecker show May 18 at 9910 (Edmonton). The album is now available on all major streaming services. ROCKPILE
MERCY FUNK just wants you to feel good BY BRITTANY RUDYCK Mercy Funk wanna share the love on new album. photo: Leanne Eyo Unlike the name suggests, Edmonton’s drummer, are really jelling lately. That being Mercy Funk are so much more than a funk said, this album is simply supposed to do as group. Their first full-length Feel Good has the title suggests, make you Feel Good. We elements of gospel, soul, pop and even hints wrote about love, loss and all the things you of twangy country. Mercy Funk’s lead vocalist go through in life, really. I think it has a really Crystal Eyo happily shared glimpses into the well rounded message. We just make the kind band’s philosophy and style. of music we want to make. BeatRoute: MF has been around for so many years in the Edmonton community. Was it a conscious thing to take your time releasing your first full-length? Crystal Eyo: Well we put out an EP in February 2016 and we were nominated for an Edmonton Music Award for the song “Hey,” so that was pretty cool for our first thing out there. Last year we had a digital release. For this album we wanted to make something that encompasses our different personalities and influences. These 10 songs reflect all the little corners of MF. We worked really hard on this. BR: With a band like yours that seems to be very mutable, it seems choosing a genre would pigeonhole the creative process. CE: Yeah! I’m biased obviously, but I really feel that our music sounds like Mercy Funk. I lot of times you can hear a few bands across a genre and a lot of them sound the same. I feel like we sound like ourselves. There aren’t many bands that sound like us, especially in Edmonton. BR: From an outsider perspective it seems like the band is more of… not just a band that puts out music and records, but a brand and entity that interacts with the community. CE: That is really nice of you to say! For me personally, I want to create that brand. Like with LoveFest, that’s something we want to do every year for people to look forward to. We want people to expect an experience at our shows. It’s never going to be perfect, but we do our best with what we have. This is my first band and sometimes it feels like I have no idea what I’m doing, but we keep going together and giving it our all. EYE ON EDMONTON the finger on the pulse of Dirt City Prance victoriously into spring with craft fairs, drag shows, live music and a fundraising gala for the Sexual Assault Centre of Edmonton. Even though Earth Day was technically last month, we can all do our part daily to work toward restoration of the planet. Case in point: the annual Mill Creek Clean Up on May 6. Meet at the stairs on 77 Ave rain or shine to tidy up our beloved river valley. Bags and gloves are provided so you can get down to business. Plus there’s a BBQ at noon to reward your hard work. Score. Evolution Wonderlounge is hosting the continuously fab Sunday Revue May 6. This installment celebrates drag kings like AJ McCleantime, Harvey Steele, Greg from Accounting and more. $5 at the door. The spring edition of the Royal Bison craft fair kicks off May 11 at 8426 Gateway Blvd. Pick up a Mother’s Day gift, shop for local art or simply wander around with a coffee. It’s three dollars to pop in and take a peek. If you miss out on the drag king show, check out HOMO-CIDAL’s takeover of the Buckingham May 13. Some of Edmonton’s favourite drag queens like Chelsea Horrendous, Lourdes the Merry Virgin, Science Fair and so many more! Cantoo is releasing a five song cassette on May 18 at the Aviary. This release party is more of a variety show, with friends like Jom Comyn and Baby Jey acting as support and playing songs with Aaron Parker BY BRITTANY RUDYCK of Cantoo. We’re also promised a secret guest, so this is one night of indie pop you won’t want to miss! Throw some damn toast at Metro Cinema’s bi-annual presentation of Rocky Horror Picture Show on May 19. This almost always sells out, so grab a ticket on Metro’s website, plan your costume and pick up props like noisemakers, toilet paper, rubber gloves and party hats. You’ll be amongst friends and sane persons at this wacky and super fun screening. Friends to all, the Wet Secrets are releasing their new album The Tyranny of Objects with Physical Copies at 9910 on May 20. Put your dancin’ pants on for this one. The fifth annual fundraiser gala for SACE (Sexual Assault Centre of Edmonton) is May 23 at Shaw Conference Centre featuring guest speaker Tarana Burke, the founder of the #metoo movement. Attend for inspiration, community and support. Tickets available on Eventbrite. If you didn’t get enough crafts & local art at the Royal Bison, check out the Zine Fair at the Old Strathcona Library May 26. It’s free and it’s for all ages. Go buy things and support local artists, of course! Start June on the right foot with a vinyl swap at Daravara on the third. They have a bangin’ brunch, so eat something and be the first to sift through bins at 3pm. Three hours of buying, swapping and chatting about records. Always a fun time. BR: Angela (Proulx) was quoted in another interview as saying this album isn’t necessarily funk. Can you speak a bit about the sound for Feel Good and how it reflects who you are now as a band? CE: It’s a definite misconception that we’re a funk band. I don’t think we’ve ever considered ourselves that. When I first met Angela she wanted to start a funk band, but I would say we have more of a pop influence. I like to think we have a really strong rhythm section; Angela takes her bass lines very seriously Mercy Funk release Feel Good with Carter & the and likes to be creative and innovative with Capitals June 2 at Ritchie Community League what she does. She and Kevin (Gaudet), our (Edmonton). ROCKPILE BEATROUTE • MAY 2018 | 41
Page 1: FairyTales Film Fest • Sheer Mag
Page 4: PULSE Art Gallery of Alberta LandMa
Page 8: INTERNATIONAL AVENUE COMES ALIVE!!
Page 11 and 12: THE COLLECTING DETECTIVE Movie coll
Page 13: som. Watch how many energetic influ
Page 16: Double down the depths of hell The
Page 21 and 22: ROCKPILE THE ALLOVERS a tale of two
Page 24: PRE NUP the devil’s in the detail
Page 27 and 28: PALOVERSARY Palomino and friends ce
Page 29 and 30: SHOOTING GUNS welcome to flavour co
Page 31: A Get Down sampler photo: Michael G
Page 35 and 36: TG Juice: Fre Tekle Fassil Ethiopia
Page 37 and 38: STUYEDEYED with love from New York
Page 39: THE HEARTS slightly more sombre, sl
Page 44 and 45: PICTUREPLANE First discussion of ne
Page 47 and 48: ROOTS JILL BARBER her head and hear
Page 49: ASTRAL SWANS lifting the whole damn
Page 52 and 53: HAMMERFALL architects of the metal
Page 54 and 55: musicreviews Courtney Barnett Tell
Page 57 and 58: While the album is much more spacey
Page 59 and 60: the national anthem as a protest to
Page 61 and 62: PRVIS, Slenderbodies The Palace (Ca

BeatRoute Magazine [AB] print e-edition - [May 2018]

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