weird canada » Interviews

Imprint :: Electric Voice

admin — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 12:30:47 +0000

Electric Voice
Truro, NS
::web/sounds::

Matt Samways is a young upstart from Truro, the so-called ‘hub’ of Nova Scotia. Before touching the age of 20 he led the pitiless doom punk of Pig, started the Electric Voice imprint, and played sideman to Scribbler and the Friendly Dimension. He has once again departed on another musical continuum with his latest project, Transfixed, a more sinister and contemplative vision of the futuristic isolation and robotic vocals of Kraftwerk and Gary Numan.

Electric Voice is not exclusive to the regional talent of the 902, but has entertained releases from across Canada, with ambitions to release music from around the globe. Up next is a 12” from Jeff & Jane Hudson, who were part of the New York No Wave movement during the late ’70s and early ’80s, arguably one of the greatest incubators for creative music of all genres, ever. Matt kindly took the time to answer some questions.

Zachary Fairbrother
Contributor
Weird Canada // Lantern
http://weirdcanada.com // http://lantern.bandcamp.com

Transfixed – Coaxial Mirage

What inspired you to start a label?

It was conceived as a vanity label in 2008 with a partner I was collaborating with at the time, who actually titled the label. It was suggested by a peer that we began documenting our releases to enhance professionalism. We had no intentions of channeling anything other than our own material. As our group was disbanding a personal desire to continue the archive still existed. My friends are all making extremely good music and I can’t suppress supporting it materialize.

Since Pig split, you’ve devoted much of your attention to Electric Voice. Are you taking a break from music or do you prefer running label?

I wasn’t really interested in performing or releasing my own music at the time, but I wanted to keep contributing to the physical production of it. I hold a strong value in the aesthetic of sound and its presentation, and the idea of being able to manipulate it is appealing to me. About a year ago I started receiving funding from the Government of Nova Scotia via the Emerging Business Music Program on behalf of Electric Voice. That defiantly provided me with a lot of motivation to get the label off the ground and start working outside the current community in Halifax and Montreal. Though I am becoming passionate about the label, I am a musician first and still focus on writing and recording with aspirations of touring the material. Putting a lot of energy into the label in turn benefits my musical endeavors.

Transfixed is quite a departure from your previous musical adventures. How is it related/un-related to other projects?

The formation of Transfixed was completely organic. It is a collaborative project between myself, Ian Phillips and a number of rotating musicians. We had no intentions of forming a group when we first started playing together, but when we discovered that the house we had been jamming in was previously owned by Ian’s grandparents in the early ’60s, and that his grandfather grew up in the house, we decided to channel our time spent there with Transfixed. It has become an interesting and rapidly progressing project that there’s no reason to stop. Our ideas are constantly abstracting themselves and moving faster than we create the music. It’s exciting and with the lack of expectation we have become more prolific than any other project I’ve been involved with.

With my other projects/collaborations there has been a lot more premeditation on the sounds and how they should be presented. It becomes tough when a collective of people share the same visions without matching the logistics. The extrasensory parts of music can be difficult to communicate. I also work with Troy Richter and the Friendly Dimension in molding his sounds.

Synthesizers or guitars?

Guitars that sound like synthesizers. I think the combination can be a masterful force when properly conducted. I am ultimately a guitar player, but I’ve been spending a lot of time learning the keyboard. For the last few months I’ve hardly touched my guitar.

You hitchhike between Truro and Halifax. It seems like hitchhiking is a fading activity. Do you enjoy it, and do you have any good stories? Have you met some interesting people? Where is the farthest you’ve hitched?

It’s never really been something I enjoyed, but it’s done out of necessity. When I cannot afford to be bussing back and forth, it’s usually my only means to get to practices/gatherings, as all of the bands I play in are based in Halifax. I live back and forth from Halifax and Truro, which are about an hour’s drive apart. Truro is very isolated and is a great environment to work in, though can be compromising with my schedule.

I’ve only been hitching through Nova Scotia and Newfoundland for the last five years. I’ve been consistently traveling this way and have never encountered any trouble. Dress nice with a clean appearance. A lot of mothers have picked me up, also on- and off-duty police officers. The only questionable encounter was a lady who spoke in a thick rural Nova Scotian tongue. She picked my friend and I up in the dark and was drinking Faxe 10 (strong beer). She had what looked like 3-4 empty cans on the floor of her side of the car. It was a little unsetting but she was considerably collected and coherent. She had a bizarre way of twisting her words together that was oddly poetic.

You seem like an ambitious young man. What are your dreams for the Electric Voice Label?

I don’t class my visions with the label as dreams, because I don’t think they are anything we can’t achieve. The people I surround myself with are individually gifted at what they do. Thankfully all of the resources are presented, making it simple to have a pragmatic sense of work. I certainly am young; therefore I am not looking to execute the foundation process in short time. I will keep experimenting with formats and presentation, and try not to exhaust our resources. In time I will spend time refining the label and as expected with any small business or hobby, sustainability is key.

What other labels do you find inspiring and/or really dig and why?: To those who know me this may sound biased because Brett is a good friend, but I really like what he has done with Campaign For Infinity. He has released some of my favourite cassettes in the last few years (notable: Teenage Panzerkorps, Horrid Red, Grand Trine, Rape Faction). I also have a lot of respect for Darcy Spidle and Divorce Records, as it was a prominent influence of my origins in the community of Halifax. He is really passionate about what he does and it shows in his work. OBEY Convention is a festival he puts on every year or so and is the highlight of the year in Halifax, in my opinion. I am happy to be helping him with the festival in 2012.

I have some collaborative release coming out with Danish label Skrot Up as well as works with Montreal’s Hobo Cult. Some other notable active labels: Bruised Tongue, Captured Tracks, Dark Entries Records, FLA Tapes & Records and Arbutus Records. I also really dig the consistency in the aesthetic of labels like Sacred Bones and Night People.

Electric Voice Discography (to date)

EV001
::
Albino Slug II
–
EP
(Cassette, 2008)

EV002
::
Pig
–
Everything Isn’t EP
(CD-R, 2009)

EV003
::
Vacuum
–
Tormented Bear EP
(Cassette, 2009)

EV004
::
Pig
–
Elbow Witch
(Cassette, 2009)

EV005
::
Church Hammer
–
Vol. I
(Cassette, 2010)

EV006
::
Church Hammer
–
Vol. II
(Cassette, 2010)

EV007
::
Church Hammer/Vacuum
–
Split
(Cassette, 2010)

EV008
::
Pig
–
I’ve seen the future and it’s no place for me Compilation
(Cassette, 2010)

EV009
::
Various Artists
Electric Voice Compilation Vol I
(Cassette, 2010)

EV010
::
Milksnake
–
EP
(Cassette, 2010)

EV011
::
Friendly Dimension
–
Live: In the Pleasant Horrors of Space EP
(Cass., 2010)

EV012
::
Lantern
–
Deliver me from Nowhere
(Cassette, 2010)

EV013
::
Gigas
–
Tied Down to the Ones You Love LP
(Cassette, 2010)

EV014
::
Friendly Dimension
–
Bath Tub EP
(Cassette, 2011)

EV015
::
Duzheknew
–
LOL HELL EP
(Cancelled)

EV016
::
Wicked Crafts
–
“No Cure” EP
(Cass. (split w/ Campaign for Infinity, 2011)

EV017
::
U.S. Girls
–
EP
(7″, 2011)

EV018
::
The Friendly Dimension // 30 Year Old City Hex
–
“Poltergeist City”
(Cass., 2011)

EV019
::
Babysitter
–
“Paul’s Cab” Single
(Cassette, 2011)

EV020
::
Monroeville Music Center
–
Les Defauts des Fabrication EP
(Cassette, 2011)

EV021
::
Milksnake
–
Lenny Bruce EP
(Cassette, 2011)

EV022
::
Membrain
–
EP
(Cassette, 2011)

EV023
::
Lantern // The Ether
–
Split
(Cassette, 2011)

EV024
::
Play Guitar
–
Single
(Cassette, split release w/ Craft Singles, 2011)

EV025
::
Grand Trine
–
Single
(Cassette, split release w/ Craft Singles, 2011)

EV026
::
Bad Vibrations
–
Single
(Cassette, split release w/ Craft Singles, 2011)

EV027
::
Transfixed
–
Single
(Cassette, split release w/ Craft Singles, 2011)

EV028
::
Crosss
–
Single
(Cassette, split release w/ Craft Singles, 2011)

EV029
::
Bloodhouse
–
Single
(Cassette, split release w/ Craft Singles, 2011)

EV030
::
Hand Cream // Crosss
–
Split
(Cassette, 2011)

EV031
::
Passion Party
–
EP
(Cassette, 2011)

EV032
::
Cat Bag // Transfixed
–
Bunker // Body Language
(12″ w/ Claire Dragon, 2011)

EV033
::
Rape Faction // Chevalier Avant Garde
–
Split
(Cassette, 2011)

EV034
::
Various Artists
Electric Voice Compilation Vol. II
(12″ Cassette, 2011)

EV035
::
Jeff & Jane Hudson
–
In My Car // Computer Jungle (+ Club mixes)
(12″, 2011)

EV036
::
Visual works by Jacqueline Lachance
(VHS, 2012)

(Editor’s Note: Certain titles from this discography were not released by Electric Voice proper. As history’s nature is to continually re-write itself, so, too, shall we gaze pastward at Matt’s creative efforts and understand his temporal stream within the vision of Electric Voice.)

Imprint :: Pleasence Records

admin — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:30:55 +0000

Pleasence Records
Toronto, ON
::web/sounds::

Swirling within the endless cosmos of polyphonic doctrine, Toronto’s Pleasence Records remain an ardent force of diversity alongside the orthogonal streams of TO’s new underground. Their catalog grows in dimension with each mind-boggling effort, exemplified by the soft yacht-rock of Young Guv easing into Man Made Hill’s burnt fidelity. I was stoked to hear that Managing Editor Jesse Locke met with the head honchos from Pleasence this week. Dig below.

Aaron Levin
Big Lurch
Weird Canada
weirdcanada.com

The Pink Noise – Galapagos

Man Made Hill – Hard Breeze Is Gonna Blow

Induced Labour – Whore Eyes

1 :: How did you launch your label and why? C.R.E.A.M.?: We were both at an Induced Labour show in early 2010 where Leslie (Predy) smashed a pint glass off the stage, dove into the shards, and was dragged by her pants around her ankles by the crowd. Deirdre later picked the glass out of her ass. That night we both fell in love with them. Later that spring, over some very fine homemade Italian food with friends, Deirdre stated her intention to release their record and James wanted in. The record took a while to put out so we released a Vagina Bison tape, a 7″ split from Gay/White Suede, and a 7″ EP from Suitcase Sam in the interim. By the time the Induced Labour record came out, we were already working with more artists. It’s been rolling steadily ever since.

2 :: To date, which of your releases has been: a) the best-seller, b) your favourite and c) the biggest bummer?

Young Guv & The Scuzz has undoubtedly been our best seller. We’ve sold that record all over the world. He also recorded the Tropics, Huckleberry Friends, and Gay/Sexy Merlin records we’ve put out. He’s one of the most prolific guys in Toronto right now. The Soupcans and Suitcase Sam have also worked very hard to get their records out there, selling a few at every show, playing as often as they can around town and touring Canada and the States.

As for B, that’s like picking your favourite child. We’re so proud of them all! Our favourite is usually whatever we’re working at the moment, since usually that means we’re listening to it over and over and over before the final press. You become quite intimate with the record, like you’ve known it for years.

The only time it feels like a bummer is when a record we really love doesn’t have the immediate impact we feel it deserves. We become like angry parents at their kid’s hockey game.

3 :: What sets you apart from other labels? Music, art, liner notes, posters, glossy 8.5” x 11” head-shots?: We initially connected over music by both being record collectors. Deirdre works at She Said Boom records in Toronto and James would hang out there for hours browsing, yakking about bands, listening to different records. We like to think there’s a certain diversity in our catalog that reflects our broad tastes. We never wanted to have a genre label that would only release a specific style. I don’t think we could ever commit to that, there’s just too much different stuff we’re into.

4 :: Future plans? What can grippers look forward to gripping?: By this time next year you’ll be hearing records by Pon De Replay, Fleshtone Aura, John Milner You’re So Boss, Wasted Nymph, Odonis Odonis, a VHS tape of the last Induced Labour performance, and hopefully a few others.

Pleasence Records Discography (to date)

PR000
::
Vagina Bison
–
Self Titled
(2010, Cassette)

PR001
::
Induced Labour
–
Self Titled
(2010, 7″)

PR002
::
Gay/White Suede
–
Split
(2010, 7″)

PR003
::
Suitcase Sam
–
Get It To Go
(2010, 7″)

PR004
::
Pleasence T-Shirt

PR005
::
The Soupcans
–
Erotic Nightmare
(2010, 12″)

PR006
::
Sexy Merlin
–
Self Titled
(2011, 7″)

PR007
::
Gay/Sexy Merlin
–
Self Titled
(2011, 7″)

PR008
::
Young Guv & The Scuzz
–
Bedroom Eyes b/w Rumors
(2011, 7″)

PR009
::
Tropics
–
Pale Trash b/w Earmarked
(2011, 7″)

PR010
::
Huckleberry Friends
–
Vision b/w Disaster Keyz
(2011, 7″)

PR011
::
The Pink Noise
–
Gilded Flowers
(2011, 12″)

PR012
::
Man Made Hill/Young Truck
–
(2011, 12″)

Imprint :: Prairie Fire Tapes // Dub Ditch Picnic

admin — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 12:30:15 +0000

Prairie Fire Tapes // Dub Ditch Picnic
Winnipeg, MB
::web/sounds:: // ::web/sounds::

Winnipeg cassette label Prairie Fire Tapes and its bratty little brother Dub Ditch Picnic might be relatively new on the scene, but both have staked a claim with their ongoing stream of head-tweaking sounds. From the warped pop of Bill Northcott and his various aliases (F.P. Tranquilizer, The Incinerators, Microdot) to heavier hitters like Fossils, Mongst and Worker, Weird Canada favourite Fletcher Pratt, the unclassifiable No UFO’s and so much more, co-founders Chris Jacques (White Dog) and Cole Peters (Gomeisa, Secret Girls) are carving out their own piece of the pie. We spoke to Chris about PFT and DDP’s past, present and future.

Jesse Locke
Managing Editor
Weird Canada // Texture Magazine
http://weirdcanada.com // http://texturemagazine.ca/wordpress

Mongst – Negative Liberty

Secret Girls – Ten Thousand Winters

Fletcher Pratt – Weird Dub

1 :: How did you launch your label and why? C.R.E.A.M.?: The story begins Jan. 2010 when Prairie Fire Tapes hit the scene. Cole Peters and I were talking about releasing a split cassette. We had distributed the workload to me sourcing the tape and production and Cole would do the art and have the j-cards made up. I think a day after we decided to do the tape we thought, well, let’s give running a label a shot. A few months in, I started to become aware of bands that I wanted to work with that I couldn’t justify having as part of the PF roster. So in order to keep Prairie Fire focused on drone, noise, and experimentalism, I launched Dub Ditch Picnic in June of 2010. The releases on DDP really mirror my record collection — it’s pretty vast and varied. I have a dream of being able to have one or both of the labels make the leap from cassettes only into pressing LPs in the next year or so. But vinyl is pretty time consuming and my time is pretty limited. So once I have completed a few other major projects that currently have my attention, I will look at releasing a slew of really weird records.

2 :: To date, which of your releases has been: a) the best-seller, b) your favourite and c) the biggest bummer?: The best sellers have all been on Prairie Fire — Tom Carter, Kplr, Worker, and the Gomeisa tapes consistently flew out the doors. Picking my favourite would be much harder — the Solars tape was stunning. I still get goosebumps when I jam that. The Krautheim cassette on DDP would have to be one of my all time faves. Those guys turned in one awesome recording. No bummers really. There have been a couple releases that didn’t resonate with folks for one reason or another. Take the last batch of PF tapes. I think all five are solid — Alms, White Dog, Secret Girls, Mongst, and White Creeps. We released those right around the time of the mail strike and we’ve had a real time trying to get them in the hands of people. The biggest bummer is releasing a great tape to a disinterested public. I haven’t been disappointed by any of the artists we’ve worked with. I stand behind every single tape we’ve done.

3 :: What sets you apart from other labels? Music, art, liner notes, posters, glossy 8.5” x 11” head-shots?: The art direction, design and our approach to making the best sounding tape possible sets us apart from other labels. I buy a lot of stuff, and much of it on cassette. I feel really let down when I get a tape that was mastered poorly or duplicated with more hiss than music. I have sourced out some professional grade duplicators as well as some higher end decks to for mastering. I do checks throughout the process to make sure that the tapes are sounding the way they should. I have redone a few runs because that tape was too quiet or had too much hiss or whatever. We are musicians and music fans — we treat our bands and our customers the way we want to be treated.

4 :: Future plans? What can grippers look forward to gripping?: On Prairie Fire we’ve been setting up releases with Misner Space, Sundrips, and a full length Horders cassette. Dub Ditch has been working on a few comps, one of new Finnish and New Zealand underground music. We also are in the midst of making masters for an Auntie Dada/Preanderthals release, a Velvet Chrome retrospective, a Shaker Hymns cassette, and new recording by DJ Co-Op/Tim Hoover.

5 :: Kim Mitchell vs. Randy Bachman?: I’m a prairie guy, born and raised. So even though Vinyl Tap is the worst radio show ever — Randy B. all the way.

Prairie Fire Tapes Discography (to date)

PF-001
::
White Dog // Gomeisa
–
Split
(2010, Cassette)

PF-002
::
Art Muscle // no Rgans
–
Split
(2010, Cassette)

PF-003
::
Repulsive Bile
–
Emetophilia
(2010, Cassette)

PF-004
::
Solars
–
Mist
(2010, Cassette)

PF-005
::
White Dog
–
Retribution
(2010, Cassette)

PF-006
::
Museums of Sleep
–
Self Titled
(2010, Cassette)

PF-007
::
Pretty Princess // Secret Girls
–
Split
(2010, Cassette)

PF-008
::
White Dog
–
Holodomor
(2010, Cassette)

PF-009
::
Gomeisa
–
Blossoming Flesh
(2010, Cassette)

PF-010
::
Peter J. Wood Free Jazz Ensemble
–
Like Lions
(2010, Cassette)

PF-011
::
Vomir
–
Untitled
(2010, Cassette)

PF-012
::
Unearthed
–
Death Kiss
(2010, Cassette)

PF-013
::
White Dog
–
The Harvestman
(2010, Cassette)

PF-014
::
KkrakK!
–
Subatomic Vibrations
(2010, Cassette)

PF-015
::
Dried Up Corpse
–
Death March
(2010, Cassette)

PF-016
::
Greenhouse
–
Golden City
(2010, Cassette)

PF-017
::
Fossils
–
Flame Disc Revisited
(2010, Cassette)

PF-018
::
White Dog
–
Self Titled
(2010, Cassette)

PF-019
::
Tom Carter
–
Numinous
(2010, Cassette)

PF-020
::
Gremlynz // Ajilvsga
–
Split
(2010, Cassette)

PF-021
::
Dim Dusk Moving Gloom
–
Blinded by the Natty White
(2010, Cassette)

PF-022
::
MSSNG // Greenhouse
–
Split
(2010, Cassette)

PF-023
::
Pink Priest // Horders
–
Split
(2010, Cassette)

PF-024
::
Gomeisa
–
Tourniquet
(2010, Cassette)

PF-025
::
Jane Barbe // Akrotiri Poacher
–
Split
(2011, Cassette)

PF-026
::
Kplr
–
Mechanical Mind Space b/w Mechanical Motion Simulator
(2011, Cassette)

PF-027
::
Shiver
–
The Taste of Repent
(2011, Cassette)

PF-028
::
Worker
–
Dream Dead
(2011, Cassette)

PF-029
::
Black Hippies
–
Wicker House
(2011, Cassette)

PF-030
::
White Dog
–
Resistance
(2011, Cassette)

PF-031
::
Alms
–
Annihilation of the Self
(2011, Cassette)

PF-032
::
Secret Girls
–
In Hiding
(2011, Cassette)

PF-033
::
Mongst
–
Water Water Everywhere But Not a Drop to Drink
(2011, Cassette)

PF-034
::
White Creeps
–
White Sleep
(2011, Cassette)

PF-035
::
White Dog Family Band
–
Escape the Mystery II
(2011, Cassette)

Dub Ditch Picnic Discography (to date)

1971.001
::
The Incinerators
–
The 90s Wuz Awesome
(2010, Cassette)

1971.002
::
Art Muscle
–
No Emulsion
(2010, Cassette)

1971.003
::
F.P. Tranquilizer vs. The Incinerators
–
(2010, Cassette)

1971.004
::
F.P. Tranquilizer
–
Summer Tape
(2010, Cassette)

1971.005
::
Outer Spacist
–
Tape
(2010, Cassette)

1971.006
::
No UFO’s
–
Mind Control
(2010, Cassette)

1971.007
::
Krautheim
–
Mädchen auf der Rennbahn
(2010, Cassette)

1971.008
::
Fletcher Pratt
–
Dub Sessions Vol. 1
(2011, Cassette)

1971.009
::
xNoBBQx
–
Live @ Louie’s
(2011, Cassette)

1971.010
::
Microdot
–
Lamps Not Amps
(2011, Cassette)

Imprint :: Unit Structure Sound Recordings (USSR)

admin — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 12:30:30 +0000

Unit Struture Sound Recordings (USSR)
Calgary, AB // Vancouver, BC
::web/sounds::

From the discographic stomp of Jesse Locke:

IMPRINT is a new feature on Weird Canada, shining the spotlight on record labels and the minds behind the music. First on the docket is Unit Structure Sound Recordings (USSR), a Calgary and Vancouver-based CD-R/cassette label specializing in the outer limits of avant-rock, free jazz, ambient synth travelers and other left-field sounds. We lined up five questions for founder Whitney Ota, plus a complete discography to date and a few preview tracks from upcoming releases.

Jesse Locke
Managing Editor
Weird Canada / Texture Magazine
weirdcanada.com / texturemagazine.ca/wordpress

Yankee Yankee – Outsiders
Family Studies – Limited Express
Haunted Beard – Video Deathbed

1 :: How did you launch your label and why? C.R.E.A.M.?

Some friends and I have been in various bands for a few years now, which started out as weirdo improv type stuff for the most part. I went to school for recording arts and would record all our jams. The band Natural formed when Carter Gilchrist, Matthew Read and I played together for the first time years ago, which ended up being hours of piercing noise. Sometimes it got weird, starting up almost religious rituals reminiscent of the fantastic Nat Pwe ceremonies as documented by Sublime Frequencies. Check those recordings out if you get a chance.

We started talking about a record label and putting out the Natural jams as a 10CD boxset and the first thing on the label. We wanted to do something different. Eventually, we let that idea go, thinking it was maybe a bit ambitious. Yet we started the label regardless, as a means of releasing our own stuff all under one name, but also as a catalyst for being able to say that a certain piece of work is complete. This is something difficult for all of us to come to grips with. It just made sense that it be a kind of collective, as our circle of friends had most of the necessary skills and tools to be able to make the label work. We are all record nerd types that have the same sorts of values – experimentation and amazing art/packaging. The label is run by: Carter Gilchrist, Matthew Read, Joe Smiglicki, James Nakagawa, Brian Arden and Whitney Ota.

2 :: To date, which of your releases has been: a) the best-seller, b) your favourite and c) the biggest bummer?

I think the Yankee Yankee – Best of the Early Recordings album has been the best seller so far, but it has also been out the longest. Either that or the PIXXX label compilation because its free, but I’m not sure if that counts. We have a few releases scheduled for early 2011 that will no-doubt shatter any sales we’ve seen so far. Our stuff is not always the easiest sale, as it is mostly psych/weird/minimal/droning/spastic/noisy/etc. However, we’ve been really lucky getting a lot of help from great people at record shops, radio stations and zines in the promotional aspects of the label. Also having other friends that run labels, or have put out their share of music have been great resources – so thanks! We’ve been lucky to have so much support so far.

My favourite releases are things that haven’t come out yet. I’ve been getting really excited for the new Haunted Beard which will be coming out in a clear DVD package featuring Ben Jacques’ insane artwork. Also, the new Family Studies album that we recorded at my studio (Canopy Sound Studio) in Calgary is sounding so good! Carter and Matt (from Family Studies) are putting the final touches on it in their studio in Vancouver’s downtown East Side. I’m also trying to find out how much a vinyl release would set us back as I am hoping to do the newest Yankee Yankee album on vinyl, which would be a first for Unit Structure!

So far none of the releases have been a bummer. They’ve all been so much fun to work on. We get so excited any time we have a new release!

3 :: What sets you apart from other labels? Music, art, liner notes, posters, glossy 8.5” x 11” headshots?

I think there are lots of labels doing similar things. I guess the one thing that sets us apart is the music. I’ve always felt that improvisation is a huge part of the label’s sound, yet it’s very difficult to stylize. I feel like improvisation is your most honest feeling coming out of you, and therefore these sounds are us by definition.

We try to package things as interestingly as possible, as packaging has been a big influence in starting up the label. We look up to labels who have set the bar with packaging, Isolated Now Waves, Not Not Fun, Type Records or Stunned Records to name a few – anyone who puts in the extra mile in terms of their artwork. Even re-issue labels like Dust to Digital or countless others.

4 :: Future plans? What can grippers look forward to gripping?

We are going to keep up with the releases. We’ve been putting out almost one a month since we started up (11 releases so far in just over a year) with many more planned. We want to play more shows – maybe even a tour here and there. We’ll see. I’d like to get our stuff into record stores outside of Calgary and Vancouver.

We have so much coming out soon!

- Family Studies – Album title TBA (Recorded at Canopy Sound, unpredictable and surprising, fast ‘n’ bulbous, tight also)
- Dundas – Explorer Series vol 1 & 2 (Two cassettes of field recordings, destroyed upon playback, from serene to harsh without a moment’s notice)
- Yankee Yankee – Album title TBA (Cassette of two side-length synth-based drones featuring some textural guitar work, lose yourself in these)
- Yankee Yankee – Album title TBA (format to be confirmed, but possibly our first vinyl release. 11 tracks of ecstatic drone)
- Various – PIXXX 2 (annual label compilation, included with the first ever Unit Structure art zine. The theme is “Structure”)
- C-130 (sparse electronic beats with some tense sounding layers)
- The Church of Jeffrey Adams – Circus Bukkake (SLAM-BANG-ZOWEE XXX CARTOON ACTION)

Lots of other stuff in early stages as well. Expect releases from Country & Western, The Church of Jeffrey Adams, Natural and maybe a few new bands to the label. Who knows? 2011 has just begun!

5 :: Kim Mitchell vs. Randy Bachman?: I vote Max Webster. The first album was probably the best. Matthew Read (Natural/PoLPOT/Wild & Majestic/Church of Jeffrey Adams/Castle Excellent/Family Studies) says, “Randy Bachman, without a doubt.”

USSR Discography (to date)

USSR00CD
::
Various Artists
–
PIXXX
(2010, Compact Disc)

USR001CD
::
Yankee Yankee
–
Best of the Early Recordings
(2010, Compact Disc)

USSR002/003CD
::
Natural/PoLPOT
–
2CD Split Album
(2010, Compact Disc)

USSR004CD
::
Wild & Majestic
–
Two Lone Swordsmen
(2010, Compact Disc)

USSR005CD
::
Yankee Yankee
–
Resting Star
(2010, Compact Disc)

USSR006CS
::
The Church of Jeffrey Adams
–
Dirty Snatch
(2010, Cassette)

USSR007CS
::
The Church of Jeffrey Adams
–
We Want Your Daughters
(2010, Cassette)

USSR008CS
::
The Church of Jeffrey Adams
–
12 Hymns By Gentlemen of Leisure
(2011, Cass.)

USSR009CD
::
Castle Excellent
–
Silver Salad of the Moon
(2010, Compact Disc)

USSR010CD
::
Family Studies
–
Life Cycles Volume 1: Sexy Creeper
(2010, Compact Disc)

USSR011CD
::
Family Studies
–
Life Cycles Volume 2: Density Master
(2010, Compact Disc)

USSR012CD
::
Haunted Beard
–
Video Deathbed
(2011, Compact Disc)

USSR013CD
::
Family Studies
–
Life Cycles Volume 3: Torch of Heuristics
(2011, Compact Disc)

Inferred Views :: Wolf Edwards of Iskra and the University of Victoria

admin — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 15:00:59 +0000

Interview with: Wolf Edwards
From: Iskra
(conducted by: Zachary Fairbrother)
Victoria, BC
::web/sounds::

Wolf Edwards is a composer and former stand-in instructor at the University of Victoria. His music is physical, violent, it disturbs, it instigates, and transcends. It is spectral and glistening – sheets or razor sharp sounds, clashing and colliding around your body, it is like being trapped in a birth of star. Perhaps Wolf’s aggressive approach is in-forced by his background and involvement in other forms of extreme music. Wolf started out playing hardcore punk and currently plays guitar for super heavy anarchist hardcore band Iskra. Wolf has been featured in Dusted Reviews as a part of their “Composers that Matter” series and this year he will be releasing a record of his string music. Wolf, being a very busy man, kindly took the time to answer some questions.

Zachary Fairbrother
Weird Canada
www.weirdcanada.com
Wolf Edwards – Irons

/////////////// WOLF EDWARD INFERRED VIEWS ///////////////

Zachary

How did you find yourself on two such divergent musical paths? How did one lead to the other and how are they related?

Wolf

I was a punk rocker at Ucluelet Secondary School in the 1980s. It was during that time that I taught myself electric guitar by listening to Black Flag and Crass. I was also toiling in the largest fish factory on the West Coast of Vancouver Island: Ucluelet Seafood Producers with the rest of my family. I don’t know if you’ve worked in factories, but I’ll tell you that the environment was intolerable. My bandmates and I hated the blatent racism, homophobia, and sexism that was constant in the workplace. Add to that a violent disregard for the environment or any kind of intellectual stimulation and, for us, the factory was an embodiment of everything we came to hate. Our band left Ucluelet for Victoria. I spent the next eight or so years playing in Anarchist bands. We lived in poverty, and played music.

I was on Social Assistance at the time and, around 1993, was forced to take one of their many forced job programs. Such programs, rather than assist, were generally designed to degrade and humilate. It was at this time that I lived near a Conservatory of Music. Having played electric guitar in various bands for a number of years, I, on a whim, entered and inquired about classic guitar lessons. When I heard the cost, I told the receptionist that there was no way I could afford such lessons. She promptly informed me that I could apply for student loans and take a few courses. Since the welfare program was giving me a hard time, I decided to enroll. My family being poor, I was able to aquistion the loans necessary for the courses. I took theory, classic guitar, music history, and sight singing.

While studying guitar, my teacher, Alexander Dunn, who was a student of Pepe Reomero, noticed my interest in certain twentieth century compositions that I had been playing. The music was not very good, but I was never-the-less more interested in modern music, as well as that of the 15th century and Baroque, much more than the Romantic and Classical. Alex informed me that the “modern” music I was playing on guitar, Leo Brouwer, and Toru Takemitsu, was not the most challenging and that I should, in fact, check out the leading composers of the era. He introduced me to his old composition teacher’s music with whom he’d studied with at UCSD. This composer was non other than the great Brian Ferneyhough. I was immediately attracted to the energy, and life, of the music. I went to the Conservatory library and there discovered Stockhausen, Xenakis, and Cage. After that, there was no going back, so to speak. I fell in love with the music of the 1940s on. After a few months of listening, I decided that I must write music. The guitar repertoire, with the exception of a few works, left me unimpressed. I left behind the idea of becoming a guitar performer. I told this to Mr. Dunn. He informed me that if I wanted to make any headway with music composition that I’d better think about enrolling in the University, which I did the following year.
Ever since then I’ve written, and performed, what one might call “extreme” music, while at the same time written what one might call “classical” music. For me, neither title fits. The music I play with my band ISKRA is, in many ways, more “classical” than that which I write for acoustic instruments.

Zachary

Do you think that in the end punk/hardcore and rigorous experimental music are different means to the same end?

Wolf

I can’t say because I don’t think about “the end.” I am extremely dedicated to both, and prefer to work through them, on my own terms, without any end goal in mind. I try, in both fields, to simply do my best. To write better. If I reached some kind of “end” then I think I would no longer need to write.

I never mix the two different genres. For me, this post-modern idea of pastiche is far to simple and contrived. Personally, I would much rather push the limits of both, but on their own terms. Different things need to be done within each musical sphere. They are not the same language.

Zachary

Are your approaches to composing for other instruments grounded in the sounds of punk and hardcore musics? It terms of the use of noise, dissonance, rhythms, extended techniques, or else?

No. I never think about punk when writing classical music. Ironically, the music I write for my band is more “classical” than my “classical!” That is, in ISKRA, I write tonal music, mostly in sonata form. There are of course elements that cross over, mostly because they both deal with sound. Distortion, for example. One could say that I use distortion in my classical music. In reality this so-called “distortion” is simply complex sounds. That is, there are many frequencies present.

Zachary

Being in an anarchist hardcore band on one hand and a composer on the other seem on the surface contradictory; one is thought of as being a communal democratic process while the other is associated with emperical tendencies. Can you talk about your approach?

Wolf

I don’t believe that one is “democratic” and one is “emperical.” I suppose one can think of it this way, but I do not. Obviously it depends on how one views the process of making music as well as how one approaches the process. First of all, I don’t see the composer ias being a tyrant, telling people what to do and so on. When a composer writes a chart, s/he needs a community to ensure the piece happens. When I walk into a room full of experienced, and talented, musicians, I am not there to be a dictator, I am there to make music with them. To bring music to life. We work together and great things happen. It is a communal effort. I am sure some composers have a different outlook, but, as I am an anarchist, that is how I view the musical process. The band is the same thing. The group gets together and brings the compositions to life. We work out alternate ideas, find the rhythms we want, and make the songs happen. So these two worlds are not contradictory, so far as process goes. They are seemingly contradictory, however, in terms of their historical root. Anarchist punk/metal is rooted in working class revolt to a status quo system that, in reality, doesn’t work. Classical music is rooted in an aristocratic tradition, or at least that’s what most people think. That is the apparent opposition. Times have changed, however, and now we can have someone like me who works in both worlds.

Zachary

I have read that your politics influence your music in terms of form and architecture. I am curious to your methods, could you speak about them?

Wolf

The music I make is mediated through a political, or anti-political, lens(depending on what one thinks when reviewing the word “politic”). I work with crumbling foundations, and open experimentation. Multiple possibilities are present at every stage of my work. I work without law. As well, the laws of our society have no place in my creative process. I work with sound only. My sounds are alive. They communicate with me. I work with them to create a labyrinth of communications. In my music, the sounds are interactive. In fact the sounds write the music. I am a type of medium that listens to what the sounds require. There is no clear method, but I am fully conscious at every moment. The real “performance” is happening for me in each moment of the creative act. I don’t work from sketches for fear of, as Feldman once said, “pushing the sounds around.” The piece is the sketch and vice-versa.

Zachary

I noticed that the Quasar Sax Quartet will be playing a piece of yours this year. Can you speak a bit about it and any other projects you have coming up.

Wolf

The Quasar have performed my piece ISKRA about 12 times all over the world. Now we are working together on an octet that will be performed by the Quasar and Arte(Switzerland). I will go with the group to Europe and work with both quartets. In addition, the Quasar just performed in a work I wrote for Walter Boudreau and the SMCQ entitled IRONS. This piece was for saxophone quartet, amplified strings, contrabassoon, and six percussionists. I’m also writing a piece for an instrument invented by Montreal composer Jean-Francoise Laporte, which will be premiered in May. Aside from that, I have a record coming out of all my string music to date.

Zachary

Lastly, any other Canadian Composers Weird Canadians should know about?

Wolf

Yes, you should know about Mark Molnar from Ottawa, and Charles-Antoine Frechette from Montreal. These are great composers who also work with sounds, not systems. They are original, intelligent, and uncompromising sound artists.

Inferred Views :: Al Bjornaa of Scotch Tapes

admin — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 21:00:57 +0000

Interview with: Al Bjornaa
From: Scotch Tapes
(conducted by: Zachary Fairbrother)
Batchawana Bay, ON
::web/sounds::

Scotch Tapes has quickly become Canada’s premier cassette label, pumping out thousands of tapes to brilliant minds all around the world. In addition to the plethora of magnetic strips crafted in the ghettos of rural Ontario, Scotch Tapes has been capturing Toronto’s burgeoning underground punk scene via plastic lathe-cut brilliance in a collaborative series with Young Guv‘s Ben Cook. In 2011, they embarked on yet-another lathe-series with Montreal’s No Vacation. As 2011 began with the redesign of Scotch Tapes’ rather hilarious website and their subsequent world domination, we decided to link Zacharay Fairbrother with Scotch Tapes founder and sole-proprietor Al Bjornaa for a featured chat about his rural adventuring.

Aaron Levin
Weird Canada
www.weirdcanada.com

/////////////// AL BJORNAA INFERRED VIEWS ///////////////

Zachary

I’m into how landscapes and environment influence people’s creativity. Why do you base your label where you do [Batchawana Bay]? How do the often cosmopolitan sounds play out in your environment?

I base Scotch out of Batchawana Bay because it’s close to my family. I have lived all over the country but this has always been home. There have been some health issues in the Bjornaa family the past few years and its been nice to be able to help out. We run a family fishing business and I have had to take a larger role in that. Plus it’s a beautiful area. I live on the beach! The north shore of Lake Superior is my favourite place on Earth.

I have always been a huge music fan. Both of my parents love music. Although their tastes may differ from mine, they passed on a passion for good music. Most of the people who live in my area think the music I release sounds like a “badger caught in a wood chipper” but most people from the area think its cool that I run a record label in such a small place. Whenever I go for coffee or breakfast at the local diner, everyone always asks how the label is doing.

Zachary

I have heard of your beach shows. I hope you will you be doing more of this. Who has played? What was your favorite?

I haven’t done an actual beach show in ages but I have had a lot of bands pass through here and hang out for a day or two. Its a tough area to get a decent show. I mean I could likely set up a show in Sault Ste. Marie (which is notorious for TERRIBLE shows) or they can hang out here for a night, have some drinks, go swimming and get a good meal. I am hoping that this year with a new space, I can host more bands and maybe do some recordings and send them back on the road with a new tape or lathe. Some of the best times I’ve had drinking/ hanging out/ recording have been with Play Guitar, The Famines, Dirty Beaches, Grown-Ups, Gobble Gobble, Nobunny… There are tons. I am hoping to make Batchawana Bay a “must-stop” for bands touring Canada. Not to play shows but to have a great day off mid-tour where they can do laundry, relax, jump in the lake, maybe practice some new stuff they have been working on. 2011 is already getting booked up at Casa de Al with Bucketseat stopping here in March.

Zachary

I see that your label is doing some collaborative splits how did this come about?

Yeah. I wanted to work with a few cool labels. I have a lathe series coming out with No Vacation Records (Brett Wagg from Pink Noise/ Campaign For Infinity) Brett basically just asked if I would be interested and since I love the music he puts out, I was totally in. I also put out a 7″ with No Clear Records from Florida. I imagine if any label contacted me and I liked the band, I would probably be interested. I know that Ben Cook (Fucked Up, Young Guv, etc) and I have a few co-releases lined up for his new label, Marvelous Music, as well. We will be co-releasing the Roommates LP this summer/ fall.

Zachary

I see you have a vast list of upcoming releases. Are all these going to happen??!

You bet your sweet buttocks! In the first two years of Scotch, I released almost 200 tapes. I take the label very seriously. Its become more than a hobby. It’s basically a second full-time job. I plan on putting out about 70 tapes, 30 lathes and 10 vinyl releases in 2011. There are times when I get tired and need a break… and those are the times where I just take like 2-3 weeks off, don’t check emails and basically disappear. But when I do that, I normally come back with 4-5 releases at once.

Zachary

What is up with the lathe series? Does the type of Lathe reflect the artist?

Well… I have two series going. There is the Scotch/ Young Guv series. Ben Cook [of Young Guv] records all the bands that share his jam space and then we release a song or two from them. So far, I have put flexis out for Huckleberry Friends, Tropics, Bruised Knees & Lonely Wholesome with Actual Water, Dentata, Wyrd Visions and I think 2 more to come. The other series is the aforementioned series with No Vacation. There are some pretty killer bands scheduled for that like FNU Ronnies and Factums (who I LOVE!) The type of lathe really doesn’t come into play. I mean the one I did for We All Inherit The Moon HAD to be a square plexiglass lathe because of the ideas they had for the art but most bands don’t really care that much. They just think lathes are fun.

Zachary

Do you think there is a Canadian Sound? And what from your perspective are the sounds of the different scenes within Canada?

I don’t think there is a specific Canadian sound. It’s such a vast area geographically that it’s tough to narrow down one sound. I think Vancouver has a great weirdo punk scene with bands like Shearing Pinx, Nu Sensae, Twin Crystals, etc. who really have their own genre that isn’t like anything else in the country. When you move into the prairies you have bands like Myelin Sheaths, Fist City, Grown-Ups, Moby Dicks… sort of that heavy garage punk stuff. They all totally feed off of each other. Ontario is sort of weird. Toronto is just starting to get a good scene again. I think the bands that Ben and I are releasing on the lathe series are going to get big really fast this year. That jam space is oooozing talent. Montreal always has a great scene. I think that city spawns some of the most creative and unique artists. And the whole Halifax scene… that city reminds me of Portland, Oregon. EVERYONE is in a band and creates visual art and silkscreens t-shirts and makes zines and drinks good beer if they can afford it but will drink shit if that’s all they have and dresses cool without thinking they dress cool. One of my absolute favourite cities on the planet!

Zachary

What has got you most excited about 2011?

SUMMER! I hate winter more than anything! That and doing this interview for Weird Canada! Thanks, Zach…

Interview :: BRAIDS

admin — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 14:00:28 +0000

Interview with: Austin Tufts, Katie Lee, and Raphaelle Standell Preston
From: BRAIDS
(conducted by: Gabriel Jasmin)
Montreal, QC
::web/sounds::
[Photo: Landon Speers]

Montreal by way of Calgary quartet Braids make chilling, meticulously crafted pop music. Layering angelic four-part vocal harmonies over swirling synths, twinkling pianos, tropical guitars and stuttering, sophisticated rhythms, their arrangements are lush and obsessively detailed. The eye of this storm is frontwoman Raphaelle Standell Preston — also the voice behind Blue Hawaii — imbuing Braids’ songs with Bjorkian banshee shrieks, unexpected ululations and pigtailed curlicues. This week sees the release of their long-awaited debut LP on New York’s Kanine and Calgary’s Flemish Eye, a mini-tour supported by Long, Long, Long, and a lengthier jaunt into the U.S. Weird Canada’s Gabriel Jasmin sat down with the band for an interview.

Jesse Locke
Managing Editor
Texture Magazine / Weird Canada
texturemagazine.ca / weirdcanada.com

/////////////// BRAIDS INFERRED VIEWS ///////////////

Gabriel

Native Speaker is your first album. Considering you haven’t released much music prior to this, how do you react to the amount of press and hype you’re getting now? Does it fell rushed or did everything come together organically?

Austin

I think it grew very organically. We’ve been a band for four years now and we are just releasing our first full length. That’s a pretty steady growth. But yes, the amount of press is a little overwhelming. Lots of interviews and lots of business stuff we have to deal with, but it’s all a part of the process. I wouldn’t say overwhelming… It’s sort of exciting.

Gabriel

Don’t you feel like you’ve had nothing released and then suddenly you have a big monster in your hands?

Austin

It’s not a big monster, it’s just our first record.

Gabriel

Your songs are so complex. I’m curious to know about your writing process.

Austin

Everything is composed collectively.

Katie

Someone usually comes up with an idea, which could be a sound, or a riff, or a specific emotion and we just jam it out. But sometimes it comes on the spot too, without any thinking beforehand. Then we pick it apart, and it can take a really long time to finalize it.

Austin

Yeah, because everything is being created by everybody at the same time, there’s a lot of ideas being thrown out. And we try to push every idea to its full extent and see its full potential before saying yes or no to it. Unless if it’s a blatantly bad idea.

Katie

It’s good to let people come to a conclusion with their idea.

Austin

Exactly, we try to get to the point where everyone is satisfied with their own ideas and see if they keep them or discard them. Which is also why the songs are often very long and very dense. I think the reason why we write such long songs is because the writing process itself is so long. It takes us months to write a song. Because of how meticulous and careful we are about how things flow, and making sure we are capturing the right emotion. We often have to go through a lot of different parts and experiments to get that feeling.

Gabriel

About the actual record, can you explain the cover art and how it relates to your music ?

Katie

Yeah, we collaborated with our good friend Marc Rimmer to do the album art. He’s done a lot of our photos as well. We’ve always had problems agreeing on the art, and don’t want to have just one person in the band to do it because we are very critical with each other. So having someone else who we trust was really important to us, and we asked Marc to do our cover art. I guess it took him a bit to figure out what he exactly wanted. He played with photographs he had taken before, but then, one day in French class, he just left halfway through and bought a piece of those fluorescent light plastic coverings for offices. On his computer screen was this beautiful photo of a forest that he had taken, and he put the plastic covering in front of it and the colors came through. Marc said he liked the idea of it being textural, something that you’d want to touch and feel and how he wanted to create a flow with the colors in representing the feelings you get when listening to the album.

Austin

And there’s a contrast between the sticker, which is very sleek and simple, in a glossy finish with the art being a matte print. I think that separation has parallels with our music as well.

Gabriel

How about the name, Native Speaker?

Austin

Native Speaker refers to your native tongue, the language you’re most comfortable speaking. Between the four of us, our language is music. Also, “Native Speaker”, the title track of the album, deals with the conversation between two lovers, and how the connection they have through the conversation is their native language.

Austin

Like when you share a bond of love with somebody, it’s almost an unspoken language that you speak with the other person, where you know what each other are thinking. It’s a totally different kind of communication. It’s an exploration of communication. It expresses more than words, more than the vocabulary we’ve been given by the language.

Gabriel

The word “native” struck me as a link to your music, notably to the ritualistic aspect of drumming and chanting. Is that a consideration in your songs?

Austin

It’s not like saying, “Hey, I really like the way that native people play music” or anything like that.

Katie

We’re not taking it from the native culture.

Austin

I think a lot of that stems from our inspiration by the band Animal Collective and a lot of the tribal-esque drums that were written on their Feels record. It had a big influence on the way that I think about drums and feel rhythms and mostly realizing the energy you can get from having a tribal and raw approach.

Raphaelle

Yeah, it relates to the tribalness, if that’s even a word, because it is so raw and very emotive. And like how you (Austin) are always talking about being grounded or taking energy from the ground and conveying that through your parts. It’s the connectedness that we have with our surroundings and each other.

Gabriel

Connectedness really is a focal point for the band.

Katie

Oh yeah.

Austin

Big time.

Katie

It’s the basis of the band for sure. If it weren’t for that, we wouldn’t be called Braids.

Interview :: Andy and Edwin White of Tonstartssbandht

admin — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 11:00:05 +0000

Interview with: Andy and Edwin White
From: Tonstartssbandht
(conducted by: Jesse Locke)
Montreal, QC
::web/sounds::

Since transplanting themselves from the sunshine state of Florida to the frosty French Canadian north, pizza-lovin’ brothers Andy and Edwin White have been recording and releasing tunes at an almost nonsensical pace. On top of sparking up psych burners and daffy rappin’ trip-outs with their best-known band, Tonstartssbandht, the bros maintain a plethora of side projects/aliases (High Rise II, NASA, Superbud, Bladestoner, etc.) while also running the boutique labels Does Are and Black Cheeks. For this Weird Canada exclusive, they’ve remixed our interview with wonky vocal FX, answers read by Jason Harvey™ and what sounds like a chopped and screwed version of their posi-vibes anthem “Andy Summers.”

Weird Canada Exclusive :: Tonstartssbandht – Inferred Views

Jesse Locke
Texture Magazine / Weird Canada
texturemagazine.ca / weirdcanada.com

/////////////// TONSTARTSSBANDHT INFERRED VIEWS ///////////////

J.	=	Jesse Locke (Texture Magazine // Weird Canada)
T.	=	Andy and Edwin White (Tonstartssbandht)

J.	::	What was life like growing up for you guys as brothers? Did you have any made-up games you would play, sibling rivalries or weird family inside jokes?
T.	::	We were related, and then fed by older people. Andy knew all the secrets to life early because I let him drink from my brain after school everyday. I’m his ancient angel. We spent all of our time outside climbing ropes and making mud to prepare for the apocalypse. On a ranch, our grandpa makes great kielbasa and eggs.
J.	::	When did you start making music together? Were there any other bro projects prior to Tonstartssbandht?

L.	::	We recorded a song together one day in 2006 called “High Roller”, but the band didn’t form until august 2007 so we could play a show in Orlando. Other projects include the bands NASA, Buttsavage, Horus Hawk, Great Feelings, and Superbud, which recorded in Orlando, Totally Dad for freeing demons in NYC, and Black Dad / Andy Summers and Bladestoner in Montreal to fill the void.
J.	::	I understand you guys are Orlando natives originally. What made you want to transplant yourselves to Montreal?
T.	::	Andy is an undergrad at McGill. Edwin moved here in September to record with Andy and check out Montreal, but is moving back to New York in May. Montreal is a nice guy.
J.	::	What’s your favourite restaurant or place to eat in this city?
T.	::	When we aren’t cooking at home, we only eat at PIZZA DU PARC or PIZZA STEVE or PIZZA FAMILIA or PIZZA BELLA DONNA. We maintain lifestyles.
J.	::	Your music integrates a ton of different sounds and styles, but the biggest noticeable split seems to be between the sample and vocal-based stuff and the rock ‘n’ roll ragers with guitar and drums. Why have you decided to maintain a dual personality within the one band, as opposed to splitting into two?
T.	::	Tonstartssbandht is two people and represents the personalities and emotions of these two people. Traditionally, we’ve only created different monikers so as to differentiate between the personnel in our assorted projects. For instance, the project called Superbud is a veil for Andy White and Sean O’Loane. Similarly, Tonstartssbandht tells you it’s Andy White and Edwin White playing music together. Within the projects we do whatever we want. We can’t be concerned with maintaining some kind of sonic consistency for the sake of easy categorization, or just to please people with specific expectations of your sound. If it ends up being consistent, so be it. But it’s more important to create the sounds we want to hear as they reveal themselves to our consciousness. Ultimately, it will leave a clearly exposed record of our inner psyches for the public, ourselves and one day our children. Our music is a rendering of ourselves in transition. It will always change. Maybe our names will change and perhaps I’ll lose my vocal chords in a gardening accident. We don’t give a fuck about genres or movements. We’re just musicians – we are people who’ve found music to be the best fit for our need for self expression, and thus we are two among many. We can write one-liners, create fake words, chop .jpgs and screw pop songs, and do head stands, and jog backwards and it’s all connected to our energies and desire to create – to expose ourselves to ourselves, and ultimately, to others. We’re trying to communicate with Basic Channel. Are you hearing us guys? It’s easier to have one band.
J.	::	On top of Tonstartssbandht, you also play together in a High Rise cover band called High Rise II. What caused your addiction to the psychedelic speed freaks?
T.	::	We started taking psychedelic speed and now we’re addicts. We cannot escape the aura of it all – 1980s TOKYO, fastest growing economy in the world at that time, biggest city in the world by all accounts (urban, metro, etc.). Sober punks making the fastest, most blindingly, loud and energetic rock music ever created. Layered by choice with the thickest set of distortion, fuzz and white noise imaginable. Their records were released by a friend who decided – “this music is too good to be heard by only me and my friends,” and so began PSF records and the Modern Music record store in Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, And decades later, it found its way into our impressionable music-obsessed Floridian heads and provided us with a jolt of creative overdrive. It’s just total TOTAL power. Count us among the many fans worldwide who can only bow in reverence at the altar of Nanjo. As far as heavy rock music goes, NOBODY does it better, nor will they. All you can do is move on and enjoy the recordings of the pinnacle achieved 25 years ago in Tokyo. Or, as we’ve done, start a tribute band, so you can experience the thrill of High Rise in their prime vis-à-vis a facsimile of equally determined young musicians a generation later.
J.	::	How would you describe a typical High Rise II show?
T.	::	Come to our shows! We let it all out. We don’t wear shirts, and we play songs by High Rise, Mainliner and sometimes songs by Black Sabbath, Blue Cheer, and the MC5. It‘s Edwin on drums, and Andy White and Jesse Hicks switching between guitar and bass for different songs. Most importantly, be safe and bring your ear plugs, so you can live to hear another day. It’s like pulling the plug on a tub full of energy and you’re worried that the pipes will explode. We play until exhaustion sets in and blood has been spilt. It’s adrenaline, live and in full display.
J.	::	What can you tell me about your label, Black Cheeks? What have been some of your highlight releases so far, and what else have you got coming down the tubes?
T.	::	Black Cheeks started as a way to release material by our Orlando groups in 2005 when Andy was a high school sophomore. It has continued with his move to Montreal to release side projects and eventually the first Tonstartssbandht cassette, Water Buffalo. Coming up next is a new pressing of the Tonstartssbandht Parson Sounds tape from December and tapes by Homosexual Cops and Lil’ Baby. Edwin began his label Does Are in 2008 and has released a majority of the Tonstartssbandht catalogue to date: the full length An When and four months later, Dick Nights, the Maihama cassette EP, as well as a Superbud cassingle, an amazing lost NASA album Boogie Chillin / Too Heavy, and later this month, Cool World’s full length debut, Gaydream Nation, from our friends in Providence. Does Are will be making a limited run of tapes and CDrs to coincide with the release of the newest Tonstartssbandht full length 12” available later this spring on Arbutus Records.
J.	::	Tonstarttsbandht has a new 7-inch coming out in a couple months on Psychic Handshake. What can people look forward to with that one?
T.	::	The Midnite Cobras 7″ on Psychic Handshake Recording should be available in early March. Side A contains two new recordings of “Midnite Cobras” and “I’m a Welsh Souper”, originally heard on An When, while side B reveals the unreleased psych burner “Electric Dragon Sword” that you might have heard at various live shows in the past year. Look forward to the whole thing! It’s a psych rock 7” for sure…
J.	::	Do you feel like your music is continuing to change and evolve? Where do you see it – and yourselves – going in 2010?
T.	::	Look for the new full length sometime before summer. And soon after, more tapes and EPs. Our music changes as we do. We can’t predict where it will go this year, because even we aren’t certain of our future. We will be living in separate cities again by the start of summer, and Andy graduates in December, which opens up the question of what to do and where to live in 2011. We still dream of the sunshine state, and this summer we found comfort in L.A. as we saw it – Orlando plus New York… A giant Florida with mountains. Wherever we live, our sound will be influenced by our surroundings, our memories and our expectations, our highs and lows, our fears and dreams, the limits of technology and finances, theft and acquisition, but ultimately, no matter what it is channeled through, the source remains to be our souls: Brothers bonded by life.

High Rise II play Tuesday, March 6 at Friendship Cove in Montreal. For further show info, see http://www.myspace.com/tonstartssbandht.

Interview :: Velvet Chrome & Francesco de Gallo

admin — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 01:14:06 +0000

Interview with: Francesco de Gallo & Jane L. Kasowicz
From: Velvet Chrome // Hobo Cult // et al.
(conducted by: Gabriel Jasmin)
Montreal, QC
::web/sounds::

It is my pleasure to offer Francophone content for the first time on Weird Canada. This is a huge step forward and one I’m very excited about. Below are two audio interviews conducted by Grabriel Jasmin (G) as part of CHOQ’s Les Artisans du Bruit program focused on capturing some of the fringe musics crafted within Quebec at the moment. We will hear from Jane L. Kasowicz (J) and Francesco de Gallo (F) of Velvet Chrome, a group who poignantly encapsulates Montreal’s bleak psych-dementia, followed by an interview with Francesco concerning his record label Hobo Cult (a Weird Canada favorite) and various solo projects. Gabriel has generously transcribed the interviews into English so those not-so-fluent in French can read along. Enjoy!!

Aaron Levin
Weird Canada / Cantor Records
www.weirdcanada.com / www.cantorrecords.com

/////////////// VELVET CHROME TRANSCRIPTION ///////////////

G.	=	Gabriel Jasmin (CHOQ)
F.	=	Francesdo de Gallo (Velvet Chrome)
J.	=	Jane L. Kasowicz (Velvet Chrome)

G.	::	How would you describe your music?
F.	::	We like improvising in different genres, somewhere in between cosmic-tribal and…
J.	::	Italo…
F.	::	Not italo-disco, we have an actual italian song that’s like a psychedelic horror soundtrack. We also play garage rock.
J.	::	Something like garage-psych-noise.
G.	::	You used the word improvisation in there. Does Velvet Chrome rely on improvisation a lot?
F.	::	Mmm yeah… Sometimes we try to write songs with a fixed idea and work around that, but our songs often come from jamming out.
J.	::	It’s mostly improvised jams that we record. When they’re good we’ll re-work them into songs. Though we don’t always play them that way in our live shows.
G.	::	I’ve noticed you guys exchange instruments during live shows. Is there a reason for that?
F.	::	We both like exploring with a wide variety of sounds
G.	::	Does the sound vary depending who plays the instrument?
J.	::	Yeah for sure. Everyone has a personal style. When Francesco plays guitar it’s always with a no-wave attitude while I’m more garage myself.
F.	::	I’ve started playing drums and when I’m behind the kit I play very square 4/4 beats, but Jane plays in a much more deconstructed, jazzy way. It gives a very different background.
G.	::	Your releases have always been very limited editions of 20 or 30 copies, and the packaging was unique for each of them. As a band, do you have a close relationship with visual arts?
F.	::	Yes. Well, at the start I was making small runs because I was a bit unsure if our material was worth releasing. But they sold out so I made a limited second run. For the new album called Readymades, which is an artistic concept, I wanted to make unique covers so that every one would get a personal relationship with the album.
G.	::	What are your projects for 2010?
J.	::	I’ll be starting my solo project JLK, which stands for Jane L. Kasowicz. As Velvet Chrome, we’ll be releasing a … split?
F.	::	Yeah possibly a split with Hamborghinni, who are two members of Aids Wolf. In february we’ll also be playing Aids Wolf and brooklyn-based Mouthus at Casa Del Popolo.
J.	::	We might be doing an album soon…
F.	::	Yeah, we really should. We have tons of unreleased jams, now we have to sort through them to find the best ones. We also have lots of unrecorded pieces that we’d like to finish.

/////////////// FRANCESCO DE GALLO // HOBO CULT TRANSCRIPTION ///////////////

G.	=	Gabriel Jasmin (CHOQ)
F.	=	Francesdo de Gallo (Hobo Cult // et al.)

G.	::	Francesco de Gallo, you have so many ongoing projects I had to make list to remember them. You play music in : Velvet Chrome, Wasted Widow, Pradada, Hobo Cubes, Cobra Kiss! and your most recent project Magic Beach. Furthermore, you manage your own label Hobo Cult Records and release DJ mixes under the name Hippies Before Priests. Am I forgetting any?
F.	::	I don’t know, there’s so much going on. Lots of untitled collaborations are to be released in 2010 on either cassette, CD-R or free download.
G.	::	First off, how many hours of sleep do you manage to get?
F.	::	Let’s say between 6 and 8. Eight hours is the best.
G.	::	Being involved in so many different projects, how do you keep them independent from one another, so they don’t sound all the same?
F.	::	I don’t know, there’s no clear borders. For my solo work, when i’m working on a loop or a song, the outcome will not be the same whether there are vocals, instruments I used and the way I used them. That usually defines the project. When collaborating with others the result will be different each time.
G.	::	When playing with others do you write the songs on the spot ? Or do you approach other musicians with definite song ideas?
F.	::	No, never. I don’t like… I stay away from fascism with Hobo Cult. It’s a big family with people I love. When they create things I enjoy, I like to put them out as an album, even if I had nothing to do with writing nor playing the music. It’s really friendly. I record my collaborations, even one-time jams with buddies, and even though we’ll never play a single live show, I might release it to cassette.
G.	::	Indeed, except for Velvet Chrome, you have a big recorded output but you play very few live shows. is it because you prefer recorded music to live music or is for practical reasons?
F.	::	Well actually, a lot of recorded material was taken from live shows. With Wasted Widow, we’ve only played two shows, the first one I have on DVD, but then the band has added a bassist for it’s second show and we recorded that to tape. With Magic Beach, we’ve taken lots of material from our last show in late December. A lot of these will be released in 2010.
G.	::	Your label Hobo Cult is the home to all your projects and those of your friends. How did it start out?
F.	::	It’s been a year and a half since i’ve started it. I first wanted to release a Pradada album, which was my main solo project at the time, but I had so much recordings that I couldn’t decide what to put on it. Rather, I made compilations that divided the songs by year and posted them for free on the blog. Then I put them on cassette and gave them out. When I was ready to release something new, I knew I wanted to do it myself. It was just a matter of getting my songs heard by the most people. Whenever I release music I like to try and make it accessible, which is why i’ll post free downloads once the tapes or the CDs have sold out.
G.	::	Are you planning to have releases on vinyl?
F.	::	Yeah, we are planning something with Magic Beach. It’s a recent project with Philippe Lambert, who also plays in Goa, Monstre and Monkey King. We will be releasing a split tape with Ass, from San Diego, then maybe another tape or CDr and hopefully a 7″ or 12″ in spring, followed by short week-long tour in the United States.

Interview :: Broken Deer

admin — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 02:17:48 +0000

Interview with: Lindsay Dobbin
From: Broken Deer
(conducted by: Zachary Fairbrother)
Whitehorse, YK
::web/sounds::

Broken Deer is the avant-folk project of Lindsay Dobbin, formerly of Halifax were she played drums with Play Guitar and drone-weirdos Oh, Beautiful! Majestic! Eagle! Lindsay recently relocated to the glorious nature of the Yukon, wherein Broken Deer has become more ethereal, strange, and gnostic. She kindly took the time to answer some questions.

Zachary Fairbrother
Avant-Lard / Weird Canada
avantlard.blogspot.com / weirdcanada.com

/////////////// BROKEN DEER INTERVIEW ///////////////

Z.	=	Zachary Fairbrother (Avant-Lard // Weird Canada)
L.	=	Lindsay Dobbin (Broken Deer)

Z.	::	Not only are you a musician but you are a visual artist as well. Is there a common thread that ties your different approaches of art all together? Even within your music you explore styles that are sonically very different from one another. How do all these different aesthetics, fit you, as one artist?
L.	::	I’m a very young artist. I don’t mean “I’m only 26, and that’s younger than the majority of the population.” No. I mean that I’m still discovering what subjects and mediums interest me. It’s all still fresh. Art, and I include music in that, has always been a process of discovery for me. When I moved to the Yukon over a year ago, I didn’t bring any instruments with me, only a hand-held tape recorder. I remained open to whatever came into my life. Surprisingly, the first thing that transpired was working with the land. I spent five months on a Yukon homestead, digging potatoes, raising animals, horseback riding, eating. Afterward, I took care of a friend’s house and they owned an upright piano. I had rarely played the piano, but that’s what was there. I began playing, figuring sounds. New Broken Deer songs like “White Woman” came from that experience. I strongly feel that playing that instrument was a similar process to interacting with the land. It was a means of grounding — connecting to the unspoken stories in that particular place. So, in short, I think the aesthetic tie in my art is the process, less than a subject matter or medium. And the process is me interacting with a particular place, and all the materials it offers – whether they be a kazoo, crayons, wool or soil – with the intention of finding some truth. I really hope I have that fresh approach my whole life, and not get stuck in a routine. I think an artist can always discover different worlds, transform as a person but create work that is consistent with who they are, even if it be superficially different.
Z.	::	Your music has a sense of timelessness. You have the ability to create a sound outside genres and trends while remaining very idiosyncratic. Your voice, instrumentation, and aesthetic point to a day gone by, while your recordings and compositional techniques sometimes point ahead. Do you think of Broken Deer as ancient or modern?
L.	::	I don’t think of Broken Deer being exclusively ancient or modern. Like you say, the music or sound is not really associated with any particular movement. And I feel that Broken Deer is not entirely music. There are songs, of course, but I place more emphasis on the process of recording. Recording is this private way for me to not only document what I’m doing, but to find sounds that speak from my dreams, different parts of my body, the landscape. Consequently, I don’t think these sounds do well blasting through laptop speakers, on the go or during the day. I think the sounds are best represented as close as you can get them, in a dark space – but these things seem to be lacking in our mass modern culture. That is, the spiritual practice of listening and spending time in dark spaces. I really think sensory overload through sounds, visuals and artificial light is directly connected to our loss of wonderment.
Z.	::	You seemed to be very influenced by nature. You came from a small town, before moving to a small city, and then further embarked into the isolation of the Yukon where you worked with sled dogs and homesteaded. How does nature emanate itself inside your art?
L.	::	The emanation of nature is obvious, sure, because I often incorporate field recordings into my compositions. But the influence runs deeper than mimicking or representing. I’ve always felt strongly impacted by the natural world in a very visceral way. Yes, there are beautiful splendors to witness, but for me it’s more about a sense of always being able to take my place in the landscape. Now I could be talking about the surrounding environment, or my own inner territory. The two don’t seem separate to me. Like sound, nature is felt in its movements. Things grow. Decay. Die. But, as the Black Eyed-Peas say, “The energy never dies” (although I’m sure they got that from somewhere). I feel very connected to these things, and my sound work is a means for me to play and engage in the slow, sustained process of pulling storied threads from the land and weaving something beautiful.
Z.	::	Tell us a little about the music/art scene in Whitehorse.
L.	::	There’s a strong music and arts scene here in Whitehorse. It’s small, and teetering more on the traditional side, but there is space for more “alternative” ventures. I’ve found that people are really supportive of others as individuals, and are really open to whatever you have to contribute. I think that’s really important. The amount of territorial arts funding helps, too, and makes it possible for artists to focus on their practice full-time.
Z.	::	How do you get the sounds that you do? Some of the music sounds as if it’s recorded through a cell phone, with blips and glitches of a lo-grade digital mic. But instead of sounding cold and thin it comes across as warm and deep. The lo-fi grain of your music is very characteristic, why do you prefer the lo-fi sound?
L.	::	I play! Around! Also, I mostly record analogue, using a little hand-held tape recorder. Instead of interacting with the recorder solely as an input device, I employ its shape and physicality. For example, I recorded the drum beat for a new song, “Ivory Tower”, by hitting the recorder. The same goes for the tape itself. I’ve often recorded on tapes with material already present, which leads to unexpected blips, drones. I feel like I’m sculpting rather than recording, and sound is the material. I prefer the lo-fi recording process because of the interaction and element of surprise it provides. I prefer the sound itself because it’s the sound of my analogue and earthbound childhood.
Z.	::	It is the year 2010, how do you see things and how do you hear the future of Broken Deer?
L.	::	To celebrate this month’s new moon, three friends and I went out into the middle of a huge, snow-covered horse pasture. It was dark-dark. We decided that we’d play a game where we’d walk away from each other in the four directions. After many, many paces, we’d close our eyes, turn around, and walk our way back to the center, with no visual aids. We found each other. Then we lit a sparkler. This is how I see 2010