BeatRoute Magazine BC Edition March 2019

FREE 

MARCH 2019 

blood and the 

looming apocalypse: 

Toronto punks are deadly 

serious on new album, 

PUPDeath, 

Morbid Stuff 

PLUS! James Blake • Amyl and the Sniffers • Viagra Boys • Cass McCombs • Jenny Lewis

SPRING HAS 

SPRUNG! 

(TELL YOUR PANTS!) 

JOHN FLUEVOG SHOES 837 GRANVILLE ST 604·688·2828 65 WATER ST 604·688·6228 FLUEVOG.COM 

2 BEATROUTE MARCH 2019

Contents 

Up Front 

4 

7 

8 

9 

10 

12 

The Guide 

Noname: poetry in commotion 

The Agenda 

VanCity Places 

4 new restaurants we 

can’t wait to try 

That’s Dope 

Top 5 leading ladies in the 

Cannabis Industry 

VanCity People 

Q&A with Chelene Knight 

from Growing Room, the 

Feminist Literary Festival 

Exploits 

Prior Snowboards source 

local artwork 

Music 

11 

31 

36 

Concert Previews 

Amyl and the Sniffers 

want to be your dog 

+ Viagra Boys, Low, Cass 

McCombs, Baroness, 

In Flames, Schwey, Cat 

Empire, Devours, Marie 

Davidson, James Blake 

and more! 

Album Reviews 

Jenny Lewis, N0V3L, 

Bob Mould, Royal Trux, 

La Dispute, The Cinematic 

Orchestra, Ex Hex, 

White Denim, Andrew 

Bird, American Football, 

Weezer and more! 

Live Reviews 

Sharon Van Etten, A Bowie 

Celebration, Ella Mai, 

Robyn & more! 

blood and the 

looming apocalypse: 

Toronto punks are deadly 

serious on new album, 

PUPDeath, Morbid Stuff 

Cover Story 

26 

MARCH 2019 

PLUS! James Blake • Amyl and the Sniffers • Viagra Boys • Cass McCombs • Jenny Lewis 

PUP 

Toronto punks channel 

doom and gloom of 

the here and now on 

Morbid Stuff 

Cover photo by: 

Tanja Tiziana 

FREE 

Movies|TV 

39 

40 

Film Interview 

We sit down for a chat with 

Through Black Spuce actress 

Tanaya Beatty 

This Month In Film + 

The Binge List 

Marie 

Davidson 

pg 22 

The Arts 

41 

42 

43 

44 

45 

Horoscope 

47 

Sharon Van Ettan 

See Live reviews, pg 36. 

Theatre Multiple Organism 

embraces the bare neccessities 

at the Cultch 

Comedy Comedian Yumi 

Nagashima tells us what makes 

Vancouver so funny 

Art Mowry Baden dances with 

a mop at his Vancouver Art 

Gallery exhibition 

Dance The Vancouver 

International Dance Festival’s 

platform for cultural exchange 

Performance New Yorkbased 

creative everyman Isaac 

Mizrahi adapts his life story for 

the stage 

No matter your sign, there’s 

always a song for you here 

ARCHI BISWAS 

MARCH 2019 BEATROUTE 3

The Guide 

wCity 

Briefs 

By NIK HONCHARUK, DANIELLE 

WENSLEY, JORDAN YEAGER 

AND KEIR NICOLL 

CLAMPDOWN RECORD 

PRESSING OPENS 

Local musicians are rejoicing after 

decades of waiting for a local 

Vancouver spot to press its own 

vinyl again. Billy Bones, lead singer 

of local band Vicious Cycles, 

is the answer to their prayers 

with the opening of Clampdown 

Record Pressing Inc. The plant 

will press everything from picture 

discs to classic black records, 

in 7-12 inch formats. With vinyl’s 

resurgence in popularity over the 

last few years, it’s a ripe opportunity 

to crack the ever-growing 

market. Visit them at clampdownpressing.com 

(N.H.) 

CHANTAL ANDERSON 

NoName: Poetry 

in commotion 

Tuesday, March 12 

The Commodore Ballroom 

Fatimah Warner, who goes by 

Noname, got her start as a performer 

in the world of slam poetry in her 

hometown of Chicago, Illinois. That 

was nine years ago. In the time since, 

Warner has made the transition from 

writing poetry to writing songs, often 

collaborating with other artists from 

the Chicago area like Chance the 

Rapper and Mick Jenkins. 

Noname’s music feels like an intimate 

4 BEATROUTE MARCH 2019 

glimpse into her life. Her lyrics retain 

the poetic influence of her youth, and 

she releases her music independently 

to retain full creative freedom. 

Even her cadence is reminiscent of 

spoken word – thoughtful, contemplative 

and vulnerable. Her words are 

born of experience, whether they’re 

reflecting on things her community 

has been through or exploring the 

many facets of womanhood. 

Warner is enigmatic, and it’s not 

only reflected in the moniker she’s 

chosen. Her music speaks for itself, 

and between 2016’s Telefone mixtape 

and 2018’s debut studio album 

Room 25, she’s already curated an 

impressive catalogue. In her music, 

the enigma breaks. Telefone introduced 

her as an observant poet who 

reflects on society, and its introspection 

carries through into Room 25 in 

a way that shows she becomes ever 

more self-aware as she matures, 

both musically and personally. 

 

Jordan Yeager 

ODD SOCIETY FINE SPIRITS 

1725 Powell Street 

This East Van Distillery now 

serves a Wednesday night $8 

cocktail special, the Ginger Snap 

Flip. They have a resident DJ 

from Mexico the first Thursday of 

the month, and the last features 

live emerging artists, including 

singer-songwriters. Odd Society 

is a family-run business that 

serves top quality cocktails and 

spirits with an all-inclusive community 

vibe. (K.N.) 

CONTINUED ON PG .8 k 

ODDSOCIETYSPIRITS.COM

2019VANCOUVER 

INTERNATIONAL 

DANCEFESTIVAL 

MARCH 4-30 

TAIWAN’S 

TJIMUR DANCE THEATRE 

8pm, March 29 & 30 

Vancouver Playhouse 

$60-$70 

JAPAN’S 

VANCOUVER’S 

VANCOUVER’S 

VANCOUVER’S 

VANCOUVER’S 

MONTREAL’S 

DAIRAKUDAKAN 


Vancouver Playhouse 

$60-$70 

V’NI DANSI 


and 2pm & 3pm, March 24 

Woodwards Atrium 

Free 

HARBOUR DANCE ITP 

& PLATFORM 


Woodwards Atrium 

Free 

RAVEN SPIRIT DANCE 

5pm, March 13-16 

KW Production Studio 

$15-$20 

OLIVIA C. DAVIES / O.DELA ARTS 


Roundhouse Exhibition Hall 

Free with VIDF Membership 

MANUEL ROQUE 


Roundhouse Perf. Centre 

$30-$35 

VANCOUVER’S 

VANCOUVER’S VANCOUVER’S MONTREAL’S 

VANCOUVER’S 

OTTAWA’S 

KELLY MCINNES 



$15-$20 

JEANETTE KOTOWICH 



Free with VIDF Membership 

VISION IMPURE 



$30-$35 

DAINA ASHBEE 



$15-$20 

LESLEY TELFORD / 

INVERSO PRODUCTIONS 



Free w/ VIDF Membership 

10 GATES DANCING 



$30-$35 

27 Days of World-Class Dance 

Performances, Free Events, Classes 

& Workshops, and More 

Info & Box Office: 

VIDF.CA 

604.662.4966 

Venues include the Roundhouse, 

Vancouver Playhouse, KW Studios 

and Woodward’s Atrium 

Tjimur Dance Theatre photo by Maria Falconer

UPCOMING SHOWS 

CHROMATICS DAN MANGAN 

WITH SPECIAL GUESTS 

FEB JUNE 6 

WITH DESIRE & IN MIRRORS 

SUNMI 

2019 WORLD TOUR 

mARCH FEBRUARY 11 7 

SCOTT HELMAN 

WITH RALPH 

MARCH FEBRUARY 14 25 

SCOTT HELMAN 

WITHIN TEMPTATION 


WITH IN FLAMES 

march FEBRUARY 15 26 

MATTHEW GOOD 

DAVE MASON 


OF THE BAND TRAFFIC 

MARCH march 2118 

THE WHITE BUFFALO 

MATTHEW GOOD 


WITH POESY 

march MARCH 23 23 

THE CRYSTAL METHOD 

BROODS 



APRIL 

MARCH 

2 

30 

SMINO 

WITH PHOELIX 

april APRIL 5 10 

THE MUSICAL BOX 

WINTERSLEEP 

A GENESIS EXTRAVAGANZA 

april MAY 93 


LENNON STELLA 

LOVE, ME TOUR 

MAY april 3 10 (sold out) april 11 

TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE AT VOGUETHEATRE.COM

MARCH 

The Agenda 

8 

CAPTAIN MARVEL 

Friday, March 8 

Opening in theatres on March 8, 

Captain Marvel is the 21st film in 

the Marvel cinematic universe. 

Set in 1995, this superhero story 

follows Carol Danvers, played by Brie Larson, as Earth is 

caught in the middle of two alien worlds locked in conflict. 

Written and directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. 

9VICIOUS CYCLES 

Saturday, March 9 at 

Antisocial Skateboard 

Shop 

The Vancouver-based 

punk band Vicious 

Cycles is releasing a 

new 7’’ on neon pink 

vinyl. Come celebrate 

the release party 

at Antisocial Skate 

Shop with showings 

from the band and 

their fellow punk pals, 

Victories. Limited 500 

copies available, and 

doors open at 8 p.m. 

14 

HELP 

KIMMORTAL 

Thursday, March 14 at Fox Cabaret 

Queer Filipinx artist-emcee Kimmortal’s new album has 

been five years in the making and it’s finally ready for 

release. Celebrate with Vancouver’s own at the album 

release party, taking place at the Fox Cabaret with 

a special live performance and supporting acts Tin 

Lorica and Dakk’one. 

15 

MOUNTAIN 

3RD ANNUAL 

ST PATRICK’S 

PUNKSTRAVAGANZA 

Friday, March 15 to Saturday, 

March 16 at 

the Rickshaw Theatre 

Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day 

at the third annual 

Punkstravaganza. This East 

Van tradition is taking place 

at the Rickshaw Theatre, 

featuring the Dreadnoughts 

and many of your favourite 

local bands including Pet 

Blessings and BRASS. 

19ME I’M DYING: 

AN EVENING OF 

COMEDY WITH KATYA 

ZAMOLODCHIKOVA 


at the Vogue Theatre 

The Vogue Theatre 

is host to RuPaul’s 

Drag Race Miss 

Congeniality and 

All-Stars S2 finalist, 

Katya Zamolodchikova. 

The hysterical comedy 

show was so popular 

that the tour was extended. 

Don’t miss 

out on all Katya’s 

fabulous personas! 

22 

MAGIC TOUR 

Saturday, 

March 30 at M.I.A 

Electronic acts and beat 

producers Smalltown 

DJs, Case of the Mondays, 

and Dances with 

White Girls are coming 

together to perform 

at the Mountain Magic 

Tour. The seventh annual 

edition of the tour, which 

traditionally plays ski 

towns, is sliding into 

downtown Vancouver’s 

M.I.A. for a #DeepDown- 

Inside iteration. 

VINCE STAPLES 


at Harbour Convention Centre 

Friday, March 22 at Harbour 

Convention Centre 

Hip hop artist, lyrical wordsmith 

and social commentator Vince 

Staples is rolling into Vancouver 

on his Smile, You’re on Camera 

Tour. He’ll be joined by 

rapper JPEGMAFIA as well 

as hip-house producer 

Channel Tres for a night 

at the Harbour Centre 

full of thought-provoking 

verses and catchy 

beats. 

30 


VanCity Places 

Eats 

COMO TAPERIA 

201 E 7th Avenue 

Mount Pleasant welcomed its 

newest Latin-inspired eatery in 

November. Como Taperia is a 

love letter to the tapas bars of 

Spain. Small share plates, like 

the classic tortilla española, land 

on the table in custom tapas 

cases flown in from Barcelona. 

And the bar lives up to the love, 

with Spanish beer and Spanish 

vermouth on tap, cava by the 

glass, and a generous selection 

of local favourites. 

City 

Briefs 

k CONTINUED FROM PG. 4 

Marie Chouinard Takes On 

Hieronymus Bosch 

Vancouver Playhouse, 

March 15 and 16 

Montreal’s enigmatic choreographer 

Marie Chouinard has a 

true gift for breathing life into the 

literature and images of the past. 

Her most recent work, Hieronymus 

Bosch: The Garden of 

Earthly Delights, delivers a haunting, 

visceral incarnation of the 

painter’s Renaissance triptych in 

honour of the 500 year anniversary 

of his death. In three acts, 

The Garden of Earthly Delights, 

Hell and Paradise, Chouinard’s 

dancers will explore and exult 

the wonderful weirdness of this 

infamous masterpiece. For lovers 

of hallucinogens, art history and 

eerie visual compositions, this 

will be a feast. This piece is not 

to be missed. (D.W.) 

4 NEW 

RESTOS 

WE CAN’T 

WAIT TO 

TRY 

From authentic 

Spanish fare to a 

menu that caters 

to local produce in 

flux with the season, 

these newly 

opened eateries 

are ones to keep 

your eye – and 

taste buds – on. 

By MAGGIE MCPHEE 

HUNDY 

2042-B W 4th Avenue 

The latest in split-space 

concepts, Hundy transforms 

Their There cafe into a latenight 

burger joint Thursday 

through Sunday evenings. 

Michael Robbins and Jeff Parr, 

the duo behind Kitsilano staple 

Annalena, wanted to create a 

space dedicated to the burger. 

They keep it simple with 

signature buns, Two Rivers beef, 

homemade sauce, and doublecooked 

fries. And craft beer on 

tap, of course. 

UBUNTU CANTEEN 

4194 Fraser Street 

In the space once occupied by 

Bows and Arrows resides a new 

yet equally community-dedicated 

cafe/bakery/restaurant. With 

morning, daytime, and evening 

menus that ebb and flow with 

the seasons, Ubuntu promises 

to surprise and satisfy everyone. 

David Gunawan – of Farmer’s 

Apprentice fame – and his lauded 

team source organic ingredients 

from local farmers to craft 

their affordable(!) menu. In the 

evenings they open a raw bar and 

pour only natural wines. 

INSTAGRAM 

DACHI 

2297 East Hastings 

The newest addition to Hastings- 

Sunrise is intimate in many ways: 

the cozy 40-seater space has 

close ties with local farmers, and 

its owners are eager to foster 

relationships with diners. Dachi’s 

Pacific Northwest menu changes 

every other day, and their 

selection of natural wines, craft 

beers, saki, and cocktails don’t 

last much longer. Their shellfish 

arrives at 4:30 p.m. and service 

starts at 5. For fresh and fun 

food, Dachi might be the place 

to beat. 


That's Dope 

THIS MONTH 

IN CANNABIS NEWS 

AND VIEWS 

TOP 5 

WOMEN IN 

CANNABIS 

In celebration of 

International 

Women’s Day we 

shine a light on the 

Top 5 leading ladies 

in the cannabis 

industry 

By Jamila Pomeroy 

1 

JODIE EMERY 

Cannabis Activist 

and Entrepreneur 

The Princess of 

Pot, Jodie Emery, 

has seen it all in 

her 14 years of 

cannabis activism in 

Vancouver. While a 

greener hue may be 

on the horizon with 

legalization, Emery 

cautions we have 

so much work to do, 

especially for members 

of the industry 

who have remained 

on the forefront 

during prohibition. 

Emery continues to 

be one of the most 

prominent women 

in the Canadian 

cannabis industry, 

unapologetically. 

She has most-recently 

extended 

her love for hempt 

with Jodie’s Joint, 

a hemp cafe in Toronto’s 

Kensington 

Market. 

2 3 4 5 

TRACY MACRAE 

Vice President; 

Marketing at Kiaro 

MacRae, leads 

marketing at Kiaro. 

Kiaro means light; 

because cannabis can 

be, well, illuminating. 

The cannabis retailer 

aims to destigmatize 

cannabis use by 

creating inviting retail 

spaces, providing the 

tools, information and 

resources for customers 

to not only make 

their own informed 

decisions, but become 

empowered through 

provided resources. 

MacRae has over 20 

years experience in 

marketing and is passionate 

about socially 

responsible cannabis 

retail. 

SALIMEH TABRIZI 

Founder of Cannabis 

Hemp Conference 

and Expo (CHCE) 

Tabrizi is the Founder 

of CHCE, the largest 

and most comprehensive 

cannabis 

conference in Canada. 

Through CHCE Tabrizi 

hopes to legitimize 

cannabis with science. 

Gathering prominent 

leaders, researchers, 

patients and government 

officials to 

explore the endless 

benefits of the industry. 

BETHANY RAE 

Founder of 

Flower & Freedom 

As a fitness enthusiast, 

Rae experienced 

judgement and negative 

stereotypes while 

exploring cannabis for 

her own health and 

wellness. This inspired 

her to create Flower 

& Freedom; a female-focused 

lifestyle 

community dedicated 

to reducing the stigma 

that surrounds cannabis 

use. The creative 

fashion designer and 

fitness enthusiast, 

has incorporated her 

professions with her 

passion for cannabis, 

launching her own 

cannabis-themed 

clothing line. 

ANDREA DOBBS 

Co-owner of Village 

bloomery 

Working in management 

at Womyns’Ware 

Inc for over 

ten-years, in Vancouver, 

British Columbia, 

Dobbs has been 

prominent in women-centred 

issues 

and education. When 

she began to experience 

Peri-Menopausal 

symptoms, she 

turned to cannabis 

to help relieve her 

ailments. She is now 

the Co-Owner of Village 

Bloomery, where 

she extends her love 

for education and 

alternative medicine; 

providing women-centred 

resources 

and products. 

LITTLE 

BOOK, 

BIG IDEAS 

Amanda Siebert’s new book is perfect 

for the medical cannabis newbie 

who want simple answers By BRAD SIMM 

Some people only need one good reason to use marijuana. 

Usually that’s the feel-good sensation of getting high. Beyond 

the euphoric state, Amanda Siebert looks at the broad 

spectrum of cannabis and gives you 10 other reasons why 

it’s such a marvelous substance. 

“I wanted to have balance with topics that were medicinal 

for things like chronic pain and the treatment for cancer 

in conjunction with chemotherapy. Then I wanted to have 

some light-hearted subjects like cannabis as a super-food or 

how it can improve your sex life.” 

While there’s a disclaimer that the book is “not intended 

to be a substitute for advice for medical advice from physicians,” 

Siebert delves into health-related references, arguments 

and the flurry of conflicting views whether cannabis 

is good or bad for you by presenting a wealth of information 

that’s easy to digest and understand. 

Of course, the chapter on A Steamier Sex Life garnishes 

a lot of attention that Siebert acknowledges with a laugh. 

“Yes, everyone wants to talk about the chapter on sex.” 

Cannabis as an aphrodisiac is well-known, but Siebert also 

discusses how the application and dose levels help to cultivate 

the inner workings of a heighten mind-body experience 

when sharing or alone. 

And then there’s the suggestion that instead of being the 

gateway drug, cannabis is actually an exit drug that reduces 

other harmful addictions. Getting sober in one step! 

 


VanCity People 

P 

erhaps more than ever, 

conversations around 

inclusivity are getting 

louder. Room, Canada’s 

oldest feminist literary 

journal, has been 

encouraging such dialogue for 

almost 45 years with pages that 

champion diversity and, most 

recently, with Growing Room: A 

Feminist Literary Festival. The 

annual festival features over 100 

authors in more than 50 events 

including workshops, panels, and 

readings. BeatRoute caught up 

with Chelene Knight, the Festival 

Director of Growing Room – as 

well as the Managing Editor of 

Room and an award-winning 

author in her own right – to discuss 

this year’s programming and 

the increasing importance of a 

judgment-free platform. 

In a time where #MeToo and 

Time’s Up are significant parts 

of our cultural narrative, how 

does Growing Room exist as a 

place to encourage writers to 

feel like they can freely express 

themselves in a safe space? 

I think that’s what Room Magazine 

is essentially known for. I look 

back at our No Comment project, 

which spun off from #MeToo and 

basically said, “Hey, send us your 

stories, and we’re going to publish 

them without judgement.” The 

festival really mirrors that. And I 

think people are beginning to trust 

that that’s what we’re all about. 

Even though we’re only in year 

three, folks know that Growing 

Room is that safe space where we 

can talk about anything. And this 

year, we’re going to have some 

anti-oppression training, some 

panel toxicity prevention going 

on, so we’re really thinking about 

creating that safe space. We pretty 

much programmed the whole 

festival around that idea of care 

and ethics. 

Can you tell me more about 

Toxicity Prevention? 

Let’s say we’re having a wonderful 

in-depth panel, and we’ve got 

some marginalized folks on. And 

maybe somebody in the audience 

stands up and says something 

inappropriate. How do we deal 

CHARLENE 

KNIGHT 

DIRECTOR OF GROWING ROOM: 

A FEMINIST LITERARY FESTIVAL 

With Growing 

Room, Knight 

opens the floor 

to writers and 

non-writers alike 

– all you need is 

a story to tell. 

By YASMINE SHEMESH 

with that? So preparing not only 

the volunteers, but also the venue 

managers and, of course, the 

moderators and hosts. Everyone in 

the audience is going to be aware 

that we’ve discussed this. We’re 

even looking at having that printed 

in our program. We’re going to 

have a two-page condensed 

[version of the] toxicity prevention 

discussion, because we also want 

to the audience to feel safe. 

We’re also looking at having safe 

spaces at each venue. Say we 

have members of the audience 

who are triggered by something 

on the panel – and this could 

happen anytime, there’s really 

no way to prevent that from 

happening. So, offering someone 

a space to just step out, without 

having to physically leave the 

venue. I’m really excited to listen to 

the feedback around that. 

Are these actual physical 

spaces? 

Depending on the venue. I know 

with the Native Education College, 

we have various classrooms and 

different little nooks and crannies. 

We’re going to have a volunteer, 

and they are going to be aware 

that somebody’s coming into 

the room feeling triggered, and 

[there’s] an option for that person 

to approach [the volunteer] or just 

sit there quietly. It’s totally up to 

them how they handle it. 

Specifically, what kind of things 

do you feel have impacted the 

literary landscape and writing 

community in recent years? 

I think people are really 

recognizing that there are a variety 

of voices out there. There’s not 

just the traditional linear story, 

there’s folks who are bringing in 

their personal experiences and 

these are tough to share, and 

they might not fit a traditional 

template. They might come out a 

little fragmented or blurry. I think 

we’re really opening up the canon 

and we’re looking at what stories 

need to be heard. We have a good 

chunk of our program that’s 

giving space to folks without 

published books and people 

who haven’t even done a 

reading before. We have two 

youth showcases. And to have 

emerging writers, non-writers, 

even, and established writers in 

one space – what can happen? 

I don’t know, but it’s going to be 

really incredible. 

How do you find those voices, 

especially ones that are 

unheard? 

Yeah, that’s a tough one. I think it’s 

hard to find these folks, but having 

conversations with people in the 

know. Everyone at Room is doing 

a million other things and our 

programming committee will say, 

“I heard of this person, I saw them 

tweet this, let’s dive in and see 

what they’re doing.” So, it’s a lot of 

investigating, but having our ears 

open and having conversations 

with people. I think social media 

helps a lot with that. Twitter is a 

big one. 

What are some of the highlights 

of the festival this year? You 

mentioned the youth showcases, 

but what other things can people 

look forward to? 

We have a full day of Indigenous 

Brilliance at the Revue Stage on 

Granville Island, so that’s going 

to be absolutely incredible. We 

have various readings, we have 

Indigenous vendors on site, and it 

starts off with our burlesque show 

opening night and dance party. 

There’s Black Voices Raised, which 

I’m really excited about. We’ve got 

some killer black authors coming 

in to do a reading and it’s going to 

be really beautiful. It’s also going 

to be the semi-launch of Whitney 

French’s anthology, Black Writers 

Matter. 

Are there any events you’re 

particularly excited about? 

Aside from the Black Writers 

Matter event, I’m really excited 

about the opening night party 

– because I’ve never seen a 

burlesque show! And just to see 

what people come in, because I 

think we’re really open to not just 

bringing in the literary community, 

but folks who don’t necessarily 

feel included sometimes. 

Growing Room: A Feminist Literary 

Festival runs at various venues from 

March 8-17 


PETER RICQ’S 

MONSTER 

MASH-UP 

Once Our Land 

sequel demands 

to be devoured 

By Leah Siegel 

When Peter Ricq came out 

with the first instalment of his 

graphic novel Once Our Land 

in 2016, his imagination transported 

readers to a fantastical 

time and place full of monsters 

and post-apocalyptic 

musings. Now, Ricq, who also makes up 

one-half of the Vancouver duo Humans, 

is releasing a sequel with a story as 

inventive and compelling as the first. 

In the original OOL, readers followed 

Fritz and Ingrid’s fight to survive as 

human-munching monsters swarmed on 

their village in 1830s Germany. Now, it’s 

several years later. The pair are surviving 

— if not exactly thriving — in a time 

that’s post-post-apocalypse. Time has 

passed and humans have learned how 

to make do in this new monster-filled 

reality. 

As a fun bit of trivia, the choice of 

setting was inspired by Ricq’s own 

family mythos: an ancestor reportedly 

once saved the actual city of Rothenburg 

from outside rule by drinking a barrel of 

wine in one go. It’s a wild story, and one 

that is still celebrated by Germans living 

in the area as the “Meistertrunk,” or the 

“Master Draught.” 

Ultimately, what emerges is a beautiful, 

complex world: one full of touching 

family reunions (Ricq says his favourite 

parts to draw were “all the hug scenes”); 

adorable, thumb-sized alien-friends; 

and a cruel despot. The human-eating 

monsters aren’t the only villains this 

ONCE OUR LAND 

LAUNCH PARTY 

Thursday, March 21 

Slice Of Life Gallery, 

1636 Venables St 

go-around. 

OOL2’s combination of 

lush illustrations and engaging 

storytelling, simply put, 

demands to be devoured — 

then revisited, to admire the 

detailed work. (A page, Ricq says, could 

at times take up a week to finish.) 

To celebrate this month’s release, 

Ricq will be hosting a launch party 

and art show, which will also feature 

the work of several other local artists. 

Hardcover copies of OOL2 may also 

be purchased online at onceourland. 

com. Additionally, Ricq will be holding a 

special OOL2 art raffle at the March 19 

at the American. 

YORK THEATRE 

$24 

TICKETS FROM 

Apr 02– 

Apr 06, 2019 

L’ORCHESTRE D’HOMMES-ORCHESTRES (QUÉBEC) 

New Cackle Sisters: 

Kitchen Chicken 

A musical and culinary 

tour de force 

TICKETS AVAILABLE AT THECULTCH.COM

Exploits 

ART 

BOARDS 

Prior Snowboards support 

Sea-to-Sky Corridor artists 

with an annual contest 

By JESSIE FOSTER 

Local artist 

Ginette 

Guiver’s winning 

artwork 

W 

ould you rather see your boards shipped and glued 

together in some faraway land or handcrafted nearby 

by a bunch of professional riders based around 

the block? People are physically jumping on board 

for Prior Snowboards & Skis, a shop bred out of 

Whistler circa 1989. What sets Prior apart is their commitment 

to the community, and not in some cheesy, product marketing 

sort of way either. They genuinely care for their neighbours. 

This team of snow hounds are well known around the Village 

for working with talented local artists, custom building 

products unequalled in performance and boasting some very 

steady-handed craftsmanship. They are the only shop 

in the Village to manufacture, design and shape 

their boards right in house. Sea-to-Sky Corridor 

artists every year revel in the chance to be 

chosen to showcase their artwork on brand 

new prototypes as part of Prior’s Topsheet 

Exhibition. 

Prior gives the design briefs to the artists 

in terms of aspect ratios, which is then 

displayed into a pure rectangular shape. 

The artists then start working on expectantly 

funky designs that will encompass the topside 

of these new skis and boards. They throw a large 

celebratory party whilst making sure to fill their 

manufacturing warehouse with riders and new gear. 

Following this, the winning design is decided fully on 

a public vote, which happens in September. Ben Brough 

is one of their top dogs when it comes to the graphic designing 

side of production and maintains that their exhibitions 

always packs their factory with great vibes. 

“Being a small company we like to feel like we’re very much 

in tune with that local core snowboarding community here in 

Whistler,” says Brough. “It allows people to stay very connected 

to the community, more so us staying connected with the 

community and getting people to feel involved with us, which 

is a big thing.” 

They use this annual opportunity to scope the talent 

through the Sea-to-Sky Corridor of the Horseshoe Bay through 

Whistler, Pemberton Valley and beyond. Artists start preparing 

for this competition as early as they would like, with some 

prepping for a year in advance. Ginette Guiver reined champion 

for this year’s competition and was awarded two custom 

snowboards sporting her design. Not shabby when coupled 

with the opportunity for her work to be showcased attached to 

people’s bindings throughout this and future seasons. Limited 

numbers of these boards will be available to the public starting 

the beginning of February. 

“It’s pretty wicked when you go skiing or boarding and you 

see your own design on your feet. Then on top of that, having 

such a diverse talent pool does allow us to get some stuff that 

we normally wouldn’t get in terms of design. It’s always super 

fun and it gives us a really diverse range of topsheets that will 

hit a fairly wide demographic and get things that are a little bit 

out of the ordinary.” 

Support your local snowrider and find out more at www.priorsnow.com 


MUSiC 

Concert Preview 

AMYL & THE 

SNIFFERS 

Not such a long way to the 

top (if you wanna rock ‘n’ roll). 

JAMIE WDZIEKONSK 

By JJ POWELL 

O 

n “Some Mutts (Can’t Be Muzzled),” Amyl 

and the Sniffers cut right to the quick, 

declaring what could be their thesis in 

one gleeful, defiant snarl. Inside two-anda-half-minutes 

of Raw Power-esque proto-punk 

boogie, you get the message: rock ‘n’ roll ain’t 

done with you yet. And although comparisons 

to the Stooges spring to mind, these Melbourne 

punks are an Aussie kind of dog. 

“Definitely ACDC is my favourite band,” 

says guitarist and songwriter Declan Martens. 

“Bon Scott-era ACDC. I love all that ‘70s stuff, 

I think it’s amazing. Lobby Loyde, he’s like the 

godfather. He sort of set the style of Australian 

rock that made it that real tough-sounding 

thing we have going on over here. Rose Tattoo 

as well – they’re not anything like they used to 

be, but I listen to their first album a lot.” As for 

contemporary groups, Martens cites fellow locals 

Civic and Orb as stand-outs. “Melbourne’s 

just got the best scene. There’s always so 

CONTINUED ON PG. 14 k 


LONG & McQUADE 

MUSiC CONCERT PREVIEWS 

AUSSIE PUNK 

FREE CLINICS 

DURING MARCH 

A series of free career-enhancing clinics specifically 

tailored to the needs of musicians, songwriters, producers 

and home studio enthusiasts. 

JAMIE WDZIEKONSK 

368 Terminal Avenue ∙ (604) 734-4886 

vancouver@long-mcquade.com 

At all Long & McQuade locations, including: 

1363 Main Street ∙ (604) 986-0911 

northvan@long-mcquade.com 

NORTH BY NORTHEAST 

MUSIC & GAMING FESTIVAL 

TAKING OVER TORONTO 

JUNE 7-16 

NXNE.COM 


AMYL & THE 

SNIFFERS 

many things to do and you’ve 

got to fit them into one night. 

That’s the problem everyone 

complains about: there’s too 

much going on.” 

The band formed over their 

mutual love of ‘70s Australian 

music and culture three years 

ago. “Me and Bryce (Wilson, drums), 

our original bassist (Calum Newton), 

and Amy (Taylor, lyrics/vocals), all lived 

together on a street in St. Kilda. It was 

one of the party houses – the one that 

everyone goes to after the pub – so we 

were like, we should start a party band 

and play house parties.” But as the 

guitarist explains, it didn’t work out that 

way: “I got home from work and all this 

recording gear was set up, and we just 

jammed four songs, it took four hours. 

We were like, ‘Let’s put it out tomorrow,’ 

but then we got too excited about it. So 

we put it out (on Bandcamp) that night, 

and by the next day we had three gigs 

booked, and we never played a house 

party.” Those takes are what you hear 

on the band’s debut EP, Giddy Up. 

In the following year, ginger-mulleted 

Tasmanian Gus Romer joined on bass 

and the band played their first gig as 

headliners. A second EP, Big Attraction, 

was unveiled to further acclaim, propelling 

them into the world of high-profile 

tours with King Gizzard and the Lizard 

Wizard, as well as appearances on 

AMYL AND THE 

SNIFFERS 


The Fox Cabaret 

Tix, $15: timbreconcerts. 

com, TicketWeb 

foreign continents. 2018 saw extensive 

touring with the likes of American freakpunks 

Surfbort and the release of a 7” 

single, Some Mutts / Cup of Destiny. 

As with the songs on the debut, these 

subsequent bursts of riff-heavy pubrock 

are splattered with references to 

the city they know and love. Landmarks 

like the Westgate Bridge are 

immortalized in Amy Taylor’s 

guttersnipe-songbird singalongs, 

with choruses happily 

echoed by audiences who 

don’t always understand what 

they’re singing about. “People 

send us tattoo photos where 

they’ve got this balaclava, for ‘Balaclava 

Lover Boogie.’ We’re like, ah shit, 

do we tell them that it’s a suburb? But 

everyone’s thinking it’s a balaclava you 

put on your head.” When I ask Martens 

about “70’s Street Munchies,” however, 

I learn that Taylor’s lyrics are sometimes 

open to interpretation: “Amy’s dad used 

to get a magazine called 70’s Street 

Machines, and she accidentally read it 

as ‘munchies.’ I think she hates it when I 

tell that story.” 

Speaking of Amy Taylor, Martens’ 

partner-in-crime is known not only 

for her brilliant wordplay, which veers 

between hilarious and disturbing, but 

also, like the best punk frontpeople, her 

abilities as a chaos-inducing agent of 

Wildness. 

“We put a massive emphasis on our 

live shows,” says Martens. “It’s not girls 

to the front, boys to the back, it’s everyone 

side-by-side and let’s have fun.” 

With Amyl and the Sniffers, the style 

is specific but the sentiment is eternal. 

The mutt that can’t be muzzled is probably 

just the spirit of rock ‘n’ roll itself. , 


POST PUNK 

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OLLIE NORDH 

STIFF COMPETITION 

nists and anti-racists. 

pretty much every day 

Stockholm’s Viagra Boys lash out against the 

“We just try to be 

VIAGRA BOYS 

with Pottery and and actually needed 

American fever dream By GLENN ALDERSON 

nice,” he says. Viagra Bored Décor 

it to survive. But now 

Monday, March 25 

Viagra Boys came out swinging though I deal with a lot of serious Boys are a professional 

I’m just trying to have 

The Fox Cabaret 

last year with the release of their issues in my life, I think some of punk band masquerading 

as shitheads, 

Born and raised in 

a good time,” he says. 

Tix, $15: TicketWeb.com 

debut, Street Worms, on Stockholm-based 

label YEAR0001. The things is to laugh at them in a way carrying the torch 

a county just north of 

the best ways to deal with these 

label is also home to Yung Lean, and turn them into a little bit of for a new sound that 

San Francisco, Murphy 

one of the country’s most notable comedy.” 

recalls elements of ESG and Fun talks fondly but cautiously of his 

rap music exports, but Viagra When prodded further on the House-era Stooges with 2019 sensibilities. 

They’re a serious band to Sweden in 2007 because his 

American upbringing. He moved 

Boys exist on a whole other level. serious issues to which he’s referring, 

Murphy cites drug addiction but they know how to fuck with mother is Swedish and he’d 

In a time where UK post punk 

acts like Idles and Shame are as an immediate example. 

people in all the right ways. fallen in love with the country 

gaining international attention “I think drug addiction is a Take the first single from the as a child. Now he’s living in 

via the Spotify wasteland, Viagra good example because it’s really band’s debut, “Sports,” where Stockholm, working as a tattoo 

Boys exist more as a commentary fun but it’s also really not fun. Murphy talk-sings his way 

artist and making music with his 

on the futility of hardcore music Which is a bit like our music, it’s through a laundry list of pseudo friends. 

to make any sort of change. Instead 

of blue-collar working class Calling their band Viagra Boys basketball, wiener dogs, short of a tour that’s taking them all 

fun but it’s pretty dark also.” machismo nonsense, ”Baseball, Viagra Boys are in the middle 

fight songs, they’re more likely to is a statement in and of itself; a shorts — sports.” You get the over the UK, Canada and the USA 

rip a line of coke and mock the stiff middle finger to toxic masculinity, 

as opposed to the immamerizing 

“Just Like You,” Murphy is quick to acknowledge that on 

idea. On another track, the mes- 

throughout the summer. Murphy 

world from the outside with their 

driving rhythms and intellectual ture drug-addled boner popping distills dystopian fantasies while tour, every day can’t be Friday 

social observations. 

that a flipside impression might unpacking the American fever so he looks to his bandmates for 

“It has a lot to do with how lend itself to. 

dream and wrestling with his own guidance and inspiration. 

I try to look at myself,” says 

“At first when we started out, inner demons. 

“Some of them are fathers, 

frontman Sebastian Murphy, on we were maybe a little bit worried “I try not to be too hard on some of them have much better 

the phone from Warsaw Poland, that we were called Viagra Boys myself because I’ve been in situations 

in my life that were much helps,” he says. “Because you 

self control than me, and that 

in between bites of his truck stop and it could be misinterpreted, 

chicken sandwich. “I try to not but we made it pretty clear from worse. Before I started the band really don’t want to be the only 

take myself too serious. Even the beginning that we’re all femi- 

I was way more into heavy stuff, guy in the band partying.” , 


BL_ad_Feb2019_FINAL_marks.pdf 1 2019-02-19 1:29 PM 


DREAM POP 

C 

M 

Y 

CM 

MY 

CY 

CMY 

K 

SHELLY MOSMAN 

A 25-YEAR LOW 

Indie veterans Low capture the brutally beautiful noise of the 

now with Double Negative By GRAEME WIGGINS 

C 

elebrating a 25 year 

connects with our current 

long career and an 11 LOW 

political climate. There’s an ever 

album discography, Friday, March 15 present sense of foreboding to 

indie band Low are no The Imperial 

the record. While recording 

strangers to progression and 

reinvention. With the release of 

Tix, $20: Ticketfly the album was begun during 

the runup to the last American 

2018’s Double Negative they have crafted 

an album that is equal parts beautiful and 

brutal, a stark, noisy experimental work 

that still manages to be both moving and of 

the moment. 

In hindsight, there were hints that they 

could pull off something like this. Their 

previous record with the same producer, 

B.J. Burton, hinted at things to come. 

“Ones and Sixes was sprinkled with 

moments and things that make you go 

‘that’s interesting,’ so we were like let’s 

make the whole record that. It took a while,” 

singer Alan Sparhawk explains. “There was 

a conversation about what could be done 

with the voices, how could that be broken 

up. How the voice collides with it. And is 

there a way we can make rhythm and make 

movement without it just being drums.” 

election, the influence was organic rather 

than purposeful. 

“There are definitely some songs that are 

a reflection of that time,” Sparhawk says. 

“The way I write, I’m not intentional, but 

I can look back. I don’t sit around like, I’m 

going to write about this, or I’m going to 

write about that. The songs come and you 

put the puzzle together and if you’re lucky 

you can take a step back and feel a pattern.” 

Low are known for the their live show, 

which has come a long way from their history 

of turning things down, confrontationally, 

to combat loud audiences. Sparhawk 

credits this to their longevity. 

“We were lucky,” he says. “We’re lucky 

to be able to tour and develop. Work with 

cool people who have helped to us become 

who we are. Most bands only get a few 

The album’s dark beauty seemingly years.” , 


CLASSIC ROCK 

SILVIA GRAV 

SOMETHING BORROWED. 

SOMETHING BLUE. 

Cass McCombs isn’t afraid to sonically reference classic rock moments By MIA GLANZ 

Cass McCombs isn’t in pursuit. 

Making music and playing 

music is what it’s about for 

the veteran songwriter and 

his approach is refreshing. He 

doesn’t pretend to have the 

answers, responding with awareness of 

everything he doesn’t know. 

“I don’t have Spotify, I don’t use that. I 

don’t even really know what it is,” he says. 

McCombs doesn’t need to care. He’s 

doing fine; a great songwriter and then 

some. Let him focus on the music and the 

moment. Meanwhile, his new classic rock 

album, Tip of the Sphere, plants its roots 

in the collective consciousness through 

Spotify, and the forces of the Internet. 

McCombs’ albums are collaborative 

efforts, both in their making and in their 

references to music history. 

“Personally I like making music with 

other musicians rather than it being a 

solitary event,” he says. And with that 

intention, he has made music and toured 

CASS McCOMBS 


St. James Hall 

Tix, $20, Ticketweb 

with some of the biggest 

indie artists of the day. Here 

there is no attachment to the 

paraphernalia of the music 

industry. Scenes for him are 

“gross” and he makes music 

with his friends. He is able to call himself, 

“pro friend, anti scene.” 

Music was natural for someone raised 

by it. McCombs was “crawling, on [his] 

knees, through the legs of musicians 

playing.” He started out listening to 

metal, and making music with his friends. 

“We became obsessed with the electric 

guitar.” He moved to the East Coast 

early on, saying about it simply, “I don’t 

think anybody really wants to stay where 

they’re from.” 

Despite the wealth of political and 

literary references in his music, McCombs 

wants you to take what you want from his 

music, and forget the rest. “They’re only 

intended, really, for me.” The appreciation 

of the singularity of people’s experiences 

makes him reluctant to qualify 

anything generally. 

“It sounds really goth,” he says. “But 

we’re all invading each other’s spaces like 

some sort of modern dance. We have to 

move around each other’s spaces.” 

Dancing is also McCombs’ metaphor 

for the act of listening. “If you’re listening, 

you’re dancing.” That’s about as far 

as he’ll go to categorize his audience. 

Music making is more about the realm of 

the psyche, that “not nice place.” That’s 

where he goes to write. 

“I mean, I’m writing all the time. I 

don’t think about it like I’m writing an album, 

and I definitely don’t think about it 

like it’s a business,” he says. “I don’t have 

to write these songs. Like, I need to write 

these songs, and I always write these 

songs because I have emotional problems. 

This is the only thing I can do to deal with 

certain shit that’s going on inside me. 

Again, maybe that sounds super goth or 

something but that’s just the way it is.” ,


BARONESS 

CROWNS A 

NEW QUEEN 

New guitarist Gina Gleason is no novelty act, just a 

great player says band leader John Dyer Baizley 

By CHRISTINE LEONARD 

W 

hen BeatRoute last 

touched base with melodic 

metal monarch 

John Dyer Baizley, the 

leader of Savannah, 

Georgia’s Baroness, it was mid-2016 

and singer/guitarist/visual artist was 

in a warehouse in England, 

or as he puts it “an 

alternate universe version 

of preparing for tour by 

rehearsing a lot.” Having 

BARONESS 

With Deafheaven & 

guests 

Wed, March 20 

Vogue Theatre 

Tix, $33.50, Eventbrite 

subsequently introduced 

Europe to their moody 

Grammy-nominated album 

Purple, the first release on the 

quartet’s newfound Abraxan Hymns 

record label, Baizley more recently 

found himself looking for another 

mountain to summit. That challenge 

unexpectedly arrived when longtime 

friend and member Pete Adams announced 

his amical departure from 

the band after decade of providing 

backing guitars and vocals. Fortunately 

for Baizley and remaining 

crew, bassist Nick Jost and drummer 

Sebastian, the next ascendant to the 

royal family was waiting in the wings, 

axe in hand. 

“It was just one of the easiest and 

perhaps luckiest things that’s happened 

to us in our career,” says Baizley 

of Baroness’s acquisition of guitarist 

Gina Gleason. “We got really 

lucky, Gina is an incredible player 

and she’s got a great attitude. She is an 

incredibly diligent and hardworking 

musician. We have found yet another 

incredible musician to join the band 

and do what we love doing.” 

Novelty never entered the picture 

according to Baizley, who perceives 

the recruitment of a woman to Baroness’s 

muscular lineup with an open 

mind and a discerning ear; just as 

he did for the ingestion of Jost and 

Thomson in 2013. 

“Much the same as when Nick 

and Sebastian joined the band, our 

HEAVY METAL 

It was just one of the easiest & 

perhaps luckiest things that’s 

happened to us in our career. 

 

John Dyer Baizley 

fectively broke them in twain, Baizley 

is in a better place both physically 

and mentally. He explains that the 

group would have “more than likely” 

gone down an alternate path if destiny 

hadn’t intervened “had we not 

experienced what we experienced 

on the first tour for Yellow & Green 

(2012 Relapse Records) - which, of 

course, is when we had that flying 

bus accident off the cliff - had we not 

suffered that and lost members and 

had to rebuild and restructure…” It’s 

amazing how things can change in an 

instant. “When we were a younger 

band, we played seven days a week. 

After I was injured… I’ve got the type 

of injury where I’m a better musician 

if I get a few days off a week.” 

Taking time to recharge and write 

has been beneficial and by Baizley’s 

estimates a “not uncolourful” release 

from the freshly-forged Baroness is 

lurking right around the corner. An 

accomplished painter and illustrator 

in his own right, Baizley was actually 

response time between 

members has been phenomenally 

fast and often 

seamless. I’m always 

afraid there’s going to be 

some extremely laborious 

process of integration and 

chemistry building, but it’s 

just never been that big of an issue 

for us. Her qualifications for joining 

the band and becoming a member 

of Baroness had nothing to do with 

gender. Anybody with her skill level 

that had shown interest would have 

gotten it. It just happened to be her. 

We couldn’t be happier.” 

Baizley continues. “Additionally, 

I’d like to think that this band is now, 

and has always been, a place where 

ideas like gender or age or race aren’t 

significant to who we work with and 

how we work with those people. It is 

awesome. If I’m being honest, I don’t’ 

think we see enough of it out there in 

our scene. It can feel a bit male dominated, 

I’m might be the wrong person 

to even say that being a male myself, 

but she’s proof made flesh that your 

gender has virtually no bearing to 

what you’re able to accomplish and 

the way you’re capable accomplishing 

it. And I’m really glad that I can say 

this about this band and about this 

woman.” 

Well-past the terrifying 2012 road 

wreck that crippled the band and efcompleting 

the artwork for their yetto-be-unveiled 

album’s cover as this 

interview was being conducted. 

“We’ve finished recording the next 

album and now we’re just in the process 

of figuring out how, when, where, 

why, what it’s going to look like. With 

each record we lean into something 

entirely different. We really pushed as 

creatives and as songwriters with this 

new record. We were without a doubt 

a difficult group of people to satisfy. 

We held ourselves to a very high standard 

creatively and wrote something 

that I think some people will like. I 

like the Hell out of it. I think it’s the 

best record we’ve ever done. I’m extremely 

excited.” , 

SHELLY MOSMAN 


MELODIC DEATH METAL 

EXTREME METAL 

METAL THERAPY 

Sweden’s durable melodic metal icons In Flames are 

ready to drop lucky number thirteen By JOHNNY PAPAN 

WILLIAM FELCH 

In Flames is one of Sweden’s most prolific 

IN FLAMES 

metal groups. They are credited with pioneering 


the melodic death-metal genre, often utilizing 

machine-gun-like distorted riffs with dynamic The Imperial 

synths, versatile guitar-leads and a contrast of Tix, $44.50: eventbrite.ca 

soft vocals and demonic screams. Together for 

nearly 30 years, In Flames is about to drop I, The Mask, due March 1. 

“People carry a lot of darkness within [them],” vocalist Anders 

Fridén says. “That’s where the title comes from and what a lot of the 

songs are based around. Instead of hiding behind something, you need 

to address it so you can see what’s ahead and what’s around you.” 

I, The Mask, though not a concept album, does have a lyrical 

through-line. The idea of society hiding behind a mask is prevalent, but 

there seems to be a deeper meaning when you dissect each individual 

track. 

“Instead of talking to someone, I do therapy on myself with the way 

I write,” Fridén explains. “There are a lot of metaphors which, in itself, 

is maybe a mask I use because I don’t want people to come too close. 

I always need that safety net. I deal with a lot of things to get lyrics out 

of me, and when it’s written on paper, it’s out for good. That’s a good 

session for me.” 

The last few In Flames records swayed in an alternative-metal 

direction as opposed to melodic death. I, The Mask feels like a perfect 

concoction of old and new, blending 2016’s Battles and 2011’s Sounds 

of a Playground Fading with classic energies from records like 2002’s 

Reroute to Remain and 2006’s Come Clarity. A fresh record with 

potent hits of nostalgia. 

“In a perfect world I want people to listen to this album from side A 

to side B, by themselves in a dark room, and just absorb everything,” 

Fridén concludes. “This record is a great representation of who we are 

these days. It’s our 13th album, which is crazy. It’s been a long career 

and I’m so grateful we have people listening to what we do so we can 

continue doing something we truly, truly love.” 

MAREK SABOGAL 

BIG FINNISH 

Road weariness, introspection and sobriety guide Finland’s Children of 

Bodom on their latest album Hexed By JOHNNY PAPAN 

Hexed, the forthcoming record from 

Finland’s extreme metal outfit Children 

of Bodom, may be the band’s most 

thought-out album in recent memory. 

Frontman Alexi Laiho says this album 

found him “branching out” when it 

came to penmanship, expressing an introspection 

on his addictive personality. 

Opening track “This Road” begins the album’s 

foray. 

“People thought [‘This Road’] was about alcoholism, 

but it’s more about being addicted to 

being on the road,” says Laiho. “After 20 years 

on the road, everything becomes a blur and you 

don’t know what the hell’s going on. It’s so emotionally 

and physically draining that it feels like 

it’s killing you, but you can’t stop doing it because 

you love it.” 

Despite people’s misconceptions about the 

track, Laiho admits his past relationship with 

alcohol was a dangerous romance, holding him 

with a reaper-like grip. A booze-infused scythe 

grazed his jugular with every sip he took, and every 

hangover began to feel like a foot in the grave. 

“‘Under Grass and Clover’ is about severe alcohol 

withdrawal,” Laiho says. “I don’t really drink 

like that anymore, but back in the day it was pretty 

hardcore. [While writing Hexed] I went back in 

time and started remembering what it felt like to 

go through detox. I don’t even drink on the road 

anymore. I don’t want to fuckin’ feel like that ever 

CHILDREN OF 

BODOM 


Vogue Theatre 

Tix, $27.50-$35: 

eventbrite.ca 

again. I’d wake up and take a couple 

shots, not to get drunk, but just to keep 

an even keel and feel normal. It’s fuckin’ 

sad.” 

Laiho cut back on drinking in 2013. 

“I said to myself, ‘It’s either the 

booze or the music.’ When you put it 

like that, it’s like, ‘What am I talking 

about? Of course, the music.’ But I didn’t want to 

stop altogether. I wanted to prove I could drink 

like a normal person.” 

It’s rare that someone can go through detox 

and maintain a relationship with their substance 

of choice without relapsing, but Laiho seems to be 

pulling it off. In fact, Children of Bodom just released 

their own beer, which was brewed with the 

water of Lake Bodom, the infamous Finnish murder 

scene for which the band got its name. For the 

last five years, Laiho has refused to drink on tour, 

opting only to controllably drink with friends at 

home. 

“I think that’s the most important thing: admitting 

it,” he continues. “If you stay in denial, 

that’s not going to take you anywhere. Admit it 

to yourself, know yourself, and keep an eye on 

yourself. I’ve been there, and I’ve seen people 

ruin their lives because of alcohol or drugs. Don’t 

get me wrong, I’m not a fuckin’ saint, and I’m not 

trying to preach here. This just worked for me. 

It’s actually pretty fucking great, not feeling so 

fuckin’ shitty everyday.” , 



Our story is like: became a band, 

played a stupid amount of shows, 

and never put out any recordings 

 

Isaiah Dobbs 

ZEUSTATE 

EASILY “SCHWEYED” 

Live show veterans Schwey’s self-titled debut album 

has been six years in the making. By QUINN THOMAS 

T 

hree desperados in heavy 

winter coats enter the bar 

they have seemingly never 

been to before. These are no 

normal men – they are the key members 

of Schwey (formerly known as 

Funk Schwey), Isaiah Dobbs, Jarah 

Dobbs and Jacob Schwinghammer. 

They sit down, order a bag of 

chips and proceed to recall the history 

of Schwey while “Rocket Man” 

fills the air of Funky Winker Beans 

in downtown Vancouver. 

Jacob (keyboard) and Isaiah 

(bass and vocals) started jamming 

back in high school. It all took off 

when Isaiah’s neighbour let him borrow 

their vintage Fender Rhodes, lugging 

it up and down stairs and around 

tight corners just to rehearse. They 

debuted their material at a community 

event in Vancouver called Heat 

Wave Classic back in 2013, a backyard 

barbeque and basketball tournament 

hosted by their friend. 

“We played some weird songs, really 

rock, really fun,” says Jacob. “We 

were trying to be the Beatles. Really 

random music.” 

The group played Ignite festival 

in 2014 followed by playing nonstop 

shows around the city in 2015. It 

was during this time that 

you say ‘funk,’ it has so 

SCHWEY 

Schwey developed their 

much weight and stigma 


signature sound, presentation 

and branding, fea- 

The pure magnetism of 

around it.” 

604 Soundstage 

Album release party 

turing Ben Robertson on 

their live shows was so legendary 

that it attracted the 

guitar. Their vibe was a 

message of peace and love, turning attention of 604 Records, who signed 

the dance floor into a safe space. the band and will be releasing their debut 

album on March 15. 

After their original guitarist left for 

business school in Montreal, Schwey Hype man Jarah chimes in, boasting 

about his brother’s commitment 

entered their second and most 

recognizable iteration. Their new to putting time in on weekends and 

aesthetic called for a new name – after school at their makeshift studio 

dropping the “funk” from their name in Jacob’s parent’s basement. Both 

allowed fans to find them more easily 

and gave them the edge they were Jarah says they’re “musically con- 

Jacob and Isaiah are producers, and 

looking for. 

nected.” 

Isaiah adds they changed their “We just kind of work together to 

name “to disassociate from anything 

weighing us down. When “We’ve worked together for so 

make the right sound,” Jacob says. 

many 

years. We don’t want to explain what 

we’re going for to a third person and 

have it not sound like us.” 

Putting an album worth of effort 

into every song, Isaiah describes this 

record as a diverse “mood board” 

displaying what the band can do. 

“Our story is like: became a band, 

played a stupid amount of shows, and 

never put out any recordings,” says 

Isaiah. “We kind of built a fan base 

around the energy of our shows.” 

Their forthcoming self-titled album 

is six years in the making and 

the group says they’ll be relocating 

to Montreal in the near future. They 

are looking to change up the scene 

of their live performances, hopefully 

getting more of Canada on board 

with the Schwey vibe. , 


FUNKY FANGS 

The Cat Empire roll out their big top on this tour with 

tough, bold, brassy downunder funk By TREVOR MORELLI 

JAZZ-FUNK ROCK 

When Australia’s The 

the same as the others 

Cat Empire dropped 

THE CAT EMPIRE 

– it’s really different. 

Sunday, March 17 & 

their self-titled debut album 

more than 15 years The Commodore Ballroom write songs that would 

We really wanted to 


ago, frontman Felix 

Riebl had no idea what 

kind of journey he was 

about to embark on. 

“I didn’t expect it to 

be going this long,” he 

Tix: $99, Ticketmaster 


Royal Theatre (Victoria) 

Tix: $37-$47 

translate and be really 

tough going from the 

studio to the stage… 

(with) rhythm sections 

that would just carry 

on a big festival stage. 

says. “The band started because 

a bunch of musicians got together 

from all different parts of sound, 

and there’s just a real chemistry 

there. Something just clicked.” 

The Cat Empire is a six-piece 

orchestrated mix of steamy pop 

and bold, brassy, deep funky 

grooves that translate on stage to 

busting a move in rainbow colours 

and visual theatrics. Coming overseas 

to promote their new album 

Stolen Diamonds, Riebl says it’s 

one of the most inspiring records 

they’ve ever made. 

“I feel like Stolen Diamonds is 

the end of a trilogy. It’s the third 

part of us having made these 

albums with Jan (Stubiszewski, 

producer), which is not to say it’s 

We really wanted to make some 

tough albums. It’s probably one 

of the most musically challenging 

that we’ve made.” 

With eight records under their 

belt, the live show is a jubilant 

mix of old and new as Cat Empire 

strives to find the, ahem, purr-fect 

balance of fan favourites and 

improvised pieces. 

“There’s always been this big 

struggle in our band between 

songs, in the sense of songs that 

people sing back [to us], and sections 

that make music interesting 

and challenging for us on stage as 

well,” Riebl admits. “Both of them 

have their place in a set, but you 

want to get the right tension between 

those two different coasts. 

The good shows are the ones 

that kind of have an arc between 

both of those things, because they 

give an audience a sense of going 

somewhere, having been somewhere 

that’s very unique to that 

night, not just having seen a show 

that’s kind of cookie cutter.” 

As for their upcoming Canadian 

tour, Riebl says the group feels 

right at home despite being thousands 

of kilometers from their 

native land down under. 

“Canada has been a bit of a 

second home for us. I always 

feel like we’re being made very 

welcome in Canada. It’s always a 

tour that’s really fun for us.” , 



SPASTIC POP 

LO-FI HYPNOTIC WAVE 

SHE’S A 

WORKING 

CLASS HERO 

Marie Davidson lightens the mood on 

Working Class Woman By GRAEME WIGGINS 

FREE AT LAST 

Devours let go of any lingering traces of internalized 

homophobia and passionately embraces their queer 

identity By JOEY LOPEZ 

Vancouver avant-garde pop artist 

Devours has been pushing boundaries 

since the release of his last record 

Late Bloomer, a massive-sounding 

album with studio quality recorded 

in his own apartment. With his upcoming 

album Iconoclast, Devours 

took the approach of being wholly 

and completely himself: dramatic, 

honest and queer. 

“The last three years have been 

extremely transformative for me,” 

he says. “The emotions are pretty 

raw and intense on Iconoclast. I 

was in a significant relationship that 

came to an end during the songwriting 

period, so there are a few breakup 

songs on the album. Iconoclast 

is not an album about relationships 

with other people, though. It is 

about my relationship with myself. 

The album is also about masculinity 

and queer identity. I 

dealt with a ton of shame 

and insecurity growing 

up about my sexuality 

and issues surrounding 

my body image. This album 

is about letting go 

DEVOURS 


Red Gate Arts Society, 

1965 Main Street 

Tix, $10 

of any lingering traces of internalized 

homophobia inside of me and finally 

embracing who I am.” 

For Devours, creating Iconoclast 

has been a journey of self-exploration. 

On it, he discovers who he is 

not just as an artist, but as a person. 

Most of this trip through the inner 

workings of himself comes from his 

experience within the gay community, 

trying to fit into particular roles in 

a bid to find a sense of belonging. To 

liberate himself, he created an iconic 

look that contradicted his masculine 

features, instead presenting Devours 

as something feminine. 

“Aside from my friend Joel Gomez 

lending his amazing falsetto 

to some of the tracks, I wrote, recorded, 

mixed, and mastered this 

album by myself in my tiny apartment 

in Mount Pleasant,” he says. 

“The process lasted several years, 

so my feelings towards the album 

have had time to shift around. My 

breakup was hard, and my journey 

of self-discovery isn’t 

over, so the album still 

feels pretty raw. I was 

also pushing myself 

to make a Vancouver 

album that 

was both DIY 

and huge-sounding, weird 

but catchy, honest to my 

own experiences but still 

relatable. One big thing 

that drove me with this album 

was my desire to write 

about male body image – mainly 

because of my struggles with it, and 

because I know a lot of fellow gays 

who are wrestling with the same 

demons. Also, I’m at a place in 

my life and career where I only 

want to write queer lyrics. No 

more pandering to the mainstream.”” 

, 

Humour and Emotion are two 

things not typically associated 

with electronic music to 

most minds. This makes Marie 

Davidson’s most recent album 

Working Class Woman that 

much more refreshing as it combines 

both with club-friendly, 

danceable tunes. 

MARIE 

DAVIDSON 


Fortune Sound Club 

Tix, $15, Ticketweb 

“It was important for me that there would be a lot 

of different emotions and subjects that I wanted to 

touch,” explains Davidson. “Of course humour is 

very present because I went through dark times 

in my 20s and humour was something that 

helped me a lot to address things, it makes 

it easier. There’s not only humour on the 

record there are some dark moments on 

the record.” 

Working Class Woman is a biographical 

trip for Davidson, that reflects on the duality 

of what brought her to her current level of 

success: work. 

“I’m a workaholic. Sometimes 

it can become a 

problem. That’s why I 

talk about it. I kind of 

knew I was for a 

few years but 

in 2017-2018 

I started to 

have health 

problems 

related to 

working too 

much, traveling 

too much, playing 

too much, partying 

too much, everything.” 

In keeping with this she is 

planning on taking some time 

off shortly, so catch her while 

you can. 

JOHN LONDONO 


MOOD 

MUSIC 

MASTERCLASS 

Paleman approaches music 

making like an academic. 

By JOEY LOPEZ 

T 

here’s an old adage 

that art school 

PALEMAN 

students around the 

world are familiar Open Studios 

with: you have to 

know the rules before 

you can break them. 

It’s about taking conventions 

and making them unconventional. There’s 

something special about an artist that 

can manipulate matter like an alchemist. 

Paleman is a UK-based DJ that 

does exactly that, taking sonic lead and 

turning it into gold. Paleman was once an 

art student himself, studying jazz before 

making the move to internationally 

renowned DJ. 

“I consider jazz to be the pursuit of 

freedom to express yourself musically,” 

he says. “It embodies rebellion and 

experimentation with improvisation and 

decisions, practicing refining intentions 

when performing or writing music. Jazz 

was everyone’s dance music once, and 

played in clubs for people who wanted to 

escape. Those parallels still exist within 

electronic dance music. On a practical 

level, I made electronic music in my down 

time from studying. I enjoyed creating 

Saturday, March 30 

Tix, $20-$25: leisure. 

events/paleman-openstudios 

music with sounds I didn’t 

realize existed. I went clubbing 

to escape eight hours a day of 

practice. It’s still an escape for 

me. I love playing the drums, 

and I still study classical music 

and jazz, but electronic music 

was a mystery. It pulled me in 

and somehow I made a career out of it.” 

Paleman reaches to the roots of music, 

stripping it down to its bare bones to create 

a minimal, percussive sound, working 

on modular machines as opposed to 

computers. Paleman wants his music to 

feel real. More importantly, he wants to 

craft a mood. 

“It’s an extraordinary ability that 

comes with a lot of thought, experience, 

patience and practice in writing music,” 

he says. “A Rothko painting does the 

same: it pulls you in with a mood. Even 

though it’s arguably quite understated, 

you can’t avoid being pulled into his 

world, but it’s on your terms. I want to 

do that too – it comes with time, I guess. 

Dark, gritty electronic music, when done 

right, creates a really powerful and profound 

headspace for me, so for now I’m 

focused on that.” , 

ALBUM OUT MARCH 29 


FRI 1 

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TOURIST COMPANY & THE LONG 

RANGE HUSTLE 

FRI 15 

DOORS @ 7:O0PM 

ACTORS 

WITH BOOTBLACKS AND SPECTRES 

FRI 29 


NO REQUEST FRIDAY 

INDIE, ROCK, ALT, 80S, 90S, & 2000S 

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WITH MESTIS AND DAVE MACKAY 

SAT 2 


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1ST ANNIVERSARY SHOW 

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DANCE PARTY JAMS FOR THE YOUNG, RESTLESS, AND BORED! 

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FOOLISH FAR BACK 

DANCE BIG SHOES. PARTY BIG JAMS HAIR. FOR BIG THE ATTITUDES. YOUNG, RESTLESS, AND BORED! 

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CELEBRATE ALL YOUR FAV FISHES! 

MON 18 


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WITH BLUE J 

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INDIE, ROCK, ALT, 80S, 90S, & 2000S 

SAT 6 


BYE FELICIA 

VANCITY ROYALTY DRAG PARTY! 

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WITH RIVER WHYLESS 

SAT 23 17 


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WITH NEHIYAWAK 

SAT SUN 17 7 


HOP ALONG 


SAT 917 


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WITH SHE’S BAAACK! VANCITY ROYALTY LAUNCH PARTY! 

SAT 23 17 


BYE FELCIA FT. MISS TOTO 

A GENDER BENDING, BODY BUILDING, DRAG MONSTER FROM MIAMI! 

SAT TUES 17 9 


MISSIO 

WITH BLACKILLAC AND SWELLS 

TUES 12 


GILMORE GIRLS TRIVIA 

HOSTED BY IQ 2000 TRIVIA 

MON 25 


THE BRIGHT LIGHT SOCIAL HOUR 

WITH GUESTS SEA MOYA 

THURS 11 


THE TROUBLE NOTES 

LOSE YOUR TIES TOUR 



JAMES 

BLAKE 

HEALS 

HIMSELF 

After taking time to improve 

his mental health, James 

Blake has taken on a whole 

new perspective 

By JOEY LOPEZ 

J 

ames Blake has been 

on the forefront of forward-thinking, 

innovative 

electronic music 

and avant-garde pop 

since the release of his 

debut self-titled album 

in 2011. He creates evocative 

emotional landscapes that embody 

anxious longing and the feeling 

of being awash, never quite feeling 

like you exist in the space you occupy. 

Blake has sonically captured depression 

in the electronic age, but now, 

nine years and three albums later, he 

has captured an entirely different feeling: 

one of romance and love. Never 

being one to shy away from themes of 

love in the past, Blake decided to approach 

it differently this time. Instead 

of heartbreak, it’s happiness – something 

new for longtime listeners of 

the London-born musician. 

“It’s a product of a good thing, I 

guess,” says Blake. “I’ve been previously 

frustrated, maybe by my own 

cryptic writing. I think it was time 

to express how I feel like I could be 

without being on the nose. I just tried 

to say the things I needed. I think I 

managed it. Generally, the thing that 

you mean isn’t always the most singable 

sentence. I tend to have a general 

level of rawness out of the box.” 

Being more honest, raw and open 

with his feelings, Blake has found a 

sound that suits him well. Gone are 

I think arriving 

at some kind 

of mental 

balance had a 

drastic effect 

on my music. 

It needed 

a personal 

change to 

effect a musical 

change. 

the days of the sadboy, 

a term Blake himself 

despises due to the idea 

it proposes of men not 

being allowed to be emotional, 

and in its place 

reigns a more mature, 

JAMES BLAKE 

Saturday, March 9 

Harbour Convention 

Centre 

Tix, $55: eventbrite.ca 

thoughtful artist. This transition 

wasn’t an overnight change. It’s been 

three years since the release of his 

last project, The Colour 

in Anything, and Blake 

has had time to ruminate. 

Giving himself room to 

breathe, Blake made personal 

changes by stepping 

away from himself 

and his work. Those who suffer from 

mental illness will be able to relate: 

he had to break away from how his 

AMANDA CHARCHIAN 

mind was playing tricks on him. 

“Honestly, I think I’ve done a lot 

of work on myself,” he says. “A great 

deal of soul-searching and getting to 

the point where I really needed to fix 

a few things with the way I viewed the 

world, the way I felt and my patterns. 

The stuff we all have to at some point 

conquer: our own egos and our ability 

to listen and not make everything 

about ourselves, for positive or for 

negative. That is what ‘Don’t Miss 

It’ is about: taking anxiety head-on, 

and depression, and everything that 

was bringing me down at the time. I 

think arriving at some kind of mental 

balance had a drastic effect on my 

music. It was a garden well, unkempt 

and untended to. It needed a personal 

change to effect a musical change.” 

At the age of 30, Blake has had time 

to grow up and, with a humble maturity, 

assess himself for the better. His 

latest album, Assume Form, shows 

all the signs of that maturity. It’s 

thoughtful and takes its time to grow 

with surprising moments of dramatic 

expression. The most welcomed surprise 

is an André 3000 feature that 

blew not only listeners away, but also 

Blake himself. 

“It was a dream come true. I 

learned a lot. I always learned a lot 

from [André 3000]. Before I even 

knew him, I was learning from him. 

He doesn’t do verses that often. The 

fact that he did one for my album 

doesn’t go unappreciated. I’m really 

so happy. Other than that, whatever, 

it was the process: he liked the 

song, he did the verse,” Blake laughs, 

playing it cool. Assume Form also 

features a breathtaking feature from 

Rosalía, who Blake met during their 

first studio session together. By the 

end of the session they had “Barefoot 

in the Park,” one of the most beautiful 

tracks off the entire project. 

Blake’s exponential growth is admirable, 

and Assume Form is proof 

that he will not be slowing down anytime 

soon. The fact that he has taken 

time to grow and create music from 

a completely different perspective is 

a sign of an intelligent artist that is 

only going to keep growing and improving. 

Assume Form doesn’t feel 

like a follow-up, but a new beginning. 

Reborn anew, but holding onto the 

familiar sounds of yesterday, Blake 

embarks on the journey of an eventual 

legend. , 


MUSiC COVER STORY 

TANJA TIZIANA 


PUP (L-R): Zack Mykula, Stefan Babcock, Steve Sladowski and 

Nestor Chumak. Toronto, Ontario’s punk rock road warriors 

combat depression with laughter on their new album, Morbid Stuff, 

set for release on the band’s brand new label Little Dipper.

Life of 

the party 

Toronto punks channel doom 

and gloom of the here and 

now on Morbid Stuff 

T 

oronto has just recovered from a week-long 

winter apocalypse and PUP frontman Stefan 

Babcock and drummer Zack Mykula are sitting 

in a craft beer hall in the city’s West End, 

nursing their beverages while pinball machines 

clink away loudly in the background. 

Torontonians have an interesting, if not comedic, relationship 

with winter. Remember 20 years ago when 

the mayor had to call in the military to help them battle 

mother nature? While this year didn’t call for a full 

blown national emergency, it was still pretty dark — for 

Toronto. 

“I actually love the doom and gloom of winter, but 

that long Canadian winter does play into the songwriting 

and general vibe of our songs,” Babcock says. 

Surviving winter is one thing, but the story of PUP 

is actually rooted in survival, with a bit of deep-seated 

nihilism thrown in for good measure. The young punk 

band has just finished the final touches on their new 

album, Morbid Stuff, and they’re enjoying some downtime 

before they take off on tour for what’s basically 

looking like the rest of the year and then some. 

The album is so fresh they haven’t even had a chance 

to think about what this installment of their discography 

means to them yet, but you can tell by the album 

name alone that it’s pretty much the same old PUP doing 

what their fans have grown to love from their previous 

albums, up to and including 2016’s defiant The 

Dream Is Over. 

If you don’t know the story, the narrative around 

the album is one of perseverance; one that defines the 

band’s ethos through and through. In 2015, on the first 

day of a six-week tour, Babcock discovered a cyst on 

his vocal chords. The band was in Baltimore and he felt 



TANJA TIZIANA 

MUSiC COVER STORY 

I mean, yeah man, the 

fucking apocalypse is 

coming. Get ready!” 

Lead singer, Stefan Babcock 


something was off so they went to a clinic at Johns Hopkins 

Hospital. This is where he would meet the doctor who would 

be the source of inspiration for the album name when she 

uttered the four words no artist ever wants to hear — “The 

dream is over.” 

But in actuality, PUP’s journey was just beginning. 

Babcock recalls: “She was like, ‘Just go home, this band thing 

is over for you.’ So, all of us being very defiant in the face of 

that stuff, we decided to just keep going and we ended up getting 

through five weeks of that tour, which was crazy.” 

The actual crazy part is that when they finally landed back 

home in Toronto on week five, Babcock’s 

voice had finally had enough. 

“In our home market with the 

most pressure and the most fans and 

everything, just before we went on, I 

literally couldn’t make a sound,” Babcock 

continues. “It just wasn’t there 

PUP 


With Pkew Pkew Pkew 

and Brass 

The Wise Hall 

SOLD OUT 

at all. And we played that day and I was just croaking. After 

that I went to another specialist in Toronto and found out I 

hemorrhaged my vocal chords. Essentially the cyst burst apart 

and filled my vocal chords with blood.” 

Vocal chords have to meet to make a sound and the blood 

was preventing Babcock from using his voice so he had no 

choice but to stop. After weeks of silence and months of healing, 

Babcock eventually trained himself to sing again. It was 

a total of four months recovery before the band could even 

start thinking about playing shows again. While their future 

was never certain, the band persevered. 

From the “Dark Days” Babcock sings about on their 2013 

self-titled debut to the “dark thoughts,” as heard on the track 

“Scorpion Hill” from their soon-to-be-released Morbid Stuff, 

the band has always maintained their emo composure blended 

with pure punk rock sensibilities, but the reality is PUP is thriving 

in their nihilistic tendencies that have carried them all over 

the world many times over. 

Are things really that bad though? 

“Yeah, pretty not good,” Babcock says. “But music is what 

we do because it’s fun. That’s why we play in a band and that’s 

why we quit our jobs to make no money and it’s a really positive 

way for us to deal with a lot of negative garbage in this world.” 

It makes sense then that one of the pre-orders for Morbid 

Stuff is the “Annihilation Preparedness Kit,” complete with an 

inflatable boat. 

“I mean, yeah man, the fucking apocalypse is coming. Get 

ready!” 

I 

n the meantime, PUP have three already-sold-out 

west coast shows scheduled for Calgary, Edmonton 

and Vancouver. You could say the band is road testing 

their new album in some tried-and-true Canadian markets 

before they leap over the pond for a string of dates 

throughout the UK, France and Germany. 

“It’s funny because when we do something cool like 

play smaller shows, all it does is make people pissed at us because 

they couldn’t get tickets. We get so many angry messages 

and try to reply to as many of them as we can,” Babcock says 

with a genuine smile on his face. “Sometimes bands make decisions 

selfishly because we want to play a smaller show. We’ll be 

back and play a bigger room and everyone will get the opportunity 

to see us eventually, but if we don’t do these kind of things 

for ourselves once in a while, we’re fucked.” 

Regardless of the size of shows they’re playing, PUP has succeeded 

at capturing the DIY work ethic of the new millennium. 

Babcock knows things are fucked but it’s through embracing 

them with a sense of humour and humility that they’re able to 

rise up and persevere. Having climbed the ranks of the music 

industry in a most respectable way, Babcock cut his teeth in the 

all ages scene, playing in a ska band called Stop Drop ‘N’ Skank 

(it was a different time back then, okay?), and eventually found 

himself working music industry odd jobs, including marketing 

for Toronto-based indie imprint Arts & Crafts. He was even the 

manager for METZ at one point in time and has been known to 

offer grant writing tips and assistance to younger, less experienced 

bands. 

Music is a lifestyle but punk rock is a commitment that ultimately 

chooses you. And while PUP continues to climb the 

ranks of the music industry and gain notoriety through their 

catchy songs and impressively executed music videos, they’ve 

never forgotten where they came from because they’re still active 

members of the same scene they grew up in. 

“As much as we’ve all been a part of building a community 

since we were 15 playing in bands, all of the people who have 

helped us along the way have really inspired us. It made us realize 

that once you get a little bit of traction as a band, it’s your 

duty to help other people.” 

Later on that night, three active and notable Toronto bands 

— Casper Skulls, Greys and Chastity — are playing a show at 

a venue in downtown Toronto. In the middle of Chastity’s set, 

looking out into the sea of fans, you can see Babcock wearing 

the same clothes he was in earlier that day during our interview, 

rocking out with ear plugs in and a huge pint of beer in his 

hand. The big smile on his face suggests he’s clearly surrounded 

by friends and you can tell he wouldn’t rather be anywhere else. 

Because no matter the weather, it’s the music and the community 

you’re a part of that carry you through those dark winter 

nights. , 


Reviews 

MUSiC 

Album Review 

JENNY LEWIS 

On the Line 

WARNER BROS. RECORDS 

With the release On the Line, it 

seems Jenny Lewis has traded 

in her once-signature rainbow 

blazer for an even bolder outfit 

choice: the album cover displays 

an up-close photo of a silken teal 

jumpsuit, fit snugly onto Lewis’ 

torso. But a change of wardrobe 

isn’t the only thing that distinguishes 

this eqra in her career 

from the rest. Both literally and 

figuratively, Lewis ditches the 

summery tunes and cotton candy 

aesthetic of her previous work to 

take a more straightforward look 

at her life and her music. 

Five years have passed since 

the arrival of 2014’s The Voyager, 

but Lewis’ songwriting abilities 

have only sharpened since then. 

On her fourth record, she revives 

the Seventies power-rock vibe 

and amps up her country-tinged 

confessionals heard in her 

previous solo work. Only this 

time around, Lewis’ sound is even 

more polished and self-assured. 

Serving as guest performers on 

the album are some notable rock 

‘n’ roll heavy hitters, including 

Beck, Ringo Starr, former Tom 

Petty and the Heartbreakers keyboardist 

Benmont Tench, bassist 

Don Was, and renowned session 

drummer Jim Keltner. 

Since her days as the frontwoman 

of Rilo Kiley, Lewis has 

been a master of crafting evoc- 




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MARCH 16 

LOW 

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MARCH 28 

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MUSiC ALBUM REVIEWS 

EX HEX 

It’s Real 

Merge Records 

Mary Timony is nothing short 

of prolific. Through her work 

in Helium, Wild Flag and time 

spent in the Washington D.C. 

math-rock band Autoclave, her 

influence is expansive. Ex Hex is 

no exception. Certain tracks on 

this sophomore offering (“Another 

Dimension,” “Cosmic Cave”) 

wouldn’t feel out of place in Helium’s 

discography, but the band 

doesn’t rely on ’90s nostalgia. The 

vocal harmonies are layered on 

top of guitar solos and impressive 

riffs that act as a welcomed show 

of skill instead of feeling masterbatory 

or over-the-top. 

It’s Real feels truly collaborative. 

You can hear bassist Betsy 

Wright’s recent work in her power-pop 

project, Bat Fangs, mesh 

well with Timony’s more hard rock 

leaning and evocative guitar play. 

The first single, “Tough Enough,” 

feels like what should be played 

as movie credits roll. With Timony 

crooning that she “thinks about it 

all the time / back when you were 

mine / four tears down your golden 

cheek / won’t bring that back 

to me” as the leads drive down an 

empty stretch of highway into the 

sunset. 

Ex Hex lack the pretentiousness 

that often is associated 

with early success. Instead, they 

apply their clear skill to creating a 

record that is genuinely enjoyable 

and fun to listen to. 

 

Kenn Enns 

THE CINEMATIC 

ORCHESTRA 

To Believe 

Domino Records 

There is beauty in simplicity. Only 

a few piano keys and soft vocals 

are in The Cinematic Orchestra’s 

emotionally compelling composition 

“To Build a Home,” which was 

released in 2007 and became 

a hit single. Twelve years later, 

they’re releasing To Believe, which 

carries just as much raw emotion 

as its predecessor. 

The album shines through simplistic 

introductions with acoustic 

chords and piano keys, before a 

violin slowly joins and hauntingly 

beautiful vocals, like Moses 

Sumney, drawing the listener into 

the eponymous album opener. 

The second track “A Caged 

Bird/Imitations of Life,” strikes 

a match, carrying a toe-tapping 

beat highly differing from the 

melody of the first. Featuring the 

strong vocals of Roots Manuva, 

he pairs well with the song’s jazzy 

electronic instrumental. 

The familiar transcendent 

sounds of The Cinematic Orchestra 

eloquently unfold through the 

rest of the album, reminding that 

an instrumental song unravels 

feelings of nostalgia. Such as in 

“The Workers of Art,”—which 

flows into the hopeful, slightly 

more upbeat “Zero One/This 

Fantasy.” 

Whether it’s in an amphitheatre 

or listening through headphones, 

the creative genius of The Cinematic 

Orchestra’s latest will make 

a believer of us all. 

 

Lauren Edwards 

WHITE DENIM 

Side Effects 

City Slang 

It’s only been a hot minute since 

Austin’s White Denim released 

their album Performance, but the 

prolific rockers have plenty of outfits 

in their wardrobe that are just 

dying to be trotted out. Enter Side 

Effects the band’s latest effort for 

the Berlin-based City Slang label 

and their eighth record to date. 

An attempt to bottle the magic 

elixir of White Denim and their 

mood-altering live concerts, Side 

Effects drips with the very juices 

of life. 

The ebullient opener “Small Talk 

(Feeling Control)” bursts with a 

colourful joie de vivre that pulls 

the rest of the album along in 

its wake. Bringing the weird, 

“Hallelujah Strike Gold” runs 

headlong into the radiant waves 

of “Shanalala” before surrendering 

to the crosstown traffic of 

the seven-minute commuter “NY 

Money.” Smooth transitions to the 

rolling hills of “Reversed Mirror” 

and wiggly roads of “So Emotional” 

come easily to the breezy 

psych-blues troupe as they set 

“Heads Spinning” with riffs that 

tickle the senses. Dissolver “Introduce 

Me” finishes the deed with a 

smeared tempo that magnifies the 

imperfect and forgets your name 

the instant you pronounce it; most 

likely a side effect of too much 

sunshine and Bonnaroo-brand 

champagne. 

Christine Leonard 

JENNY LEWIS 

kCONTINUED FROM PG. 29 

ative narratives that are both specific and universal. The 

record opens with the piano-driven ballad “Heads Gonna 

Roll,” in which the songstress tackles the familiar story 

of leaving a toxic relationship. Her dreamy voice floats 

between layers of acoustic guitar, piano and lush orchestral 

strings, which altogether work to give the song greater 

poignancy. And yet, while the song exudes technical 

sophistication, the writing comes across as casually as a 

conversation. Lewis takes a clear-eyed view of her doomed 

love, but she still manages to insert a few witty one-liners in 

her lament: “I hope the sycophants in Marrakesh/Make you 

feel your very best/Anonymity must make you blue.” 

Lead single “Red Bull & Hennessy” commands attention 

with its distinctive piano riff and sparkling vocals à la Stevie 

Nicks. Like Lewis’ earlier compositions, the song carries 

the same tone and tempo that instantly transport you to a 

lonesome American landscape. On the track, her voice is 

as strong and beautiful as ever, and when sung over bluesy 

guitars and loud drums, it sounds full of authority. While 

“wired on Red Bull and Hennessy,” she even proclaims that 

she’s “higher than you.” But it becomes clear that she’s 

chasing after someone who doesn’t reciprocate her feelings, 

and her desperation shines through. It’s seen in songs 

like “Wasted Youth” and “On the Line”—the songwriter 

uses her bright and sultry voice to mask her gloomier 

lyrical content. 

A song entitled “Rabbit Hole” closes out the record, 

which might be the only instance of a catchy, indie pop 

tune comparable to Lewis’ Voyager work. Unlike the similarly 

named “Rabbit Fur Coat” from her eponymous 2006 

album, here it seems Lewis is stepping away from the 

shadows of her past—in this case, an unhealthy romantic 

fling—to take more control over her life. But despite going 

it alone, she recognizes she may not break her bad habits 

entirely: “I’m not going down the rabbit hole with you/I’m 

going down the rabbit hole without you,” she sings. It’s 

a vulnerable position to put yourself in, but when you’re 

already on the line, it’s a risk worth taking. Karina Espinosa 



WEEZER 

Weezer (The Black Album) 

Atlantic Records 

Fresh off the high from their surprise 

January release of refreshingly 

non-ironic covers that was 

the Teal Album, one might go into 

Weezer’s newest release expecting 

the same level of refreshment 

and self-awareness. One will be 

disappointed. 

Weezer fans would be better 

served going in with no expectations 

at all. After all, there’s been 

no roadmap for their creative 

direction since Pinkerton and their 

adult life spent in Los Angeles 

has driven them headfirst into 

background noise territory. 

The Black Album starts with a 

thrusting ode to the gig economy 

with “Can’t Knock the Hustle,” an 

admittedly fun song to listen to. 

From there are a series of fairly 

harmless odes to the Beach Boys 

without innovation. 

Songs run the gamut from 

mildly catchy ditties like “Zombie 

Bastards” to completely forgettable 

offerings like “The Prince 

Who Wanted Everything” and 

“Byzantine.” But it’s in the radio 

noise tracks like “High as a Kite” 

and “California Snow” where you 

might start to formulate theories 

in your mind about some greater 

joke Weezer is telling that you’re 

just not in on. But no matter how 

much digging through the band’s 

colour-coded discography you 

do, there’s no narrative present to 

explain the band’s official fade to 

black. 

 

Jennie Orton 

STEVE EARLE 

& THE DUKES 

Guy 

New West Records 

Guy Clark certainly had a way 

with hooks. Steve Earle & The 

Dukes put every swing in Clark’s 

words on Guy, their tribute to the 

folk legend, with tasty drums and 

big bass that shuffle in time with 

Earle’s phrasing. There’s a dance 

to be had in Clark’s songs, and a 

lived in story in every one of his 

lines. 

Clark was a master heartbreaker 

and “Desperadoes Waitin’ On A 

Train” stands nearly alone in that 

regard; the story of the bonds 

between youth and mentors with 

no detail in hiding. In “The brown 

tobacco stains all down his chin” 

or “Wondering ‘Lord has every 

well I drilled gone dry,” Clark 

is unflinching in the colours he 

uses, painting a window into how 

hard men live and grow old. The 

deathbed handshake of “Come on 

Jack, that son of a bitch is comin’” 

brings the heartache to a gentle 

close. 

Earle sings Clark’s songs 

ragged, feeling like one live shot 

of songs he’s known for 50 years. 

His voice provides a close up 

with the weariness of his own 64 

years, being the last of three good 

friends who spent their years 

trying to write the best songs in 

the style they pioneered. 

 

Mike Dunn 

SONNY AND 

THE SUNSETS 

Hairdressers from Heaven 

Rocks In Your Head 

Hairdressers From Heaven is the 

kind of album you need to listen 

to really loud several times to truly 

appreciate it. The first few times 

it comes across as not much 

more than a simple indie album 

that pairs well with household 

chores, but dig a little deeper and 

you’ll hear that band leader Sonny 

Smith and his Sunsets are the 

ones cleaning up. 

Produced by James Mercer 

and Yuuki Matthews of the Shins, 

the album is driven by catchy 

basslines met with complex yet 

simple-sounding drum beats right 

from the opening track onwards. 

Smith’s lyrics are sharp and 

witty but often recede into the 

background, leaving space for the 

guitar and keys to really shine. 

After an album full of classic 

indie rock, “Man Without A Past” 

breaks the wave. It’s a cumbia-esque, 

instrumental, horn filled jam 

that fills the soul. Album closer 

“Drug Lake” brings Hairdressers 

From Heaven full circle, overdosing 

your senses with the band’s 

signature pop that has always 

made Sonny and the Sunsets a 

cut above the rest. 

 

Cole Young 

AMERICAN 

FOOTBALL 

LP3 

Polyvinyl Records 

American Football released their 

self-titled debut album in 1999 

and split up shortly afterwards. 

The album didn’t receive much attention 

at the time but it amassed 

a cult following over the next 15 

years. 

Following up on their long-awaited 

2016 sophomore, the Midwest 

emo pioneers make a lateral move 

with their direction on LP3, even 

delving into shoegaze territory. 

The opening track, “Silhouettes,” 

is moody and atmospheric with 

rich layers of guitar and Mike Kinsella’s 

echoing vocals, while “Heir 

Apparent” has dreamy volume 

swells. 

LP3 also features some unique 

guest vocalists, including Paramore’s 

Hayley Williams on “Uncomfortably 

Numb.” Kinsella and 

Williams display beautiful vocal 

chemistry against a backdrop of 

plucking harmonics, trumpet and 

calming waves of tremolo picked 

ambient guitar. 

One of the most rewarding 

moments on the album is when 

“Doom in Full Bloom” reaches its 

climax with its repeating, slightly 

overdriven arpeggio that builds 

into a breathtaking crescendo. 

American Football take a bold 

step in a developed direction 

on LP3. They still maintain the 

confessional lyrics, twinkly guitar 

and unconventional time signatures 

they’re known for, but at the 

same time, they’ve expanded their 

range of sound. 

 

Robann Kerr 

ROYAL TRUX 

White Stuff 

Fat Possum 

White Stuff is the first full-fledged 

Royal Trux album since 2000’s 

Pound for Pound and if you’ve 

been patiently awaiting more of 

this band’s low-fi, sloppy-Stonesblues-slurry, 

you’ll likely be 

pleased. Here, Royal Trux founders 

Jennifer Herrema and Michael 

Hagerty continue the famously 

drug-addled meandering they first 

embarked on in the late ’80s. 

But this doesn’t seem like music 

originating from a warm, velvety 

heroin-cocoon. Nor does it come 

from the abrasive, jaw-grinding 

stridency of the cocaine use 

alluded to on the album cover. 

This is the lurching, attention-deficit-causing 

buzz of a trailer-park 

concoction whipped up from a 

case of cough syrup and a jug of 

household cleaner. 

Sounding like a string of 

tape-splices, the title track kicks 

the album off with tight guitarstylings 

jammed between jumbled 

piles of slacker-rock fuzz. Next, 

Herrema and Haggerty drift into 

the syrupy glue-trap that is “Year 

of the Dog.” 

By the time White Stuff finally 

hangs itself on the sharp hooks of 

“Under Ice,” we’ve been treated to 

a rock album as satisfying as it is 

disparate. And, make no mistake, 

this is a rock ‘n’ roll album. Which 

means that, in 2019, White Stuff 

deserves to be heralded as the 

rare and magical beast that it is. 

 

R. Overwater 


N0V3L 

Novel 

Flemish Eye 

BOB MOULD 

Sunshine Rock 

Merge Records 

MEAT PUPPETS 

Dusty Notes 

Megaforce Records 

LA DISPUTE 

Panorama 

Epitaph Records 

GARY CLARK JR. 

This Land 

Warner Bros. Records 

N0V3L represent a distinct ideal 

of Vancouver’s many housing 

artist collectives. As the housing 

and rent crisis forces artists to 

either leave in droves to more 

livable situations or to unite and 

collaborate, this forceful push for 

survival has its own unique set of 

opportunities. These creative eco 

systems can help bridge the trauma 

of isolation, encouraging more 

focus on creative pursuits and 

eventually great creative works. 

The angular riffage and existential 

socioeconomic mires of the 

self-titled debut EP is post-punk 

updated for a modern audience. 

Harkening back to the likes of 

Gang of Four and new wave 

aesthetics of Devo with a touch of 

Clockwork Orange. The urgency 

and compact structure of the 

songs lend to a youthful exuberance 

where one can only hope 

to spasm to the syncopations at 

play. 

However, don’t let the infectious 

grooves on display fool you, they 

are formidable, tightly knit into a 

package ready to force a factory 

line walkout. From the corporate 

frustrations of ‘’To Whom This 

May Concern’’ to the jangle pop 

sensations of ‘’Take You For’’ 

N0V3L deliver a consistency that 

lands them in the pantheon of 

their many post-punk forbearers. 

One could almost imagine Kafka 

being sent into a spiral of paranoia 

after listening to this. 

 

Josh Sheppard 

If a wave of nostalgia for the emo/ 

screamo/post-hardcore movement 

is inevitable, as nostalgia for 

styles tends to be, it’s probably 

time to listen to Bob Mould’s 

records a lot more. 

His latest, Sunshine Rock, sees 

Mould pushing the beat as he 

always has, like a longboard on 

fire. Sunshine Rock is relentless 

from the downbeat of the opening 

title track with its pogoing punk 

rock hooks. Mould is writing 

from a place of sincerity and, as 

the record blazes through its 39 

minutes, you sense he knows time 

is catching up. 

“The Final Years” has a great 

synth hook and you can sense 

Mould is pensive about the time 

he’s got left when he sings, “Foot 

caressing pavement with caution, 

not like before when we ran with 

abandon across the rocks and 

cracks of fissured earth and shattered 

sky.” 

Sunshine Rock sees Mould’s past 

clearly, and it’s hard to overstate 

his presence in the rock n’ roll 

that his generation grew up 

with. There comes a point for 

a songwriter to look back and 

notice that 1989 was thirty years 

ago and give some thought to 

their lifetime, whether they were 

the ones making the music that 

defined an era, or were just kids 

discovering it. 

 

Mike Dunn 

Legendary Arizona alt-rockers 

Meat Puppets are back in fine 

form on Dusty Notes. The founding 

members enlist the help of 

keyboardist Ron Stabinsky, who 

owns the keys any style and Curt 

Kirkwood’s son, Elmo, to play 

some reinvigorated ’90s guitar 

rock. 

Opening track “Warranty” makes 

sure you know that this is their 

house. Mariachi style trumpet 

synths lead us onwards with 

“Dusty Notes.” “The Great Awakening” 

has us floating on piano 

and guitar, bouncing each other 

off the clouds until a signature 

plummet into droning stomp riff 

city. 

Curt Kirkwoods’s songwriting 

is in fine form. A left turn into 

their Simon & Garfunkel inspired 

acoustic “Nightcap,” lands us 

on the doorstep of another left 

turn, while rotary organ lulls you 

into the psych episode that will 

remind you why these guys really 

like playing together. Not to be 

missed. 

At the end of this tour of the property, 

“Outflow” sounds like we are 

rolling over the waves, but you’re 

not sure if they are rowing you to 

dry land, or farther out into the 

blue. When did we get in a boat? 

 

Chad Martin 

Panorama, Midwest post-hardcore 

group La Dispute’s fifth 

full-length release, is the band’s 

most dichotomous work. Bouncing 

rapidly between subdued 

spoken word interludes backed 

by shimmering lead guitar is 

contrasted harshly by the raw, 

emotional bellows and blistering 

artillery barrages of drums and 

drop-D power chords they build 

beautifully into. 

While this repeated buildup 

and breakdown can often sound 

formulaic, La Dispute manage to 

make each crescendo feel earned 

and wholly heartbreaking. 

Trumpets accent “Rhodonite 

and Grief,” a track that commits 

to the group’s melancholy to deliver 

a harrowing story of trauma 

through a partner’s eyes. This 

is broken up quickly by “Anxiety 

Panorama” that never seems to 

give up on the all-out pummel its 

title promises. 

These two trenches of restraint 

and full, all-feeling emotion 

showcase the vast empty space 

of sentiment that exists between 

them. 

Panorama sees La Dispute’s 

storytelling and songcraft stand 

out as the group paint poetic 

pictures of their hometown landscapes 

and indulge in their desolate, 

grief-ridden soundscapes. 

Cole Parker 

Grammy Award winning singer/ 

songwriter/guitarist/Texan Gary 

Clark Jr. returns to his birthplace 

for solace and inspiration on his 

third full-length release, This 

Land. 

Destined to become a classic in 

its own right, This Land declares 

that Mr. Clark is pissed and has a 

mighty big axe to grind. 

“What About Us” conjures a 

deep but glorious groove that 

plows through a subterfuge of 

surging strings and modern conundrums. 

Lyrics that tip a hat to 

showmen like Prince and electric 

guitar flourishes that pay homage 

Hendrix aren’t just spiritual ornamentation; 

they’re a means to an 

end. 

Stepping beneath the shady 

boughs, the slow sway of “I Got 

My Eyes on You (Locked & Loaded)” 

and “Pearl Cadillac” allow 

ample room for Clark’s voice to 

breathe and bloom with an irresistible 

combination of vulnerability 

and strength. 

Meanwhile, the boppin’ rocker 

“Gotta Get Into Something” fills 

the air with dust and smoke as 

“Got To Get Up” puts in hard 

labour on the bluesman’s chain 

gang. 

Traversing drought and flood, 

This Land is a remarkable 

17-chapter scrapbook of Americana 

that draws a line of conscience 

in the sand between the 

unnecessarily nostalgic and the 

crucially historic. 

 

Christine Leonard 



LOCAL ALBUMS 

Mode Moderne 

DAN’S HOMEBREWING SUPPLIES 

Huge selection 

of beer and 

wine-making 

equipment & 

ingredients 

835 East Hastings ST. Vancouver, BC • 604-251-3411 beermaking.ca 

MODE MODERNE 

Mode IV 

Light Organ Records 

Sometimes it’s ok to be 

naïve. Mode IV, the latest 

from Vancouver’s Mode 

Moderne, is a comfortingly 

familiar and contemporary 

take on new 

wave and college rock. 

Released track by track 

over eight months, each 

song is unique, yet can be 

construed as a narrative, 

a rambling stream of 

consciousness. 

Goth is a label Mode 

Moderne have tried to 

separate themselves 

from and they would 

be right to do so. Their 

music feels too emotive 

and pop-centric to be 

eerie. “Yours Truly” and 

“Modern Love” are quite 

romantic and are foils for 

“Dazzling Dreams” and 

“Gastown Nights,” combining 

a sense of vivid 

nausea with their synth 

and thrumming bass. 

Fundamentally, Mode 

Moderne’s Mode IV is 

pithy and elegant, while 

allowing itself to be heavily 

stylised by elements of 

synthetic ’80s new wave 

and the natural melodrama 

of everyday observations. 

If you are a fan of 

Echo and the Bunnymen, 

A Flock of Seagulls or 

The Smiths, you’ll love 

Mode IV for its intimate 

and escapist harmonies. 

Esmée Colbourne 

ALEX ARCHIBALD 

Cat Got Tongue 

Independent 

A hypnotic and whimsical 

journey of fingerpicked 

instrumentation, this new 

release by Alex Archibald 

evokes a warm trance 

from beginning to end. 

Cats Got Tongue faithfully 

captures a sonic palette 

popularized by John 

Fahey and the styles of 

American Primitive. The 

swirling, dissonant guitars 

and banjos are played 

beautifully, bleeding 

emotion and conveying a 

gentle catharsis perfectly 

suited for quiet contemplation 

and introspection. 

Cat Got Tongue is an 

impassioned homage to a 

sound that feels timeless 

and nostalgic, a reminder 

of how vast a single 

instrument can sound 

when plucked in isolation. 

 

Conor Finlay 

KIN KANYON 

Relics Left Behind 

Independent 

Glimmering through 

the winter clouds, Kin 

Kanyon’s EP, Relics Left 

Behind, is all good vibes. 

A band that embraces 

nostalgia like a warm day 

at the beach, Kin Kanyon 

blends soul, psych, and 

classic rock into an 

approachable collection 

of songs. Opener “Until 

There Was You” stands 

alone in both genre and 

feel while smooth lyrics 

surround the listener 

with a soulful ballad. 

In contrast, the rest of 

the album is a much 

more cohesive combo 

of psychedelia and 60’s 

rock. A standout on the 

four-track EP is surf rock 

classic “Rhythm and 

Blues,” which is broken 

into two excitable, 

hip-swiveling parts. Tantalizingly 

muggy, Relics 

Left Behind gives the 

listener a chance to hear 

everything Kin Kanyon 

can do in one concise 

package. 

Esmée Colbourne 


HAWKSLEY 

WORKMAN 

Median Age Wasteland 

Isadora Records 

The business of making music 

has long been child’s play for 

singer-songwriter Hawksley 

Workman. From polishing the 

glam-pop pole with “Stripteaze” to 

warming the hearth of humanity 

with “Almost a Full Moon” the 

multi-talented instrumentalist and 

author has successfully encapsulated 

the modern Canadian 

experience while panhandling his 

way into the hearts and record 

collections of rock and folk music 

fans around the globe. 

Sizing up personal demons on 

his self-exploratory 16th studio 

album, Median Age Wasteland, 

Workman (who turns 44 this 

month) applies his careful yet 

ebullient craft to tracks like the 

equally luminous and humourous 

“Lazy” and the small town summer 

ditty “Battlefords.” As ever, 

soaring vocals and cafe corner 

guitar rambles ease any sense of 

awkwardness as the true north 

troubadour dives headlong into 

another library of unabashedly 

innocent and sentimentalized 

moments. “Birds in Train Stations”, 

cigarettes, lucid dreams, bingo 

cards and cars perched on blocks 

are all fair game as the obtuse 

and observant “Skinny Wolf” 

catalogues his impressionistic adventures. 

Elevating the mundane, 

he readily points out “Nobody 

really asked for this,” but by the 

time you’ve reached your 40s it’s 

not so much about getting what 

you want, but rather claiming what 

you need. Christine Leonard 

HELADO NEGRO 

This Is How You Smile 

RVNG Intl. 

Roberto Carlos Lange’s—known 

on stage as Helado Negro—recent 

album This Is How You Smile 

is just the boost of vitality we 

need in these confusing times. 

Fringing on lo-fi, experimental pop 

and aural indie acoustic rock, the 

new work doesn’t over or under 

stay its welcome. The rejuvenating 

opening track “Please Won’t 

Please” moves at a steady clip, 

set with a steady drum clip and 

glimmers its way to climax full of 

clarity and organic joy. 

The album harkens back to Helado 

Negro’s Private Energy work 

and remains consistently ethereal 

and aurally pleasing. Lange’s song 

writing on the song “Fantasma 

Vaga” is some of his best work 

yet, utilizing his calming voice and 

young Latin pride with vocals in 

Spanish. 

The instrumentation is hallucinatory 

and exploratory, relying on 

an array of whirring instruments 

that are impossible to label. And 

yet, the track remains as one of 

the most digestible on the album. 

Indeed, at first listen songs like 

“Pais Nublado” and “Two Lucky” 

sounds like a Devendra Banhart 

track and that’s because Helado 

Negro’s sound is on par with the 

freak folk maestro. 

In all, This Is How You Smile 

is tranquil and addictive and demands 

your full attention. 

 

Stephan Boissonneault 

DRUG APTS 

Clean Living Under 

Difficult Circumstances 

Mt. St. Mtn. 

Experimental noise art rockers 

Drug Apts deliver a kinetic punch 

perfect for this horror show of 

a decade on Clean Living Under 

Difficult Circumstances. Vocalist 

Whitney Kebschull obliterates into 

numerous dynamic frustrations, 

all packed into an engrossing 

narrative on the disorientation of 

our times. Meanwhile the band 

behind her lays into some of the 

most frenetic and crunchy rock 

riffs with a clear penchant for ‘90s 

noise rock in their repertoire. 

Wonderfully, there’s also a 

sense of warped Americana 

instilled on songs like “New Nam” 

and “Sharp Shooter,” where the 

acceleration and repetition of folly 

rests with the powers that be. 

Drug Apts enlisted the help of 

fellow Sacramentonian and hardcore 

legend Tim Green (Nation Of 

Ulysses) to engineer the album, 

exploring new techniques, sounds 

and themes while keeping the 

spirit and cultural importance of 

this kind of weirdo progressive 

hardcore alive. And most importantly 

they make it a hell of a fun 

time to listen to. 

 

Josh Sheppard 

AVEY TARE 

Cows on Hourglass Pond 

Domino 

David Portner’s third studio 

album as Avey Tare is so textured 

and diverse it feels like a sonic 

interpretation of a topographic 

map. Delving back to the Mayan 

era and forward into a robot-filled 

future, this map somehow spans 

all of space and time. Cows on 

Hourglass Pond does so with humility—not 

claiming to understand 

the universe but boldly venturing 

into it nonetheless. 

The opening track greets the 

listener, “Welcome to the Goodside,” 

then unravels into echoes 

asking: “what is? is? is? is? I can’t 

even find it on the map.” The ensuing 

songs see Portner grapple, 

both with this unanswerable question 

and across landscapes that 

can never lead him to an answer. 

Cows on Hourglass Pond honours 

the act of curiosity. 

Portner builds his layered, elliptical 

sounds into worlds sprinkled 

with rays of luminous guitar and 

populated with transient samples. 

In constant kaleidoscopic metamorphosis, 

sounds once earthy 

turn celestial. On “Our Little 

Chapter,” sparkly synths pulse 

and recede like waves as Portner 

reminisces on the undoing of a 

relationship. 

Cows on Hourglass Pond calls 

on the vastness of the universes 

to wonder about personal things, 

inviting listeners to try it out too. 

 

Maggie McPhee 

ANDREW BIRD 

My Finest Work Yet 

Loma Vista 

As hard as it may be to imagine 

Andrew Bird exceeding his 

already impressive discography, 

My Finest Work Yet lives up to its 

name. 

On the album art, Bird re-imagines 

a famous image of the 

French Revolution, The Death 

Of Marat, wherein the radical 

journalist Jean-Paul Marat is 

lying dead, murdered in his bath. 

Jacques-Louis David’s work is 

touted as the first modernist 

painting for the way it blends the 

personal and the political. 

Similarly, Bird is employing his 

artistry on this latest collection of 

songs to comment on the world 

at large. A past columnist for the 

New York Times, Bird transmutes 

the world he lives in, fuelled by 

his eloquent compositions and 

profound storytelling abilities. 

The album leads with single 

“Sisyphus,” highlighting his signature 

whistle as leading accompaniment. 

Elements of folk and jazz 

carry him through familiar guitar 

and piano-laden territory, making 

this a relatable yet refreshing ride. 

Folksy melodies with beautiful vocal 

harmonies are heard throughout 

as Bird offers upbeat anthems 

that contrast his tortured words. 

Bird paints in broad but effective 

strokes, which is ultimately 

what makes every piece of music 

he releases a masterpiece in its 

own right. 

 

Sarah Allen. 


LiVE 

MUSiC 

Photo: Archi Biswas 

SHARON 

VAN ETTEN 

Friday, February 22 

The Imperial 

Sharon Van Etten has a knack 

for making the most devastating 

tales of love sound gorgeous 

and sweet. And although her 

music explores the darker side of 

relationships, Van Etten herself is 

a tender and generous performer. 

During her sold-out show in Vancouver, 

the songstress exuded 

warm, loving vibes and received 

even more love in return. 

Atmospheric synths overpowered 

the Imperial during 

the opening number, “Jupiter 4.” 

Hunched over the microphone 

with shaggy hair framing her face, 

Van Etten gestured toward the 

audience with angular limbs. Her 

onstage demeanour was reminiscent 

of Nick Cave, especially as 

she spit into the microphone, raw 

and intense during “Comeback 

Kid.” The similarities between 

Van Etten and the post-punk icon 

became even more obvious when 

Van Etten thanked her bandmates 

and joked, “This is the only band 

willing to go to a goth club at 2 

a.m. with me.” 

Accompanied by a four-piece, 

Van Etten chose a set list that 

largely favoured her latest record, 

Remind Me Tomorrow. It’s a 

shoegaze-heavy album that often 

left Van Etten without an instrument 

onstage; this allowed her to 

sing songs like “Seventeen” with 

greater feeling. The few times she 

picked up her guitar were during 

performances of songs from 

earlier records, which seemed to 

please nostalgic fans the most. 

Numbers like “One Day,” “Tarifa,” 

and the poignant “Every Time 

the Sun Comes Up” all received 

overwhelming cheers from the 

audience. Karina Espinosa 


Photo: Darrole Palmer 

A BOWIE 

CELEBRATION 

Saturday, February 16 


Mike Garson recorded on more than 20 of David 

Bowie’s albums and was witness to his many personas, 

adapting his playing style to enhance that of his 

chameleon leader’s, without ever attaining commercial 

recognition himself. On this evening at the Commodore, 

Garson played conductor and was joined by a select 

group of Bowie band alumni to pay tribute to the man 

whose spotlight he sat alongside for so many years. 

Seasoned singer, Bernard Fowler was first of many 

vocalists that would take a crack at some of the Thin 

White Duke’s gems. With only Garson on piano, the two 

began the night with, “Bring me the Disco King,” before 

Veteran guitarists Charlie Sexton, and Earl Slick joined 

the stage to amp up the crowd with bangers like “Rebel, 

Rebel,” and “Fame.” Guatemalan singer Gaby Moreno 

performed an emotional rendition of “Rock n’ Roll 

Suicide,” that if hasn’t yet been recorded for a coming 

of age indie film, likely soon will. But of all the singer’s 

it was certainly former Living Colour frontman Corey 

Glover that stole the show with his wildly operatic version 

of “Young Americans.” 

This ain’t no cover band. While these musicians may 

be buried within the liner notes of many esteemed 

Bowie records, they put in the work that helped craft 

the man who many consider rock ‘n’ roll’s greatest 

performer. 

For real though, when are we going to get a Living 

Colour reunion? 

Jeevin Johal 

ELLA MAI 

Tuesday, February 12 


Ella Mai took a little break from her Debut Tour schedule 

between Oslo and Vancouver for the 61st Annual Grammy 

Awards, where her single “Boo’d Up” was nominated for 

both Best R&B Song and Song of the Year. And it’s a good 

thing she wasn’t still in Norway, because the track won the 

Grammy for Best R&B Song. With Vancouver being her 

first stop after the award show, the newly minted Grammy 

Award-Winning 24-year-old was clearly energized and 

ready to take on the second lap of her tour. 

“I just won a fucking Grammy!” she exclaimed to the sold 

out Commodore crowd in her ecstatic British accent. 

Flanked by two backup singers, Mai’s stage presence was 

enormous, punctuated by bouncy choreography and repeated 

affirmations of her love for Vancouver and everyone 

there in the room with her. Blue, purple, and pink lights 

surrounded her from intro “Good Bad” all the way through 

to some of the last songs of the night, “Everything,” “10,000 

Hours,” and “Own It.” The DJ Mustard-produced beats are 

easy to dance to while maintaining the slow sultriness of 

Mai’s vocals. 

Despite being something of a breakthrough act, Mai has 

already amassed a huge body of work and an equally impressive 

following. And she’s only just getting started. 

 

Jordan Yeager 

Photos: Sara Baar

MUSiC LIVE REVIEWS 

Photos: Zee Khan 

ARKELLS 

Saturday, February 2 

Pacific Coliseum 

Canadian rock ‘n’ roll 

giants Arkells unleashed 

their monster Rally Cry 

tour across the country 

last month. With the 

success of their 2017 

smash hit, “Knocking at 

the Door,” they’ve practically 

become a household 

name. Playing to a 

packed Pacific Coliseum, 

they kicked off the night 

with the slow burn of “Relentless,” 

following it up 

with the massive-sounding 

“Leather Jacket.” 

Arkells know how to work 

a crowd, bouncing their 

energy off one another 

as they play, and running 

back and forth across the 

stage and down the catwalk. 

It’s not easy to play 

to an arena and engage 

with every member of the 

audience, but frontman 

Max Kerman pulled it off 

with ease. 

During latest single 

“Hand Me Downs,” 

confetti exploded across 

the venue as the faithful 

crowd sang along to 

every word and danced 

their hearts out. 

With a quick outfit 

change before the 

encore to a black jacket 

with rainbow fringe, Kerman 

and the rest of the 

band delivered one rowdy 

cover of Abba’s “Dancing 

Queen,” before closing 

the show with “My 

Heart’s Always Yours.” 

Arkells are at the top of 

their game right now and 

their live show proved it. 

 

Lindsey Blane 

Photo: John Walters 

ROBYN 

Thursday, February 28 

Pacific Coliseum 

Swedish disco queen, Robyn, sang softly 

offstage. The crowd waited anxiously 

until she finally emerged from behind 

a sculpture of ivory coloured, pleading 

hands, in a robotic silver dress. Her 

moves were equally mechanical, dancing 

simply and gracefully to the gentle 

tempo of the title track from her latest 

album, Honey. 

As the beats grew faster and heavier, 

so too did the pulse of the Pacific 

Coliseum. Any and all vulnerabilities 

were completely shed as Robyn let the 

rhythms take complete control of her 

body and colossal voice. 

The set focused heavily on Robyn’s 

new album, but it was certainly her 

smash hit, “Dancing on My Own,” that 

received the greatest uproar. Upon 

the first chorus, Robyn and her band 

completely cut out and let the audience 

harmoniously perform the hook — on 

their own; the likes of which had Robyn 

gushing. 

Robyn has completely dissolved any 

hindrances of the fabricated pop icon 

persona that record companies failed to 

mold her into. She is in complete control 

of her ascension into the stars and on 

this particular evening she took us on a 

piece of that vibrant journey. 

 

Jeevin Johal 


MOViES|T.V. 

CALM, QUIET 

STRENGTH: 

AN INTERVIEW WITH 

THROUGH BLACK 

SPRUCE ACTRESS 

TANAYA BEATTY 

By PAT MULLEN 

T 

anaya 

Beatty is asked what she learned most from 

playing Annie Bird, the young heroine portrayed 

in Through Black Spruce. 

“Strength,” she replies. “Definitely strength.” 

Beatty pauses, lets the answer hang in the air, 

and considers the role. “Annie and I had some par- 

allels in that we came into ourselves as women, even though 

she’s around 23 in the script and I’m 28,” says Beatty. “We 

both found a different level of maturity and independence. 

Playing Annie taught me that I am capable of carrying a story 

like this.” 

Based on the 2008 Giller Prize winning novel by Joseph 

Boyden and directed by Don McKellar (The Grand Seduction), 

Through Black Spruce follows Annie as she searches 

for her missing sister, Suzanne. The performance calls for 

raw vulnerability as Annie walks in Suzanne’s footsteps, 

encountering the all-too-relevant violence that Indigenous 

women face in Canada’s streets. 

The role of Annie demanded a lot from the Vancouver-born 

Beatty. It’s her first lead role after small parts in films like Hochelaga, 

Land of Souls and Hostiles, and roles in TV series like 

Yellowstone, Arctic Air, and The Night Shift. “Every different 

character teaches me something new,” observes Beatty. “If 

it’s on a medical drama, I might learn new technical aspects, 

or if I’m playing a role like Sacagawea [on HBO’s long-delayed 

mini-series Lewis and Clark] and learning an entire dialect, 

that’s what I love about being an actress.” 

Reading Through Black Spruce as a teenager gave Beatty 

something to which she could aspire because she related to 

Annie. Beatty says that as a dynamic, complicated Indigenous 

female lead, Annie arrived when she felt uninspired by 

the roles that were available. “The audition came just as I 

was telling my boyfriend that I wished there was something 

like Annie that I could do,” says Beatty. 

Through Black Spruce demands strength of any performer 

as it comes steeped in controversy following questions 

raised about the legitimacy of Boyden’s Indigenous heritage. 

Beatty is diplomatic. “I think that it’s its own standalone 

piece,” she says. “I’m grateful that Joseph wrote this story,” 

adds Beatty. “I’m grateful that this film was even put on 

its feet and that somebody like Tina Keeper is the one who 

spearheaded it. It’s rare that even happens.” Keeper plays 

Annie’s mother, Lisette, and is the film’s mother in her own 

way as producer. 

The film situates Suzanne’s disappearance within the 

greater mystery of missing and murdered Indigenous women, 

a cause that has gained more attention in the ten years 

since Boyden’s novel was published, but still not nearly 

enough. Beatty says this aspect of the story is what gave her 

strength. “I’m still carrying that weight and that responsibility 

with me. It feels like that’s something that doesn’t go 

away,” says Beatty. “Given my history and my ancestors and 

my peers, these stories just feel so close to my heart.” , 

In Theatres March 29, 2019 


MOViES|T.V. 

THIS MONTH IN FILM 

WOMAN AT WAR 

March 1 

Delivering quirky black comedy 

in true-to-form Icelandic style, 

Woman at War tells the story of 

Halla, a lovely choir-master by 

day and a DIY eco-terrorist by 

night. Premiering in 2018 in festivals 

such as Cannes and TIFF, 

it’s a perfect blend of funny, 

brutal, and hopeful activism. 

THE BOY WHO 

HARNESSED THE WIND 


Best known for his Academy 

Award-nominated role in 12 

Years a Slave, Chiwetel Ejiofor 

tries his hand at Writing/Directing, 

and does so with marked 

passion. The Netflix-distributed 

film is based on the memoir of 

the same name, and tells the 

story of a young boy who builds 

a wind turbine for his village. 

CAPTIVE STATE 


John Goodman plays evil again, 

aliens designed with an eye for 

post-modern realism invade 

earth, and 10 years later, the 

people must overcome. From 

the Writer/Director of Rise of 

the Planet of the Apes comes 

a post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller 

that looks to be a mix of Arrival, 

District 9, and Independence 

Day all in one. 

US 


There’s nowhere to run this 

time, no place to hide. The 

monsters have invaded the living 

room, they sit at the dinner 

table, they scratch behind the 

mirror… The monsters are Us. 

Jordan Peele’s highly anticipated 

follow-up to last years 

Oscar-winner, Get Out, tells a 

dark tale of monstrous doppelgangers, 

and emanates with 

uncanny, satire-horror vibes. 

 

By Brendan Lee 

THE BiNGE LIST 

AFTER LIFE / SEASON 1 

NETWORK: 

NETFLIX 

AIR DATE: MARCH 8 

“A good day is when I don’t go 

around wanting to shoot random 

strangers in the face, and then 

turn the gun on myself.” Ricky 

Gervais (The Office, Extras) 

drags his hilarious, narcissistic 

butt back to Netflix with his 

latest dark dramedy. After Life 

tells the story of Tony, a man 

whose wife’s sudden death 

corkscrews him into a depression 

that isn’t deep enough to kill 

him, just enough to turn him into 

an insensible asshole. Produced, 

Directed, Written, and Starring 

the man himself, the 6-part first 

season promises to be classic 

Gervais, with his knack for 

saying whatever, whenever, the 

subject of close examination 

that begs the question: Why 

care about anyone else, if you 

don’t care about yourself? 

TURN UP CHARLIE / 

SEASON 1 

NETWORK: 

NETFLIX 


Idris Elba – the name carries 

such a weight these days. He’s 

the man best known for his roles 

in HBO’s The Wire, BBC’s Luther, 

and everybody’s dream-choice to 

be the next James Bond. With another 

big leap, Elba takes a crack 

at co-creating and producing with 

Turn Up Charlie, a comedy about 

a DJ treading water who’s given 

a chance at long sought-after 

success when he’s forced to be 

a nanny for his famous bestfriend. 

It’s a premise that doesn’t 

immediately kick you in the pants, 

but the eight-episode first season 

is worth a watch for Elba alone. 

Also, look up DJ Big Driis – Elba’s 

real-life DJ pseudonym – and the 

appeal intensifies. 

HANNA / SEASON 1 

NETWORK: 

AMAZON PRIME 


You may remember the 2011 film 

with the same name, starring 

Saorsie Ronan and written by 

Seth Lochhead while a student at 

Vancouver Film School. Well, nine 

years later, David Farr (co-writer 

of the original script) has adapted 

the story for television, and the 

first episode – released for a 24- 

hour period at the beginning of 

February – has already whitened 

more than a few knuckles. The 

dramatic-thriller follows Hanna 

(Esme Creed-Miles), an extraordinary 

girl with violent skill. Cut-off 

from all things civilized and 

bunkered in a forest on the edge 

of Eastern Europe, Esme hides 

Idris Elba takes a spin at 

being a DJ in Turn Up Charlie. 

out with a man named Erik (Joel 

Kinnaman). With veiled mystery 

surrounding Hannah’s past, the 

man who’s taught her to kill, and 

the rogue CIA agent who hunts 

them both down (Mirelle Enos), 

only time will tell how deep this 

foxhole goes. 

BARRY / SEASON 2 

NETWORK: 

HBO/CRAVE 


In case you missed it the first time 

around, with the inaugural season 

released in March of last year, 

Barry is the next hit HBO-produced 

comedy series. Co-created 

by Alec Berg and Bill Hader, a 

depressed, ex-marine turned 

serial killer looks for fulfillment 

in his life when his hits just aren’t 

doing it for him anymore. So, like 

a wandering stray dog, Barry 

stumbles his way into the arms 

of a local theatre group where he 

pretends to have a passion for 

the stage – and then begins to 

actually develop one. The show’s 

become known for the way Berg 

and Hader juxtapose gut-wrenching 

violence with laugh-out-loud 

comedy and emotionally staggering 

scenes. If you haven’t seen it 

yet, I’d advise that you sign up for 

Crave, binge the first season, and 

buckle up for Season 2 while you 

still have the chance. 

 

By Brendan Lee 


ARTs 

NAKED 

AMBITION 

Chloé Ziner and Jessica 

Gabriel tap in to 

the bare necessities in 

Multiple Organism 

By DAYNA MAHANNAH 

“I think the practicality of the human 

body is funny.” 

That’s Chloé Ziner, who, along 

with Jessica Gabriel, has unearthed 

an oft-forgotten aspect of appreciating 

the naked body as presented on 

a public stage: humour. Behold their 

award-winning show Multiple Organism. 

“The female form is seen as this 

elusive, magical, beautiful, pure 

thing,” says Gabriel. “That’s not what’s 

going on in our show.” 

The two performers make up the 

entirety of their shadow puppetry 

company, Mind of a Snail, which has 

produced numerous shows to high 

acclaim. The duo takes on a multitude 

of other projects, including collaborations, 

installations, and workshops. 

Gabriel and Ziner bonded over a 

shared creative background when 

they met 16 years ago – Gabriel has a 

painting degree and Ziner spent years 

playing in punk bands in her hometown 

of Courtenay, BC. 

This is not nudity for 

MULTIPLE 

Later on, they honed their 

nudity’s sake, however. 

ORGANISM 

on-stage skills at Vancouver’s 

clowning school, 

incredibly personal and 

Multiple Organism is an 


Culture Lab 

Fantastic Space. Ziner explains 

the ethos of clownrived 

from Ziner and Ga- 

vulnerable concept de- 

Tix, $28: thecultch.com 

ing as “being present, 

briel’s own lived experiences. 

Gabriel works as a life drawing 

connecting with your audience and 

being fully authentic as a performer.” 

From this concoction of fine arts, and drawing groups around the Great- 

model for a handful of art institutions 

music, and clowning emerged their er Vancouver area, which she’s done 

current performance art: projection for the past 12 years. 

puppetry. 

“During the breaks I walk around 

Their shows use overhead projectors 

to create a world with manipuditions 

of my body,” Gabriel shares. 

the room and see all the different renlated 

layers of scene and character, “It’s surreal! [Seeing] who drew pubic 

content and symbolism. But in Multiple 

Organism – for audiences 18+ drew my boobs super large when, in 

hair, or if they left my legs hairy… who 

– “we’re playing a little bit with some reality, I have small breasts.” The show 

taboos,” admits Ziner. “In the live draws on these visceral encounters 

video portion, my mouth [is projected] 

onto Jessica’s nude torso and her others and bounces between the pub- 

with how her body is perceived by 

boobs are the eyes.” The surrealist mix lic and the private, the latter of which 

of puppetry and the zoetic along with is captured in a bathroom setting on 

the non-linear storytelling and formplay 

are perhaps why they describe “The magic of puppetry is project- 

stage. 

the show as a “psychedelic dream” or ing [animation] onto what are usually 

inanimate objects,” says Ziner. “visual poem.” 

“We 

make assumptions about who those 

objects are based on how we perceive 

them.” This is not far from how humans 

interact, as illustrated in Gabriel’s 

experience as a life drawing model. 

Ziner and Gabriel’s combined puppet 

character asks questions about gender 

and the body, and how they are seen 

and not seen. “When we build a show 

we always look at the metaphor – why 

are we using puppetry for this?” Ziner 

continues. Multiple Organism uses 

projection literally and figuratively 

to explore how meaning is projected 

onto bodies, all while having a laugh. 

The first run of this show couldn’t 

have been more timely. It ended two 

weeks prior to the Harvey Weinstein 

exposé in 2017 and the #MeToo wave 

that followed. A year and a half (and 

many awards) later, they continue to 

crush expectations about what nudity, 

the body, gender, and even puppetry 

entail. “Expectations are dangerous,” 

Gabriel says. “We’re trying to tickle 

[the audience].” 

Ziner chimes in, “right in the diaphragm.” 

, 


ARTs THEATRE • COMEDY • DANCE• ART • PERFORMANCE 

YUMI 

NAGASHIMA 

Stand-up comic is flipping the script on stereotypes in 

search of the ultimate punchline By LAUREN DONNELLY 

A 

s anyone who’s 

ever told a joke and 

been disappointed 

in the reaction can 

attest, comedy is 

subjective. A true comedian is 

skilled in the art of combining 

the expected with the 

unexpected, and the familiar 

with the unfamiliar. Yumi 

Nagashima is a master at 

understanding that balance. 

Originally from Tokyo, Japan, 

Nagashima has been living 

in Vancouver for eight years. 

Over the course of the last 

three years, she’s been 

making a name for herself 

in the Canadian stand up 

comedy scene. She expertly 

plays up stereotypes only to 

completely subvert them with 

a single deadpan punchline. 

Judging by the reception so 

far, Nagashima’s hilarious 

takes are a welcome addition 

to the comedy scene. In the 

midst of a tour to promote the 

release of her comedy album 

debut, BeatRoute caught 

up with Nagashima to talk 

comedy. 

How did you get your start in 

comedy? 

Steve Allen, the owner of the Kino 

Cafe on Cambie, suggested I try a 

three-minute set there as he had 

never seen a Japanese female 

comedian before. Two weeks later, 

on October 20, 2015, I did my very 

first set there. 

What was it about stand-up 

comedy that drew you to it? 

Comedy feels like freedom 

of speech to me. That’s what 

appealed to me. 

You’ve appeared in TV 

commercials and magazines 

in Japan. What made you 

decide to make the move to 

Vancouver? 

My ex-boyfriend was from 

Vancouver. I met him in Japan 

and he asked me to move to 

Vancouver so I did. We broke up 

though! 

What’s the funniest thing 

about Vancouver? 

Vancouver can’t have 

enough rain. 

Has it been challenging 

breaking into the 

Vancouver comedy 

scene? 

It actually hasn’t! I must 

say that the comedy scene 

here has been very 

supportive. 

Are there major 

differences 

between Japanese 

humour and 

Canadian humour? 

Japanese humour 

is more physical and 

juvenile compared 

to Canadian humour. 

Vancouver is very politically 

correct. 

You’ve said in other interviews 

that it’s one of your dreams 

to be an SNL cast-member. 

Who is your favourite SNL 

comedian of all time? 

Adam Sandler 

YUMI NAGASHIMA 


The Comedy Mix 

Tix, thecomedymix.com 

Yumi Nagashima’s debut 

comedy album, My Name 

is Yumi, is now available 

online. 

smarturl.it/mynameisyumi 

You’ve said that you want your 

comedy to empower women, 

especially other Asian women. 

How does that affect how you put 

your act together? 

I try not to have too many selfdeprecating 

jokes. I don’t want 

to bring down other women with 

me. I try to have a balance. I feel 

like there are more women in the 

scene now though and that’s very 

exciting! 

Where do you find new material 

for your act? 

Usually in the shower. 

How do you deal with political 

correctness in your comedy? 

I’ve learned not to start your set 

with offensive jokes. 

What’s next for you in your 

comedy/film/TV career? 

My comedy album, My name is 

Yumi, just came out and then 

next I am doing Winnipeg 

Comedy Festival. 


THEATRE • COMEDY • DANCE• ART • PERFORMANCE 

LIFE VERSUS ART 

Victoria-based sculptor Mowry Baden showcases work from 

the late 1960s to the present By LAUREN EDWARDS 

“H 

ave you ever danced 

with a mop bucket?” 

asks sculptor 

Mowry Baden over 

the phone. “I have. Many people 

have. You use a standard mop 

bucket – the kind that janitors use with 

wheels. You grab the mop by its handle while 

it’s in the bucket and you can dance with it, 

like a partner.” 

The award-winning artist is explaining the 

origins of his piece Trisector, which contains 

three mop buckets, that was created after 

winning the prestigious John Simon Guggenheim 

Memorial Foundation Fellowship in 

2014. In his intricate installations and public 

structures, Baden utilizes everyday found 

objects, putting a new perspective on common 

things one’s eyes usually glaze over. 

“There has to be some familiar invitation 

to engage and interact with the work,” he 

explains. “The mop bucket is a good example. 

Other sculptures in the show – one is 

called Seatbelts – use objects from commonplace 

utilitarian moments in life that are so 

familiar that the viewer knows exactly what 

to do and how to engage. It sends the viewer 

a signal swiftly so there’s the least amount 

of hesitation on the viewer’s part and they 

know how to get involved physically.” 

The elements of his work silhouette 

experiences in day-to-day life, a culmination 

of something happening “in the course of a 

MOWRY BADEN 

March 9-June 9 

Vancouver Art Gallery 

Tix, vanartgallery.bc.ca 

day that triggers an unexpected 

response.” 

“I think right away, ‘Ah, there’s a 

sculpture’ that can be enlarged, refined, 

sharpened, given precision, 

and set in a public space,” says 

Baden. “The public realm is so different than 

a gallery, almost completely separate worlds. 

In the public world, people don’t make a 

special effort to go to see a work of art. They 

have business there, have to go shopping or 

meet a friend… they’re busy moving from 

point to point and if they’re lucky, their journey 

might include a work of art.” 

Baden’s work, spanning from the 1960s to 

present day, will be shown in an exhibition 

at the Vancouver Art Gallery until June. 

The exhibit is “not like a retrospective, but 

it does touch on a long career,” explains 

Baden. “It’ll give visitors a pretty good idea 

of what my studio production has been like.” 

The viewer’s perceptual psychology will 

be fully engaged in interactive, intricate 

pieces like Hopper Tedder and Prone Gyres, 

which requires a person to lay down on their 

stomach and manoeuvre themselves with 

their hands. Prone Gyres is “a sculpture that 

is less frock with unfortunate complexities,” 

says Baden. Both of those installations, as 

well as Trisector, will be shown at the VAG. 

For those unfamiliar with his work, Baden 

hopes “they’ll find something inside themselves 

they didn’t know that was there.” , 

YORK THEATRE 

$24 

TICKETS FROM 

Mar 15– 

Mar 30, 2019 

BRIEFS FACTORY (AUSTRALIA) 

Hot Brown 

Honey 

Fighting the power 

never tasted so sweet 

TICKETS AVAILABLE AT THECULTCH.COM 


ARTs THEATRE • COMEDY • DANCE• ART • PERFORMANCE 

DANCE DANCE 

REVELATIONS 

Vancouver International Dance Festival shines as a platform 

for cultural exchange, celebrating movement and 

diversity By MAGGIE MCPHEE 

The Vancouver International 

Dance Festival returns this 

month for its 19th year. The 

festival celebrates contemporary 

dance with equal 

focus on international, Canadian, 

and BC artists. BeatRoute 

spoke with program 

director Barbara Bourget, a 

Vancouver-raised dancer who founded 

the festival with Jay Hirabayashi nearly 

two decades ago. 

“We’ve been growing every year,” 

Bourget says of the festival, over the 

phone. “I don’t think we’re going to 

grow any bigger. It’s a lot of work, but 

it’s joyful work. We love dance. It’s our 

life and calling. To be able to introduce 

Vancouver audiences to new things and 

to different points of view in the dance 

world has been really rewarding.” 

VIDF performances take place in 

venues around the city — Vancouver 

Playhouse, The Roundhouse, and KW 

Production Studio — over three weeks, 

in addition to free workshops and talkback 

sessions. “There’s something for 

everybody,” Bourget says. “We really try 

to focus on the kind of greater wealth 

that’s in the dance milieu.” 

Festivalgoers can see everything from 

Buto, a dance form hailing from Japan 

to contemporary dance inspired by the 

Indigenous Paiwan people in Taiwan to 

intimate expressions performed by local 

choreographers. Bourget says they 

make an effort to showcase Indigenous 

artists every year. In fact, their mission 

statement reads: “We are cognizant 

of the challenges facing artists that 

are marginalized because of societal 

and cultural biases, including those 

that discriminate against artists from 

VANCOUVER 

INTERNATIONAL 

DANCE 

FESTIVAL 

March 4 to 30 

Various locations 

Tix, $0-70, www.vidf.ca 

ethno-cultural and Aboriginal 

heritages, as well as artists 

with challenging perspectives 

on sexual identity and gender. 

Our programming reflects 

these concerns.” 

Kelly McInnes’ piece, Shiny, 

is another highlight — a 

multidisciplinary “exploration 

of women’s bodies and how they’re represented 

in our culture.” She sewed 

her costumes from pictures cut out 

of magazines. 

Beyond the festival’s value as 

a platform for cultural exchange, 

Bourget exalts dance as “the 

most beautiful art form and the 

most ethereal.” Western culture, 

she argues, has warped the 

body into something “mystical,” 

either an object of fantasy or some- 

thing to inspire shame. 

But with dance, the body 

is front and center, communicating 

beyond words through 

“dynamic image” and moving 

people in ways that escape 

intellectualization. 

“You can’t even grasp 

it, you can’t take hold of 

it,” Bourget says. “It’s so 

constantly appearing and 

disappearing. That’s the 

forces of nature and 

the forces of the world 

[coming] through the 

body.” , 

Tjimur Dance Theatre 

JHAO LUN HUANG 

Dairakudan 

Raven Spirit Dance 

HIROYUKI KAWASHIMA 

RAVEN SPIRIT DANCE 

Kelly McInnes 

Daina Ashbee 

ARELI MORAN 

SOPHIA WOLFE 


THEATRE • COMEDY • DANCE• ART • PERFORMANCE 

NEW 

YORK 

STATE 

OF MIND 

Creative everyman Isaac Mizrahi reflects 

on his life’s journey in autobiographical 

cabaret By YASMINE SHEMESH 

I 

t’s 1968 in Brooklyn. Isaac Mizrahi was seven years old 

at the movie theatre with his family to see Funny Girl. 

As he sat there looking up at the big screen, he became 

totally captivated by the visuals, the colours, the 

costumes, and, most profoundly, the star of the show 

– Barbra Streisand. She was beautiful. She had the 

same New York accent as his sisters, but she was even more 

glamorous. She embodied it in a way he’d never seen. It would 

be one of the formative moments of his life. 

“She really saved me in a way,” Mizrahi says. “Before I knew 

who Streisand was, I didn’t know there was such a thing as 

this whole world of glamour. I won’t ever forget that, sitting 

there, watching that movie.” 

Mizrahi’s affinity for Streisand (and Judy Garland, in the 

same way) planted a seed that later grew into a diverse canon 

of creative interests – namely, fashion, music and theatre. 

These passions eventually led him to become a world-renowned 

designer, television personality, and theatrical 

performer. His memoir, I.M., which is released this month, 

reflects on his life’s journey with stories on everything from 

his rise to fame working with Calvin Klein 

and his friendship with Liza Minnelli 

to struggles with chronic 

insomnia and depression. 

It’s taken him seven years 

to write. 

In support of the 

book, Mizrahi is also 

touring his cabaret 

show, which kicked off in February with a residency at Café 

Carlyle. He began doing residencies at the New York club a 

few years ago, which earned him the best review from the New 

York Times, Mizrahi says, of his entire life. For Mizrahi, it all 

represents an important transition and alignment into show 

business. “It’s very exciting, it’s terribly scary, but it’s keeping 

me – how can I find the word? – it’s keeping me not bored,” he 

says. “And, to me, that’s the most important thing 

in life. You’re bored, you’re dead.” 

As a kid, Mizrahi always had an impulse to create. 

That and his love of entertainment and art are what Rio Theatre 

he credits with keeping him from drowning in the 

dark depths of depression. “My depression, I think, 

was mostly circumstantial and it kind of rendered 

me inert for a short time,” Mizrahi contemplates. “By inert, I 

mean I sat on the couch in front of the television and ate my 

feelings for a long time. I began to make things with my hands. 

It was the way out of depression.” 

Mizrahi’s circumstance? Growing up gay in an Orthodox 

Syrian-Jewish community. His family wasn’t exactly Orthodox, 

but they did keep kosher in the house, attend synagogue, and 

enroll Mizrahi in a Yeshiva. Not to mention, it was the early 

1970s – the subject of gayness in America was a largely stigmatized 

one, especially in the Orthodox Jewish community. 

“If you were gay, it was persona non grata,” Mizrahi says. 

“Like, no – there’s no such thing as gay. People would bully me 

for being effeminate, but I don’t think they put it together with 

ISAAC MIZRAHI 


Tix, $58, riotheatre.ca 

the homosexual identity. No one put it together. They called 

me a fag, but it was just another thing. I don’t think they could 

plumb the depths of what it meant. I couldn’t even plumb the 

depths.” 

He knew he was romantically attracted to men, always. And 

he understood, deep down, that his feelings about his sexuality 

were right. “I think I got that from my mom,” Mizrahi says, 

of his gut instinct. “I think artists, they understand 

that the feeling you have about something is what 

runs you. When you express yourself, when you 

move yourself through the world, it’s all about your 

feelings. I knew that my feelings couldn’t be liars. I 

just knew that.” 

He would do impersonations of Streisand and 

Garland in the lobby of the synagogue and at Yeshiva – a precursor 

into his talents as a cabaret star, to be sure – and while 

Mizrahi’s mother and father didn’t encourage it, they didn’t 

discourage it, either. 

“They never bullied me, my parents,” Mizrahi insists. “I 

was 10 years old when I started doing this in 1972 – were they 

supposed to encourage a female impersonator in 1972? I’m 

not sure if culturally it would have been a good idea for them 

to do that. Now, it’s a different thing if you have a kid who’s a 

female impersonator who’s 10. Do you encourage that kid? I 

think probably now you do. Politically, where we are. But, in 

1972, I don’t think it was at all a good idea to do so. Here and 

there, I got the feeling they were embarrassed. And I couldn’t 

help feeling that way. It’s not their fault – it’s just what was 

going on in the world at the time.” 

Although Mizrahi has been doing his cabaret act for years, 

he admits he was nervous for his mother to see this particular 

iteration with it being so autobiographical. “I always wonder 

if she is going to be capable of seeing the humour in it and allowing 

herself to be this subject,” he says, adding that he was 

especially anxious about her reading the memoir. “She finally 

finished the book and we spoke, about a week and a half ago. 

It was literally like a dream come true. She said she loved the 

book. The courage of doing a memoir doesn’t come in the 

writing because, if you’re a creative person, you get yourself to 

do stuff. Really, it’s when it’s published and people see it and 

they react to it. The people that you’re writing about – that 

you love – you want them to continue to love you. And yet, 

you’ve got to tell the truth. I kept saying to my close friends 

and my husband, ‘I hope my mother doesn’t die hating me 

when she reads this book, because it’s lovingly told.’” 

Mizrahi felt an incredible release when he finally finished 

writing I.M. He painted an honest and gritty portrait of his 

life, and coloured it with humour and resilience. The past 

was behind him. Now, there’s only the present and future. It 

was a dreamy moment. Mizrahi took a step back. “I was like, 

‘Darling, you did it,” he says. “’You told your story. You are 

queen.’” , 


Horoscopes 

MESSAGES FROM THE STARS: A LOOK INTO THE CYCLES AND COSMIC 

DETAILS OF AN UNFOLDING FOREVERMORE, PAIRED WITH A SONG 

SUGGESTION CURATED FOR YOUR SIGN by Willow Herzog 

Aries (March 21 - April 20) 

A deepened connection to self 

means not compromising in ways 

that can be detrimental to your 

form. As your truest expression 

continues to shape and expand stay 

dedicated, aligned and working 

towards future dreams. Affirmations 

of motivation, determination 

and returning to the ever-changing 

self. This is a month of becoming 

stronger in your sense of self and 

what you stand for. Watch for habits 

that want to pull you off course and 

use discernible discipline. Step into 

a dance of otherworldly lulling to 

offset strong work demands this 

month. 

Song suggestion for the month: 

“Hello from the Edge of the Earth” - 

Mary Lattimore 

Taurus (April 21 - May 21) 

Your internal duties are communicating 

to your life purpose. Take this 

on with motivation and honor the 

creative muses that desire to work 

with you. Cultivating power through 

process and getting the good work 

done. This is a month to continue to 

grow in your professional pursuits 

and align with greater potency to 

your purpose. You have innovations 

and gifts of paramount to share with 

the world. 


“Poem” - U.S Girls 

Gemini (May 22 - June 21) 

Enlargement of dreams and plans of 

expansion. Allow your heightened 

sense of mission to inspire and 

widen your reality. A walk in the 

clouds isn’t for everyone but for you 

it is where you build your castles 

and turn them into your life. Keep 

close to what inspires you and in 

turn inspires your community. Turn 

up your language into forms that 

count as you deepen in your voice 

of honesty. Speak to those who will 

help you build your empire and feel 

gratitude for all you have already 

accomplished. 


Harm in Change” - Toro y Moi 

Cancer (June 22 - July 23) 

Harmonious alignment in collaborative 

pursuits holds time and space 

this month. There is a pull to retreat 

into contemplation and evaporation 

that meets a surge of conspiring 

creativity within relationships. Let 

these two opposites create a whole 

and allow yourself to ebb and flow 

as destined. There is healing in the 

realm of self-esteem and worthiness 

for all that is forming in your reality. 

Take time to get right with yourself 

so you may get right with life and 

your mission. 


“Diagonals” - Stereolab 

Leo (July 24 - Aug. 23) 

Honouring right relationships and 

those who really see you. There is 

a change in the relationships close 

to you and how you may perceive 

and interact with them. Life holds 

increased opportunity to exchange 

hearts with those you hold dear and 

in turn hold you. Allow yourself 

to be held in love’s warm embrace. 

You have gone through a plethora of 

changes and leveled up professionally. 

This is a time to let those changes 

change your compass and proceed 

with navigational clarity. 


“Woman Is a Word” - Empress Of 

Virgo (Aug. 24 - Sept. 23) 

The seemingly never-ending work 

flux of the everyday continues to pile 

and make mountains. Good thing 

you have the ability to move mountains. 

Enjoy the flow of the everyday 

and make room for unexpected 

experiences, pleasure and surprises. 

Orienting your present moment to a 

state of calm will be essential for all 

that needs to get done this month. 

Pull a Marie Kondo and clear the 

clutter from your life so you may 

have space to think and dream. 


“Peripheral” - Eartheater 

Libra (Sept. 24 - Oct. 23) 

Healing deep feelings, old wounds 

and family ties are priority as you 

move into this next cycle. Make way 

for new, old and fluctuating feeling 

states but hold close peace and vibrational 

pull to what rings true. Check 

in with the layers of your psychic 

experience and remember to clear 

out outdated views and self-inflicted 

behaviours that don’t serve. You are 

going through an energetic recalibration, 

allow yourself healthy physical 

outlets for excess emotion. 


“Beautiful Blue Sky” - 

Ought 

Scorpio (Oct. 24 - Nov. 22) 

Calling yourself back to yourself 

and stepping into a vibration of 

returning to your internal well of 

exquisiteness. This is a passage 

that asks you to reclaim time with 

self in a way that nourishes and 

inspires. Beautify your space, your 

bedroom, buy some flowers for 

your table and wash your floors 

with rosewater. This is also a time 

of much work, projects, figuring 

out the details. Having a nourished 

home space and honouring space 

for reflection will do wonders for 

your ability to see, feel and receive 

beauty. 


“I’m Clean Now” - Grouper 

Sagittarius (Nov. 23 - Dec. 21) 

Commitment to the many tasks 

and opportunities that punctuate 

your reality. Stay concentrated, 

pouring joy and love at the 

projects that have come into your 

sphere of influence. There is a reason 

for what has been presented 

on your path. Stay honest, check in 

and communicate with authentic 

potency. Old mind layers are 

disappearing and a new way of 

experience is becoming evident. 

Sit in the stillness and be ready to 

change your mind once again. 


“The Hollow Sound of the Morning 

Chimes” - TOPS 

Capricorn (Dec. 22 - Jan. 20) 

What have you healed? What has 

come full circle? Perhaps it is time 

to start anew in some key areas 

while letting go of what doesn’t 

serve you. Patterns and potential 

with finances are highlighted as you 

look at where your funds go and 

how they may leak. Taking your 

abundance into your own hands 

and create a practice of moderation 

paired with gentle indulgences. 


“symbol” - Adrianne Lenker 

Aquarius (Jan. 21 - Feb. 19) 

What is hidden in plain sight? What 

direction is the energy of your 

life taking you? This is a period of 

recoiling back to your foundation so 

you may build with greater strength. 

Strategize and prioritize so you may 

construct your empire and experience 

the totality of your dreams. 


“Bent (Roi’s Song)” - DIIV 

Pisces (Feb. 20 - Mar. 20) 

To quote Leonard Cohen “I don’t 

trust my inner feelings. Inner 

feelings come and go.” This is a 

time of taking your feelings into 

account but realizing the fluctuating 

nature of being a deep feeler. 

Regather yourself in essential ways 

so that you may serve yourself and 

community in the potent ways you 

do and dream to. It’s okay to say no, 

take a step back and stay in for sake 

of self-preservation. 


“Unconscious Melody” 

- Preoccupations 

U.S. GIRLS OUGHT TORO Y MOI DIIV GROUPER 



CANADA’S LARGEST INDEPENDENT CONCERT PROMOTER 


SCOTT HELMAN 

WITH RALPH 

March 14 - The Vogue Theatre 

THE UNDERCOVER DREAM LOVERS 


Mar 18 - The Fox Cabaret 

DEAFHEAVEN & BARONESS 

WITH ZEAL & ARDOR 

Mar 20 - The Vogue Theatre 

WET & KILO KISH 

W/ HELENA DELAND 

Mar 23 - Imperial 

THE BRIGHT LIGHT SOCIAL HOUR 


March 25 - The Biltmore Cabaret 

PLINI 


March 30 - The Biltmore Cabaret 

BROODS 


April 2 - The Vogue Theatre 

SMINO 


April 5 - The Vogue Theatre 

WICCA PHASE SPRINGS ETERNAL 


April 6 - The Fox Cabaret 

HOP ALONG 


April 7- The Biltmore Cabaret 


TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE AT MRGCONCERTS.COM

BeatRoute Magazine BC Edition March 2019

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