BeatRoute Magazine BC Edition October 2018

FREE 

OCTOBER 2018 

ARCTIC MONKEYS 

ALL BETS 

+ 

ARE OFF 

VANCOUVER ART/BOOK FAIR GUO PEI COURTNEY BARNETT JUNGLEPUSSY JULIA HOLTER VIFF 2018

TRIM SIZE: 10.25"W x 11.5" H, RIGHT HAND PAGE

October‘18 

PUBLISHER 

BeatRoute Magazine 

LAYOUT 

& PRODUCTION MANAGER 

Naomi Zhang 

FRONT COVER PHOTO 

Zackery Michael 

FRONT COVER DESIGN 

Randy Gibson 

CREATIVE CONSULTANT 

Monika Alderson 

INTERN 

Carlos Oen 

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS 

Andrew Bardsley • Sarah Bauer • Emilie 

Charette • Leslie Ken Chu • Emily Corley 

• Adam Deane • Quan Yin Divination 

• Lauren Donnelly • Joshua Erickson • 

Matty Hume • Brendan Lee • Joey Lopez 

• Sarah Mac • Dayna Mahannah • Maggie 

McPhee • Trevor Morelli • Keir Nicoll • 

Jennie Orton • Logan Peters • Scott Postulo 

• Paul Rodgers • Brittany Rudyck • Patrick 

Saulnier • Leah Siegel • Danielle Wensley 

CONTRIBUTING 

PHOTOGRAPHERS & 

ILLUSTRATORS 

Danny Clinch• Raunie Mae Baker • Syd 

Danger • Cole Degenstein • Cody Fennell 

• Nick Harwood • Vanessa Heins • Jason 

Ma • Monica Miller • Fraser Ploss • Jaik 

Puppyteeth • Zachary Schroeder • Craig 

Sinclair • Art Streiber • Ebru Yildiz 

ADVERTISING INQUIRIES 

Managing Editor 

Jordan Yeager 

jordan@beatroute.ca 

Local Music 

Maddy Cristall 

maddy@beatroute.ca 

The Skinny 

Johnny Papan 

johnny@beatroute.ca 

Comedy 

Graeme Wiggins 

graeme@beatroute.ca 

Editor-In-Chief 

Glenn Alderson 

glenn@beatroute.ca 

City 

Yasmine Shemesh 

yasmine@beatroute.ca 

GRASSIFIEDS 

Jamila Pomeroy 

jamila@beatroute.ca 

Live Reviews 

Darrole Palmer 

darrole@beatroute.ca 

Film 

Hogan Short 

hogan@beatroute.ca 

04 

05 

06 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

HI, HOW ARE YOU? 

- With Amanda Bullick of Brutally 

Beautiful 

PULSE - CITY BRIEFS! 

CITY 

- Vancouver Art/Book Fair 

- Why I Design 

- Get The Fuck Out And Vote 

- Guo Pei 

FOOD & DRINK 

- The Dark Manor Inn 

- Good Company Lager 

COMEDY 

- Chris Griffin 

GRASSIFIEDS 

- FLEUR Tea 

- Snackland 

STREET/BEAT 

MUSIC 

- Ian Sweet 

- Jock Tears 

- Phono Pony 

- Glam Fest 2018 

& MORE! 

17 

22 

24 

26 

27 

32 

34 

ARCTIC 

MONKEYS 

SKINNY 

- FIDLAR 

- Strung Out 

- Earthless 

BPM 

- Giraffage 

- Junglepussy 

- Cadence Weapon 

FILM 

- A Star Is Born 

- This Month In Film 

REVIEWS 

-Julia Holter 

- Behemoth 

- Frontperson 

- The Spirit Of The Beehine 

& MORE! 

LIVE REVIEWS 

- Foo Fighters 

- Japanese Breakfast 

- Johnny Marr 

HOROSCOPES 

Photo by Mark Sommerfeld 


glenn@beatroute.ca 

778-888-1120 

DISTRIBUTION 

Gold Distribution (Vancouver) 

Mark Goodwin Farfields (Victoria) 

Web 

Jashua Grafstein 

jash@beatroute.ca 

Social Media 

Mat Wilkins 

mat@beatroute.ca 

BEATROUTE MAGAZINE 

202-2405 Hastings St. E 

Vancouver BC Canada 

V5K 1Y8 

editor@beatroute.ca • beatroute.ca 

©BEATROUTE Magazine 2018. All rights reserved. 

Reproduction of the contents is strictly prohibited. 

Cadence Weapon - Page 25 

October 2018 3

AMANDA BULLICK OF BRUTALLY BEAUTIFUL 

Written by Jamila Pomeroy 

You may have seen the works of Amanda Bullick 

at Eastside Flea, This Monkey’s Gone to Heaven, 

or the various other markets she attends around 

Vancouver. Bullick is a multidisciplinary artist, with 

works spanning visual art, photography, jewelry 

and ethical bone art. While her outlets may be 

broad, Bullick keeps the cohesive theme of the 

dark, spooky and macabre present throughout 

her work. These themes may be frightening 

or misunderstood by some, but Bullick shows 

the beauty and allure in darkness through her 

mystifying creations. If you can find the light in 

the darkness and dreary grievances, perhaps we 

are able to move beyond and forward though life 

in peace; honouring the past with respect, while 

giving it new life and energy. Perhaps we must not 

be so afraid of the dark. 

What is ethical bone art? 

I think that the answer to this question may 

depend on who you ask, but for me it’s artwork 

that is created from ethically sourced deceased 

animals. 

What I think is ethical, this is where it may be 

different for other people, is foraging for bones/ 

departed creatures that have passed away in the 

wild or receiving bones from people from their 

dearly departed pets. Basically getting bones from 

animals that lived happy lives and lived a natural 

life cycle. 

Where do you source your bones? 

I forage for my bones wherever I can find them as 

well as a lot of my friends now forage for bones to 

gift me. Bless Caitlin and Arlin Ffrench and my dad 

for finding so many bones for me. 

I have very strict rules about the bones I collect 

so I can feel confident that they are ethically found 

and cared for. 

1 - Nothing is harmed or killed to get the bones. 

2 - Always ask, and if at any point I feel weird or 

uncertain, I leave them be. 

3 - If you take something from the forest, you 

must leave something. I try to have some kind of 

offering or gift that I bring with me so it feels more 

like a trade than me just taking from the forest. 

4 - Never take it all. I will always leave some 

bones behind because the other animals and plants 

of the forest use the bones as well. 

5 - Say thank you, hold space and give gratitude 

for the life that left these bones behind. 

What made you fall in love with the dark, 

spooky and macabre? 

I’m not sure if there is one particular thing that 

made me fall in love with the macabre. I’m not even 

sure I would say I’m in love with dark and spooky. 

I think for me it’s about finding the light and the 

only way to do that is by trudging through the 

dark. If I can find beauty and solace in the places 

we consider spooky or dark than its just that much 

easier to find beauty in it all, the dark and the light. 

What is a moon shoot offering and how did this 

photo series begin? 

My latest moon shoot offering that I am now 

booking for October 20 and 21 all started because 

of my love for the moon. I love old things and 

have fallen in love with antique photographs of 

people on a handmade moon. So I decided to get 

one made for myself! This is a photoshoot I host 

once a year (sometimes more) that involves a 

giant crescent moon that people sit in for a photo 

session. 

In these sessions I hope to create a safe space 

where people can unfold a bit. A place where we 

can tap into our inner selves and let it come out to 

play. I believe we have many versions of ourselves 

deep inside and I think it’s important to let those 

other characters come to the surface to allow for 

healing, empowerment and an overall sense of 

freedom. 

Much of your art contains imagery of nature, do 

you think the repurposing of bones is in a way, a 

respect and honouring of the earth? 

Absolutely! The whole idea behind the bone work 

is to find ways to grieve death and hold ceremony 

so that these creatures can be honoured. I think 

we spend so much time fearing death and when 

it comes, we barely know how to hold space for it. 

This work is helping me learn how to process death 

in a way that is more positive and not so fear-based. 

It has also taught me how to better hold ceremony 

for the lives that have passed and how to be 

present in death instead of just running away from 

it. 

Amanda Bullick wants to take you to the moon and back with her lunar portrait services. 

Contact Amanda for ethical bone art, jewelry, visual 

art, and moon shoot offerings at 

www.bebrutallybeautiful.ca or follow her on 

Instagram via @brutalbeauties. 

4 

October 2018

CITY BRIEFS! 

Diwali in BC Fan Expo Vancouver Little Juke Modulus Festival An Evening with R.L. Stine 

DIWALI IN BC 

October 3-November 17 at various 

locations 

Founded by Rohit Chokhani last year, 

this six-week celebration of Diwali 

includes theatre, dance, and workshops 

across BC, from Vancouver to Vernon. 

The theme of the second annual 

festival is ‘New Horizons,’ in response 

to racial tensions and gender abuse 

that continue to pervade today’s 

world – don’t miss productions like A 

Vancouver Guldasta and Shyama. 

LITTLE JUKE 

1074 Davie Street 

Chinatown’s favourite fried chicken 

joint – Juke Fried Chicken, Ribs and 

Cocktail Bar – has opened a new 

location in the West End. Little Juke, 

which holds 22 people, retains most of 

the popular fixings of the original, with 

a few new additions to the menu. Come 

in for rotisserie chicken, as well as macand-cheese 

poppers, roast potatoes, 

and milkshakes. 

MODULUS FESTIVAL 

November 2-6 at various locations 

Music on Main’s annual post-classical 

festival is back with another exciting 

lineup of musicians and composers 

from all around the world. Along 

with performances from artists like 

France’s Thierry Pécou, artist talks, 

and documentary showings, there 

will be intriguing evenings dedicated 

to driftwood percussion and 

improvisation. 

SYMPHONY OF FIRE FESTIVAL 

October 31 at Lucky’s Comics 

Presented by Lucky’s Comics, this 

music-to video/video-to-music festival 

is all submission-based: make a video, 

send it to them, and they’ll screen it at 

the festival on October 31. 

For its fifth edition, Symphony of 

Fire’s theme includes concepts like 

superstitions, magic, ghosts, nightmares, 

obsessions, and moons. The inclusive 

event will be accepting submissions 

until October 28. 

GOOSEBUMPS: AN EVENING 

WITH R.L. STINE 

October 26 at Queen Elizabeth 

Theatre 

The author behind the beloved 

children’s horror books Goosebumps 

will be in conversation about his 

life and career. A book signing and 

Halloween party – bonus points for 

paying tribute to his classic characters: 

Slappy, anyone? – will follow the talk. 

Stine recently signed on to write even 

more installments in the Goosebumps 

series, and his teen horror series, Fear 

Street, is also back with a couple of new 

books. 

VANCOUVER WRITERS FEST 

October 15-21 at various locations 

The 2018 edition of the annual writing 

festival places emphasis on topics like 

equality, migration, and reconciliation. 

Don’t miss appearances by crime writer 

Ian Rankin, feminist authors like Jodi 

Picoult, and local journalist Andrea 

Warner, who will interview legendary 

artist Buffy Sainte-Marie in celebration 

of her new book, Buffy Sainte-Marie: 

The Official Biography. 

BOOBY BALL 

October 20 at the Imperial 

In support of Rethink Breast Cancer, 

the annual Booby Ball raises funds and 

awareness for the cause – this year, 

country-style. That means there’s going 

to be line dancing, horseshoe throwing, 

southern-inspired cocktails, live music, 

and more. Get out your cowboy boots 

and support young women living with 

breast cancer. 

MAKER MARKET 

October 26 at the Ellis Building 

This new monthly Friday night market 

officially launches on October 6. Head 

over to the Ellis Building for small batch 

and handmade goods crafted by local 

artisans like Take Care Stitchery and 

Sticks & Stones Jewelry. There will also 

be food trucks and a cash bar. Doors are 

open from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Main St. 

FAN EXPO VANCOUVER 

October 12-14 at Vancouver 

Convention Centre 

Featuring meet and greets, workshops, 

and panels, this three-day pop culture 

convention is always a good time. At 

this year’s Fan Expo Vancouver, get 

an autograph or photo with celebrity 

guests like Jaleel White (Family 

Matters), Kristy Swanson (Buffy the 

Vampire Slayer), Wil Wheaton (Stand 

By Me, Star Wars), and Lou Ferrigno 

(The Incredible Hulk). 

A BRIEF HISTORY OF HUMAN 

EXTINCTION 

October 10-20 at the Historic Theatre 

It’s 2178 and the last woman and man 

on Earth are getting ready to leave the 

planet for a new home to carry on their 

genetic legacy. 

In A Brief History of Human 

Extinction, award-winning playwright 

Jordan Hall explores questions about 

our human nature, hope, and our role 

in the destruction of our world. 


CITY 

6 

RIO 

THEATRE 

1660 EAST BROADWAY 

OCTOBER 

13 

OCTOBER 

15 

TO 

17 

OCTOBER 

19 

OCTOBER 

8 

OCTOBER 

21 

AND 

22 

OCTOBER 

23 

OCTOBER 

24 

OCTOBER 

25 

OCTOBER 

26 

OCTOBER 

27 

OCTOBER 

NOVEMBER 

PAUL ANTHONY’S TALENT TIME 

1 First Thursday of Every Month! 

NOVEMBER The Canadian Pacific Blues 

Society Presents 

SUE FOLEY AND JIM BYRNES 

LIVE! 

2 

NOVEMBER 

3 

NOVEMBER 

9 

NOVEMBER 

11 

September 27 - October 12 

VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL 

FILM FESTIVAL 

Details at www.viff.org 

Remaster! 

*TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE 

Documentary 

*MAYANJI/ MAYA/ MIA 

See www.riotheatre.ca 

for additional dates 

The Vancouver International 

Mountain Film Festival 

See www.vimff.org 

for details 

Dario Aregento’s 

SUSPIRIA 

Friday Late Night Movie 

The 6th Annual 

THE EAST VAN OPRY 

Nicolas Cage in 

*MANDY 

See www.riotheatre.ca 

for additional dates 

STORY STORY LIE: 

Grave Decisions 

The Gentlemen Hecklers Present 

HOWLING 2: 

Your Sister is a Werewolf 

THE CRITICAL HIT SHOW 

A #DNDLIVE IMPROVISED 

EPIC FANTASY! 

#DNDLive 

The Fictionals Comedy Co. Presents 

IMPROV AGAINST HUMANITY 

#IAHATRIO 

The Geekenders Present 

The Nightmare Before 

Christmas LIVE (SOLD OUT) 

*Also October 27 (SOLD OUT) 

WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS 


THE ROCKY HORROR 

PICTURE SHOW 

Hosted by The Geekenders 

*Also Oct 31, Nov 2 

NOVEMBER 

SWEET SOUL BURLESQUE: 

15 Years of Ferocity! 

BACK TO THE FUTURE 


KITTY NIGHTS BURLESQUE: 

THE LAST MEOW 

Their FINAL Burlesque Show! 

COMPLETE LISTINGS AT WWW.RIOTHEATRE.CA 

VANCOUVER ART BOOK FAIR 

CULTURAL CELEBRATION MAKES ITS NEW HOME AT EMILY CARR 

ADAM DEANE 

The Vancouver/Art Book Fair continues to celebrate the wonders of print culture in a digital world. 

Every year, autumnal bliss envelops the faces of 

Vancouverites for a few short months (that’s 

generous) and the spirit of the season can be felt 

across the city. Events like Taste of Yaletown, the 

UBC Apple Festival, and the Vancouver Christmas 

Market have become staples. One weekend in 

particular stands out as a must to take in a film, 

meet fellow creatives, and inject pumpkin spice into 

our bloodstreams whilst walking the halls of Emily 

Carr University of Art + Design. 

The Vancouver Art Book Fair (VABF) is fast 

becoming an essential pastime – a must for creators, 

families, and consumers of creations alike. We were 

lucky enough to track down Lisa Curry, this year’s 

WHY I DESIGN 

EMILY CORLEY 

director, and prod her for any information she had 

for the 5,000+ expected participants this year. 

“The Vancouver Art Book Fair is a non-profit 

organization that seeks to establish Vancouver as 

an international centre for artists’ publishing,” says 

Curry. “In 2010, they had been looking for volunteers 

and I signed on to manage their fundraising and 

event-coordination, and later joined the board!” 

Magical things happen when you work for what 

you believe in. Curry expresses that volunteering can 

be a clear avenue for anyone wanting to turn their 

passion into a career. She detailed exactly what we 

can expect from the family-friendly fair this year. 

“The fair regularly attracts thousands of people 

AN IN DEPTH LOOK AT DESIGNERS’ WORKS, INSPIRATIONS AND MOTIVATIONS 

Why I Design is an annual one-night exploratory 

extravaganza presented by the Museum of 

Vancouver. Simply put: “Local designers talk with 

you about what they do and why they’re doing it in 

Vancouver.” 

Designers of everything from sustainable fashion 

to workplace safety will discuss the projects they’re 

working on and their practical impact on the city we 

live in. On November 3, over two dozen designers 

will showcase their work and invite open discussion 

with the public about how their creative endeavours 

have an impact on our day-to-day lives. 

Why I Design highlights the incredible wealth 

of creative talent in Vancouver and celebrates the 

diverse inspirations and outcomes for artistic output 

in the modern world. Many of the participating 

designers are investigating the contribution that 

thoughtful, sustainable design can have on social 

and community spaces. 

Contributors include Yael Stav of Invivo Design, 

whose projects champion urban sustainability and 

environmentally friendly construction. Luugigyoo 

Patrick Reid Stewart, who will also speak at the 

event, is an architect focusing on Indigenous 

design. His past projects include a resource centre 

and cultural buildings that give back to the 

environments and communities they serve. 

Photo by Bryce Hunnersen 

The event also spotlights designers who take their 

inspiration from around the world. Cydney Eva from 

PatternNation will be discussing her collaboration 

with South African designer Costa Besta and 

demonstrating how socially conscious art can be “an 

act of decolonization.” 

The Museum of Vancouver has long been an 

advocate for cutting-edge local design and they 

are excited to be hosting Why I Design for another 

year. Marketing and Communications Manager 

Lorenzo Schober says, “Why I Design is undoubtedly 

over the course of the weekend,” she says. “Since 

moving to Emily Carr, everything has grown – even 

doubled. There will be food trucks, interactive 

programming for children… we really want to 

encourage people to make a day of it. We have the 

non-profit organization, The Writer’s Exchange, 

who advocate for literacy among diverse groups of 

children across Vancouver. They came to us with an 

idea: an advice computer. It’s a cardboard box big 

enough for a person to fit in. People will come and 

submit their problems and the ‘advice computer’ 

will write advice for them. This zone is also meant 

for attendees to take a moment to have fun and 

relax while enjoying a full day of VABF. VABF will 

also feature various reading rooms, artist projects, 

student tables, artist talks, keynote speakers, Andrea 

Fraser and David Senior, plus a ton of other fun 

things happening throughout the weekend. For 

those who need an introduction to art books, there 

will also be a film screening of How to Make a Book 

with [Gerhard] Steidl.” 

Launching on the night of October 18 with the 

Members Preview, the fair is free and open to the 

public beginning Friday, October 19 at 11am – this 

is your chance to grab your friends, family, or anyone 

in your life seeking inspiration, for worthwhile talks 

and exhibits and to make a weekend out of the 

Vancouver Art Book Fair. 

Vancouver Art Book Fair runs from October 19-21 at 

Emily Carr University. 

one of our most popular and well-attended events. 

It’s an event that encourages dialogue between 

local designers and the public at large. This year 

we are excited to feature designers that focus on 

sustainability, social responsibility, and ecological 

consciousness to centre around a theme of creating 

these types of spaces within their communities.” 

Why I Design takes place on November 3 at the 

Museum of Vancouver. 

Architect Patrick Stewart is one of 20+ designers featured at Why I Design. 


Designers talk about what they do 

and why they’re doing it in Vancouver. 

HAPPY HOUR @ MOV 

MAY 19 | Bar opens at 6PM. 

Celebrate innovation in action with 

drinks, designers, and discussion. 

Saturday, November 3 

Advance tickets at 

museumofvancouver.ca 

AMPLIFY BC 

GRANTS NOW 

AVAILABLE FOR BC’S 

MUSIC INDUSTRY 

OCTOBER 13, 2018 TO JANUARY 20, 2019 

Visionary Partners for the Institute of Asian Art 

Liu Bao, Wang Ying and Liu Manzhao 

Organized by the Vancouver Art Gallery in collaboration 

with SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film 

Supporting Sponsor: 

Additional Sponsor: 

ALSO ON VIEW THIS SEASON 

CAREER 

DEVELOPMENT 

Supporting sound 

recording, marketing + 

music videos for BC Artists 

Deadline: 

December 12, 2018 

LIVE 

MUSIC 

Supporting BC-based 

live music events 

Deadline: 

November 14, 2018 

MUSIC INDUSTRY 

INITIATIVES 

Grants to grow BC’s 

music industry 

Rolling intake until 

March 1, 2019 

A CURATOR’S VIEW: IAN THOM SELECTS 

September 22, 2018 - March 17, 2019 

DANA CLAXTON: FRINGING THE CUBE 

October 27, 2018 - February 3, 2019 

THE METAMORPHOSIS 

November 24, 2018 - March 17, 2019 

AmplifyBC 

APPLY + LEARN MORE AT creativebc.com creativebcs 

Guo Pei, Garden of the Soul, 2015 (detail), embroidered silk dress with hand-painted motifs and embellished with Swarovski crystals, brass 

beads and brass florets; mask and headpiece with bead, crystal and brass floret embellishment, Photo: Courtesy of SCAD

Louise Lawler Heinz, (1991) cibachrome print with natural wood frame | 24 1/8 x 20 5/8 in (61 x 52 cm) 

Rennie Museum | 51 East Pender St | Vancouver

CITY 

GET THE FUCK OUT AND VOTE 

A BRIEFING ON CIVIC DEMOCRACY 

PEACH COBBLAH 

October 20. It’s a vital day in this city. Not just 

because my homo hip-hop party, Hustla, will be 

happening at The Emerald, though that can be 

where you come celebrate once you’ve done your 

job as a Vancouverite. Your job isn’t going to work, 

paying your terrifyingly high rent bill, then getting 

black out drunk to cope. I’m not saying that’s not 

what you do, you do you however you want to do 

it, but the job I’m talking about involves showing 

up at a polling station and giving yourself the time 

to read through all the candidates and vote. 

Don’t let the numbers deter you: on October 

20, you will sift through the 21 mayoral candidates, 

71 city council candidates, 33 parks board 

candidates and (perhaps most importantly, in 

my humble opinion) 34 school board trustee 

candidates. So make decisions that will shape our 

Vancouver today, and the Vancouver of the next 

generation. Maybe I’ve gone soft because this 

sweaty monstrosity of a drag queen became a dad 

in January, but the kind of future we start shaping 

now is at the forefront of my wig, uh, I mean mind. 

So how do you prepare? Don’t worry it’s not a 

test, you won’t fail and there isn’t a wrong answer 

but do follow these easy steps. 

Step One: Figure out what matters to you. 

Step Two: Spend some time on the Election 2018 

page of City of Vancouver’s website to see each 

candidate and whose politics and priorities align 

with your own. The website lists their three top 

priorities very clearly as well as their platform and 

a bio. 

Step Three: Some of these candidates are 

connected to civic parties that have a shared 

platform and you can consult those parties’ 

websites for a more detailed understanding of how 

those candidates could work together to help shift 

our city for the better. 

Step Four: I know a lot of you don’t have kids 

in your lives, however I’m not kidding when I talk 

about how important voting for School Board 

Trustees is. Because this is how we shape the future 

of our city. So don’t skip that category because the 

younger generation of changemakers need vibrant 

and safe environments in which to thrive and 

grow into our future leaders and voters. Particular 

shout out to the huge importance of making 

schools inclusive and safe for students of all sexual 

orientations and gender identities (SOGI). 

Step Five: Make it fun! Voting is serious business, 

but don’t let it feel like a chore. Celebrate that 

you’re doing something for your city and one 

another. Organize a voting party – you can all go to 

the polling station together and then sip bubbles 

and talk about the sophisticated civic-minded allstar 

you are. 

In fact, come join me at the Emerald and we will 

raise a glass together and celebrate the fact that 

whether we agree on everything or not, regardless 

of who we voted for, we used the power of our 

voice. Something not everyone on this planet has. 

So let’s not be dicks who take it for granted and 

just say “oh, shit, was that today?” or “I just want 

to finish the new season of Ozark instead.” Because 

you know what doesn’t get you laid? Apathy. 

Peach Cobblah is hosting Hustla at the Emerald on 

Oct. 20. Make sure you vote first! 

The baddest bitch, Peach Cobblah, wants you to hustle your booty to a polling station on Oct. 20. 


THEATRE 

PLACES, PLEASE 

YOUR MONTHLY THEATRE GUIDE 

LEAH SIEGEL 

Theatre lovers of Vancouver, rejoice! Between the 

shorter days and the return of the rain, we no longer 

have to feign enthusiasm for the outdoors. This 

October, we travel back and forth in time, explore 

the rust belt, and talk about sex. In the immortal 

words of Marvin Gaye, “Let’s get it on.” 

Incognito Mode: A Play About Porn at 

Studio 58 September 27-October 14 

Pornhub was founded a little over ten years ago, 

and since then its influence has swelled. Enlarged. 

Erm, hardened. In 2017, it had 81 million visits per 

day. What does it mean to have grown up with the 

internet and such easy access to porn, and what does 

it entail for the future? 

Director Chelsea Haberlin says she was drawn to 

the project because of the taboo of pornography. “I 

am sure this show will spark conversation,” she says. 

“This is the kind of show that people will love or hate 

but no one will feel indifferent.” The folks over at 

Neworld Theatre and Langara’s Studio 58 have been 

workshopping this original drama since last spring, 

so there’s bound to be an interesting take on it. 

Honestly, though: when is porn not interesting? 

A Vancouver Guldasta at the Cultch 

October 2-21 

Director and playwright Paneet Singh wanted to 

explore the idea of politicizing trauma in his new play 

put on in collaboration with SACHA. In A Vancouver 

Guldasta, or A Vancouver Bouquet, we follow a local 

Punjabi family living in the 1980s, with a Vietnamese 

refugee family residing in their basement. From 

across the world they watch the unfolding of 

“Operation Bluestar,” India’s armed invasion of the 

Sikh’s sacred Golden Temple, and must navigate 

transnational political, religious, and cultural turmoil. 

However, this story is ultimately about community: 

“Sprinkled among many of the enclaves in Vancouver 

are countless inter-cultural stories that exist because 

of the way we live here,” Singh says over a Facebook 

message, and “what results is a genuine bouquet 

of human experience.” He adds, “I am hoping that 

audiences will really allow themselves to revel in a 

truly Vancouver experience, and leave feeling like 

they’re taken part in a conversation which they 

otherwise would never have had the privilege to be 

a part of.” 

A Brief History of Human Extinction at 

The Cultch October 10-20 

It’s 2178, and an insidious fungal plague (and no, 

that’s not a nickname for Donald Trump,) has 

effectively made it impossible for life to continue on 

Earth. The last man, woman, and otter have found 

safety in some science-lab-thingamjig that will 

theoretically transport them to a different planet. At 

least, that’s the plan. Things get complicated when 

they hear something moving outside of the lab, and 

it sounds like it wants in. If you watched Interstellar 

and thought it could have been improved by an 

otter puppet (an odd, but understandable opinion), 

you’re in luck. 

Sweat at Artsclub 

October 18-November 18 

American playwright Lynn Nottage won the Pulitzer 

in 2017 for Sweat, a play that has been hailed by The 

New Yorker as “the first theatrical landmark of the 

Trump era.” In it, we travel to Reading, Pennsylvania, 

a mid-size city with one of the highest poverty rates 

in the states. (It is also, unrelatedly, the birthplace 

of Taylor Swift.) In the year 2000, factory workers 

Tracey, Jessie, and Cynthia find their friendship 

weakened when Cynthia (who is African-American) 

is promoted, while their own jobs are threatened by 

outsourcing. In their envy, Tracey and Jessie claim 

there’s unfair affirmative action at work behind 

Cynthia’s upward mobility, and this sets the scene 

for a racial tension that divides the town for years to 

come. Timely, no? 

Javaad Alipoor (UK)/Presented with Diwali in BC 

THE BELIEVERS 

ARE BUT BROTHERS 

An electronic maze of fantasists, meme 

culture, 4chan, the alt-right, and ISIS 

TICKETS AVAILABLE AT THECULTCH.COM 

A Brief History Of Human Extinction will give you something to live for Oct 10 to 20 at the Cultch. 

10 


GUO PEI 

COUTURE BEYOND EXHIBITION IS PURE SARTORIAL SPLENDOR 

KARINA ESPINOSA 

ART 

Photo by Bryce SCAD 

Vancouver Art Gallery’s first fashion exhibition showcases art and history. 

When Rihanna arrived at the 2015 

Met Gala dressed in a flowing, silken, 

fur-lined cape, her outfit was the most 

talked about moment of the night. The 

16-foot canary yellow train became the 

target of several memes, even earning 

comparisons to Big Bird’s feather plume. 

But the elaborate gown did more 

than set off a social media firestorm. It 

introduced the world to the brilliant 

couturière behind the creation: Guo 

Pei. A year later, the Chambre Syndicale 

de la Haute Couture invited Pei to 

present at Paris Fashion Week – the first 

Chinese designer bestowed the honour. 

Rihanna’s star power certainly 

helped, but Pei soon garnered 

worldwide acclaim for her exquisite 

designs and steadfast commitment 

to her craft (the gown weighed over 

50 pounds and took 50,000 hours to 

make). Inspired by both traditional 

Chinese garments and modern 

elements, her over-the-top designs 

transcend ornate and push the limits of 

contemporary fashion. 

On October 13, an exhibition 

entitled Guo Pei: Couture Beyond 

will make its Canadian debut at the 

Vancouver Art Gallery. It’s the first time 

the gallery will be curating a collection 

devoted to fashion, and viewers will 

get the chance to appreciate the 

depth, detail, and sheer scale of Pei’s 

artistry in person. The exhibition will 

showcase 43 haute couture pieces from 

the Beijing-based designer, including 

the voluminous, gilded gown worn by 

Rihanna. For Diana Freundl, the gallery’s 

associate curator of Asian art, to view 

Pei’s work as mere articles of clothing is 

to overlook the history that each piece 

represents. 

“The Vancouver Art Gallery has 

always been committed to representing 

a diverse history of visual culture. 

Fashion is an important area of study 

because it combines aspects of visual 

art, popular culture, and design,” 

Freundl notes. “For this exhibition, it 

really is a comprehensive overview 

of [Pei’s] work and her evolution as a 

designer. There are pieces from 2002 

all the way to 2017, and each of those 

pieces has its own distinct story.” 

From a technical standpoint, Pei’s 

designs are architectural marvels. Her 

dresses and skirts often take years to 

complete by a team of more than 100 

artisans. Elaborate layers of cascading 

fabrics, intricate embroideries, and 

iridescent, bejeweled hems are some 

of the elements that come together in 

elegant formation. 

The scope of the exhibit will appeal 

to museumgoers of all levels of 

interest, from fashion obsessives to art 

enthusiasts. According to Freundl, what 

makes the exhibit so accessible is its 

universal appeal: “It’s not just for those 

that are interested in fashion, but also 

those that are interested in traditional 

Chinese decorative crafts and aesthetics 

and contemporary design.” 

Guo Pei: Couture Beyond runs from 

October 13 to January 20 at the 

Vancouver Art Gallery. Ahead of the 

exhibit’s debut, Guo Pei and Bronwyn 

Cosgrave in Conversation will take place 

on October 9. 

it’s our favourite time of fear. 

presents 

8 HAUnTeD 

HOuSES & 20 RIdES 

Oct 26-31 

Suspiria 

The Bird with the 

Crystal Plumage 

Deep Red 

PNE_PLAYLAND 

select nights 

OCTOBER 5-31 

PNECLIPS 

SAVE ON ADMISSION AT: 

Halloween Party 

Wed, Oct 31 

7pm - Doors 

8pm - Goblin-scored Ballet 

8:30pm - Suspiria 

$15 in advance, $20 at the door 


FOOD & DRINK 

THE DARK MANOR INN 

HAUNTED WHISKEY BAR SERVES UP SPOOKY COCKTAILS WITH A TWIST 

JOEY LOPEZ 

Rod Moore is getting ready to open the doors of his new haunt just in time for Halloween. 

Walking through the large door and stepping into 

the Dark Manor Inn is like travelling back in time. 

The wallpaper is reminiscent of Crimson Peak or The 

House on Haunted Hill with old portraits of people 

long dead that look as if their souls occupy the 

frames themselves, their eyes following your every 

movement between bookshelves of ancient tomes, a 

stair case that leads nowhere and a gilded throne that 

once sat the late founders of the Dark Manor. 

“There was a husband and wife in the late 1800s 

who ran the Dark Manor Inn. The story is that she 

might have poisoned him with his favourite whiskey 

cocktail. Their pictures are over there on the wall,” 

says Rod Moore, owner of the Dark Manor Inn, 

pointing to the wall across from him. “That’s the 

backstory and the whiskey cocktail will be served on 

our menu, if you’re brave enough to drink it. I want 

this to be a completely immersive experience for 

people who come in here. It’s an escape and we want 

them constantly looking around and seeing new, 

scary things. There’s going to be something new in 

here all the time.” 

When you want to escape the mundane and 

the mainstream, where do you want to go? Moore 

wants the Dark Manor Inn to be the place you run 

to when you want to experience something you 

can’t find anywhere else. Each book on the shelf was 

hand picked by Moore himself, each one older than 

the last, trying to find the perfect piece to add to 

the creepy atmosphere. The paintings on the walls 

are of real people, some nearly 200 years old. The 

12 

Photo by Jamila Pomeroy 

real aspects of the Dark Manor Inn could make one 

believe the hands that touched the spines of those 

books so long-ago may be the very same hovering 

over your shoulders, creating that chill running down 

your spine as you sit inside this haunted bar. 

“We want this to be super cool and immersive. 

I even have hundreds of different pieces of music 

for this place. We have the theme from the 

haunted mansion ride. Now, you couldn’t listen to 

Disney music all night or else people will be offing 

themselves for real, but I found a whole genre of 

haunted, spooky instrumentals. The theme from 

Halloween will play alongside everything John 

Carpenter ever wrote. Vincent Price doing his blurb 

from ‘Thriller’ will be playing over tapa music. It’s 

going to be awesome.” 

Everything in the Dark Manor Inn lends itself to a 

haunted history and the potential for a run-in with a 

ghost or two. Be careful of what you touch, you don’t 

know what kind of things you might bring home with 

you. 

As for those stairs that lead nowhere? “That’s 

grandma’s attic. She might still be up there,” he says.” 

Her picture is on the wall, staring up at the wife 

probably wondering what the hell she’s doing 

The Dark Manor Inn will be open in time for 

Halloween. Grab yourself a dubious whiskey cocktail 

and experience all the dark and terrific horrors it has 

to offer. 

The Dark Manor Inn is located at 4298 Fraser Street. 

GOOD COMPANY LAGER 

PUTTING CANS IN HANDS ACROSS THE COUNTRY 

CARLOS OEN 

Imagine that after playing for two years on 

Vancouver’s best stages you’ve just been signed 

by a major record company with plans to take 

you touring across Canada. Now trade your 

axe for a keg of cold beer and your tom-toms 

for tasty six-pack of crafted lager, for you are in 

Good Company now. 

It all started at the Cobalt, one of 

Vancouver´s favourite bars (currently 

under undergoing upgrades). From years of 

experience behind the bar, entrepreneurial 

Patryk Drozd realized live music lovers and bar 

patrons alike wanted an affordable beer. Two 

years ago, all customers could get in the $4.50 

range was a boring, generic and industrial can. 

Drozd and his partner Michael Kiraly, a 

biology professor at Capilano University, 

decided to do something about it. Good 

Company Lager was born with a specific 

mission — Putting cans in hands. 

“What we wanted to do is create a local craft 

value brand that we could introduce to the 

market and support the local community,” said 

Drozd. “We wanted a brand that was reflective 

of what we represent in the community. 

What that wanted to be is a local-draft-beer 

alternative to what doesn´t exist in Canada.” 

Vancouverites are known for supporting 

local brands, and this one started by 

supporting local music bands and artists. A 

virtuous cycle was formed and Good Company 

Lager became a success. 

Little did Drozd and Kiraly knew they were 

being watched by one of North America´s 

most important wine and spirits distributor – 

Southern Glazer´s Wine & Spirits. 

A year-and-a-half after the kickoff, the 

distributors of brands such as Grey Goose, 

Bacardi, Bombay Sapphire and Patron 

contacted Drozd. They wanted a beer in their 

Canadian portfolio. The conversations resulted 

in a signed deal to distribute Vancouver´s 

Good Company Lager across Canada. These 

local guys went national. 

“Suddenly this fun little project turned into 

something really serious,” said Drozd. “We were 

just a little company with two guys and a truck. 

Just slinging beer. All of a sudden we are getting 

to that level now. It’s pretty interesting.” 

The first stage is to distribute Good 

Company Lager in B.C. and Alberta. It’s all part 

of a three year project to take it across Canada. 

Drozd is calm and keeps his feet on the ground, 

telling himself he will believe it when he sees it. 

Hard work and vision have helped Drozd 

to co-own the Cobalt, the Boxcar and the 

American. These are Main Street´s Holy Trinity 

of bars. He sees much of his success coming 

from supporting the community. When 

Good Company Lager came out, many of the 

communities that Drozd has helped turned 

around and gave their support. 

“People are excited about Vancouver. People 

are very excited about things from Vancouver. 

And people want to support people that 

do things in Vancouver. There is a growing 

support network for local stuff. For a long 

time Vancouver never had that,” said Drozd. 

It is time to raise the pint high, wishing 

success to this fermented, yeasty, and local 

band. Cheers! 

Photo by Brendan Meadows 

Michael Kiraly and Patrick Drozd are taking their Good Company brand across the country. 


CHRIS GRIFFIN 

ON THE PERILS OF STORYTELLING 

GRAEME WIGGINS 

Different kinds of comedians bomb differently. 

If you’re a one-liner, punchline kind of 

comedian, recovering from a failed joke is pretty 

straightforward: you move on to the next one. 

They might just not like your style and that might 

not work either, but your chances are easier. If 

Photo by Rebecca Blissett 

Chris Griffin’s comedy brain has been mapping his path to success as a stand-up storyteller. 

you come from the line of comedians that are 

more storytelling in concept, if a bit isn’t working, 

recovery can be much tougher. Vancouver 

comedian Chris Griffin belongs to the latter camp 

and recognizes this difficulty, but has developed a 

sense of how to succeed. 

“I just did a show a couple of weeks ago at a 

senior’s home at noon. Average age: 84,” he says. 

“I couldn’t get anything. Half of them weren’t 

even awake. It sucks the life out of you, doing two 

minutes of set up and then you ditch the joke 

so that’s now three minutes where nobody has 

laughed. It’s brutal. You learn to get out of that. 

And you learn to have the confidence to get out 

of that. Like, look, we’ll get through this and you’ll 

laugh. You exude that and they’ll buy it.” 

There’s a sort of chicken-or-the-egg paradox to 

storytelling comedians. Are they people who end 

up in situations that allow for funny stories to turn 

into comedy, or are they comedians who actively 

seek out experiences that they can turn into 

comedy? For Griffin, it’s a bit of both. 

“I think the stories come first,” he says. “But I 

also have the type of personality where you chase 

them. I think, as you do comedy and get years into 

it, you really develop a comedy brain. It’s always in 

the back of your mind – an eye for what’s funny. 

So when a situation presents itself that’s going to 

be crazy or people want to go do something that’s 

nuts, I’ll always be all in.” 

This sense of chasing stories, especially the kind 

Griffin traffics in, doesn’t come without a cost: “For 

my own well-being, in the last year my friends had 

a bit of an intervention where ‘you have to tone 

COMEDY 

down’ putting yourself in crazy situations.” 

Griffin is recording material this October for a 

possible new special. It should showcase where 

he’s come since his last one, which was recorded 

back when he lived in Calgary. “This is sort of the 

culmination of the years in Vancouver,” he says. “I 

think I’ve grown as a comic since then. I’m excited. 

I’ve toured non-stop until now. I feel the hour is as 

ready as it will be.” 

Ideally the situation will be a little better than 

the circumstances surrounding his last recording. 

He recounts, “The flood happened, and it flooded 

the theatre, and I had to postpone it into midsummer, 

which is the worst because Calgary has 

two months of no snow. I still managed to get a lot 

of people out.” 

With this recording comes a sense that he’ll 

have moved to a new point in his career, and 

to carry on progressing: “It’ll be nice to put this 

material to bed officially. I’ve forced myself the last 

six weeks to not write and just polish. And then 

it’s back to the grind and write a new hour, or try a 

one man show or something different. It’s freeing 

and terrifying. To start fresh like what I did when I 

came to Vancouver.” 

Catch Chris Griffin live on October 18 at the 

Biltmore Cabaret. 


SNACK LAND 

MAIN STREET’S MECCA OF MUNCHIES 

JAMILA POMEROY 

Do you hear it? That unsettling sound 

of your stomach grumbling like the 

monster of your childhood nightmares? 

Your cupboards are empty because 

you have been too busy decorating 

the house for trick-or-treaters and 

FLEURS TEA 

NOT TEA TIME YET FOR SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS 

JOEY LOPEZ 

Tee Krispel, founder of FLEURS Tea, 

is stuck playing the waiting game 

as uncertainty keeps small business 

owners in the clouds, regardless of it 

being “high times” for the cannabis 

industry. In recent years, the medical 

benefits of cannabis have been the 

launch pad of legalization around 

the world. Canada’s perspective 

switch from the war on drugs, to the 

realization of medicinal, industrial 

and economic benefits has rendered 

great positivity for the industry. 

Cannabis has finally had the chance 

to expand in an array of forms, 

including CBD, holistic herbs and 

tea. Enter FLEURS Tea. 

“I used the ‘WOKE’ blend 

throughout college to help with 

studying. I lose focus really easily 

and it completely helped me with 

there may or may not be an earthy, 

and possible skunk-like aroma looming 

in the foreground. What do you do? 

Lay in bed and hear the howl echoing 

from the collective of werewolves 

congregating in the distance? Make an 

retention and focus,” says Krispil 

about her yerba maté and medicinal 

herb infused tea product that is 

designed to give you a healthy boost 

of energy. “It was then that I started 

incorporating herbs into my daily 

regime. The power of herbs is wild 

and I want to help bridge the gap 

between herbalism and cannabis.” 

Krispil started FLEURS as a passion 

project on 4/20 of 2017, unknowing 

what it would become. Using a 

Point Grey dispensary known as The 

Wealth Shop as a testing platform 

for the product, FLEURS started off 

slowly as customers grew a liking to 

its enticing branding and packaging. 

A few months later, Krispil found 

her passion had blown up into a 

full-fledged business and FLEURS 

was suddenly in demand. “I took a 

Photo by Olivia Van Dyke 

Grassifieds 

underwhelming snack composed of the 

back-corner contents of the fridge that 

you’ve been meaning to clear out since 

last week? No, you take a casual stroll in 

the cool and crisp October air, and head 

to Snack Land at 3011 Main Street. 

The store, which aims to “provide 

all the snack lovers quality snacks from 

different countries, under one roof,” 

does just that, with its unique plethora 

of munchies. Find everything from 

samosas to British candy, Jamaican 

patties, and special edition snacks and 

drinks you won’t find anywhere else, 

like ‘80s New York Seltzer in all seven 

flavours. Here are our top five musthave 

munchies. 

1) Whatchamacallit: what was 

that? Sorry, can’t hear you over the 

crunch. 

The extremely hard to find bar, also 

commonly known as “Special Crisp,” 

look a look at the saturation and 

noticed where the gap in the market 

was. Thankfully that gap also aligned 

with my passion for alternative 

healing. There was nothing like what 

I wanted to build in terms of CBD 

products. I couldn’t find anything 

else that incorporated the healing 

benefits of herbs,” says Krispil. 

With legalization right around 

the corner, FLEURS Tea and other 

products like it will become 

accessible to those who need it. 

However, the obstacles of creating 

such a product remain fierce. “I’m 

happy people will have access to 

their medicine. That’s one positive 

of legalization. It will become 

more widely accepted and will 

be considered a part of modern 

medicine. The market is up in the 

air and I’m just playing the waiting 

game, but legalization will make it 

more difficult for small businesses 

like mine. We’ll be competing 

against big corporations with lots 

of money and resources. I like to 

think it’ll roll out like alcohol. There’s 

Budweiser or Corona and then 

there’s your local brewery. We will be 

your local brewery of CBD products.” 

Check out FLEURS Tea and everything 

they have to offer at www.fleurstea. 

com. 

boasts some pretty in-your-face peanut 

flavours. Crispy, crunchy, and if it 

weren’t for the sweetness level, it could 

possibly be mistaken for a granola bar. 

2) Oh Henry! 4:25: made for 

recreational hunger. 

Again with the peanuts and 

caramel, but really, how can you not 

love this unstoppable combo? The 

limited edition bar is equipped with 

seven grams of protein, vs Oh Henry!’s 

standard five. A perfect snack for your 

post-4:20 moment of bliss, perhaps 

making you feel a little less guilty for 

eating something sweet before dinner? 

3) Hi-Chew, high chewy goodness: 

the famous chewy candy from Japan. 

While the Japanese candy may be 

easy to find, the store carries flavours 

uninhabited by your local corner store 

– some of which don’t even contain an 

English flavour explanation. 

STRAIN-OF-THE-MONTH 

Ghost OG 

Ghost OG is a hybrid strain loved for its balance of 

cerebral and possessive body effects. Prepare to be as 

elevated as the autumn ghouls that linger in the shadows, 

with crystals clearer than the fortune told by your 

neighbourhood psychic. The strain keeps you grounded 

with its pine and earthy aromatics, while maintaining 

lightness though fresh citrus. Ghost OG is born of the 

great Afghani Bullrider, but is best suited for relaxing 

after a stressful evening of being chased by the Headless 

Horseman, or perhaps just a long day at the office. 

Written by Jamila Pomeroy 

4) Fry’s Turkish Delight: a sweet for 

trips to Narnia. 

Fry’s Turkish delight is a big step 

up from the more commonly seen 

Big Turk. The British candy was 

developed in 1914 by Bristol chocolate 

manufactures J.S. Fry & Sons. Consisting 

of rose-flavoured Turkish delight 

dipped in milk chocolate, this old-time 

favourite remains to be classic gold. 

5) Greetings from the front cooler: 

samosas and Jamaican patties. 

While neither seem authentic, 

these are a Snackland staple, along 

with the strange individually wrapped 

corndogs. But let’s be honest, if you’ve 

been snacking on the devil’s lettuce, 

can you really decipher the calibre of 

authenticity? 

Snackland is located at 3011 Main Street 

in Vancouver, BC. 

14 


STREET/ROUTE 

By Chris Dzaka | Photos by Timothy Nguyen 

BeatRoute hits the pavement in 

Vancouver and asks… 

Yannick Craigwell, TreatsAndTreats.com 

“I’m curious why they’re waiting to process the edibles until next year. I’d like to know 

when they’re going to make them legal. I’d like to know when they will be sold and 

bought by people like me. 

“ What are your thoughts on 

marijuana legalization? 

Jesse Sugarman, The Charlatan 

“I think it’s a step in the right direction considering 

the failed war on drugs and the millions and billions 

of dollars its cost North America financially and the 

socio-political problems it’s caused across multiple 

spectrums. It’s a good thing we are now collecting taxes 

on a thing people are going to be doing no matter what. 

We can turn those taxes into reinvestments into our 

infrastructure within our country. 

Haidee Kongpreecha, TreatsAndTreats.com 

“I’m a fan of it. I know a lot of people who have been in the non-legal area in terms of 

purchasing and have been harmed by things that have been laced with [in] marijuana. 

So I’m glad it will be regulated in some way. 

B. Kenyan, ICE KOL KUT Barber Shop 

“As Rastafarians we’ve been talking about this for 

years and years. From way back in the 1970s with the 

great legend Peter Tosh. With it being privatized and 

federalized, it won’t be for the people. With it being 

government run and operated, it won’t be for the 

people to benefit from when it comes to economic 

growth or gain. It will be for the beer companies, the 

cigarette and the pharmaceutical companies, and 

these folks. It’s a good thing common folks can grow 

a couple plants, but being a Rastafarian that’s my 

sacramental right. 

Lindsay Mann, The Downlow Chicken 

“I think it should have happened a long time ago. My dad passed away 

from cancer a year ago and it was the main thing he used. It helps 

people more than harms people and we just need to use it responsibly. 

Geoff Barton, Audiophile 

“I’m fine with it. I have no problem with it even though 

I don’t partake at all. I have no problem with anyone 

using it. Its a much more effective and helpful thing for 

people than booze and that’s legal. 

Alex Chisholm, Black Dog Video 

“Fully supportive of it and It’s long overdue. 

Chef Bounty, Jamaican Pizza Jerk 

“Too many things to say. Not enough time 

and no one is listening. 


MUSIC 

IAN SWEET 

RECLAIMING HER SENSE OF SELF 

KARINA ESPINOSA 

It’s Jilian Medford’s one day off during a chaotic 

workweek and she’s using her leisure time to 

turn inward. When she isn’t touring endlessly or 

composing gutsy, distorted music as Ian Sweet, 

Medford finds comfort in the mundane pleasures 

of domesticity. “I ran out of underwear two days 

ago, so I’m doing some laundry and drinking iced 

coffee,” she laughs. 

It’s a much-needed moment of calm for the 

LA-based indie rocker. After the release of Ian 

Sweet’s debut album, Shapeshifter, conflict within 

the band and in Medford’s personal life steered 

Ian Sweet in a different direction. This led the 

frontwoman to pen Crush Crusher, the band’s 

upcoming sophomore record as a solo effort. 

Due out October 26 via Hardly Art, Crush 

Crusher is all fuzzy guitar chords laced with 

Medford’s signature, effervescent voice. Many of 

the core anxieties that permeated Shapeshifter 

are still present in this follow up work, but the 

main difference is that Medford is more willing 

to take an unflinching look at the intrusive 

thoughts that occupy her mind. 

As the album title suggests, Crush Crusher 

is about the emotional wrestling that one 

endures in times of self-doubt. According to 

Medford, many of the songs are about nagging 

premonitions she had which then led to selfsabotaging 

behaviour: “It has to do with a general 

feeling of excitement over the possibility of 

something. There have been a lot of times where 

I felt the potential of a situation, but I never let 

myself get there emotionally.” 

It’s been an arduous journey, but the 

songwriter feels she’s moved past the point 

of uncertainty and is at peace with the work 

she’s created. Now that she’s arrived at the 

right headspace, Medford is eager to take her 

new songs on the road: “I do feel like my most 

genuine self when I’m singing and playing guitar 

on stage. I’m very much an adrenaline-based 

performer, and I feed off of other people’s energy 

easily—playing live lets me do that in the best 

way possible. It feels like the healthiest thing for 

me to do.” 

Catch Ian Sweet at the Biltmore Cabaret 

(Vancouver) on October 23. 

Jillian Medford flies solo as Ian Sweet. 

16 

Photo by Kelsey Hart 

JOCK TEARS 

LEAN, MEAN AND SASSY 

JAMES OLSON 

Garage punks overcome tears and fears with the release of hard-hitting debut, Bad Boys. 

Jock Tears have come a long way since forming 

only two years ago. Bonding over a mutual love 

for the immediacy of the Ramones, these bubble 

gum chewin’ pop punks have toured Canada and 

the US multiple times and just celebrated the 

release of their debut LP, Bad Boys. For vocalist 

Lauren Ray, the band has become a much closer 

and tighter friend group while she has become a 

much more confident performer since she first 

connected with bassist Lauren Smith, guitarist 

Spencer Hargreaves and drummer Dustin Bromley. 

“When we first formed, none of us knew each 

PHONO PONY 

VANCOUVER’S GLITZIEST GLAM-ROCK UNICORNS 

EMILY CORLEY 

The delightfully kooky Phono Pony, who 

reportedly met while “competing in a hot air 

balloon race,” are in the midst of organizing a U.S. 

tour, running The Woods Studio (an independent 

music and arts space) and releasing their latest 

album, Monkey Paw. 

The excitement for the upcoming tour is 

palpable: “We play at Slab City, a squatter’s camp 

in the desert. The last free place in America, 

apparently. They have their own laws.” Guitarist 

Michael Kenyon reveals, animatedly. “Yeah, so 

we may join a hippy commune and never come 

back,” drummer and synth player Shay Hayashi 

pitches in. 

It is in fact a huge understatement to describe 

these two musicians by listing the instruments 

they play, because the list is endless. As a twopiece, 

they have become experimental multiinstrumentalists, 

playing whatever is necessary 

“to make the songs sound super full when there’s 

only two people.” 

“It’s a good challenge though!” Hayashi laughs. 

“We just have to play multiple instruments.” 

Although they have thought about asking 

more musicians to join the band, Phono Pony 

remains a self-contained unit of two for now. 

“It’s just really easy to manage just having two 

of us. We have a great connection and we agree 

on a lot of things,” Kenyon explains. “No we 

don’t!” Hayashi interjects, before he corrects his 

Photo by Luis Gutiérrez 

other very well. I knew they were all very nice 

people who I had admired and looked up to from 

seeing them play in other bands,” Ray says. “Now 

I can safely say that I love these three with all my 

heart and I feel so lucky I get to play music with 

them. I also personally am much less nervous as a 

performer.” 

Over the course of the band’s relatively short 

existence, Ray has refined her skills as both a 

performer and a songwriter/storyteller. The 

concepts are fun and silly, but not in a way that 

would get them kicked out of the locker room for 

statement to “When we don’t agree on things, we 

don’t go forward with them.” 

Phono Pony are a band who are genuinely 

in the midst of a fervent love-affair with music. 

They speak ardently about music history and 

the impact that modern technology is having on 

sound. It’s a real passion project for Kenyon, who 

says: “We just put this little piece of ourselves out 

there and people will make what they want of it.” 

Hayashi agrees the organic approach to 

doing towel whips. There’s a playful tongue-incheek 

element to the band that suggests there’s 

something there for everyone. Nobody doesn’t get 

picked to play on this team. 

Bad Boys is the perfect distillation of everything 

that makes Jock Tears stand out in Vancouver’s 

crowded punk scene. Clocking in at a brisk 18 

minutes in length, the record is snappy, sassy, and 

sharp. 

“On this record we wanted to play faster and 

harder,” Smith tells BeatRoute. “We wanted to 

show those dweebs who thought we couldn’t 

totally rip it that they suck. There’s like this new 

confidence that is so pitted and powerful [on Bad 

Boys] that I’m really proud of.” 

Produced and recorded by Rene Wilson at his 

home studio in Montreal, Jock Tears recorded 17 

songs to analog tape, often doing no more than 

five takes per song, over a breakneck four days. “It 

was so fast I hardly had time to worry about any 

mistakes I made, which was a really positive thing 

because I already worry enough,” laughs Ray. 

Promotion is already underway for Bad Boys as 

the band has a new music video in the works plus 

a final batch of Canadian dates planned to wrap 

up 2018. 

Bad Boys is available now via Inky Records. 

crafting songs is what works best for them. 

“If you do something with a predetermined 

outcome then it’s not gonna feel legit. People can 

see, taste, feel and smell when something’s not 

genuine. You have to be selfish and you have to 

fulfill what you’re trying to do. But you also hope 

that it connects to other people. Freakin’ art!” 

Phono Pony perform at the Astoria on October 13. 

Shay Hayashi and Michael Kenyon use intergalactic instruments for big sounds as a two-piece. 

Photo by Brett Roberts 


Arctic Monkeys 

high rollers double down in a new direction 

By Johnny Papan 

Photo by Zackery Michael 

Arctic Monkeys are exploring the past and distant Future 

with Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino. 

Every evolution of Arctic Monkeys is 

a seismic dance that regularly leaves 

listeners blissfully capsized with 

each subsequent release. It’s been 

an unflinching progression since 

the start, and their latest album, 

Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, is an 

intricate offering that is just as much 

a mind-seducing portrait as it is a 

musical odyssey. 

In “Star Treatment,” the opening 

track, frontman Alex Turner 

immediately submerges your 

imagination into that of a ’50s hotel 

lounge decorated in neon lights and 

advanced technologies. Suited men 

vape along a crisp, mahogany bar. 

Women in sparkling dresses kiss the 

edge of their martini glass with plump 

lips painted in dark cherry reds and 

aquatic blues. Some may even face 

attempted romantic persuasions 

from lizard-esque extraterrestrial 

humanoids. It’s a jazzy, loungey, 

piano-laden tune that sets the tone 

for what will be discovered as an allencompassing 

audio experience. 

“I think you’re allowed to step 

outside your own experiences,” says 

Turner. “Songwriting gives you the 

scope to do that. There may have 

been a time 10 years ago where 

I wouldn’t have felt that way – 

everything was more like a diary entry 

at that point. But those days are long 

gone.” 

Turner blends topics of science, 

religion, technology and politics into 

a soundscape that takes influence 

from the far past and layers it with 

atmospheric waves of the distant 

future. His sharp tongue illustrates a 

clear picture of the Tranquility Base 

Hotel & Casino, a luxurious structure 

firmly planted exactly where Apollo 

11 and thus, humankind, first landed 

on the moon in 1969. The rock upon 

which the hotel is donned gently 

floats through the star-speckled black 

of infinite space. We get to know 

the hotel’s inhabitants, seeing the 

likes of Jesus Christ relaxing at the 

spa, a wannabe government official 

prancing about in their knickers, and 

an advertiser spreading gospels of 

the four-star taqueria located on the 

building’s roof. 

Turner did not go into songwriting 

sessions with any particular intentions 

or messages in mind, and instead 

allowed the musical phrases to draw 

words from him like a flowing river 

stream that escaped through the ink 

of his pen and spilled onto papers of 

pearly white. He adapted his vocal 

melodies to instrumentation like a 

curious chameleon modelling new 

skin-tones along the catwalk. The 

relationship of voice and instrument 

on this album is a unique contrast. 

“For me, the songs seem to have 

a mind of their own to some extent. 

Everything seemed to decide it 

wanted to go into this sort of other 

world, I suppose,” Turner explains. “I 

think a lot of that is instinct at this 

point. There is not a moment where 

I’m sitting with a blank piece of paper 

and I’m thinking, ‘What kind of ride 

am I gonna take the kids on this time?’ 

It’s just sort of… yeah, instinctive.” 

Tranquility Base Hotel & 

Casino, musically, deviates from its 

predecessor, the critically acclaimed 

AM. Rather than the guitar-heavy 

smashings and ambiances explored 

in the last album, as well as all those 

before it, Turner found himself 

gravitating towards the ivory of 

an instrument he’s never truly 

acquainted himself with, adding yet 

another layer of experimentation to 

his songwriting prowess. 

“The places where my fingers fell on 

the piano made sounds that surprised 

me and encouraged me to move in a 

different direction than I would have 

if I was sitting there with an acoustic 

guitar,” Turner says. “The music 

seemed to suggest these melodies and 

lyrics to me. A lot of it came from the 

piano.” 

Arctic Monkeys recorded the 

album as they were writing it. 

Intentionally or not, Tranquility could 

be considered some of Turner’s most 

thought-provoking work, especially 

when you link the pseudo-psychedelic 

lyrical stances to things happening 

around us today. 

The song “She Looks Like Fun” 

touches on the subject of virtual 

reality, discussing a patron “plugging 

into” a non-existent New Years Eve 

party held at Wayne Manor, the home 

of Batman. “American Sports” sees a 

character’s virtual reality mask thrust 

them amidst a “parliament brawl.” 

Another character in the song speaks 

of FaceTime phenomena, using an 

emergency battery pack to ensure 

they don’t miss their “weekly chat 

with God on video call.” 

“You sort of reveal a piece of 

something as you’re writing and 

recording it,” he says. “Then you find 

what you’re attracted to, scribble 

away a bit more of the dust and 

discover a bit more of the picture. 

Gradually, it becomes what it is. Each 

time you reveal another bit of it, it 

commits you to take the next step. I 

think it was Michelangelo who talked 

about the idea that there’s a block of 

marble, and the sculpture is already 

inside, and he’s just chipping away at 

the excess. [The album] is not quite 

that, but there’s something I like 

about that statement.” 

In an interview with BBC Radio 

earlier this year, Turner felt there 

was a strange connection between 

Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino and 

Arctic Monkeys’ first album Whatever 

People Say I Am, That’s What I’m 

Not, the punkish debut that soared 

the band into mainstream populus, 

spearheaded by the garagey hit 

single “I Bet You Look Good on the 

Dancefloor.” At the time, he couldn’t 

quite put his finger on the similarities 

between these two vastly different 

records. When questioned about it 

again, Turner responds: 

“There’s something in the style of 

[Whatever People Say] and the style 

of [Tranquility] that felt quite direct 

in its lyrics. I was perhaps more willing 

to put myself across than I have been 

in the meantime in between,” Turner 

says. “The first couple of records, a 

lot of it was explicitly about exact 

renderings of real events that had 

happened. After that I sort of scurried 

away from that kind of style, or at 

least being that explicit about it. I 

got more ingested in other areas of 

writing lyrics, or trying to write in 

different ways. This time around, it 

seemed to have some of that essence 

of being as straight and direct as it 

was in the very beginning.” 

Despite these similarities, it’s clear 

that the Arctic Monkeys of today are 

far different than that of the past. The 

boys in the band have matured, as 

did their creative outputs and tastes. 

They’re not the angsty teens they 

once were – they’ve grown, changed, 

almost to the point where Turner feels 

like he’s a completely different musical 

entity than that of his early days. 

“It feels like we’re doing a cover 

or something when we play the first 

album, really,” Turner claims. “But 

that’s fine. I don’t hate doing that. 

It’s just come to the point where I 

play ‘Mardy Bum’ or something like 

that and it doesn’t even feel like mine 

anymore.” 

Alex Turner is 32 years old. When 

Arctic Monkeys released their debut 

album, he was only 20. 12 years in the 

spotlight, and the band has released 

six albums, each holding up as a 

stand-alone album different than the 

others, yet sitting perfectly within 

Arctic Monkeys’ repertoire. The group 

is as eclectic as they are electric, 

and after releasing such an audio 

mindbend in Tranquility Base Hotel 

& Casino, it’s interesting to see what 

comes next. 

With all the talk of virtual reality, 

science fiction, and advanced 

technology, Turner was asked “If you 

could go back in time and tell your 

20-year-old self one thing, and one 

thing only, what would it be?” Turner 

pondered for a moment. 

“Kiss her before she gets in the cab.” 

Arctic Monkeys play the Pacific 

Coliseum (Vancouver) on October 25. 


MUSIC 

GLAM FEST 2018 

AIN’T NO PARTY LIKE A NO-PANTS PARTY 

GLENN ALDERSON 

The question of whether or not to wear pants in 

your daily life is very rarely a question but some 

things in life are just better without. Take for 

instance Matthew Rambone, co-founder of the 

inaugural Vancouver music festival Glam Fest and 

frontperson for Vancouver’s freaky-deeky garage 

glam outfit Rambone & The Wet Reality. 

“I made the rule for myself a year or two ago that 

I couldn’t wear pants while performing anymore. It 

has to be spandex, tight, see-through and preferably 

shiny,” Rambone tells BeatRoute. “I have a couple 

tunics and moo moos that are also pretty chill.” 

Itching to get more eyes on his moo moos, 

Rambone has collaborated with Glam Fest cofounder 

Sabiá Hurley (Music Waste) to curate an 

evening of local talent with an emphasis on all things 

flamboyant. 

This is the first year for GLAMFEST and they’re 

already rocking a stacked lineup of local talent 

that bends and blurs the glam genre to be an allencompassing 

umbrella of freaky fun. 

“I wanted to ask bands that made some sort of 

effort to dress up for their performances. I like it 

when bands are a little extra,” says Rambone. 

There are more than 20 bands who will be 

delivering the most extra versions of themselves, 

including Eric Campbell & The Dirt, Devours, Teak 

Physique, Alien Boys and, of course, Rambone & The 

Wet Reality. 

The Wet Reality has been modestly making noise 

around Vancouver for more than five years now and, 

according to Rambone, the band is close to finishing 

their second album. 

“A couple of vocal overdubs and some keyboard 

tracks, then just mixing and mastering. I filmed some 

music videos but had to sit on them for the album 

to be recorded to finish them,” he says. 

Glam Fest 2018 is offering Vancouver music fans a 

chance to get equally wet and wild this month with 

an exceptional cross section of local talent. It’s going 

to be a full day, starting early at 3 p.m. so make sure 

to get their early if you don’t want to miss out on the 

action. 

“Everyone has that crazy outfit in their closet that 

they never get to wear,” Rambone says. “This is their 

chance to shine!” 

Glam Fest 2018 takes place on Oct. 13 at Red Gate 

Arts Society. 

Rambone & The Wet Reality 

18 

Photo by Analissa Longoria 

BORED DECOR 

PAINTING THE TOWN RED ON DEBUT RELEASE 

MATHEW WILKINS 

Chances are you haven’t heard 

of Bored Décor before. However, 

the local four-piece has been on 

a meteoric rise to local stardom 

over the course of the past two 

years, playing concerts throughout 

FREAK DREAM 

A SOLAR SOLO ENDEAVOUR 


Freak Dream is the solo project of Vancouver 

musician Elliot Langford (SSRI’s, The Rebel Spell, 

Spring, Big Evil, Togetherness). The project is 

inspired by his varied musical past, merging 

elements of noise-rock with electronic music, 

while carrying a very punk-like energy. Langford’s 

debut LP, Into the Sun, projects itself into the 

electronic waves of a synth tornado, only to 

be spit back onto the ground; its manic, but 

enncompaces high levels of energy. 

Separate from the chaos are vocal melodies 

that are often reminiscent of Prince and other 

’80s pop icons. 

“I’m a big Prince fan, which I think is pretty 

apparent on this album that there wasn’t really 

in the past EP. The whole project initially was 

sort of inspired by my teenage self to present 

fandome of Nine Inch Nails. Just that Idea 

that rather than having a whole band working 

on something, the idea of one person sort of 

trying to be a whole band and recording all of 

the instruments. I wanted to have a broader 

sound for this album and still have some heavy 

elements, but this album I think has more pop 

and grimey elements,” says Langford. 

Aside from musicians such as Prince and Nine 

Photo by Keaton Chiu 

Bored Decor have created a live and organic experience with The Colour Red. 

Vancouver so frequently it 

sometimes seemed as if they were 

two places at once. Now somewhat 

seasoned vets in the art of the gig, 

the band has finally decided to put 

their (equally seasoned) material 

together into a debut LP, The 

Colour Red. 

“I don’t really think we wrote 

the album as an album necessarily,” 

guitarist and singer Nik Barkman 

says pensively, almost to himself. 

The others are sitting in a circle 

on the charred summer grass in 

Dude Chilling park, nodding in 

agreement. “It’s all ‘previously 

unreleased’ material, but it’s been 

heard.” 

The record, at a full 11 songs, 

is packed full of tracks that local 

showgoers might recognize. Many 

of them manage to contain the 

same intensity and dynamism 

that you could expect from a 

live performance, which is likely 

because it was recorded live off the 

floor. 

“We recorded it live, and vocals 

were overdubbed,” explains 

drummer Neriah Mair. “We actually 

recorded it super fast, probably 

from playing it for so long.” 

“I don’t know if the way I play 

things on the album are the way 

I play them live anymore,” adds 

keyboardist Ryan Quist after a 

brief pause. The others laugh in 

agreement, guitarist Colin Osler 

Inch Nails, Langford takes great inspiration from 

the modern digital era. “Musicians like Grimes, 

I’m a big fan of this nerdy guy named Jacob 

Collier. People that self record at home.” 

This trend of musicians taking on many hats as 

producer, composer and live musician has begun 

to change the way we see music, and most of all 

tests the boundaries of the creative process. “I 

like working in teams and I had been in bands 

in the past where other people had strong 

throwing in a joke about a time 

Quist insisted on playing only the 

bass for one of their practices. 

The Colour Red is fantastically 

messy, and stimulating, just as 

you’d expect if you’ve had a chance 

to catch any of their live shows. 

Distorted guitars, bass, and synths 

rip through frenzied riffs as the 

drums blaze along beneath — 

Barkman’s Byrne-esque vocals all 

the while chanting politically-tinged 

lyrics speedily overtop. Yet certain 

other songs exist on this record 

that many Bored Décor fans almost 

certainly won’t expect. Songs like 

“Black Bananas” meander along at a 

ballad’s pace, with Barkman quietly 

crooning to surprisingly spirit-lifting 

instrumentals. 

Regardless of speed or energy, 

however, every song still possesses 

an intimacy that makes listeners 

feel as if they’re right there in the 

studio with the rest of the band. 

“And that was kind of the goal,” 

says guitarist Colin Osler. “To make 

it as live and organic as possible.” 

Bored Decor perform with Ulrika 

Spacek and Mint Field at the Fox 

Cabaret October 9. 

personalities, where I was happy to take on a role 

of complementing. This project I wanted to try 

largely just to challenge myself.” 

Langford accepted the challenge and shines 

brighter than ever before as he sets his course 

directly into the sun. 

Freak Dream’s Into The Sun is available now on 

Artoffact Records. 

Photo by Laura Harvey 

Elliot Langford takes flight with a nod to the digital era on latest experimental project, Freak Dream. 


MUSIC 

GREGORY ALAN ISAKOV 

SOWING SEEDS AND SINGING SONGS 

JORDAN YEAGER 

Evening Machines is Isakov’s fourth full-length album, and his first in five years. 

Photo by Rebecca Caridad 

From a three-acre farm in Boulder County, Colorado 

drift the sounds of strings, drums, and soft vocal 

arrangements. Gregory Alan Isakov is the farmer 

here, passionate and careful about what he cultivates. 

Though he’s made his name as a musician, agriculture 

was Isakov’s first love; in fact, he never had musical 

aspirations at all. 

“My musical outlet was just part of my workday,” says 

Isakov. “I would play after work or before work. When 

I was starting out, that was the extent of it. I grew up 

gardening, and I don’t know why I’m into it. I guess soil 

just turns me on. I’m home most of the growing season 

– I grow for four or five restaurants and a couple markets 

in the summer, usually around April to September – and 

then we tour the rest of the year. But music was never 

my goal.” 

His tone is incredulous. Evening Machines, his new 

album, will be his fourth full-length studio album. But 

despite having been at it for upwards of 15 years, Isakov 

still can’t quite believe how far his career has come. 

While he didn’t envision it as a career path, music – and 

more specifically, writing, whether the result is a song 

or a poem – has always been something Isakov has just 

done. It’s a practice he’s fastidious about, and while its 

parallels to horticulture may not be obvious, they are 

plentiful. Both require self-motivation and discipline. 

Both involve starting with nothing and bringing a new 

entity to fruition. And for Isakov, they’re both labours of 

love. 

“I don’t know why I do any of it,” he says. “I feel like 

I need to write, and what arises from that is a mystery 

to me a lot of the time. I don’t start out with a lot of 

intention behind it, like ‘I’m going to write a song about 

this.’ I usually start out with some sort of melody, or a 

lyric will inoculate my mind, and then it just grows. It has 

this life of its own. Sometimes you get it and sometimes 

you don’t, but when you do, you feel like you’ve struck 

gold.” 

This time around, Isakov will be accompanied by a 

six-piece band made up by many of his closest friends. 

He wrote the album knowing this, almost tailoring the 

process with a live audience in mind. 

“I’ve always made really quiet records in the past, 

and our shows tend to be heavier,” he says. “When I’m 

making a record I always picture one person listening 

to this collection of songs in their ’87 Toyoto pickup. 

At a show, it’s different. There’s a crowd. It’s more of a 

group experience. And bringing that group experience 

onto a record, it’s really challenging. But I wanted to try 

something like that, so I got a little darker and a little 

heavier on this record.” 

Evening Machines is slated for release on October 5. 

Gregory Alan Isakov plays the Commodore on October 10. 


MUSIC 

JILL BARBER 

KICKING NOSTALGIA TO THE CURB 

LEAH SIEGEL 

Jill Barber started her tour across Canada and select 

US cities last month after the June release of her latest 

album, Metaphora. Her plan to make it through the 

long cross-country road trips? “We’ve got some good 

podcasts lined up. We’ll be all right,” she says over the 

phone while stopped in her hometown of Toronto. 

The world was a different place when Barber 

began writing Metaphora nearly two years ago. 

The Vancouver-based chanteuse wanted to create 

something distinct from her nostalgic love songs. When 

it came to previous albums like Chansons, “I was writing 

to kind of create a world to escape into, for myself 

and for my audience,” she says. “But with this record, I 

actually didn’t want to have any nostalgia in it. I wanted 

it to sound very contemporary, because I was ready to 

finally address some very current issues in my life, and 

the world.” 

Now with Metaphora, Barber presents to her 

listeners a much more personal side: “I allowed myself 

to be a little bit more vulnerable, less arm’s length, 

and just more raw,” she says. “Whereas my previous 

stuff, although I think it was intimate, I wasn’t maybe 

brave enough to tackle certain subjects.” Part of this 

new bravery, she thinks, comes from experience. “At 

this point in my career, it’s not like I have something to 

prove like I did when I was first releasing records. Now 

I feel like I’ve really earned the right to experiment as 

an artist, and to express myself fully without worrying 

about how people will respond to it.” 

The result is an edgier set of songs. Barber sings of 

standing up, of fighting back, of the complexity of 

womanhood, a timely playlist fit for the #MeToo era. 

She finished work on the album last September, and 

many of the things that have happened in the year 

since—the increasingly open dialogue on sexual assault, 

for instance, and the new willingness for victims to 

speak out against their abusers—have been cathartic 

for her. “I feel like for years we’ve been whispering about 

our experiences amongst ourselves,” Barber reflects. 

“And it was so satisfying when that whisper really 

became a roar.” 

Jill Barber performs at the Vogue Theatre (Vancouver) on 

November 1. 

20 

Photo by Laura Harvey 

Jill Barber gets personal with the release of Metaphora. 

NICHOLAS KRGOVICH 

FINDING HUMANITY IN HEARTBREAK 

MIA GLANZ 

THE WEATHER STATION 

BEING COMFORTABLE WITH BEING UNCOMFORTABLE 

ANDREW BARDSLEY 

Music, much like life, is an 

experiment; taking risks can 

result in something amazing or 

something disappointing. Tamara 

Lindeman, front woman of the 

Toronto-based indie folk project 

The Weather Station, wasn’t used 

to trying new things, but that 

changed when it came to writing 

material for her latest self-titled 

record (2017, Outside Music). 

After working on the project for 

around 10 years, Lindeman knew it 

was time to think outside the box 

and try something experimental. 

“I was more confident and I 

knew what I wanted, but I had 

made a pact with myself to be 

more confident and not be my 

usual questioning, doubting self,” 

she explains. “It was sort of an 

experiment to see what would 

happen.” 

While Lindeman’s previous 

efforts had already earned her 

praise for their similarities in style 

to folk artists like Gordon Lightfoot 

and Janis Joplin, her latest leap of 

faith helped her build confidence 

Photo by Ian Lanterman 

Nicholas Krgovich copes with loss and heartbreak on Ouch. 

and in turn, earned her even more 

acclaim from bigger outlets such as 

Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, and NPR. 

She believes this new confidence 

was born out of necessity. “It 

felt like I had been around, I had 

made some records and had some 

experiences but it felt like it was 

really time to say something or 

not.” 

The Weather Station starts 

with a new Lindeman showing 

off her new airy, confident voice. 

Opening song “Free” is focused 

on Lindeman discovering her own 

sense of freedom. “I think the song 

is about me understanding that I 

had never been free but now I feel 

like the new journey is beginning.” 

Over the years, Lindeman has 

suffered from a degree of mental 

illness, but through music and 

conversations with loved ones, 

she was able to get a better 

understanding of both her illness 

and her true self. 

“To me, with this record, I thought 

that it would be great to just be 

able to talk about it as though it 

Nicholas Krgovich is one of the most 

mellow dudes you could meet. So 

mellow in fact, that he managed to 

escape all the troublesome relationship 

experiences like heartbreak and 

breaking the hearts of others until now, 

bitten at the age of thirty five. Maybe 

because for the last couple decades 

he was too busy releasing albums 

with his friends, and partying at the 

Sugar Refinery to fall in love. So when 

this late bloomer finally had his heart 

broken he did what he knows to do 

best, he made an album. It “plopped” 

out of him, that easy. It’s called 

“OUCH”. 

OUCH has a honeyed, dream-pop 

surface, but the lyrics are twisted. The 

harmony in the sound contrasts with 

the copious swears, tears and delusions, 

the latter in lines like “decisions might 

be made that don’t include you” off 

Rosemary. Like they care now, right? 

“If the tone of the lyrics matched the 

music it would be nearly impossible 

to listen to,” says Krgovich. As it is, the 

album is hypnotic, more sparse than 

some of his past work, brimming with 

was normal,” she notes. “I just felt 

that it was important to have this 

hidden thing.” 

The Weather Station serves as a 

new beginning for a more eager 

Lindeman, one who’s also more 

lovely piano, guitar and the occasional 

hand clap, inspired musically by “classic 

staples of teenage listening years, like 

dreamy indie rock.” 

The production of the album was in 

itself a dream, despite the occasional 

tearful gin-fueled breakdown. For 

Krgovich, it involved “doing and not 

thinking.” The songs were “written in 

my head at my day job”, everything 

was made at home and then “if there 

was something I didn’t know how to 

do I would just call a friend and they 

would drop by”, since all Krgovich’s 

friends happen to live in walking 

distance of his place. A process quick 

and heartening like “a pure bolt of 

inspiration” had never really happened 

in all his years of song-making. For him 

things tend to “simmer” in studious 

practice, rather than explode. 

“As a human, now knowing that 

I can open my heart and fall in love, 

have it broken and survive, it’s a great 

thing to know.” More than survive, he 

plopped an album out! 

OUCH will be released October 26. 

confident, sure, and caring for 

herself. 

The Weather Station performs 

October 17 at Fox Cabaret 

(Vancouver). 

Photo by Shervin Lainez 

Rain or shine, Tamara Lindeman has made a confidence pact with herself. 


COURTNEY BARNETT 

FINDING INSPIRATION THROUGH CREATIVE COLLABORATION 


Photo by Pooneh Ghana 

Courtney Barnett let’s her songs speak for themselves on her latest release, Tell Me How You Really Feel. 

Courtney Barnett’s second album, Tell Me How You 

Really Feel, may have a smaller, more introverted feel, 

but this change is reflective of the Melbourne based 

songwriter putting herself in a more vulnerable 

place. 

While the critically acclaimed musician is known 

for her wordy, wit-full lyrics and her commanding 

stage presence, she explains that for the most 

part, she keeps to herself and gets lost in her own 

thoughts. “I don’t really talk that much,” she says, 

followed by a laugh. “The songs probably come 

around like that because I spend a whole lot of time 

working on them. So it’s all of these thoughts put 

together in a short amount of time. I think in real life 

I just kind of keep quite quiet and keep my thoughts 

to myself a bit. ‘Hopefulessness,’ the first track, is 

pretty reflective my thoughts of the world in general 

over the last few years.” Barnett chose to work with 

producers Burk Reid and Dan Luscombe again, 

which facilitated a space of comfort and creativity, 

while rendering the high caliber production of her 

previous work. “There was a great group of people 

in the studio for the last album,” she says. “I always 

feel quite vulnerable in the studio and it’s kind of 

nice to be surrounded by such warm, friendly and 

encouraging people.” 

Joining the list of noteworthy creative 

collaborators is cinematographer, Ashley Connor, 

known best for her work on Mountain Rest (2018), 

Our Idiot Brother (2011) and The Backseat (2016). 

The two shot the music video for “Charity” in the 

MUSIC 

midst of her last international tour. “She has worked 

on a some incredible films, and video clips as well. 

I just think she is super talented and a really cool 

person,” Barnett says. 

Barnett speaks of often getting lost in thought, 

keeping to herself and generally being an introverted, 

quiet person. To be clear, she is an introvert until 

you begin to talk records; lighting up with a great 

contrasting energy. “Oh I’ve got a list, I just made 

a list! let me look at it. I was about to update my 

actual playlist,” Barnett says excitedly as she looks 

through her playlist. “I’ve been listening to Marianne 

Faithfull a lot; she is about to put out a new album 

and I didn’t know that much about her so I delved 

into her back-catalogue, and that is obviously a 

big catalogue. A bit of Nick Cave’s albums I haven’t 

listened to and some Joan As Police Woman, Anna 

Calvi.” While these artists may not sonically reflect 

the works of Barnett, they all have one thing in 

common, unbelievable talented musicians with 

unique personalities with the ability to turn anything 

into a captivating story filled with emotion. 

“Everything inspires me, whether its inspiring 

in a good way, or a bad way,” she says. “I think to 

be aware of the world around you is obviously 

important and plays a big role. Not that songs are 

specifically about those things, but I think it all adds 

together.” 

Courtney Barnett performs at the Vogue Theatre Oct. 

9 and 10. 

BØRNS 

TRUE BLUE, BABY, I LOVE YOU 

NOÉMIE ATTIA 

With his latest and most dense album Blue Madonna, 

Garett Borns offers multifaceted artistic compositions. 

Between nostalgic references and new sounds, complex 

art and a natural creative gift, his multiple flamboyant 

personas and his light and humorous self, BØRNS is a 

beautiful enigma, able to transport you in a pop bliss while 

singing about broken hearts. 

The sounds Blue Madonna are as much the result 

of retro inspirations as experimenting in collaboration 

with his producer Tom English. “We were both trying 

instruments and referencing a lot of older music like the 

Beach Boys and ’90s pop music, and tons of influences, just 

to see where it lands. And it kind of created this universe 

for Blue Madonna.” A mariachi, a theremin and hypnotic 

retro California sounds, lit in blue and pink, make up the 

mood for Faded Heart, the first track of the album. 

BØRNS is passionate for visual arts: he recounts the 

origins of Blue Madonna in a series of metaphysical and 

humorous short films available on his YouTube channel. “I 

wanted to show this psychedelic landscape, in Los Angeles, 

and show me discovering all these sounds around LA and 

gathering them and putting them into a record. I called 

them The Lost Sounds because I feel like I was putting a 

few different instruments and influences on the record 

that I haven’t heard in pop songs in a long time.” 

Indeed, BØRNS is resurrecting this very ’70s and ’80s 

glamorous and arty side of pop music by impersonating 

eerie, out of time and androgynous figures while pleasing 

the ears of a large audience. “I’m really influenced by David 

Bowie, I love how he can be in so many characters and 

how his looks really depict his persona. I wanted to do a 

look for every song in the album.” 

On stage, he swings between delicate and iridescent 

Sies Marjan silky getups and what he describes as “kinda 

glammed out activewear” (understand, fringed bandana 

red sweatshirt and pants he designed with Nike). The show 

is one of aesthetics as much as a musical performance. 

His satin pop music rises as much from his sleek looks 

as from his opera-trained, malleable voice. “I like to make 

my voice sound differently on albums. With the Blue 

Madonna, I do all my background vocals. So some of it 

might sound like a woman singing or some of it might 

sound a lot deeper.” 

Every one of his live performances is different: the 

mood, the lighting and the channelled energy, which 

influence the way his voice resonates. “There are shows 

where I feel very introverted; and those are the shows 

where I express more and I’m more wild and open. And 

then there’s times that I feel more extroverted and I almost 

force myself to be more closed off. I think it makes you 

perform and sing differently, depending on your mood. So 

I like to contradict my mood.” 

BØRNS performs at the Orpheum on October 21. 

Garrett Borns’ satin pop music on his latest, Blue Madonna, shines bright towards the heavens. 


FIDLAR 

THE NEW SHAPE OF PUNK TO COME 

QUINN THOMAS 

Not just a party band, FIDLAR is a creative vehicle for Zac Carter, pushing the boundaries of punk rock. 

“Fuck it dog, life’s a risk” is the expanded name 

of the Los Angeles based skate punk band who 

exploded in 2012 with the release of their single, 

“Cheap Beer.” Since then FIDLAR have been honing 

their skills and crafting catchy pop songs with a 

relatable edge. Their aesthetic strongly resonates 

with the youth and the hungover mornings that 

come with partying. But to simply reduce the 

quartet to just being a party band would be a 

disservice. 

Frontman Zac Carper is easy to claim as a 

modern-day artistic workhorse. He is always 

touring or recording but prefers the latter. This is 

due in part to a rocky history with substance abuse 

and recovery. 

“I write songs because I gotta write songs,” 

Carper says. “To me, it’s like my therapy. I don’t 

really have a life outside of this. Everyone else in 

the band has girlfriends and they’re from L.A so 

they have a lot of friends, but I just stay in my 

studio and create my own little world.” 

On Carper’s latest material, traditional rock 

instrumentation has been pushed aside in favour 

of distorted 808s and rattling hi-hats, which are 

staples of trap influenced hip-hop. 

“A lot of what’s trending right now is some of 

the most punk rock music,” he says. “Studios are 

studios and people can make amazing records in 

their bedroom.” 

Cultivating emerging ideas then blending it 

to taste with traditional methods is how music 

advances. So pulling aesthetics from Soundcloudbased 

rap artists, Carper is really just blending 

punk from a traditional and modern perspective. 

This pushes both punk and hip-hop forward in 

ways, similar to bands like Death Grips. 

“The reality is that if it’s a good song, that’s 

what is gonna make it last longer. That’s why I like 

XXXtentacion and Lil Pump and all those that are 

really doing well right now they have great songs.” 

Having just finished recording a new studio 

album, his influences range from production done 

by Mario Caldato Jr., War, The Black Keys and most 

notably Kanye West’s, divisive sixth album, Yeezus. 

“I love that record so much that record is a huge 

influence on our new record, Yeezus. That’s like 

one of the most punk records ever.” 

On September 13th, 2018 the single “Too 

Real” was released. Upon first listen it’s easy to 

identify that polished, glossy, industrial hip-hop 

sound that lends itself well to being blended with 

organic instrumentation. The track just oozes 

Yeezus from the skipping 808s at the beginning 

of the song, to lyrics dealing in socio-economic 

commentary (watch the music video and you’ll get 

it), to painting midway through the song. All these 

elements are found in tracks like “I Am A God” and 

“New Slaves”. 

This all seems like a positive direction for the 

group and the punk rock genre they are building 

on as well. Paving the way for more bands to 

explore a broader textural sonic palette, FIDLAR 

offer a breath of fresh air to the trappings of 

conventional instrumentation that have been 

choking punk rock for so long. 

FIDLAR perform at the Vogue Theatre on October 

29. 

SHAME 

SHOOTING FOR THE STARS FROM THE BACK OF THE CLASS 

JUDAH SCHULTE 

Though leading the pack in many ways in the 

proverbial classroom of post-punk, the young 

Londoners from Shame sit in the back row. They 

sit there not because they’re slackers—the band 

has toured extensively throughout Europe and 

North America—but because it offers a better 

view of what’s going on in the room and they 

don’t remember signing up for the class. 

22 

Photo by Holly Whitaker 

A young post punk band on the rise, Shame have learned all their recent life lessons on the road. 

The five-piece formed in high school in South 

London. By the grace of a lucky connection, they 

managed to secure a free jam space in the fabled 

Queens Head Pub in Brixton, the upper floor 

of which housed a squat that Fat White Family 

once called home. Despite often being compared 

to The Fall or Gang of Four, frontman Charlie 

Steen assures us that it was the combined factors 

of being seventeen, playing with improvised 

equipment, (drummer Charlie Forbes learned to 

play on only a snare and a hi hat), and the seedy 

backdrop of the Queens Pub that birthed their 

straightforward, hard-hitting sound. “Someone 

compared us to Gang of Four before we had ever 

listened to them,” says Steen. “We all have eclectic 

music tastes and very differential personalities. 

We’re never trying to sound like anyone.” 

To this truth, their music speaks for itself. 

Shame makes high energy, guitar-driven punk 

that has one foot in the origins of the genre and 

another on the front lines of the contemporary. 

Guitars reel and duel while their songs build to 

tense heights. Paced at a thrashing sprint, their 

songs offer commentaries and narratives that, 

though fiery with angst, are full of thoughtful 

observation. 

Embodying their songs, Shame charged 

headstrong and screaming into the music world. 

“We came in with this mindset that we would play 

as many gigs as we could,” says Steen. After making 

a name for themselves in the London circuit, they 

captured the attention of Dead Oceans, who 

released their critically acclaimed debut, Songs of 

Praise. 

Going straight from high school to the band life 

left little time for university, which is something 

that didn’t bother the members of Shame. “I don’t 

think any of us wanted to go,” Steen confesses. 

“This is the age of identity crisis. We were 

fortunate to figure out what we wanted to do at a 

young age.” But there exists an education beyond 

textbooks and institutions, the school of the open 

road, and the members of Shame are alumni. On 

the subject of lessons learned on tour, Steen says. 

“ I can’t think of anything motivational. I guess it’s 

all been one big life lesson. Otherwise it would be 

really boring stuff, like, don’t get a veggie burger 

from Burger King, or don’t recline your seat on the 

plane. Why do people do that?” 

After a circuit of festivals and tours throughout 

North America, Asia, the UK and Europe, the 

band is looking forward to taking four months off 

to write a new record and learn a couple things 

that the road can’t teach them, “like how chop 

onions or use a washing machine.” Considering 

the ground they’ve covered in their short time as 

a band, it’s safe to assume that Shame is made of 

quick learners, and after the onions are chopped 

and the clothes are washed, they’ll be back on the 

road for many years to come. 

Shame perform on Oct. 9 at the Wise Hall. 


STRUNG OUT 

MELODIC PUNK ROCK BAND STRIPS DOWN TO BLACK OUT THE SKY 

STEPAN SOROKA 

The band says this acoustic change is only preparing the world for heavier things to come. 

Written by By the time Chris Aiken joined 

Strung Out in 1999, the band had already put 

out three full length albums and cemented 

themselves as the leaders of a global wave 

of fast, technical, and melodic punk rock. 

Through “the power of the universe,” as he 

describes it, the California-based musician 

went from listening to Suburban Teenage 

Wasteland Blues alone in his room to touring 

the world and recording multiple albums for 

seminal San Francisco record label Fat Wreck. 

It happened in a “divine order,” and filling the 

shoes of ousted bass player, songwriter, and 

lyricist Jim Cherry was only the natural thing 

for the guitarist to do. 

“I was tripping out that I got to be on stage 

with Strung Out. It was crazy!” Aiken says. 

And when the band dropped their Element 

of Sonic Defiance EP in June 2000, the rest 

of the world got to trip out on Strung Out’s 

progressive and aggressive reimagining of the 

California punk rock sound. Following in their 

own footsteps of unconventionality, Strung 

Out’s most recent offering is an acoustic EP 

titled Black Out the Sky, a bold statement for 

a band whose appeal is often attributed to 

the heavy metal tinge they colour their punk 

songs with. Equal parts stripped down and 

intricately layered, Black Out the Sky is the 

kind of dark meditation on the failing heart of 

the American dream that only Strung Out can 

articulate. 

“We always like to grow, and push, and be 

fearless,” Aiken says of the band, emphasizing 

that risk is an integral part of what makes 

Strung Out who they are. “If we kept putting 

out Twisted by Design for 20 years we’d be 

fucking shooting ourselves in the head. We’d 

be so bored.” 

When pressed for a favourite album from 

the band’s illustrious catalogue, Aiken explains 

that it is yet to be written. 

“My favourite record is in the future. I’m 

chasing it right now. I’m trying to grab it but 

it’s always ahead of me.” Listening to Strung 

Out’s break-neck, tumultuous compositions, 

this sense of urgency becomes palpable. 

As with any great art, the evolution 

of the product coincides with personal 

growth. While Strung Out is a band that is 

associated with fast times, for his part Aiken 

is approaching six years of being drug- and 

alcohol-free. 

“I’m super grateful for where I’m at right 

now. I wouldn’t change the bad and I wouldn’t 

change the good,” he says about his choices. “I 

do approach the music with a different level of 

tenderness.” Nonetheless, listening to Strung 

Out’s newer material still feels like a rush of 

amphetamine racing up your spine. 

And though Black Out the Sky was a slight 

departure from their sound, Strung Out makes 

it clear that it is only a taste of heavier things 

to come. 

“We’re working on the next record already. 

Our goal is to get in around January and start 

recording,” Aiken says. “We’re taking the next 

step forward. We’re not pulling over to the 

side of the road. We’re not breaking down. 

We’re going to keep moving forward no 

matter what.” And it’s up to us if we want to 

come along for the ride. One thing’s for sure: 

it’s going to be a fast one. 

Strung Out plays the Rickshaw Theatre 


EARTHLESS 

PSYCHEDELIC INSTRUMENTALISTS OPEN THEIR VOICES TO SPEAK PRAISES OF A BLACK HEAVEN 


Written by The San Diego-bred psychedelic heavyrock 

trio Earthless pushes boundaries with their 

latest album Black Heaven, a stray from their typical 

crushing instrumentals. Black Heaven is rock and 

roll put in overdrive, holding ground with authority 

– possibly reflective of their label switch over to 

Nuclear Blast. Black Heaven ventures into a more 

vintage sound, while remaining heavy and tough as 

nails. 

While previously being coined as an instrumental 

band, Black Heaven is a six-track album that features 

four songs with vocals by Isaiah Mitchell. The band 

draws much inspiration from German Krautrock and 

Japanese heavy blues. 

“In the beginning it was a flower travelin’ band, 

and blues creation from Japan, and bands like Guru 

Guru and Amon Duul (the first and second) from 

Germany,” says drummer Mario Rubalcaba. “There 

are so many others that exist as well, but that would 

take up a lot of space.” 

While their musical inspiration may still be the 

same, Black Heaven comes off as less shred-heavy, 

and more honed in on mood and vocal tonality. Each 

song stands on its own as uniquely independent, 

while past albums embodied a more cohesive flow. 

The songs may be shorter, but the production value 

and flow connecting tracks provides new elevation. 

The instrumental stoner rockers add vocals and a change of dynamic on their latest project. 

Transitions between songs like “Black Heaven” and 

“Sudden End” exude production sophistication we 

have yet to hear from the band. 

With nearly 18 years under their belt, it would be 

easy to believe the band dynamic has changed along 

with their sound, but Rubalcaba states the way they 

create music is quite similar to their early years. 

“I don’t think that’s a bad thing either for us. 

This last LP was more song oriented, but we have 

always done a couple covers or an original song here 

and there with vocals, but they were really low key 

releases. We still rely heavily on improvising through 

musical situations, and that can apply even to the 

more structured stuff.” 

Earthless, from the beginning, was born from 

hybridized subgenres, so really, it should come as 

little surprise for the band to continue their trend of 

experimentation. While some elitist fans may need 

to get adjusted to the change of pace, this could be 

seen as a shift in the right direction for Earthless. 

Black Heaven gives us the opportunity to peer deeper 

into the assumed themes of the band’s songs through 

lyrical expression; they are, in fact, much more than 

the archetypal stoner/psychedelic band you may 

have thought they were. 

Earthless plays the Rickshaw Theatre on October 10. 

Photo by Atiba Jefferson` 


BPM 

JUNGLEPUSSY 

SPREADING THE LOVE ON JP3 

JORDAN YEAGER 

The album’s final track, “Showers,” features vocals from McHayle’s four-year-old nephew. 

Junglepussy knows what she wants, and 

she won’t let anybody stand in her way. 

Born Shayna McHayle, the multi-talented 

creative grew up painting, drawing, and 

writing, but never imagined her penchant 

for self-expression would turn into a music 

career that’s spawned a mixtape, two studio 

albums, and even a transition into acting 

– she’s recently had roles in film Support 

the Girls and HBO series Random Acts of 

Flyness. 

“Writing has always been a huge part of 

my life,” says McHayle. “Growing up I loved 

to write stories, loved to write letters, loved 

to write in my journal. And I love to paint, I 

love to draw… I just love art. But music was 

never something that I’ve always wanted to 

GIRAFFAGE 

GETTING TOO REAL 

JORDAN YEAGER 

Charlie Yin is an introvert. He started out 

listening to indie rock, playing in bands 

as a teenager influenced heavily by The 

Strokes and Interpol. But, preferring 

to work in solitude, Yin adopted the 

pseudonym Robot Science – which has 

since been changed to Giraffage – and 

“decided to explore the world of electronic 

music.” He was only 14. Now, he’s created 

a niche auditory aesthetic that retains a 

recognizable sound while still growing from 

one project to the next. 

Yin is about to embark on a tour with 

Ryan Hemsworth, another producer who 

started out making beats in his basement 

and has since released four studio albums, 

seven EPs, two mixtapes, and toured the 

globe extensively. 

24 

do. It just came about in recent years and I 

really connected with it. Acting helps with 

my music, too. When I was doing the movie, 

I was finishing up Jp3, and it was so cool to 

spend my day being Danielle, my role in the 

movie, and then go back to the hotel and be 

able to forget about that and just tap back 

into me. I loved that.” 

The most recent Junglepussy release, Jp3, 

is a natural evolution from the sound she 

cultivated on Satisfaction Guaranteed and 

Pregnant with Success. The self-assured 

lyrics and powerful voice that delivers them 

are unmistakably McHayle. But the topics 

explored are somewhat of a departure, 

focusing more heavily on themes of 

positivity and love. 

Photo by Holy Mountain 

Charlie Yin and Ryan Hemsworth are embarking on an international tour together. 

“Ryan and I have come up together,” 

says Yin. “I remember listening to his 

remixes way back when we were both little 

SoundCloud tadpoles. We’re very similar in 

a lot of ways, so it’s really easy when we’re 

together. Creatively, we literally can make 

music together all day and all night, so it’s a 

great match in that realm as well.” 

It’s safe to say both Yin and Hemsworth 

have outgrown the tadpole phase. But that 

doesn’t necessarily mean Yin is comfortable 

swimming in the deeper waters his 

evolution has led him to. 

“I’m a major introvert, so being in a 

setting where you have very little time 

to yourself is stressful,” says Yin. “But I’ve 

begun to tour a lot more sustainably, 

and it’s been helping my mental health 

“[Making music] really has purpose, 

you know?” she says. “I just need to let 

it go and share it – it’s bigger than me. I 

just need to be here contributing, giving 

people something to believe in, giving them 

inspiration, because that’s all I fill myself 

with. All day long, I’m just constantly on 

an everlasting search for great music, great 

articles, great YouTube videos, just people 

who inspire me. So I’m happy to be one 

of those people for other people, because 

that’s really all it takes sometimes.” 

The artist-turned-rapper-turned-actress 

is unabashedly herself, regardless of which 

medium she’s pursuing. McHayle hopes to 

use her success to provide a platform for 

others whose voices deserve to be heard. 

“I’m proud to be in a position where 

I could help other women express 

themselves,” says McHayle. “I love that. It’s 

like paying it forward. I would hate to be an 

artist who just reaps her own benefits for 

herself, but being able to share the stage 

and work with other women is so cool to 

me.” 

Junglepussy plays Fortune Sound Club on 

October 7. 

a lot – sticking to strict diets, exercising, 

and drinking very little if any alcohol. My 

favourite aspect of touring is experiencing 

different cultures and customs, 

getting fresh perspectives on life and 

contextualizing my own life.” 

The Open World Tour kicks off with its 

first show in Vancouver and spans almost 

two dozen dates across North America. 

It comes on the heels of Yin’s Too Real 

Tour, throughout which he promoted 

his first release since 2014. The interim 

between projects was spent in a creative 

and emotional slump, and creating Too 

Real was the ladder Yin needed to climb 

out of it. 

“[There was] a lot of trial and error, and 

a lot of anxiety-filled days and nights,” says 

Yin. “After I finished [the track] ‘Slowly,’ the 

rest of the album came a bit easier. It was 

almost like a reference track that I would 

refer to, giving the whole album a sense of 

cohesion. It’s a lot more vocal-heavy and 

sample-free from my last endeavours. I 

wanted a more organic sounding body of 

work, whereas my last EP No Reason was 

very synthetic sounding.” 

Giraffage and Ryan Hemsworth play Fortune 

Sound Club on October 24. 

CLUBLAND 

SMOKE ‘EM IF YOU GOT ‘EM 

ALAN RANTA 

Never thought it would actually happen, but pot is getting 

legalized in Canada this month. Granted, there’s only one store in 

British Columbia where you can buy it, and it’s in Kamloops, but 

it’s still kind of a win, I guess. American border guards will likely 

be going through your credit records to see if you’ve bought pot 

legally so they can bar you for life, though, so you might want to 

lay low for the next month or so. Best hide yourself in the crowd 

at some of these shows, and bring cash. 

Stylust 

Oct 11 @ Distrikt Nightclub (Victoria) 

Los Angeles bass bastard Geoff “Stylust” Reich wasn’t satisfied 

merely devastating stages at Shambhala and Burning Man with 

his deep, dark and dangerous EDM. Now he lusts to tear the 

sleeves off of Victoria. Don’t make him angry or he’ll shake the 

capital right into the ocean. 

Mark Broom 

October 13 @ Open Studios 

Broom has been sweeping across dance floors since the late ‘80s, 

when he stumbled on life altering Chicago and acid sounds in 

Spain, and took his new passion back to his native U.K. where he 

cleaned house with sophisticated techno. 

Wake The Town YVR w/ Danny Corn, Barisone, 

PRSN & Shiny Things 

October 19 @ Open Studios 

Portland invading Vancouver… It makes sense. The crew of the 

Wake The Town monthly at the Liquor Store in Portland includes 

Danny Corn and Barisone, no neither of whom are strangers to 

Bass Coast and Shambhala, but the whole bill is stacked with 

dankness to go large to. 

Zhu 

October 15 @ Vogue Theatre 

This show is already sold out, so you can’t go unless Ticketmaster 

hires you as a scalper, but I implore those going to show up early 

enough to see TOKiMONSTA. She’s opening, and she’s one of 

the most incredible artists in electronic music today, all over the 

place yet always where she needs to be. 

The Internet 

October 25 @ Commodore Ballroom 

This branch of the Odd Future tree formed in 2011, but it 

reached full strength with its 2018 album Hive Mind. The 

Internet is now sentient. It will destroy us all. 

The Internet 


CADENCE WEAPON 

CITY HOPPING EMCEE KEEPS THINGS REGIONAL 

GRAEME WIGGINS 

Edmonton-born Rollie Pemberton maps his return to form from the Six on his new album. 

Rap music is the one genre of music that really 

embraces its regionalism. Repping the city from 

which one comes is fundamental to the music 

itself. For Edmonton raised, Toronto-based rapper 

Rollie Pemberton, aka Cadence Weapon, this 

has definitely shown through, with each album 

reflecting the city he’s based in at the time. 

Photo by Mark Sommerfeld 

With his latest self-titled album, the move to 

Toronto is showcased in the album’s new, more 

collaborative structure. He’s working with different 

producers, moving away from the jarring bedroom 

constructed sound he was once known for into a 

more organic, mature look at things. 

“That’s something that’s always influenced me, 

the idea of regionalism in rap music. I don’t think 

I’m alone in that though. So many of the great rap 

records you couldn’t separate them from the place 

they were made. Whether it’s New York or L.A., in 

this case it’s just different places in Canada. That’s 

something I went really hard on in the first couple 

of albums.” 

Pemberton’s interest in the geography of music 

carries into his touring as well. With some of his 

producers Jacques Greene and Kaytranada, both 

electronic musicians popular in Europe, it only 

makes sense that Pemberton’s recent UK tour was 

also marked by the influence of the region. 

“I was very inspired by the European tour I 

was on,” he says. “It feels like there’s a whole wave 

of hyper specific, hyper regional music whether 

it’s grime or UK Afro-beats or whatever. I came 

across this song “Barking” by Ramz. Barking is a 

neighborhood in super far east London. And it 

was about hanging out with this girl from Barking 

and that was a number one hit radio smash. It was 

parodied and stuff. The idea that that’s possible is 

exciting.” 

Aside from the city of Toronto, his latest record 

is also influenced by his own growing maturity 

and progression. He feels more comfortable 

talking about issues that interest him, such as 

BPM 

gentrification and racism. 

“I would be bored to make an album of rapping 

about rapping. There’s only so many ways to say 

I’m dope. I’m trying to be a rapper for people 

who want more conceptually from what they 

are listening to. I can’t help but think of that new 

Lil Pump song with Kanye. I love it, but I want 

to make the opposite of that. It’s 2018. We have 

access to every film book album that has ever 

come out and there are so many things to touch 

on and talk about and we have so much awareness 

about issues.” 

It took six years after Hope in the Dirt City 

for Pemberton to release another album, and as 

such it’s a rebirth of sorts. Thankfully, it’s clear 

that Pemberton is back and ready to be more 

productive, already recording new projects and 

thinking about the next record. According to 

Pemberton, he’s more productive now than he’s 

ever been. 

“I still feel like there’s so much for me to say and 

musical concepts I want to tap into. There’s still a 

long career for me to have. It’s nice to know there’s 

still an audience out there for me.” 

Cadence Weapon performs at Fortune Sound Club 



FILM 

A STAR IS BORN 

LADY GAGA’S STAR POWER SHINES IN OSCAR-WORTHY PERFORMANCE. 

PAT MULLEN 

THIS MONTH IN FILM 

OCTOBER (FILM’S TO CATCH AT VIFF) 

BRENDAN LEE 

The Hummingbird Project – Kim Nguyen 

Jesse Eisenberg and Alexander Skarsgård star in this heart palpitating 

drama about two cousins’ genius attempt to shave a millisecond off 

of stock exchange transactions, and the reality of all the wealth and 

glory it might unlock. 

Mug - Malgorzata Szumowska 

When a pretty-boy construction worker badly disfigures his face 

while building a giant statue of Jesus (that’s right), he becomes the 

first Polish man to receive a face transplant. The recipient of 2018’s 

Silver Bear award at the Berlin Film Festival intrigues with a touch of 

introspection and a whole lot of strange. 

The phrase “Academy Award Winner Lady 

Gaga” might be a reality next year. Lady 

Gaga gives the performance of a lifetime 

as Ally, the upstart singer rising to fame 

in A Star is Born. Lady Gaga delivers an 

outstandingly good turn that draws upon 

her thunderous vocals and electrifying 

stage presence. 

Even more impressive than Lady Gaga’s 

star turn is actor Bradley Cooper’s assured 

hand in his debut as director. Cooper 

helms the third and arguably best remake 

of George Cukor’s 1936 hit that endures 

from generation to generation. It’s the 

same old story: an ingénue ascends to 

stardom while falling in love with an artist 

as he tumbles from the peak of fame. But 

it’s a timeless tale that rewards reinvention. 

Cooper gives A Star is Born a country rock 

spin and stars as Jackson Maine, a grizzled 

down-and-out rocker who hits the bottle 

so hard he sweats gin. 

Jackson meets Ally one fateful night 

when his thirst leads him to a drag bar – a 

fun nod to Lady Gaga’s hugely queer fan 

base. Ally wows the crowd with a showstopping 

rendition of Edith Piaf’s “La vie 

en rose,” complete with fake eyebrows 

and come-hither glances. Jackson knows 

major talent when he sees and hears it, and 

Ally’s seductive performance makes the 

weathered country boy’s heart beat as fast 

as those double gins will allow him. 

The first act of A Star is Born parallels 

the development of Ally and Jackson’s 

romance with the younger star’s rise. The 

first scenes see the pair in their element 

as they enjoy sparks both creative and 

romantic as Jackson’s hot mess inspires Ally 

to write a new song, while her innocence 

encourages Jackson to pull her up onstage 

during a concert. They perform Ally’s newly 

penned song “The Shallow” for the crowd 

and it becomes a viral sensation. 

The song itself is an early highlight of 

the film as it gives Lady Gaga the defining 

moment in which she transforms from 

singer/actor to star. She owns the moment 

with soul and power that recall Jennifer 

Hudson’s magnetic performance of “And 

I am Telling You I’m Not Going” that 

won her an Oscar for her screen debut 

in Dreamgirls a decade ago. Lady Gaga’s 

magnetic relationship with the camera 

comes as no surprise, since she’s spent 

a career performing onstage and on 

camera, creating a pop star persona and 

enlivening her concerts with a larger-thanlife 

character. As Ally struggles with fame 

and becomes a pop star that echoes the 

actress’s early career, Gaga perfectly taps 

into Ally’s insecurities and anxieties over 

maintaining her artistic integrity. 

Cooper, similarly, gives the performance 

of his career as Jackson. The role of the 

washed out star, beaten by the weight of 

celebrity and regrets of the past, has never 

been played with this level of emotion. 

The actor’s melancholy vocals are tinged 

with the greatness Jackson once knew, 

but offstage, the character is a sweaty, 

staggering mess. He’s a sad cocktail of the 

highs and lows that corrupt great artists. 

These demons threaten to ruin Ally as their 

relationship develops, and the tumultuous 

arcs of their careers collide when Jackson 

embarrasses Ally at the Grammys in the 

most horrible way imaginable. Buoyed by 

his much older brother, played by Sam 

Elliot in an award-calibre supporting turn, 

Jackson needs Ally more than she needs 

him. All stars fade tragically. 

A Star is Born never feels tired or 

reheated as Cooper and Lady Gaga 

mesmerize us with their outstanding 

vocals and natural chemistry. Cooper’s 

impressive directorial efforts give the film 

an effortless air that recalls the direction 

of Clint Eastwood and David O. Russell, 

and perhaps it’s no coincidence that his 

best performances are their films, as he’s in 

tune with their style and direction. The film 

brings audiences up close and personal 

with Ally and Jackson with each note 

they hit, no matter how high or how low, 

and every frame of A Star is Born is pure 

enthralling, heartfelt emotion. 

A Star is Born hits theatres October 5. 

Climax - Gaspar Noé 

From the visually ferocious mind of Gaspar Noé comes a hellish ode 

to the world of dance. With an ecstatic cadence and an eye for the 

intricacies of cinematography, choreography, and the dancer’s desire 

– or more so need – to dance… take a seat, breathe deep, and try 

not to gasp. 

Jonathan – Bill Oliver 

Jonathan is reality with a neat dose of sci-fi. The film follows 

Jonathan, a man attempting to live an ordinary life while 

maintaining an extremely unordinary secret – he shares his mind 

with two separate bodies. Ansel Elgort plays the roles of both 

brothers, John and Jonathan, and his performance has already 

turned more than a few heads. 

The House that Jack Built - Lars Von Trier 

“If you like screaming, I definitely think that you should.” Lars Von 

Trier returns with a tale of gore, death, and brutal perversion, a film 

so horribly in-your-face it’s difficult to look away. Alongside Uma 

Thurman and Riley Keough, Matt Dillon stars as Jack the serial killer 

and, regardless of your taste, this will keep you up at night. 

The House that Jack Built 

26 


MUSIC REVIEWS 

Julia Holter 

Aviary 

Domino Records 

Julia Holter’s anxiety is incredibly relatable to these 

uncertain times. She, like most of us, is overwhelmed 

by the brutal disquiet of 2018. Accompanied by 

Corey Fogel, Devin Hoff, Dina Maccabee, Sarah Belle 

Reid, Andrew Tholl, and Tashi Wada, Holter elegantly 

deep dives into the subjective truths of being human. 

Like her 2015 success, Have You In My Wilderness, 

Holter’s latest experiment is a search for an answer to 

her cyclical anxieties about the present and future. 

Aviary is Julia Holter’s fifth album and the 15-track 

tapestry is a multi-layered and intense musical 

journey. A meditation on current global chaos and 

insane political scandals, she offers a contemporary 

perspective on timeless themes of vulnerability, 

love and exile. Aviary resonates with complex 

instrumentation and synth sounds reminiscent of 

Blade Runner and Kate Bush. Incredibly, many of the 

tracks are historically referential; from the Greek poet 

Sophos, to Russian poet Pushkin, to the Lebanese- 

American author Etel Adnam, whose quote “I found 

myself in an aviary full of shrieking birds” is key to the 

album. 

Like a flock of angry birds in flight “Turn the Light 

On” is a surge of energy that pummels the listener 

and opens the album with a roar. Holter’s voice is a 

solid force like a large domed building, and amidst 

almost discordant exchanges of voice and synth 

there is no room to think. “Chaitius” is the jewel of 

the album. A symbol of Holter’s classical and arts 

background; it serves as a rabbit hole of early music 

research. While feeling medieval through its simple 

and dogmatic combination of string and trumpet, 

Holter successfully integrates non-traditional rhythms 

with the disruptive output of her synth. It is an off 

kilter fugue matching the “Melting of the world.” This 

song contains excerpts from the Occitan troubadour 

song “Can vie lauzeta mover” by Bernart de 

Ventadorn, and small translations of the Montpellier 

Codex (c.1300). Both of these pieces describe a chaste 

and courtly love that becomes distrustful and cold 

through the narrator’s realisation that unrequited 

love just doesn’t seem worth it. 

“Everyday Is an Emergency” is an atonal horn 

movement crammed together with a lyrical melody. 

Teeth on edge because of dissonance, what sounds 

like kazoos calms to a heavenly break. As the 

song becomes more melodic, the lyrics become 

increasingly troubling, describing a hellish scene 

of terror. Moving into “Another Dream,” Holter 

plunges back into a sage memory that confuses 

past and present. There is a nice symmetry to the 

ascending and descending scales that pitter-patter 

like raindrops. “I Shall Love 2” is a Lou Reed/ Velvet 

Underground inspired hymn that introduces the 

anxiety driven “Underneath the Moon.” Maybe 

because it’s Holter’s “first time” but groove and 

hysteria intertwine into a multi instrumental circus 

of danceable beats. Timpani and a mess of strings 

give life to a pulse of movement likened to pilgrims 

dancing before a statue in worship. “I Would Rather 

See” skews a classical love poem, that is inspired by 

I Would Rather See by Sappho, into a simple and 

moving poem making the fantasy of war out to be an 

erotic act. 

“Les Jeux to You” is multi –stanza art pop at its 

best. Holter’s voice is the focus, and is showcased 

as an instrument. Her phrasing is enjoyable and 

optimistic and inspiring, even if you miss the lyrics – 

an anthem of sorts. “I Shall Love 1” is heavily bagpipes 

and bass. Bright and loud, it’s a more mature 

cognition. The bass undulates and the bagpipes are 

used as a drone. Into a string section and drums. 

Holter is loudly hopeful but not chaotic. She intends 

to love and she will be patient: “I shall love / I am 

waiting for you, come on over.” Ending the album is 

the lumpy “Why Sad Song,” a melancholic conclusion 

to a turbulent and academic album. Accompanied 

by airy bright piano and artful soundscapes, Holter’s 

exhausted voice questions the meaning of words and 

ideas. This ending makes the whole album feel like a 

tragedy, a story with an epic ending. 

Aviary is a social-psychological requiem. Holter 

manages to bring extreme thought to the often 

liminal state of an anxious observer through a nonnostalgic, 

Baroque inspired compendium. Wrapped 

up in layers of her own memory, her world isn’t 

ending. Instead, Holter is a spectator to a destruction 

fully apart from herself, sometimes choosing to be 

empathetic and to respond, and at other times, 

giving herself space from her crumbling world to 

exist untroubled. Memory is pulled into the present 

by interwoven melody. As a storyteller, Holter is 

successful in identifying common themes we all live 

our lives by. Holter bursts forth, even if her words 

catch on her throat, teaching the listener that it’s ok 

to live in a ridiculous and cyclical “mapus-mundi” of 

anxiety. 

• Esmée Colbourne 

• Illustration by Alistair Virgo 


Behemoth - I Loved You at Your Darkest Counterparts - Private Room Hang-Ten Hangmen - This Is the Boss Klaus - Klaus Marissa Nadler - For My Crimes 

Behemoth 

I Loved You at Your Darkest 

Metal Blade Records 

I Loved You at Your Darkest is the 

epitome of the once-dated fear that 

metal is the devil’s music. But when 

you’re right, you’re right. For 27 years, 

Poland’s Behemoth have crafted the 

anti-christian roots of black metal 

into unparalleled artform of fear 

inducing and masterfully composed 

horrorscapes of sound. At 12 tracks and 

about 45-minutes long, it’s a record that 

deserves to be played front and back 

every time it’s summoned. 

“Solve” makes Behemoth’s style clear 

with a haunting warning, as children 

shout from a ghostly distance and 

doom-style instrumentation builds 

with wicked grandeur. “Wolves ov 

Siberia” follows with a display of range, 

showcasing blistering drums so sharp 

that every note feels independent, 

yet there’s never a moment of silence. 

After the previously released single 

“God = Dog” brings its melodic, 

chaotic disarray of blackened noise, 

“Ecclesia Diabolica Catholica” delivers 

the technical skill of humbling guitar 

solos over a relentless barrage of precise 

percussion. 

And while black metal is still certainly 

the name of the game, Behemoth 

stretch their dark magic in tracks like “If 

Crucifixion Was Not Enough…” which 

would be a no-frills hardcore-punk 

song if it wasn’t for the iconically dread 

soaked vocals. 

I Loved You at Your Darkest is as 

powerful as it is expertly mixed. In both 

content and technical sound, it’s bound 

to be a point of reference for much 

more diabolic doom to come. 

Counterparts 

Private Room 

New Damage Records 

• Matty Hume 

As something of a little brother 

to Canadian hardcore giants like 

Alexisonfire, Cancer Bats and Comeback 

Kid, Hamilton’s Counterparts have 

done an admirable job of sticking 

around — despite numerous lineup 

changes. Private Room is a (really) short 

collection of B-sides from their previous 

two albums, but at only three songs 

and just under 7 minutes, you wonder 

why they’d bother putting this out as 

a separate release rather than just hold 

on for an actual new record. 

“Monument” kicks off the EP with 

punishing guitars and brutal doublekick 

drum patterns. The clear standout 

in the triple-threat is “Selfishly I 

Sink,” which has a familiar start but 

incorporates a few tempo changes 

in a short time, keeping you on your 

toes. “We Forgive” shows off the 

band’s technical skills, balancing heavy 

elements with some interesting melodic 

guitar parts during the bridge. And 

just like that, Private Room is done and 

gone. 

Counterparts obviously have the 

drive and talent to go far in a saturated 

genre, but Private Room is really just a 

teaser to hold fans over until the next 

full-length. For the full dose, go back 

and check out Counterparts’ latest LP 

You’re Not You Anymore (2017 New 

Damage/Pure Noise) and you won’t be 

disappointed. 

• Trevor Morelli 

The Hang-ten Hangmen 

This Is The Boss 

Dionysus Records 

Surf music comes in all shapes and sizes, 

ranging from the perfect, retro-fied 

recreation of the early ‘60s master craft 

to the deconstructed wall of reverb 

chaos created by new revisionists like Ty 

Segall. Vancouver’s Hang-Ten Hangmen 

certainly side with the retro end of 

the surf spectrum, but their version 

of recreation is neither perfect nor 

predictable, which is a good thing. 

Post-rock ‘n’ roll from the late ‘40 into 

the ‘60s was full of goodies and the 

Hangmen know how to cherry pick. 

Opening up This Is The Boss with “Back 

Alley Rumble,” they set the scene not 

so much with a rumble but a beach 

blanket limbo. You the know one; tiki 

torches planted on the beach after 

dark and everyone taking turns trying 

to lumber their bodies under the bar. 

Straight after they move into Dick Dale 

territory with the title track, “This Is 

The Boss,” with tribal drums pounding, 

beckoning you to join the party. And 

party is the real essence of the Hang-ten 

men as they dip into an irresistible 

Beach Boy-Chuck Berry reverbdrenched, 

dance groove. 

From there on in it cracks wide 

open. The Hang-Ten Hangmen are a 

well-versed band who know where 

to borrow all the right riffs and 

breakdowns and then reassemble them 

into a package that is familiar yet entire 

fresh and fascinating. Churchy-gospel 

R&B organ mixed with a touch of 

Clarence Clemon’s sax and Mitch Riders 

“Devil With Blue Dress,” they move and 

shake on over to a rum-spice cocktail 

party layer with multi-coloured leis 

before taking another detour off to a 

grad prom in Twin Peaks, winding up 

at the Forbidden Planet — One helluva 

lounge livin’ beach lovin’ joyride. 

• B. Simm 

Klaus 

Klaus 

Simone Records 

Step into the world of Klaus, an 

electromagnetic supergroup spun 

from the tangled wires of some of 

Quebec’s most beloved and promising 

musicians. As a member of groups 

such as Karkwa and Galaxie, François 

Lafontaine first found common ground 

with Joe Grass (Patrick Watson) and 

drummer Samuel Joly while performing 

in support of French-Canadian pop 

singer Marie-Pierre Arthur. Soon the 

three troubadours forged a plan to start 

their own musical project and Klaus 

was born; a 21st century digital boy of 

a band that takes your vital signs with 

smooth synths, down tempo beats 

and a mildly disaffected vocal delivery. 

Presenting a sleek, streamlined and 

intuitive application of drum machine 

and disco keys, the threesome glories in 

walking the line between the capricious 

and the considered. This pink and mint 

pairing is the perfect colour scheme 

for their eponymous debut on Simone 

Records, home to rising stars Hubert 

Lenoir, Camaromance and Ariane 

Moffatt. 

The laissez-faire womb of Grass’s 

recording studio allowed Klaus to 

explore any weird idea or melodic 

impulse that came to mind and that 

unimpeded sense of adventure comes 

through loud and clear on the ten 

pop-rock vignettes, they’ve compiled 

for their introductory release. Shining 

like wet pavement, the opening track 

“Neon” signals that you are in for a fun 

yet refined listening experience. The 

sway of “Fever” opens the glovebox and 

pulls out a roadmap of your romantic 

past, while the skittering playfulness of 

“Blue Telephone” dials into their White 

Denim side. Just when you’re getting 

comfortable with the dreamy pace, 

Klaus pulls off your sleeping-mask and 

commands you to check out the sonic 

scenery. 

It’s a rare treat when a band knows 

when to play it shy and when to turn up 

the sparkle and the threesome achieves 

that balance with their exotic “Dirty 

Water” and polyphonic “Pitbull.” It’s 

hard not to lose yourself in the roller 

coaster bass movements and digital 

dashes that run like fault lines through 

“The Aluminoid.” Meanwhile, the 

unpredictable “Bad Religion” finds Klaus 

freefalling through Bowie’s universe, 

until “Le rêve” parts the curtains and 

reveals the soft-spoken pursuit of 

“Natural Design” that lies at the core of 

Klaus’s being. 

• Christine Leonard 

Marissa Nadler 

For My Crimes 

Bella Union/Sacred Bones 

Marissa Nadler’s new album represents 

a beautiful and intricate inner conflict 

that many listeners can relate to — love 

isn’t always enough to keep people 

together. Soulful, deep and intimate, 

the lyrical quality of the record does 

nothing short of sweep you away. And 

overall, Nadler’s southern-gothic style 

delivers a fitting soul for her story. 

Angel Olsen accompanies Nadler 

in openinger “For My Crimes,” 

setting a ghostly, nostalgic tone 

that’s woven into each song that 

follows. Other contributions to the 

record include vocals from Sharon 

Van Etten and Kristin Kontrol, Patty 

Schemel (Hole, Juliette and the Licks) 

on drums, Mary Lattimore on harp and 

Janel Leppin on strings. 

The album artwork suitably adds to 

the incredibly personal nature of the 

record as Nadler chose to use one of 

her original oil paintings for the first 

time. For my Crimes is vulnerability at 

its very best. 

• Sarah Allan 

Nazareth 

Tattooed On My Brain 

Frontiers Music 

Nazareth’s place in the classic rock 

canon has never quite been clear. Sure, 

they have a handful of hits to their 

name — “Hair of the Dog,” “This Flight 

Tonight” and “Love Hurts” immediately 

come to mind — but they’re also a 

band largely built on their ability to 

punch-up other people’s songs. 

The Scottish hard rockers have never 

hit the heights of peers like AC/DC, The 

Rolling Stones or The Who, but instead 

seem destined to play the dreaded 

casino circuit until their time runs out. 

Think about it: lots of kids know Back in 

Black, Dark Side of the Moon or London 

Calling, but how many youngsters in 

2018 can name a Nazareth album? 

Tattooed On My Brain marks an 

entirely different stage in the band’s 

trajectory. It’s their first album without 

founding member and lead singer Dan 

McCafferty (who left the group in 

2013), with new recruit Carl Sentance 

taking over vocal duties. The result is 

an album that’s part Thin Lizzy, part 

Steel Dragon (watch the 2001 movie 

Rockstar if you don’t get that reference) 

and all parts fun. 

First single “Pole to Pole” takes a 

standard 12-bar blues rhythm, adds 

stutter and builds to an anthemic, 

shrieking chorus. “State of Emergency” 

jumps out of the gate with a speedy 

harmonic riff similar to the one heard 

on Wolfmother’s “Woman”, while title 

track “Tattooed On My Brain” bounces 

and bops like a Ramones jam. Later 

tracks “Silent Symphony,” “Crazy Molly” 

and “You Call Me” keep the tempo 

light and catchy, but you can’t help but 

continue to hear clear influence from 

other classic rock artists like Aerosmith, 

Faith No More and Bon Jovi. 

Just as they’ve always done, Nazareth 

takes rock elements from the past and 

makes them their own on Tattooed On 

My Brain. And, as strange as it feels to 

admit, they’ve actually delivered us an 

album full of big, dumb hair metal jams 

that’s worth listening to — one that 

will please Sabbath and Spinal Tap fans 

alike. 

• Trevor Morelli 

28 


TICKETS ON SALE FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12! 

BERT KREISCHER 

With Special Guest 

10/13 - Edmonton AB 

10/14 - Calgary AB 

10/15 - Canmore AB 

10/17 - Vancouver BC 

10/18 - Victoria BC 

LUCA FOGALE 

ON TOUR 

FRI. NOV. 23 

SAT. NOV. 24 

SUN. NOV. 25 

THE FOX CABARET VANCOUVER, BC 

ST ANDREW’S PRESBYTERIAN VICTORIA, BC 

THE ABBEY 

CUMBERLAND, BC 

CALGARY 

JANUARY 12 • 7:30 PM 

MacEWAN HALL 

VANCOUVER 

JANUARY 13 • 7 PM 

VOGUE THEATRE 

TICKETS AVAILABLE AT 

WWW.LUCAFOGALE.COM 

Media partner 

TICKETS AVAILABLE AT 

TICKETFLY.COM / 1-888-732-1682 

HAHAHA.COM

Process - Structural Fatigue Skálmöld - Sorgir The Spirit of the Beehive - Hypnic Jerks Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats - Wasteland 

Process 

Structural Fatigue 

Independent 

From the get go it’s all hands on deck. All five 

members of Process explode into your ear 

dwellings at once on the opening title track. From 

there, this album can best be described as 

relentless. The songs are short, pleasantly brutal 

and come at you like a head butt to the face. 

Structural Fatigue dances all over the terrain 

of extreme metal. The band also incorporates 

elements of thrash, death, groove, weirdo and 

hardcore, most often within the same song. 

Bucking bull riffs, shredding solos and drumming 

tight as a tugged on noose make these metal vets 

stand tall amongst their peers. 

Vocalist Jim Huhn keeps this album especiialy 

gnarly with his vocal stylings and gives Process a 

unique edge of their own. Huhn is a caged beast 

of many animals and the rest of the band has the 

keys to set him free, then they all proceed to go 

on a rampage that is documented with Structural 

Fatigue. 

Songs “Light Blood Breathe,” “Licorice Eater” and 

“Icon” are bright spots on this gleaming slab of 

an album. They even include a flawless Napalm 

Death cover for good measure. This is exciting 

stuff. Structural Fatigue stands tall and does not 

disappoint. A must have for any extreme metal 

aficionado. 

• Heath Fenton 

Sam Lundell 

Head / / Hands 

Independent 

Opening with the serene and orchestral “Prelude 

in E Major, Op. 1,” Sam Lundell sets the stage for 

his intimate debut record, Head / / Hands. This 

opening track is gold — it almost sounds like a 

morning meditation that will make you wish you 

were waking up to it’s melody each day. The album 

is an uplifting, easy-listening, pop-rock collection 

infused with snippets of electronic style — with 

sentimental ballads to boot. 

Lundell is said to be inspired by artists like John 

Mayer and Maroon 5, and it is remarkably visible in 

the sound he has cultivated. His vocals are diverse 

and powerful and if you love the way Imogen 

Heap implements autotune, you’ll fully appreciate 

“Homesick.” Hailing from Lloydminster, Alberta, 

Lundell was given the resources to record the 

album at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity 

thanks to his first single netting a Telus Optik TV 

Storyhive grant. While I could do without the 

spoken word in the track, “Sail You In,” Lundell 

has set a solid foundation for the growth of his 

storytelling and has produced a solid nine tracks 

— a foundation that will undoubtedly propel him 

forward. 

• Sarah Allan 

Striker 

Play To Win 

Record Breaking Records 

Better start stretching because your neck is 

gunna take a beating on this one! Edmonton’s 

Striker plays for keeps. And being fresh off a Juno 

nomination, they’ve solidified their place as one 

of Canada’s premier acts, pumping out solid rock 

anthems and metal melodies with awesome 

consistency. 

Play To Win packs all the elements you need 

to get rockin’ — a powerful lead vocal range, 

sing-along choruses, thumping drums, squealing 

pinch harmonics and air guitar inducing solos. 

The record is a matchup suitable for fans of 

Queenscriche, Holy Grail, Primal Fear or Judas 

Priest to namedrop a few heavy hitters. 

Striker does a great job keeping things fun, while 

still triggering those deep feels. “Heart of Lies” 

takes jabs at our less than ideal society and our 

freedom, setting a the persistent tone to come. 

Catchy number “Head First” aims to inspire ‘living 

life to its fullest’ and “On the Run” simply oozes 

with addictive power, urging you to turn that dial 

to 11. 

• Patrick Saulnier 

Skálmöld 

Sorgir 

Napalm Records 

The inevitable drawback of metal’s growth into a 

complex genre is that for some moods, the sheer 

amount of styles to choose from is overwhelming 

at its darkest. Sorgir is the sixth studio album from 

Iceland’s Skálmöld, and it proves the band has shot 

enough arrows at the wall in their time to know 

what sticks. 

“Ljosid” kicks off the album with the highfrequency 

grit of a classic Scream Bloody Gore 

style death metal album. The lo-fi tone and racing 

repetition enhance the horror inducing minor 

guitars, welded to black metal vocals and folky 

choirs for crescendos of the epic-viking variety. 

“Brun” keeps a driving riff alive with the rattle of 

palm muted power chords, while “Skotta” takes 

a doom-riddled soundscape of fear and clashes it 

with a power metal splash of a viking chant. 

Through a mix of combinations, the entire album 

is a successful amalgam of vintage death metal, 

modern tech, epic power metal and stadiumworthy 

heavy metal choruses. Sorgir is an armoury 

with a sword to scratch every itch. 

• Matty Hume 

The Spirit of the Beehive 

Hypnic Jerks 

Tiny Engines 

In a scientific sense, hypnic jerks are the 

involuntary muscle spasms that can occur as a 

person is falling asleep, sometimes accompanied 

by a feeling of falling. 

Hypnic Jerks, the not-so scientific offering 

from Philly-based alt-rock band The Spirit of the 

Beehive, is just as shocking as it’s namesake. 

By combining the nostalgic with hazy guitar riffs 

and laid-back drumbeats, unsettlingly warped 

strung-out guitar and eerie vocal effects, The 

30 


Spirit of the Beehive have captured the feeling 

of dissolving into something outside of our 

understanding. 

Throughout Hypnic Jerks, audio samples from 

the home recordings of the bassist’s father are 

stitched together with the soundscape in a way 

that evokes the same random, disconnected 

quality of dreams that come between waking and 

sleeping. 

• Emilie Charette 

Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats 

Wasteland 

Rise Above Records 

Coming to you off of the mean streets 

of “Shockwave City” — or should I say 

Cambridgeshire, England? — Uncle Acid & The 

Deadbeats are a gritty but pretty ensemble of rock 

wheelers who have made a name for themselves 

with their tame locks and fuzzy lines. Softening 

the shoulders of the hardest asphalt plain, the 

motorcycle gang on strings looks to lead voyageur 

Kevin Starrs to set their course. For 2018, Starrs 

has elected to take the band into the Wasteland 

(Rise Above Records), a cosmic desert populated 

by powerful wizards and intoxicating earworms 

of the most purple stripe. Arising from the waxy 

depths of The Night Creeper (2015), Uncle Acid 

& The Deadbeats are expanding their library of 

psychedelic overtures with Wasteland. A boozy 

and bluesy walk through the darkened forests of 

the psyche, “No Return” hooks you by the entrails 

and drags you into the action. A vortex of lazy 

vocals and hypnotic thrums stir the cauldron as 

time-warping bassist Vaughn Stokes and drummer 

Jon Rice, lean into each other for support. The 

triangulation of their sandbag heavy rhythms and 

Starrs’s sweltering ‘70s rock-god incantations cast 

a heady spell that pulses through the reckless 

ambition of “Blood Runner” and the equally 

glamourous “Stranger Tonight.” Descending the 

spiral staircase with “Bedouin” and “Exodus,” 

Wasteland salutes the epic with a sprawling 

visionary songbook, that encourages close 

listening and attention to detail. Highly-digestible 

conditioning for the easily distracted. 

• Christine Leonard 

FEATURED CONCERTS 

VICTORIA, BC 

SYML 

PLUS JENN CHAMPION 

CAPITAL BALLROOM // FRIDAY OCT 26 

LA VIDA LOCAL 

HOMEGROWN VANCOUVER MUSIC RELEASES 

Cousin Arby 

You, Me and Rodrigo 

Independent 

You, Me and Rodrigo is the latest offering from Vancouver altcountry 

act, Cousin Arby, and it rocks muddy cowboy boots with a 

cool punk stare. The band has been carving out a unique space for 

themselves since 2015, sifting through classic local sounds for their 

earthier and more homely qualities. This time, the dust they’ve turned 

up is palpable—songs like “Put You Up My Nose” are antique, like 

something found in a buried stack of your grandparents’ records, 

while other tracks like “Sweet Georgia Brown” feel newer, more urgent 

and layered. Above all, the quality is in how these tracks are threaded, 

and Cousin Arby shows us the value of consistency. The result is a 

textured EP, sewn better but still nicely frayed at the seams. If before 

they were just kids trampin’ around a figurative farm, now they’re 

experienced ranch hands, their heels dug into a sound they built for 

themselves. 

• Emily Blatta 

Jock Tears 

Bad Boys 

Inky Records 

Garage surf pop punkers Jock Tears are back with Bad Boys, their 

strongest release to date. Lead by the infectiously sunny vocal work of 

Lauren Ray, Jock Tears pack a punch on the album’s brisk 18-minute 

running time. Bolstered by crisp production, Bad Boys is a fun listen and 

highly recommended for that crossover crowd of Ramones and Beat 

Happening fans. 

• James Olson 

Youth Fountain 

Youth Fountain EP 

Independent 

Youth Fountain’s EP is an emotionally pummeling work of pop punk. 

Zanon and Muraro’s vocals complement each other, giving the 

impressions of deep camaraderie outside of the recording. The drums 

are crisp and clear sounding, reminiscent of Young Mountain by This 

Will Destroy You. Lyrically this album boasts hints of immaturity, but 

conversely, this young Vancouver group show great promise in future 

writing. 

• Quinn Thomas 

Dadweed 

I Dreamt I Was Running 

Independent 

This instant-classic sound of Dadweed’s latest offering was visible 

through the haze of feedback within the first few seconds of 

opening track, “Big Empty.” James Frost’s sweeping emotive vocals 

are juxtaposed perfectly against the triumphant guitar leads and a 

confident yet relaxed rhythm section. This is a compelling and focused 

listen that wastes no time with exceptional record flow. Some tracks 

hint early era Sonic Youth, others recall subtle influences of OK 

Computer, while “Liberosis” and “Terra Firma” in particular feel like a 

dark counterpart to the Pixies. All the right elements of the ’90s with a 

modern day twist. Dadweed’s latest is definitely worth catching up with, 

especially if you’re still dreaming. 

• Quinn Thomas 

Heavy Steps 

Infinity Rope 

Boat Dreams From The Hill 

Infinity Rope is a perfect autumn record, but not the kind that 

soundtracks one running and jumping into piles of golden leaves. 

Rather, Chris van der Laan and Melissa Gregerson continue their saga, 

making this six-year work-in-progress a much more Vancouver affair 

with a darker aesthetic, foreshadowing the upcoming greyness that 

west coast winters have to offer. There are still glimmers of their matte 

finished indie pop beginnings as heard on 2012’s You, Conduit. “Trash 

Wednesday” is a driving garage rock number and “Barge of Despair” 

could be the upbeat jangly track your Halloween mix calls for. 

• Graeme Wiggins 

CLASSIFIED 

PLUS CHOCLAIR AND MAESTRO FRESH WES 

CAPITAL BALLROOM // FRIDAY NOV 2 

THE DIRTY NIL 

PLUS DEAD SOFT 

LUCKY BAR // SUNDAY NOV 4 

REUBEN AND THE DARK 

PLUS nêhiyawak 

CAPITAL BALLROOM // WEDNESDAY NOV 7 

FOR FULL CONCERT LISTINGS & TO PURCHASE 

TICKETS, PLEASE VISIT: 

WWW.ATOMIQUEPRODUCTIONS.COM 

FACEBOOK /ATOMIQUEPRODUCTIONS TWITTER @ATOMIQUEEVENTS 


Barbados is not only the birthplace of 

Rihanna, it also happens to be one of the 

most beautiful places on the planet. 

Their year-round climate of near perfect temperatures, beautiful 

beaches and rich musical culture makes the small predominantly 

Christian island one of the most wholesome and welcoming places 

you could ever visit. The island itself is only 166 square miles but 

within this small circumference of land lives a very healthy and happy 

population. 

While visiting the island at the tale end of peak tourism season 

for the Barbados GospelFest I’m reminded that finding a balance 

is the key to life’s simple pleasures. The duality most visibly at play 

while ripping around one balmy afternoon in a safari jeep through 

narrow streets and lush forest trails is between the country’s origins 

as the birthplace of rum and its strong religious roots. This might 

explain why that for every church there are three rum shops, almost 

always within close proximity. An integral part of Bajan history, 

there are reportedly more than 1500 rum shops throughout the 

island and, according to my driver, are particularly utilized following 

funerals as host locations for celebrations of life. Sunday service and 

the celebration of God is taken very seriously in most pockets of 

Barbados and that’s because faith is the cornerstone of the island’s 

ethos. 

With faith on the top of the docket, the Barbados Gospelfest has 

provided a unique celebration of music and spirituality for the past 

26 years, giving rise to a relatively new and underrepresented genre of 

tourism — Wholesome tourism. 

“In the early ’90s there was concern of the possibility of casino 

gambling coming to the island so the then-minister of tourism, Wes 

Hall, wanted to promote what he coined as wholesome tourism in 

an effort to bring people to the island during a season when there 

weren’t as many tourists,” says Barbados Gospelfest’s executive 

producer Adrian R. Agard. And so it was that Gospelfest was born 

and under his watchful eye it has been evolving throughout the years. 

The 2018 GospelFest invited acts from North America such as 

the Billboard chart-topping act JJ Hairston and Youthful Praise and 

the real life sister trio V3 from Atlanta, GA but also encourages 

and supports involvement from the local music scene. In fact the 

backing band for a lot of the non-Bajan acts was comprised of some 

extremely talented and versatile players. 

“The vision is still to do a festival that impacts and shapes the 

community,” Agard says. “People see music as music, yes. But music 

also has an impact on people’s lives. The type of music you listen 

to impacts the things you do. So this festival is intended to have 

a positive impact on people’s lives — Touching Lives, Changing 

Nations.” 

There were plenty of hallelujahs at Laughter & Jazz — an event 

that brings comedy and music together for a night of praise and 

celebration for the big guy upstairs — just as there were at the 

Barbados 

GospelFest 2018 


HYMNSPEAK at St. Mary’s 

Anglican Church (Bridgetown) 

Atlanta-based gospel trio, V3 

perform at Laughter & Jazz 

festival’s Tuesday night celebrations for Hymnspeak. 

With 700+ people packed into the historic St. Mary’s 

Anglican Church in Bridgetown on this hot and humid 

night, festivalgoers assumed their very familiar role of 

a congregation. Windows open and the sound of fans 

buzzing faintly in the background, Agard welcomed 

everyone before the reverend led the parishioners 

through a journey of hymns and testimonies from various 

members of different churches around the island. One 

of the elderly Bajan ladies who was sitting beside me 

grabbed my hand and raised it in unison with hers as the 

congregation shouted their praises for the blood of Jesus 

— It’s in us all you know? — while singing a hymn from 

1876, “What Can Wash Away My Sin?” Nothing but the 

blood of Jesus. 

Harrison’s Cave is one of God’s splendid creations and 

a great place to feel like an explorer from the comfort 

of a guided tram that takes you to the depths of one of 

nature’s most spectacular sights. Down here you will see 

naturally forming calcium deposits. Unlike other islands, 

Barbados is not volcanic but composed of deep ocean 

sediments overlaid by coral limestone. 

Just on the outskirts of Bridgetown sits Rihanna Drive, 

a recently commemorated street, home to the house that 

Barbados’ shining diamond grew up. It’s rumored that 

she was recently back home for a visit and that’s she’s 

still very lovely. Other than sugarcane, Riri is indeed the 

country’s most talked about export. 

Eating locally is one of the most rewarding things 

about visiting the island and if you’re doing it right then 

fish is on the menu. From an authentic jazz themed 

Waterfront Cafe in Bridgetown (make sure you try their 

flying fish with fried plantains) to Oistins Fish Fry, a truly 

community event during weekends on the south coast of 

the island, there’s no shortage of delicious seafood fare to 

take advantage of. 

Barbados gospel festival is most certainly blessed by 

the grace of god. Jesus does take the front seat, as you 

might expect, but regardless of your faith it’s a fantastic 

way to interact with the locals in a positive way. If Agard’s 

vision of the fest is true, it will likely leave a lasting 

impression on you and perhaps even help you discover 

elements of your own faith that you didn’t know were 

there. 

“I would like to feel that a person who comes to the 

festival is able to get a better understanding of who they 

are and what God wants to do with them,” says Agard. 

“Ultimately the objective of our music is to draw people 

closer to God. We feel that we are created by God and we 

believe that if we get to connect with him then we can 

better do what it is that he wants us to do.” 

Amen. 

For more information visit www.barbadosgospelfest.com 

32 


Photo by Ray Maichin 

Foo Fighters 

Rogers Area 

Sept 8, 2018 

Dave Grohl ran onto the stage strumming his axe like a wildman 

who has been let loose from his cage before the Foo Fighters began 

the night with their One By One hit, “All My Life” in front of the 

jam-packed sold-out crowd. Grohl made a point to tell everyone 

that they were in for a long night of rock and roll, and that it was. 

It was astonishing to see how the frontman took control of the 

crowd. 

It was a three hour night full of classic hits, new tunes, on-thefly 

jams, comedic moments, and totally unexpected covers. Not 

to mention the LSD worthy psychedelic visuals that covered the 

backend of the stage-drop. 

Songs like “The Pretender,” “My Hero,” and others received 

extensions that ranged from bluesy guitar battles to disgustingly 

LIVE 

grungy breakdowns. Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins 

channeled his inner Freddie Mercury when he took the mic, 

mimicking Mercury’s infamous “Ay-o” crowd play at Wembley 

Stadium before singing Queen’s “Under Pressure” with two fans 

who were brought on stage. Alongside covers of the Ramone’s 

“Blitzkrieg Bop,” and Alice Cooper’s “Under My Wheels,” the Foos 

played a comically intriguing mashup of John Lennon’s “Imagine” 

piano riff being complemented by the lyrics and vocals of Van 

Halen’s “Jump.” 

“Run” and the Pink Floydian “Dirty Water,” from the Foos new 

album Concrete and Gold were also two standout performances. 

After an intimately explosive rendition of “Best of You” the Foos 

left the stage, only to have Grohl appear on screen, teasing the 

crowd from the back. The band returned to perform “Times 

Like These” and end the mammoth nearly-three hour set with 

“Everlong.” 

• Johnny Papan 

Johnny Marr 

The Vogue Theatre 

Sept. 20, 2018 

Over the decades the name Morrissey has become 

less synonymous with ’80s sad saps, the Smiths, and 

more so with his crippling inability to go through 

with any of his scheduled gigs… oh and he’s said some 

racist shit in the media also. But as the once cherished 

lead singer continues to tarnish the group’s iconic 

legacy, guitarist Johnny Marr, the founder and true 

soul behind the band’s melancholy mystic, continues 

to experiment and expand upon sounds from decades 

past. 

Blue lights dawned the stage as Marr, with a 

flawlessly trimmed fringe of jet black hair, rang out a 

distorted growl on his signature Fender Jaguar before 

tearing into “the tracers,” from his latest album Call 

the Comet. The evening would include a number of 

tracks from his solo releases, but Marr ain’t stupid. He 

knows what the people want, and so of course there 

would be nuggets of gloom from his past repertoire 

sprinkled throughout the evening. Second track in 

and Marr, bathed in orange glow, jumped right into 

“Bigmouth Strikes Again,” from the Smiths 1986 

masterpiece, The Queen is Dead. “The Headmaster 

Ritual,” would be the next quintessential gem lined up 

to which he remarked, “ya that’s a good one,” as the 

crowd relived past glories. Of course it was the mighty 

tremolo from the first strum of “How Soon Is Now?” 

that really got the theatre bumpin.’ 

Ending the night with “There is a Light That Never 

Goes Out,” Marr so lovingly declared, “I’d like to 

dedicate this song to everyone here, and nobody 

fucking else.” 

• Jeevin Johal 

Photo by Kira Clavell 

Japanese Breakfast w/ Ought 

The Imperial 

September 26, 2018 

Montreal’s Ought brought forth an 

outstanding performance during their 

appearance at the Imperial while opening 

for Japanese Breakfast. The four piece artpunk 

band seamlessly pulled tonal reference 

from ’90s post-punk and ’80s new wave 

while remaining current and fresh. Vocals 

of lead singer Tim Darcy casted a ghostly 

resemblance to an early Morrissey, while also 

resembling the deeper bass-baritone tones 

of Nick Cave. Ought remains unique with 

their catchy, rolling bass tones, unbearably 

addictive through their wall of electronic 

synths, and overall timeless through 

Photo by Kira Clavell 

performance. 

Japanese Breakfast, the solo musical 

project of Michelle Zauner, greeted the stage 

with colourful and creative visual energy. 

Cutesy animated graphics danced behind 

the band, creating a warm and playful 

energy. At times the set fell slightly short; 

with vocals sometimes holding a child-like 

shrill. Regardless, Zauner carried over the 

childlike playfulness into her stage presence, 

which was with very high energy. Along with 

her larger than life stage presence, Zauner 

sported a long green striped dress, black 

combat boots and space buns; contrasting 

beautifully with her white Fender. She played 

her guitar with the same excited energy, 

beautifully backed by her band. 

• Jamila Pomeroy 

F 

R 

I 

D 

A 

Y 

S 

277 PRINCE EDWARD ST 

BILTMORECABARET.COM 


NEW MOON RISING 

YOUR MONTHLY HOROSCOPE 

QUAN YIN DIVINATION 

Month of the Water Dog 

This month, the focus is on finding 

balance and harmony with others. It is 

a time for healthy family relationships, 

loyal friends, attractive lovers, and, for 

some, blissful solitude. Whether you see 

yourself as a lone wolf or part of a pack, 

the energy of the Water Dog offers 

companionship where it’s needed and 

judgement to anyone who may have 

their nose in the wrong place at the 

wrong time. 

Rabbit (Pisces): At last! Some 

recognition for a job well done, and if 

you’ve worked hard you can enjoy a bit 

of reward now. Don’t let stress seep into 

your success! Think fast and diligently 

do your best, and it will be more than 

good enough. 

Dragon (Aries): Your meticulous 

diligence can see you through what may 

be a month of highs and lows. Secrets 

and hidden agendas flood your mind 

with suspicion and take you away from 

living your truth. Make a conscious 

effort to let go of illusions that keep you 

from feeling free. 

Snake (Taurus): Prophetic dreams 

signal a potential that you hadn’t 

considered. Take time to analyze, 

interpret, and journal your key flashes 

of brilliance – share freely and they are 

sure to inspire all those around you. 

Horse (Gemini): Shame and guilt are 

prisons that prevent creative energy 

from flowing. Find out where you may 

be blocked by your negative emotions 

and use positive affirmations to invite 

a change that has been a long time 

coming. Celebrate your many blessings! 

Sheep (Cancer): Sitting in meditation 

or gathering with gentle folk to discuss 

the subjects of tolerance, compassion, 

and kindness can aid you to let go of 

any harsh feelings that you may be 

carrying with you. There are people 

in the world who share your vision of 

harmony and peace. 

Monkey (Leo): Relationships are the 

foundation of true happiness and, when 

you have harmony amongst family 

and friends, you can honestly say that 

there’s nothing more satisfying to the 

human spirit. Share freely with those 

you love now. 

Rooster (Virgo): Thinking on your feet 

and coming up with quick solutions to 

current problems helps you to win back 

those you may have lost in the hustle. 

How can you work on what has been 

spoiled to bring back what you have 

lost? 

Dog (Libra): Get off the fence, and pick 

your winning side. Is there something 

that you have stood for that may need 

re-evaluation? Work with others on 

an agreeable compromise, and let the 

chips land where they may! 

Pig (Scorpio): Your home life is 

improving as you settle into a workable 

routine. Spend your free time wisely, 

with a conscious effort to plan your list 

of next accomplishments, which are 

finally beginning to come into reach. 

Rat (Sagittarius): Conventional 

protocols add stability to any 

organization or group you participate 

in. Check to see how others have 

accomplished the task in front of you, 

and avoid “reinventing the wheel” to 

attain your purpose. A lull is a sign that 

you can rest. 

Ox (Capricorn): Pushy people agitate 

your mood with their demands on 

your time. Be courteous and kind, yet 

firm. You may carry the load for others 

now, but you’ll gain more strength and 

power as a result. 

Tiger (Aquarius): With a busy 

schedule, you need your team to work 

together to meet demanding objectives. 

Use complementary skills wisely and 

you will see the benefits of balancing 

opposites to create change and results. 

Conflict can bring growth! 

Susan Horning is a Feng Shui Consultant 

and Bazi Astrologist living and working 

in East Vancouver. Find out more about 

her at QuanYin.ca. 

VANCOUVERARTBOOKFAIR.COM 

JILL BARBER 

W I T H SPECIAL GUES T JUST I N N O Z U KA * 

SEVENTH ANNUAL 

With Special Guest 

ART BOOK WEEK 

OCTOBER 19-25 2018 

OCTOBER 18-21, 2018 

THE EMILY CARR UNIVERSITY OF ART + DESIGN 

10/13 - Edmonton AB 

10/14 - Calgary AB 

10/15 - Canmore AB 

10/17 - Vancouver BC 

10/18 - Victoria BC 

OCT 26 – CALGARY, BELLA CONCERT HALL* 

OCT 27 – EDMONTON, TRIFFO THEATRE* 

NOV 1 – VANCOUVER, VOGUE THEATRE* 

NOV 2 – CAMPBELL RIVER, TIDEMARK THEATRE* 

NOV 3 - VICTORIA, CAPITAL BALLROOM* 

34 


CANADA’S LARGEST INDEPENDENT CONCERT PROMOTER 

UPCOMING SHOWS 

TY SEGALL 

WITH GUESTS 

October 25 

The Vogue Theatre 

FLIGHT FACILITIES 

WITH PLUKO 

October 4 - The Vogue Theatre 

TIGERS JAW 

WITH SIDEKICKS AND CHERRY 

October 5 - The Biltmore Cabaret 

ST. LUCIA 

WITH THE NIGHT GAME 


JAIN 

WITH GUESTS DRAMA MUSIC 


BRIAN FALLON 

WITH CRAIG FINN 


IAN SWEET 

WITH YOUNG JESUS 


NNAMDI OGBONNAYA 

WITH SEN MORIMOTO 


JOYCE MANOR 

WITH VUNDERBAR PEACH & KELLI POP 


EXPLODED VIEW 

WITH GUESTS 

October 31- The Fox Cabaret 

TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE AT MRGCONCERTS.COM

BeatRoute Magazine BC Edition October 2018

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?