BeatRoute Magazine AB Edition September 2019

SEPTEMBER 2019 • FREE
Tegan
And
Sara
POP POWER
SIBLINGS
GO BACK
TO HIGH
SCHOOL
AND THEIR
PUNK ROCK
ROOTS
The New
Pornographers
Fontaines D.C.
Sam Fender
Carly Rae
Jepsen
Ghost
Free
Meek
Tool

B E
DEEPLY
FUNKY
FLU E VO G X G EO RGE
CLI NTO N THE MOTH ER S H I P
JOHNFLUEVOGSHOESGRANVILLEST··WATERST··FLUEVOGCOM

Contents
BEATROUTE
BEATROUTE
BEAT
ROUTE
BR
BRLIVE
BRYYZ
Up Front
4
7
8
The Guide
SOFI TUKKER bring the
world together through
their multilingual dance pop.
Drink
The Espresso Martini is
your answer to last call’s
last drink.
Style
Tyler, the Creator closes
out the tennis season with
his boldest statement yet.
Music
13
23
29
33
Concert Previews
Fontaines D.C., Sinzere,
Ghost, Black Mountain,
Pigs, Lissie, Carly Rae
Jepsen
The Playlist
All the singles we can’t stop
listening to this month.
Album Reviews
TOOL, BROCKHAMPTON,
Alex Cameron, The Lumineers,
Vivan Girls, Chron
Goblin, Pixies, Sam Fender,
Whitney, Rick Ross
Live Reviews
The Dirty Nil at Commonwealth
Tegan
And
Sara
POP POWER
SIBLINGS
GO BACK
TO HIGH
SCHOOL
AND THEIR
PUNK ROCK
ROOTS
Cover Story
26
Tegan and Sara
Pop twins’ tell-all High School
memoir relives everybody’s
most anxious, life defining
times.
SEPTEMBER 2019 • FREE
THE NEW
PORNOGRAPHERS
FONTAINES D.C.
SAM FENDER
CARLY RAE
JEPSEN
GHOST
TOOL
FREE
MEEK
SUMMER’S
LAST PARTY
WESTWARD
FEST GUIDE
INSIDE
Screen Time
34
34
36
Punk: four-part
documentary
traces the roots of the seminal
rise of music’s most confrontational
genre.
Free Meek
Criminal justice is exposed in
docuseries highlighting the
struggles of rapper Meek Mill’s
incarceration.
Calgary International
Film Festival
Music takes centrestage at CIFF
2019, exploring everything from
Miles Davis to Judy Garland.
YYC
39
44
46
36? at the Ship August 21, 2019.
Check out our review of this show
and more online at beatroute.ca
The Librarian
Calgary DJ reminisces about her
first Shambhala, and subsequent
career, ahead of Circle Carnival.
YYC Agenda
Beakerhead brings science and
technology to the front, Calgary
Folk Music Festival releases their
dual-LP covers album featuring
festival favourite alumni, Alberta
Guitar Shows hosts the gear
show to end gear shows.
YYC Music
Lindsay Ell brings a bit of
Nashville home to Calgary,
OFF-COUNTRY celebrates
country’s off shoots during the
CCMAs, Paul Coutts creates
music that connects Alberta,
Sunglaciers set to stun on their
debut LP, Foreign Bodies.
SEBASTIAN BUZZALINO
Plus The BeatRoute
Cheat Sheet brings you the
essential shows for September
in Calgary.
SEPTEMBER 2019 BEATROUTE 3

The Guide
SEPTEMBER
Dance-pop nerds
SOFI TUKKER provide
the sountrack to your
best night ever
You might know electronic music duo
SOFI TUKKER best from a 2017
iPhone X commercial featuring a poop
emoji happily lip-syncing along to
their song “Best Friend,” a track that
also showed up in the soundtrack for
Ocean’s Eight and FIFA 18.
The duo’s specific brand of
multilingual dance-pop has bridged
cultural divides, and their ability to pull
influences from around the world has
turned them into a widely soughtafter
act, capable of shutting down
a dance floor. Their latest single with
Colombian group Bomba Estereo,
“Playa Grande,” is performed in Engligh,
Spanish, and Portuguese.
Based in New York, Sophie Hawley-Weld
and Tucker Halpern met
while performing separately at a music
gala at Brown University. During his
set Halpern spontaneously remixed
one of Hawley-Weld’s songs, and the
next day they contacted each other.
That willingness to try just about
anything has translated into the music
they make together through their
project SOFI TUKKER.
Despite being two Ivy League music
nerds and receiving enough accolades
to earn a couple of Grammy nominations,
SOFI TUKKER enjoy settling
into their roles as the providers of your
party playlist, and want to be the backdrop
to having the night of your life.
Their debut full-length album,
Treehouse, was inspired by the kind
of unapologetic, childlike spirit that
allows you to be yourself to the fullest
extent. It’s the same spirit that the duo
hope to see when they look out over
the crowd on their latest tour, aptly
titled “R.I.P. Shame.”
SOFI TUKKER performs October 2 at
The Palace (Calgary) and October 4 at
the Commodore Ballroom (Vancouver).
By BEN BODDEZ
BEATROUTE
Publisher
Julia Rambeau Smith
Senior Editor
Glenn Alderson
Associate Editor
Brad Simm
Creative Director
Troy Beyer
Contributing Editors
Sebastian Buzzalino
Josephine Cruz
Dayna Mahannah
Melissa Vincent
Contributors
Max Asper • Ben Boddez
Morgan Cairns • Jonathan Crane
Jesse Gillett • Kathryn Helmore
Jeevin Johal • Brendan Lee
Christine Leonard
Dave MacIntyre • Dayna Mahannah
James Olson • Jennie Orton
Johnny Papan • Tory Rosso
Yasmine Shemesh •
Graeme Wiggins • Helena Zhang
Contributing Photographers
Lindsey Blane
Sebastian Buzzalino
Kira Clavell • Bev Davies
Michaela DeCiantis-Wong
Jesse Gillett • Joshua Grafstein
Preet Hundal • Olivia Jaffe
Amanda Leigh Smith
Céline Pinget • Kezia Nathe
Darrole Palmer • Travis Shinn
Dave Today • Daniel Topete
Coordinator (live music)
Darrole Palmer
Advertising Inquiries
Glenn Alderson
glenn@beatroute.ca
778-888-1120
Distribution
BeatRoute is distributed in
Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary,
Edmonton, Winnipeg and
Saskatoon
Contact us
2405 East Hastings St.
Vancouver, BC
V5K 1Y8
e-mail:
editor@beatroute.ca
@beatrouteBC
@beatroutemedia
beatrouteBC
beatroute.ca

UPCOMING EVENTS
SEPT 6
SNAK THE RIPPER
Greasy Business Tour
CALGARY DEERFOOT CITY
SEPT 20
SEPT 21
SEPT 28
OCT 3
OCT 5
DUELING PIANOS
REC THE MIC
w/ 10at10
LUNA COAST EP RELEASE
w/ Alone I Walk, On The Frontline &
Nicolas Rage
DEHLI 2 DUBLIN
BIG BAND BURLESQUE
w/ Glitterverse Productions
Tickets and full listings
TheRecRoom.com
The Rec Room® is owned by Cineplex Entertainment L. P.
GATEWAY
GATEWAY
GATEWAY
GATEWAY
Upcoming Events
Thu. Sept. 5 | The Gateway Presents:
Grandson
with Special Guests
Fri. Sept. 6 | X92.9 Xposure Presents:
Bombargo
with Special Guests
Fri. Sept. 13 | The Gateway Presents:
Daniel Wesley
with Special Guests
Sun. Sept. 15 | The Gateway Presents:
Busty & The Bass
with Special Guests
GATEWAY
GATEWAY
GATEWAY
GATEWAY
Mon Sept. 16 & Tue. Sept. 17 | MRG Concerts Presents:
Ziggy Alberts
with Emily Brimlow
Tue. Sept. 24 | The Gateway Presents:
Sickboy Podcast:
Live!
Thurs. Sept. 26 FREE SHOW | The Gateway Presents:
The Gateway’s 18th
with Transit22, TEMI, WTVRR, and JAM!
Fri. Sept. 27 | Stampede Entertainment Presents:
Too Many Zooz &
Five Alarm Funk
Follow The Gateway on Facebook/Instagram/Twitter to stay informed on all upcoming events!
GATEWAY
GATEWAY
GATEWAY
GATEWAY
GATEWAY
Saitsa.com/events
Sat. Sept. 28 | ConcertWorks Presents:
Cancer Bats
with Single Mothers and Sharptooth
Fri. Oct. 4 | X92 Xposure Presents:
The Carbons
with A Day as Wolves and Poke The Bear
Tue. Oct. 15 | The Gateway Presents:
Tyler Shaw
with Special Guests
Sat. Oct. 19 | X92 Presents:
The Royal Foundry
with Special Guests
Wed. Oct. 30 + Thurs. Oct. 31 | X92.9 Presents:
The Dudes
Annual Halloween Party
The Gateway In SAIT Campus Centre, 1301 - 16 Avenue NW, Calgary, AB. 18+, Legal ID required. This event is open to all Sait students, staff, faculty, alumni, members, and guests. Please visit Saitsa.com for more information.
SEPTEMBER 2019 BEATROUTE 5

6 BEATROUTE SEPTEMBER 2019

Drink
PEP UP
THE PARTY
The Espresso Martini
is the sophistocated
alternative for a late-night
pick-me-up. No Bull.
By JENNIE ORTON
T
hose seasoned in the ways
of oblivion know that the
trick to longevity in an
action-packed night on
the town is a well curated
mix of liquid courage and
high octane pep. Or as the
mysterious woman who, in
1980, entered Fred’s Club
in London to grab a nightcap
put it: something that will “wake
me up, then fuck me up.” The resulting
cocktail was the Espresso Martini
and for those who feel they may
have outgrown the Jagerbomb, this
is your key to a good time — and a
long time — while still looking classy.
Though credited to the aforementioned
Fred’s Club bartender Dick
Bradsell, the cocktail has enjoyed
several bouts of popularity as we
have gone through ebbs and flows of
admitting to ourselves that it’s one of
our collective guilty pleasures.
Through the years experts on both
coffee and mixology have weighed in
on the perfect way to pull and pour
this dark master of a mixed drink,
but the consensus seems to be 1.5
ounces of vodka, 3/4 ounce of hot
espresso coffee (a “short” for those
fond of third-wave coffee terminology),
3/4 ounce of Kahlua, and 1/3
ounce of sugar syrup. We decided
to reach out to experts across the
nation to find out why this turbo treat
has such staying power and how
they go about making it their own.
GORD HANNAH
Head Bartender and Cocktail
Ambassador / Drake Hotel Properties
Toronto, ON
“The Espresso Martini is fun, it
always has been and it always
will be. Dick Bradsell knew how
to throw a party. A little booze, a
little sweetness, a little bitter and
a kick of caffeine. Put all of that in
an elegant glass, served quickly
with a smile and your guests are
on their way to a great night. It is
every bartenders’ guilty pleasure
and an easy way to impress any
guest. Our current spec is based
on simplicity and history.”
Recipe:
1 oz Absolut Vodka
1 oz Kahlua
1 shot Espresso
Garnished with espresso beans.
REECE SOUTHERN
Bar Manager / Proof
Calgary, AB
“The Espresso Martini is a cocktail
I hold close to me. I watched the
drinks popularity steadily rise to
the point that venues were all
trying to put their crazy spin on this
modern classic. I’ve seen Espresso
Martinis batched into nitro kegs
for high volumes and almost every
high volume venue in Perth had
them on tap. I personally find the
classic recipe a tad too sweet and I
wanted to elevate my touch on this
cocktail giving the guest a version
that imparts part of me and my love
for this cocktail and the travels I
have been on.”
Recipe:
1.5 oz Vodka
.5 oz Amaro
.25 oz Coffee Liqueurs
1 oz Freshly Brewed Coffee
1 spoon 2:1 Simple Syrup
1 Pinch Salt
SHOIN FUJITA
Bar Manager / CinCin Ristorante + Bar
Vancouver, BC
“The Espresso Martini is such a
versatile classic cocktail because
you can enjoy it at any point of
your day. Breakfast, lunch, dinner,
nightcap - it really doesn’t matter. I
really believe that the cocktail has
a really big fan base that consists
of all sorts of people who like the
various recipes they have been
exposed to. Our recipe is meant
to be simple, executable during a
rush, and delicious.”
Recipe:
0.5 oz simple syrup
0.5 oz Kahlua
1.5 oz Van Gogh
Espresso Vodka
2 shots Espresso
Garnish with 3 espresso beans
SEPTEMBER 2019 BEATROUTE 7

Style
Tyler’s
TYLER, THE
CREATOR AND
LACOSTE TURN
NOSTALGIA
INTO STYLE
By DAYNA MAHANNAH
I
t wasn’t
enough for
Tyler, the Creator
to release his
sixth album, IGOR, to
critical acclaim earlier
this year — BeatRoute
called it a “compelling and complicated
reinvention.” Now the master collaborator
and music lion has teamed up with Lacoste to
bring his fashion game to the street.
GOLF le Fleur is his 16-piece collection
ranging from two-toned socks to fuzzy pink
sweaters and retro tracksuits, all softened with
a dreamy, 80s courtside vibe. In these pastel
pieces, comfort is at a lounging-in-sweatpantson-a-Sunday
level, while swag reaches heights
of front-row-at-the-French-Open.
Tyler’s beats and style have become intertwined
— he communicates articulately through
both phonics and visuals. Scrapping hyper-masculinity
for ungendered designs with simple lines
and fresh colour, "Fleur is for the busy and the
bold. Creamy Neapolitan tones are revamped:
pale pink, beige, and off-white become ‘litchi,’
‘geode,’ and ‘mascarpone."
If the retro and diverse campaign doesn’t
convince you, Tyler’s instagram videos might.
Watch him rap the rap — in a green and cream
GOLF le Fleur letterman jacket — to 12,000
people at Versailles Electro music event outside
Paris. He looks more than just comfortable.
Bucket hats off to you, Tyler.
Find GOLF le Fleur online at Lacoste’s physical and online
stores. Catch Tyler, the Creator live at Scotiabank Arena in
Toronto September 6, Place Bell in Laval September 11, and at
the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver October 15.
Tri-tone T
If a platinum bowl cut can
be enviable, bubblegum
blue can be classy. These
vertical colour blocks are
simple yet standout.
8 BEATROUTE SEPTEMBER 2019

Tennis
SEPTEMBER 2019 BEATROUTE 9

Style
Double-Dip Collared Sweater
All retro prep, this thick cotton sweatshirt is cozy and
streamlined. The iconic Lacoste croc has been reworked with
stylized GOLF text.
Floccose Button-Down Cardigan
The warm-fuzzies have never felt so cool. Pull over a
T-shirt or wrap around your head to hide from envious gazes,
á la the Creator, courtside.
The Classic Polo—or is it?
It doesn’t take much to not be boring. A little asymmetry,
a rose in a croc’s mouth — this polo upends
expectations just enough.
Varsity Reminisci
Oh nostalgia. Bottle green wool, white leather.
A wardrobe staple that punches up any outfit with
sportswear chic and palpable street cred.
Slash Track Jacket
Inject bold slabs of colour into your morning
jog or slip a sleek 80s slant to your
Friday night outfit MO.
Not-Your-Fisherman’s Bucket Hat
True to old-school rap style, the bucket hat has powered
through decades of trends. Classic shape, fresh colour, and
the tell-tale GOLF Le Fleur ribbon? Absolute choice.
Bubblegum Bum
Remember the blonde bowl cut? These are the
matching shorts — straight lines, poppy colour,
good for warm weather.
Goede and Litchi Legs
Stretch and cotton let you move. Tuck your phone
in the back pocket, pop in your headphones, and
groove to IGOR all across town
What’s Good? Dem Socks
Feet cred turns heads. Coveted toes are no problem
here — pull up your socks and walk tall. Also available
in blue and mascarpone.
10 BEATROUTE SEPTEMBER 2019

B E
DEEPLY
FUNKY
FLU E VO G X G EO RGE
CLI NTO N THE MOTH ER S H I P
JOHNFLUEVOGCALGARYTHAVESW··
JOHNFLUEVOGEDMONTONAVENW··
FLUEVOGCOM

MUSiC
The most
important thing is
to take yourself out,
and to serve the
song and not serve
the musician.
Carlos O’Connell,
Fontaines’ guitarist
Fontaines D.C.
Dublin post-punkers’
quest to become the
biggest band in the
world
By MELISSA VINCENT
It’s 7:30 pm in Dublin when Carlos
O’Connell, one of two guitarists in the
universally buzzed about Dublin post
punk band, Fontaines D.C, answers the
phone from the aptly named Garage Bar
in the city’s East End. It’s a familiar spot
for the band, one that they would meet at
frequently when their early poetry chapbooks
were in the genesis stage, and
now has become a familiar reprieve in
between their lengthy international tour.
“We found all our music tastes in here,”
O’Connell says over the clink of a pint in
the background.
It’s far from a surprise that the band
would select this location to chat with
writers the world over. When it comes
to memorializing the reality of life in
contemporary Dublin, few bands have
become such ardent archivists of time
and place like Fontaines D.C. Since rising
to attention in 2017 with their single
“Liberty Bell,” they’ve been in direct
opposition to the failure to launch myth
that’s populated contemporary rock. Now
with a late night performance on Jimmy
Fallon under their belt and a nomination
for the esteemed Mercury Award in tow,
Fontaines D.C. are part of the newest
group of artists, alongside bands like
London’s Shame and Bristol’s Idles,
tasked with revitalizing the newest era of
rock erupting out of the United Kingdom.
“One of the things we said from the
start is that we want to be the biggest
band in the world. I think that’s the thing
that we still want to be,” he says. When
asked why, O’Connell’s answer is an even
mix of depreciation and ambition. “Probably
we’re just deluded to be honest,” he
laughs. “But I think there’s nothing wrong
with that. I think I’ll probably hate it. But I
want to know if I will.”
Ambitions of grandeur aside, what
makes Fontaines D.C. stand out is their
devotion to a sonic approach that yields
to clarity. Through cutting their teeth on
a blend of asphyxiating social commentary
with a smart ear for sprawling,
scrappy melodies, perhaps unintentionally,
there’s a ragtag elegance to their seismic
debut Dogrel. Album opener “Big”
is a turbulent and unnervingly catchy
declaration of ownership that demands
rapt attention, and “Too Real” toys with
galactic off-kilter galactic synths, before
a precise, metallic bass line serves as
a necessary form of ground control.
“Checkless Reckless” adds its spin on a
parched and swampy kind of grindhouse,
and “Dublin City Sky” is a cerebral ballad
CONTINUED ON PG. 14 k
SEPTEMBER 2019 BEATROUTE 13
DANIEL TOPETE

DANIEL TOPETE
MUSiC CONCERT PREVIEWS
FONTAINES D.C.
k CONTINUED FROM PG. 13
that resolutely pins the city’s heart to to
the arch of the band’s sleeve.
At nearly every corner, they debunk
the reductive description that they’re
a post-punk band. Task delegation and
discipline is something the band think
about often. Their ability to prevent
their flair for experimentation from careening
off a cliff is a calculated effort.
FONTAINES D.C.
Friday, Sept. 13
“It’s important for us that every element, even if
it’s a very simple element, is all necessary. The most
important thing is to take yourself out, and to serve
the song and not serve the musician,” he continues.
While much of their music has been described as
a clear-headed portrait of a specific moment in Dublin’s
cultural history, Fontaines D.C. consider their
method far less rigid. By relying on the mechanics of
poetry to examine themes of frustration and disillusionment,
gusto and joy, rather than crafting a love
letter to their city, they’re more invested in writing
an unedited state of the union signed off by those
at the bottom.
“We didn’t want to ignore any aspect of the place
we lived in, and just tried to see the honesty in the
place. A lot of the times those feelings weren’t necessarily
unpleasant, but we didn’t want to brush it
off. We wanted to understand them.”
To illustrate this point, O’Connell recites the following
line from Leonard Cohen’s “Famous Blue
Phoenix Concert Theatre
(Toronto)
Tix: $16, ticketfly.com
Friday, Sept. 20
Fox Cabaret (Vancouver)
Tix: $18, ticketweb.ca
Raincoat” from memory, and without
missing a beat: “And thanks, for
the trouble you took from her eyes / I
thought it was there for good so I never
tried.”
“Those lyrics just speak to the value
of ambiguity. The listener can place
whoever they want in the role of the
subject,” he says. “I think speaking of
lyrics too much can be damaging to the song. The
most important thing we have is our own interpretation
of things.”
In an era of cultural hyperspecificity, perhaps offering
listeners the agency to define the contents of
a song is more than a rejection of ego; it provides
an opportunity to dismantle the long-held assumptions
of who gets to be the protagonist in rock’s
most legendary stories. In an interview with The
Guardian, lead singer Grian Chatteren explained
that one reading of “Boys in the Better Land” could
be from the perspective of an ambiguous, multicultural
taxi driver asserting his Irishness.
“Most places more or less have the same broad,
political backbone. It has its flaws, and there’s good
things,” he finishes. “I suppose that’s part of the
reason why it resonates with people: because even
though they’re not from the same place that we got
all that inspiration from, there’s a mirror image in
all these different cities.” ,
50+ Bands
8 Venues
3 Nights of Music
1 Wristband
ON SALE NOW!
BREAKOUTWEST.CA
KICK OFF CONCERT FEATURING…
SARAH MACDOUGALL
This project is funded in part by FACTOR, the Government of Canada and Canada’s private radio broadcasters.
This Ce project projet is est funded financé in part en partie by FACTOR, par FACTOR, Musicaction le gouvernement and the Governent du Canada of Canada et and les Canada’s radiodiffuseurs private privés radio broadcasters.
du Canada.
Ce projet est financé en partie par FACTOR, Musicaction et le gouvernement du Canada et les radiodiffuseurs privés du Canada.
DAKHKÁ KHWÁAN
DANCERS AND DJ DASH
DEL BARBER
BreakOut West 2019 is funded in part by the government of Yukon
E D M O N T O N
GUITAR SHOW
Sunday SEPT 22, 2019 • 10 AM to 4 PM
Italian Cultural Center, 14230 - 133 Ave. NW
C A L G A R Y
GUITAR SHOW
Sunday SEPT 29, 2019 • 10 AM to 4 PM
Red & White Club, McMahon Stadium
$
10 Tickets
at the door
BROWSE
BUY
PLAY SELL
BOUTIQUE
USED
ELECTRIC
PEDALS
ACOUSTIC
AMPS NEW
CUSTOM
VINTAGE
BASS
ACCESSORIES
canadianguitarshows.com
14 BEATROUTE SEPTEMBER 2019

Artist to Watch
SINZERE:
CALGARY RAPPER
INSPIRED BY HER
FAMILY'S RESILIENCE
By JONATHAN CRANE
C
algary rapper Sinzere has
channeled a lifetime of music
and the resiliency of her family
into a career that’s landed her
on the same stage as artists
like Elephant Man, Obie Trice,
and Mavado.
The young artist originally began as a
dancer, then naturally drifted into DJing
and MCing. It’s a process that started in
childhood, where the love of music was
passed down through the generations of
her Jamaican family.
“My mom was hugely influenced by
funk and early R&B and soul. And then
my grandma, she’d have 45s and a lot of
reggae cuts,” says Sinzere.
While Sinzere was born in Calgary, both
her mother and grandmother were born in
a tin shanty in Jamaica, both were single
mothers. When they arrived in Canada in
search of a better life they were met with
a tumultuous beginning. At the age of
seven an abusive relationship forced them
to relocate to Toronto.
“The reason why we moved in the first
place is because my sister’s dad was an
addict and he was very abusive. He made
an attempt on my mom’s life, and so it was
more like we ran to Toronto,” she says.
Once there they lived in a one-bedroom
apartment, in a state of perpetual fear
of being tracked
down by her
sister’s father. In
one instance he
almost succeeded.
SINZERE
Friday, Sept. 13
Container Bar (Calgary)
Tix: free
“He almost burned down the apartment
that we were in and we almost died,” says
Sinzere.
Witnessing her mother emerge as an
author and business owner after overcoming
this painful situation and subsequent
hardships is what has given Sinzere
the strength to forge ahead as an artist.
“All those trials and tribulations, her
walking through that fire, for it to be able
to burn her completely down to ashes
and for her to rise again like a phoenix, it
was one of the biggest inspirations,” says
Sinzere.
Her mother’s resiliency and triumph is
now the central theme of Sinzere’s forthcoming
album, Ghetto Gabby, a narrative
hip-hopera in which the beginning of the
album is the ending, a decision she says
will become apparent to listeners as they
progress through each track.
“The general theme is just understanding
that what you go through, your beginning,
it’s not who you are, or what you’ll
end up being,” says Sinzere. “There’s so
much more to the story.”
ESTHER CHO
SEPTEMBER 2019 BEATROUTE 15

LOCAL BEERS
& CRAFT COCKTAILS
&
DELICIOUS
FOOD
ALL DAY
BRUNCH • LUNCH • DINNER
no cover
EVERY SUNDAY
THE YYSCENE PRESENTS
SONGSMITH
SUNDAYS
DOUG HOYER
WITH
LIVE MUSIC
HAPPY HOUR
EVERY FRI • 4-7 PM
VINYL BRUNCH
WITH ARCHIVE PAT
EVERY SATURDAY
VIBE • EAT • DRINK
LIVE
MUSIC
SEPT. 5-7
DAN
MOXON
FRI OCT. 11
SHRED KELLY
SAT OCT. 19
AND
MORE!
VISIT KINGEDDY.CA FOR INFO AND TICKETS
King Eddy | 438 9 Avenue SE, Calgary kingeddy.ca @KingEddyYYC #KingEddyYYC

MUSiC CONCERT PREVIEWS
GHOST
F
or nearly a decade, Ghost
frontman Tobias Forge
successfully obscured his
real identity from the limelight.
As Papa Emeritus’ I,
II, and III, pope-like entities
from the same fictional
bloodline, Forge found
conduits in which he could
angelically sing grim lyrics
over his band’s signature
style of metal.
Ghost then teamed up with pop-music
producer Klahs Ahlund, who previously
worked with the likes of Madonna,
Katy Perry and Britney Spears, and
unleashed the pseudo-gothic heavy
metal opera, Meliora, in 2015. Meliora
jolted the band into a new echelon
within their genre, misting a crisp,
catchy aura into their sound. They
band grew in popularity, and Forge’s
character at the time, the illustrious
Papa Emeritus III, became somewhat
of a sex symbol in the dark-alternative
community.
“I think people are attracted to
my characters for the same reasons
I got attracted to the cats in the musical
Cats when I was 12,” Forge says
while walking down a busy road in
his home-country of Sweden. “The
character could be whoever you’d like
them to be; all I saw was the shape of
a woman. Anytime there’s something
hidden, everything else is left to interpretation.
I think that serves the
excitement for anyone seeing Ghost.
You don’t have to think too much
about our hair color or how we smell.
You can imagine whatever qualities
you’d like.”
Unfortunately, fame’s complications
led to a lawsuit filed by Ghost’s
instrumentalists, previously only
known as the band’s ‘Nameless
Ghouls.’ Although the lawsuit was dismissed
by courts, Forge’s
anonymity as the singer of GHOST
Ghost was relinquished to Friday, Sept. 20
the public in 2017.
Pacific Coliseum (Vancouver)
Forge released a new Monday, Sept. 23
Ghost album, Prequelle, Rogers Place (Edmonton)
with new members in Tuesday, Sept. 24
2018. Musically, the album
continues the catchy,
Scotiabank Saddledome
(Calgary)
Tix: $39.50, ticketmaster.ca
arena-rock direction explored
in their previous
album. Again, Forge collaborated with
pop artists, a decision Forge says “mixes
things up.” Thematically, the album
touches on grim themes like the
Plague and Black Death, which Forge
The nine lives
of the unmasked
metal mastermind
Tobias Forge
By JOHNNY PAPAN
says are metaphors for the end of the
world—in a physical, emotional and
personal sense.
“The end of the world happens
to different people and societies all
the time,” Forge says. “When we talk
about the end of the world, I think
we have a tendency to forget that it’s
already happened, and will happen in
the future. It’s frightening, but morbidly
fascinating. Having my identity
revealed, that alone was not painful.
The process that led to it was painful
because I hadn’t done anything
wrong.”
Prior to Prequelle, Forge would introduce
a new Papa Emeritus character
every time Ghost would release
an album, each ‘Papa’ more evolved
than the last. For this album, Forge
decided to kill off the Papa Emeritus
lineage, introducing a new character—the
vampiristic and flawed Cardinal
Copia.
“We needed to see something
new,” Forge says about the demise
of Papa Emeritus. “Papa Emeritus
already reached maximum exaltation;
there was no trajectory. Now we
can see someone who has not risen
yet. Someone who is not perfected
yet. My characters are as much me
as they are others. Characters that I
don’t want to be, or wish I could have
been. Cardinal Copia has an amplified
coolness and slickness that you
can’t really have in real life, especially
not in a person like myself. I wouldn’t
be comfortable enough to behave as
ridiculous as Cardinal Copia. I can’t
really explain it, but he is a lot of
things that I am not.”
Despite his true identity being
outed by the public, Forge managed
to keep the bands mystique in tact.
Ghost’s fanbase is fully on board with
the act and their underworldly characters.
Their popularity continues
to grow and their shows and overall
aesthetic are becoming more theatrical
in nature. On separating himself
from his beloved characters, Forge
concludes:
“Let’s be real, I think Ghost is still
way more known than I will ever be.
I’m very happy that is the case. (For)
most artists, the difference between
them and the person on stage isn’t
visually clear. People expect them to
be that person all the time. No one
is really expecting me to be like my
character. I can actually step out of
him.” ,
17 BEATROUTE AUGUST 2019

BLACK
MOUNTAIN
Psychrock masterminds break barriers and burn rubber on high octane
space age highway chase By CHRISTINE LEONARD
OLIVIA JAFFE
H
overing over your metropolis
like a sleek black
leviathan, Destroyer is but
the latest vehicle of deliverance
for Vancouver space
rockers Black Mountain.
Armed with digitized pop
tentacles and pulsating
with vintage video game
vibes, the time-travelling album harvests
riffs and rhythms from across decades
and devices. Customarily nonchalant
about their earth-quaking creations,
founding guitarist/lead vocalist Stephen
McBean and lynchpin/keyboardist
Jeremy Schmidt, have always gravitated
towards generating deadly sonic vortexes
that defy chronological classification.
“We’re definitely in tune with our
aesthetic pasts. I guess that’s pretty evident,
just from what our preoccupations
are,” says Schmidt of the new album’s
retro-tronic soundscape. “I feel like the
past is something that’s always revealing
itself. Even though it seems like it’s
all behind us, variations of it seem to
be revealing themselves in the present
and continuing to do so in the future all
the time. So, to me it’s like the past is an
ongoing project.”
Crashing into mid-life with phasing
synths set to stun, Schmidt and McBean
hit the virtual reset button following
the appearance of the band’s previous
full-length release, IV (2016), leaving
them alone in the cockpit for the first
time in years. Approaching an age when
a man’s thoughts might run to HRT and
hot rods, the duo fixed upon the title
Destroyer, a nod to the discontinued
single-run 1985 Dodge testosterone
factory on wheels.
“Steve is actually a new driver. He
recently learned how to drive, so that
kind of informed a couple of the ideas in
an off-handed, casual way.”
The “Boogie Lover” persona that
flows from McBean’s newfound sense of
freedom comes through loud and clear
on new tracks such as the easy ridin’
“Future Shade,” the power mongering
“Horns Arising” and the Manson-child
recruitment anthem “Pretty Little
Lazies.” Pieced together between their
coastal outposts in LA and Vancouver,
the resulting production carries the
weight of Black Mountain’s ample experience
and a burning thirst for untested
waters.
“To me the results sound like a progression,”
Schmidt says. “The record fits
well within the canon of everything else
we’ve done. It seems similar enough to
what we’ve done in the past to sound
like a Black
Mountain record
and different
enough that it
sounds new.”
Determined
to repopulate
their psychedelic
utopia with
a fresh crew
of supporting
players,
the long-time
friends opened
the studio pod
BLACK MOUNTAIN
Saturday, Sept. 14
Vogue Theatre (Vancouver)
Sunday, Sept. 15
Distrikt (Victoria))
Tix: $25, eventbrite.ca
Tuesday, Sept. 17
The Starlite Room
(Edmonton)
Tix: $18, ticketweb.ca
Wednesday, Sept. 18
Commonwealth (Calgary)
Tix:$25, ticketweb.ca
bay doors to a brave new world of artistic
possibilities on Destroyer.
“We’ve always liked the balance of
female and male vocals. It adds a different
kind of narrative and it creates a
dynamic which I think is very appealing
and very much a part of the band,” he
continues. “One could say our ‘happy
place’ is where the organic meets the
electronic. It’s kind of like this yin and
yang thing where the two sort of egg
each other on. Blending artifice and
things that people regard as being more
organic has always been something of
interest to me and the band. In a lot of
ways, it’s the nucleus of our sound.”
Atomic poet/vocalist/keyboardist
18 BEATROUTE SEPTEMBER 2019

Rachel Fannan (Only You, Sleepy Sun),
alt-metal drummer Adam Bulgasem
(Almost is Nothing, Dommengang,
Soft Kill) and bassist Arjan Miranda
complete Black Mountain’s live invasion
force. After a decade and a half as an
insular entity, the influx of new contributors
to their recording sessions has
brought vital energy to Black Mountain’s
monolithic stage presence.
“Stepping back and looking at the
album, it’s obviously different than you
imagined it might have been from the
beginning,” Schmidt says. “Live we’re
pretty true to the album, but we leave
room in the recording, so we have the
freedom to change things up. There’s
always some headroom to interpret
things as they start to take on a different
life on stage. When we approach
performing stuff it’s almost like we just
listened to the record and thought
‘Okay, let’s be the best Black Mountain
cover band we can be!’ Just kidding.”
The refueled Black Mountain will cut
a modest swath of destruction through
Canada and the US this September.
Keep your eyes on the skies as they
make contact with Black Mountain
Army converts at sightings scheduled
for touchdown from British Columbia
to Manitoba. ,
SEPTEMBER 2019 BEATROUTE 19

MUSiC CONCERT PREVIEWS
CARLY RAE
JEPSEN
A POP STAR FOR THE PEOPLE
By BEN BODDEZ
A
near-decade and two critically
acclaimed albums about the type of pop music
was really nice to start thinking
after the hit single, “Call I wanted to make. E•MO•-
Me Maybe,” there are TION was my first step into
still a surprising number that, and I’ve learned even
of people who view British
Columbia’s Carly Rae For all the talk of pic-
more with Dedicated.”
Jepsen as a pop-culture ture-perfect romance
punchline. But take a look at any in Jepsen’s music, it’s
online pop music forum and Jepsen easy to miss that she
stands tall as the reigning monarch, exists in many of her
complete with tongue-in-cheek adulations
proclaiming her as the genre’s er wishing for the euphoric fantasies
narratives as more of a lonely outsid-
holy saviour.
she sings about to come true. This
Jepsen is still taken aback by the message of escape that Jepsen presents
is universally appealing. Mem-
shift her career’s taken from massive
overnight sensation to the cult-like bers of the LGBTQ community hail
figure she is now. “I felt a different her as an icon, describing her jubilant
kind of good, to be embraced finally live shows as a place to fully step into
for something that was a lot more their identity — something Jepsen
real and a lot more of myself,” the has noticed.
singer admits. Through more personal,
heartfelt and emotional mate-
opener “Run Away With Me” as her
See points to her E•MO•TION
rial, she has made a deeper connection
with her fans. “‘Call Me Maybe’ reason.
favourite track to perform for that
was the gift of my life in so many “I’m trying to say to the audience,
ways, but I think the main thing was let’s forget everything tonight and
I saw it as a platform to show other escape into this feeling. And it feels
sides of who I am as an artist.” like I surrender myself too,” she says.
The song’s massive success was “I’m always amazed at the beautiful
what prompted her to take a step back crowd that we have. People are just
and reconsider what she really wanted.
“Chasing after the same thing crowds so full of love. How did we
nice to each other. I’ve never seen
didn’t even really seem possible, so it get so lucky?”
To emphasize just how
much you can discover when
looking below the surface level
of Jepsen’s music, a viral 150-page
essay titled A Scar No One Else
Can See attempted to showcase
how profoundly sad her music can
be, highlighting how Jepsen almost
always returns to the same themes
of obsession and longing. In fact,
“longing” is how she would describe
her album in a single word. “When
I listen to Billie Holiday, she makes
‘My Man’ sound so beautiful, and
yet it’s the saddest song in the
world. I think I like the contradictions
of those things sometimes
— really milking melancholy in
a way where it becomes poetic.”
While writing, Jepsen plans
for her music to be much more
somber — “very Lykke Li, Cat
Power type stuff” that reflects
her real-life romantic
experiences — before everything
changes in the recording
studio. “When I go into the
room, I naturally want to find
joy. And I don’t know why
that happens, but I stopped
questioning it too much.”
Still, she values every
moment in the studio and
on stage that she gets
choked up, reliving her
lowest points through
her songs. “‘Real Love’
hits me every night
that I play it now.
It’s good because
it reconnects
you.” The emotion
that comes
up reminds her
she is creating
art that comes
from a real
place. “Oth-
erwise you become like a Broadway
show where you go through the motions
of it and it’s like, ‘hit this spot
at this point.’ Anytime you’re kind of
shaken out of that on stage, it gets
across better to the audience,” she
says. “So I always treasure those moments,
even though sometimes it’s
like,” — here, Jepsen mimes a tearful
voice — “‘alright, I’m going to say it
again, all I want is real, real love!’”
To balance out those tearful moments,
Jepsen indulges in a little
bit of laughter. She emphasizes how
lucky she is to have found a kindred
sense of humour in both her fans
and her romantic partners. Despite
seeming confused and slightly embarrassed
whenever one of the many
memes comparing her to a pop music
heroine is brought up in conversation,
Jepsen appreciates the nonsensical
viral movement to give her
a (blow-up, non-dangerous) sword,
a weapon she now receives nightly
at her concerts. “I still don’t understand
it, but it’s adorable,” she says.
“I think it’s what I love about our
community, it feels like everyone has
a good sense of humour and wants to
have a joke together.”
While debuting her breakup song
“For Sure” for an ex-partner just before
they were separated by distance,
Jepsen says their eventual falling out
became something of a joke. “We
could laugh at anything. His hands
were up doing the happy dance, and
then he did a joking, slow sad dance
as he realized the words. But it was
meant to be funny, and we both
chuckled.”
Perhaps it is the perfect balance
between the two — the “happy
dance” and the “sad dance” — that
lifted Jepsen beyond “Call Me Maybe”
and landed her, “For Sure,” at the
top of pop music today. ,
20 BEATROUTE SEPTEMBER 2019

FINDING CHARLOTTE
PIGS
Faux Floyd flying high By BRAD SIMM
W
hen a band can play a 400 seat theatre in Nelson,
B.C. on a Thursday, then get booked 40
minutes down the road in Trail the following
night to play a 700 seat venue, and then another
600 seater in Cranbrook only a couple
hours away on Saturday, by all means this is a
band with draw power.
Such is the status for Pigs, Canada’s top-seeded Pink
Floyd tribute act.
When Pink Floyd’s keyboardist, PIGS
Richard Wright, passed away in Wednesday, Oct. 2
2008 erasing the reunion possibility
of England’s rich mood mas-
Tix:$45
Bella Concert Hall
ters of multi-tracking, Pigs, under
the direction of guitarist/vocalist Josh Szczepanowski,
came into existence.
Based in Victoria, Pigs not only play sellout shows on
the West Coast and throughout the Interior of B.C., but
they’re currently embarking on yet another coast-to-coast
national tour with more than 40 dates this fall.
What’s all the buzz about? The method to their magic
in the seven-piece outfit goes to great lengths to recreate
the look, sound, and spirit of the great Floyd. This means
that in addition to the Roger Waters personality, they have
different guitarists trading off between Syd Barrett and
David Gilmore, drifting into extended psychedelic jams, a
female vocalist that does a soaring version of “Great Gig
In The Sky,” and even a sax player to make sure that crazy
diamond shines on and on.
Pigs is a tribute band that digs back to the 70s when
Pink Floyd floated high on the Battersea horizon.
THE NEW ALBUM
AVAILABLE 2019.09.27
STEELPANTHERROCKS.COM
/STEELPANTHER /STEELPANTHERROCKS /STEEL_PANTHER
SEPTEMBER 2019 BEATROUTE 21

MUSiC CONCERT PREVIEWS
C A LG ARY
Lissie
Soulful singer-songwriter channels country-living and her inner
Stevie Nicks for stripped down new album By YASMINE SHEMESH
$3.50 GUINNESS SLEEVES
AND $5.00 PINTS
PLUS TAX
JOIN US AT 1637 37 ST SW, CALGARY
WWW.DUBLINCALLING.COM/CALGARY
@DUBLINCALLINGCALGARY
Commonwealth Bar & Stage
(Calgary)
Tix: $13.50, eventbrite.ca
Tix: $22.50, westwardfest.com
E
lisabeth Maurus was in
LISSIE
high school, growing
Friday, Sept. 13
up in Rock City, Illinois,
the first time she heard
“Cowboy Take Me Away”
by the Dixie Chicks. Maurus,
Friday, Sept. 14
best known as singer-songwriter
Lissie, came across a 10-sec-
(Vancouver)
Rickshaw Theatre
ond clip of the country ballad on
the internet. She thought it was
beautiful and listened to the little
preview over and over again, until, finally,
she went out and bought the CD.
“It just really represented this ideal love, of
being able to be strong and certain of what
you want, and finding a partner that’s your
equal — someone you could build this beautiful,
authentic life with,” Maurus says speaking
with BeatRoute. “It stirred something up
in me and this sense of longing for that.”
Maurus’s own rendition of “Cowboy Take
Me Away” appears on her latest album,
When I’m Alone: The Piano Retrospective,
which features stripped-down re-imaginings
of her catalog, as well as a cover of Fleetwood
Mac’s “Dreams.” With the
record recalling where things
all began for Maurus in her
career — her striking voice — it
felt right to pay homage to two
of her favourite vocalists, Stevie
Nicks (Fleetwood Mac) and
Natalie Maines (Dixie Chicks).
And now, as an adult, living on a
sprawling 47-acre farm in rural
Iowa where she harvests hay,
“Cowboy” holds even deeper significance
for the artist.
“I mean, I couldn’t really warm more to
that idea of, ‘I want to touch the earth, I
want to break it in my hands, I want to grow
something wild and unruly,’” Maurus adds,
referencing the song’s lyrics. “It’s wanting to
live this sort of pastoral, nature-based life.
The place that I feel most happy is when
I’m out in nature. So, that song just took on
even more meaning for me. And, you know, I
do have a partner and he’s actually a farmer
and I always joke with him, ‘This song, ‘Cowboy
Take Me Away,’ this song is for you.’”
22 BEATROUTE SEPTEMBER 2019

The Playlist:
BEATROUTE
3
5
BEATROUTE
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ROUTE
BR
BRLIVE
BRYYZ
10 songs in heavy rotation at the BR offices right now
4
6
8
1
Jorja Smith
Be Honest (Ft. Burna Boy)
The rising UK R&B artist teams up
with Nigeria’s biggest star, diving
fully into the Afrobeat sound after
exploring it on the Black Panther
soundtrack. Smith’s versatile vocals
sound good over almost anything
and she sounds almost like a young
Rihanna here, but Burna Boy’s
authentic sound sells the track.
3
Noble Oak
Evaporate
The Vancouver chillwave multi-instrumentalist’s
new track sounds
just like its artwork, depicting
someone looking off a mountain
into a cloud-filled sky. Producing
something that sounds this lush
and vibrant is impressive, and the
vocal layering at the end is dreampop
magic.
4 Katy
Perry
Small Talk
Bon Iver
5 Naeem
Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon compared
this track to the dramatics of
something from Les Miserables.
With and raspy, angry vocals, the
politically-tinged track ultimately
explodes into driving percussion
as Vernon nervously stresses
the need to make some changes
before we’re all extinct.
Katy Perry
continues her
redemption arc
with another solid
single addressing
the awkwardness
of having a regular
conversation
2 BROCKHAMPTON
If You Pray Right
Everything BROCKHAMPTON with someone
does is an absolute breath of fresh who once knew
air in the world of hip-hop, and this everything about
track is no exception. They keep you. It’s produced
things a little more structurally to its full bouncy
straightforward here, but there’s synthpop potential
something about each member by the classically-trained
Charlie
bringing their own unique sound to
that dark and intoxicating looping Puth, who actually
tuba beat makes us want to jump beatboxes most of
1
on the furniture. the percussion.
7 9 10
6
Half Moon Run
Then Again
The Montreal indie-rock quartet
finally release a song they’ve
been performing in different
versions for the last five years,
adding an eerie orchestral
string section up front in the
mix. A slow build that sees
them team up with Jack
White’s producer, the track
goes just about everywhere
before climaxing with a frantic
garage-rock section.
7 SiR
Hair Down
(Ft. Kendrick Lamar)
Top Dawg Entertainment’s
most underrated
member teams up with
its figurehead, trading
in his deeper vocals
and old-soul delivery
for a smooth, dreamy
track that fits in with a
more modern sound.
As usual, Lamar
completely takes over
the track with a verse
that’s uncharacteristically
subdued, but as
dynamic and charismatic
as ever.
8
Lana Del Rey
Looking For America
A track that won’t appear on Del
Rey’s upcoming album, she wrote
and released it quickly in response to
the four catastrophic mass shootings
in the United States in the first week
of August. Her voice is hauntingly
beautiful, delivering some harrowing
lyrics as she softly sings of her
dream of a peaceful future.
9 Phantogram
Mister Impossible
One of the alt-pop group’s most
experimental tracks yet, this percussion-heavy
track sounds like they’re
auditioning to land the theme song of
the next big superhero movie. Industrial
synths drone and a muted horn
section infuses the track with energy
as the two vocalists trade cryptic
lyrics about a decidedly badass dude.
10 Bazzi
Fallin (Ft. 6lack)
The young singer-songwriter brings a
more somber spin to the trap-pop formulas
dominating the radio, teaming
up with one of R&B’s most passionate
crooners, 6lack, while emoting over a
sparse piano instrumental and deep,
choral backing vocals.
SEPTEMBER 2019 BEATROUTE 23

24 BEATROUTE SEPTEMBER 2019
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THEN&NOW

We had grown up in
the punk and alternative
scene of the 9 0s, if
you made a dollar,
you were a sell-out.
And your music sucked.
And you were shit. -SARA
BACK FROM THE PAST, ONE
SOLITARY SISTER TALKS THE 90s,
FIRSTS OF ALL SORTS, AND REVILED
‘CLASSIC TWIN QUESTIONS’
By DAYNA MAHANNAH
For most people, high school is among the atrocities
they’d like to never think about again. For Calgary-born
indie-pop twins Tegan and Sara Quin,
those memories are the bedrock of their first memoir,
appropriately dubbed High School, and ninth
studio album, Hey, You’re Just Like Me.
While prepping for a near sold-out North American
tour, Sara hopped on a call with BeatRoute
from her Vancouver home, where she recently
landed after bouncing between cities, countries,
and coasts for the last decade. She had moved
there as a broke artist at 20, but couldn’t “eat or
drink or live,” and headed east. “Now I’ve come
back as an adult! With disposable income!”
With most family and industry connections on
the west coast, the move makes for a happier work/
life balance. It’s also the first time Sara and Tegan
have lived in the same Canadian city since 2002.
Though the twins’ tumultuous relationship is
no secret, writing a memoir together has been a
long-talked about project. The crux of the book’s
narrative crystallized while reminiscing about
high school. Not only were those years their most
formative, but Sara and Tegan, who turn 39 this
month, realized it was an opportunity to share
their origin story in more detail than interviews
allowed for.
“We’re forced to give really short answers because
we know there’s not time to dig into that
history,” Sara says. “We didn’t feel like there was
space or time to share it.”
Why bring up an LSD-laced, emotionally turbulent
“boiling point” of being queer teen girls in
the nineties? “Those years are seminal,” Sara says
with a deep breath. At 15, Tegan and Sara had never
touched a guitar, and by 17 they were being offered
a record deal. It’s a story of firsts—stepping onto
a stage, using a microphone, receiving applause—
profound moments burned into their memories.
“It’s the same with love,” Sara adds, who is now
best friends with the first girl she had a romantic
relationship with.
CONTINUED ON PG. 24 k
SEPTEMBER 2019 BEATROUTE 25

BRCOVERSTORY
BRYYZ
Once I discovered I
could write songs, it
really replaced a lot of my
other bad habits. I was
less interested in drugs and
drinking. In a weird way,
it was a good addiction.
-SARA
k CONTINUED FROM PG. 23
Digging into their past led to the discovery
of the first songs they wrote at 15. “Once I
discovered I could write songs, it replaced
my other bad habits. I was less interested in
drugs and drinking,” Sara says. “In a weird
way, it was a good addiction.”
When others took notice of their music,
Tegan was brazen with confidence, while
Sara wanted to weigh the options. “Tegan
was like, ‘If they don’t get it, fuck ‘em.’
And I was like, ‘Hm. If they don’t get it,
I want to understand why. Are there vulnerabilities
and weaknesses in what we’re
doing, should we consider that?’” But she
admits that it was her sister’s enthusiasm
and entrepreneurial spirit that won her
over. “We had grown up in the punk and
alternative scene of the 1990s — if you
made a dollar, you were a sell-out; your
music sucked; and you were shit.” Her
voice is lighthearted. “And Tegan was like,
‘let’s just make some money. We gotta pay
the bills.’ She sort of recognized the privilege
of even being able to decide that your
art shouldn’t have value.”
The twins wrote more than 40 songs in three
years, 12 of which made the album. Hey, I’m Just
Like You is a time capsule of teen angst, emotion,
and defiance—a real-life soundtrack to their High
School memoir. Lies, love, and broken hearts
run the course with satisfying melodrama and
head-bobbing nostalgia. “Hold My Breath Until I
Die” captures the life-or-death stakes that youth
injects into relationships, while the title track is
a colourful celebration of friendship. Held up to
Tegan and Sara’s present-day selves, the songs
retain their punk heart while the album’s pop
production is a testament to the twins’ musical
evolution.
Now idols of entrepreneurial savvy and queer
resistance, the duo are still trying to reconcile
individual identities with an award-winning career
built heavily on their twin image. “There
are strong parallels between being a twin and being
famous,” Sara says. Even in strollers, people
would swarm the Quins. Their parents started
taking the toddlers out separately to avoid attention.
“Sharing a face” had its upsides, though, like
when they transferred to a new school in third
grade. “I knew we could use each other as power.
We could go to this new
school and if we were
together, people were
gonna be interested. We
wouldn’t be invisible.”
That superpower became
“claustrophobic”
over the years — a “trap”
that oppressed individuality,
yet made the pair
distinct. Does Sara still
struggle with it? “Absolutely.
It almost intensifies
with age,”
she says. The infan-
TEGAN AND SARA
Saturday, Oct. 5
The Vogue Theatre (Van.)
Wednesday, Oct. 9
Myer Horowitz
Theatre (Edmonton)
Thursday, Oct. 10
Bella Concert Hall
(Calgary)
Thursday, Oct. 11
Bella Concert Hall
(Calgary)
Friday, Oct. 12
The Garrick (Winnipeg)
Tix: Sold out
tilization that a “fluke of science” invites is a
point of contention for her. “People will ask
in interviews, ‘Do you still live together?’
And I’m like, ‘Do you live with your 40 year
old sibling?’” Her voice has spiked an octave.
“People try to ask us the ‘classic twin
questions.’ Like, I’m not gonna give you
pull quotes about whether we can read each
other’s thoughts. Give me a break. If I could
read Tegan’s mind, we’d be in Vegas doing card
tricks.” Her tone drops. “Why are there certain
rules for non-twins we don’t allow for twins?
Or why do we treat famous people like they
don’t get the same privacy and respect that
you want?”
While writing both book and album, Sara
rediscovered poignant confessions sprinkled
among “asshole adolescent” notes. She was
failing classes, but afraid to admit she didn’t
want to go to post-secondary. “I was a deeply
closeted, suffering, confused teenager.”
She scribbled notes about living up to the
expectations of my parents. “Especially my
mother, who was risking it all, going back to
school and working a job full-time and raising
us. I can barely deal with my life and
my cats.” Her mother isn’t so sure, and
worries the memoir doesn’t showcase her
well. “I think that’s her own self criticism
because most people read the book and
think she was fantastic. And she was.”
For their birthday on September 19,
Tegan and Sara will be working. Maybe
indulge in a “nip of scotch” before bed.
It’s a far cry from the experimental days
of their youth, but Sara doesn’t mind. “I
just wanna stare at a bird and tree, and
sleep really well.” That giggle again. “I
feel like it’s a nice period of my life to
be creative and quiet.” Funny, since
Tegan and Sara will be playing to sold
out venues across the continent
this fall. On second thought, the
kids turned out alright. Sara’s
smiles into the phone; “I
think my mom’s really
proud of us.” ,
26 BEATROUTE AUGUST 2019

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Studio Bell, home of the National Music Centre | 850 4 Street SE Calgary, AB
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studiobell.ca @nmc_canada #StudioBell

TEGAN AND SARA
HEY, I’M JUST LIKE YOU
THE NEW ALBUM
OUT 9.27.19
THE BOOK OUT 9.24.19

Reviews
ALBUM
Album Review
TOOL
Fear Inoculum
Sony Music
TOOL taught everyone a lesson in patience
with a 13-year wait for new material. This
skill comes in handy when listening to Fear
Inoculum, a challenging album that finds the
band leading the listener through long hallways
of hard truths and elusive catharsis. Release
comes, but they make you work for it.
From the first familiar cymbal tings of the
title track, to the sketchy paranoia in the Danny
Carey drum solo track, “Chocolate Chip Trip,”
you’re left feeling like you’ve stumbled into a
funhouse full of warped mirrors and memories
— jarring but oddly satisfying.
It’s in “Descending,” when Justin Chanellor’s
churning bass line and Carey’s driving war
cry drums, you hear singer Maynard James
Keenan bellow, «Stir us from our wanton
slumber. Mitigate our ruin. Call us all to
arms and order” that the work reveals its
fruit. This slightly resentful, slightly menacing,
slightly jaded growl is the voice of a band back
from a long time in the abyss. You can see the
claw marks on them; years of speculation and
demands, years of watching their country become
a circus of entitlement and division, years
of fending off the ghosts of their own relevance.
The last two minutes of this song breathes fire,
a chest bursting delivery from the beast that
rode the spiral to the end and led us all where
no one’s been before.
Tempestuous as always, TOOL prove
that absence breeds breathless longing
and makes escapists of us all. True to
form, they do not allow us to escape, but
instead put us right in front, face first with
a snarl. And all we can do it smile and ask
for more.
Best Song: Descending
Jennie Orton
SEPTEMBER 2019 BEATROUTE 29
TRAVIS SHINN

MUSiC ALBUM REVIEWS
Interview
THE NEW
PORNOGRAPHERS'
THROWBACK
TO SIMPLER
TIMES
BROCKHAMPTON
Ginger
Question Everything/RCA
THE NEW
PORNOGRAPHERS
In the Morse Code of
Brake Lights
Collected Work Records
Carl Newman is sitting on a chic
couch in a vacant corner of Toronto’s
Chelsea Hotel, basking in confident
tranquility. He’s calm, cool,
collected, and sipping on a latte as
he meets with the press, mentally
preparing to lead his band, The
New Pornographers, on yet another
tour, this time in support of their
eighth studio album, In the Morse
Code of Brake Lights.
Since their inception in 2000,
the Canadian indie rockers have
amassed fandom all around the
world due to their penchant for
catchy power pop tunes and
relatable songwriting. Their last album,
Whiteout Conditions (2017),
received favourable reviews, and
was followed by a successful tour.
Now, two years later, armed with
a new collection of songs, Newman
is ready to ramp things up
again. You might wonder where his
head is at, but his head is where it’s
always been – in the music.
“I feel like I never really get
away from the music. I get away
from playing gigs, but I’m always
at home trying to write,” says
Newman. “Like even right now, this
record hasn’t even come out yet
and I’m already looking at what
I’ve been working on most recently
and saying, ‘I’ve got the guts of
another record here.’”
Home for Newman is in the
small upstate New York town of
Woodstock, where he lives with
his wife and seven-year-old son.
There are only about 6000 residents
in the offseason, with it doubling
during the summer months.
He enjoys the peace and quiet of
the place but is very aware of the
larger national community and political
atmosphere he is now a part
of, and it seeps into his writing. “I
just can’t avoid it,” says Newman,
but at the same time, he doubts
his own perspective.
“Well for me it’s ultimately just
personal. Like I’m not trying to
write any statement about what
it means to be here right now, but
I can try to communicate what I
feel like and maybe somebody
else feels the same way,” says
Newman. “In a lot of ways, I don’t
think it’s my place to be the person
who tries to make a political
statement about what’s going on
because I’m the privileged one. I’m
a middle aged straight white guy.
Not that we don’t have anything to
say, but nobody needs us to step
in and say, ‘Hey guys, I’ve figured
this out!’”
While Brake Lights’ political
themes are a more latent effect
of Newman’s surroundings, the
album’s throwback sound is much
more purposeful. He notes that,
as he’s gotten older, he’s become
less self-conscious about repeating
himself.
“Halfway through the record,
I think I was in Vancouver, I said,
‘Let’s do it differently. Let’s speed
it up by 10 or 15 BPM and give it
more of a DOO DOO DOO DOO,
that driving four-on-the-floor thing
we used to do more of.’”
The result is a sound that new
and long-time fans can easily
enjoy, throwing things back to
simpler times, when things were
less chaotic and everyone was
more or less on the same driving
beat.
Best track: The Surprise Knock
Max Asper
It’s only been three years since
BROCKHAMPTON released their
first mixtape, but the “boy band”
that famously formed through a
Kanye West fan forum has lived a
lifetime since. Among their biggest
wins was securing a $15-million
record deal with RCA; an achievement
offset by the departure of
popular member (and possibly best
rapper), Ameer Vann, amid sexual
misconduct allegations.
They’ve made it through hell,
and their latest effort Ginger is
the story of what it’s like adjusting
to the other side. This quip from
de facto leader Kevin Abstract on
“Dearly Departed” describes the
overall vibe: “No lies, ‘bout how me
and my brothers been traumatized
/ And I must keep creating truths
and hooks to get up outta this hell
for myself.” While it’s not exactly
triumphant or jubilant, it’s honest,
and articulates more complicated
and mature emotions than we’ve
seen in the past from the group.
The album starts off swinging
with the four best tracks in
succession—with an appearance
from buzzy British rapper slowthai
in there for good measure. The
vocal styles and themes feel a bit
disjointed at times, which seems
inevitable in a group so large, but
the stellar production of Romil
Hemnani and Jabari Manwa holds
everything together nicely.
Some producers may struggle to
create canvases that can accomodate
so many contrasting styles,
but these guys navigate the group’s
performance needs with ease to
create the emotionally fun ride that
is Ginger.
Best Track: Boy Bye
Josephine Cruz
30 BEATROUTE SEPTEMBER 2019

ALEX CAMERON
Miami Memory
Secretly Canadian
THE LUMINEERS
III
Dualtone
VIVIAN GIRLS
Memory
Polyvinyl Record Co
CHRON GOBLIN
Here Before
Grand Hand Records
PIXIES
Beneath the Eyrie
BMG
A master of the caricature, Alex
Cameron’s previous work delightfully
presented a tongue-in-cheek
portrait of a hypermasculine,
verile, and seedy middle-aged man
struggling to find meaning in a
progressive and feminist age. With
Miami Memory, Cameron takes a
surprising turn. Placing the femme
fetale in the centre, Cameron’s new
album bids his colour characterizations
adieu and embodies a new
character: himself.
The glistening Miami Memory is
a candid and vulnerable love letter
to his girlfriend, actress Jemima
Kirke (of Girls fame). The first
single, “Miami Memory,” captures
the tenderness and honesty of
long-term commitment with a track
shimmering in nostalgic synth and
Cameron’s trademark sax. Yet,
Cameron hasn’t gone soft. Far from
just silly love songs, the track is
unapologetically sexual and complex
with recollections of cellulite
massages and “eating ass” in a city
condemned by rising sea levels.
Shedding the masciline parody in
celebration of the female perspective
and empowerment, “Far From
Born Again” explores the hypocrisy
and and flips the script on sex
work.
Still rife with Cameron’s deliciously
nostalgic dad rock sound,
driven by bass, guitar, sax and layers
of organ, Miami Memory is nevertheless
an unexpected turn. Yet,
true to Cameron’s form, his love
letter to womanhood is refreshing,
insightful, and meaningful.
Best Track: Far From Born Again
The dulcet tone of Denver’s favorite
indie crooners takes a ride on
the concept album train with III, a
Catskill Mountain inspired threepart
family tale full of sentiment
and swell.
The reach of III is larger than that
of previous entries with production
that allows for larger kicks, churning
reverb, and an insistence upon
the grandiose.
Still present are the wistful lyrics
and the camaraderie of the vocals,
but new is the sense that this is
a larger story, one that doesn’t
bank on the ambiguity of familiar
experience to gain emotional
buy-in. These are stories told with
a stomping earnestness, much like
Tom Petty’s coziest numbers.
Broken into three parts, the
album tells the story of Gloria,
Junior, and Jimmy Sparks, three
generations of a family grappling
with addiction. “Salt And The Sea”
is particularly touching in its incredible
loneliness and regret, with
piano keys that mainline straight to
the part of your heart that knows
those feelings all too well.
The Lumineers have moved
away from sweet and harmless
wedding songs towards the lovely
pain of poetry about normal people
weathering the storm of regular life
and it looks good on them.
Best Track: Jimmy Sparks
Jennie Orton
Vivian Girls rip the covers off Memory
with “Most of All,” a two-minute
psych-pop banger that crashes into
its hazy, urgent chorus as soon as
it starts.
It’s a fitting reintroduction to
Vivian Girls on their reunion album,
a clear statement from the trio that
they’re back after more than five
years spent living apart.
Amidst swirling vocals and a
frenetic, driving rhythm section,
Cassie Ramone’s chants compel
the band forward into the depths
of a psychic poetry reading in the
back of some ephemeral DIY art
space. It’s a dream world built from
the perfect blend of nostalgia and
three-too-many beers and Vivian
Girls set the ideal soundtrack to the
madness.
There’s a romantic urgency that
drives Memory forward, like a stolen
kiss at the end of the night. “This
memory is all I need to feel all right,”
sings Ramone on the title track and
you get the sense that Vivial Girls
feel reinvigorated by their reunion,
looking only forward.
Vivian Girls are back with Memory,
but it mysteriously sounds like
they never split up in the first place.
Best Track - Something To Do
Sebastian Buzzalino
Ascending from their role as
local skatepark punks to that of
Canadian psych-rock tastemakers,
Calgary’s legendary curb-grinding
garage band Chron Goblin isn’t the
same old thrash ‘n’ grab outfit they
once were.
Here Before, marks a deliberate
recalibration from the hard-rolling
crew as they crank the production
values to eleven on volatile numbers
like “Giving in to Fun,” “Slipping
Under,” and “Out of My Mind.”
Singer Josh Sandulak’s raucous
vocals and poetic lyrics are thrust
into the spotlight as never before
and his confident, yet bitter, mouthfuls
come washed down with an
unerring supply of acidic guitar riffs
and dexterous rhythms. Haunted
by a shared history and infectious
back catalogue, the group
navigates a jagged path through
the dank underbrush on “Oblivion”
before diving into the lazy river of
the lumbering “Giant.”
Intricate, intentional and gritty to
the bone, Here Before challenges
the maturing quartet to supersede
their former selves with dangerously
divergent compositions; including
eerie banshee ballad “Ghost” and
pugnacious ripper “War.” The defining
wallet-chain swagger, bluesy
breakdowns and ballsy bravado
that set them apart from day one
may remain the same, but Chron
Goblin’s best just got a whole lot
better.
Best Track: Giant
Christine Leonard
The Pixies have always sounded
like they were from a faraway
place, somewhere beyond the
stratosphere. And that Frank Black
believed in UFOs and was an avid
sci-fi fan only accented their outer-worldliness.
By complying to a “no blues rule,”
the throbbing bass lines, Black’s
primordial wail and Joey Santiago’s
angular Latino riffs made them
undeniably weird.
While Black still steers the craft
along the extraterrestrial plane,
on Beneath the Eyrie, their third
post-reunion album since 2004,
the territory they traverse dips into
some very earthly portals. “Graveyard
Hill,” with its touch of 60s psychedelia
and B-movie spook theme
exhumes Vincent Price from the
crypt. There’s a direct dissension
into vaudeville with the medicine
show strut of “This is My Fate” and
a full-out psychobilly romp rips
through “St. Nazaire.” Hollywood’s
creep scene is only part of the tour
package.
Santiago’s guitar playing has
always been the Pixies’ secret
weapon, while Black wears his
atomic beach pop heart on his
sleeve. No one will ever grasp who
the strange little characters in his
songs actually are, but that too is
part of the Pixies’ charm — weirdos
in a weird land, which Beneath the
Eyrie is all about.
Best Track - Ready for Love
Brad Simm
Kathryn Helmore
SEPTEMBER 2019 BEATROUTE 31

MUSiC ALBUM REVIEWS
Interview
WHITNEY
Forever Turned Around
Secretly Canadian
RICK ROSS
Port of Miami 2
MMG/Epic Records
SAM FENDER'S
MESSAGE TO
THE COMMON
PEOPLE
SAM FENDER
Hypersonic Missiles
Interscope Records
To divorce Sam Fender’s music
from his Northern England roots
is near impossible.
The colour of industrial, impoverished
and often forgotten
North Shields, England saturates
the 24-year-old’s guitar-fuelled
indie rock, creating a repertoire
that is gritty, unflinching and starkly
different from the plethora of softcore
romantics like Ed Sheeran or
Sam Smith.
“Where I’m from definitely plays
a part in my music because it is
intrinsically part of who I am,” says
Fender. “When my parents divorced
at 10 I moved from a terrace house
into a small flat. We could only work
a certain number of hours a week
and the majority of our money was
coming from benefits. We were on
the bones of our arse. There was
no such thing as savings.”
Growing up on the precipice
of poverty has given Fender a
curiosity and compassion for those
surviving in the chasm below. His
debut album, Hypersonic Missiles,
tackles subjects such as young
male suicide rates on the track
“Dead Boys.” In addition to gritty
and grounded lyrics, the album,
produced in Fender’s self-made
warehouse, is loud, occasionally
bombastic post-punk with hollering
Buckley-esque vocals layered on
top. It packs the heat and meaning
of Brit-rock with a soulful
modern twist.
Nevertheless, Fender is humble
and refuses the mantle of working
class hero.
“I’m not on some crusade,”
says Fender. “I don’t like to say
I’m working class but I am from
a working class family and I’m
from a working class town. I’ve
experienced many different
financial situations throughout my
life. I would say that what I am is a
common person and I can stand
for that.”
With venues like New York
and LA already sold out on his
upcoming North American tour,
Fender is clearly finding international
resonance. Perhaps this
is because, while North Shields
might be in a frozen corner of
an island an entire ocean away,
the stuff he writes about and the
common people he speaks to are
found in every corner.
Best Track: Dead Boys
Kathryn Helmore
Three years after their acclaimed
debut, Light Upon the Lake, the
Chicago-based Whitney return
with Forever Turned Around, a
sophomore effort that expands on
their signature duality of bluesy,
cozy indie folk.
Acoustic guitars, trumpets,
pianos and subtle electric guitars
are central to the mix, paired with
wistful, melancholic lyrics often
discussing themes of lost love.
Evoking traces of Bon Iver, soul,
Americana, and fellow Chi-Town
dad rockers, Wilco, Whitney show
once again how adept they are at
tugging at heartstrings both lyrically
and musically, even if the results
as a whole sound almost identical
to their debut.
Regardless, Forever Turned
Around has some truly gorgeous
moments. Warm, enfolding lead
single “Giving Up,” as well as “Valleys
(My Love),” the breezy “Friend
of Mine,” and its sweeping closing
title track are clear standouts,
while drummer/vocalist Julien
Ehrlich’s delicate falsetto remains
the group’s calling card.
Though the album itself may not
be a gigantic leap forward musically
for Whitney, their collection of
tender folk songs will fit the mood
nicely as summer turns to autumn.
Best Track: Valleys (My Love)
Dave MacIntyre
With his long-awaited sequel, Port
of Miami 2, rap-veteran Rick Ross
reasserts his prowess for bassheavy
bangers, strong collaborations,
and music that makes you
feel invincible.
It’s been two years since we’ve
heard an album from the Teflon
Don. His 2017 offering, Rather You
Than Me, received decent reviews
but didn’t bring any new relevance
to the Florida rapper. Whether this
album can accomplish that remains
to be seen, but Ross has more to
say this time around, speaking on
the widely publicized legal troubles
of his own label’s signee, Meek Mill,
a scary health episode with a heart
attack, and the passing of friend
and collaborator, Nipsey Hussle.
Port of Miami 2 delivers as a
quintessential Rick Ross album.
From its full-flex opener, “Act
a Fool (feat. Wale),” to its most
banging track, “BIG TYME (feat.
Swizz Beatz),” to the more heartfelt
moments like “Fascinated,” this is
a solid rap album with excellent
production and features.
While it likely won’t bring Ross
back to the heights he saw circa
2012, it’s a worthwhile offering for
new and long-time fans.
Best Track: BIG TYME
(feat. Swizz Beatz)
Max Asper
32 BEATROUTE SEPTEMBER 2019

Live
MUSiC
THE DIRTY
NIL
August 24, 2019
Commonwealth Bar & Stage
JESSE GILLET
From the moment the house
music dropped, the Dirty Nil
had the audience in the palm
of their hand. Lighting up
Commonwealth’s stage, the
three-piece powerhouse hurtled
into an onslaught of massive
tunes and whiplash-inducing
stage presence. Guitarist
Luke Bentham popped bright
pink bubble gum while churning
out swaggering guitar riffs
and irresistible shout-along
choruses. Ross Miller’s bass
grooves were coupled with
manic dance moves and high
kicks aimed to pierce the
ceiling, while Kyle Fisher kept
the train firmly on the rails with
his thunderous beats. Though
they hail from Hamilton, Ontario,
the Nil were undoubtedly
at home on stage demolishing
the barrier between artist and
audience. Their primal, yet polished,
performance stands in
bold defiance of anyone who
thinks rock and roll is dead.
Kicking off the night were
the Foul English, who set the
stage with their signature
“dadcore” punk rock. Earnest,
punchy, and with more energy
than many acts half their age,
the Foul English prove you’re
never too old to rock hard.
Jesse Gillett
SEPTEMBER 2019 BEATROUTE 33

Essential Film and TV for music lovers
Screen
Time
John Lydon of Public
Image Limited, Oct 14,
1984 at UBC
BEV DAVIES
BEV DAVIES
Iggy Pop performing at the
Sub Ballroom, Nov 23, 1979
LYNN WERNER
DOA’s
Randy
Rampage with
Joey Ramone
Crave’s Punk: A Movement In Four-Parts elevates the early roots of punk and its long-lasting legacy By BRENDAN LEE
W
hoever Iggy Pop
34 BEATROUTE SEPTEMBER AUGUST 2019 2019
you are, wherever you hail
from, we all at the very least, have
a vague understanding of Punk music
as both a genre and an evolving
movement. But when viewed from
afar, the screeching skinny kids with mohawks
may seem nothing more than unpalatable
noise. The latest Crave documentary series,
PUNK: A Movement in Four Parts, peels back
the genre’s crusty skin, revealing an intricate
heart still beating with vigour.
“We kind of equate punk music with being
a room full of boneheads,” says director, Jesse
James Miller, “but it’s actually completely the
opposite.”
Miller joins consulting producer, Susanne
Tabata, on a phone call with BeatRoute on a
sleepy Saturday morning. Tabata has deep
roots in the Vancouver punk scene, and was
part of the series’ core creative team based
out of Vancouver.
Each instalment of the four-part series
(produced by Derik Murray and Network Entertainment,
exec produced by Iggy Pop and
John Varvatos) focuses on a particular era
in the punk chronology, featuring interviews
with the likes of Johnny Rotten, Iggy Pop,
Dave Grohl and many more.
The city of Vancouver plays an integral part
in the whole story, and, particularly, the third
episode — a part that both Miller and Tabata
fought for.
“Vancouver was a really big part of that
west-coast express going up and down the I-5
highway,” reflects Tabata, who also produced
and directed the Vancouver punk-scene 1977-
81 documentary, Bloodied but Unbowed.
“And then D.O.A., they were the biggest touring
band, exceeding Black Flag at that time.”
Close friends with Randy Rampage (D.O.A),
who sadly passed just as the project was getting
off the ground, Tabata says she “worked
on [PUNK] in his honour silently.”
When asked what it was like to sit across
from so many legends, Miller seems humbled.
“It was an honour,” he says. “They’re all
very sophisticated, very layered, very deep
people and heavy thinkers.”
Punk music, at its core, has always been
about more than drugs, sex and anarchy — although
there’s a lot of that too. Above all else,
PUNK showcases the menagerie of personalities
who unknowingly became leaders of a
movement that truly celebrates individuality.
“I keep learning about punk as I go through
life now,” says Miller. “It’s more of a mindset,
and when I first started working on the series
I didn’t realize that.”
“It reinforces, in four episodes, thinking for
yourself,” says Tabata, with a last blast of enthusiasm.
“Being an individual, going against
the grain, being your own boss, taking risks.”
Punk: A Movement in Four Parts is now
streaming on Crave.
Jayne County

FREAKS&MEEK
viction, Free Meek is full of baffling moments
that are maddening to watch. There’s the
Free Meek docuseries shines
allegation that Justice Genece Brinkley, the
light on hardships within the chief antagonist in Meek’s story, called a private
meeting with the rapper and asked him
criminal justice system
By JOSEPHINE CRUZ
to record a remix of the Boyz II Men ballad,
D
“On Bended Knee,” that included a shoutout
espite being released from jail in
to her. There’s also an unforgettable moment
April 2018 and subsequently dropping
the most successful project of
where the lawyer who represents Brinkley
gets caught on a hot mic saying what he really
his career, Meek Mill isn’t free. The
thinks of the judge.
Philly based rapper remains trapped
Free Meek also provides context to some of
by a criminal justice system designed
the moments that became favourite fodder
to victimize people in all of its stages, from arrest
to incarceration to parole. The five-part
for social media over the last few years, including
Meek’s relationship with Nicki MInaj
Free Meek docuseries traces Meek’s case and
and his feud with Drake.
career in stunning and granular detail, while at
While there’s no happy ending, there is a
the same time highlighting the broader epidemic
at hand.
glimmer of hope in Meek’s story. The Pennsylvania
Supreme Court recently overturned
The interview segments range from emotional
testimonies from Meek’s family; reflections
his 2008 conviction and also his 2017 probation
violation ruling, which means he will be
from his team at Roc Nation including Jay
getting a new trial on all charges after pleading
guilty to a misdemeanour gun charge,
Z; and thorough analyses from legal experts,
offering a 360-degree view of a case built on
ending the 12-year long case.
shaky evidence and the word of corrupt law enforcement.
While the docuseries intersperses
But despite these small wins, a sobering reality
prevails: “There’s millions of people like
interviews with real-life archival footage, reenactments
of events not caught on camera really
Meek,” Jay Z says at one point in the doc. The
only difference being that those millions don’t
bring the frustrating narrative to life.
have Meek’s fame, money and resources.
In addition to exposing the paper-thin case
Freek Meek is streaming now on
brought against Meek in his original 2008 con-
Amazon Prime.
SEPT. 27
MICHAEL BERNARD
FITZGERALD
SEPT. 28
DWEEZIL ZAPPA
OCT. 7 – 8
CAMP FESTIVAL
OCT. 10
TEAGAN AND SARA
SOLD OUT!
AT THE BELLA
TAYLORCENTRE.CA
SEPTEMBER 2019 BEATROUTE 35

Screen Time
Music
Mania
Invades
CIFF
One look at the Calgary International
Film Festival (CIFF) lineup
and it’s clear to see that there is
no shortage of music-related films
this year. 2019 marks the 20th
anniversary of the city’s biggest
film fest, and to celebrate CIFF is
showcasing the most noteworthy
music documentaries accompanied
with compelling soundtracks
now in circulation.
Judy Judy Garland once said, “If I am
a legend, then why am I so lonely?” That
sentiment echoes throughout the 2019
biopic, Judy. In 1969, Judy Garland, played
by Renée Zelleweger, is in a serious career
slump. With her substance abuse escalating
and the relationships with her children and
ex-husband extremely strained, Garland
goes to London to perform a series of soldout
shows in hopes of revitalizing her career.
Critics are already predicting a Best Actress
nomination for Zellweger. Could it be time
for Renée’s second gold statue?
By MORGAN CAIRNS
Linda Ronstadt:
The Sound of My Voice
“There will never be another voice
like Linda’s,” declares Emmylou
Harris, and when the queen of
country speaks, we should listen. At
one time the highest paid woman
in rock and roll, in 2012 legendary
singer/songwriter Linda Ronstadt
was diagnosed with Parkinson’s
Disease, which has since taken
away her singing voice. A touching
and beautiful tribute to one of music’s
most groundbreaking female
icons, Sound of My Voice features
stunning rare performance footage
of the iconic songstress as well as
interviews with some of her closest
colleagues and biggest fans.
Donnie Darko
Part of CIFF’s retrospective series
in celebration of the festival’s 20th
anniversary, fan pick Donnie Darko
makes its triumphant return for a
special one-time screening. The
psycho-thriller follows a troubled
teen who is informed by an invisible
6-foot tall rabbit named Frank that
the world will soon end. Richard
Kelly’s cult-classic features the
quintessential 80s soundtrack with
songs from Tears For Fears, Joy
Division, Echo & the Bunnymen,
Duran Duran and INXS.
Other Music
Profiling the New York record
store Other Music, the doc of the
same name is a love letter to one
of indie music’s most taste-making
institutions. Shutting its doors in
2016, the NYC hub was instrumental
in the success of bands such
as Animal Collective, Yo La Tengo,
Arcade Fire, William Basinksi, the
Yeah Yeah Yeahs and countless
others. Featuring interviews with
various cool-kids and indie icons
along with a fabulous soundtrack,
Other Music is essential viewing for
all curious music fans.
Mystify: Michael
Hutchence
Few musicians embodied the
decadence and overindulgence
of the 80s quite like INXS
frontman, Michael Hutchence.
Mystify: Michael Hutchence is a
harrowing portrait of a man who
took the all-too-familiar mentality
of “sex, drugs and rock & roll” a
little too far, and ended with his
death by suicide in 1997 (a fact
disputed by some). Composed
of archival live footage and home
videos, as well as commentary
from Hutchence’s friends,
colleagues and former lovers,
Mystify gives us a rare glimpse at
Hutchence’s final years, revealing
the tragic circumstances and
events that led to the rocker’s
death.
After So Many Days
In what would be a nightmare
for most musicians, folk duo
Jim and Sam decided to shake
things up (in their music and their
marriage) by making a pact to
play a show a day, every day, for
an entire year. Embarking on a
365 day world tour, this self-directed
doc follows Jim Hanft and
Samantha Yonack through the
trials, tension and tribulations
that accompany a year-long tour.
Will the pressure cause these
crazy kids to “call it quits”? You’ll
have to watch and find out.
Miles Davis:
Birth Of Cool
An in-depth look at
one of jazz’s most
iconic musicians,
Miles Davis: Birth
Of Cool shows us
exactly why Miles is
Miles and, undoubtedly,
the very
definition of cool. A
personality and musician
who constantly
pushed boundaries
and broke down
barriers, Davis’ raw
talent and restless
determination are at
the heart of this doc.
By utilizing a mix of
home movies, archival
footage, photographs,
paintings,
manuscripts, and
interviews, Birth Of
Cool dives deeper
than any other Davis
doc before.
36 BEATROUTE SEPTEMBER 2019

YOU ARE NOW ENTERING
RADIO SPACE
B LASTING o FF O CTOBER 1
www. F UNDINGD RIVE. ca
SEPTEMBER 2019 BEATROUTE 37

BRING YOUR TALENT TO THE ROUGH HOUSE
Calling all musicians, dancers, magicians, comics, ventriloquists and more!
Do you have a talent that’s yet to be discovered?
This is your chance to perform live at the Scotiabank Saddledome in front of 12,000 fans!
WINNER WILL PERFORM AT A ROUGHNECKS HALFTIME SHOW, PLUS RECEIVE A $ 1,000 CASH PRIZE.
FULL CONTEST DETAILS AT:
CalgaryRoughnecks.com/GotTalent
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: SEP. 27
38 BEATROUTE SEPTEMBER 2019
AUGUST 2019 BEATROUTE 38

09.19
YYC
The Librarian Plunges
Deep into Different
Dimensions at Circle
Carnival
By BRAD SIMM
No matter how far you slide
inside the centre of your
mind, everyone remembers
their first Shambhala, Salmo
River’s annual electronic music
festival. For celebrated Canadian
DJ Andrea Graham, aka
The Librarian, it was in 2000
when she jumped in a car on
a late-night whim, bound for
her first EDM adventure in the
wilderness. It was early on in
the story of Shams, before
the fest went viral, and the
sonic explosion rolling through
the forest took Graham into
another dimension.
“It just clicked. I immediately
knew I wanted to express
music in that kind of setting
outdoors with an incredible
sound system, and have that
full body experience of electronic
music,” she says.
By 2007, after playing in
bands and solo acoustic
sets, Graham got a computer,
turntables, some records, and
plunged into DJ land. Although
she was an avid snowboarder
in Whistler, off the slopes she
was roaming Vancouver’s
sweaty dance clubs immersed
in the revolutionary sounds
of dubstep and grime coming
from the U.K.
The contrast between
Whistler’s “funky, happy” skitown
lifestyle and the big city’s
underground nightlife made
Graham feel “a bit like an
outlaw.” Yet, that sharp division
drives her creative energy and
inspires her DJ sets.
88Glam
“I spent many, many years
dedicated to snowboarding,
and I now mountain bike three,
or four days a week. That’s the
other side to my personality,”
she explains. “But I feel those
things actually fit together
with DJing. There’s this parallel
when pedaling up a hill; you
aren’t multitasking, it just frees
your mind.”
“Then on top and you’re
ready to drop into a line,
whether on a bike or snowboarding,
there’s no turning
back, just this moment of
deciding to commit and going
for it. It’s similar to walking on
stage, you’re going to do this
thing you can’t back out of.”
Navigating that downward
rush, riding electronic waves,
and pulsing with spontaneity
is a skill set Graham brings
to her shows. Her focus on
dynamic and innovative art
and music pulls from a broad
spectrum of genres, and is
also at the heart of Bass
Coast Festival, B.C.’s prominent
“boutique” electronic festival
which Graham co-founded
to complement Shambhala.
“I want my sets to always be
changing, and if I don’t have
something fresh of my own, I’ll
play other music. I’m okay with
that, I love the art of DJing.
Digging and finding new things
to play is just as exciting to
me.”
The Librarian performs at the
Bingo Dome Stage during the
Circle Carnival on Saturday, Sept.
14, 8:30 pm at Millennium Park.
CALGARY’S ESSENTIAL SEPTEMBER HAPPENINGSk
SEPTEMBER 2019 BEATROUTE 39

09.19YYCAGENDA
BEAKERHEAD: WHEN
SCIENCE AND ART
COLLIDE
By BRAD SIMM
Even though Calgary is often
branded oil and gas, the city has
long been a progressive leader in
developing science, engineering
and technology. Beakerhead taps
into that technical universe, pulling
out bits and pieces, then taking
them into the workshop where
techies and artists tweak, tinker,
and transform the marvels of the
modern world into weird and wonderous
new creations.
In previous years, installations
for the five-day mash-up of art
and science have been scattered
around the city at various locations.
While the pop-up style of events
will still happen at different destinations,
this year Beakerhead is
launching a grand finale tagged as
“The Spectacle” with food, music
and 25 eclectic exhibitions at
Prince’s Island Park capping off the
festival’s creative extravaganza.
Behind the scenes Beakerhead
is an educational program dedicated
to inspiring a new generation of
ingenuity through STEAM (science,
technology, engineering, art and
math).
On one hand, it’s an entertaining
funhouse full of wild inventions. On
the other it’s a hands-on exploration
into the mechanics of these
amazing projects and presentations.
Jeff Popiel, the festival’s CEO,
talks about a few of the “oddities,
curiosities and contraptions.”
Cocktails on Canvas – happy
hour in technicolor
Thurs, Sept. 19, 7 pm – 10 pm
Contemporary Calgary (701 11th
St. SW)
"Under a microscope we’re looking
at a certain cocktail or alcohol,
say a White Russian or a bourbon.
And these cocktails look absolutely
beautiful. An artist will lead
16 participants to paint what they
visualize, then take home their
inspirations.”
Make Fashion – an electrifying
runway show
Sat, Sept. 21, 8 pm and 9:30 pm
Prince’s Island Park
“Wearable tech fashion is one of
the most brilliant, artistic properties
to come out of Calgary and going
world-wide. What they (Make Fashion)
do is build tech into fashion
designs. It’s a massive display of
cool creations with LED lights and
glow wear, a visual spectacle that
happens on the (Spectacle’s) main
stage.”
YYCAgenda
Seven Wonderers – the back
story of science
Thurs, Sept. 19, 7:30 – 9:30 pm
National Music Centre (850 4th St.
SE)
“Science has the greatest adventure
stories on Earth. They’re
stories of human ingenuity brought
to life by scientists and artists set
at the National Music Centre. It’s
a theatrical show, with music and
humour woven into a bigger theme.
What we’re going for is an emotional
payoff. You leave changed,
inspired in some way.”
Road Trip to the Universe – date
night under the stars
Friday, Sept. 20, 7:30 – 10:30 pm
Rothney Astrophysical Observatory
(210 Ave. W, Hwy 22 S)
“Tickets are bought per carload for
a tour of the Rothney Observatory.
The topic is matter and anti-matter.
Even if you’re not a science junkie,
this is entertaining stuff and a great
opportunity to experience the
observatory.”
Beakerhead runs Sept.
18 to 22, with The
Spectacle on
Saturday, Sept.
22 at Prince’s
Island Park.
Yolanda Sargeant In Studio
Calgary Folk Music
Festival Takes Cover
To celebrate their 40th anniversary, the Calgary
Folk Music Festival has released a double vinyl
album featuring 21 local artists who chose to
record choice tracks originally penned by some
of the world’s most iconic singer-songwriters.
Cover Art is the project’s fitting title where
the diverse talent of local luminaries ranging
from Corb Lund and The Torchettes to Dragon
Fli Empire and Raleigh have created their own
innovative versions of tracks by the likes of Gil
Scott-Heron, Arrested Development, The
Tragically Hip, Buffy Saint-Marie and several
other profound artists.
Produced in state-of-the-arts studios at
the National Music Centre, Kerry Clarke,
artistic director of CFMF, calls the collection
of tracks “edgy and deep.”
Cover Art / Friday, Sept. 13 / Festival Hall
Alberta Guitar Shows
This annual buy-sell event is the largest gear
fest in Western Canada bringing together an
eclectic mix guitar buyers, sellers, dealers and
luthiers that showcase new and used instruments,
amps, pedals, accessories and a vast
selection of vintage, custom and hard to find
guitar gear.
The Calgary location strums along at the
Red and White Club’s McMahon Studio, which
has both an expansive showroom and lots
of parking space. Another feature this year
boosting the volume of collectable gear is the
Flea Market where dealers and sellers can
leave a limited number of items with the floor
staff who will monitor the products and assist
with negotiations.
Edmonton / Sun, Sept. 22 / Italian Cultural Centre
Calgary / Sun, Sept. 29 / Red & White Club
40 BEATROUTE SEPTEMBER 2019

09.19YYCMUSIC
LINDSAY ELL
Country star wrangles
a place for herself in
Nashville and beyond
By BRAD SIMM
Boots and the Hoots
OFF-COUNTRY
The Music Mile celebrates
Country Music Week
By SEBASTIAN BUZZALINO
Returning to Calgary for the ninth time (the most of any
host city), this year the Canadian Country Music Awards
(CCMA) has teamed up with the Music Mile to present
OFF-COUNTRY, a three-day, multi-venue festival from
September 5 to 8 featuring Alberta’s brightest country,
roots and blues talent. Here are some highlights.
Justine Vandergrift
and Kate Stevens
Gravity Cafe (7 pm - 9 pm)
Two emerging singer-songwriters,
Justine Vandergrift
and Kate Stevens cocoon
you in dulcet melodies and
masterful hooks.
D
uring the performance of
her hit single “Criminal”
at the Canadian Country
Music Association
Awards in 2018, the rapidly
rising Calgary-based artist Lindsay
Ell swept across the stage in an orange
sequined jumpsuit complete with gigantic
bell bottom flares. She topped off her Dolly
Parton-inspired look with her signature
white Stratocaster as an accessory, effortlessly
nailing a thundering guitar solo and
belting out the end of the song through a
megaphone.
Ell is no stranger to delivering
show-stoppers of all kinds. Early on in her
career, still in her teens, she once landed
at gig at the Calgary airport playing with
her band on top of a baggage carousel to
bewildered passengers.
“It was at Stampede,” Ell recalls over
the phone. “People were pouring off the
flights, tired and restless just waiting for
their bags. Obviously they couldn’t give a
crap. They just wanted to get out of there
while we played bearing out our lives and
souls. It was awkward for all of us,” she
chuckles.
Perseverance, however, is one of Ell’s
impressive trademarks. The Calgary artist
has been on the Stampede circuit since
she was very young. One year she peaked,
playing a whopping 68 shows over
the 10-day stretch of cowtown craziness.
“I literally ran from the stage to the car
non-stop.”
While in high school she maintained
the same hectic schedule. Each weekend
she loaded up the van, playing all sorts
of dive bars across the country before
returning to class and graduating a year
early a valedictorian. That type of relentless
drive and determination guided
her in Nashville after finishing a degree
in business at the University of Calgary.
Despite its reputation as a treadmill for
hit-making, Ell is deep in her element and
thoroughly enjoys living in the country
music capital.
“There’s two sides to the town, for
sure,” notes Ell. “It depends who you
hang out with. But since I first went to
Nashville, I felt right at home. I thought,
‘Man, what is this place?’ They were so
wonderful from the beginning.” Despite
living there for nine years Ell still thinks
Canadian, admits that she stands out.
She says that she feels like, “a perfectly
accepted outcast,” which she’s entirely
happy with.
As for inspiration, Ell claims that Nashville
is the place to be. “I’m surrounded by
so many talented people every day. That
keeps me on my toes. It’s a great environment
to live in when everyone understands
the lingo and crazy schedules, it
just works. That said, we played 235 shows
last year and we’re on track for 170 this
year. Being so nomadic, it definitely helps
my creative frame — travelling, being in
different cities each day.”
Although Ell falls within the spectrum
of country music, it’s hard to deny she’s
also rooted in a splendid mix of pop, rock,
blues and even funk. As a singer she can
swoop down into sweet, melodic ballads
that burst into fiery outpourings. As a
guitarist, Ell has carved out a soulful style
that is all her own. The Stratocaster she
wields draws on Jimi Hendrix’s funky
rhythm chops that float like a butterfly
and honey-dripping solos that sting like a
bee. Ell seconds that motion.
“If could play funk and blues and tour
the world playing arenas, I would be the
happiest camper on the planet.”
Lindsay Ell performs September 7 at the
Webber Performing Arts Centre (1515 93
Street). Email contests@beatroute.ca for
your chance to win a pair of tickets.
JJ Shiplett
Thursday, September 5
JJ Shiplett presents:
Calgary Roots Night
Ironwood (8 pm - 10 pm)
JJ Shiplett’s alt-country is
as powerful as it is emotive.
He’ll be heading up a night
of the best in Calgary roots
music.
T. Buckley with
Megan Dawson
Charbar Rooftop Patio
(7 pm - 9 pm)
Take in the alt-folk charm
of T Buckley and Megan
Dawson’s gorgeous harmonies
and hooks.
Friday, September 6
Boots and the Hoots
King Eddy (4 pm - 6 pm)
Spend your Friday happy
hour with Alberta’s trad
country daddies, Boots and
the Hoots while they pluck
and twang their way to a
bygone era.
Jess Knights
Saturday, September 7
Jess Knights
OFF Cut Bar - The Nash
(2 pm - 4 pm)
Jess Knights’ spirited and
heady blend of bourbon-tinged
rock, blues,
and soul is as heady as the
bourbons and gins being
slung behind the bar.
Eddie Turner & Trouble
Blues Can (9pm - 11 pm)
Eddie Turner & Trouble
bring the kind of fiery blues
that makes you believe in
the devil at the crossroads.
SEPTEMBER 2019 BEATROUTE 41

09.19YYCMUSIC
PAUL
JAMES
COUTTS:
A TALE
OF TWO
CITIES
Local Band
Spotlight
FF19BRoute1.qxp_Layout 1 2019-08-29 1:19 PM Page 1
FISH GRIWKOWSKY
O
ccupying a sonic landscape
somewhere between Ted Leo
& The Pharmacists and Judas
Priest, Paul James Coutts crafts
unadulterated rock and roll for the working
class. He’s caught between his dual identities,
both as a Calgarian and an Edmontonian,
having released more than 12 albums across
his storied career in seminal Alberta bands
like Twin Fangs, The Primrods, XL Birdsuit,
Free Judges and The New 1-2.
“I was a part of the Calgary scene for
thirty years before I moved up here. I feel
more Calgary than I do Edmonton sometimes.
I put out six records in Calgary before
I moved up to Edmonton, and then I put
out about another six records. It’s a bit of a
duality with my identity,” says Coutts.
His latest production, Utterances, was
recorded in basements and a living room
between 2017-2018 by Calgary’s own Chris
Vail; the record was inspired by invocation
and transformation.
“I left it in the hands of someone else. In
this case, a great friend (Chris Vail),” says
Coutts. “We experimented much more with
the production of sounds. He arranged
instrumentation, mixed and produced it, ultimately.
I usually have more of a hand in that,
but Chris nailed it at the demo stage and you
should never stop something that’s all right.
It turned out as well as I ever wanted it to, I’m
pretty happy about it.”
When Paul isn’t busy writing, recording
or performing, you can typically find him
getting lost in a novel or traversing Alberta’s
badlands. Exploring external hobbies and
passions has been part of the musician’s
transformation, indirectly exposing him to
new influences.
“If you’re just making music for music's
sake all the time, you’re kind of stuck in this
weird incestuous loop. I came to the realization
that I could do more things. It informs
your playing and your music. Take a pottery
class or read a history book, those things
can influence your music,” explains Coutts.
By TORY ROSSO
42 BEATROUTE SEPTEMBER 2019

Local Band
Spotlight
Calgary postpunkers
find a
time signature
that works for
everyone on
Foreign Bodies
By SEBASTIAN BUZZALINO
SUNGLACIERS
SEBASTIAN BUZZALINO
E
very now and then, the
trajectory of a solo recording
project unexpectedly changes
direction after a chance
encounter, like placing a small
rock in a new stream to divert
the course of a future river. For songwriter
Evan Resnik, that was meeting up with
drummer Mathieu Blanchard in early 2017.
Resnik was writing complex, mathy songs as
Sunglaciers and put out a call for a drummer
who could lay down some rhythm on an EP
he was working on.
Blanchard answered and the pair clicked,
joining forces as a duo, inspiring new ideas
and material to try in a live setting. As Resnik
puts it, Blanchard is a “real man of action” and
within the next year the two-piece had two
new EPs.
Blanchard also broke Resnik out of his
comfort zone, bringing in a host of new influences
that began to reshape the Sunglaciers
sound, moving it away from technical and
mathy art rock towards more garage, surf and
post-punk influences.
As Sunglaciers continued to evolve, the
material started to pile up. They recorded two
EPs and, almost immediately, had enough
material for a third, which expanded into what
would become their debut full-length, Foreign
Bodies.
The band expanded to a four-piece, bringing
in Kyle Crough on bass and Helen Young
on synths, and their sound continued to
mature both in its willingness to experiment
with different influences and styles, as well
as in its certainty and confidence at the core
of each song. The full-length, Foreign Bodies,
sounds like a fully-realized idea, drawing from
post-punk at its core and layering in garage,
surf, musique concrète and noise influences.
During this whole process, Resnik’s songwriting
style was changed by his band members’
influences, pushing him out of his safe zones.
“The second track, ‘Dream Fever,’ if you
asked me three years ago, I’d say it was way
too simplistic, slow-moving, and plodding,”
says Resnik. “Mathieu and I went down to
Mexico City and we stayed at an Airbnb that
had a jam space in it. Instead of seeing the
city for a week, we just played music all day
and then went out to drink mezcal. It was then
that ‘Dream Fever’ was conceived, and was
actually one of the first times that Matt really
exerted his influence over a song. He wanted
to take a simple idea that was good and stay
within those confines. Every time I wanted to
switch it up, change the time signature, or cut
off a measure, he would reign me in.”
Reflecting on how things have changed
since he met Blanchard, Resnik seems more
confident and self-assured having finally
found his place not only as a musician, but
also his artistic voice in the larger community.
“It’s been really exciting,” he says. “it’s been
a period of good growth and I’m starting to
wise up to how all of this works, how I can
carve my own place in it all.”
Friday, September 13 / The Palomino
Tix: $12, showpass.com
SEPTEMBER 2019 BEATROUTE 43

JOIN US FOR OUR STORE’S BIGGEST
MUSICAL INSTRUMENT EVENT OF THE YEAR!
JACK’S
BARGAIN
Presented by Music Centre Canada
2
ATTIC
SALE
DAYS ONLY LOCATION ONLY
1
September 20 th (10am-8pm)
} } Long & McQuade Calgary
September 21 st (10am-6pm)
225 58 Ave. SE • (403) 244-5555
calgary@long-mcquade.com
SPECIAL GUESTS
21 AWARD CATEGORIES
PERFORMANCES BY:
Miesha and The Spanks
Nice Horse
Sheldon Zandboer
Punch Drunk Cabaret
Zaire Ink and Afuhmbom
School of Rock Calgary South House Band
TICKETS ON SALE NOW!
www.yycmusicawards.com
44 BEATROUTE SEPTEMBER 2019

09.19YYCMUSIC
The Cheat Sheet BR PICKS THE 5 ESSENTIAL LIVE MUSIC SHOWS
INDIE
HEAVY
R&B
EDM
FOLK
1
FEMME WAVE
FUNDRAISER
Fri, Sept 6 at the Globe Theatre
Femme Wave’s annual fundraiser
is back with a screening of the
classic feature film, ALIEN, raising
funds for the feminist festival in
November.
2 WHOOP-Szo
Tues, Sept 10 at Palomino Smokehouse
Southern Ontario’s WHOOP-Szo
have been making waves with their
wild fusion of folk, metal, pop, grunge,
and even classical musical.
3
TINY SHRINE
Wed, Sept 18 at Ship & Anchor Three
standout local bands take a rare
stage together for sonic explorations
that run the gamut from
power-pop to neo-psych.
4
SARAH NEUFELD
Fri, Sept 13 at National Music Centre
Montréal-based violinist and
Arcade Fire instrumentalist Sarah
Neufeld is one of Canada's most
exciting composers, her music is a
journey through pop-minimalism.
5 SUNGLACIERS
Fri, Sept 13 at Palomino Smokehouse
One of Calgary’s preeminent postpunk
and psych bands, Sunglaciers
are releasing their debut LP, alongside
Vancouver’s Ex-SOFTESS and
locals Fitness and Janitor Scum.
1 SLEEP
Wed, Sept 4 at The Palace Theatre
Dubbed “the ultimate stoner rock
band,” Sleep are the loud and
proud forefathers of modern doom
metal.
2
IAN BLURTON’S
FUTURE NOW
Thursday, Sept 18 at King Eddy
One of Canada’s most iconic
riff-masters, Ian Blurton, descends
on NMC for their Artist in Residency
program, kicking things off with
a free show at the Eddy next door.
3 PERIPHERY
Tues, Sept 24 at The Palace Theatre
Djent masters, Periphery, descend
on Calgary with their ultra-technical,
advanced math riffs to take
you on a sonic journey.
4 BLACKRAT
Fri, Sept 27 at Palomino Smokehouse
Metal anarchy and necromancing
screams howl down the highway
to hell with Calgary’s Blackrat at
the cursed wheel.
5
CANCER BATS
Sat, Sept 28 at SAIT Gateway
One of Canada’s most beloved
hardcore metal punk bands,
Cancer Bats are bringing the party
back to town for a night of heavy
riffs.
HIPHOP DJ
1 COTIS
Wed, Sept 11 at Commonwealth.
1 MADCHILD
Thur, Sept 5 at Ace Nightclub
Ex-Swollen Members emcee,
Madchild, returns to Calgary with
his hardcore, west coast rap and
horrorcore show.
2
SNAK THE RIPPER
Fri, Sept 6 at The Rec Room
Vancouver’s Snak The Ripper is
one of the founding members of
the Stompdown Killaz hip-hop collective,
serving up his delicious and
aggressive wordplay one rhyme at
a time.
3 GRIEVES
Thur, Sept 12 at Hifi Club
Benjamin Laub emerged from
Seattle in 2007 to make a name for
himself as one of the city’s great
hip hop artists, signing to Rhymesayers
and touring with acts like
Atmosphere and Macklemore.
4
MURDA BEATZ
Sat, Sept 14 at Commonwealth
Ontario producer, Murda Beatz,
brings his fiery hip-hop and trap
beats to Commonwealth for a
banger sponsored by Monster
Energy.”
5 RHYE
Thurs, Sept 19 at The Palace Theatre
Hushed and sensual R&B is the
name of the game for Rhye. Led
by Michael Milosh, their seductive
vibes come to life on stage backed
by an electric live band.
Victoria-based COTIS brings his
unique sound of rap, R&B and
electronic music for a live show
at Commonwealth’s weekly party,
What A Time.
2
ODD MOB
Sat, Sept 14 at Hifi Club
Australia’s up-and-coming house
DJs, Odd Mob, make their debut in
North America, including their first
stop in Calgary at Hifi.
3 CLAPTONE
Fri, Sept 20 at The Palace Theatre
House DJ Claptone spent years
wandering medieval landscapes
bringing both magical mystery and
muted melancholy to his cosmic
sets.
4
FINAL VERSIONS
PATIO PARTY
Tue, Sept 24 at Broken City
Season 6 of Versions’ much-loved,
family-friendly patio dance party at
Broken City comes to a close with
a slew of some of Calgary’s best
tune selectors.
5 DREZO
Fri, Sept 27 at Hifi Club
Dark house master Drezo brings
the chill omens to a night of inky
vibes and moody dance floors.
1
SUN KIL MOON
Wednesday, Sept 4 at Commonwealth
American folk songwriter, Sun
Kil Moon, writes music that often
seems like a one-sided conversation:
rambling, esoteric and deeply
meditative
HAYES CARLL
2 Thur, Sept 5 and Fri, Sept 6 at Festival Hall
Hayes Carll works within and
without the Texas outlaw tradition
to brand his own roots music with a
defiant statement.
3
BARKS, BUBBLES & BREWS:
A DOGWASH FUNDRAISER
Fri, Sept 6, 2-7 pm at Cold Garden
An afternoon filled with craft beers
and pooch pampering. Bring your
best friend and raise money for the
Calgary Humane Society alongside
The Torchettes, Yolanda Sargeant,
Amelie Patterson, and Denis Bouwman.
4 A CONVERSATION
WITH SYLVIA TYSON
Fri, Sept 6 at National Music Centre
A recent inductee to the Canadian
Songwriters Hall of Fame, Sylvia
Tyson reminisces and explores her
lauded career, first as half of Ian
& Sylvia, then in her solo career
and her contributions in the group
Quartette.
5
CFMF COVER ART
ALBUM RELEASE
Fri, Sept 13 at Festival Hall
More than 20 of Alberta’s finest
artists reinterpret iconic songs
from key artists who have performed
at the Calgary Folk Music
Fest throughout its 40-year history.
SEPTEMBER 2019 BEATROUTE 45

Savage Love
BY DAN SAVAGE
Boundaries
I’m a 42-year-old single, straight
female who recently started dating
a 36-year-old man in a somewhat
exclusive, long-distance relationship.
We have known each other
for a short time, but have clocked
hours upon hours on the phone.
I have specifically stated many
times I don’t want kids of my own
(he does), am extremely safety
conscious (only when I see someone’s
STI results and know we’re
100 percent monogamous will I
go “bareback”), and am against
hormonal contraception. Therefore,
I’ve insisted on the use of condoms
since our very first encounter,
which he at first reluctantly agreed
to, but has since obliged without
incident. He is expressively into me
and treats me better than any guy
I’ve dated; cooks for me, gives me
massages, buys me gifts, showers
me with compliments, listens to me
at any hour of the night, and has
shown nothing but respect towards
me since Day 1.
Until our last sexual encounter.
He woke me up in the morning
clearly aroused and ready for sexy
time. He asked if he could enter
me, and after I said yes, I grabbed
a condom for him and he put it
on. We were spooning at the time
so he entered me from behind. At
one point early in the encounter, I
reached back to grab his hand, and
all of a sudden, felt the condom he
had been wearing laid out on the
bed. Shocked and outraged, I immediately
stopped and turned to him
asking, “Why did you take this off?”
To which he replied, “Because I
wanted to cum faster.” All I could
muster back was, “Do you have any
idea how bad that is? I can’t even
look at you.” I covered my eyes
and cried uncontrollably for a few
minutes.
After getting dressed, showering,
and exiting without a word,
I started to process the atrocity
of his actions. It’s clear that he
does not respect me, my body, my
health, or my reproductive choices,
and made his physical pleasure as
top priority. He has apologized profusely,
been emotional about his
actions, and has definite remorse.
After sending him several articles
on how it’s criminal (including
the one about the German man
who got eight months in jail for
stealthing), he now seems to grasp
the severity. It’s hard to reconcile
his consistent respect for me with
a bold and disrespectful act like
this. The best case is that he’s a
dumb-ass, the worst being that
his respect and care for me is all
a façade and I’ve been a fool. Is
there any reason I should consider
continuing to see this guy? Is it
remotely forgivable?
Stealthed On Suddenly
Nope.
The obvious (and objectively true)
point is that anything is forgivable.
People have forgiven worse—I
mean, there are mothers out there
who’ve forgiven the people that
murdered their children. But moms
who’ve found it within themselves
to forgive their children’s murderers...
yeah, they don’t have to live
with, take meals with, or sleep with
their children’s murderers. I’m not
saying that forgiving the person who
murdered your kid is easy (I wouldn’t
be able to do it), but most people
who’ve “forgiven worse” never have
to lay eyes on the person they
forgave again.
So while it may be true that
people have forgiven worse, SOS, I
don’t think you should forgive this.
And here’s why: You only just started
dating this guy and all the good
qualities you listed—everything
that made him seem like a good,
decent, lovely, and possibly loving
guy (the cooking, the massages, the
compliments, etc.)—is the kind of
best-foot-forward fronting a person
does at the start of a new relationship.
Not only is there nothing wrong
with that, SOS, but you wouldn’t
want to date someone who didn’t
do that at the start… because the
kind of person who doesn’t make
the effort to impress early in a
relationship is the kind of person
who can’t be bothered to make any
effort later in the relationship. We all
erect those façades, SOS, but some
people are slapping those façades
on slums you wouldn’t wanna live in,
while others are slapping them on
what turns out to be pretty decent
housing. And if I may continue to
torture this metaphor: when the first
cracks appear in the façade, which
they inevitably do, and you get a
peek behind it, you aren’t a fool if it
turns out there’s a slum there. You’re
only a fool if you move in instead of
moving on.
Anyway, SOS, everybody fronts,
but eventually, those façades fall
away and you get to see people
for who and what they really are.
And the collapse of your new
boyfriend’s façade revealed him to
be a selfish and uncaring asshole
with no respect for your body or
your boundaries. He was on his
best behavior until he sensed your
guard was down, at which point
he violated and sexually assaulted
you. Those aren’t flaws you can
learn to live with or actions you can
excuse. Move on.
I am a 27-year-old man in an open
marriage with a wonderful partner.
They’re my best friend, I smile
whenever they walk into the room,
and we have a ton in common. We
don’t, however, have that much
sex. I’m currently seeing someone
else and our sex is great. We’ve
explored some light BDSM and
pegging, and I’m finding myself
really enjoying being a sub. I’m
kind of terrified that, as a man, I
might accidentally violate someone’s
boundaries. I’m also autistic,
which makes navigating cues from
partners rather difficult. Completely
submitting to someone
else weirdly makes me feel totally
safe and free for kind of the first
time. The problem is, my spouse
is also pretty subby. When they
do try to initiate sex, it’s often
so subtle that I totally miss the
signals. In the past month, I’ve had
sex with my spouse maybe once,
compared to four or five times
with my other partner. My question
is this: have you seen examples
of people in open marriages who
essentially fulfill their sexual needs
with secondary partners, while still
maintaining a happy companionable
partnership with their primary?
Sexually Understanding Butt-Boy
I’ve personally known people in loving,
happy, sexless marriages who
aren’t leading sexless lives; their
marriages are companionate—some
can even be described as passionate—but
both halves seek sexual
fulfillment with secondary, tertiary,
quaternary, etc., partners. But
companionate open marriages only
work when it’s what both partners
want… and your partner’s feelings
are conspicuously absent from
your letter. How do they feel about
being in a sexless or nearly sexless
marriage? Your spouse would seem
to be interested in having sex with
you—they occasionally try to initiate—but
perhaps your spouse is just
going through the motions because
they think it’s what you want. So…
you’re gonna need to have a conversation
with your spouse about
your sex lives. If you’ve found being
told what to do in unsubtle ways by
your Dominant second partner to be
sexually liberating, SUBB, you could
ask your spouse to be a little less
subtle when they want to initiate—or,
better yet, ask them not to be subtle
at all. Nowhere is it written that subs
like you and your spouse have to be
subtle or sly or stand there waiting
for others to initiate. “I am feeling
horny and I’d really like to have sex
tonight” is something submissives
can and do say.
46 BEATROUTE SEPTEMBER 2019

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SEPTEMBER 2019 BEATROUTE 47

48 BEATROUTE SEPTEMBER 2019 TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE AT MRGCONCERTS.COM