EarGoggles keeps the Cobalt alive.
By: denis maile

The Cobalt may be closed, but thanks to a backlog of footage from its last year of operations, EarGoggles won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. If you’ve yet to hear of EarGoggles, first climb out from under your rock, and secondly get out there and find yourself a free copy. EarGoggles is a seasonal DVD featuring a rash of performers doing their thing at the lovely Cobalt. It usually includes a short film, advertisements for local businesses and some skateboarding. The DVD seems to have become more varied with each issue, and creator, producer, filmer, editor, writer and general manager of the one man operation Clayton Holmes has launched a website along with finishing and releasing Issue 4. It’s been out since mid-November, so you’d better start hunting yourself down a copy, or just visit web link

The Skinny: Issue 4 of EarGoggles is out on the streets, and it's great. What are your highlights from the issue? Lowlights?

Clay: Hard Charger is the band I keep going back to watch. Assertion is also a highlight, even though it looks like there was nobody in the audience. The lowlight was obvious and it haunted the issue. I made my feelings pretty clear in the menu and tried not to dwell on it. The Olympics are to live music in Vancouver as global warming is to the polar icecaps. I just hope some worthwhile places make it out alive.

The Skinny: So the Cobalt is gone, what now?

Clay: EarGoggles will live on. I'm filming select shows around town and shooting a video for Raised by Apes. Live music is, and I think will always be, the backbone of EarGoggles, but I would like to incorporate more disciplines to provide some artistic diversity. I'm looking to add more short films, some stand-up comedy, maybe a little interpretive dance. I like the idea of providing a platform for mediums that otherwise wouldn't be seen by many people or only by certain people. People put thousands of hours into great short films that never get the exposure they deserve.

The Skinny: How long did you have your cameras set up at the Cobalt? You probably have enough footage for a million DVDs.

Clay: I'd been filming for maybe two years out of the three. I would say there are three more issues, or about a hundred bands’ worth of Cobalt footage still to come. I might mix in some of the new venues and ration Cobalt footage for upcoming issues. That way we'll be able to relive Cobalt shows for years to come.

The Skinny: Does going through the old footage have you pining for the old watering hole?

Clay: I miss that fucking place so much. I had a real Shining thing going on with the Cobalt; it just felt that I had always been there and it was where I belonged. I'm sure a lot of people felt that way about it too. I loved it so much that I worked at the Astoria for two years in order to convince Wendy that I was a worthy bartender should she ever decide to reopen. That's why it just infuriates me that the Sahotas shut it down for basically no reason at all. I think at the end of the day they just did it for a laugh, or to prove that they could.

The Skinny: So you launched an EarGoggles website, what will we find there?

Clay: The website is a natural progression of EarGoggles and it just made sense for all the footage to be available online. I think it works best as a reference site for Vancouver bands that you would consider going to see. For instance, if you saw the Golers on a bill and wanted to see what they were like before dropping ten bucks on cover, you could just go to eargogglesdvd.com and check 'em out. There are over a hundred local acts on the site and it's going to keep growing as long as Vancouver musicians keep playing. It's also a way to promote the business side of EarGoggles and my production company, Bull Terrier Productions. Any information about getting a commercial made, getting your band filmed or submitting material for consideration is up there.

The Skinny: I saw a recent EarGoggles commercial featuring MC Nutsack, what's his deal?

Clay: MC Nutsack is a pain in the ass. He showed up for the EarGoggles commercial shoot two hours late with an empty bottle of Royal Reserve and a crack ho. All he did was talk shit about how some movie called “Tango and Cash” was underrated and bitch about how I left “P.U.C.K.” off the EarGoggles setlist again. Then he did the song in one take and said if I didn't like his new lyrics, I could go fuck myself. I want EarGoggles to be open to all kinds of music, but that Nutsack just left a bad taste in my mouth.

The Skinny: Can you give us a sneak peek into what one might expect to see in EarGoggles Volume 5?

Clay: I am one band into the new issue and it's the almighty UK Subs. There is a secret link to it somewhere on the website because the singer from Alternate Action was dying to see one of his stage dives. As for the rest, you can expect some punk, some metal and maybe some footage of me burning down city hall during the Olympics.

The Skinny: If there are any copies left, where can people find them?

Clay: You can order all back issues at web link Posted: Jan 15, 2010