“You shouldn’t start telling a story if you don’t have a story to tell.” From his seat in the lunch room of Vancouver’s Orpheum Theatre, Tuomas Holopainen leans forward and speaks into the digital audio recorder resting on the coffee table in fr
It always does me proud to discover a local band making quality music that's true to the landscape of this varied terrain. Rocky, cool, stormy, eclectic, thoughtful and laid back, these words only begin to describe the Parlour Steps sound. ...
INTERVIEW
Wantmonster are straight off the hard streets of Nelson B.C. Ok, the streets there aren’t very hard, unless you’re afraid of hippies with giant dreads that look like matted down stinky beaver tails, and who isn’t? Wantmon...
This is the Sleep Factory, Trish Shwart’s exhibition at Martin Batchelor Gallery that opened on November 7th, with a persuasive performance by the artist as a marketeer, and continues with a visual smorgasbord of parodies that explore the commodificatio
"I remember one of the last times he saw me, he said, 'Please make sure everybody hears this music.'" Promise kept.
For those unknowing, Bison are Vancouver’s currently-reigning champions of The Riff, trafficking in mercilessly heavy, sludgy, and addictive sonic terror. Think discarded beer cans peppered with shotgun holes, full-size back-patches, pall...
MaryLou Wakefield, a local Victoria artist, came away with a life-altering experience last summer. It changed her perspective on what she could achieve as an artist— with courage, curiosity and the willingness to take a risk. Here is her story.
Cambridge has been prominent in the Vancouver punk scene since late 2005. Tour is nothing new to them; this is their second cross-Canada run. The first one went quite well up until a breakdown in Brandon, Manitoba caused them to miss some s...
GWAR – Oderus Urungus Does Not Smoke Crack Well With Others
Oderus Urungus is not the sort of intergalactic barbarian warlord who minces his words. I spoke with the leader of GWAR recently, and between copious puffs on his crack pipe,...
When I last interviewed Vancouver punks the Rebel Spell, I was surprised to discover that, long before the band had formed, their singer and principal lyricist Todd Serious knew the Subhumans’ Gerry Hannah. Stepha and Todd were living in ...
Over a pitcher of Molson Canadian at the Princeton Pub, while a startlingly able roots-rock ensemble hosts the open stage night behind our table, we ask Bison’s vocalist-guitarist James Farwell how he feels about his band’s recent signi...