Pennywise Interview by Christine Leonard

Punk Rock Karma

Pennywise use their powers for good

Stalwart punk rockers Pennywise, who have been pounding out their 

melodic hardcore for almost 20 years, join Rise Against in 

Calgary and Edmonton for the charity-driven Jingle Bell Rock tour

When it comes to the pursuit of money, Pennywise have always remained true to their name. From the California ensemble’s formative years in the late ’80s, when there was never enough of the green stuff to go around, through to their current status as a group of legendary proportions, Pennywise has maintained an unfaltering sense of artistic direction while keeping an eye on the coffers. Now, after writing hundreds of songs and blowing thousands of minds, these stalwart punk rockers are more than willing to repay some of their good fortune.

“When we got the call, we didn’t have to think twice,” says bassist Randy Bradbury of his band’s decision to join Rise Against for Union Events’ annual Jingle Bell Rock charity tour. “We’ve always been involved with doing shows for charities. In fact, we just filled a sports arena for a concert we did in L.A. where all the profits went to charities of our own choosing. It’s important to us to help out these organizations, and anytime we can associate with someone who’s doing some good, we’re always happy to do our part.”

Having recorded some eight studio albums, most recently 2005’s The Fuse, Pennywise are constantly working on new material, and three years of downtime between recording sessions has given the lads plenty of time to amass new material. Bassist Bradbury (who replaced original bassist Jason Thirsk after his 1996 suicide) and fellow band members Fletcher Dragge (guitar), Jim Lindberg (vocals) and Byron McMackin (drums) are in the process of whittling down the new track list, employing a time-honoured test to decide which tunes make the final cut.

“We like to throw a bunch of stuff against the wall and see what sticks,” says Bradbury with a chuckle. “There’s a lot to sort through and Jim has been writing like crazy, but I wouldn’t say the chances of this being a double-CD [as rumoured] are very good. We’ve always been very methodical about how we work. We want people to hear our music and give it as much exposure as possible, but at the same time, we don’t want to make any bad decisions or misrepresent ourselves. We want our albums to last. It’s a long, slow road to invest in them properly to make sure we’ll be staying around, rather than just jumping on the fast train like so many artists who are here today and gone tomorrow.”

Pennywise have consistently used their voice to speak out on the issues they feel are important. Whether it’s using cleverly derisive lyrics to malign authority figures or waxing melodic in tribute to a fallen comrade, the band’s reputation for telling it like it is, free from outside influence, has made them a touchstone for admirers of the true punk rock spirit.

“We’re really lucky to have a lot of control over the way this band is run on a day-to-day basis,” Bradbury says. “It’s important to us to keep it that way, and that goes back to the beginning of the band. These guys had it going on before I arrived on the scene, and they were already on an indie label. With the new album, I don’t think we have to take a step back from that.

“Epitaph has always given us artistic freedom. Most recently, we’ve been speaking with MySpace.com Records about a new deal. They are a widely known name, and they like what we do. They know our image and they want us to keep working just like we have been all of these years. We’ve realized all along that we want people to be able to hear our music, and now we’ve found a way to do that through MySpace… We feel that nothing is going to change, except that it will be a bigger release and bring more exposure to the band. We’re still working out the details, but the album will be available traditionally for purchase in music stores. I know if I like a band, I still want to have the disc in my hands and all the lyrics and cover art that goes along with it.”

Thrilled by the prospect of a rapidly expanding international listenership, Pennywise love to stir the melting pot. Like their contemporaries Black Flag, the Descendents and Bad Religion, they get their kicks from throwing a healthy dose of socio-political satire into their intelli-punk anthems. And while they may be a popular choice of kick-ass background music for extreme sports heroes, Pennywise are perhaps best known for lacing their raucous, mosh-pit-inducing performances with revolutionary tunes such as “My Own Country,” “Victim of Reality,” “Fight Till You Die” and many more.

“We know that no matter what we do, we’re always going to sound like Pennywise,” Bradbury acknowledges. “We always find a way to throw in a new dimension without changing too much. The idea is to use traditional elements in unexpected ways to expand the boundaries. Lyrically, we tend to project our perspective on whatever’s going on in the world, so you can pretty much guess what topics we’ll be addressing in the coming album. When we perform live, we try to give people a nice cross-section of our work, which is getting harder to do!”


by Christine Leonard

Originally published December 20, 2007 in FastForward Magazine.

The Blood Lines - drawing their own conclusions

From Moose Jaw to Beijing

The Blood Lines take the Prairies to the globe

Published December 13, 2007  by Christine Leonard

‘I think I had a combination of jet lag and culture shock when I arrived’ — The Blood Lines recently shared a stage with the likes of Nine Inch Nails and Public Enemy in Beijing

There’s something about a restless youth spent on the Canadian Prairies that tends to put a spark into the hearts of those who survive it. A creative cinder smouldering in a tinder-dry small-town environment, The Blood Lines burst onto the Saskatchewan scene with a fiery passion for the nouveau and a stripped-down old-school rhythm that spread like wildfire and carried the electronic-rockers far beyond their native borders. Introduced by a mutual friend, the dual sets of siblings who comprise Saskatoon’s latest claim to fame — brothers Paul and Barrett Ross and siblings Maygen (a CBC Radio 3 Bucky Award nominee for Sexiest Canadian Musician) and S.J. Kardash — were more than willing to give playing together a shot. It paid off, as they quickly went on to record a self-titled debut and embarked on a pilgrimage to the U.S. to perform at the CMJ Music Marathon. Winning over fans and critics alike with their modern take on the ’70s pop-rock sound, the quartet was startled by their own success as the awards and accolades began to roll in.

“Winning the WCMA (Western Canadian Music Award) for outstanding rock recording in Moose Jaw was probably one of the best experiences so far for me [and my brother Barrett],” says Paul of the band’s recent achievement. “Moose Jaw is our hometown, and a good chunk of our family was there with us for the event. It was like coming full-circle, and it’s a weekend I’ll never forget. Winning the award was totally unexpected, and the limelight was a surprise. Needless to say, it was nice to be recognized from people in the industry. Feedback was instant, and we have since been talking with a producer and have booked a spot at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. I’m not sure if it has changed any goals, but it certainly has galvanized them.”

Setting their sights on foreign climes, The Blood Lines recently joined forces with major players such as Nine Inch Nails, Public Enemy and Mando Diao to perform live at the prestigious Beijing Pop Festival. It was an experience that both tested their endurance and left a lasting impression on these emerging artists.

“Beijing was a blast,” Paul confirms with obvious enthusiasm. “After a long flight, I think I had a combination of jet lag and culture shock when I arrived, so that was the low for me. The high was playing our set at the festival. There is something to be said about travelling thousands of miles and playing in front of a large crowd who actually know some of your songs.”

As eager as they were to soak up the culture and gain a greater understanding of a strange new world, the political and economic policies of their host country inevitably played on The Blood Lines’ collective consciences. Their ultra-hip album is rife with what could be considered provocative and, in some circles, subversive songs like “End of the World,” “Not Enough” and “Revolution.” Putting their reservations aside, the group persevered and was justly rewarded with a sense of accomplishment from bringing a much-needed form of expression, release and enjoyment to an audience that could truly appreciate every single heart-pumping electrified supersonic note.

“Experiencing Beijing is hard to describe because it is a combination of shock and awe,” Paul elaborates. 

“There’s shock at the existence of very cheap labour, wealth and poverty right beside one another, and there is awe of all the culture, architecture, places and people. It’s just so different from what you’re used to — there is no frame of reference unless you’ve experienced it. Although we aren’t a ‘political’ band, per se, I believe one can’t be numb to what’s happening in the world. The experience of going to China was certainly an eye-opener for me. However, I can safely say that the bands there were great, and the audiences were very receptive. The most popular band from there played a type of ’70s punk, and they sounded great. The audiences there seemed as though they were starving for music. This made me happy to be there. There is a sense that the country is changing, however slowly, and I’m glad we could be part of that.”

The Bloodlines perform with Ghostkeeper & Lorrie Matheson

The Bled : Tight Lips and Loose Hips

You know what you did...

The Bled give their fans the Silent Treatment

Published November 29, 2007  by Christine Leonard

‘[Those bands are] great at what they do. We strive to be great at what we do’ — The Bled: great at standing in bushes

Tracing their roots back to Tucson, Arizona’s tight-knit music scene, music enthusiasts The Bled came together through a restless adolescence spent listening to bands like the Deftones, Converge and Refused. Hashing things out in a process that bass guitarist Darren “HeyGuy” Simoes describes as “natural,” The Bled went through some serious alterations before arriving at their current state as a five-piece thrash-punk ensemble. Singer James Munoz stepped into the role of the band’s front man and Simoes took up the position of bassist while guitarist Jeremy Talley, guitarist Ross Ott and drummer Michael Pedicone kept the original hardcore heartbeat going strong.

“We all know our jobs, so we just get them done,” says Simoes of their collaborative approach. “Usually Jeremy will come up with a few basic random riffs and will bring them to practice where we'll all jam on them for a while and arrange them how they seem fitting. If it sucks, we'll scrap it or alter it to make it flow better, but if it's cool we keep going. [All of us are guitar players first], so everyone seems to figure riffs and things out on a guitar before they're worked out at practice.”

Applying the no-nonsense, full-steam-ahead philosophy of their live shows to their studio sessions, The Bled (formerly Radiation Defiance Theory) have steadily delivered an album every two years since 2003, when they released their rowdy debut, Pass the Flask. Adding to both their prestige and their fan base, the group joined My Chemical Romance and other hotter-than-snot acts on a plethora of tours that have included more than their fair share of Canadian dates — a trend Simoes pledges will continue well into the future. “Canada is great,” he confirms with genuine enthusiasm. “We're trying to play there enough to gain citizenship, so we don't have to pay for health care.”

Preparing to traverse North America in the wake of their latest release, Silent Treatment, the band is geared up to present a dynamic and deafening array of their best material to date. Replete with hyper-intricate guitar runs, thundering metal fury and jarringly brutal vocals, The Bled’s Silent Treatment is anything but. Never afraid to experiment with abstraction and noise, the disc demonstrates a significant progression in the quality and complexity of their sound since their previous album, Found in the Flood, bobbed to the surface in 2005.

“Our main goal was to write a record that we would have fun playing live and not have to worry about it being overproduced, as far as extra effects and tracks go on a recording,” 

Simoes explains of their new 11-track triumph. “Lyrically, it has a lot to do with our lives as touring musicians and the relationships we have with people. It's definitely a difficult thing to maintain healthy relationships with your friends and family at home, not to mention girlfriends. There is a lot of pressure, and not too many ways to communicate other than the Internet or phones. [It’s also about] the relationships we have with each other as a band, touring together, living day in, day out with each other. We wanted it to be a brutally honest record — we didn't want to sugar-coat any of it.”

While that lack of communication is inevitable, Simoes readily acknowledges that giving someone “the silent treatment” as a form of punishment more often than not results in “chaos or alienation.” He much prefers to fill his life with sound and fury.

“We just put out the records we have fun making and have fun playing,” he says. “It just comes out that way. We're a heavy band, but we also want to keep it somewhat interesting and avoid easy clichés to follow, like a bunch of chugs followed by dissonant notes or familiar chorus chord progressions. All of us listen to an array of music from stuff like Radiohead to Fugazi to Meshuggah and even hip hop like Nas or Atmosphere, so we have no problem getting ideas from a broad spectrum other than the world of just metal or hardcore. We have always been our own band. [Those groups are] great at what they do. We strive to be great at what we do.”

KING COBB STEELIE

KING COBB STEELIE

As I speak with Kevan Byrne, guitar player and vocalist for Guelph’s King Cobb Steelie, he’s on Queen Street in Toronto, picking up guitar strings and getting minor repairs done in preparation for their imminent cross Canada tour. It’s been three years since we’ve seen or heard from them, and now they’re back.

Well, two of them at least – Kevan Byrne and Kevin Lynne, the original Ks from KCS, with the assistance of Michael Armstrong on drums, make up the collective’s current incarnation. And by the sounds of their newest effort, Mayday, King Cobb Steelie is a whole new band. Mayday is quite a departure from their previous albums, Junior Relaxer and The Twinkle Project. The songs are shorter and more direct, with uncharacteristically catchy choruses, and female vocal accompaniments. Singer/guitar player Tamara Wilson contributes to several of the tracks on the new album, and will be joining the band on tour. How does this dub-laden, trip-pop, rock ’n’ roll montage translate into a live performance? Lead guitarist and vocalist Kevan has several ideas in mind.

"We try and reinterpret the songs from the record into a live presentation. We don’t try and recreate what we did on the record. We try to give the songs another dimension, a greater depth."

Shrugging off suggestions that Mayday is a back-to-basics album, Byrne acknowledges some similarity to their past works.

"We’re playing very much like the way we used to play. With a live drummer, a bass, a couple of guitars and a percussionist. But we have a whole bunch of loops and samples and other things that we’ve thrown into the mix as well."

King Cobb Steelie is one ensemble that isn’t afraid to venture beyond their musical comfort zone in the quest for superior samples and source materials. They also thrive on leading audiences away from their pre-formulated expectations – for example there is the absence of a DJ on this album and tour.

"There are so many bands with turntablists now. And most of it is quite lame, I find. I don’t really want to add to the heap of mediocrity."

At the same time, Byrne is eager to separate King Cobb Steelie’s avant-garde image from the whole rock/rap fusion scene that has once again become so popular in the mainstream.

"There are some loops on the record that are kind of ‘hip-hoppish.’ I’m not really interested in bands that are combining rock and hip-hop in the sense that Limp Bizkit are. That was done 10 years ago – I can’t believe people don’t remember that! Anthrax did it with Public Enemy!"

Still, Kevan purports that blurring the lines between sample-based and live music is one of the most exciting directions an artist can take. The new release presents a somewhat distilled and concentrated version of KCS’s distinctive slash-and-sample guerilla music tactics. The tracks are more refined, lighter, increasingly poppy, and definitely marketable. Gone are the endless ambient grooves and experiments in human tolerance, replaced by brief musical vignettes with efficient titles like "Home" and "The Situation."

"We’re not doing the 10-minute explorations in sonic textures. There’s a fairly strong focus on the songwriting. The beats are pretty straight-up."

The diminished size of the band has facilitated their transformation, over the past three years, into a computer-orchestrated entity (after all, they do hail from Guelph, Canada’s answer to Silicon Valley). Kevan explains that he discovered a new musical language through composing on the computer, and in the process he came to the realization that KCS had to change with the times or perish.

"If you play long enough, you create a certain vocabulary for yourself. And it’s hard to get outside of that box. You have to create a new grammar."

King Cobb Steelie has apparently set aside their non-conformism and stepped through the commercial looking glass, hoping to score big in today’s international marketplace with the release of Mayday in Europe and the U.S. in the spring. King Cobb Steelie now find themselves standing on a corner of the busy intersection where rock, pop, electronica, dub, house, trip-hop, DJs and everything else come together, wearing brand new shoes and the tattered remnants of their old anti-commercial shroud.

by Christine Leonard

Originally published in Fast Foward Magazine
Performing with Hot Little Rocket and Slow Fresh Oil
Friday, November 17, 2000
The Night Gallery

Zappa Does Zappa = A Musical Primer

You still can’t do that on stage!!!

A Zappa primer for the uninitiated

by Christine Leonard

Zappa Plays Zappa performs at Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium November 22, 2007

Nearly 14 years after his untimely death from prostate cancer, Frank Zappa’s legacy of creative innovation continues to awe and inspire fellow artists and avid listeners around the world. Cited as one of the most influential bodies of work attributable to a modern artist, Zappa’s 50-album oeuvre of recordings, compositions and interviews is a vast and an incalculably complex testament to the twisted genius behind the famous moustache.

The Freak Out! began in the ’60s, when, straight out of college, the restless iconoclast formed The Mothers of Invention. Zappa’s penchant for physical theatrics and musical improvisation made him a natural performer and the band soon hit their stride. With Absolutely Free and We’re Only in it for the Money, they cultivated a small but fervent fan base over three short years. After his solo release Hot Rats, Zappa intensified his artistic focus and reinvented The Mothers, resulting in the über-bizarre groove-fest Chunga’s Revenge, before once again disbanding them.

Things were looking dark, and as Zappa himself put it, he was “tired of playing for people who clapped for all the wrong reasons.” An equipment-destroying venue fire and an overzealous audience member put a damper on Zappa’s activities just as he was finding a mainstream audience during the tolerant ’70s. In one live performance, a fan inexplicably pushed Frank from the stage, resulting in a one-year stint in a wheelchair. Turning his infirmity into opportunity, the digital pioneer took to the studio to record two more stunning releases, Apostrophe and One Size Fits All.

As Zappa’s popularity blossomed, he demonstrated an increasingly sophisticated command of different musical styles, fusing together elements of classical, jazz, rock, electronic and pop music like no other artist had before. His innate talent for delivering sarcastic and sometimes lewd lyrics, combined with his acerbic wit and irreverent spirit put Zappa on the cutting edge of a relatively new medium in an increasingly visual world. His 1979 epic, Joe’s Garage, prophetically mused about what would happen if the music were made illegal. Sure enough, the ’80s saw an unapologetic Zappa drawn into politics in order to defend the creative freedoms he so valued. He fought censorship at the highest levels, even testifying in front of the U.S. Senate, and later described the episode as an encounter with “Mothers of Prevention.”

Despite the popularity of his disco-mocking ’79 hit “Dancin’ Fool,” and the equally absurd “Valley Girl,” featuring daughter Moon Unit (sibling to Dweezil, Ahmet Rodan and Diva) yakking away with that gag-me-with-a-spoon mall-drawl, it is Zappa’s lesser-known successes, such as composing soundtracks for motion pictures and conducting a 52-piece orchestra, that best represent the quality and character of his artistic mettle. Embraced as a classical composer in his later days, Zappa demonstrated that he hadn’t lost his edge when he opened 1992’s Yellow Shark, performed at the Frankfurt New Music Festival by the Ensemble Modern, by instructing the high-brow attendees to “Please direct your underwear to the left side of the stage.”

Dually paying homage to his father’s legacy and showcasing his own musical aptitudes, Zappa’s son Dweezil has assembled a host of accomplished players, including Frank’s contemporaries Terry Bozzio and Napolean Murphy Brock, to join him in a massive tribute tour that encapsulates some of the highlights of his father’s illustrious and often conflicted career. Spanning a massive setlist, the sextet takes audiences on a three-hour, video-enhanced thrill ride into the extraordinary Zappaverse.

Just as Dweezil continues to carry the Zappa torch, others who share his admiration for his father’s work have done their part to preserve Frank’s memory. There are no less than two asteroids named for the man: 3834 Zappafrank and 16745 Zappa. In addition, versions of his moniker have been granted to a certain extinct mollusk, a jellyfish, a goby fish and a moustachioed spider. On a less glamourous note, the so-called ZapA gene belongs to a microbe responsible for causing urinary tract infections — a fitting namesake for the man who penned the songs “Imaginary Diseases,” “Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing?” and the immortal “Don’t Eat Yellow Snow.”

Hot Springs - "Volcano" - Album Review

Hot Springs - Volcano
Aquarius Records

Hitting like a geyser of sulphuric fury, the debut release from Montreal’s Hot Springs explodes onto the scene with all the heat and volatility their name implies. From the ballsy opener “Headrush,” a veritable archive of pent-up aggression, to the relentless drilling of the testosterone-fuelled “Pink Money,” this gutsy quartet displays their pop-rock fangs with relish. Quavering somewhere between Grace Slick and PJ Harvey, songstress Giselle Webber is reportedly the hottest thing going in Canadian music today.

Hypnotizing audiences with her ferocious sexuality and wild whirling-dervish dance moves, Webber commands attention with every deliberate note. Drummer Anne Gauthier drives the point home with her solid yet creative beats, dirtying up the psychedelic harmonies with a heavier Led Zeppelin-inspired sound. Despite getting off to a good start, Volcano inevitably cools off as it winds its way through nine remarkably modern-sounding tracks. 

As a budding entity that has become defined by its own kinetic energies, Hot Springs may indeed prove to be a dish best served live.

by Christine Leonard

Published October 11, 2007

Marcel Khalife : Romieh prison blues

Imprisonment no deterrent for renowned oud player Marcel Khalife

Despite being banned from Tunisia and put on trial in Lebanon, Marcel Khalife continues to preach peace through his songs

by Christine Leonard 

Marcel Khalife and the Al Mayadine Ensemble perform at MacEwan Ballroom October 4, 2007

It’s been 20 years since renowned Arabic musician Marcel Khalife last paid a visit to Calgary. In that time, the internationally renowned oud player has traversed the globe recording music, performing at venues such as the Kennedy Center and Berkeley College and attempting to build bridges between people and their respective ideologies.

A native to Lebanon, Khalife now makes his home in Paris, where he composes original, traditionally influenced music to complement soul-stirring verses penned by Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish. His latest release, Taqasim, embodies the essence of an artist who has faced censorship on every front yet has remained steadfast in his efforts to break down the barriers that reside within. Summing up 30 years of dedication and tribute to Darwish — his friend, lyricist and national poet of the Palestinian people — Taqasim is a thoughtful and passionate collection of songs that takes its name from the Arabic word for improvisations.

“There is always a unifying message in my music and in the poetry of Darwish,” Khalife explains. “It is a message of peace and harmony, a message of love and hope and a message of justice, and also resistance to persecution wherever it emanates from. It is my attempt to express the feelings and emotions that Mahmoud Darwish's poetry has instilled in me in music, without the lyrics.”

Once again touring with the Al Mayadine Ensemble, a fluctuating collection of accomplished players who furnish each piece with their manifold vocal and instrumental talents, Khalife is eager to present his unique blend of modern and traditional compositions to the delight of audiences worldwide. Performing as a trio, quartet or larger group, the ever-evolving Al Maydine Ensemble takes whatever form necessary to meet the requirements of the work in question.

“My music is grounded in my Arab culture and music, yet open to influences from music of cultures in other parts of the world,” he says, “I draw my inspiration from the poetry that I read, which touches me deeply, and from everyday episodes of life and people.”

Khalife has been persecuted by governments (he was banished from Tunisia for expressing his support for political prisoners and activists in that country), corporations and individuals who take offense at his views. He has even been taken to court three times, facing a three-year prison term in Lebanon for “insulting religious values” by singing a poem adapted from a story from the Qur’an. Despite ongoing accusations that he is guilty of blasphemy under Islamic law and the very real threat of detainment, Khalife’s projects continue with the same indomitable spirit.

“There have been several attempts to stifle my work and ban it,” Khalife says. “There were attempts to persecute me by falsely accusing me of blasphemy and insulting religious beliefs. On this tour, my performance in one of the cities in the U.S. was canceled by the venue that the presenter had secured for the concert by claiming that my event is unbalanced and divisive, and might be alienating to a certain community in the city.”

Pitchforkmedia and MuzzleWatch.com reported that the San Diego Salvation Army recently refused to rent space for Khalife’s performance, because doing so would be unfair unless an Israeli was allowed to play the same stage.

“It makes me more persistent in the work I do,” Khalife says. “Cultural and artistic production is our last line of defense in the face of the gradual political collapse that the world is currently experiencing.”

3 Inches of Blood Interview by Christine Leonard-Cripps

Ankle-deep in a bloody good time with 

3 Inches of Blood

Fantasy-metal sextet 3 Inches of Blood prepare to Fire Up the Blades

~~~

Whether you’re waste-deep sluicing out a clogged floor drain in a slaughterhouse or applying tiny squares of tissue to a zit inadvertently decapitated during a morning shave, blood is blood, and the red stuff always gets a reaction. The same can be said of the formidable heavy metal ensemble known as Three Inches of Blood. Riding high on the success of their latest release, Fire Up the Blades, the fast-shredding sextet has captured headlines and hearty praise for the over-the-top duelling vocals of high-ranger Cam Pipes and doom-growler Jamie Hooper, backed by Alexei Rodriguez’s punishing percussion and the crunching black metal bass riffs of Nick Cates. Moving beyond novelty act niche, Three Inches of Blood has undergone some significant lineup changes in the interest of establishing themselves as a true metal superpower. Guitarists Shane Clark and Justin Hagberg joined the band shortly after the release of the group’s 2004 album, Advance and Vanquish. According to Clark, their new material is their most extreme to date.

“For me, as an individual musician, the process of recording the new album marked the end of being stifled creatively,” he says Shane Clark. “Justin and I joined at the same time and we have been touring on the last album for two and a half years. I loved the music, but I wasn’t involved in writing it. Being on the road has made us a lot tighter as musicians and personally, too. Working on this album was a very collaborative effort, we all shared our influences, and I’m happy with the fact it came together so well. It’s fast, heavy and rockin’; kind of like Deep Purple.”

Clark says the baker’s dozen tracks that rage within Fire Up the Blades reflect an evolution in the band’s taste for fantastical imagery. Giving new meaning to the words “heavy metal,” Three Inches of Blood have raided the Viking’s armoury in search of razor-sharp steel fit to slay the giants of Jormungrund. Leaving behind the evil-yet-bloody-amusing pirates and hobbits that inspired their music in the past, they still maintain their signature combination of Pipe’s lightning-hot shrieks, and twin guitars laying down thunderous power chords.

“There has always been an element of fantasy to our songs,” he says. “Mythological themes seep into the music, and our lyrics often talk about finding inner strength and overcoming the odds. It’s very escapist in nature. The last thing we want is for people to come home from a horrible day and then have to hear about ours. We wanted to explore serious fantasy that touches on what some may call the plague on the planet that is Christianity. Some of the songs deal with demons and things from the Crusades in a hypothetical way. ‘Trial of Champions’ is about gladiators as slaves who rise up and overthrow their masters. It’s about becoming free, but it’s done in an indirect way. We just put a new twist on an old idea.”

Rising to the challenge like the champions of mayhem they are, Three Inches of Blood recently completed a full tour with Ozzfest, in which they flexed their collective muscle and exposed their new and improved chops to a rapidly growing international fan base. Known for donning horny Viking helmets and hoisting medieval weaponry of every description, Three Inches of Blood’s adherents seem to take enormous pleasure in immersing themselves in the fantastical action. Security staff be warned — it may be harder to spot a homemade double-head battle axe in a pat-down than you’d think. Damn fur-lined underwear!

“We seem to be able to appeal to a broad spectrum of fans,” Clark explains. “There are so many subgenres of death and black metal, including stuff I’ve never heard of. We have been so fortunate to have toured with so many different types of acts within the death metal realm in so many cities. Of course, things are at their craziest when we perform for audiences in Western Canada. They’re always the most intense, patriotic and steadfast. I wouldn’t put it past them to show up with a lot of weapons. We take it as a compliment when people genuinely enjoy our stuff and really get into the lyrics, whether they show up in an actual full suit of armour or just something they made out of beer cases. We love that enthusiasm. There’s no political or religious agenda here, it’s just about having fun, burning off energy and letting out your aggression.”

By Christine Leonard

3 Inches of Blood perform with Verbal Deception & Gallows Eve
Royal Canadian Legion #1  Saturday, September 29

Originally published September 27, 2007 in FastForward Magazine

FORD PIER - Interviewed by Christine Leonard-Cripps

12-Step Program, 11-Step Pier

Fun guy Ford Pier wants to be your new boyfriend

"I don’t know what nine out of 10 people think about me, and I’d say that I’d disagree with them anyways’ — musician and man-about-town Ford Pier shows why they call him the ladykiller.

In an age of digitized pleasures, the collectors and musical archivists who relish the feel and crackle of a vinyl record have a new and devoted ally in the one-man musical phenomenon known as Ford Pier. Fronting (and often comprising) the band that bears his name, Ford has taken an enduring love of his musical education (which he describes as a “grateful chore”) to the next plateau by releasing his own six-song EP, mysteriously dubbed Organ Farming, both electronically and on 12-inch vinyl.

“A friend of mine who is a naturalist and a hiker takes a lot of photos and this one of tree fungus really caught my eye,” Pier says of the album’s title. “I thought it looked like a little brain."

If the title seems a bit obtuse, it’s because Pier is an offbeat guy. Still, he doesn’t let others’ opinions influence him. 

“I don’t know what nine out of 10 people think about me,” he says, “and I’d say that I’d disagree with them anyways. You can’t draw any conclusions based on the people I’ve worked with and the environments I’ve surfaced in; punk, country, alt- rock, classical, electronic. Over the years I’ve participated in projects with some fabulous people and helped them to write songs in their own idioms. Now, I prefer to be known for my own stuff. My favourite thing in the world is to sit around the guitar or piano and play music for a friend or someone I enjoy.”

As a prelude to a forthcoming full-length album, Organ Farming offers an immediate glimpse into the world of this enigmatic and somewhat curmudgeonly multi-instrumentalist and singer. Building on the momentum of earlier releases such as Meconium, 12-Step Plan, 11-Step Pier and Pieric Victory, Ford Pier has once again teamed up with producer-engineer-musician Michael Phillip Wojewoda. He’s also joined by members of the Rheostatics, FemBots and the Weakerthans to create Organ Farming and the forthcoming LP, Adventurism, to be released this autumn on Six Shooter Records.

“This was nothing like recording my last album, Pieric Victory,” Pier says. “That album spanned three years and was recorded in two different cities on opposite sides of the continent, and that’s reflected by its varied instrumentation and panoramic scope. Organ Farming is an experiment. With new band members coming onboard, I had a whole repertoire to teach and it occurred to me that it was going to take a long time. So, I did something I’d never done before and wrote songs that addressed each band member’s qualities as musicians. It opened the floodgates; I wrote a whole bunch of new material and chipped away at some older stuff. New things just kept popping up that seemed to complement the old.“

Citing successful EP-LP combos from punk rock acts like his progenitors and supporters NoMeansNo, who put out similar releases in their heyday, Pier remains true to his roots, even as he alternates between the booming music scenes in Vancouver and Toronto. Sought after by the likes of The Sadies, Buttless Chaps, Carolyn Mark, Ron Sexsmith and Martin Tielli for his uncanny ability to merge orchestral melodies with conceptual noise, Pier is as serious about the nature of performance as he is about achieving perfection in the recording studio.

“It’s great to have the cavalier attitude that this is my album, and I wrote it for me,” he says. “I’m satisfied, and that’s all that counts. Of course, I’d like it if others like it. That’s the point. It’s not really music until someone hears it and hopefully wants to hear more. That’s what gives life to the piece. (Music) doesn’t depend on space the way other art forms do. To experience a great painting you have to be there and study in the frame, that’s where it exists and casts a shadow on the wall. If you have a recording of a live performance, it re-creates the moment for you wherever you happen to be. Live performance is all about catch-as-catch-can adventurism. There’s more to it than the way things sound — it’s the energy in the room. It’s all about guitar, bass, drums and the power of rock.”

~ Christine Leonard 

Originally published in Fast Forward Magazine September 20, 2007  

GRIM SKUNK - an interview with Peter Edwards by Christine Leonard-Cripps

Catcha fire under the bridge

Grim Skunk puts the ‘party’ in politics

There is a surprisingly serious edge to GrimSkunk, one that belies their reputation as Quebec’s premier high-flying, bong-water-steeped rock ’n’ roll act. For a party-oriented band, GrimSkunk is no stranger to controversy. Their original bassist, Marc-Boris Saint Maurice, founder of the Marijuana Party of Canada, left the band in 2000 to open Montreal’s Compassion Clinic and to continue his crusade to legalize marijuana from the inside by joining the Liberal party. More recently, the band’s breakaway single “America Sucks” and its accompanying video have fired up intense international debate on YouTube. Looking back over a career that spans 15 years and eight LPs, GrimSkunk’s lead guitarist Peter Edwards continues to thrive on the changes and challenges that signal this legendary ensemble’s readiness to face the future head-on.     

“We’ve shot three videos for our new album, Fires Under the Road,” says Edwards. “It was filmed last year in advance of the album’s release on October 31. The title track is a nod to a long-standing annual tradition where our friends gather in secret caves under a road to light Samhain bonfires. The other videos are for our songs ‘America Sucks,’ and ‘Vive le Quebec Libre,’ which is kind of the French version of ‘America Sucks.’ That song in particular has stirred up a massive controversy. It built up slowly and now we have Russians posting arguments with Americans about the superiority of the AK-47 over the M-16. We have always been very open to debating global issues. We have our stand. Some people in the States may take it at face value, but it’s a wake-up call to all of North America. We have to shock people into realizing the government is materialistic, consumer-oriented and wasteful.”     

Sometimes the status quo isn’t good enough and standards need to be raised across the board. Never ones to Bogart a good thing, GrimSkunk have shared their success by applying the “puff, puff, pass” philosophy to their working lives as well as their recreational activities. Stepping in where the well-liked Cargo Records label left off, Edwards, along with vocalist and rhythm guitarist Franz Schuller, vocalist and keyboardist Joe Evil, drummer Alain VDbC and Boris’s replacement bassist Vince Peake, conceived Indica Records. Shortly thereafter, they released the infamous Inhale compilations to showcase the impressive variety of bands they had attracted to their label.    

 “We’ve entered a co-partnership with a group of labels and have seriously gotten into the business of releasing music,” Edwards reports. “We’ve put out everything from alt rock to punk to pop to techno and hip hop. One of our greatest successes has been a world groove album. There’s a new generation emerging, one that is more open-minded and less likely to be prejudiced against foreign cultures. Indica records carries licences for artists from England, the U.S., France and Australia, though to date all of our Canadian artists are from Quebec. Basically, we don’t want to limit ourselves in any way.”  

 Stepping down from their soapbox and leaping from their amps in full glorious Van Halen-style, GrimSkunk really know how to let their hair down when it comes to performing live. Thrilling audiences with their classic-rock guitar assaults, theatrical organ runs and heavy metal percussion, GrimSkunk possess the uncanny ability to combine multiple genres and tongues into one mighty explosion of synergistic energy.     

“After our last show in Norway, some kids came up to us and expressed their admiration for us, because we don’t care about being hip,” Edwards laughs. “We’re all about good times. It’s still 90 per cent party. Politics does not rule the majority of what we do. Our ability to accept multiple musical styles lets us create a multi-musicscape that reflects Canadian culture. People get it when they see us live. We try to keep the universe in balance by starting fires.”

Originally published in FFWD Magazine by Christine Leonard

AUTOBODY : An interview with Graeme McInnis by Christine Leonard-Cripps

Heavy Metal Shop

Calgary's Autobody likes it fast and furious

Emerging Calgary hardcore-meets-heavy-metal artists Autobody have weathered highs and lows on the road to rock ’n’ roll glory, and they have the experience and the scars to prove it. Claiming a musical heritage that stretches back to a prog-rock ensemble known as theR.A.C.E., this unholy trio of tried and true friends have succeeded in blazing their own trail.    

 “In the beginning, we ran our own label and put out our own records,“ says guitarist Graeme McInnis. “We spent five to seven years working on the last record for our previous band theR.A.C.E. It was a very progressive concept album. We had a great vision that required a complex recording process to accompany the tremendous industrial nature of the performance. Ultimately, it was cheaper to buy a studio than to pay to record in one, and that’s how our label, Trace Records, got started. We recorded some projects for other bands to offset the expense, but it all comes down to percentages and our style is just not “mainstream.” It became apparent that we were leaning more towards art than commerce. I wouldn’t advise young musicians just starting out to try and start their own label; we’ve learned how difficult it can be when you’re trying to do everything yourself.”     

Eventually, the strain was too much, and, as McInnis puts it, things soon “self-imploded.” Still, the members of Autobody endured and eventually emerged from the ashes of their former incarnation. McInnis further cemented his collaboration with vocalist-bassist Jerrod Maxwell-Lyster and the two joined forces with drummer Rob Shawcross to form a powerful three-piece. The group has left behind the disappointment and dissolution to focus on the future.  

With the advent of their explosive full-length debut, The Mean Length of Daylight, released on the band’s own label, Autobody have dedicated themselves to creating shredding guitar riffs and pummelling percussion arrangements so tight there’s no room left for personality conflicts.     

“I don’t think we’ve taken a step back by going down to a three-piece,” McInnis explains. “I think we’re much more accessible. It’s a much simpler project in terms of merging egos, finances and commitments. We just try to keep it simple; we’ve learned over the years that too many members means too many issues. I think that our wide dynamic range sets us apart. As a trio we are strong enough musicians and songwriters that we can perform original compositions in any style within the genres of rock and metal. We’re a steamroller full of determination!”    

Making the most of their new, sleeker lineup, the lads in Autobody have been generating plenty of buzz on the local scene and beyond. They’ve been performing at metal festivals, appearing on globally broadcast radio program “Megawatt Mayhem” and, most recently, embarking on a whirlwind tour of their old stomping grounds in Southern California.     

“The reason we chose to return to the L.A. scene is that there is such a huge number of venues concentrated in an area the size of southern Alberta.” McInnis reasons. “We do all of our own booking and it’s way easier to hit a large segment of the population down there. It was definitely a learning experience, and we did our best to take advantage of it by playing with bands down there that were of interest to us. We had a great time. It’s a lot of hard work, though, and that’s part of the whole problem; as the band is getting to be more popular, all of the little tasks that we were doing ourselves are becoming full-time jobs. That’s when you know you need a professional team — when all of the ‘detail work’ gets to be too much to handle.”

~Christine Leonard

Originally published September 6, 2007 in Fast Forward Magazine 

SQUARE ROOT OF MARGARET -- an interview with Jason 33 1/3

Endless rotation

Square Root of Margaret screams in library-voices

Completely incognito — Four-fifths of Ontario’s Square Root of Margaret find the perfect way to avoid unwelcome attention

The party house. Every old neighbourhood has one. Skateboard ramp ascending the front porch, flags instead of curtains, anatomically correct garden gnomes strutting their stuff in an overgrown yard. For the southern Ontario town of Chatham, a.k.a. The Maple City, that particular residence was known as The Briscotech. Its requisite resident house band — Square Root of Margaret.    

  “There was lots of LSD going on at the time,” explains keyboardist Jason 33 1/3. “The guys chose the band’s name by going into a room in The Briscotech that was known as the library. They began randomly opening books and pointing to words. The idea was to find a combination of words with no linear meaning. You could call it a surrealist statement. Other names that came up were Big Daddy Carnie and the Thumbsaws, and Bloated Policewoman.” 

Thankfully that one didn’t stick. Collaborating and creating infectiously good music in a non-linear fashion, Jason and guitarist Po Kadot, along with the house’s namesake rhythm guitarist Joshua Brisco, bassist Easy Reissner and drummer Todd Clark, have amassed an impressive body of work since the band’s inception. From their mind-bending early Outer Space(s) and Casual Man-Slayer EPs to their more recent LPs, Levitation Days and Cloud Nine Revisited, Margaret have displayed an uncanny knack for combining harmony and whimsy. Self-proclaimed “soldiers of misfortune,” the group has weathered an unfortunate era marked by venue closures, studio fires and a record label that crumbled, taking one of their best releases, the brilliant yet ill-fated Endless Rotation, with it.     

“The history of this band goes back to the beginning of time,” explains Jason, a two-year veteran of the long running troupe. “Po Kadot started the band as an instrumental trio back in high school. I know the term ‘musical genius’ gets bandied about a lot, but he honestly is one. He can literally pick up any instrument and moments later he’s working on a melody. We recorded one of our early songs, “Crisis in Space,” within 10 to 15 minutes of Po picking up an autoharp for the first time. Funnily enough, our guitarist, Joshua, lived in The Briscotech, too, and taught himself to play his instrument by listening to (the band) jamming out in his basement. One day he just came downstairs and asked to join.”    

Rotating on an axis of unbridled musical talent and unexpectedly auspicious coincidences, Square Root of Margaret continue to pursue the ideal of creating genuinely unique and enjoyable music that is at the same time deeply personal and widely accessible.   

“We exist in our own world, one we have created out of cultural necessity. The Briscotech is gone, but our new residence, The House of Bleen, continues to be a communal existence, ” Jason elaborates. 

“For a while there, Square Root of Margaret had stopped playing live and focused on making music. It wasn’t long before Po had accumulated over 100 songs. We selected 13 to make up the new album Teragram Photeur. Having our own recording and rehearsal space in-house has influenced the sound and feel of our albums. An interesting pattern developed where Po would wake up, go downstairs and record music inspired by his dreams. We consider ourselves thoughtful individuals and we believe that, within reason, we can do anything. As long as we have warmth, food and shelter and it doesn’t hurt anyone, we intend to customize our existence to suit our needs and perceptions. We like to mix and match concepts in our songs; they’re whimsical, abstract and only limited by our imaginations.”

Published September 6, 2007  by Christine Leonard

EDGAR WINTER -- an interview with Edgar Winter by Christine Leonard

Just orbiting this planet...

Edgar Winter comes full circle

Distilling a complex musical genre like the blues down into its most basic black-and-white constituents is a mighty tall order for any artist, but for Edgar Winter, who was raised on a steady diet of the stuff, nothing could be simpler. Having benefited early on from the tutelage of his musically inclined parents, Winter began performing with his much idolized brother, legendary slide blues guitarist Johnny Winter, at a tender age. Never content with settling into a specific style of music, Winter soon moved beyond his homegrown country-blues background and began to explore other musical worlds including jazz, classical and rock ’n’ roll.

Eventually mastering the alto saxophone and piano, Winter’s willingness to push the envelope led him to form The Edgar Winter Group in 1972, along with renowned songwriters and players Rick Derringer, Dan Hartman, Ronnie Montrose and Chuck Ruff. By January 1973, Winter’s unique combination of R & B and synthesizer rock won over critics and mainstream audiences alike with the release of the band’s most successful album to date, They Only Come Out at Night, which featured the electric keyboard juggernaut “Frankenstein” and the feel-good epic “Free Ride.”

Some 35 years later, Winter is still actively composing, performing and recording and continues to bring the blues into the future.

    “I have a lot of fun doing what I do,“ Winter says of his long-running career. “I still enjoy it as much as I did when I was a little kid playing ukulele with my brother Johnny and listening to the Everly Brothers. My dad showed us our first chord; he played guitar and banjo, and sang in a barbershop quartet and in the church choir. He also played the alto sax and performed with a swing band back in the day. Mom played classical, too, so good music was always a part of growing up. I think that’s part of the reason I try to broaden people’s musical horizons.”

   Looking to the horizons — and indeed the heavens — for inspiration, Winter is a noted Scientologist who is well-known in Hollywood, where he currently resides, for his work as a soundtrack composer. His arrangements have been featured in numerous film and television productions including The Simpsons, Wayne’s World 2, Netherworld, Invincible, Tupac Resurrection, Queer as Folk and the movie adaptation of L. Ron Hubbard’s Mission Earth (Hubbard left explicit guidelines regarding the score to accompany the inevitable adaptation of his magnum opus). The fact that both Edgar and Johnny Winter carry the genetic distinction of albinism only adds to their mystique.

While Johnny shirks from interviews, tending to let his amazing slide guitar-playing take the spotlight (Jimi Hendrix once approached him for lessons), Edgar has come to embrace his public persona. He even hosts a congenial website (www.edgarwinter.com) where he repeatedly thanks his fans and invites them to shed their preconceived musical preferences and experience his sound with open minds and ears.

    “It is really senseless to have all these musical prejudices,” Winter explains of his philosophical approach to his craft. “All music is beautiful and all styles have their own validity and are continually evolving and merging together. The one common thread between them is the blues. I’m thought of as a rocker, but I also play jazz, classical, blues, ragtime, Dixie and more. People think the blues has already happened and is over with, but I believe it still continues to have an influence on the pop music of today. The same can be said of jazz. That’s what my album, Jazzin’ the Blues, is all about.”

    One of the many perks of having been a major name in the recording industry for so long is the pull that Winter has when it comes to putting together a wish list of artists to appear on the forthcoming Rockin’ the Blues. Everyone from Slash to Clint Black has been assigned a seat in Winter’s blues-rock arena. Winter intends to let the record develop in a natural “organic” manner, one that will ensure that things are done with what he describes as a feeling of “rightness.”

    “I’m a musical rebel in the sense that I never want to be categorized,” says Winter. “I think it has hurt music, to an extent, that record companies are so insistent on defining artists by style to make it easier to target their market audience. I really feel that things were better back in the ’70s. There was an open attitude (amongst musicians) of freedom and playing music they believed in. Bands actually went into the studio with two or three songs and created the rest of the album in the studio. There was a magic and immediacy to the process, as opposed to the control presently exerted by record companies that want demos of everything in advance. Today, it’s more about business than art. Rock, jazz, blues; I’m just glad to have trained in so many different theatres. It makes for a really interesting, fun, high-energy show.”

Originally published in FFWD Magazine, August 23, 2007  by Christine Leonard

MBP // MARK BIRTLES PROJECT -- an interview with Blake Betteridge by Christine Leonard-Cripps

Let’s get physical

MBP stages a pants-off dance-off

We'll be in the basement, Dad — the Mark Birtles Project wants to put the wreck in your room. 

For some artists, it’s the moment of truth. For others, it’s the pinnacle of their career and the realization of their lifetime aspirations. For Blake Betteridge, guitarist and keyboardist for Edmonton’s high-intensity rock ’n’ roll juggernaut, Mark Birtles Project, walking into an HMV and seeing his new album available for purchase is a quirky novelty. Hitting the shelves July 24, ART Crime is the group’s third recording in five years, but unlike the EPs it follows, the new album offers a full-length glimpse into the world of these hassle-free hipsters who refuse to take themselves too seriously.

    “It was cool seeing our CD at HMV,” says Blake Betteridge “I like the idea that it’s available on such a wide scale. Before it used to be that when we put together an album, we’d write the songs, then pay for them to be recorded. Then only a few people would get to hear it if they we able to come out to our shows, or get to the small cool record stores to buy a copy. It’s weird, now that we’re in mall stores it makes things official. It makes it legit. Of course, it also adds more pressure, because we’re very conscious of the fact that money is being spent and people are counting on us to fulfill our end by touring and playing and recording great music. The upside is all of the opportunities that are coming our way, and higher exposure for our CD. Masterpieces of art belong in a museum for the public to enjoy and appreciate, not just in someone’s private collection. That’s a true art crime.”

    As the lyric to one of the band’s ringtone-worthy songs goes, “it’s alright to feel nice.” And feel nice they do, largely because of the fact that the Mark Birtles Project takes their musical motivation from the positive side of rocking out. Betteridge, along with the band’s lead singer Mark Raymond, guitarist Brian Birtles, and drummer Sean Taylor (bassist Steve P. will be joining MBP for this tour) extend this sense of spiritual levity and resilience to their name, which is an homage of sorts to Brian’s father Mark Birtles. Talk about the ultimate teenage rebellion; naming your rock ’n’ roll band after the parent that ordered you to “turn it down” in your reckless youth!

Hovering halfway between a tongue-in-cheek poke at themselves and a heartfelt tribute, MBP’s unlikely moniker is an apt metaphor for the band’s unconventional approach to their material. Hashing out angst and blowing off excess energy with every lick, the lads throw themselves into one sonic smash-up after another, without any sign of hesitation or fatigue. Pouring on old school rock rhythms infused with a heavy-handed blues influence, MBP heats up the stage with a style that simultaneously channels elements of Jon Spencer and Eric Burdon in one tail-shaking bundle.

    “We believe in playing as hard as we can,” Betteridge explains. “We have a policy of not practicing unless we’re together. It’s about not thinking and just doing. It’s the same when we’re on stage. Pants will come off, things will happen. That’s how I wound up playing half of our Winnipeg show while naked.”

    Not afraid of getting physical, Betteridge and company trade in emo shoegazing for extreme ginch-gazing as they shed their clothing and inhibitions with equal aplomb. Stripped down to their bare essentials, it’s easy to see that Mark Birtles Project play every gig like it’s their last. And, given the unpredictable nature of their spastic melodies and explosive on-stage antics, it is entirely possible that any given show one or more Project members may succumb to a performance-related calamity.

    “One of the last times we performed live, our singer jumped off a PA onto my electric piano and smashed the legs out from under it!” Betteridge recalls fondly. “I guess it was a special moment, although I was kinda bummed that my keyboard never sounded the same again. We’ve just gotta do what we’ve gotta do. That’s our mantra. When we perform live, we try to leave it all out there. You shouldn’t leave that stage unless your panting and crawling or being helped off.“

Originally published August 2, 2007 in FFWD Magazine  by Christine Leonard

 

THE A-TEAM OF CALGARY, ALBERTA -- an interview with Pat Downing by Christine Leonard-Cripps

Zen and the art of rocking out

Calgary's A Team mix far-out philosophy with balls-out rock

According to Nietzsche, when you look long into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you. Standing on the outer edge of the universe and daring to gaze beyond its boundaries, Calgary-based hip hop-meets-hard-rock dynamos A Team take paradoxical philosophizing to a whole new level.

    “There are five outer zones of existence,” guitarist and vocalist Pat Downing explains. “Sphere, cube, pyramid, blob and exit shell. Exit shell is where the edge of the universe starts. It’s like we’re a bird inside a giant worm and we’re so happy to be gorging on worm all around us that we don’t realize we’re being digested. The same thing goes on between us and our audience. It’s beautiful.”

    After a lengthy absence from the local rock ’n’ roll scene, a newly streamlined A Team emerged from their jam space (which they amicably share with local punksters The Motherfuckers) in the basement of the Castle Pub to reclaim their title as Calgary’s favourite band named after a popular ’80s TV show. Stepping back in front of the mic, Downing (ex The Dudes) and fellow founding team member Andy Sparacino (Tron from Fubar) began a journey that would see a multi-EP project originally known as the Pegasus Evolution series morph into a full-length album appropriately titled The Rebirth of Rock Therapy. Not only does their new album mark their first release in seven years, it also showcases the duo’s eerily intuitive metaphysical connection. Even more impressive than their ability to collaborate on a subliminal level is the sheer audacity with which Downing and Sparacino face the self-exposure that comes from stripping an ensemble cast down to a skeleton crew of players.

    “We trimmed the fat and did away with a lot of the things we’d always relied on.” Downing says. “In live performances, we are capable of operating as a two-man act. We work it by filling in the sound with wacky drum machines and keyboards. Right now, though, we’re performing as a four-piece with Peter Moersch on bass and Visar Dukadjini on drums. When we work together, we’re a full-on rock. As a band, you build yourself a paradigm and you don’t have to speak. We just feel our way around, moving between temporal phases. It all goes back to spheres in an infinitely large universe. We use the finite to expand the infinite. It’s all rock and roll.”

    Mixing up moustaches and flowers, as they put it, the group that brought you the infamous “Labatt, Labatt, Labatt Wildcat” song continues to employ the same glee-versus-terror formula that has made them such a sensation. Like their previous release, Non Merci: Situations in the Key of Sound 1994-1999, The Rebirth of Rock Therapy integrates seemingly divergent aspects of rap and rock into one power primordial force. Silver-tongued wordplay and raw guitar gallops pay tribute to the glory of early Wu-Tang Clan and the ejaculatory rapture of Ween back in their God Ween Satan days. Leaving heartaches and earaches in their wake, A Team are accomplished experts at what they do; pumping out heavy-handed, head-nodding rhythms laced with cathartic lyrics, all amplified and enhanced by a magnanimous onstage presence.

    “It’s all in the name of entertainment,” says Downing. “Putting smiles on people’s faces and getting them to think about hugs and high fives. Having been around since 1994, we have a lot of original songs to choose from, so we’re known for playing for three hours at a time without doing any covers. Yeah, we get way out on the shell.”

Connect with and listen to Calgary's A Team on MySpace

Originally published in FFWD Magazine August 9, 2007  by Christine Leonard

GRANDFATHER FIRE AND THE HOLY MORNING -- an interview with BT Fraser by Christine Leonard-Cripps

Walking the line

Grandfather Fire and the Holy Morning glow from dusk till dawn

They don't need no stinkin' water — Calgary's Grandfather Fire and the Holy Morning

Taking their name from a mysterious ancient ritual practiced by the Huichol Aztec Indians of Southern Mexico, Calgary’s Grandfather Fire and the Holy Morning aim to take the alt-rock experience to ecstatic new heights.

    Gleaning the concept of a peyote-fuelled vision quest from an Access Network documentary they stumbled across during an episode of collective boredom, lead singer-guitarist BT Fraser and his fellow peyoteros — Rich Friesen, Pete Glimm, Jzero Shuurman and Markus Overland — felt a strange affinity for the ceremony, meant to induce an enlightened state. Perhaps this spurred the band (known as Red Not Evil in its previous incarnation) into making a spiritual retreat of their own, as they withdrew to a secluded cabin in the woods to find the desired environment in which to record their self-titled debut.

    “It’s a very organic sound,” says BT Fraser of Grandfather Fire’s unique rock-meets-roots musical style. “We prefer to take an honest approach to our work. What’s the point of doing it if you’re just manufacturing something? Our music is a reflection of who we are and we wanted that to come across on our album.

    “We took off to a cabin that my dad built near Fernie, B.C. and spent four days recording live off the floor, then came back to Calgary to mix and produce it. We took a few liberties with the editing, but we don’t abuse it. We like to keep it pretty clean while maintaining the free-flowing aspect that we had during recording. The all-natural reverb of the cabin remains and that’s what gives the tracks such lush tones.”

    Overlaying tweaky guitar runs and bass notes that drop like bottomless pits, Grandfather Fire approach each of their cathartic compositions with equally distributed portions of humour and urgency. From heart-pounding tracks like “Redeye Reduction” to the resonating irony of “Meathook the Vegetarian,” Grandfather Fire’s desire to provoke a reaction extends beyond the group’s hard-to-recall moniker to their creative bent, which demands that a certain level of ambiguity and unpredictability be injected into each of their arrangements.

    “Like the name of our band, our music requires a closer look and some careful listening,” explains Fraser. “It may not be something that sticks with you the first few times you hear it. We definitely go for a big sound, it’s not all on the surface. There’s stuff going on that’s beyond pop. In our experience, grandfathers are these silent, stoic figures who are not necessarily trying to be the center of attention but are the quiet thinkers who say the right thing at the right time. That is somewhat how we approach things. Lyrically we emphasize a personal abstract rather than trying to hammer something home. We use words to build and hint at the shadow of an idea as opposed to getting too preachy. Although, I love making people uncomfortable.”

    Simultaneously challenging musical convention and their listening audience, Fraser and company bring all their creative fury to bear whenever they appear live. The five band members (really a rag-tag crew from a handful of other bands such as Gutterawl, Brittle Siren and Lucid 44) are in a constant state of flux, moving adeptly from instrument to instrument all the while sharing vocal duties. According to Fraser, this highly successful onstage chemistry comes from a shared aesthetic among musicians, one that venerates the cultural trappings of the past even as it ultimately moulds and shapes that which is yet to come. Further aligning themselves as raconteurs of the mystic realm, Grandfather Fire and the Holy Morning encourage fans to submit their dreams and good vibrations for interpretation via the band’s official website, www.grandfatherfire.com.

Originally published in FFWD Magazine July 19, 2007  by Christine Leonard