Beatroute Magazine BC Print Edition August 2018

MUSIC
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RIO
THEATRE
1660 EAST BROADWAY
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Thank-you, Vancouver!
#LongLiveTheRio
#WeDidIt
Wim Wenders'
BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB
HEREDITARY
*www.riotheatre.ca
for additional showtimes
THE GOONIES
Vancouver Blues Society Presents
WAILIN WALKER BAND
& DAVID "BOXCAR" GATES
Won't You Be My Neighbor?
*www.riotheatre.ca
for additional showtimes
COWBOY BEBOP: THE MOVIE
The Beatles’
YELLOW SUBMARINE
50th Anniversary Remaster!
Akira Kurosawa's
SEVEN SAMURAI
Stanley Kubrick's
DR. STRANGELOVE
Andrei Tarkovsky's
STALKER
AMELIE
CATWALK: TALES FROM
THE CAT SHOW CIRCUIT
#INTERNATIONALCATDAY
The Gentlemen Hecklers Present
JOHNNY MNEMONIC
RBG
Final Screening!
THE SOUND OF MUSIC
Sing-A-Long
Tod Browning's
FREAKS
SORRY TO BOTHER YOU
*www.riotheatre.ca
for additional showtimes
YELLOW SUBMARINE
THE WARRIORS
Can you dig it?
Wes Anderson's
ISLE OF DOGS
Andrei Tarkovsky's
THE SACRIFICE
Alfred Hitchcock's
REAR WINDOW
Wim Wenders
PARIS, TEXAS
FANTASTIC PLANET
Comedian
ANDREW SCHULZ
HALF-BAKED
The Geekenders Present
NICOLAS CAGE BURLESQUE
THE CRITICAL HIT SHOW
A #DNDLIVE
COMEDY ADVENTURE
COMPLETE LISTINGS AT WWW.RIOTHEATRE.CA
PIERCE KINGAN
GETTING YOUR FREAK ON
SCOTT POSTULO
Pierce Kingan explores bat shit insanity on his latest EP.
HOTEL MIRA
OPEN FOR BUSINESS
KYLE FILLO
With a new line-up, a new band name, and a new EP
on the horizon, Hotel Mira vocalist and songwriter
Charlie Kerr is entering a new phase in his musical
evolution. It has been two and a half years since the
final LP from the band formerly known as JPNSGRLS,
and since that time the band has reworked their
lineup with the addition of bassist Mike Noble
joining Kerr and lead guitarist Colton Lauro. As the
band’s previous iteration had been together since
they were teenagers, this shift in course has set the
stage for what this writer proposed to Kerr as a step
towards “a more mature sound.”
“Yeah, I’m not crazy about that word,” Kerr says,
“because [the word mature] sometimes seems like
more adult contemporary, but I think that just by
the nature of getting more life experience, it’s been
described that way.”
While the reconstitution of any band raises
questions about the motivating factors for such
changes, Kerr was much more eager to dive deep
into the conception and development behind Hotel
Mira’s self-titled debut EP.
“It’s a lot more streamlined of how I see things,”
he says, when asked about how the creative
direction of this initial Hotel Mira release differs
from that of his work with JPNSGRLS. Behind this
streamlined process was pressure from producer
Dave Schiffman (Vampire Weekend, HAIM, Brandon
Flowers), who Kerr collaborated with on his
songwriting.
“He pushed me really hard to find better
Pierce Kingan is a strange man who makes
strange music. He is perhaps best known
as the bassist/singer/songwriter for The
Prettys, but he has also been known to
stand in with other local groups and
artists including James Green, Cousin
Arby, and The Orange Kyte. He has also
been making lo-fi home recordings
since his late teens, and his new EP, Give
Pierce a Chance, is the latest addition
to an increasingly bizarre and abrasive
catalogue.
Give Pierce a Chance is another
collection of lo-fi bedroom pop/noise
rock numbers, a sound that has become
Kingan’s trademark. There is a lack of
an obvious centerpiece on the new
EP, making the final product feel more
cohesive overall. The closing song, “4
Minute Blackout,” is a standout, though
Kingan claims that it is probably due to
the song having been recorded seven years
ago with Evan Matthiesen from his first
band The Valley Rats. The song is a catchy
noise/folk amalgamation and preaches a
positive message of self-acceptance.
Opening track “Leishmaniasis” is
melodies, and do things that were more melodic,
and find hooks in everything” explains Kerr. The
combination of this intense scrutiny and influx of
new influences has set the stage for Hotel Mira to
initiate their own legacy and to extend Kerr’s vision
beyond his past with JPNSGRLS.
In a period of transition where it’s common for
artists to get bogged down by bad blood, regrets, or
nostalgia, Kerr is as optimistic and satisfied as ever
with the band’s direction. “[Writing and recording
another standout from the EP. “It’s about
a flesh-eating bacterium that starts in
your nose and it travels through your
mucus and eats your face,” Kingan shares.
The sardonic lyrics juxtapose gruesome
imagery with lamentations of heartbreak
over a slow crescendo of instrumentation.
Kingan has plans to release a music video
for this tripped-out folk number shortly,
which was shot by local effects wizard
Kevin Mnz. The video features Kingan
performing the song while a group of
friends do some carousing behind him. It’s
put through a kaleidoscopic filter and is
unquestionably “far out.”
Looking to future projects, Pierce has
already begun the process of recording
his next EP, tentatively titled A Real
Pierce of Work. “I’m always working on
[something],” Kingan says.
If you enjoy weirdo, noisy pop from a
true master of the craft, give Pierce Kingan
a chance.
Pierce Kingan plays his EP release show at
Stylus Records with The This and Guilt Trap
on August 17.
the EP] was a really good artistic process of learning
that you can always just improve and build.” And
judging by his optimism about future projects, this
is only the beginning. “The truth is, what I’m writing
now completely kicks [this EP’s] ass. This is a good
EP, but the full-length that’s going to come after it is
going to be truly special.”
Hotel Mira’s new EP is available on August 17 on Light
Organ Records.
Hotel Mira closes the door on their past and moves forward with their next EP.
Photo by Mandy-Lyn Antoniou
August 2018