issue 6 Oct - Nov 2007

When Bands COLLIDE

SECRET
THE

MEETING
Dean From CURVE and kaRIN
and Statik from Collide FORM
a band worth getting excited
about–Exclusive Interview Inside

MUSE | QOTSA | Pelican | In This Moment

Caribou | The Wildbirds | TORNGAT | MUTE MATH
FIGHTSTAR | The VEILS | TORONTO VIRGIN FESTIVAL
 Sixth Issue – Oct / NOv 2007
The New Avengers Characters / Likeness is licensed and trademarked to Marvel Comics.
Who’s a Skrull?
Follow the mystery in The New Avengers
Editorial
The Ettiquette of
standing in line.
I was just refecting on this summer’s shows, and thinking about how much time I
WASTED in line-ups trying to get into and out of venues to see live music. The picture
above is of Yves, looking at the quadruple-coiled line-up at Arrow Hall before MUSE’s
Aug 1st live show. I don’t know how the heck the venue manages to ALWAYS suck so
hard at getting people in the events they host. But it’s hands-down the worst place
around for getting people into the venue to see a band in a timely fashion. So, while
standing in line waiting to see Muse, I started watching people. How they bud in line,
fart in line, talk really loudly about beer drinking and sexual conquests. It really got
me thinking about some things – Rules of ettiquette for the concert going crowd if
you will. Allow me to share:
1- Walking midway up a long line-up of bodies while pretending to talk to
somebody important on the phone and then pretending that you know the
people you have stopped beside, like they were holding the space in line for you...
is just never cool. It may work, but it’s still not cool.
2- Farting while you are in line is just plain gross. If you’re that sick, go to the hospital.
I got crop-dusted multiple times at Muse. What the hell is up with that???
3- Talking extra loudly about how great so-and-so’s house party was, How drunk you
got or how easily you got into somebodies pants after said drunken debacle is not
really something I (or anyone around me) gave a rat’s ass about. There was a group
of pre-pubescent braggarts going backward and forwards about the weekends drunk-
fest in line almost the whole way into the venue. It was like cresting the sixth ring of
hell having to listen to for almost an hour.
Monthly issues can be picked up at:
4- Why litter? If there was one thing done right in this travesty of a line-up, it was that
there were garbage cans everywhere. I couldn’t believe the amount of folks tossing
Ticketmaster envelopes, empty pop cannisters and tissues onto the ground, when they
were literally standing right beside a garbage can.
Cool stuff: Warren Ellis’s new novel Crooked Little Vein. I have not laught out loud so
many times while reading a book in a long, long time. It’s an excellent read. David
Duchovney – His new Showtime series Californication boasts some of the best writing
on television. And Duchovney will forevever be remembered now as Hank Moody, and
not so much as Fox Mulder. He’s truly amazing on the show.
3 2 k i n g s t r e e t n o r t h . w at e r l o o , o nta r i o n 2 j 2 w 8 519.886.4267
Fazer Issue SIX
CONTENT
On The Cover: kaRIN from The Secret Meeting. Image by Peter Benke
Muse Toronto Pg 3
Queens of the Stone Age London Pg 9
Pelican Toronto Pg 11
The Secret Meeting Interview
with kaRIN and Statik Pg 13
Fightstar Interview with Charlie Simpson Pg 17
Static-X / In This Moment Toronto Pg 21
In This Moment Interview
with Chris Howorth Pg 23
Rufus Wainwright Seattle Pg 26
The Veils Toronto Pg 27
The Donnas / Donita Sparks Toronto Pg 30
The Creepshow Interview
with Sean McNab - interview by Ghoulish Gary Pg 31
Toronto Independant Music Awards
by Charlene Ceilisk - pictures by Walid Lodin Pg 33
Toronto Virgin Festival Pg 37
Torngat Interview with Julien Poissant Pg 46
Caribou Interview with Dan Snaith Pg 49
Mute Math Interview
with Paul Meaney, Darren King & Greg Hill Pg 53
Wildbirds Interview with Nicholas Stuart Pg 58
Reviews Pg 62
Biffy Clyro / Wintersleep / Sunset Rubdown /
Voxtrot / Mondo Generator / Liquid Eclipse /
The Donnas / Die Mannequin / She Wants Revenge /
and more...
Fazer
Editor and Publisher: Mike Bax
All content (unless otherwise listed) by Mike Bax and
Yves Lepage
Art Direction: Yves and Mike
Copy Editing: Becky Hurren
Contributors: Becky Hurren; Gary Pullin; Charlene Cielisk; Walid Lodin; Myles
LaCavera
Thanks to: Ryan Shepard & AdamGonshor – Warner Music Canada; Andrea Grant
– Live Nation; Theresa Micallef – Fontana North Distribution; Eric Alper – KOCH
Entertainment Distribution; Shawnté Salabert - Hacktone Records; Kim Juneja
– Indoor Recess Inc. (WEST); Jeremy Shum & Adam Sewell – Stereo Dynamite
Recordings; Damon Locks – Biz 3 Publicity; kaRIN & Statik; Tristan Lillingston
- Raw Power Management; Emre Savas; Charlie Simpson; George Vallee - Century
Media; Chris Howorth; Craig Laskey & Daria Ludwiczak - ATG Concerts; Craig Hill
- The MuseBox Canada; Sean McNab; Kaytea Mcintosh - XO Publicity; Daniela
Oliva; Alexandra Baker / Deb Kaplan / Sioux Z - Magnum PR; Erica Faltous - Hill
& Knowlton Toronto; Chris Baines - Virgin Mobile; Rebecca Teal - Emerge; Julien
Poissant; Dan Snaith; Paul Meaney; Darren King; Greg Hill; Nicholas Stuart.
Advertising:
Mike Bax
519.854.7254
mike@fazer.ca
Fazer
Unit 34 - 500 Sunnystone Road
London, Ontario
Canada
N5X 4R4
Fazer.ca
info@fazer.ca
©2007 by Fazer. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without
permission by the publisher is strictly prohibited.
Fazer is published six times a year. Past issues can be found online at fazer.ca.
Submissions are accepted – even welcomed :-) Contact Mike or Yves at fazer.ca
 Fazer is a labour of love. Eveyone involved with putting it together loves music. While I wish it was
something generating some revenue to pay contributors – at the moment, it does not. Here’s a
few folks who selflessly make Fazer great, just because they can.
Becky Hurren
Becky edits Fazer. She writes
articles / interviews / attends and
reviews shows. Recently, Becky
CONTRIBUTORS & KOOL KATZ
and her husband Brian relocated
to Seattle, where she can see
even MORE music than she did
when she lived in Ontario.
Gary Pullin
Gary Pullin is the art director for
Rue Morgue Magazine and their
resident scribbling deviation of
nature. When Gary isn’t drawing
monsters during the day at Rue
Morgue, he’s busy working on his
website, ghoulishgary.com,
designing gig posters, t-shirt
designs and playing Guitar Hero.
CHARLENE CIESLIK
Charlene lives in downtown
Toronto and is always keeping
her ear to the ground for new
and interesting local bands, and
supports Canadian music with a
passion. She may not always be
right, but at least she’s willing to
say what she thinks...
Walid Lodin
Walid = Chiropractor/
Acupuncturist/Photographer/
Halo 1 gamer!
ONE
QUICKFIX
Shorter reviews of
recent live concerts
LCD Soundsystem
September 24, 2007
Bank of America Arena, Seattle
Forgive me, but I cannot describe LCD
Soundsystem in any other way: their music
is like an unsatisfying sexual experience.
The music builds, and builds, and builds,
and then poof, seven minutes later it, ends
abruptly. My friend put it best when he
said “My favourite part of that song? The
end!” And I don’t think he was suggesting
the song’s denouement was spectacular –
I believe he was referring to the silence
that came directly afterwards. Our seat-
mate, unfortunately, was an enthusiastic
LCD supporter. His enthusiasm was the
equivalent to the after-sex high-five…
utterly and completely unnecessary.
However, LCD cannot be held entirely
responsible for my blue balls; the
acoustics at the Bank of America Arena
are atrocious. But bad acoustics or not,
their songs are long and repetitive and
don’t ever hit the right spot.
They promised that, “the time has
come, the time has come, the times has
come…” but I am still waiting.
>Becky Hurren
Ryan Adams and the Cardinals
September 21, 2007
Massey Hall, Toronto
When your wife punches you in the
shoulder half way through the first song of
a live set and says ‘Yer effing dead, Bax!’ –
it’s safe to say the you may have erred on
the evenings live musical selection.
Ryan is a great songsmith, and a fine
live performer. But let’s be honest here.
Remove the ‘Alt’ from his musical
classification immediately. Adams is
COUNTRY. There was no ‘Alt’ at the
Massey show at all. And there was no
material being played from his stellar Rock
N Roll CD. And no Love Is Hell material
either. Two CDs I adore.
I bought front row balcony seats for this
show. My wife and I sat through the entire
first set out of respect for the fans, who
were loving his live stuff. We couldn’t bring
ourselves to get up 3 songs into his set
and leave. But that show was a steaming
three-coiler in my books.
All country music and no Rock N Roll
makes Mike a mad boy. To add insult to
injury, I bought a shirt BEFORE his set
started – expecting greatness. I’m soooo
dumb. Anyone interested in a purple tour
shirt with a white / purple rose on it should
email me about it.
>Mike Bax
The Beastie Boys Gala Event
September 22, 2007
Sony Centre, Toronto
Wow. I figured this more intimate show
would be a slightly different set-list from
their big stadium stops. The last thing I
expected from this show was to see a
jam-band at the top of their form. This gig
turned out to be one of the best concerts
I’ve ever seen.
This performance boasted 130 minutes of
material cherry-picked songs from the new
CD The Mix Up along with some material
from The In Sound From Way Out mixed
with some old hardcore songs and some
popular singles. The band dressed up,
and encouraged the audience to dress
up as well via their online community -
this was a concert for fans. I’d go so far
as to say I may not ever be able to see
the band again, unless they are doing
a show like this.
Adam, Mike and Adam were all at their
laid-back best. Smiling through their
songs, joking amongst themselves and
the audience, and having as much fun on-
stage as we were having in the audience.
They even hammed it up for the camera,
posing behind front row fans trying to
get the band into the background of their
camera phone pictures. I’d see this
performance again anytime!
>Mike Bax
TWO
Pictured: Muse Guitarist / vocalist Matt Belamy cranking out the goodness.

Muse
With Black Holes and Revelations, Muse seems to have
with Cold War Kids
found their North American audience. The CD is likely the
Arrow Hall, Toronto most commercial disc the band has put out. It scored
Aug 1st a 5 out of 5 rating in Q Magazine when it was released
(something the magazine doesn’t give out often), and
it has sold extremely well both in the UK and North
America. Every time the band comes around now, they
play to an ever-growing audience. Their recent 90,000
capacity double shows at the rebuilt Wembley Stadium in
the UK were filmed for release as a live DVD to show up
by years end, and much of the gear they had on stage
at those Wembley shows were brought on tour for this
most recent concert at Arrow Hall.

Depending on who you talk to, Opening for Muse on this round
Arrow Hall can hold anywhere of dates was The Cold War Kids.
from 7000 to 9000 people. It’s a big This was their first night opening
warehouse/silo by the airport in for Muse, and I was a bit saddened

Photos and Reveiw By Mike Bax

between Mississauga and Toronto.
It’s not high on my list of places to
see a band, for two reasons. First, it
always takes an excessive amount
of time to queue into the venue due
to insanely long line-ups. Second,
the sound can easily suck at Arrow
Hall. True to form, the lineup to
get in was indeed an atrocity – but
fortunately, August 1st was not one
of those poor nights for sound. But
I’m getting ahead of myself.
that they hadn’t been two or three
weeks into the run of dates with
Muse. The Cold War Kids like to
jam with other bands. I have seen
them do a killer rendition of ‘Saint
John’ with all the members of
Tokyo Police Club earlier this year,
and I can’t help but think that they
will jam with Muse as well. Which
would be magical to see live. For
all the time’s I’ve seen Muse live,
most of the acts opening for them

three FOUR
 have been weak. It was great to see
an opener like the Cold War Kids
opening for Muse. They don’t really
sound like Muse (but then, who
really does?), but the CWK are a
fine band in their own right. And
they played a decent set of songs.
Their debut CD, Robbers and
Cowards is one of the most exciting
debuts I’ve heard in a long while,
and getting to hear songs like ‘Hang
Me Out To Dry’, ‘Hospital Beds’ and
‘We Used to Vacation’ again in such
a large venue was great. It is my
hope that some of the Muse fans
enjoyed seeing a quality band open
their show for a change.
Sporting a refurbished backdrop
featuring some intricate video
(during one of the bands songs,
there was video footage of what
looked like the mother-ship se-
Pictured: Muse Guitarist / Matt Belamy Shredding
FIVE
quence from Close Encounters
of the Third Kind (CE3K)
hovering behind Dominic as the
band thundered through their
material. It was awesome to watch)
and CO2 jets at the front of the
stage, this was a whole different
kind of Muse concert for the
Toronto area audience. I landed a
‘hail mary’ photo pass for the gig
the day of the show, and was al-
lowed into the pit for pictures for
the first three songs. As the band
belted their way through “Knights
of Cydonnia”, then “Map of the
Problematique” (with Maggie’s Farm
bonus riffs) and then “Hysteria”,
I found it hard to focus on taking
pictures. Matt Belamy was RIGHT
IN FRONT OF ME wailing on his
guitar. It was hard to pick my jaw
up and get the shots. Lights hanging
over the front portion of the stages
gave both Matt and Chris guitars
the appearance of shooting lasers,
as they reflected the top lights off
the faces of their guitars and into
the audience. Muse (well Belamy
anyway) are into Rage Against the
Pictured: Muse Bassist / Chris Wolstenholme Sporting funky mustache
Machine – and they have been
dropping the RATM Maggie’s Farm
guitar riffs into their sets now for
a while. The sound was large and
LOUD. I was thankful I had my
earbuds in. Even with drowning
their audience in sound, the band
sounded tight from beginning to
end of their set. The coolest thing
for me about this gig, was Belamy’s
piano. It featured a clear glass top,
and had lights mounted inside the
piano itself. When he touched a
key, a light would shine up through
the piano and yielded and effect
similar to the mother ship lightshow
from CE3K again. Muse do like their admit, I totally enjoyed seeing form shredding out some amazing
outer-space references. them on a massive stage with electric guitar for one song, and
Muse have never really short- monster flood lights, video FX and then tickling out a killer piano riff
changed their audience for things CO2 machines. I know most of the for the next song. Muse are a band
to watch. Even when they were Muse message boarders were at that can do no wrong. I’d say they
touring a stripped down version of the show, and enjoyed the gig as are one of the best live acts touring
their live show on their first dates well. The band played a lengthy right now, and they are a ‘must see’
in North America, they had some set. They popped out old songs band of you like live music at all.
decent lights and confetti-filled like ‘Feeling Good’, ‘Sunburn’ and You’ll be like every other body
balloons with them. Their stage ‘Unintended’, and they played all leaving the venue when their set
show at the Docks last year was the expected stuff from their four is done – relishing the next time
pretty awesome (while the venue CDs. I can’t get enough of ‘Starlight’ you’ll get a chance to see Muse
totally sucked. It’s my least live. It’s probably the poppiest song perform live.
favourite live show by Muse, and the band has ever banged out, but So, yes… I can hardly wait to see
it was totally because of the venue). it’s such a great live track, I had Muse live again. And I’m already
But the Docks stage set up has the goosebumps while they looking forward to pre-ordering my
nothing to compare to what Muse were playing it. Dropped off the live at Wembley DVD for closer to
are now. They have stepped up playlist for this show were ‘Bliss’ Christmas.
to a proper stadium band in North and ‘Citizen Erased’. I was sad to
muse.mu
America. And while I lament for not have ‘Citizen Erased’ on the set.
www.myspace.com/muse
seeing them in a smaller venue with It’s a killer live track. But getting to
www.coldwarkids.com
a more intimate crowd, I have to see ‘Feeling Good’ live more than www.myspace.com/coldwarkids
made up for it. Belamy was in top
SIX
>> Muse: A Brief History
By Mike Bax - übergeek
As of 2004 in North America, the Super
Massive Black Hole was that Muse hadn’t
played a live set here since some poorly
received 1999 opening slot dates (for the
Spice Girls and Savage Garden no less),
when the band was signed to Maverick
for their first CD Showbiz. In 1999, Muse
seemed to be pretty much misunderstood
by their label. Their US record deal fell
through, and for whatever reasons, Muse
never came back to tour North America
for five years.
I have revered Muse, pretty much since
the first day I heard them in 1999. They
were often reviewed as a poor-man’s
Radiohead during their Showbiz days, and
I think the band was simply given a pass
by audiences in North America. Certainly,
Maverick didn’t understand what they had
back in 1999. Muse have always had their
own signature sound. Chris Wolstenholme
has always been a bassist of the highest
order, and Dominic Howard an excellent
percussionist. Partnered up with Bellamy’s
frenetic guitar stylings, vocals and piano
skills, they were a band destined for
success long before Showbiz even came
out. And, as a three-piece, they can make
a thundering racket en par with some of
the loudest metal bands on the planet. I
think Bellamy will continue to emerge as a
guitar hero as time passes. He can blast
out guitar solos that are both unique and
intricate. I know he’s well respected with
some of the more common-place shred-
ders out there. Matt’s just a bit more under
the radar when it comes to ‘guitar talk’.
Anyone that enjoys witnessing a live
guitar-maestro should be coughing up
the cash to see Muse play live. I can
SEVEN
guarantee you’ll be walking away from
their show with a smile on your face.
Muse is a band with a large supply of
b-sides, especially for their first two
commercial releases. If you suss them
out, there are enough ‘un-released’ songs
to fill a few CDs with material not found
on their commercial releases. Many of the
songs are good enough that you’ll wonder
why they are considered b-sides. Case in
point, ‘Agitated’, a song that remained in
the bands live set on-and-off for almost
5 years, and hints at Bellamy’s balls-out
guitaring long before tracks like ‘New
Born’, ‘Citizen Erased’, Stockholm
Syndrome’ and ‘Assassin’ were even
imagined. And then there’s ‘Coma’. I still
can’t quite figure out how a song this
good never made it onto Showbiz as a
thirteenth track. It’s a stellar song. Typical
of many UK acts, Muse has a slathering
of UK singles in multiple versions that host
most of these b-sides. They can be found
compiled illicitly on eBay every once in a
while, and have been released in dribs and
drabs in countries like Japan and Holland
on assorted EPs and compilations. If you
buy the band’s live CD, Hullaballo, make
sure you go for the double disc version and
get the 10 b-sides as they are the pick of
the litter.
Origin of Symmetry (released in 2001) is
considered by most fans, including me,
to be their best CD. Coincidently, I was
in Scotland on vacation when Origin was
released, and bought a few copies to bring
back with me for friends who were already
big fans of the band. At the time, I didn’t
know it would take four years for Origin of
Symmetry to come out in North America.
It turned out Maverick had some
reservations about Bellamy’s vocal styles,
and considered Origin of Symmetry not
very radio-friendly. Maverick asked the
band to change some of their songs prior
to the North American release. This just
seems so foolhardy to me now, having
played Origin as many times as I have, but
what the hell? Singles for ‘Plug In Baby’,
‘New Born’, ‘Bliss’ and ‘Hyper Music’ were
hitting the shelves in the UK, and we got
nothing over here in North America. Muse
walked away from Maverick, refusing
to alter their material. Maverick never
released Origin of Symmetry. The CD
wasn’t released here until a year after
Muse had signed to Warner, and the
company had been able to see some
return on investment with sales and tour-
ing for Absolution. Yet, we still didn’t get
any Muse live dates!
In the Feb 2006 edition of Q Magazine,
Origin of Symmetry was placed at #74 in
a readers’ poll of the 100 greatest albums
ever. From the opening tracks of ‘New
Born’ through the final songs ‘Feeling
Good’ and ‘Megalomania’, the disc plays
like 50 minutes of musical perfection. I
still wish I got to see it played live. I had to
settle for the next best thing: the release of
Hullaballo on CD and DVD in the UK.
I believe it was around the end of 2002
when Hullabaloo was set to come out.
Muse had been building a reputation as a
killer live band touring Origin of Symmetry,
and a live DVD was optioned. Filmed over
two nights at Le Zenith in Paris, the 2 DVD
set was featured an amazing live concert,
with an average documentary as the
‘bonus disc’. Accompanying the release of
the DVD was a live CD featuring most of
the Le Zenith live set, minus a few songs
due to the 70 minute limitation of a single
CD, and a b-side CD featuring ‘Forced In’,
‘Shrinking Universe’, ‘Recess’, ‘Yes Please’,
‘Map of Your head’, ‘Nature’, ‘Shine
Acoustic’, ‘Ashamed’, ‘The Gallery’ and
‘Hyper Chondriac Music.’ Two new studio
tracks, ‘Dead Star’ and ‘In Your World’
were released as a Muse single to
accompany the release of Hullaballo.
These two songs are performed live on both
the CD and DVD release of Hullabaloo.
The DVD was released in UK-only PAL
format, and required a region free DVD
player for consumption in North America.
Late 2003 saw the UK release of
Absolution, Muse’s third proper studio
CD. It is a very strong CD featuring killer
tracks like ‘Hysteria’, ‘Time Is Running
Out’ and ‘Stockholm Syndrome’. I can still
remember the day the band’s first North
American live concert date appeared on
Ticketmaster’s website. It was the Metro
show in Chicago on April 23rd 2004.
I bought tickets the moment they went
on sale, thinking nothing of the six hours
I’d be driving to see them play live. As it
turns out... I wound up trailing the band
from Toronto to Detroit and onto Chicago
for their first round of dates, and have
seen them live 10 times now. Their first
live performance for me was at the Mod
Club in Toronto as part of the EDGE ‘Next
Big Thing’ concert series. You had to ‘win’
tickets to see this show and I can tell you
there was a slathering of unhappy fans
angry that they had to win a contest to see
a band they revered for so long. The Muse
message boards were peppered with
saccharine about the bands first Toronto
live date being a contest to gain entry. It
was a bitter-sweet show, yet it remains my
favourite live performance from the band,
likely because it was the first time I ever
saw them perform.
BX93 in Detroit did a similar thing as the
EDGE in Toronto. and booked the band for
22nd of April for a free show. Originally
set for the Shelter, It wound up moving to
St Andrew’s Hall closer to the date due to
overwhelming demand. St Andrew’s Hall
was filled to capacity for the Detroit show
with many fans lined up 8 hours before
the show started. The following day Muse
played their Chicago date. It had sold out
rather quickly, and I believe the band were
excited about it, as it was a legitimate
sold-out performance. These were all
small venues by UK standards, but for the
band, this run of dates were a big win, as
they got to see first hand North American
fans singing along to material that at the
time had no commercial release. Yves and
I both got to chat with Chris after the Mod
Club show, and he admitted to the band
being very surprised at their fan following
at their live dates at the time. Especially
the enthusiasm for their older material.
Muse culminated their Absolution tour by
headlining at Glastonbury in the UK and
delivering a blistering live set to a field full
of music fans. It was a tough show for
drummer Dominic Howard who wound up
losing his dad shortly after the Glastonbury
set was finished.
With last years release of Black Holes
and Revelations, Muse have cemented
themselves as bona fide rock gods. North
America has once again gotten a battery
of live shows in support of the CD, and
every time the band plays, the venues they
fill get bigger and bigger. I popped over to
Detroit for the State Theatre show, which
was the evening before the band played
The Docks in Toronto. The Detroit show
was sooooo much better than Toronto. To
date, it’s the only venue on the Black Holes
And Revelations tour dates I’ve seen where
the band played ‘Assassin’ live. ‘Assassin’
is easily one of my favourite songs off the
new CD, and it features some nutty-fast
guitar work that really sounded amazing
performed live.
Muse is still touring Black Holes And Rev-
elations, but I’m sure they will soon wind
their touring down and get back to the
studio to record album five. Based on the
bands trajectory to date – they could very
well become the global super-group they
so deserve to be in the coming years.
I can tell you this in all honesty – I’ll
certainly be seeing them play live again!
Muse are about the best touring band on
the planet right now.
eight
 Michael Shuman - Bass Queens of the Stone Age with Cage The Elephant
Centennial Hall
London August 22nd
Queens Of The Stone Age frontman
Josh Homme (a tall dude, at six foot five
inches), brought nothing but raw energy
to a packed Centennial Hall last night.
Playing a non-stop set of riff-driven rock
over 75 minutes, the band delivered
songs from all four of their commercial
releases. While Homme remains the con-
stant driving force behind the band (Nick
Oliveri – bass, vocals, departed the band
in ‘04, and is now involved with Mondo
Generator), his current line-up (Homme is
Queens
backed up by Troy Van Leeuwen – guitar,
keyboards, lap steel, backing vocals, Joey
Castillo – drums, Michael Shuman –
of the
Stone Age
bass, backing vocals and Dean Fertita –
keyboards, guitar, backing vocals) really
worked well on stage with him for this
show. I caught Queens opening for Nine
Review & Pictures by Mike Bax
Inch Nails on the With Teeth tour, and
found the band really muddy sounding
live. Based on last nights performance,
I think it’s safe to say that Queens had
Josh Homme
a poor mix at the ACC show, as they
sounded excellent at last nights London
Pictured: Josh Homme SHredding his way Through ‘Misfit Love’
show. The stand out song for me was
‘Misfit Love’, which the band delivered
to full-on, beat driven perfection. Past
hits ‘Little Sister, ‘Go With The Flow’ and
‘No One Knows’ were met with huge fan
reaction. For me, this show was a bit of a
relief. I’ve heard numerous fans tell
me how awesome Queens are live, and
having only seen them the once, and not
digging them at all – it was great
to hear a good performance from them.
nine
They have already booked another
Toronto date at the Hummingbird with
Scottish Rocker’s Biffy Clyro opening the
Toronto show.
Queens brought nothing but the rock
with them for Era Vulgaris. Their stage
consisted of four large metal beams with
spider-like chain chandeliers hanging
from them. Everything the band put forth
for their show was derived from their
music, and didn’t rely on snazzy visuals
or backdrops in the slightest. Queens
2002 CD Songs For The Deaf remains
my favourite CD from the band to date,
with Era Vulgaris keeping a close second.
Who knows? Maybe by the end of the
summer, I’ll be all about the Vulgaris.
Sadly, I missed Cage The Elephant’s set.
I enjoyed them the last time I saw them,
and when they finally release a full length
CD, I think they’ll really find an audience.
I have heard Londoner’s sandbag on
concerts at the Concert Hall. Personally,
I’ve seen nothing but great shows there,
both for sound quality and being able to
actually SEE the band. Honestly, being able
to skip the drive to Toronto to see a band
like Queens in a venue that holds about
1600 people is a real treat. If I lived in
Toronto, I’d be driving in to see them play
a venue this size in a heartbeat. I hope
Centennial Hall continues to book great
bands in the months/years to come.
www.qotsa.com
www.myspace.com/queensofthestoneage
ten

Review & Pictures by
Pelican • Lee’s Palace
Pelican are a Chicago-based four-piece
band, that deserve your ear at your
earliest conveniece. Have knocked about
in various incarnations for the past ten
years, Pelican proper, have been a band
pushing out slow-building riffs of sound
for well over five years, and their fan-
base seems to grow incrementally with
Guitarist Laurent Schroeder-Lebec - Background is Bryan Herweg On Bass
each CD that they release.
L-R is Guitarist Trevor de Brauw with Bryan Herweg & Laurent Schroeder-Lebec
This Lee’s show brought the band around
touring their newest CD, City of Echoes
(on Hydrahead). City Of Echoes had been
available online for a while before it
actually got ‘released’, something that
seems to be happening more and more
as the years go by. I was already pretty
familiar with the material by the time the
band came to town
[ I’m piping right up here and saying
I bought the bands full catalog at the
show, along with a shirt. Even with the
advent of file sharing and digital
downloading… if I hear something I like,
I still wind up buying it. I wrestle with
advance files all the time. My friends all
suss out these files early, and are
eleven
Mike Bax • 2007
• Toronto • July 21st
enjoying the music, sometimes months
in advance. And I feel like a weiner for
trying to wait out the legitimate release.
So, here it is. If it wasn’t for hearing
this CD early, I would have passed on the
show. Based on the strength of
the leaked City of Echoes (and it IS a
God-dammned monster of a rock CD)
I bought up everything they had at the
merch table. I’d put it out there to anyone
sifting music files off the web – that you
man-up when the bands come to town
and buy some stuff from them when they
gig. Bands work hard for their cash –
the least you can do is show them some
love and support them when they
come around. ]
Now, the hard part. Describing the
Pelican live sound. Pelican could appeal
to almost anyone. I like them because
they can really rock out. Some of their
songs can grind up riffs that could stand
up to the likes of TOOL and Mastodon.
The thing about Pelican is you’re listening
to instrumental music when they play. No
vocals at all. And that is an issue for a lot
of music fans. With Russian Circles and
Tortoise (two other prominent Chicago
instrumental bands) helping to build an
audience for this caliber of music, I think
there will be more and more bands
delivering music like this in the years to
come. Watching Laurent Schroeder-
Lebec crank away on his guitar through
their entire set of music made me realize
two things. Pelican are better live than on
CD. And they can deliver a musical payload
that’s up there with TOOL and Mastodon
when they play live. Their set was a
good 80 minutes long, but it felt like it
was over way too fast for me. I seldom
finish off a show and feel like driving to
the next city the band is stopping at and
seeing them again. I totally felt like hitting
the road for Pelican’s next live date.
I believe what we got live at the Toronto
date was: ‘Bliss In Concrete’, ‘City Of
Echoes’, ‘Drought’, ‘Lost In The Head-
lights’, ‘Dead Between The Walls’, ‘Far
From Fields’, ‘Aurora Borealis’, ‘Red Ran
Amber’ and ‘Mammoth’. At the time of
the show, I was only familiar with City Of
Echoes. I’m piecing the other material in
from memory based on the discs I bought
at the show. It was a melange of
material new and old. And it was all
excellent. Their live sound was perfect.
My favourite thing about this concert,
was watching this guy at the front right
of the stage rocking out for the last three
tracks of the Pelican set. His fist was in
the air, pounding to every beat. He was
spilling his drink everywhere, and he
was just going to town, hanging off the
speaker and thrashing his head around.
People around him moved away, to
give him room to convulse to the bands
music. The band winds up their set, and
after the final note was done and they
were all off the stage, this guy looked at
me and said ‘Who were those guys?’ I
thought he was joking… I just assumed
he was a Pelican fan of the first order. It
turns out he was from Nova Scotia, and
just happened to be walking past Lee’s
Palace and liked what he was hearing
coming out of the venue’s front door. So
he paid up and came in for the show.
THAT’s awesome. And really, a testament
to Pelican as a live band. Their next
Toronto concert can’t come soon enough
for me.
www.pelicansong.com
www.myspace.com/pelican
twelve
 Dean photo - Photo: Chris Floyd • kaRIN and Statik photo - dearestgrudge • Article/Interview by Mike Bax

+ =
You can forget about bands like +44, Velvet Revolver and Audioslave. The real supergroup
on everyone’s lips right now should be the The Secret Meeting. While I remain a bonafide
Collide / Curve / Toni Halliday fanatic, there’s only one voice I’d consider close to Halliday’s,
and that would kaRIN from Collide. When I found out kaRIN and Statik were collaborating
with Dean from Curve on a musical project together - well let’s just say the earth moved
a bit for me. kaRIN and Statik were kind enough to share a bit of time with me, and talk
about how the Secret Meeting became a tangible CD release.

thirteen fourteen
I’d like to start by providing readers with an
overview of Collide, and how The Secret
Meeting came together as a project. Can
I get a condensed version of your works
together so far?
kaRIN: Well lets see…Statik and I have
been working on Collide for 15 years or
so…which means a bunch of CDs and a
live DVD. One day, I was surfing around
and came across Dean’s solo page on
Myspace no less. I knew who he was…
so I thought… hey why not write him. He
wrote me back right away and we decided
we should try working on a song together,
which then turned into a full release.
I’ve always found Collide a band that would
appeal to fans of CURVE. Do you feel this
is a fair assumption?
kaRIN: Yes, they definitely have similarities.
Deep dark chemistry, cool sounds and
smoky smooth female vocals. Although,
they each stand apart, no reason why
you would not like both.
Statik: Both being mostly electronic... and
in working together (with Dean), I think we
have a similar mindset when working on
songs.
How did you work with Dean? Was
everything done together in a studio?
Or was it mostly done by file swapping
between California and the UK?
kaRIN: Dean is a super cool, chill,
loveable guy. Working together has been
a great experience. It was all done through
e-mail and file exchanging. You can tell
that he is passionate about what he does
and definitely does it for the right reasons.
Statik: There just wasn’t a need for us
to be in a studio all together at the same
time. Dean had his ideas and we just did
our thing, slowly but surely. It allowed all
of us the time we needed. Sometimes it
just takes me a while to figure out what I
don’t like or don’t like while I’m working on
a song. The initial ideas come out fast, but
fifteen
I spend a lot of time editing and tweaking It renders me dysfunctional. I now live in
the song as a whole. Los Angeles – I really like it here and yes
What’s next for Collide? Will there be more it’s warm. As far as music… I first
music coming? got the music bug in High School…
my boyfriend at the time had a friend
kaRIN: Yes, we are currently in the studio who would play guitar… we were both
working on the next CD.
totally and absolutely hooked. We then
Statik: We have a lot of songs started in established
various stages...and we’ve pretty much a group of friends who we hung around
narrowed in on the ones that will make the with and we would play and sing every
final cut. Now it’s just all about getting in single song we knew. It became a
there and finalizing all of the vocals...and necessary release for me.
then of course my endless tweaking.
I noticed The Secret Meeting getting
What do you both do to get inspired in plugged on TOOL’s website. Have you
between recordings? done some work with TOOL?
kaRIN: I am driven by creating… so for Statik: I did programming on Undertow and
me there is no in between time. I take in Lateralus. All of the Tools guys are really
from life around me and escape through talented and really nice... we really appreci-
music. Singing is my escape…the rest of it ate it when they give us a mention on their
is hard work though. site. They actually brought me up on stage
Statik: For me it’s about having downtime, on one of their L.A. shows and I played
with no music... getting out of the studio, keys/samples on Triad... that was fun.
and getting some fresh air. When I first heard about this collaboration
Now that you have worked with Dean, is with Dean, I was really eager to hear the
there anyone else on your wish list to col- material. It seems a no-brainer that fans
laborate with? of CURVE and Collide would be all over
this disc like white on rice. How has the
kaRIN: Yes… Massive Attack. I would response been so far?
really like to do a guest vocal with them…
so if anyone knows them please pass kaRIN: Amazing really… Dean is now
the word on =). asking me where I am stashing the bad
reviews. We are all very touched and
Statik: I was just thinking about that the honored that people are enjoying
other day, as I had my ipod on shuffle... ‘Ultrashiver’.
going through my library. I’ve been really
lucky in that I’ve got to work with so many Statik: We’re trying to get the word out
there about The Secret Meeting. Response
people who I admire already. I think Peter
Gabriel would be interesting to work with... has been great, but I do think that the
piracy problem has become worse than
I would like to see Elizabeth Frazier come
up with some vocal ideas... Brian May ever. I know it wasn’t long after it was
released that it was up on numerous
kaRIN and Statik photo - Chad Michael Ward
from Queen.
file-sharing sites. Am I supposed to feel
kaRIN, I understand that you are from
good that someone liked the album so
Toronto. How did you wind up based out
much that they wanted to give it away
of the southern states? Did you record any
to the world. We only spent the last year
music when you lived in Toronto? working on it. You really can’t get me
kaRIN: I went south seeking heat. Although started on the whole file sharing thing...
I love Toronto, I really do not like to be cold. I just won’t shut up.
Typically, how do you both approach
your music together? Music first, and
then lyrics? Do you both like to tinker
independently and bring your elements
together in a studio?
kaRIN: We each do our own thing in our
own studio’s and then we smash it all
together. Statik is really the technical
end… I am the touchy feely side.
Statik: I can only get so far until there are
some concrete vocals in the song. So I
do a framework and then wait until kaRIN
gets vocals to a point and then I can see
where the song is really going.
Will you attempt to do a live tour for
The Secret Meeting?
kaRIN: We are unsure of our plans for it.
Dean lives in the UK… so we’d have that
to work out.
Statik; And then there’s the small part of
actually getting the money to do it.
Can you talk a bit about where you
see the music industry right now? In
particular, how you see releasing music
might change in the years to come?
kaRIN: Ohhhhhhhhhhhh painful… we are
trying to remain positive. It seems that as
technology advances… the need to buy
CDs is becoming less and less and since
that is the medium that musicians survive
from… it will become very challenging.
Everyone needs to know that copying
music is like stealing from the artist… if
you like the artist and have downloaded
their music for free and enjoy it… show
support to the band… buy a T-shirt even.
Statik: I think it will get to the point of
not even bothering to release an album.
I don’t want to sound so dire, but I just
can’t work on an album for a year just
to have it put up everywhere for free.
My conscious just won’t let me do it.
www.thesecretmeeting.net
www.myspace.com/thesecretmeeting
www.collide.net
www.myspace.com/collide
sixteen
 On their new CD One Day Son,
This WIll All Be Yours, Fightstar
have raised the bar for both
themselves as a band, and for their
listeners. Jam-packed with stellar
riffs, chunky bass, and some fine
song writing, the band are poised
for a big year. One Day Son can be
purchesed in North America on both
iTunes and eMusic, but there is no
CD release here yet. HMV in the UK
will ship it out to you for about $25.
It’s well worth it for the bonus DVD
and extra-fine CD liner notes.
Charlie Simpson took the time to
field a few questions on the third
night of their tour for One Day Son,
just a few hours before taking the
stage in Dundee, Scotland on
October 3rd.
Interview by Mike Bax
SEVENTEEN Fightstar are: Left - Dan Haigh; Top - Omar Abidi; Front - Charlie Simpson; Right - Alex Westaway
Mike: Thanks for doing this interview.
I just today got your new CD in the mail
from the UK. I’d been playing a download,
and wanted the real deal for my collection.
Charlie: Oh, sweet man. What did you
think?
I think it’s the best you guys have done –
and I’m a fan. I love your other two
releases. One Day Son is really an
excellent recording.
Thanks very much. We’re really proud of it.
I really like the artwork in the booklet too.
It’s very high end. It’s got the nice little
vellum overlays on the inside. Very
well done.
Yeah, you know, it’s done by a guy
who’s only 22 years old. It’s by a guy
named Dan Conway. We’re all really
pleased with the way it turned out.
So tonight you’re playing Dundee?
Yes. In Scotland.
Did you sell out the show?
I think we did man.
How big of a show is it? What’s the
capacity of Fat Sam’s (the venue they are
playing)
Well, let me see… I think about 650.
Yeah, that’s about right. It’s a cool little
venue. This is only a club show.
It would be awesome to just get to see
you play Charlie. Especially in an intimate
venue like Fat Sam’s sounds like it is.
Yeah, for sure… we’re excited to play
tonight.
Earlier this year, you guys did about ten
shows with Funeral For a Friend in The US.
I would have loved to have seen the New
York show… but it was too far away for
me to get too…
We played a few with Madina Lake as
well… that was a really fun tour man. It
was pretty grueling but it was awesome to
play to some American fans.
So you are about to play your third official
gig on the tour for the New CD. How have
the gigs been going so far? Are the fans
digging the new material?
EIGHTEEN
Well, it was officially released here last
week, but the CD was leaked over a
month ago. So, there seems to be
some familiarity with the material, yeah?
(laughter). It’s certainly easier for us to play
material that fans are familiar with, rather
than a whole bunch of new tracks that the
kids haven’t heard yet, y’know?
That’s fair. Were you able to find some
cool bands to tour with?
Were on tour with The Sleeping, Emanuel
and then a British band called You Me At
6. So it’s two American bands and one
UK band. They’re all great man. It’s been
really great playing with them and partying
with them. It’s cool.
What made you guys decide to come over
to the pond and record One Day Son in
North America?
Um, well, we really wanted to use Matt
Wallace as a producer. And he’s based
in L.A. and he’s got a family there and
stuff. So he doesn’t really work away from
home. So, we kind of had to go to him if
we wanted to use him. And we really did
want him to produce the new material. So
we decided to go over there and we rented
an apartment in L.A. and made it happen.
It was cool man. We really enjoyed the
experience.
So how was he to work with?
He was really awesome. He really knows
his stuff. He really wanted to involved with
the structure of the songs and stuff, you
know? We wrote the album, and then went
out there (to L.A.) and when we got there,
we spent a week together ripping the
album apart and reworking it together.
He’s really up for trying stuff. It didn’t
matter how crazy it was, he really wanted
to try it. And I think that when you get
someone with that mentality, they always
push you to do better things. He really
challenged us as musicians.
NINETEEN
Do you have an example of something you
could easily explain that Wallace might
have suggested and added to a song’s end
result Charlie?
Yeah, for sure – he’d suggest some of
the simplest little things. For instance, on
‘Floods’, the kind of bridge section before
the chorus kicks in never used to be there.
He listened to the demo and it used to just
go from the verse to the chorus and he
said he thought we needed to have
something there like a break in pace. And
so we wrote that little jam interlude that
turns into the bridge – and it made the
song sound so much broader. It’s little
things like that he really brings to the
table. He’d say “try this there or move
this piece here”. And he’s be right. To us,
it just made such a difference to the final
product.
One Day Son is a bit of a departure for
Fightstar. It’s a very ambitious disc with
material that I dare say is flirting with radio
play. Would you agree?
Yeah, definitely. I think it was intentional
enough. We kind of wanted to re-think
ourselves. And I think that there’s more
diversity on this record than the last one.
We wanted to make the heavier tracks like
Deathcar and Tannhäuser Gate, but we
wanted to play around with some electronic
ideas as well. It was very fun working on
the album, and having it spanning such a
wide and sonic sound from song to song.
Who contributes the female vocals to the
last track on the disc ‘Unfamiliar Ceilings’?
It’s a girl called Rachel Haden, she’s in a
band called the Rentals. I’m not sure if
you’ve heard of them or not. And she sang
on Jimmy Eat World’s record on the tracks
‘My Sundown’ and ‘Hear You Me’. And
also… she sang on a Weezer track –
I think it’s called ‘I Just Threw Out The
Love of My Dreams’ which is on a
kind-of Special Edition Weezer CD. She’s
awesome man. I heard her voice on the
Jimmy Eat World record, and I thought it
would be so sweet if she could sing on our
record. Matt (our Engineer) knew her sister
or something, and he just rung her up. We
sent her over the track and she said she
loved it, and she came over to the studio
and she just sang it. It took like an hour.
She nailed it so easily. It was awesome.
Another moment I really like on the new
CD is the piano intro to ‘Floods’. It’s a
lovely little intro to a song which is really
quite heavy.
Neat man. Thanks.
Are you touring with a piano on stage
then? Will you play that track live?
Absolutely. We’ll be playing that song
tonight. I will be playing the guitar, but will
switch to the keyboards to do the piano
bits. On Grand Unification there’s a song
called Grand Unification pt 2 that is a
heavily dominated piano song as well. We
play them both live.
If I had to pick a track on the disc I like the
most, I’d have to say it’s Deathcar. I really
seem to go back it and replay it the most
when I’m playing the new recording.
That’s my favourite track too.
Who does the intro vocals Is that you or
Alex?
That’s me.
So that little inhale before the song
kicks in…
Have you got the dvd that comes with the
UK cd?
I just got it in the mail an hour ago Charlie.
I haven’t watched it yet.
If you watch it, it actually shows me doing
that whole thing in the sink. I put my whole
head under water. Basically I just put my
submerged my head, and they put some
microphones around me and I held my
breath for as long as I could and then
just came up and breathed in. And they
recorded it.
I love it. It’s a cool little que-in before the
rock kicks in. It really sets up the power of
the song
Yeah. It sets the mood.
When you guys are writing your material,
you and Alex, how would you start a song
like Death Car? Is it just a riff that you add
vocals to? Or do you tend to write your
materials lyrics first?
Well, basically, me and Al will come up
with stuff on acoustics. I’ll try something
on an acoustic and then send it over to Al
and he’ll kind of work it in. A lot of it is
actually done over email. Actually this
album in particular, I’d just start on an
idea – and then send it along to the guys,
and they’d add their thoughs and parts to
it, and then send it back. We kind of built
the album that way. We all had our own
space and could build the album in our
owhn time. We could just think up our own
p[arts. And then we took it into the studio
and fleshed it all out from there. It was a
cool way of doing it, really.
How do you and Al pick which parts of
which songs you are going to sing when
you are putting them all together?
It’s pretty natural like. It’s… we never
really think about it to much. It really just
seems to happen on it’s own. Although,
someone might come up with a part
while we are writing that the other winds
up singing.
I’d like to mention some of your cover
songs Charlie. You’ve covered ‘My Own
Summer Shove It’, ‘Leper Messiah’ and
‘Breaking The Law’, and done them well.
Are there any other songs you guys would
like to put your signature on down the
road?
Oh wow… I dunno. We’ve been thinking
about covering ‘Propaganda’ by Sepultura
live. It’s just… the drop downs in that
song are sooo good, y’know? We’re
big Sepultura fans, and I think That
‘Propoganda’ would be an awesome
cover to try and do.
Do you have any plans to come back over
to tour in North America again?
Yes. Definitely. We’re going to get on it for
next year. We’re going to tour the UK for
the rest of the year. Then we’ll head over
to Europe in early ’08. And then we’re
trying to set up coming back to North
America and doing some more touring
there. I’m excited for kids to hear our
new songs. I that our listeners who got
into grand unification are really going to
embrace this new record. And I’m really
looking foreard to coming over to America
with the new album and getting a chance
to play some of the new track live there.
Will One Day Son get a proper release in
North America then?
Fuckin’ A man. We’re sorting out all the
logistics of that now. It should be all susse
dout in the next few months, and then we
can really look to booking some firm
dates and coming over to tour.
Thanks Charlie. I hope to see you play
here in ’08.
www.fightstarmusic.com
www.myspace.com/fightstar
TWENTY

Pictured: Maria Brink and Blake Bunzel From In This Moment
Pictured: Wayne Static From Static-X
TWENTY one
in this moment
Review & Pictures by Mike Bax
andstaticX
Static X are touring to support Cannibal,
their recently released 5th studio CD.
Released in April of this year, Cannibal
marked the return of original guitarist
Koichi Fukuda to the fold. After
charging through a few of their newer
tunes, including title track ‘Cannibal’,
the band jumped right back to ‘I’m
With Stupid’ and ‘Bled For Days’ from
For all the years I’ve enjoyed Static X,Wisconsin Death Trip. They even dropped
in ‘Push It’ later into their set. Just
this marked the first time I’d actually seen
getting to hear some of these old
them play live. They have released anuggets live made the jaunt worth it.
bunch of CDs since Wisconsin Death TripWayne’s voice seemed pretty light in
(four studio discs and a b-sides/remix disc),the mix. While I always thought that his
and to me, none have been as solid as thatvocals were synthesized, apparently, they
are not. His ‘normal’ voice seemed to be
first release, although each CD does
louder than the high pitched squeltch
manage to have a few wicked tracks tothat most of his vocals are delivered at.
add to the ever-growing live playlist.And it seemed that his vocals went down
a decibel or two when he was really
I mujst extend my apologies to Static X.
trying to hit his notes. He DID hit these
I only had a photo-pass in place for In Thisnotes just fine… but it felt like his
Moment, and was not allowed to shootvocals might have been a bit thrashed.
Wayne & company when they played. So theI wouldn’t be surprised to hear he was
either fighting off something, or had just
shots of Static X here are from my phone,
shot his throat over the past few months
and are of a sub-standard quality.of Ozzfest dates.
What really drew me to this gig was
another chance to see In This Moment as
openers. They are another band on the
summer ‘Free Ozzfest’ bill, and they have
been hard at touring since they dropped
their first CD earlier this year. Fronted by
Maria Brink, In This Moment are a cool
band to watch live. Brink’s good looks
will go part way to winning over the
prominent male audiences at any live
hall, but there’s only so far those looks
will ever take the band. The fact that In
This Moment play a thundering live set of
pummeling metal drives the band home
with crowds. Brink can howl with the best
of them, and her grizzly/melodic vocals
over the bands intricate guitar-work
should see them winning over more
fans in the coming months.
Typically, I see two camps at live metal
shows when female-fronted bands are
on stage. There are the fans that either
buy it, or don’t, and after In This Moment
wrapped their set up, there were more
guys banging their heads to the bands
music than the nay-sayers. If In This
Moment continue to open for quality acts
(Lacuna Coil, Static X, Megadeth and
Ozzy), the will be doing their own
headlining shows soon enough. They
seem to be winning over a good portion
of the audiences with their music, and
they show no signs of stopping their
touring schedule anytime soon. Their
debut CD ‘Beautiful Tragedy’ is a solid
metal CD, boasting some nice production
work, and some fine material. It grows
on me the more I play it.
This concert was over at 9pm. If I didn’t
have other plans, I would have followed
the hoards down to the Kool Haus for a
dose of Lamb of God and doubled my
metal for the evening.
www.static-x.com
www.myspace.com/staticx
www.inthismoment.com
twenty TWO
 Interview & Live Concert pictures Pictures by Mike Bax. Promo images provided by Century Media.

Chris Howorth, guitarist for In This Moment, took a bit of time while on the road to field some questions for Fazer. Read on...

Mike: How did you get into playing guitar?
Chris: It came from watching MTV and
reading metal mags and just wanting to do
that…I always loved music and as a kid
I owned a guitar for awhile before I even
learned how to play it, I would just listen to
my favorite albums and rock out with my
guitar, once I learned how to play a power
chord I was off and running, learning all
my favorite songs. I had a pretty good ear.
How did In This Moment (ITM) get
together as a band? Who started it up?
First members through last members?
Maria and I wrote the first 3 songs
together with a drum machine, and then
got Jeff Fabb to play drums on a real
recording, we recorded a 3 song demo
and started putting the band together. We
found Blake through myspace and Jesse
was playing in another band, once we got
the line up together we immediately wrote
more songs and everyone worked really
well together
Do you feel there are more challenge being
in a band fronted by a female vocalist? I
ask this based on seeing you twice, and
watching audience reaction. Some dudes
just seemed to turn off – while others did
the opposite.
I think it’s challenging playing in any band
regardless of the singers gender, some
people will hate you and some will love
you. We’ve been on tour with Megadeth
for the last month and they have diehard
fans that don’t want to see any band but
Megadeth and we have been winning
them over every night. If a band is good
people can’t deny it, but there will always
be those ignorant people who want to hate
us because we have a female singer but
we don’t care about them anyway
The band seems to maintain a regimented
touring schedule. Hottest Chicks In Metal –
Ozzfest – Static X shows and next up
opening for Megadeth then Ozzy and Rob
Zombie. Do you find it hard keeping up the
schedule?
This has been the biggest baddest and
hardest year of our lives, we have been
playing with some of the best bands in
the business, we have played the biggest
festivals in the world, been in front of
thousands of people, and we’ve been
playing with legends like Ozzy and
Megadeth, it’s been an unbelievable year
that we have dreamed of ever since we
were kids. But it has also been extremely
hard work, we have had about 2 weeks off
total since January, we miss our families
and friends and miss sleeping in a real
bed. But we are so grateful for where we
are right now, every night we go up on
stage we are reminded of how lucky
we are.
As a guy – how’d you feel about the
hottest chicks tour in general?
 I thought it was awesome, all the bands
kicked ass and the girls are all so talented
it was a really great tour!
I’m curious about Ozzfest this year.
Seeing as it was ‘free’, how was that
different from your perspective on things
related to the tour? Things like audience
attendance, revenues generated, morale
of participants. It must have been cool to
play the gigs. I’m wondering if it worked
in your opinion?
I think it worked out really well, some of
the bands had a tough time getting by with
out making any money but the exposure
they got was well worth it. On the first day
I was a bit nervous to see if people really
would show up because there were a lot
of unknown underground bands on the
bill and the first show was packed, the
second show was packed, every show was
packed! It proved that Ozzfest is more than
just a bunch of glossy huge bands making
tons of money, its about true metal fans
and bands that just want to throw down
for 2 months regardless of money. The
morale of all the bands participating was
very high, the shows were so amazing and
every band did great, no one was bummed
at this years Ozzfest that I know of. It
defiantly worked in my opinion
I’m impressed with the bands you are
getting to open for. It seems like a
no-brainer that you’ll glean fans just by
opening for other metal acts. Do you get
to see people warming up to your music
from the stage? And after the gigs, when
you meet some of the attendees?
 So far we have had overwhelmingly
positive responses. We see the crowd
reaction from the stage and we always try
to go out and meet people after the shows
and it seems we are making new fans
everywhere we go.
The recent Revolver article on In This
Moment focused primarily on Maria, and
her journey to becoming a band member
in ITM. What’s your story Chris? Any kids?

twenty three twenty four


Was there a defining moment for you for
becoming a guitarist? And then a player
in ITM?
Well I was born and raised in Topeka KS
and left for L.A. at the age of 19 to make it
in music, I was in so many different bands
in L.A. always trying to get a band together
that would do something, I have always
wanted to do music and never had
any kids or really serious long term
relationships because I was so obsessed
with it, I think the defining moment for
me in my music history so far was the
realization that I had to do more than just
have a good band, I had to give up every
comfort I had and jump off the cliff and
twenty five
just pray that I would be able to fly. I knew
ITM was a good band and I knew we had
something to offer, but it wasn’t until I
gave up my job and my home and got rid
of almost everything I owned and went
on tour and put all my faith in ITM that
things started happening for the band.
Can you talk a bit about your approach
to song-writing Chris? Do your songs tend
to start as riffs? Or is the lyrics where ITM
tend to start their songwriting?
Most of the songs on Beautiful Tragedy
started as riffs or chorus ideas, then the
song would develop from the initial idea.
Maria is very good at coming up with
catchy melodies and Blake and Jesse
both write too so it’s very much a group
effort. Maria and I tend to clash the most
because we both have very strong ideas
about where we want the songs and the
bands sound to go.
Who are some of your mentors Chris?
Do you have a favourite guitarist (or ten)?
I have tons of guitarists that influenced
me, I really love a lot of the 80’s players
like George Lynch or Warren Demartini,
and Eddie Van Halen, I love Yngwie and
all Ozzy’s guitarists too. One of the biggest
overall influences for me is Darrell Abbott,
every thing he did was amazing, he is a
true super talent.
As a genre, metal (more than most
musical genres) seems to go through
different stages. The 70s sound, 80’s
hair metal / thrash metal, and then on to
grunge, nü metal, math metal… there are
so many sub-classifications, I can’t even
keep up with them now. What’s your take
on 2007 Metal? Where it at, and where
it seems to be going?
I really hate all those classifications,
it’s like someone always has to be
analyzing and categorizing everything.
Metal is Metal. It’s alive and well in 2007
and will never die. Metal is the cockroach
of music, there could be a nuclear war
and there will still be metal
Can you talk a bit about starting a
band? What’s involved? Where the
payoffs lie, and where the day to day
work seems to be?
Being in a band is like being in a
relationship, it involves unconditional
love, dedication, patience, understanding,
compromise and hard work, and even with
all those things there is no guarantee that
it will work out. The payoff if it ever does
work is doing what you love every day.
www.inthismoment.com
by Becky Hurren Photo by Ellis Parrinder
Forget about Cibo Matto, his lineage, and
any preconceived notions that might go
with either of these things – Sean Lennon’s
solo show is nothing in comparison. The
only similarity might be that he shares his
father’s voice, but that’s expected. The set
was a mere three songs; four if you count
the blunder that was the first song. What
appeared to be an instrumental, despite
Sean’s constant leaning toward the mic,
was in fact “Wait For Me.” The crowd kept
screaming “more vocals!” and “we can’t
hear you!” but the band continued to play
without hesitation. It was silly, like Polka-
roo. At the end of the song, the
technical difficulties were mended, and
Sean shly announced that he will play
the song again. He also played “Falling
out of love,” which he jokingly suggested
we could all download off Bit torrent and
“Spectacle,” for which he couldn’t locate
his capo and decided to play the song
without it. The mishaps and the calm
collected way Sean and band dealt with
Rufus
Rufus Wainwright
with Sean Lennon
July 29, 2007
Moore Theatre
everything, made it seem like a purposeful
comedy act with a bonus musical act.
The silliness continued into Rufus’s set,
which by the way, was 23 songs long
(explains why Sean’s set was so teeny).
Rufus hammed it up beautifully the entire
show, with grand arm gestures, hair
swishes and the like. His between-song
banter was a mixture of awkward random
thoughts, and jokes about his success;
He introduced “Rules and Regulations” by
announcing, “here’s a song that isn’t a hit.
I have many of those” and then continued
to tell the history of the Moore theatre. And
just like that, the horn section piped up
and he began to sing. Throughout the set
everyone moved around onstage like it was
musical chairs – Rufus alternated between
singing, playing the piano, and playing
the guitar; the horn section doubled as
back up vocalists; the drummer occasion-
ally played the stand up bass; and so on.
Before intermission, Rufus invited an audi-
ence member to the stage. She was the
winner of a youtube contest to perform
the spoken words Rufus had written to
accompany “Between my Legs.” Intermis-
sion was extremely necessary – the show
was already as long as most concerts, and
we all needed a stretch if we were going to
sit for another hour or so of music.
Rufus returned to the stage in a change of
costume – lederhosen to be precise – and
sang “Harvester of Hearts,” followed by
“Do I Disappoint You,” which he turned into
a ridiculously loud (and delightful) mess.
What followed were a string of pieces de
resistances, each topping the other in
greatness. First came two Judy Garland
songs, one of which was “A Foggy Day
(In London Town).” He followed these
with a few more heartfelt songs from
Release the Stars and then delighted us
with an old Irish song. He ended the set
with “14th Street” and left the stage.
When he returned for his encore, he was
in a bathrobe with no shoes, as though
he wasn’t planning on coming back to
the stage, but what the heck! What’s a
few more songs!? Heck, let’s do four
more songs. The robe was just a clever
disguise, a red herring. For, after the first
encore song (“Complainte de la Butte”),
Rufus applied some makeup, put on some
heels and then the lights went out. When
they came back on the band was dancing
around the stage in a James Bond-esque
way and only to suddenly fall to the floor
to revealing Rufus in a suit jacket and no
pants. Leave it to Rufus to throw “Come on
Get Happy,” another Judy classic, into his
encore. The choreography was spot on -
it was a real hoot! A Rufus show is not just
a concert – it is a musical full of theatrics
and unexpected twists. The only downside
is that your butt might get sore.
www.rufuswainwright.com
www.myspace.com/rufuswainwright
twenty six
 His face may not be gracing the covers of every music
magazine, but his band deserves your attention and praise.
Finn Andrews is one hell of a frontman. No need to hide behind anyone, much less a band name like
The Veils. Sure, he has a famous dad who was in XTC. That fact is mentioned in almost every single
article I’ve read about them. It’s quite irrelevant. This singer/songwriter’s talent goes far beyond what
mere genes could possibly provide.

He’s released two very different discs with two very different bands. He’s the only member to be on
both. The Runaway Found and Nux Vomica still bear his very distinctive voice but the themes and
sound are quite different. His passionate and intense delivery are never in question though.
On the second release, you might think you are safe until you hear the brilliant ‘Jesus for the Jugular’.
If this the only track you hear, it’s easy to see where the comparisons to Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
come from. They surely aren’t referring to any visual resemblance!

Having spent the summer in North America, Finn is ready to get back into the studio and get ready to
release a third album, but not just yet. They graced our own El Mocambo in Toronto twice within the
span of about three months. When I heard word they were coming around the second time, I did not
hesitate to purchase a pair of tickets I have not one ounce of regret. The band performed older songs,

Uncovered Photos/article by Yves Lepage

new material and covers alike. Standouts were the Bruce Springsteen track “State Trooper”, the new “Lions
After Slumber” and the beautiful acouctic rendition of fan favourite “Lavinia”. This was definitely a treat since
they did not play it the first time around. I still can’t fathom why the club wasn’t jam-packed that night, but
although the band did notice and made comments to that fact - they didn’t deliver any less to those who
attended that September night.
Earlier I mentioned that they weren’t just ready get back into recording. Not just yet. They are on tour until at
least the end of November. If only I needed to be in London, New Zealand or Australia anytime soon.

If you haven’t heard of them yet, you might want to check them out. Visit YouTube to find their videos
(might I suggest “Calliope”?), or check their whereabouts on MySpace. Whatever you do, don’t let them play
to such a small crowd the next time they come all that way. That’s just plain rude!

More info at www.theveils.com.

tTWENTY SEVEN TWENTY EIGHT

QUICKFIX
Shorter reviews of
recent live concerts
Okkervil River - picture by Mike Bax
Okkervil River
September 21, 2007
Lee’s Palace, Toronto
It was a real pleasure to watch Texas
indie-darlings Okkervil River play to a
capacity crowd at Lee’s Palace on Saturday
evening. I was in a particularly foul mood as
I could hardly wait to leave the Ryan Adams’
Massey Hall show I was sitting at and get
into the crowd at Lee’s Palace for Okkervil.
Drawing primarily from material from the
band’s latest CD, The Stage Names, the
band played a lengthy set of upbeat songs
to a yearning crowd of fans. Songwriter/
Frontman Will Sheff played tracks going
back through the bands past releases on a
very dimly lit set to near sound perfection.
I was one of the most un-hip attendees at
the show, having only the newest release in
my pocket to sing along too. The bands
fanbase however, seem both rabid and
loyal, singing along to most of the songs
the band served up over the course of the
evening. Okkervil River sold out the Toronto
show almost a month before the band
pulled their van up in front of Lee’s Palace,
and will likely need a larger venue to play
on their return to Toronto next time around.
>Mike Bax
twenty nine
Born Ruffians - picture by Mike Bax
Caribou with Born Ruffians
October 1st, 2007
Call The Office, London
Early on in their almost two month long
run of dates together, Caribou with guests
Born Ruffians stopped by Call The Office
in London for an intimate live show on
Monday, October 1st.
I was completely uneducated in the ways
of the Ruffians, and must admit to really
enjoying their live set. I was surprised
to find they are on Warp Records, a label
I typically go to for tranced out music like
Autechre or LFO. The Ruffians are a three
piece band that play upbeat, clap along
music – and play it well. ‘Hummingbird’
in particular was a high monent of their
set, and it was especially fun to watch the
cluster of fans in front of the stage singing
and clapping along to this track. I’m totally
into hearing more from the band in 2008
when their full length Red, Yellow and Blue
is released.
Caribou - picture by Mike Bax
Caribou took the stage 25 minutes after
the Ruffians finished up. Bathed under a
barrage of test-pattern style graphics from
a wall mounted Infocus machine, frontman
Dan Snaith performed the majority of the
set sitting with his back presented three
quarters to the audience. Snaith played
guitars, drums keyboards and various
other small little instruments through the
course of his set, which was rich with
material from his newest release, Andorra,
along with nuggets from his past releases
and EPs (of which there are many). Snaith
is somewhat of a musical enigma. he
holds a PhD in Math, is a Toronto native,
who has moved to the UK. His music is
friendly and often rooted in the psychedelic
sounds of the sixties. He often performs
DJ sets (if you kept an eye on his web
page and/or merchandise table, he offered
a $10 ‘Tour’ CD that has an interesting
DJ mix as track one that runs about thirty
minutes, along with six unreleased songs)
and took the stage with one pant leg rolled
up to just below the knee and the other
pant leg left at full length. I’m assuming
this was a comfort thing for his drumming.
Musically, the live set (performed with his
touring band Ryan Smith, Brad Weber and
Peter Mitton) was more energetic than his
studio work. Snaith had a full time drummer,
yet added a lot of percussion himself, which
really punched up the intensity of the
material live. It was a very different
experience than what I expected, which
was a more minimalist, quiet performance.
Overall, The evening was time well spent.
Both bands were talented, and enjoyable.
Caribou also has an interesting DVD for sale
at his merch table. Bound like a hardcover
book, it contains a dvd with 16 videos,
nicely designed liner notes and a bonus CD
with four unreleased tracks. It was also $10.
The DVD was manufactured and released
in the UK, but is a region-free release. The
band will play a final date at the Opera
House in Toronto with the Ruffians again in
November. Then Caribou are off to the UK
to play some dates abroad.
>Mike Bax
Brett Anderson from the Donnas
Donnas
The
Donita Sparks & The Stellar Moments
The Donnas played their only Canadian
date on their tour supporting their new CD
Bitchin’– and they brought L7 vocalist Donita
Sparks and The Stellar Moments along as an
opening act for the gig.
Somehow, I’d lost track of L7 over the years.
I believe I saw them on a festival bill back
in yesteryear. It was good to see Donita can
still shimmy on stage like she used to. She
seemed genuinely stoked to be playing the
gig. In typical ‘opening band’ fashion…
there were people trickling into the venue
while she played, but it didn’t stop her or
her band from rocking out. A few songs into
their set - Donita mentioned her job was to
‘moisten’ us all up for the Donna’s set.
I don’t know about anyone in the audience,
but there was plenty of leg kicking and splits
going on care of Donita. I’m sure Donita was
pretty spent after her 35 minute set was
over. I was really hoping to hear ‘Shitlist’
live… but alas, Sparks stuck to her newer
material. ‘Take A Few Steps’, ‘He’s Got The
Honey’, ‘Dare Dare’ and ‘Curtains For Cathy’
all sounded pretty fresh though. All in all - I
was impressed that I got to see her play
such a small club.
I’m a newbie to the Donnas. I have the
odd track here and there from assorted
compilations and soundtracks, but the only
CD I own is the new one. I know they have
6 other CDs on the market, and have been
around for at least a decade. On the strength
of the new record, which I really do enjoy a
lot - I was pretty stoked to see the band play
live. The Donna’s plowed through a bunch
of their old and new songs - with hardly a
break between songs. Vocalist Brett Ander-
son vamped it up with the crowd throughout
the evening, even when an audience mem-
ber grabbed onto her microphone cord, she
yanked it away while she fluttered her hair
around. Classic. Guitarist Allison Robertson
was playing in a vintage Whitesnake 1987
tour shirt, and she banged her head around
like it was 1987. I hardly got to see her face
all night. The band busted out a fine cover
version of ‘Round And Round’ by RATT as
Donita Sparks
the second last song in their encore.
Pictures and review by Mike Bax
Oh yes - it was retro-rock all the way last
night. But in a totally good way. Some of
the songs from their set were ‘You Make Me
Hot’ from 1998’s American Teenage Rock
‘n’ Roll Machine; ‘Skintigh’t from 1999’s
Get Skintight; ‘40 Boys in 40 Nights’ from
2001’s The Donnas Turn 21; ‘5 O’Clock in
the Morning’ and ‘Take it Off’ from 2002’s
Spend the Night and ‘Smoke You Out’, ‘Don’t
Wait Up For Me’, ‘Wasted’, ‘Girl Talk’ and
‘Save Me’ from Bitchin’.
Bassist Maya Ford regaled the crowd with
a few cheesy jokes during the set, but
otherwise stayed rather understated,
sneering at the crowd for most of the set. All
part of the persona methinks. And it seems
to work for them. The crowd was loving it.
My favourite component of the show was
watching Torry Castellano on the skins. She’s
a fine drummer, and did an excellent job
beating the crap out of her kit for the entire
gig. For $20, you can’t ask for much better
than two good bands playing some fine rock
and roll. If you were at this gig, well, good on
ya! If you missed it, you missed out!
www.thedonnas.com
www.donitasparks.com
THIRTY
 Gary -There’s a lot of Southern Ontario
connections within the band. How did
everyone get together?
Sean - Hellcat and I are old friends and
had been talking about starting this band
for years and years, but never had the
time. But, when te time was right (about 3
years ago), we started writing a few songs
together. Once we had 3 solid songs ready,
we called up another old friend, Ginty, who I
had played in a few bands with in the past to
play keyboards. We then went on the search
to find the Best drummer in the world...
And somehow (thanks to myspace) we
found him.
Your music is firmly intrenched in b-movies,
graveyards, haunted houses and creepy
culture. Did everyone in the band grow up
watching horror films?
The Creepshow I would say that HellCat and Ginty were the
big Horror-buffs in the band. HellCat has
INTERVIEW
a room in her house that is dedicated to
all things horror. I have been getting more
into it in the last 5 years or so.
Anything really scare you when you were
Horror movies and punk rock are a match made in hell (just ask Danzig) and Southern
Interview by Gary Pullin Live pics by Mike Bax
a kid? Has some of those scary moments
Ontario’s psychobilly outfit The Creepshow expertly entangle the two influences into a
made it into the music?
haunted roller coaster ride of catchy rockabilly anthems and chilling lullabies. Tearing up
I remember being terrified of Vincent price.
the landscape for the past two years and touring incessantly both in North America and
I grew up watching House of Frightenstein,
Europe, the band has opened for legendary psycho act Demented Are Go and The
and Price scared the shit out of me. I also
Meteors in support of their debut album “Sell Your Soul”, released on Stereo Dynamite
remember when Michael jackson’s Thriller
Records. The critically acclaimed record is a scorching tribute to all things creepy with
song came out. It would always come on
melodic hooks, infectuous choruses and the appropriate number of “Whoas!” that will
late at night on my parents radio which was
command you thrust your devil horns into the air. Over the past couple of years the band
always on in the hallway. Whenever Vincent
has earned a large fan base thanks to the constant touring and an energetic live show.
Price’s voice came on, I would almost piss
They’ve also had their share of bumps in the night, most notably when singer/songwriter
my pants! I was sooo scared, and then I
and founding member Jen “HellCat” Blackwood announced her pregnancy last year.
would jump into my parents bed. I guess you
HellCat’s sister, Sarah “Sin” Blackwood, also a gifted musician, took over vocal and guitar
can say that had some influence on us. The
duties on the tour while HellCat took her maternity leave. Originally, Jen was going to
intro to our CD is almost an ode to Mr. Price.
come back to the fold but has decided to launch her own band “HellCat and The Prowl”
with Joel “Hooch” Parkins leader of London Ontario’s The Matadors, who also happens You just got back from of an extensive
to be the father of their baby girl. Sarah will remain with The Creepshow as the band European tour. How do North American
prepares for another leap overseas for a UK tour and a trip back into the studio for another psycho fans compare from european
album this winter. I recently fired off thirteen questions to Sean “Sickboy” McNab, psycho fans?
co-founding member and upright bass-slinger about their spooky influences, recent There is definitely a lot more history in the
popularity and the status on their highly anticipated second album. genre overseas. Almost all of the bands
THIRTY one
in North America are very new compared
to the bands from over there. The Meteors,
Demented are go, Mad Sin, and Frenzy (to
name a few) have been playing shows over
there for over 25 years. There are constantly
HUGE psychobilly festivals all over europe
and the UK all year long, and the crowds are
massive! In North America, the scene is still
very small and underground, but seems to
be growing everyday! 
Has it been hard reaching an audience
outside of Canada? 
Actually, thanks to the internet, it hasn’t
been. All we did was put up a profile on
myspace, and people from all over started
adding us and sending us really positive
messages, purely through word of mouth.
Through the internet, we’ve been able to The Creepshow haunt-it-up at Call The Office – August 4th, 2007
tour all over North America, and Europe!
Why did you get popular so damn quick
and do you think other bands resent your How does she differ on stage than Hellcat? the marketing and promotion. It’s starting to
popularity? They are very similar. The major difference is get to the point where I don’t have enough
that Hellcat has black hair, Sarah is blonde. time to keep up with everything. But we will
Hahaha, it’s really weird, when we started
It took a while for Sarah to get the hang of keep doing what we’re doing until the right
this band it was supposed to be for fun, and
being a front-woman, seeing this was her people come along.
beer on weekends. But the reaction was so
first band, but after getting some experience You do a cover of the Misfit’s Halloween,
positive that we almost had no choice but to
on the road, she is one of the best! which is uniquely your own. Are you going
take it to the next level. I think people were
With psycho-billy music, there’s a lot of to release it?
waiting for something new and fresh and
so were we. So I guess it just worked out! common theme’s and influences. Do you We actually recorded it and put it up for free
Our timing was good. Most bands have write specifically for the genre or do your download on myspace for 5 months. It is
been really positive, and are proud of seeing song’s just naturally cover that ground? also on a few european compilations.
all our hard work start to pay off but there
We don’t really have an agenda of how we Are you working on a new album? If so, how
will always be a few bands here and there
want our songs to sound, they just kind of will the sisters factor into it? Will they both be
that think they deserve it more , and resent
happen. We do however try to sound some- on the album? Do they both write songs?
you for it.
what origional, too many bands are trying to We are working on the new album right
I heard Sarah can really hold her own when sound like the Meteors or Demented are go. now on the little bit of time off we have right
it comes to rowdy crowds. Any memorable Has it been difficult to keep up with the band now. Both sisters write songs, but we will be
experiences?  on the business side of things. How much of writing the record with Sarah. We have about
Yes, we played a festival in Austria on our the leg work does the band do? 50% of it written so far and we couldn’t
last tour. Some guy in the front row, was Yes, we pretty much do everything our- be more excited about the songs! We’ll
trying to take pictures up her skirt. She gave selves! We are self-managed, self-booked, hopefully be recording a new album this
him one warning. Then, when he tried again, and handle all of the business ourselves. winter.
she kicked him in the face and broke his We signed an indie record deal with Stereo www.myspace.com/thecreepshow
camera! He loved it! Dynamite Recordings, and they handle all of
thirty two
 Toronto Independent Music Awards
TIMA On October 4th, The Phoneix Concert
Theatre hosted the Toronto Independent
Music Awards (“TIMA”). TIMA is in its 3rd
year now presented by EYE WEEKLY, and,
according to their website, aims to create
a platform to award and acknowledge
“up-and-coming” 100% Canadian owned
and operated independent artists
regionally and locally. The TIMAs were
founded by Daniela Oliva (at 16 years
old). She is now a University of Toronto
fourth-year student who is avidly pursuing
a career in entertainment law. Yippee! I
Mo from Stutter love and support Canadian music, and I
Photos by Walid Lodin
Article by Charlene Cieslik
think everyone should. But I have to admit
that prior to attending, I had never heard
of ANY of the bands scheduled to play, nor
any of the nominated bands. The perform-
ers were last year’s winners or this years
acts chosen to play due to last minute
cancellation. The TIMA nominees were all
applicants from this year. My mind was a
blank canvas, and I hoped to hear some-
thing that would jar me out of my seat
and pique my interest. And there were
definitely some notable stand-outs:
thirty three
TIMA Host Sabrina Jalees
Stutter
The first band to go on and a winner of
Best Pop Rock from last year’s TIMAs.
Their song Clothes That Make the Man
was belted out by lead singer, simply
known as “MO” on their MySpace page
with such energy, I actually thought it was
a waste for them to be the first band on,
when people were still wandering in and
looking for the bar. They got my attention.
I thought they had a bit of a Republica feel
to them and found out only after the fact,
from their MySpace page, that Republica
is listed as one of their influences. Mo got
down on her knees, guitar in hand, and
performed as if they were the closing act
giving an encore performance. Closer
to a blonde Joan Jett than a Courtney
Love. But very pop, and very now. They’re
playing at the Supermarket in Toronto
November 1st. Check them out.
Marshall Dane
Marshall Dane
At first you might look at this guy and think
he looks like Nickelback. But that shouldn’t
dissuade you. They don’t sound like
Nickelback. And though they didn’t win
Best Live Electric, they rocked the TIMAs
with a guitar-laden and bongo-riddled tune
called “Mama.” It was the first song of the
night that people got up and danced for.
Or, at least clapped their hands
and nodded their head. They bring an to marry the best of rock and acoustic
amazing 7 members to the stage and put together. Throw in some Beatles too. They
out a truly rocking effort to entertain the also seemed to be a crowd favourite,
crowd. “Mama” was a long and varied supported by many adoring fans that
rendition, and I think one of the few uses hooted and hollered every time their name
of bongos at the TIMAs. When I hear was dropped. Singer Fergus Hyde (Fergus
“indie” I tend to mostly think alternative, is one of two lead singers for A Certain
but what these guys do with guitars and Symmetry) has a beautiful voice that does
drums is good old classic rockin’. bear a mild resemblance to Chris Martin,
but the band’s lyrics did not strike me as
A Certain Symmetry
wretched as Coldplays. Too bad I didn’t jot
The guy who introduced these guys
down the name of the songs they played
described them as a mix of Coldplay,
for us at TIMA (beer was well flowing at
Simon and Garfunkel and Radiohead.
this point), but I quickly paid a visit to their
Certainly a flattering intro, and pretty
MySpace to listen to “It Happens” and
accurate. Great piano in their perfor-
“Combustibles” which put me in a good
mance! They did, afterall, win Best
mood, with made-up words like “explo-
Indie Rock and Best Acoustic, and seem
sure” I don’t think you can go wrong.
thirty four

Just a few other quick observations:
TIMA gave me the opportunity to witness
my first real “8 Mile” moment when 2
artists by the names of Q and Smallz
battled it out. I don’t know what they were
battling for exactly, but it did provide some
relief for Sabrina. A game of rock-paper-
scissors decided the order, with Q going
first. He got the crowd going with his
rhyming, whooping Smallz butt, who
was clearly suffering from some
“rappers block” and filled the air with
ya-ya-ya’s and Hmmmms to which the
Q and Smallz - rock-paper-scissors smakdown
crowd responded with boo’s. This battle
was FAR MORE entertaining than Keelo-
gramz performance, which was marred
by screeching mic problems. Sorry Keelo.
We met nominee Mischa Kaye in the VIP
area, who was so very cute. Nominated,
though not a winner, she was a gracious
loser when Daphne Darling’s name was
called in lieu of hers for Best Pop (barely
eeking out a “damn!” with a grin). Her
positive attitude in the face of a loss
and her friendliness made me go check
out her website. She has a wonderfully
dreamy but strong voice a la Kate Bush,
mixed with composite keyboard/piano
sounds with some help with guitar by
Dirts Ballb (yup) and backup vocals by
thirty five
Sheena. If you need a break from the
hipster-style retro-pop, I believe she
successfully provides that alternative.
Maybe next year???
This Austrian band max MIN got a lot
of shout-outs during the awards, winning
Best Album Art and Best International.
I don’t know why they are so popular,
yet, but made a promise to myself to
check them out.
Amanda Martinez – I saw her on TV once
and was impressed by her story of leaving
it all behind to pursue her love of music.
Amanda Martinez
That takes balls. It was a treat to see her
live, and her performance brought a sultry
Latin flare to the mostly pop/rock show.
She is a sexy lady, and not to say that is
more important than her voice, but it sure
does jibe so well with the rhythmic
swaying sounds of her band.
The hilarious Sabrina Jalees [as seen
on MuchMusic’s Video on Trial] had the
thankless job of being the host of the
awards, to a mostly non-laughing,
non-receptive crowd. My heart went out
to the girl, because she is so goddamn
funny. Once the booze got into the crowd,
people warmed up to her jokes. If it counts
at all, I loved your swiss-pakistani
moustache waxing jokes. Boo to the party
poopers in the crowd who may have been
too cool to enjoy good moustache/embar-
rassing teen moments humour. Though
the most hilarious joke occurred when I
first walked into the Phoenix, and wit-
nessed a burly bouncer stop Sabrina and
ask her for ID. Sabrina’s escort said “um,
she’s the show’s host!?!?” in a perfectly
sarcastic and incredulous manner, out-
raged by the lack of recognition. Sabrina, I
would know you anywhere.
An important fact about TIMA – This year,
they gave away over $20,000 dollars in
prizes. The show is also independently
funded. It’s all about the music!
Below are the rest of the winners. The
best thing about the internet is that it gives
these bands, for better or worse, a place
to self-promote their stuff without having
to kowtow to the “evil” music industry. Do
them all a favour, and check them out. And
a BIG Congrats to ALL for working hard to
keep Canadian Music alive!
TIMA 2007 Award Winners
Best Out-Of-Province: Flat Top (New Brunswick)
Best USA: The Romanovs
Best Pop: Daphne Darling
Best Rap: Lowlife
Best Urban: Jen Militia
Best Jazz: Andrew Scott Quintet
Best Country: Romney Getty
Best Folk: Good Lovelies
Best World: Eliana Cuevas
Best Alternative Rock: Westpoint
Best Indie Rock: A Certain Symmetry
Best Live-Acoustic: A Certain Symmetry
Best Metal: ARYA
Best Young Songwriter(s): Fancy Girls Market
Best Female-Fronted: The Joys
Best Live-Electric: KC Roberts
Best Song: Sue Passmore - “Detroit” and
“Last Love Song”
Best Album Art and Best International: max MIN
(Austria)
More info on TIMA and the artists listed in the
article can be found at www.torontoima.com
QUICKFIX
Shorter reviews of
recent live concerts
Klaxons - picture by Walid Lodin
The Klaxons
October 10th, 2007
The Opera House, Toronto
The Opera House filled up slowly tonight
after Toronto indie band Opopo exited
stage left but by the time The Klaxons
happened upon the stage for their show
the House had filled out. With Klaxons de-
voted pressed tightly up against the stage
the crowd seemed a little divided at first;
“Nu Rave” superfans at the front and those
interested on-lookers to the back curious
to see these newly crowned Mercury Prize
winners. One might have expected a more
extravagant entrance for the boys from
London but they took their spots coolly
before kicking the Opera House’s dancin’
ass up and down Queen St. E.
Punching through a set that included nearly
everything from their 2007 release, Myths
of the Near Future, the band was tight and
hot save a dangerously staggering guitar
player that would have impressed the likes
of Keith Richards. The Klaxons seemed to
hit all the right notes when they needed to
and broke out “Golden Skans” and the killer
“Totem on the Timeline” early in the set to
the raucous approval of die-hards and new
comers alike. “Magick” saw the pit jumping
and the balcony shaking, and a pregnant
pause in the middle of the tune nearly
birthed a small riot in the front rows.
By the end of their set a few girls were
dancing on the bar tops. The most straight
laced in the crowd found reason to sway
(even if their feet stayed put) when “It’s Not
Over Yet” closed the show.
Klaxons - pictures by Walid Lodin
As we all spilled out onto Queen after the
gig you would have been hard pressed to
find someone without spaghetti legs and
a new found appreciation for The Klaxons.
Dare say the disc is more fun live than at
home and The Klaxons seem to know it.
Take notice Canada: The Klaxons are here
to make you dance whether you want to or
not. Unfortunately, if you’re looking to see
them live you’ll have to wait a while. Expect
a new album before you get to see these
guys again.
>Myles LaCavera - review
Mark Olson
August 17, 2007
Tractor Tavern, Seattle
Marko Olson and supporting band (Ingrid
Winfall, Mckailey Goslich and Jimmy Hay)
played a very intimate set this summer
following the release of Olson’s solo
project Salvation Blues. I had the pleasure
of sitting next to a Mark Olson super fan,
who was completely beside himself with
excitement. He sang every song, hooted at
the end of every instrumental interlude and
even engaged in some crowed-to-band
banter. Witnessing a near-head explosion
from a true fan is sometimes as pleasur-
able as a great set.
Olson opened with “Winter Song” and then
delighted fans with the old Jayhawks’ dittie
“Over My Shoulder.” Next came “Michael’s
Boat” as well as almost every track from
Salvation Blues. The evening took a sharp
turn (for the better) when the band played
another Jayhawks’ classic “Pray For Me.”
Passers-by outside the bar might have
believed the venue was jam-packed, for
everyone sang along exuberantly; it was a
magnificent moment. The energy remained
for the rest of the set. Olson beamed from
ear to ear the entire show, and you could
tell that he is truly at home performing his
beautiful music for his devoted fans (and
some new converts too).
>Becky Hurren
thirty six
 The TORONTO While I’m not a big fan of outdoor music

VIRGIN
festivals in general, I am now a big fan
of Toronto’s Virgin Festival (V Fest).
Last year’s V Fest was worth the price
of admission just to watch Muse blow

FESTIVAL
the ears off an audience of folks who
for the most part had no idea just how
damn good they are live.
September 8th & 9th Toronto Island
review by Mike Bax Pictures by Mike Bax and Yves Lepage For V Fest 2007, the promoters worked
carefully to pick a slathering of talented
acts both big and small, and shuffled them
over four stages for two days of music. If
I had one negative thing to say about
V Fest 2007, it’s this – The event provided
difficult decisions for the music purveyor.
There was so many up-and-coming acts
to see during both days. Some bands
played to a criminally small crowd (Voxtrot,
Enter Shikari and Biffy Clyro) due to
audiences inability to see both bands at

Explosions In The Sky - picture by Mike Bax

once. For me… I’d seen most of the larger
acts before. So, in my books… seeing
a full set by Interpol, Mute Math, The
Editors, The Killers, The Arctic Monkeys
or the Pumpkins was not really going to
make or break the weekend for me.
thirty seven thirty eight
So, while the masses were crowded in
front of the Virgin Stage, taking in the
more mainstream bands… Acts like
Voxtrot, Blonde Redhead, Explosions In
The Sky (truly amazing live), The Wildbirds
and Dragonette played to decent audi-
ences, but not to capacity audiences. For
both Yves and I… the Future Shop stage
was the place to be for both days. I loved
what the main stage had to offer. Interpol,
Metric, The Killers, Stars, Bjork and the
Pumpkins are nothing to scoff at. But I
personally had seen most of the Virgin
Stage bands before, and therefore was
more excited about the Future Shop stage.
Getting to see Biffy Clyro, Enter Shakiri,
Dragonette, Blonde Redhead, Voxtrot,
Mute Math, The Editors, The Wildbirds
and Explosions on the same stage… well,
that sounds like a line-up made in heaven
right there. Future Shop set up a tent and
brought many of the bands to it for 20
minute autograph sessions. Also a
masterstroke. There’s something to be
said for being able to tell a band you
enjoyed their performance. And maybe
get a signature on a CD.
With Voxtrot coming around to the Mod
Club on October 9th, and Biffy Clyro open-
ing for Queens of The Stone Age on their
upcoming dates there is opportunity to see
these bands again. And, I must say: Any-
body who misses Biffy Clyro opening these
Queens shows will be missing a bravura
rock show indeed. There’s a reason this
band is one of the hottest properties
coming out the UK at the moment. Take
the time to go early and see them play live
at the Hummingbird on October 15th. At
the bare minimum, you owe it to yourself
to preview their 4th CD Puzzle on iTunes
RIGHT NOW!!! You’ll be so glad you did.
In my opinion, Virgin Festival 2007 was a
more interesting lineup than 2006. There
was a fine mix of great established acts
mixed in with up-and-coming music that
thirty nine
might win over the uneducated ears of the
casual music fan. And there was a slather-
ing of bands for the hipsters – hoping to
see the ‘next big things’ in music. Yes,
Enter Shikari, I’m talking about YOU!!
Getting to photograph the bands at V Fest
‘07 was both a blessing and a challenge
for Yves and I. It was amazing to take
pictures of so many fine bands, but I found
it was really hard to bail on them to catch
media call for the next band on the other
stage. We pretty much did our three songs
in the pit, and then migrated from stage
to stage for almost all of the acts. I stayed
put for Enter Shikari and Biffy Clyro… but
walking away from Voxtrot and The Arctic
Monkeys was really tough on me as a
music fan. Again, the promoters were doing
their jobs. A good selection of things to
see is better than the flipside in my books.
The festival wasn’t without it’s hiccups.
I heard many a fan griping about the
lineups for bathrooms, food/drink tickets
and then again for the physical food
& drink. with 25,000 fans in one spot,
there’s going to be congestion. I’ve been
in far longer lines at Molson Park in Barrie
for past events. The trick was to get there
as early as possible, and buy your food
and drink tickets right away. It allowed you
to not stand in line for 30 minutes to buy
stubs so you could then stand in a
different line for another 30 min utes to
buy the food and drink you were craving.
Having Amy Winehouse and Peter Bjorn
and John drop off the bill was a shame.
Logistically, with 60 bands, I feel that
there will always be schedule changes
at festivals – it can’t be helped. With that
many acts, something going to come up.
I didn’t feel like the event was weakened
by the cancellations of these acts at all. If
anything, adding Voxtrot, Biffy and Enter
Shikari so close to the event enhanced the
experience for me, as they were three of
the top bands on the whole bill.
Clockwise From Top Left: Arctic Monkeys; Bjork;
Interpol; M.I.A.; Enter Shikari; Mute Math; The
Wildbirds; Dragonette. Arctic Monkeys and
Dragonette by Yves Lepage. The rest are by
Mike Bax.
The bar has been set. V Fest 2007 will
be a tough event to top in 2008.
So, here’s my take on both days – and
some pictures of bands we got to see and
shoot pictures of:
Day 1.
Yves and I arrived at the media area and
got our passes and wrist-bands all sorted
out. It was already getting brutally hot
outside, and we were talking about staying
hydrated for the day. We boated over to
the island, grabbed some food and drink
tickets… a bite to eat and plopped down
in front of the Future Shop stage. The Jon
Levine Band was wrapping up their set,
and Yves went into the pit to take some
pictures while I fiddled around with my
cameras. Levine sounded good. He’s a
pretty active pianist, and was wearing a
white shirt that was practically glowing in
the direct sunlight he was playing under.
Dragonette took the stage after Jon Levine.
Yves was really into seeing them play live.
While I’d not heard much about them at
all, I quickly embraced their musical
stylings. They mix in some of the
disco-esque sounds I enjoy from Alison
Goldfrapp, but work in some great
drumming and guitar riffs. Vocalist Martina
posed it up for the crowd, and is pretty easy
on a camera lens. I’m looking forward to
seeing a full set from them when they play
the Salt Lounge in early November.
Next up on the Future Shop Stage, were
the Wildbirds. I’d gotten an email or a text
the day before from a friend telling me that
they’d heard the Wildbirds were a pretty
cool band. So I was curious to see them
play. We’d actually seen them walking
around earlier. They look like a 4 piece
that has somehow time-travelled 30 years
into the future. Brown leather vests, tight
jeans, long straight hair and suspenders. I
nudged Yves and said that they HAD to be
a band. They just looked Rock and Roll. I
wound up liking these guys so much I hit
a CD store and bought their CD the next
morning, before coming back to the Island
for Day 2. The Wildbirds are a tight, talent-
ed band – playing southern sounding rock
like they’ve been doing it for years. Front-
man Nicholas Stuart has only just turned
24, but with vocals and a guitar style like
he has… he and the Wildbirds should be
in it for the long haul. Anyone that enjoys
the Black Crowes will thoroughly enjoy
what the Wildbirds have to offer. They are
rolling back through our area in November,
playing with White Cowbell Oklahoma
and the Saigon Hookers at the Starlight in
Waterloo. I’ll totally be there.
We next hit the Virgin Stage for one of the
most hyped bands for the festival – M.I.A.
The band has had publicized issues with
getting Visa’s for North American shows,
and subsequently, had not been seen by
too many Canadian fans. While her upbeat
style of Electronic Hip Hop was not really
music to MY ears, The fans were eating
her up, and I must admit to enjoying see-
ing her play live. She’s a striking individual
with a great voice. Her set was easily one
of the most photographed sets at the
festival. I bailed after three songs from
M.I.A. to hit Enter Shikari on the Future
Shop stage. I understand a good 100 fans
were invited onstage to dance with Maya
and her bandmates. Maya also tossed
herself out onto the audience during her
set. M.I.A. are set to play the Mod Club on
October 20th. I’m sure that will also be an
awesome evening of music, and a longer
set of music for fans to see.
After making our way back to the Future
Shop stage in time for Enter Shikari… it
appeared their band might not get to play
their set at all. There were many stage-
hands testing wires, and looking befuddled
for a good 15 minutes after the bands
4:40pm start time. At one point, I distinctly
heard someone on stage say ‘It’s not
fourty
going to happen’. I found out afterwards,
the bands keyboard had gone missing.
Fortunately, they were able to procure the
missing piece of equipment from another
band on the bill, and Shikari got to hit us
with a shortened, but awesome set of mu-
sic. I was pretty happy as I’d missed the
bands El Macambo show earlier this year,
and have been reading how great they
are live in UK magazines like Kerrang! and
Rock Sound Magazine for the past year.
Enter Shikari are a powerhouse mixture
of techno samples mixed with pummeling
vocals and guitars. They were easily one
of the best bands at Virgin Festival, and
my favourite band from Day One. One of
the biggest tragedies of the festival, was
that the Future Shop stage boasted the
best line-up of bands on both days (that’s
my opinion anyway), and they played to
sparse crowds. In some cases, like Shikari,
Biffy Clyro and Voxtrot – criminally small
audiences due to the bigger acts drawing
audience ears while they played. But, this
didn’t seem to faze any of the bands. They
all seemed genuinely stoked to be playing
the festival. Shikari are definitely on my
hit list for next time around. I want to see
a full set from them now that I’ve had a
taste of them live.
After a quick bite to eat, we made our
way back to the Virgin Stage for The Arctic
Monkeys. They are a band that between
Yves and I, we have seen multiple times
already. From their first Lee’s Palace show
through the Phoenix and then the Kool
Haus. They are a hugely talented band.
Sporting dark glasses, you could almost
feel the waves of OASIS-style pres-
ence from frontman Alex Turner, as they
banged their way through their arsenal of
great songs. For such a young band,
touring their second full length – it was
so obvious to me they are a band on a
trajectory to greatness. The Arctic
Monkeys can craft a song like few other
fourty one
bands on the market right now. I’d love ing able to waltz up front and snap some Sadly, I got a bit held up on the mainland,
to know how easy or hard they find their shots of them was über-cool. Personally, and had to pass on seeing Honeycut in
songwriting process. As a listener, the this was the 4th time I’d seen Interpol, order to get to media call for Louis XIV on
songs just seem so effortless and natural. and the third for Mute Math. They are both the Virgin Mainstage for 2:20pm. While
I could have easily stayed for the bands excellent bands. For Interpol you can pretty there was a light powdering of misty rain
full set, but Voxtrot were scheduled to much close your eyes and it’s like hearing falling on the gradually building audience –
take the Future Shop stage at 6:40 and the CD. They play a perfect live set. Mute Louis XIV frontman Jason Hill strolled out
I didn’t want to miss them. It’s ironic that Math are one of my favourite new bands. on stage with the band an apologized that
Voxtrot had just started to tour with Arctic Very talented live, and able to churn his voice was really rough, and that they
Monkeys as their openers. I felt a bit odd up some amazing live sounds together. had just flown in from the states, and were
leaving the Monkey’s set to catch their There’s an interview with the band fol- quite tired. And yes, Jason did indeed
opening band. But that’s the way the lowing this V Fest review. Take the time to look a bit scruffy, but that didn’t stop him
festival played out. read a bit more about them if you will. And or the rest of the band from banging out
Björk was pretty awesome live. She has some of their signature material from last
At this point, Yves made his way off the such a cool voice, and overall demeanor. It years The Best Little Secrets Are Kept CD.
island. I wanted to see Voxtrot and Interpol, was really hard to watch her and think that Channeling some of the fuzziest T-Rex, the
so I stuck around. The crowd at the Future I first heard the Sugarcubes 25 years ago. live material sounded very ROCK and not
Shop show was painfully sparse. I felt a bit She came out wearing a gold/silver metal- so much on the niceties of the produced
glum for Voxtrot, as their CD is excellent, lic frock-item, and was heavily made up in studio material. I really dig these guys.
and it deserves an audience. It will totally phosphorous green makeup on her face They hooked up with the Killers later on
come together for the band in the coming and fingertips. She had some sort of silly- during their Hot Fuss touring, and were
year – and I’m sure the band knew most string hidden in her hands, and ejected brought into the studio to help them out
of the audience would be perching them- them out of both hands over most of the with polishing up Sam’s Town. I can’t
selves at the Virgin Stage to get as close photographers in the pit. I saw many pho- seem to stop playing Louis XIV’s last CD,
as possible for the two remaining headlin- tographers trying to clean off their lenses and am told that they will have a new CD
ers. Voxtrot were awesome, as I’d hoped. as she kept singing. Truth be told – by the for us in early 2008.
They produced a sound-perfect reproduc- time I was walking out of the Photo pit
tion of their material for the small crowd of for Björk, I was pretty much frizzle fried. I I could hardly contain my glee making my
folks that turned out to see them play. The hopped the first boat back to the mainland way over to The Future Shop stage to see
light was just diminishing as they played, and went home to bed. Biffy Clyro. Ive been into them since their
and they were getting great backlighting first CD Blackened Sky came out in their
for their set. It was pretty amazing. I knew Day 2. UK in 2002. But their CD’s have not been
I was going to see them play in a month Not at all the same weather conditions recordings I play from beginning to end. I
at the Mod Club – so leaving them to as The previous day, V Fest Sunday was tend to Cherry-pick songs from their CDs
photograph Interpol was a bit easier cooler, and misty. It threatened rain for that I like. Puzzle hits a home run from the
for me. They were really incredible live – most of the day. I was Han Solo for the intro notes through to the CD’s final ballad.
I can’t wait to see them again. At this point day, as Yves couldn’t make the second They stand to really break out here in the
in the show, I’d felt I’d seen what I wanted day of the event. I was a bit more excited coming months. Vocalist / guitarist Simon
to see from the first day of V Fest. The by the prospects of Day Two’s line-up. This Neil hugged bandmates Ben and James
remaining bands I’d already seen. Mute would mark my first time seeing the awe- Johnston before the set started. He threw
Math, I’d just seen the night before in a some Biffy Clyro live. back a big swallow of Red Tail Shiraz out
club in London. of a magnum he was working on, tore
Having just been handed a promo of their off his shirt and the band came out on
The rest of the evening boasted the bigger Clockwise From Top Left: Biffy Clyro; Blonde fourth (and finest) CD Puzzle two days
Redhead; Louis XIV; Stars; Voxtrot; The Heights; stage and threw down some of the finest
draws for the event. I’m going to sound all Metric; The Editors. Pictures by Mike Bax.
earlier – I was primed to see them play. rock and roll I’ve ever seen live. It was
‘been-there-done-that’ here, and I really Puzzle had not left my car stereo since the hard for me to take their pictures during
don’t mean to. Interpol, Mute Math and disc was handed to me, and I was eager ‘Get Fucked Stud’ as I was singing along
Björk are all excellent musicians. And be- to hear the new material live.
fourty two
Anneke van Giersbergen - The Gathering
while they were belting out the track. I
can’t say enough good things about Biffy.
They threw everything they had into their
set, and again, it wasn’t like they were
playing to the masses at 3:00pm on a
rainy Sunday. They are already huge in the
UK, especially with Puzzle, and will head
back there to headline a bunch of large
gigs and festivals before they hopefully
come back here to headline some smaller
shows. I don’t want to sandbag on Dave
Grohl – because I think he’s awesome. But
I’ve played the new Foos, and it doesn’t
touch Biffy’s new CD. Drop by Biffy’s
myspace and see what’s going on! This
was the highlight of V-Fest for me. I had
no idea Biffy would rock-out as hard as
they did live.
I was a bit dumbstruck after Biffy wrapped
up. I popped by the autograph tent to meet
Louis XIV and then Biffy Clyro. It was nice
to say thanks to the bands for rocking
Toronto, and to get autographs from them.
I went back into the Future Shop pit for
Blonde Redhead. This was another eye
opening concert for me. Blonde Redhead
have been in the press for years, particu-
lary for the release of their newest CD 23.
Somehow, I have glassed over the reviews
and gaven the band a pass for years now.
Hey, nobody said I was the brightest bulb
in the box, right? Blonde Redhead churned
up some of the finest post-shoegazing
music I’ve heard in years. Vocalist Kazu
Makino has such a cool voice, and twin
brothers Simone and Amedeo both play
their (drums and guitar) excellently. I knew
none of the material they played at all. I
ponied up for 23 the next day
online though, and I’m
now a convert. A superb
performance. One of the
best the festival had
to offer.
FOURTY three
Stars took the Virgin main stage at
5:00pm. I’m a casual Stars fan at best. I
like their songs, and have had Set Yourself
on Fire in my iTunes rotation since it came
out in 2004. Vocalist Torquil Campbell
does a fine job engaging the audience,
with lots of waves, smiles and finger
pointing. I have always thought of Stars as
a small indie band with a lot of Canadian
street cred. Apparently, I have been asleep
at the wheel for a while now. Stars are well
one their way to being a huge Canadian
talent. Their ability to wow a large crowd
was all too apparent as they cranked
their way through their live material. With
Metric coming on right after Stars set, I
hung around at the side of the stage and
watched them finish their set off. A great
band. I can’t wait to hear their new CD.
I’m in the same boat as Stars reviewing
Metric. I played the hell out of Old World
Underground, Where Are You Now? When
it came out, and thought ‘Combat Baby’
was a killer track. Somewhere along the
past few years Metric have gone from cool
bar band to a stadium band. Emily Haines
striking good looks mixed in with her (and
her band-mates) strong musical talents
make them an easy band to watch live.
The audience was swelling to their music,
and the band were genuinely excited to
be playing the festival. In between songs,
Haines admitted to being stoked about
playing V Fest, and that the band had
been looking forward to playing V Fest
for months! This was my first time seeing
Metric live. I always thought they’d be kind
of drab live. Metric proved to be another
band that blew away all of my preconcep-
tions of both their live capabilities and their
popularity as a band. They are an excel-
lent live band, and I was genuinely glad I
got to see them play. Especially ‘Monster
Hospital’, my guilty pleasure sing-along-
in-the-car song. I love that track.
A close second for coolest band at VFest
was Explosions in the Sky on the Future
Shop stage. The band churned out some
of the coolest chillax-to-climax live music
on the planet, as the light of day slowly
waned. Friday Night Lights would have
been half a movie without their signature
sounds painting the mood of the movie in
their subtle soundtrack score. On stage –
they were utterly amazing. The whole band
were rocking to and fro while building
their instrumental sounds to a thundering
crescendo. It was orgasmic to watch. Who
needs a vocalist when you drop a live
performance like Explosions In The Sky
delivered. I owe a debt of thanks to
the Killers, who wouldn’t
allow anyone in media to
photograph them at VFest.
Biffy Clyro - Picture by Mike Bax.
I got to stay and watch Explosions set
without worrying about missing a photo-
call for the next band on the other stage.
I’d go back and see them live anytime,
anywhere. They took all of the magic they
have on their CDs and made it twice as
cool by playing it BETTER on stage.
The rest of the evening was the big draw
bands, all of which I’d seen multiple times
before. The Killers on the mainstage, then
The Editors on the Future Shop Stage
headlining the evening, and finally The
Smashing Pumpkins on the Virgin main
stage.
The Killers wanted no press pictures taken
a V Fest. Whatever. They are still a fine
live band, and the crowd was eating them
up. The Editors had a good crowd of fans
in front of them for their set. They are
such a fine band – both live and as studio
recording artists. Vocalist Tom Smith has
the looks, talent and ability to engage his
audience like some of the best in the busi-
ness – and it is always obvious to me that
they are bound for greatness whenever
I see them play. They remain a bigger
band in the UK than they are here in North
America, but I believe that will be correct-
ed in the coming years. They have the raw
talent to emulate Coldplay’s success in the
future. I didn’t make the cut for photo-
graphing The Pumpkins – and I wound up
jumping on a boat to the mainland rather
than see them again. While I remain a
huge fan of the Pumpkins studio work – I
have seen them live multiple times in the
past, and they have been horrid live every
single time. I saw them live touring Gish,
and I saw them live on their farewell tour.
And they sounded rotten on both of those
tours. Rather than risk sullying so much of
the good music I’d seen all day, I opted for
an early ride home. I’ve since heard that
the band were quite popular live, and that
they sounded good. If this is indeed the
case – more power to them.
I did make my only stop at the Budweiser
stage to see The Heights play their first
three songs. A friend had recommended
I check them out. They were a really solid
live act. They played to a very sparse
crowd of onlookers – sandwiched between
the Killers and The Editors, I’m sure the
band knew the score loing before they
walked onstage. All the same, I liked what
I heard from them. They play a tight mix of
traditional rock & roll, with a tinge on the
heavy guitars. Vocalist Owain Ginsberg is
a talented guy, and cracked a few jokes
about people in the audience texting their
friends, and getting them over to see
them play their set.
In closing – I would say this. Virgin Festival
2007 has allowed me to re-think the
outdoor festival experience. There were
enough big name acts to justify the $125
two day festival admission charge alone. I
feel the promoters payed careful atten-
tion to both the music aficionado, and the
mainstream concert-goer by also bringing
in cool up and coming and indie bands
giving their audience members a choice
of music for their hard-earned dollar. At-
tendees looking for distractions in between
bands live sets could meet some of the
bands at the Future Shop autograph tent,
or wander through the concession area
and be enlightened by organizations like
FLICK OFF (a global warming movement,
with lots to say), ckIN2U (who wouldn’t
photos I shot from the festival can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fazermag/collections/72157601994077025/
want to be asked a few questions by hot
girls in flashy outfits as they walk off the
ferry) and Energizer (where a simple spin
of a wheel could get you a free mp3 play-
er). While I’m sure the event was perhaps
not everyone’s cup of tea, I felt I got to
see some great bands for the first time,
and some established bands who were a
blast to live again. I would have been there
as a fan, if I wasn’t attending as a re-
viewer. I had a great time, and am already
eager to see the line-ups announced for
V Fest 2008.
For reviews, pictures, blogs and info on Virgin
Festival, drop by www.vfest.ca
FOURTY four
 TORNGAT
Mike: Hi how are you?

WIN A FREE
Julien: Pretty good. I was wondering
where the magazine was from. So it’s

BIFFY
London, is it?

Yeah it is. It’s all music based, I’ve been

doing it for a year. It’s pretty small and
grassroots but my friend and I both love
music and we like writing about it, and

CLYRO
now we go to shows and take photos and
do something with it. So – there you go.

Cool man.

I’ve just been playing your new release

CD From FAZER through a couple of times and it’s pretty

interesting music. It’s very kind of friendly
and WARNER MUSIC and happy.

Yeah it’s different for sure.

Do you draw inspiration for your music

from any place in particular? Is there
something or some band that you really
aspire to sound like when you go and sit
down to write music?

We never try to sound like somebody.

For sure we have a lot of different
influences. We’re three in the band and
we all listen to different kind of music.
We all have common bands that we
listen to but we also have our little

Some Montreal Magic.

It’s this easy TO WIN
The First three emails sent to
mike (at) Fazer (dot) CA WIll win
Interview with Julien Poissant.
Conducted by phone on Sept 12th 2007.
clicks and our different areas, not areas
but periods of music that we tend to go
more towards, you know. I know I’m the
rock guy mostly. I’m more into the classic
rock. The Doors, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd,

Interview by Mike Bax

Velvet Underground, the Beatles.
I grew up listening to that kind of music.
a copy of Biffy Clyro’s new CD Torngat were a part of London’s very We all listen to rock but Pietro is bit more
PUZZLE. Only WInners will jazz oriented, but it’s all changing as
own LOLA Festival in September. Sadly, we’re all exchanging music between us,
be contacted by email for
contact information to
I missed their live performance. I heard we’re always listening to new music.
Pietro for example listens a lot to Radio
mail out the CDs. from some of the London music hipsters Head. So we all have influences that
go pretty far. We listen to music from
Torngat put on an impressive live show. rock to John Zorn to the Penguin Café

FOURTY five FOURTY Six

Orchestra. Did you ever hear Penguin Café
Orchestra?
I haven’t but just looking over the
information that was sent to me I notice
it’s written up here on your bio and I’m
interested in checking them out.
Yeah I would say that’s probably the band
that our sound tends to go more towards,
but without sounding like them.
Have you guys ever done any film music?
Like have you ever scored a movie or
contributed something to a soundtrack?
We just did this year for the first time
actually. We just, 2 weeks ago was the
first screening of the film, it’s called La Lilli
à Gilles. And it’s a short film of 15 minutes
that’s done by director David Uloth from
Montreal. And yeah we worked probably 2
months on that with him, on spare days.
I play a lot of soundtrack music. I like
instrumental music and I like listening to
how a film is pushed forward with music,
and I just played this disk through and
thought I can totally see you guys scoring
movies.
Yeah it’s something we’d like for sure to
get more into it. If the contacts and if we
get approached for sure, if the project in-
terests us, we for sure we’re going to do it.
When you guys are putting your material
together, do you consider while you’re
recording your material what it’s going to
translate like on stage when you play live
or do you just kind of go for it after the
album is done?
It depends. Our records were kind of
different with that. The first record we did
in 2001, the way we composed was a
lot more improvised based. So when we
got to the session, the session was just
a weekend, so it was the same kind of
FOURTY seven
energy on the record that would be on
the live shows. But the sound would be
different cause it was first time recording,
so the technique of sound we didn’t get
as much the analogue from we wanted to
get, but the concept behind composing
and the way we played was more the
same. Now we’re starting to compose
more and more our records. But we don’t
want ever to lose that kind of spontaneous
improvised like explosion on stage so we
try to get our songs slightly rearranged for
the live shows. And we try to incorporate
either improvisation songs on stage or just
stretch parts to make it more interesting,
or just push the envelope a little bit.
Now you guys actively go out and see
concerts and shows as you’re all into
music. Did you get out to see Osheaga
(Osheaga is a two day music festival that
went on in Montreal the same weekend
as Virgin Festival in Toronto) at all?
No actually not at all. I didn’t have a
chance. I’ve been working a whole lot.
So it depends on the time of the year, it
depends on the band. I would say Pietro
is probably the guy that goes to see a lot
of shows in the band. We all do once in
awhile. I tend to go see more shows when
a band really, when I’m waiting for that
band to come in town, you know. While
Pietro tends to go out more in the scene
regularly. I’m more the composer, stay at
home, work on my music 7 days a week.
Once in a while when I get my band I want
to go see I’ll go out and drink a couple
beers, you know.
What kind of challenges do you have when
you’re playing live? Is there stuff that’s
really hard to translate from your material
when you’re doing a live show?
Especially this new record for sure, yeah.
What happened is that this record we
started really exploring with the concept
of over dubs and we’re three so sing the
songs, we did like two over dubs of
trumpets there was French horn, there
was like over dubs of bass drum,
tambourine, keyboards and now we’re
three and we try to pull this together so
I’ve been playing two things at the same
time in the last shows. Like ‘La Rouge’
there’s a song I used to play, the title
track ‘La Rouge’ I used to play xylophone
and trumpet at the same time. And now
on the new record, did you hear the
song ‘Celebrating New’?
Yeah.
The parts with all the trumpets. So that
part I am playing a bass drum with my
right foot, tambourine with my left foot,
I’m playing the electric harp with my left
hand I’m playing trumpet with my right
hand, all at the same time. So I had to
practice probably for a month to get that
line together and so parts like that are
getting more complicated so that’s
something visually also that gets
interesting for the audience, to get to
see one guy pull off four parts at the
same time. And we kind of all do that
cause in that same tune Mathieu will play
his left hand on the keyboards, and he will
also play trumpet, the counter melody or
actually he’ll play the, yeah he’ll play the
counter melody while Pietro is going to
play four toms, tambourine and French
horn at the same time. So we’re starting
to incorporate the multi-instrumental at
the same time. And I think we’re pulling
it off. We’re really happy with the way
things sound.
Have you put some thought into bringing
in a fourth a member to help out touring?
No that’s something we decided a couple
years ago, because our first record we
used to be 4 with a guy called Sylvain
Delisle and unfortunately, well not
unfortunately he had to quit the band
cause he had a baby, he couldn’t follow
us anymore and do all the gigs. So we
had a big decision to make back then and
we decided to, cause we had jammed
in the past with a lot of different people
and we really connected the 4 of us and
later just the 3 of us, so we really have a
special connection that’s hard to find with
somebody else. So instead of just finding
somebody new to just get the parts in we
just decided to work with what we had
and we had to rearrange the way we were
going to do stuff so that’s when Mathieu
started to work the concept of doing the
bass part with his left on the other
keyboard. Kind of like the Doors which
didn’t have a bass player. We just let
ourselves, we gave ourselves the
permission not to have the typical bass
player. We assumed it and we went
into a direction that would just make it
our own sound.
Good. As a Canadian band do you feel
you’ve got any challenges that you may
not have if you were from the States or
from France?
Challenges?
I’m guess I’m looking for your take on the
music industry in Canada, maybe now
compared to what it would be like if you
were releasing albums say ten years ago.
Well I think the biggest issue for me and
I think for the rest of the band is up with
the newer computers, and the downloads
and all of that. It doesn’t really affect us.
Between the States and Canada I guess
it’s all the same. It doesn’t really
affect us being from Canada. But I think
we’re getting right now into the business
of it because before we did everything
independently. So I think the business
part – we’re starting to get how it really
works now cause we’renow signing with
our publishing people, with the label, we
have a publicist now, we have 2 different
bookers, one for Quebec and one for the
rest of Canada. So I think we’re starting
to get into the game and we’re starting to
discover how it works. But as far as
challenging? I think … I’m not sure how
to say it but we don’t see it as a … I’m
not sure how to answer that to tell you
the truth. I think we’re still learning a lot
and we know where we want to go and
we’re just going to get there. And we’re all
patient musicians. The way we’ve always
worked was to go step by step so we’re
not trying to get intimidated by the whole
surrounding of companies. We want to
go step by step and get fan by fan and
we don’t want to play that game, that
politically correct game of the industry
that sometimes occurs when you get into
bigger, not bigger venues but to the bigger,
I don’t know how to say that … well when
you get into the bigger companies or you
start to sell more you get into another kind
of game. We want to keep our integrity.
Your tour plans for the next 3 or 4 months.
I know you’re coming to do LOLA Festival
in London. I imagine you’re going to be
pretty hard at the road for the next few
months. Is it all headlining acts? Are you
going to open for anybody?
Mainly we’re pretty much headlining
I think. We got a couple of opening.
I know in Montreal we just got that two
days ago I think. At La Tulipe with Elini
Mandell. We’re doing an opening for
her at La Tulipe in October I think it’s the
25th. And the rest I think we’re pretty
much headlining. I’m not sure for all the
west coast that we’re going to do because
it’s not officially booked yet. You know,
all the dates are being planned but we
haven’t confirmed everything yet so I’m
not sure if every gig we’re opening cause
most of the places in the west we’ve never
played there before so I guess we’re going
to see. But I think we’re headlining most
of them.
I’ve got one last question for you. I’m
wondering who did the cover artwork for
your CD?
Her name is Sarah Mangle. A friend of the
band and she’s based in Montreal and
very nice girl. She does a lot of stuff for
us. She helped us over the years doing
posters for us, sometimes doing booklets
for when we do shows. Once she did a
story concept for our booklets, for instead
of just having the typical booklets with
the titles of the set we’re going to do, she
actually did this story behind the whole
titles throughout the whole pamphlet with
drawings, concept of the band. And so
she’s always been kind of doing stuff as
we went, posters, stuff like that. She’s a
friend that helps us out and she always
has good opinions and we love her a lot.
It looks very Parisian to me.
Yeah. She definitely has a style. For this
cover, we influenced her by giving her the
mood of the 1930’s or 40’s.
Nice. Listen I wish you best. Thanks for
taking the time to chat with me. Hopefully
I’ll catch you live while you’re in London
and doing some dates in South Western
Ontario.
That’d be fun man.
Thanks Julien.
Bye.
www.torngat.ca
www.myspace.com/torngat
FOURTY eight
 Mike: How are things?
Dan Snaith: Good. We’re just driving to our
venue. We’ve started our touring today.
retty good so far.
You’re doing Architecture in Helsinki
tonight?
That’s right, yeah.
Nice. When are you coming back to
Canada, Dan?
September the 27th I think we arrive and
then we just start doing shows from there.
CARIBOU
FAZER interview Cool. Looking forward to it?
by mike bax sept 11th Yeah, it should be good.
How long have you been over in the UK?
For this tour, I live in London so I moved
over to London to do my PhD a few years
ago. And then I’ve been living there. I’ve
been touring a lot obviously but when I’m
not touring I’ve been living there. That’s
where I recorded this record. And then
we just started touring over here and then
we’re coming to North America.
FOURTY nine
Can I ask what you’re doing your PhD in?
Yeah I finished it, a couple years ago. I did
it in Mathematics in Algebraic Number
Theory.
Good for you. So how is the change flip-
ping over from Canada to the UK?
It wasn’t – I think London itself is just such
a big kind of oppressive city, it’s a very
difficult city to get around in and all that
kind of stuff. So that was a bit of a shock
but as far as like culture shock between
the two places, you know I travel so much
on tour it wasn’t really a big shock moving
here I suppose.
How do you find your music is accepted in
the UK compared to Canada, the States,
Australia.
I mean all those places we worked, and
in Japan and around Europe, I’m kind of
always surprised how similar – I mean
for example the people who come back
to our shows and people always ask is
one crowd better than another in a certain
place, but I’m always more surprised just
by how similar the people that we meet
everywhere are. I suppose you know
there’s such a network of people on the
internet or wherever talking about music
and finding out the kind of music that they
like and their other interests are kind of
linked into that I guess. So it’s kind of like
I’m always surprised how much people
everywhere we play have in common with
one another rather than how different they
are.
There’s a genre of music and interests and
they all kind of meld together especially
with the internet.
Yeah.
How long have you been making music,
Dan?
I released my first album in 2001, but I
mean my whole life essentially. I started
playing the piano first when I was a kid,
when I was 5 years old or whatever, and
then when I was a teenager I started
learning more instruments and started
– I got a little sampler. I actually stole this
sampler from my high school, it was just
sitting around in the music department
there and nobody seemed to be paying at-
tention to it, so I just took it home one day
and started making music on a computer
when I was 13, I guess 14 or 15. And
then just kind of continued from there, I
suppose that was – I’ve been recording
music ever since then and playing music
and playing in bands and doing that.
You must hear a lot of people telling you
what you think you sound like. What do
you think you sound like? Who do you feel
your influences are?
I kind of prefer people to, I don’t mind
people telling me what I sound like
because I find that I’m so, I have so little
distance between me and the music it’s
hard for me to be objective about what
it’s similar to or what it compares to or
whatever. There’s just a few, I always
want, each time I make a record I want it
to sound different from the last ones I’ve
made and always, melody and harmony
and also the drums are always really
important in all of my records. But apart
from that I’m not really – hang on two
seconds. Sorry, there’s just a beep on the
other line but I’ll let it go. Yeah I’m – as
far as like a genre or what it compares
to or what it’s influenced by it’s kind of,
there’s so many things in there that it’s
kind of hard for me to pin it down as just
one thing. So it’s always interesting for
me to hear people say it reminds me of
this or it reminds me of that, records that
I may have never even listened to or are
favourites of mine or whatever.
When I listened to Andorra it had kind of
a light, almost innocent sounding sixties
pop reference. Like it reminded me of
really old Pink Floyd.
Yeah. I think that’s fair. I mean I listened
to – I guess that’s more, especially the
first half of the record is kind of in that
vein. Music for me is a very kind of
escapist kind of making a safe world of
fifty
sound around what I’m recording. I’m
recording just at home in a crappy little
bedroom or whatever so it’s about creating
this kind of world of sound and all these
interesting things coming into, coming
at your ears from all different angles or
whatever and I suppose that has a lot in
common with those kind of sixties bands
or whatever. But also the attention to
arrangement and melody and harmony
also from bands like say the Zombies or
whatever have been a big influence I
suppose. So yeah especially with this
record I wanted to focus on those kind of
aspects, the kind of melody and harmony
and compositional kind of ideas. And
those bands like the Beach Boys and the
Zombies are kind of I think still very much
the pinnacle of that or in pop music did
that very well I suppose.
When you’re putting together an album,
I’m going to use Andorra as an example
because it’s obviously brand new, you’ve
got 9 tunes on it. Do you kind of go at an
album and say this is complete, this is
what I want the full album to sound like?
So is it a unit or do you just sort of
piecemeal songs together and say “okay
I’ve enmassed them, this is my release?
Yeah. I recorded, or started 670 tracks
for this record, so it’s kind of a case of
just getting all the ideas out there, keep
making music that can make more, more,
Fifty one
more music and then kind of letting
everything settle together and picking the
songs or the parts that I like the most and
that’s what ends up on the record. And
so it’s kind of always a bit surprising that
things kind of fit together as an album. I
definitely don’t plan like these are going
to be the songs on the album and they’re
going to fit together in this way. That’s the
last thing that happens, but I guess it’s
because I’m just making music constantly
over the course of a year, all the ideas that
I’ve been thinking about in that period of
time are all in there and so I guess that
kind of hangs all the songs together
I suppose.
Do you have a favourite song off of
the new disk that you seem to like
playing live?
Playing live. Yeah I mean it varies all the
time actually. You know some of the songs
I like best on the record are playing live –
tracks like ‘After Hours’ or ‘Sun Dialling’
on the record that are a bit more stretched
out on stage and less like tighter pop
songs. They really translate really well
live. We have two drum kits and very big
sound. Quite different from the studio ex-
perience. I don’t want to make albums that
are one single and then a bunch of songs
– a bunch of throwaway songs. I really do
go through stages where each song on
the record is my favourite song
on the record.
I don’t really feel like you’ve got a lot of
tertiary material on this disk. It’s all pretty
quality material.
Yeah. Absolutely specifically with this
record that was very important to me to
have no (inaudible) stuff to kind of edit and
edit and edit, and trim away all the stuff
that could be trimmed away just so the …
the best ideas that I’ve had over the last
year or whatever on there.
If I was to go to a track personally, I think I
like ‘Niobe’ on the album.
Great.
It sounds a little different than the other 8
tracks. It’s got a little bit more like Philip
Glass kind of dancy stuff in it. Do you play
that live?
Not at the moment actually but we may
do at some point. It’s probably one of the
trickier ones to translate into a live setting
I guess.
I can see that.
We won’t be playing it when we play
the shows in September or whatever in
Canada, but hopefully at some point down
the road we will.
Maybe by the time you hit the Opera
House in November. When you translate
your music to the stage, how much time
goes into taking the music that you’ve
created and breaking it out into the
four-piece so you can tour it?
We spend a month, like the last month
before we started rehearsing we meet
up with the band and just basically listen
through the songs and take them apart
and try different ways of playing them
through. We kind of break them down
and try them in different versions until
we have a way of playing them and then
hopefully that will continue to develop as
we play them more and more as we tour.
But there’s a month of pretty intensive
rehearsing. I’m always surprised though –
it’s a lot easier I think than people imagine
sometimes, because it’s like production
music that I record all by myself. It seems
to work quite naturally in a live setting
and I’m very, very happy with the way
the live show is sounding. I think it’s kind
of spontanious and sounds better than I
could have hoped.
I’m looking forward to checking it out.
Cool.
I have just a last question, it’s kind of a
personal one. I was looking at your discog-
raphy and the cover art for Jack Nutted,
you have a Hungarian Vizsla on the cover.
How did that come about?
Oh wow, that’s the type of dog, right?
I have a Vizsla and that’s why I asked.
They are not your run of the mill dog.
Oh amazing. It’s actually the guy who does
my – well he’s an amazing photographer
his name is Jason Evans and he’s done
the cover art for the last 3 albums I guess,
and the singles that go along with them,
and it was a dog that belonged to a friend
of his so he took that photo. I think that’s
a trait on any of the covers on any of my
releases. They have such an amazing,
such a vivid image or whatever. Yeah now
that I think about it, that’s just a friend’s
dog. Who is quite a character.
They’re pretty uncommon so when I saw
it I was like man what the hell’s up with
that? That was interesting to me.
Well spotted.
I’m hoping to catch you in London but if I
don’t I may drive to Waterloo and see you
at the Starlight.
Okay perfect. Well I’ll hopefully see you at
one of those shows then.
Sounds good. Have a good gig tonight with
Architecture.
Thank you. Take care.
caribou.fm/site
www.myspace.com/cariboumanitoba
fifty two
Preamble. Interview with Paul Meaney,
Darren King and Greg Hill. When I got
into the back of the London Rum
Runners venue to chat with Mute Math,
there were rumblings about Bjork possibly
not playing the Virgin Festival the next day.
If she didn’t play, Mute Math would likely
be moved to the Virgin Festival main stage.
So, there was discussion about whether
that would be a good or a bad thing. Paul
felt Bjork fans maybe would not enjoy
Mute Math’s sound. We chatted about
who had seen Bjork before. Which CDs
of hers we all had. Paul and Darren were
seated across from me, and Greg was off
at the side listening in. He chirped in some
comments towards the end of
the interview.
Mike: Last year Massive Attack pulled out
at the last minute, and they came around
a month later to make up the date. But
they pulled out of the V Fest ’06 bill at the
last minute.
Paul: Why did they do that?
Their Visas. Same thing that’s happening
with New Model Army.
Paul: Canada is a really tough country to
get in.
It is? I hear that from assorted bands. Do
you find it hard to come over the border?
Paul: Yes, and it’s a shame because once
you get here it’s so great. Maybe that’s
why it’s so difficult to get in.
Darren: They’re protecting it.
Paul: Yeah they’re protecting the goods.
But yeah this is the toughest country to
get in.
I think if you say ‘I’m in a rock band’ at the
border, they just assume you’re puffing
the weed and that’s it, they’re just going to
colon search you.
fifty three
mutemath
Interview & Photos by Mike Bax - this shot - Live at Rum Runners, London
Interview FAZER Sept 7th LONDON
Paul: (laughter) Oh man the hardest time
we had getting in was when we were
doing the Warped tour. We had 60 busses
coming across the border and they gave
everybody hell.
I never have any problems. I’m pretty
clean cut though, and I come over to
check out the odd band here and there.
Paul: Yeah I mean we don’t ever have
anything suspect going on, but it still just
takes awhile for them to let the dogs sniff
our crotches and all that. Which we quite
enjoy actually.
Darren: Those drug dogs are always so
cool.
Paul: They’re the best. That’s the best part
of coming to Canada. The crotch sniff.
So how many days off have you guys had
this year in total? Because it feels to me
like you’ve had about six days off judging
from your myspace tour schedule.
Paul: Well that’s about what it feels like to
us too. And I don’t really know technically
what it is. We just know we’ve had
pockets of time off here and there you just
do what you can to get caught up on bills
and everything that fell apart while you
were gone - wash our clothes and try to
write some songs. And that’s about it. It’s
been very exciting, just keep touring, going
to new places and reintroducing
the music.
I keep an eye on tour dates and bands that
I like online, and the amount of road traffic
that they’re doing. You’re ALWAYS on tour.
Paul: Yeah it seems that way. And I was
definitely in disbelief when I found out we
were doing a tour in the fall. But there’s
always something that just seems to be
building to the next step and it’s not been
an exponential explosion for us but just
one thing that just kind of justifies keeping
the show on the road. So yeah we’re
having a good time. We first put this
record out ourselves independently, all we
had was two months booked, and we
assumed we’d go out, sell a couple
thousand records to our immediate fans,
come back home work on the next
collection of music. But two months
turned into five months and then we
got some great summer slots and some
festivals and Warner Brothers released the
CD properly and it just kind of kept going.
And then a year and a half later we’re still
in the touring.
There was a little bit of a stall too, ‘cause
the label didn’t really get your album to
start off with?
Paul: Yeah it took a little while to get the
wheels cranking and I guess to their
credit we’re a tough sell and they didn’t
really know what to do with this and we
were kind of shelved for a while. Warner
Brothers, gosh there’s hundreds of bands
with their roster, not including in imprints.
And there’s downsizing within the music
industry. It’s a tough time to be a new
band at ground zero when we first had a
developmental thing going on. So I think it
was very fortunate for us that we had our
own label and management team that was
kind of established to just work our little
music world and kind of get it going.
We immediately toured to get a little
groundwork laid, and that was the key for
us. Finally that’s what got us on the radar
and ultimately Warner Brothers took notice
and were able to get things set up.
Do you typically hear feedback from fans?
What do they tell you that they like from
your sound?
Paul: It varies.
I’m asking this cause I took a pal to see
you at the Opera House when you were
going around with the Cinematics and he
thought you had a lot of DJ Shadow going
on in your music and I never would have
picked that up. When I listened to ‘Reset’
now, I can hear a little bit of that in it.
Paul: Well it’s no secret that we love DJ
Shadow. He’s got a certain style that’s
been very inspirational to us. Someone
said one time we sound like Black
Sabbath doin Porn music. What was it?
One of the crew guys said that. So from
that to … I don’t know. I can’t think.
Darren: It’s varied as can be. Look at
iTunes and other albums people buy…
That online feature that cookie cutters the
music into little sub-genres? If you like
this you might like so-and-so. I always get
amused with that kind of stuff.
Darren: It’s really interesting to us too.
The only new material from Mute Math
recently was that Transformers song. How
did that come about? Were you asked to
do that specifically?
Darren: By Warner Brothers yeah, with
only a few days to do it. It was urgent by
the time it got to us to do that song.
How does that break down? Do you guys
just run into a studio somewhere?
Darren: It’s not very glamorous. We got
an e-mail, went upstairs to Paul’s house,
made the song, in the course of a couple
days, and then we emailed the song to
whoever needed it.
Wow. High tech! And that’s what’s on the
disk? The emailed file?
Darren: That’s it.
Nice. Very 2007 of you.
fifty four
Paul: We didn’t even know there was
a movie, until we were asked to do the
theme song and they sent us the trailer.
It was all very last minute, the movie was
getting ready to come out. They wanted
a remake of the theme song on the
soundtrack.
I don’t even remember what the theme
song really sounded like. I’m hip to some
of the comic books…
Darren: There were several various
versions. There’s a cartoon version.
Paul: Do you remember the original theme
song?
The “More than meets the eye” jingle.
Paul: Yeah, it’s really quick! A minute and
a half.
Darren: That’s the cartoon one, and then
a Hair Metal, like an eighties band did the
movie. So we took a shot at this movie and
did our thing with it.
Paul: Transformers is just a childhood
obsession of mine. I was all into it, so if
someone could have gone back in time to
a little 8-year-old Paul Meaney and told
him one day he was going to get to sing
on the Transformers movie soundtrack…
well I doubt I’d have believed it.
That’s cool for you Paul. Look at you, living
the dream! So that track wont make it
onto your next disk obviously, that was a
one-off for them and you’re not going to
stick that on as a b-side.
Paul: I don’t think so. It’s lived its life now.
Do you have a full disk ready? I’m reading
postings that say that there’s something
coming out in ‘08.
Darren: We don’t have it ready yet, no it’s
still being written.
fifty five
Paul: Still writing. Not sure when we’re
going to record it.
Darren: And, we’re always touring.
Now the last time that I chatted with you,
you were talking about New Orleans and
rebuilding your studio there. Has that even
started?
Paul: You know what, I’ve been trying to
get back to New Orleans for the past year,
it’s been extremely difficult which has
actually been disheartening for me, being
a New Orleans native. And that WAS the
original plan, we were going to try to get
back there, we were going to get a place
set up and start recording the second
record. Of course doing all the touring
we’ve been doing made that more difficult,
but even aside from that, I share this feel-
Darren Live at The Virgin Festival Toronto
ing with a lot of New Orleans natives who
have kind of relocated and would like to
come back, that the city has just made it
impractical to do that. It’s just, property tax
has gone through the roof, insurance is
insane right now and it’s almost impossible
to afford to move back and get a place
without moving into a haunted house. So
I don’t know. Real estate prices are just
through the roof right now, for houses that
were flooded, so I don’t know. I’m really
hoping that sooner or later the city is going
to begin to create some incentives for the
people who would like to come back and
not make it just for millionaires.
Darren: Maybe that’s the city’s plan. I just
realized that.
A city-wide cleansing of sorts. I don’t
know… that all sounds pretty sinister. So
you haven’t laid any new material down
yet?
Paul: I mean it’s all demo stuff, you know
and we’ll try a new song out here and
there on the tours and give it some
road miles. But yeah it’s still very, just
experimenting with song ideas right now.
Darren: As we keep getting more
and more possessions, bands and
compliments, at some point I thought
that it would calm down. We’ll get a bus
someday maybe, and at that point it’ll
be so much easier. But it’s been busier
somehow, there’s been more to keep up
with. And even at this point I would feel
like some sort of medium level of success
we’ve attained. It can be overwhelming,
and we want to make a great album. We
want to make the best album we can for
this next album, all of us and we all four
agree on that. We want to make as good
an album as we possibly can.
Are you feeling some of that second disk
pressure?
Darren: Yeah I think so. But the biggest
pressure, or the biggest challenge comes
from the fact that there are all these
other things to keep going and maintain,
especially in regards to touring and our
personal lives and all of this, all of this.
It’s a wave you ride on. If you’re on a
trajectory they kind of want to keep you
riding it. It keeps you out on the road,
keeps you touring, keeps you in front of
people. In my opinion I think you guys
have really gone from small independent
release through to a release on Warner
Brothers and now you seem to be heading
in a direction that’s very positive for
a band.
Darren: Had it progressed any faster I
don’t know if I could handle it. I really
don’t.
I look at bands like the Killers that went
from nothing to super-stars so fast. Then
how does that affect your ego, your home
life, your touring life, ‘cause playing such
a big capacity venue so quickly it’s got
to be a little daunting. I’m looking at you
guys headlining a festival tomorrow. I think
you’re doing another festival on this run
of dates.
Darren: Yeah Street Scene in San Diego.
A couple television performances as well.
It’s pretty fast.
Darren: Yeah it’s a lot. It’s great, I love it.
I love the action. I love staying this busy.
he thing you guys had just done last time
I talked to you was finish off your video for
“Typical.”.
Paul: We’re about to do it again.
You’re going to go back in for another
video shoot?
Paul: No the same one. But we’re going to
do it live on Jimmy Kimmel’s show.
So you’re not going to do anything
backwards this time?
Paul: We are. We’re going to recreate the
video on TV, with an audience.
Darren: Yeah that’ll be aired on the 19th of
this month.
That’s very OK GO of you.
Darren: That’s kind of been our take on
the whole experience.
Are you going to do another video for
your next single?
Paul: I hope so yes. We’ve been trying to
think for a long time what the ideal video
would be. Actually I don’t think, if I may, in
response to what you said, I don’t know
that it’s as OK GO of us as it is YouTube of
us. I think that it’s YouTube that’s changed
the scene. I’m excited about You Tube
cause it seems to have given new life to
the possibilities of music videos.
That seems to be where music videos
are watched. MTV and Much Music, no
offence to either of those stations, they
don’t play a lot of music. It’s a lot of shows
– and in my opinion a lot of bad shows.
I’m 40. I can’t take VJ’s anymore, I just
can’t stand it. And then to watch an hour
of music videos to see one band that I
like for five minutes, I’d rather just go
on YouTube.
Darren: How great is it that I can
pick anything that I want to see from
previous decades even and watch it,
and then live performances and all these
different things.
fifty six

And weird stuff, like credits from TV shows
or Super Friends stuff. It’s nuts the things
that’s on You Tube
Darren: My favourite thing I’ve found so
far on YouTtube is Stevie Wonder on
Sesame Street. He does “Superstition”
live on Sesame Street with what, I’m
imagining what has to have been just
his band in it’s prime. Every musician is
wonderful and there’s little kids dancing
and freaking out to it. And it’s in Sesame
Street, and towards the end of the video
he ends the song and then brings the
progression back for a reprise, and over
the chord progression and the vamp of
“Superstition” he starts singing the words
“Sesame Street where I want to be,” with
just the most, just the dirtiest melody, the
most soulful melody. It’s great. I love that.
That’s my favourite YouTube clip
I’ve found.
I can’t even remember that one from my
childhood. And I was a Sesame Street
freak.
Greg: And also I might add. Just for
discovering new artists. Nothing is nicer
than MySpace.
Paul: New artists and old, that you hadn’t
heard of before.
Now is that what you guys go to when
you’re looking for information on bands.
MySpace?
Greg: Definitely I use it in the research,
the bands to see how they are live, what
videos they have.
What about FaceBook any interest in that?
Paul: Never been on FaceBook.
Neither have I.
Greg: I have an account.
fifty seven
Darren: You do? Is it pleasant? it is useful?
Greg: To me all the social networks are
all the same.
One more password, one more logon,
one more online environment to get
compromised by hackers.
Ryan Shepard (Warner Music Rep): To me
FaceBook is to the older demographic.
Like MySpace is to our age group’s
listeners.
Thanks for lumping me in with your age
group there fella.
Ryan Shepard: I don’t consider you like
that, but a lot of my friend’s parents are
into that FaceBook stuff.
Darren: In Nashville a friend of mine put
together this website which was supposed
to be like MySpace without all the things
you don’t like about it. And they wanted to
keep it, idealistically they wanted to keep
it within their friends and they made it
invitation only.
Paul: It’s only Nashville right.
Darren: Yeah. Well I mean you can, it’s
called BuddyTown but you have to be
invited. Anyhow someone invited me into
BuddyTown and they gave me this account
and I checked it out. All my friends are on
it but I was just too busy, we were making
the album, so they purged me, they
vomited me out of the system, I was
banished from this colony. They recently
closed the website down for some reason
but at least in the Nashville area it
became very…
Like a prejudice thing?
Darren: I think so. It was weird, it felt like,
just like this experiment we did when I was
in second grade where the teacher passed
out coloured ribbons or something. Ev-
The
eryone had either red or blue, and the red Taking a precious day off on
people were the blue people’s servants
and then the next day it was flip flopped.
a pretty rigourous touring
Did you ever do anything similar to this? schedule, I got to chat with
Wildbirds
It was like a racial tension – it was Nicholas shortly after seeing
supposed to be an analogy, an example for
him play live with the Wildbirds
a day we were the minority who was being
taken advantage of. And it was awful. And at Virgin Festival. They were
us kids were horrible to each other. I was one of the new bands that
given Brianne Nichols who was my first really jumped out at me on the
crush. And she didn’t like me. So I gave
her hell. I would like drop a book on the
festival bill, and I wanted to
ground, and be like “Brianne I dropped my learn a bit more about them.
book.” So she’d have to pick it up, and They are a young, and hungry
the next day it was flip flopped I was her
band with some raw talent.
servant and I had to do whatever she told
me to. And of course the people who were The are ready to break out with
jerks the first day got it even worse the their debut CD. The question
second day. now is are we ready for them?
The circle is round. It all comes back to
you in the end... Mike: So you have a day off today?
Nicholas: Yeah. I think we’ve been kind of
Darren: Did I say something wrong there?
doing the run around for months now. My
Was that ok to say?
voice has finally decided to give out – let’s
Paul: Yeah, sure. You’re good Darren. just say it’s quite happy that we’ve got a
day off.
What time do you guys go on tonight?
That’s fair. So what are you doing?
Darren: 9 or 9:30. No earlier than 8:30 no
Where are you right now? Just hanging
later than 10:00.
out somewhere?
Cool. Looking forward to the gig. Thanks
Yeah we’re just in Nashville, sipping on
for chatting.
some coffee and last night’s show was re-
www.mutemath.com ally good. We’ve got to be in Atlanta some
www.myspace.com/mutemath
time tomorrow.
I saw you guys at Virgin Fest in Toronto.
Oh wonderful.
Interview with Nicholas Stuart I didn’t know anything about The Wild-
Conducted by Phone birds. Somebody, I forget who, just said
Sept 21st 2007 check them out they’re pretty cool and I’ve
Pictures and Interview by Mike Bax gotta agree. I really liked what I saw and
I’m glad that I got to check you out. I saw
you live first, so I went and bought your
album afterwards and played the studio
fifty eight
stuff sort of as an afterthought and I’m
wondering if that’s the kind of exposure
that you as a band are getting used to.
You’re playing live and people are kind of
gravitating to your sound.
Well it seems like, because we’re on an
indie label and the record just came out
and we’re pretty much booked until we
can’t take it anymore. Right now we’re
talking like January-February, we’re just
not going to go home until then really.
It seems like, we love to play live and
it seems like people get the gist pretty
well when we play a show, try to play a
convincing show and have a good time.
And we hope that people when they get
a record they enjoy it. I mean a lot of our
show is a little bit different than a record
but if you can enjoy them both it seems
like a rarity in this modern day.
Sure enough. Who do you feel your fan
base is mostly comprised of?
It’s hard to say. I think we definitely do
allright with a younger crowd, but it seems
like there’s a large amount of just like the
30 even 50 year olds that seem to love it
cause it’s somewhat nostalgic for them.
More like not so much 30 but like my
parents love it because it reminds them
of their hey day and all those things. So
that’s not necessarily what we set out to
do but we are fans of a lot of music that
was made 30 years ago. I’m quite fond of
the days when musicians could play their
instruments and sound good playing live
and all those things.
That’s my demographic dude. I’m of the
older, longer in the tooth generation. I’m
fourty so I fit into that just nicely.
My parents are 46 and yeah they talk
fondly of their high school years and we
love a lot of the same records now. It’s
interesting to sit and talk about records
fifty nine
Nicholas Live at The Virgin Festival Toronto
that were coming out when they were
young and now I’m coming around to –
I just turned 24. I think our goal is if we
write a good song that is enjoyed by
everybody. There’s a lot of bands out
there that are going after some like
well-dressed hipster crowd or trying to
get some demographic cause they think
it makes them look cool. And then like
anybody that can sit and enjoy our music
or dance along or have a beer or two, or
drive their car to, I really don’t care who it
is. It’s (inaudible) that people enjoy it.
Do you feel like you have to try a bit harder
cause your sound is sort of immersed in
classic rock, of the seventies?
As far as…
Selling units, playing live, booking gigs.
I mean, I knew nothing about you when I
saw you and what I saw was straight up
rock and roll, band that likes to play, and
you’re right I don’t see a whole lot of that
anymore.
I think it’s a lot of times a promoter will sit
there and think who do you package this
band with? And I think at moments that
can be a trouble but usually, that’s why
they end up throwing us on the headliner
spot cause we’re far more aggressive and
we’ve got a full range of tunes. But I think
that, if you listen to actual – you said you
have the record. I think the record shows
a lot of different sides of us. Live show
we’ve got like 25-30 minutes we’ll
play our balls to the wall set and not
necessarily get a chance to show the
wider range of songs.
Is the radio grabbing onto you? Are they
playing any of your stuff?
We actually just started any type of radio
thing. There was a bit of a delay from the
record release to the radio campaign – but
so far we’ve actually been doing really
well. Our college radio starts this week
and so that one is hard to say, but we’ve
been pretty happy in the last couple weeks
with our early commercial radio success.
Especially with when you’re on an indy
you don’t have the millions of dollars being
pumped into trying to convert radio
stations. People just have to like it. So
when somebody’s playing your music
multiple times a day on this station it
means a lot. Cause right now, I think right
now people are getting tired of being
forcefed music so when people wind up
simply liking our band it just means a ton
instead of pulling a favour or this or that.
That currency is getting a bit tired out.
There’s still people doing it but not in the
world that we’ve been working in.
I wouldn’t mind a favour here or there.
I saw your band walking around before
you played your set on the Saturday at
Virgin Festival. You just look like a band. Is
that conscious? Do you feel that you cater
to the Wildbirds look when you’re going
out and walking around or is that just
the way you guys are dressed, if you’re
hanging out in Wisconsin, not
playing music?
Yeah, I see that. It sort of is the way that –
we were talking about that the other day.
We were walking down the street and we
stopped off in Alabama and people are
just looking at us like we’re fucking crazy.
And we just don’t get it because we’re on
tour, I’ve got two pairs of jeans, a couple
like white t-shirts, couple pairs of boots
and that’s all I have. It all fits into a tiny
suitcase and everybody’s sort of the same
thing. And I think I guess we’ve stopped
thinking about it, how we’ve gotten
comfortable dressing and now to us it
doesn’t feel different or weird, but you kind
of like see people and they look at you
like you’re crazy and you think like I guess
we’re dressed different, I guess our hair’s
longer than the next person. But I don’t
really think about it on a daily basis just
because everybody in my band looks
that way. It’s definitely not like a mental
thing it’s more just something you kind
of get used to day after day, you get ac-
customed to.
You do look the part.
That’s good I guess.
If somebody was walking up to you, lets
say they didn’t know anything about your
sound or anything, and they asked you
what you sound like – what do you tell
them?
I usually say it’s rock and roll and then
they usually say everybody says they’re
rock and roll. I just say it’s the kind of rock
and roll that you can smile and dance to
and we can smile and dance to. I think a
lot of times rock and roll, especially mod-
ern rock is synonymous with people mak-
ing tough guy faces and loaded up on ev-
ery drug they can find because they think
that’s part of the shtick. But for us we just
love playing music and we love getting
better, we love playing with each other,
and if somebody’s drinking too much or
doing too much to keep their head in the
game we’re just like dude we’re in this for
the music, we’re in this for the experience.
At the end of the day just having pride in
what we do, and if we can’t wake up in
the morning and accomplish anything, or
anything that’s mildly positive then it’s not
really worth it. We’re fucking broke. It’s not
worth it if we’re just adding to the list of
waster bands. That’s how I kind of feel and
so, yeah I think that’s… I just think there’s
just too many of them and I don’t want to
be added to the list of another band that
thinks they’re amazing cool and really has
nothing to say or nothing to… at the end
of the day they’re just doing it because
they can’t hold onto job. I can hold down a
job if I want to, I just prefer to do this.
That’s fair, and why not, I mean if you can
do it and you can tour around and see the
world, I can think of few things better if
you’ve got the talent to pull it off.
Yeah absolutely, I mean that being said
there’s weeks where we have our share of
partying, and weeks for that. But there’s
also weeks where you’ve got to get up –
well we don’t get up early we just stay up
really late working.
Did you know Hugh (Masterson) before
he joined you as a touring band member?
That must have been kind of weird losing
sixty

your bassist right after your album was in
the can.
Yeah that was, it was an interesting
transition cause my brother was playing
bass for us and as long as I’ve been
playing music, or most of my musical
career I had been playing with my brother.
But when Hugh came in, it actually was
amazingly seamless. He’s a great player
and we just spent tons of time just
hanging out because we knew what we
were going to get into. And once we hit
the road it was even more intense than
we thought but it took a couple months of
hiking it out and dealing with stuff. It’s just
like a relationship, you really need to
communicate cause when you start, you
get in a van and everybody’s tired out
and you start basically throwing pissing
matches like you do this, I do this. It goes
downhill pretty quick, you can see it easily
burning out. And so throwing a new guy
into the mix you don’t really know how
to work with them, so it took a couple
months and I think all of us have finally, it
would feel crazy if it wasn’t us four now.
It’s like a really tight family all four of us
now. I did know Hugh briefly. He liked the
band while we were just getting started,
playing our early shows. And then we’d
go down to Milwaukee which is a couple
hours from us and hang out. He worked
for Pabst Blue Ribbon, so got us nice and
loaded up. And now that he joined the
band our supply got cut off.
Cool. So I notice on your MySpace you’re
coming back through Canada into
November.
Yeah with that band White Cowbell
Oklahoma.
I’ve never heard of them.
I’d never heard of them either but I’ve
looked into the band and they seem like a
sixty one
Mathew Reetz Live at The Virgin Festival Toronto
(riot) it should be a good tour.
Are you headlining those gigs or are you
opening?
I believe we are somewhere in the middle,
like a main support. Yeah cause we’ve only
played Canada twice, El Mocambo and
then Virgin Festival. So we’ve got to piggy
back on somebody for the first run.
I’ll drive out and see you at the Starlight in
Waterloo for sure, it’s only an hour away.
Oh that would be amazing.
It’s a good club man, I think you’ll like
there, it’s a good little venue. Cool. I won’t
keep you. Thanks for chatting.
www.thewildbirds.com/
www.myspace.com/thewildbirds
New CD Reviews
I think my wife is worried about me.
Everytime she gets in the car these
days, she’s ejecting the new Fightstar
CD from the in-dash player. That just
means it’s really beefy! By: Mike Bax
Fightstar
One Day Son, This Will All Be Yours
Gut Recordings (UK)
One Day Son, This Will All Be Yours (ODSTWABY) is the second mock singing their lyrics. ‘Death Car’ is such an amazing tune.
full length CD from England’s Fightstar (their third if you count It kicks in with a subtle inhale, and smashes you in the face
They Liked You Better When You Were Dead as a full length - the with Charlie’s pummeling lyrics – bleated at top volume for 20
recording tends to be solicited as an EP, but it’s long enough to seconds or so. Then it falls into the nicest little chorus on the
be considered a full length player. entire CD. The contrast of intensity to serenity is not really new,
but it’s done exceptionally well. I don’t know if this track will find
Fans who own Grand Unification will already attest that Fightstar
have some great riffs, and utilize their two vocalist delivery of it’s way to the radio... but it will be a eagerly awaited live track
when the band are performing for years to come.
lyrics to fullest potential. ODSTWABY is a complete and total
upping of the ante when compared to Grand Unification. And ‘Floods’ on the other hand, will totally be a single. It leads in with
Grand Unification is a super CD. To say this is one of the best a clever piano intro, and quickly fills out with stunning guitar riffs
CDs I’ve heard this year would not do the CD justice. Charlie and some of the catchiest lyrics on the CD. I’m not sure how
Simpson, along with bandmates Dan Haigh; Omar Abidi and Alex many Muse fans will call up Fightstar when they are discussing
Westaway have carved out a CD that should easily see them on bands they like in similarity. But one listen to ‘Floods’, and the
the UK top 20. Muse camps will surely be hooked.
The band flew to the states earlier this year and camped out in ODSTWABY is a stunning CD from beginning to end. It’s a hugely
L.A., to work with Matt Wallace (Faith No More’s Angel Dust; The ambitious recording for the band, and should see them through to
Real Thing and Introduce Yourself recordings) for a few months. their largest fan base to date. I think my wife is worried about me.
Perhaps that’s why this CD really sings out to me. I still Angel Every time she gets in the car these days, she’s ejecting the new
Dust like it was brand new recording. It’s one of my all time Fightstar CD from the in-dash player. That just means it’s really
favourite recordings. Listening to ODSTWABY on headphones beefy! I’m playing it every day, and will continue to do so for the
will yield all sorts of little nuggets. Band members whooping, foreseeable future. The disc is not available for sale in any stores
birds chirping, and vocalists submerging their heads in water. domestically yet, but it is sitting on both iTunes and eMusic. Check it
Listening to ODSTWABY makes me want to prop my foot up on out, and prepare to be amazed - there’s not a dog track on the disc.
a chair and belt out some full-on Ronnie James Dio poses whilst It’s all good!
www.fightstarmusic.com
www.myspace.com/fightstar
SIXTY TWO
Augie March
Moo, You Bloody Choir
Red Ink / Zomba / Jive / Sony
I love hearing music from other countries.
If nothing else, it’s neat to hear what sells
in other countries. Case in point – Augie
March. An Australian band that have been
around for more than ten years now, and
Moo, You Bloody Choir is their third studio
release. The CD has been out since late
2006 in Australia, where Augie March are
somewhat of a sensation. Their sound is
somewhere between the Cold War Kids,
and Copeland – but they manage to sound
a bit more fragile on the majority of the
CD. Check out ‘Bottle Baby’ and ‘Honey
Month’ and listen to how frail they seem
to sound. Lead single ‘One Crowded Hour’
alludes to something a bit different than
what the CD actually has on it for sound.
While this CD din’t knock my socks off –
I do find myself returning to a few tracks
on the disc – in particular ‘Victoria’s
Secrets’ which grows on me a bit more
every time I play it. The songwriting is well
crafted, and their sound is very estab-
lished. Like most foreign bands, they’ll
have their work cut out for them in North
America. There’s material on this CD that
could totally catch the mainstream market.
www.augie-march.com
www.myspace.com/augiemarch
Sixty three
The Manchester Orchestra
I’m Like a Virgin Losing A Child
Red Ink / Favourite Gentlemen / Sony
Originally released on small label Fa-
vourite Gentlemen in 2006, Red Ink now
brings the The Manchester Orchestra’s
first release out for a wider audience. The
indie-kids will all tell you I’m Like a Virgin
Losing A Child is as strong a release as
they come. They may even be right. The
song-writing on the CD is certainly
heartfelt. And the composition is also
solid. But here’s the rub - there isn’t
really a song that jumps out at me and
say’s ‘love me’. The entire disc plays
through well, and I find I enjoy it… but
it’s kind of like 45 minutes of room-tone
to me. Fronted by 19 year old Andy Hull –
and comprised of the same age
demographic – The Manchester
Orchestra is a very young band. they
certainly has time to grow an audience.
If you follow the online hype on the band,
it seems they are headed for bigger
things. And until I can discern a favourite
song from the CD, I’ll just continue to
play it through for the time being.
www.themanchesterorchestra.com
www.myspace.com/manchesterorchestra
Caribou
Andorra
Merge Records / Indoor Recess (Canada)
Caribou is the brainchild of PhD /
Musician Dan Snaith. Formerly a
Torontonian, Snaith now resides in London,
England and has been composing music
since 2000 (formerly Dan recorded as
Manitoba – but was forced to change
the name of his band to Caribou due to
a lawsuit from Richard ‘Handsome Dick’
Manitoba for moniker infringement). Sniath
tends to record his music himself, and then
tours the material with a back-up band (as
he will do touring Andorra through 2008).
Listening to Andorra is like popping on an
old LSD recording from the sixties. The CD
totally reminds me of Syd Barrett era Pink
Floyd – but with lyrics that are more upbeat
than Barrett’s. The enigma on Andorra is
the last track ‘Niobe’, a beat driven tune
that showcases some of snaith’s DJing
days. The song runs eight minute long, and
it’s a pulsating number that could wind up
mixed into a Paul Van Dyk dance set. Niobe
feels a bit out of place, but it is my favourite
song on the disc. Andorra is a solid piece of
music – and gets more interesting to
me the more I listen to it.
www.caribou.fm
www.myspace.com/cariboumanitoba
Principe Valiente
4 track Demo
self released
Vocalist Fernado Honorato sent me this
EP via MySpace. Based out of Stockholme,
Principe Valiente have a fresh sound, and
have four tracks on this EP that suggest
they could be a major player should they
land a record deal. Fernado sings with
a bit of a low monotone that hints at a
love of Ian Curtis and Interpol. ‘Speed
Of Light’ is a lengthy track (almost 6
minutes) that starts off with a simple
guitar intro, and morphs into a very vocal
track, filled with both atmosphere and
ambition. EP’s like this really deserve to
find an audience, and I’m glad I wound
up on Honoratio’s radar. I go back to the
4 tracks on this little independent release
as often as some of the bigger name CDs
I’ve been playing in the past two months.
Principe Valiente’s music is both timely,
and well crafted. Pop by their myspace
and play some of these songs. You’ll be
impressed. I promise.
www.principevaliente.com
www.myspace.com/principevaliente
The Donnas
Bitchin’
Purple Peather Records
Never a band to mince their musical
inclinings, The Donnas new CD Bitchin’
pretty much tells you what you’re going
to get right on the cover. A girls purple
leather-clad ass with Judas Priest style
lettering plastered across the top of the
album artwork. Take a guess at what it
sounds like. That’s right – The disc plays
like late 70s early 80s hard rock. I must
admit to scoffing at this CD when I got
the link to stream the CD. But I gotta give
the girls their credit, one play and I was
hooked. Maybe there’s still some room in
the music biz (and my heart) for this style
of cock-rock. I certainly thought I had it
all out of my system decades ago. Tracks
like ‘Don’t Wait Up For Me’, ‘Save Me’
and ‘Girl Talk’ are all all tracks that based
on my musical interests, I should outright
hate. But I can’t help it. I love them.
Bitchin’ is a cool CD. Even more
amazing – was that recently I went to
see this CD performed live. And now I
like it even more. I’ve been asleep at the
wheel with the Donnas. I aim to scoop up
some back catalog and catch myself up.
www.thedonnas.com
www.myspace.com/thedonnas
Die Mannequin
Slaughter Daughter EP
How To Kill Music / Warner Music
Fronted by Care Failure, Slaughter
Daughter is the second EP release from
Die Manneguin. RIsing from the ashes of
Failure’s first band, The Bloody Manne-
quins, Die Mannequin has performed live
dates in bars and dives all over Canada,
and have opened for both Buckcherry
and Guns N’ Roses.
Slaughter Daughter is 5 songs long. 4
new studio tracks and a demo. This is
another CD I can’t seem to get enough
of. The opening song ‘Do It Or Die’ kicks
in with a bad-ass chant over some killer
guitar riffs. It’s a fine lead-in song, and
has been chosen as a lead single with
a video getting some play on the Much.
‘Upside Down Cross’ is the real gem on
the CD in my books. Starting off with with
some whispered lyrics, and building into
a stunning chorus, it will be a song to see
live indeed. And, seeing as Die
Mannequin are opening for both Finger
Eleven and Sum 41 in the coming
weeks, make sure you get out there
and stick your devil forks in the air
when she’s playing.
www.myspace.com/diemannequin
sixty four
The Scenario
EP
769 MPH
A London, Ontario band, no less. Recently
nominated for an award locally in Scene
Magazine, the Scenario seem on their way
to breaking out on the Canadian music
scene.
Their sound is current, fitting in along side
some of the post-punk bands coming out
of our area. Lead Track ‘Don’t Wait Up’
boasts some nice guitarwork, and is a
poppy tune with some radio appeal. It’s
the track I seem to keep playing the most.
I do enjoy the fiffth track, ‘The Whisper’
as well. It feels like it owes a bit too much
to some the Emo that has been playing
over the past few years. Still, it’s a decent
song, and it’s on an EP that really is quite
remarkable for the bands first effort.
THey have some live dates coming up
in late October at both the Mod Club in
Toronto and The Casbah in Hamilton. They
will assuredly play again here in London
soon as well. Totally worth a listen.
www.thescenariomusic.com
www.myspace.com/scenario1
sixty five
She Wants Revenge
This Is Forever
Perfect Kiss / Geffen
For a band I had initially written off as
another Interpol... I’m finding myself
changing my tune a bit with CD number
two. Vocalist Justin Warfield will make
no bones about saying he’s infuenced
by both the Cure and Joy Division, but
This Is Forever plays a bit easier than the
bands first disc (which sold an impressive
300,000 units in the USA alone).
‘Walking Away’ has an interesting piano
track that seems to play a little tug of
war with Warfield’s vocals throughout
the track. ‘True Romance’ bounces along
with a total Depeche Mode-styled drum
beat - yet the track is signature She
Wants Revenge.
I dare say, the CD seems almost happy
in places, something I’d have never
said about the first CD’s material. ‘What
I Want’, with it’s tinny guitar riff and
simple, yet catchy chorus will keep me
coming back for more.
This new material is making re-think the
first CD - a recording I gave up on maybe
a bit too easily.
www.shewantsrevenge.com
www.myspace.com/shewantsrevenge
BIffy Clyro
Puzzle
Warner Music
A brilliant CD from beginning to end, Puzzle
brings enough elements of BIffy’s past three
CD’s to keep their UK fanbase happy, but
production by Garth Richardson and Mixing
by Andy Wallace seems to somehow make
this CD a bit friendlier to North American
audiences.
I don’t mean to suggest that Biffy couldn’t
sell a CD in North America prior to Puzzle.
Blackened Sky, The Vertigo Of Bliss and
Infinity Land all have some excellent mate-
rial on them to be sure. Puzzle just seems
to have the right combination of staple
Biffy, but somehow every track on Puzzle
is a gem. It’s a CD that you will play from
beginning to end again and again. ‘As Dust
Dances / 2/15ths’ show’s Vocalist Simon
Neil at both his most hearfelt and then later
in the song, wailing at his highest pitch.
Just one small magic moment on a disc
filled with precious song-craft. ‘Living Is A
Problem Because Everything Dies’, ‘Satur-
day Superhouse’, ‘Who’s Got A Match?’ and
‘Get Fucked Stud’ are all prime examples
of why this CD will soon become one of the
most cherished discs in your collection.
www.biffyclyro.com
www.myspace.com/biffyclyro
Wintersleep
Welcome To The Night Sky
Labwork Music
Landing somewhere in between an early
Neil Young / Built to Spill / Mogwai jam
session - Wintersleeps third CD is a
majestic CD that should appeal to music
fans of all ages.
Opening Track ‘Drunk On Aluminum’
sets the mood for the CD’s ten songs
- featuring a low-buzzing rattle that takes
on a life of it’s own throughout the CD.
Spanning quiet vocals, crunching guitars
and soulful keyboarding, after the first
track is winds down, you’ll then be kicked
right into ‘Archaeologists’, a rolling,
upbeat track, that is destined for my
iTunes Top 25 most played songs.
I can’t get enough of it.
‘Laserbeams’ builds it’s way to a
thundering crescendo, sure to please any
Mogwai fan, and outro track ‘Miasmal
Smoke & The Yellow Bellied Freaks’ is
an 8 minute opus that surely will be a
component of the bands 2007 touring set
of songs. It showcases everything that’s
awesome about Wintersleep.
Another fine Candian band.
www.wintersleep.com
www.myspace.com/wintersleep
Jesca Hoop
Kismet
Sony BMG / Red Ink
Jesca Hoop’s musical styling can easily
be pulled from bits and pieces of her
upbringing. Raised mormon until her par-
ents slit up, Hoop went from a regiment-
ed home life, to living with just her mom,
then onto singing in choirs, smoking pot,
living in southern US mountain ranges
helping troubled children, to becoming
a nanny for Tom Waits’s three children.
All the while honing her musical craft.
Writing songs to suit her needs wherever
she was.
Waits and his wife took Hoop under their
wing, and saw her budding talent, helped
her out with some of their inductry con-
nections, and things just started to move
for Hoop.
He songs are lyrically diverse, often
performed with just a guitar, just her tone
and vocal delivery will appeal to fans of
both Tori Amos and Regina Spektor.
Tracks like ‘Enemy’, ‘Intelligentactile’ and
‘Dreams In The Hollow’ are all choice
tracks to sample. They show off some
superb song-writing and Hoops ability to
pull off a song musically as well.
www.jescahoop.com
www.myspace.com/jescahoop
Soulsavers
It’s Not How Far You Fall,
It’s The Way You Land
Sony / Red Ink
Ex-Screaming Trees frontman Mark
Lanegan churns up 10 gospel-tinged
tracks of buzzing soul-drenched musical
diversity. I’d say Spiritualized fans would
totally enjoy the Disc. Which is appropri-
ate, as The Soulsavers just wrapped up
some dates in Europe with Spiritualized.
But unlike Spiritualized’s volcals, Lanegan
tends to howl more like Tom Waits with a
leg caught in a bear trap.
‘Revival’ intros the CD, and sets the
gospel tone of the band immediately
while the second track ‘Ghosts Of You
& Me’ takes the listener into feedback
laiden, more Waits like terrain. The quiet,
almost ambient ‘Ask The Dust’ feels like
a track you could pass out to after a hard
night of clubbing... that is until 2 minutes
into the track when the feedback and
bottomed out guitars fill out the rest of
the song. ‘Through My Sails’ is likely my
favourite from the CD. It’s a bitter-sweet
song lyric-wise - but it’s delivered to the
listener so delicately... it’s a fnatastic
song.
Now, if only we could convince them to
come to Canada. And bring Spiritualized!
thesoulsavers.com
www.myspace.com/soulsavers
sixty six
Sunset Rubdown
Random Spirit Lover
JagJaguwar
Began as a solo project of Spencer Krug
of Wolf Parade, Now, it’s Krug with Jordan
Robson-Cramer, Michael Doerksen, and
Camilla Wynne Ingr.
Krug, hailing from Montreal (the melting
pot of all things cool for Canadian music
these days) seems to be another musician
who can’t sit still. Touring for both bands
and recording for both bands keeps him
in vested in music pretty much full time.
Add that Krug is also invested in both
Frog Eyes and Swan Lake projects - it’s
pretty obvious that he’s into music for the
long haul.
Listeniong to Sunset Rubdown is a mixed
bag for me. I enjoy about 50% of the
material, but find the other 50% is too out
there for me.
‘Up on Your Leopard, Upon the End of Your
Feral Days’ is like a carnival music gone
horribly wrong. But Stallion’ is the exact
opposite - a great song I replay often.
The Rubdown might not be everyone’s
bag, but there’s material on the disc worth
lending an ear to.
www.sunsetrubdown.net
www.myspace.com/sunestrubdown
sixty seven
Torngat
You Could Be
Alien8 Recordings
This could be the happiest music I’ve
heard all year. The recording sounds
very parisian, like a frolic down the back
streets in a french wine district.
Torngat is fully instrumental music, and
pulls influence from Tom Waits, Pen-
guin Cafe Orchestra and Patric Watson.
Think musically what Tim Burton/Danny
Elfman’s music could sound like if it was
not so morose.
I like playing Torngat when I’m working.
It’s uplifting stuff, that could easily be
score music for films.
‘Bordeaux Boredom’, ‘Minute By Minute’
and ‘Suite A) Steps To A Lively Dance’
could easliy score scenes in the next
Christoper Nolan film.
My favourite track is ‘Mouton Noir’, a
slower, more heartfelt song, that boast
some fine subtle trumpet-work.
Torgat plays like ‘Arcade Fire’ out-takes,
which is appropriate - as Torngat band
member Pietro Amato has recorded with
Arcade Fire.
www.torngat.ca
www.myspace.com/torngat
Fim School
Hideout
Beggars Banquet
A signature sound that I can’t seem to
get enough of is early nineties shoegazer
music. Anything akin to Ride, Chapterhouse
and My Bloody Valentine is pretty near and
dear to my heart.
Film School bring enough swirling
dirvish-guitar souds, light yet dronish
vocals and muted melodies to their
material, shoegazer fans should embrace
the material.
‘Two Kinds’ is a slam dunk. Featuring Greg
Burten’s light vocals over one of the simpler
songs on the CD - it’s the song that really
pulled me into the band on first play. Now
that I’ve heard the disc through mutiple
times, tracks like ‘Capitalized I’, ‘What I
Meant To Say ‘, ‘Compare’ and ‘Plots And
Plans’ are all pretty high on my list of key
fracks from Hideout.
For readers that needs a bit more nudging -
Colm O’Ciosoig (My Bloddy Valentine)
and Paul Wilson (Snow Patrol) are guest
musicians on the CD, which was mixed by
Phil Ek (Built To Spill, Band Of Horses & The
Shins).
Hideout is a classic. I’m going to suss out
the bands first CD based on the strength of
this CD.
www.filmschoolmusic.com
www.myspace.com/filmschool
Emma Pollock
Watch The Fireworks
4AD
Emma was a member of Glaswegian
band the Delgados and spent 10 years
contributing to their excellent discogra-
phy.
Watch The Fireworks is Emma’s first
commercial release as a solo artist. 4AD
is a good fit for her sound, which can
easily draw similarities to many of the
labels female songstress roster of talent.
In fact... I find a few tracks on Watch The
Fireworks remind me of Kristin Hersh
and Tanya Donelly’s mellower Throwing
Muses material. ‘Limbs’ chorus of ‘They
Can Take You Higer’ over the guitar and
piano melody is a prime example.
‘This Rope’s Getting Tighter’ and ‘Here
Comes the Heartbreak’ are both tracks
that stand out on a disc that’s full of
some fine music.
Emma’s currently doing some live dates
opening for The New Pornographers. I’m
sure she’ll lend some gravitas to that
double bill of great live music.
www.emmapollock.com
www.myspace.com/emmapollock
Voxtrot
s/t
Play Louder / Beggars Banquet
One of the finest new bands on the
market right now, Voxtrot have courted
favourable press for the past few years,
garnering articles on Spin.com and
Pitchfork Media - with no commercial CD
releases to their name.
The band still remain indie-darlings and
have three EPs under their belt (one self
released, and two released on Texas lable
Cult Hero Records) prior to the release for
their self titled debut.
Lyrics like ‘Cheer Me Up, Cheer Me Up,
I’m a miserable fuck!’ sung over upbeat
music swirling with pianos and lovely
guitar melodies... when I listen to this CD
I feel like they could be this generations
Smiths.
There’s not a dud track on the disc, with
the strongest song ‘ Blood Red Blood’
closing the CDs eleven tracks.
Voxtrot are a band just poised to explode
on the North American market, a fact I’m
sure will be enhanced by opening for the
Arctic Monkeys on their current run of
dates. It’s a primo opening slot for a band
capaple of writing material as strong as
the Arctic Monkeys stuff.
www.voxtrot.net
www.myspace.com/voxtrot
Liquid Eclipse
The Elements
indie
Liquid Eclipse is the brainchild of Dale
Pantalione. Written, produced and
recorded by Pantalione, The Elements
has got a few areas that sound a bit
rough on the vocals... but the bottom line
is there’s some choice material on the
CD. Certainly, the music is very well
crafted. Check out the instrumental
tracks, all numbered as ‘Alchemy One,
Two Three and Four’. They are all
intriquing musical tracks.
Pantalione’s vocals remind me of late
eighties industrial music, like Front 242
and Nitzer Ebb. Very rough and gristle
in places, but able to carry a tune none
the less.
With some of the poop that’s currently
flooding the airwaves and music
television stations, it’s refreshing to
see and hear that grass-roots music
recording is still alive and well. If
nothing else, The Elements shows some
forward thinking from an individual
who is honing his craft.
liquid-eclipse.com
www.myspace.com/liquideclipse
sixty eight
Highpersonic Whomen
Push The Limit
Exogenic Records Playground Music
Their bio refers to them as a dance
engine. And, it’s a verey appropriate
moniker for Make Louhio and Tommi
Sirkiä. This recording pulses with big beats
from beginning to end.
While I do feel this style of electronic
music has a dwindling audience, I’m
still one of them, and this CD is high
quality techno music. Mixed with moments
of pure beat driven mayhem, through
to some more sombre trance - Push The
Limit features 70 minutes of great music
for fans of electro-clash.
Typically, tracks from assorted bands will
make their way onto DJ CD compilations...
and the DJ seems to lift all of the glory for
the music in his or her set. Highpresonic
Whomen are making the music that is on
this CD, and it plays like some of the finer
mixed CDs on the market. Check it out.
www.highpersonic.net
www.myspace.com/highpersonicwhomen
sixty nine
Animal Collective
Strawberry Jam
Domino Recording Co.
I had my work cut out for me on this one.
I was on track three of this disc in the car
when my wife looked at me and asked
just what the hell was I playing.
Strawberry Jam is that kind of CD. On
‘#1’ the vocals are all tinged with
distortion, and sound like about 3am on
a two tab LSD trip. ‘Cuckoo Cuckoo’ has
the vocals ironed out, but the music
is totally blown out and distorted
throughout the song. It’s almost like
you wince through the song.
Yet ‘For Reverend Green’ is a track I
don’t mind at all.
Overall... I find I eject this CD before it’s
played though.
www.myspace.com/animalcollectivethe-
band
Architecture In Helsinki
Places Like This
Polyvinyl Records
with the opening space invaders sound ef-
fects through the first track calypso-tinged
head bopper ‘Red Turned White’, you know
your in for a treat listening to Architecture In
Helsinki’s new disc.
They meld multi-layered rhythms with their
‘fa-la-la-la’ style of vocals to such extent,
it’s no wonder they’ve toured around with
David Byrne. They sound like the ambient
noise that I’m sure is rattling around in
Byrne’s head.
I can’t play this CD without bopping my
head from side to side. It can’t be helped.
It’s like playing a modern-day B52s.
‘Lazy (Lazy)’ is the only track on the CD I
don’t really care for. It’s kind of a slow, fat,
rambler of a song. The remaining 10 songs
though – they are stellar. I can only imagine
what Architecture In Helsinki would be like
live. If their lively music is any inclining at
all, they’d be a happy pandemonium to
watch on stage .
architectureinhelsinki.com
www.myspace.com/aihmusic
(Hed)P.E.
Insomnia
Suburban Noize
I was suprised by two things on this
CD. Firstly, that the band was even still
around. I figured Fred Durst had killed
this genre of music dead a few years
ago. Secondly... I was totally knocked out
by some of the songs on the CD.
‘Habeus’ is a great song. As is ‘Mirrorbal-
lin’ (in a totally overtly sexual kind of way)
and openiong track ‘Madhouse’.
‘Children’, sampling Jefferson Airplane’s
tune all the way through the track - it
works as a song. Final song ‘Dont Let Me
Down’ is also pretty damn addictive.
‘Comeova2nite’ is all homey this and
gangsta that. It made me feel kind of sily
listeing to it. There’s a few moments like
that on Insomnia, but overall... the CD is
solid, and plays more like a hardcore CD
than anything the band has done in the
past decade. If you can get your head
around the nü metal roots... you may just
enjoy this CD. I sure did.
hedshop.com
www.myspace.com/hedpe
Mondo Generator
Dead Planet
Suburban Noize
This is a tough CD to review, having just
seen Queens of The Stone Age rock-out
to 3300 people in Toronto a few days
ago. Oliveri’s signature vocals wil forever
be tied to the first three Queens CDs, and
I missed him on stage with Homme.
Fortunately for us, Oliveri is now
focusing all of his energy towards
Mondo Generator. Dead Planet boasts
a weighty 17 songs, with nuggets like
‘Lie Detector’, ‘All Systems Go’ (a total
hardcore 1.23 minute special), ‘So High’
and ‘Paper Thin’ Oliveri has a battery
of tracks to regale his audience with
when he plays live.
There’s even a beer-drinking anthem
on the disc in the form of ‘Sam Hall’,
thrashed out to the all-too-familiar riff of
‘She’ll Be Coming ‘Round The Mountain’
Oh yes... and it’s a great song too!
Dead Planet is a solid CD. There’s
nothing really stand-out on the CD for
the radio or anything, but I think Oliveri
would be alright with that comment.
There’s some balls-out rock and roll to
be sure, and that’s what his fan base
seems to crave.
mondogenerator.com/
www.myspace.com/mondogenerator
Kiss
Kissology Volume 2
VH1 Classic Records / Fontana North
If this kind of material was readily
available when I was a teenager, I might
have actually become a Kiss fan. This 3
DVD set is utterly integral to a Kiss fan.
It covers the 1978-1991 era. Which is
the era I remember the band most from
(when I was 12 - 24 old).
Kissology Volume 2 collects seven hours
worth of their TV appearances from this
era, some incredible concert footage,
and the complete European cut of Kiss
In Attack Of The Phantoms, which you’ll
be glad to know is no better now than it
was then.
In the early eighties, Kiss shed their
make-up, along with band mates Ace
Frehley and Peter Criss, and brought on
Eric Carr. It was a changing time for the
band, and watching this progress through
this archival footage is pretty interesting -
even to me, the casual fan.
No fan can really pass up on this set.
With Volume 3 already announced... one
could enmass a whole 24 hours of Kiss
footage by the time the sets are all
released. Imagine what a fine day
watching all of THAT all at once could be?
www.kissonline.com
seventy
www.fazer.ca