Open Collections

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15 bands/30-hmes -feccrurino:
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US£K fiddly 11 *>*•_Ll^
1027 Davie St suite 600 Vancouver BC
Canada V6E4L2  ph:604-435-7563 fx:604-430-5930
URL:http://highway99.com/-hwy99/nefer
RECORDS
ON SALE THIS MONTH:
NOFX ° Heovy Petting Zoo $9i5 LP/cw $i4.92 CD
QUEERS ° A Day Late and a Dollar Short $13.60 CD
ROY MONTGOMERY . lmp\t $14.92 cd
TORTOISE" Millions Now Living Will Never DL$9J7LP|I192CD
LAMPCHOP » How I Quit Smokin; $14.93 double LP $15.79 CD
PAVEMENT o Pacific Trim (limited quantities) $7.90 CDEP
PEECHEES  o Do The  Moth $9.17 LP $13.11 CD
COCTAILS . Stlf-Tihtd $14.92 cd
JOEL R. L. PHELPS • Warm Springs Night $14.92 CD
jring the EVAPORATORS,
MEOW, MANIFOLD, TRAILING ARM, SISTER LOVERS,
more TBA
[Saturday, February 3rd at the
Malcolm Lowry Room
[Admission by donation
311A CAMBIE STREET
VANCOUVER.B.C. CANADA V6B 2N-4
PH: 687-6355 • FAX: 687-0488 § LOCAL DtRT
Brrrrl As I see a chill setting on the fields of
UBC beneath the ivory towers that house DiS-
CORDEfFs offices, it's a warming thought to
think of all the hustling and a-bustling going
on in this here 'burg... Front-line Assembly have a new CD out called Hardwired,
on Metropolis records.. .Mark Spybey of Dead
Voices on Air and Download has a new
project called Propeller, now with a release
on Scratch Records...Sugarcandy Mountain have gone through some transitions -
guitarist Michel is no longer with the group,
and the band has changed its name to Velour They'll be performing on February 3 at
the Gastown Music Hall with Daytona, who
have a new, level-blasting album set for release this month on Zulu Records...Zulu, the
label, has been dropped by Polygram. This
means Zulu's roster of bands (including Sook-
Yin Lee, Perfume Tree, knock down ginger and
Daytona) will no longer have distribution
through the major label...Coal is about to
engage in a legal battle over their moniker. It
seems that a band from New York that has
recently signed to a major label has the name
as well...Gangland Artists (management
for 54-40 and Mae Moore, amongst others)
has gone through a shake-up which saw most
of its employees leave. Amongst others, Gang-
land's Keith Porteus left to become the head
A&R of BMG Canada. Still with the company,
Allan Moy has decided to start a record label
called Divine Industries, with the likes of Flash
Bastard and Lik the Pole. They'll have a manufacturing deal with Sony..There'll be a benefit for the proprietors of Pussycat at the
Malcolm Lowry Room on Feb. 3rd with the
Evaporators and Sister Lovers amongst others.
A break-in resulted in much theft, and the store
was uninsured...Dave Carswell is presently recording Zumpano at JCDC studios The band
will soon be releasing a 7" on murderecords...
In related news, Zumpano's manager Scott
Gubbels has now taken on Destroyer (featuring members of Zumpano/
Superconductor)...Mint Records is negotiating
to sign both Vancouver's Sister Lovers and
Winnipeg's Duotang, a bass and drums
duo...Tho Tonics have just recorded a new
album with Daryl Neudorf, set to be released
on Nanaimo's Lance Rock records...Finally,
cub will soon be recording their third album.
Mass Giorgini, who's produced the Queers
and Green Day, amongst others, will man the
control board. (BW)
OBMO RkWilVS
Hoo boy am I in a hurry. These are the only
spare moments I can possibly devote to demo
duties so I am literally entering this into the
computer while on the run. Sbelling be
damned. No time for those deadly accurate
descriptions of the music and lyrics the you're
most likely not occustomed to anyway. No time
to think, even. Gut feelings only this time. Heart
and soul. Somebody get me out of this introductory paragraph...
Thank you. Anyway, looks like I got some
Coal in my stocking this Christmas. Now
pared down to a duo (Nicole on vocals and
guitars, Marcus on bass), the essential plan is
still the same: moody, sleepy, intimate excursions into Morpheus' country and western collection. There's only one song here, "Chemicals", but it's first-rate Coal, Nicole's sweet
voice sultrily aching through a miasma of melancholy murkiness. And that's not all. This tune
also represents the outing of Mark Szabo (of
Good Horsey) as production-line songwriter
(like how many of the greats got their start:
Carole King, Paul Simon, Graham Gouldman,
Lou Reed, GG Allin), instead of weird indie
folkster guy. The main lyric is eight lines, each
written on a sharpened blade pointed towards
a problematic love interest; that's followed up
by some cool mumbling until the song's fade
creeps into a tacit harmony with the ether-permeated nocturnal hush. Or something like that.
Rather Coal-like are 10 ft. Henry, who
have offered their 5-song tape to the insatio-
ble tape-eating beast that is CiTR. Swampy
blues in a coffee-house atmosphere brings to
mind the Cowboy Junkies, although some of
the grooves are a little, well, perkier, than most
of the stuff Timmins, Timmins, Timmins, and
co. get up to. The percussion is what jazzes
things up, with bongos playing off acoustic
soul riffs until the latte steam becomes a tortuous dervish doing a go-go dance on some
dimly-lit stage. I would never have guessed
these sounds woulda come from a band with
a name like 10 ft. Henry. Who knew?
And then there's Steep This maverick
popster dishes up mainly acoustic tunes, sometimes with a band, in the classic indie-rock
style. Not that that's really a style per se, because no matter which way you slice it, Steep's
an original. Starting with "Get Out of Bed",
and ranging through eight more little classics
until the anthemic closer "Good Night",
there're enough changes and ironic posturing that it's possible to listen attentively without having to watch T.V. or spy on your neighbours or something. Added bonus: a primitive comic book about a precocious kid with
a transparent skull. You need this.
Celestial Magenta are back, with their
7-song sophomore cassette. These tunes
(continued next page »»»)
Got something up
your butt?
Relieve yourself * write to
DiSCORDER!
233 - 6138 SOB Blvd
Vancouver, BC
V6T VSL
e-mail:
.tr-@unijcg.-ubc.ca
4     FEBRUARY 1996 cowshead   chronicles
dedicated to garnet harry, sr.
i made a promise last month, a promise i had every intention of keeping, but the
relationship ghost has once again reared its ugly head, my relationship with my
father has always been one of great struggle, my designs for my future were never
anywhere near the ones of my father, his name is floyd and, by all accounts, he's a
cool guy. we just don't see eye to eye. never really have, i am not, as i see it, my
father's son. by way of odd circumstances my father, who i have not done anything
one on one with for over ten years (i'm guessing here), and i went to a hockey
game together last monday night i didn't know really what to expect would we
discuss the game and all that it entails? he hadn't been to a game in over twelve
years and that was with my mother from whom he is now divorced, did he even
have any interest in the game? it has seemed,of late, that he has been trying to put
our relationship on track and maybe this was one more thing to bring us together,
i was, for lack of anything better, freaked out most of my male friends hang with
their dads, they go to dinner, hell, maybe they go fishing and talk about women, i
don't know, i have always kept the intimate details of my social life a secret from
my father.-.floyd. what's it like to have your dad for a buddy? and again i stress that
floyd's a good guy. i think and to really put it all in perspective i wonder now that
if i don't put some effort into our relationship i'll be beating myself mentally when
he dies, which shouldn't be for quite some time, and wishing i had done more, the
game would take care of itself and provide us with things to talk about but what
about between periods? would we share a beer together and recount the highlights of the last period? shit as it turned out he was much more knowledgeable
than i had given him credit for. he knew the players, he seemed interested, and
seeming was good enough for me, in what i was doing, he shot the shit with me.
he used the T word, not often but enough, in simple conversation, he enjoyed the
game.l enjoyed having him there, at the end i showed him where the skytrain was,
shook his hand and said good-bye. my dad's ok maybe one day we can be friends,
gth...
(»»» mo' demos)
scamper along quicker than Mulroney can file
lawsuits, so expect some good unclean fun
when slapping this baby into your deck. I still
say they sound like the Dishrags (probably
unintentionally), but what the hell, you might
as well sound like someone good. Actually,
Celestial Magenta themselves are good, very
good, and the progression in their song writing and performance belies a maturity much
beyond their true average age of 6.5. Cool
harmonies come piping through here and
there, like a sprinkling of sugar on a bowl of
honey-amphetamine Cheerios, but unfortunately the high-throttle 3-piece engine behind
it precludes me from understanding most of
what they're saying. I'm sure it's good, though.
Somebody send me a transcript.
Okay. I'm booking. I know it's a little pre
mature, but Valentine's Day is slowly approaching and I have to start looking now if I
want to be sure of getting a date reasonably
high up in the animal kingdom. Someone with
a 10-foot henry. Serial applications only,
please. (DS)
ALL-AGeS SfYOiVS
Saturday, February 3: CiTR 101.9fM
presents Sparkmarker, Hazel and Steel Wool
at the Town Pump (3pm)
Monday, February 5: Lisa Loeb and Nine
Stories w/Once Blue at the Commodore
Sunday, February 11: DFL, gob and Another Joe at the Town Pump (3:30)
Formerly SugarCandy
Mountain
Saturday, February 3rd I Thursday, March 7th
opening for
daytona
fur -CuuriSh ■(names, ages, position.)? I  ft<<^ "• -I |#        # | ^^^ • ▼ | ^^   ▼ |r
Who are you (names, ages, positions)?
Raj: 24, Scorpio.
Mark: 24, guitar... nor good at interviews. Back-ups.
Paul: 24, not relevant unless I want it ta be. Bass.
Nick: young. Drums.
What is a Chronometer?
A raging rock band from Easl Van. A marital aid. Some
kind of dock iiing fcr hose who didn't groduote. Your
boyfriend's worst nighk-nare. It plays *he blues.
Describe your sound in twelve words.
Ugly. Loud. Stellar. Staunchly. Menacing. Ass pounding. 99% country/1% hardcore. Swank. Angels
peeing on your tongue. Unauthorized cranial technicians. Crunchy like dried haemorrhage. Oh
yeah...rancid.
Whafs it like having a drummer who's 10
years younger than the rest of you? Explain how "the kid* joined the band.
Raj: It's like he's 14.. but he is.
Paul: Disasterous shows at ihe Southwal have a way of
making you bond wilh someone who, 'if he were of ihe
opposite sex, would probably land us in jail.
You played a gig in Duncan, BC with
Facepuller. How were Facepuller received?
Raj: Brent yelled "Scream for me, Duncan!" and
tears welled in my eyes os the gymnasium become
bathed in the worm glow of two hundred cigarette
lighters sparked simultaneously.
Paul: Awesome as always. Arena rock lives.
Mark: After we played, everyone left, knowing that
Facepuller soon would hit the stage. They fled,
screaming "Fleet Run awayl", holding iheir ears.
X
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THE usq-o *«5 Kin*_ OF
SHiVTV if*t> -n* *p»CTt*_3
• a-r* -smr,4ur if you Or*
Q%* THSr-'V^Ari-JecLb
Who else have you opened for?
Raj: A three year lour wilh Facepuller has kept us
for too busy to play with anyone else.
Mark: Although Garlh Brooks ond Marioh Corey
have been our strongest support.
Paul: We were supposed to open for Sickl Sickl
Yeah and Pigment Vehicle, but we clearly look hon-
dle of ihe situation and headlined in a most smashing fashion.
Where does Chronometer fit into the Vancouver music scene?
Raj: Genlty at first, and then with a thrusting motion
in between the legs.
Paul: Definitely a strong Northwest punk/hardcore
influence, but not in the same vibe lhat other bonds
have going. Not enough Green Doy in us to be
flavour of the month.
Mark: Who cares what we sound like? It's all image,
baby. Hair is what counts. It's he coiff *hat counts.
Do you do drugs? tf not, why not? If so,
what?
Mark: We try not to discriminate...
Raj: ...but we'd rather not comment. Nick's parents
have advised us to say no.
Paul: Drugs ore wrong.
Nick: Why would I do a silly thing like lhat?
Why are there so many Rancid stickers on
your equipment?
Raj: It's not my gear. They're not my stickers.
Mode: It's a constant reminder of what we longingly
look forward ta never being.
Poul: I'm embarrassed...truly embarrassed...1 work
in a record stare. I had nothing else ta do. I just
wanted to kiss up. People like Rancid, you know?
Nick: It holds our gear together.
Do a favour for u* here at DISCORDER. Plug
your band. Write a short band bio. Now.
Please? (include interesting tantalizing
tidbits, anecdotes and rumour mongering).
Paul: We've been around ihree years. We stay pretty
low-key.
Raj: Chronometer: east meets west in a flavor experience that explodes in your moulfi. Your chocolate
is in my peanut butter.
Paul: More drummers than Spinal Tap.
Raj: More dick than Van Dyke. Rumour lime: big
plans baby! Raj goes solo: country artist/compulsive masrurbater.
Nick: I have a big scar on my head, because I had
a Rush drum set that went all around me. I hit my
head on a cymbal.
Discographyi
4-song self-liried cassette
8-song cassette: Best Medicine (available at HMV)
Greatest hits comp and the leather-bound 4-dUc box
set wilh 32-page insert. Some assembly required.
Contact Chronometer Q (604) 873-9041/451-
0713 (the E-Chronoline).
Who are you (names, ages, day jobs,
positions played)?
We are Lawrence Aiken (drums); Neil
MacMullen (bass); John Wade and Trevor
Rogers (guitars); R.J. (keys, alto sax); Kristy
Astrom (soprano, alto saxophones); Sue
Claydon (alto sax, vox); Andy Codrington
(vox, trombone) a.k.a... Something Ska.
Describe your sound in 10 words.
A head trip down a nostalgic road of rock steady,
funk, reggae and ska (sorry, I couldn't do it in less
than 10).
What exactly is the connection between your singer and (a) Fishbone;
(b) Insatiable?
Lead vocalist Andy Codrington once performed with an eight-piece ska band from
Salt Lake City, Utah called Insatiable. His
duties included playing trombone and some
lead vocals. During the early eighties in Los
Angeles I assisted music directors teaching
high school level marching band, a big
thing in the States. Walter Kibby (vocals,
trumpet), Angelo Moore (lead vocals, saxophone) of Fishbone attended one of the high
schools I taught.
How come you don't wear suits?
A few of us enjoy wearing traditional garb.
There's nothing like a band dressed down
to the tee bebopin around on stage. I've
learned long ago that performing many
shows wearing the same suit night after
night can get a little on the sweaty side of
things. Although the general consensus in
the band has been toward a more comfortable look on stage.
What made ya choose a "drum pad"
rather than a full kit?
Drum pad versus traditional drum set has
only been in the past due to convenience.
No microphones are needed. Up to this
date we have played a few venues with no
PA equipment whatsoever, so it has come
in handy in that respect. With many ven-
a oner King iho
set-ups are small. A four-inch high      accomodate tho expressio
ues stage set-ups are small. A four-inch high
riser off the floor with space of your bathroom floor, not too large at all for a full drum
kit and seven others.
Are there any other Ska bands in
Vancouver?
There are five bands from the area that play
or have played here in Vancouver: Skaboom,
Pressure Cooker, Berny and the Sunders, Too
Tonne Bowlers and the Rootabeggars, with the
latter being a reggae band with a few ska
tunes. As well as Sex with Nixon, they, too,
play a few.
Are all your songs happy and silly like
the  "Dreadlock  Man"? Can ska
^^_^^^^__,    expression of negative moods?
Our style of music tends to be on a more
personal experience side of things with a
funny quirkiness about them. Favorites like
"Dreadlock Man", "Road Rash",
"Hemmroids" and "Mistaroustabout" are all
stories that affected me directly. "Nuclear
Winter" is a more serious song which, in my
opinion, can accomodate a negative mood
solely because of its negative subject matter.
So, yes, I do believe some ska can
accomodate negative moods.
How do the "rude boys" dig ya?
The rudies in town will dig anything ska. All
the better if there's a group locally. So I think
they dig us.
What's tho best club to play in Vancouver?
Let's see, the best club in Vancouver has to be the
Commodore. No doubt in my mind, by far the
best. Although the Hungry Eye takes the cake for
the best Something Ska gig to date, for the Vancouver Scooter Rally during September.
Please comment on the experience of
playing a scooter rally.
Having a room full of like people who resemble all walks of life, no color barriers or trends,
just people enjoying the sounds of ska played
live is awesome. That to me is the ultimate
experience of a lifetime.
Discography:
Something Ska! - Something Ska demo '95
Can't Get Enough - Insatiable '93
Insatiable - Insatiable '92
Skamageddon compilation (Moon Records) '94
Strange Affair - Mudlarks '95
Working Title - The Road '95
Contact Something Ska c/o R.J., 4330 Gallant,
Deep Cove, BC, V7G 1KB ■ (604) 929-4808.
UVe Won
dio Hell can be
freoN Th^ZdayZ
9-11 pn on G/77S
1019 frn
6     FEBRUARY 1996 hell
Who are you?
MC Exu: vocals, harmonica etc.
Mark Shepherdson: cloud guitar.
Richie Caron: loud guitar.
Max Arnason: drums.
Louis Forsythe: 4 strings lhat drew blood.
What is the difference between Technicians
of the Sacred and your (MC Exu's) previous band endeavours, Wlndwalker and Silent Gathering?
Silent Gathering and Windwalker were obviously
great learning experiences for me, with each project
expanding upon the previous sound. The main differences ore members, band chemistry, sound alchemy, and danceability. Silent Gathering and
permanent space. Witch for Voudou Eleclric Nites.
Ask yourself two questions and answer
them.
What bands to look out for in Vancouver? Zolty
Cracker, Dirtmitts, DDT, Loved One, Taste, Shango
Ashe, ihe Mony, Perfume Tree, MK Noomi, Darkest
of the Hillside Thickets, Speedbuggy, Salvadore
Dream, Cypher, Queazy, Fork Tongue, Smak, Loa
the Boom, Terror of Tinytown, Kathouse, Aimless
James, *he Liars, ten days late, Sparkmarker, d.b.s.,
the Cowards, Rotorcloud, Colorifics, Butler in the
Hey, and so many more. Vancouver rules!
What would like to see happen locally? The local
scene should work together, more bands, underground promoters, everyone working towards making significant changes towards a common goal.
Unite and fight for freedom of expression.
How has your CD, Respect the Unexpected,
been received by the 'Vancouver scene'?
Have you 'finally arrived'?
The CD has been generally well-received, but we
Windwalker were less concerned with moving the
audience physically, than say, emotionally. Also,
Technicians are really more of a positive vibe, dwelling less on the negative and more on a collective
self-empowermenl (at the risk of sounding New Age-
y) trip. To get everyone dancing brings them to the
same level, like in all trance music, moving connected as if on a single pulse. Soundwise we cover
a broader range of inspiration in our style. From
rap to rock, raga to funk - you get the idea.
Has your fashion sense changed? Would
you have experimented with 'rap' or worn
jeans a couple of years ago? Why no
leather pants?
If you don't change then get left behind. I like baggy
clothes cuz they're more comfortable. Obviously I
didn't experiment with rap a couple of years ago
because I was doing something else musically. I
think experimentation is most important; tho' obviously not a new thing, it's necessary for growth.
With all the styles of music we are into it's a natural
thing that our music reflects that. I've always worn
jeans. As far as the leather pants, too hot, wore
'em once in a while, but with the Tea Party out there
why bother about it. Go ask Jim.
Are you the only band in Vancouver heavily into the occult and mysticism?
Probably not. We all have different levels of spirituality, different expressions of the some energy. Look
for ihe mogic in ihe everyday. We're quite open
about it, but we're not the only ones. A new era is
coming, we are open to it. Magic is everywhere.
What is the Vancouver Voudou Electric
Network?
It is a creative collective of artists, musicians, poets, filmmakers, technicians elc.it has evolved into a mullvfec-
eted umbrella organisalion/record label that wifi be
releasing various projex and putting on performance
nites again at changing locations. A temporary autonomous zone, if you will. V-fe are currency looking for a
are still waiting for reviews from Discorder, Terminal City, Straight etc...Due to the versatility of the
album, no one seems to be able to pin it down or
categorize it, which is good. Lots of people have
the CD, and love it. Our friends are very supportive
as well. I've always been here. Have we arrived?
Ahead of our time. Time will tell.
Were you well received at Carlos & Bud's?
Yes and no. The manager didn't like it, we think he
might have been expecting something unplugged
and C&W oriented. The gig was fun. Everyone else
liked it, especially the cooks who seemed very
amused at the manager's frustration. No pay. No
food. No drinks. But hey! It was a guerrilla gig in a
sweatbox. Remember the Alamo!
It must be kind of depressing that your gigs
seem to get cancelled a lot at the last
minute. Please comment on the Vogue
Theatre "Celebrate the Spirit" fiasco.
There seems to be a question of bylaws and licences
cropping up - whether a place is zoned by ihe city
for assembly or not; whether the police decide to
classify a show as a rave and come down heavy or
not. The city should be working wilh the artistic and
cultural community to secure spaces where performers can express themselves legally, rather than limit
it to a monopoly of clubs lhat don't always look out
for ihe best interests of the bands involved. Artists
and bands have to unite as well, to solidify more of
a real scene. Police are stepping up enforcement
on events, especially, for some reason, live acts.
The Vogue show was not our production so we have
no comment except, too bad, it would've been a
great show,- lotsa great bands.
Discography:
Technicians of the Sacred, Respect the Unexpected
CD (1995).
Contact Technicians ofthe Sacred c/o Voudou Electric Musk, 1843 Parker St., Vancouver, BC, V5L 2L1.
we
wuz
busted!
HempBC
Benefit Bash
featuring
Drunks   Ob  Acoustic
another white male
Green Fv°or'1
joy Buzzer
and Special Guests
Thursday Feb 22"-
^■fowrTpiimp
J________^00 at the door
towards the HempBC
Nal defence fund to
ne'P fight for freedom
in Vancouver
For more info call Rob at 681-4620 (10am-7pm) The Readymode ore as simple
as their name in a substantive
sense: simple beverages, simple melodies - it's the same
idea. Embellishing their songs
with appropriate noises arid
instrumentation, fhe band has,
over the past year, developed
a sound entirely based upon
melody. When I ask the band
- Kevin (keyboards), Arch (guitar/vocals), tuc (drums) and
Jay (bass) - about describing
their sound, they respond that
their music consists of 'loud,
noisy, catchy pop songs with
really good melody - melody
driven notse*pop. Ifs always
asked, but it's redrv hard to
describe your bona to someone else, ^fe've been told that
our music would go well in the
bedroom [as] music that you
can listen to and enjoy, [that]
you don't have to dance to or
anything. You can listen to the
sounds."
Simplicity definitely has its
place with the band, and this
is magnified by their use to
date of four-track home recording units. For them, ifs
more than just a means of reproduction. According to
Arch, who writes or co-writes
most of fhe songs, "A four-
track is just a really handy
songwriting tool and I like to
think of it as an instrument expanding the sound of what is
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going to tape, it started out for
me as a tool to just lay down
tracks and get ideas for songs
and over the years it's evolved
into basically an instrument.
Nothing else sounds like a
four-track...1 personally prefer
ihe lo-fi way of going about it
because it has a lot of atmos-
phereand intelligence... when
you get into the bigger studio,
people take away from the
sound ofthe band, and every
instrument is separated and recorded to perfection. I like to
think of the band as a unit.
There are no stars in the band
redly, everyone just does what
they do and I kind of like the
chemistry that goes on."
This approach doesn't limit
The Readymode to sounding
like any run-of-tbe-milJ band.
There are texh«»s of noise that
remind me of Eric's Trip, and
even of Sebadoh at times, but
this underscores more notable
influences: groups like My
Bloody Valentine, Ride and
Flying Saucer Attack. Instrumentation further differentiates
their sound from that of most
four-track bands. Readymode
songs feature guitars, bass,
drums, vocals, and also keyboards tike Roland Strings.
With a hint of sarcasm, Kevin
remarks, "we're rallying
against everything thafs going
on in this city, card if a key
board adds to it, then great."
Still, the members of the
band are definitely strong-
willed and determined not to
simply follow trends. For one,
it's not at all likely that they
would record on vinyl. That's
such the in, indie thing now,"
says Arch. "Who has a record
player that sounds any good?
They're all piece of shit Value
Village things. If we were to
ever put out a 45 it would be
for convenience, not to foBow
a cod scene. If we ever did
something like that we don't
want people to ihink that we're
following any seem by putting
out a record."
While it appears the 7" will
not be their format of choice,
The Readymode will likely
record an EP for cassette or
CD. In the year to come they
may form a small record label
with their friends, Pipedreom,
who, ironically enough, were
also Shindig finalists. But
there's always the possibility
that someone else may want
to release their music. "We're
not going to go 'yeah!' because some label asks us.
We'd have to get some information, we'd have to have total creative control," says Arch
"We're not discriminating
against any record labels or
anything. If people are interested in us, we'd like to hear
about it."
Music is about a lot more
than sound in a live performance setting. At Shindig's finals, the band came across
strongly not only because of
their music, but also because
of their visual display of slides
illuminating the shoe-gazing
music. "They're just 20th century images of our heroes and
icons," explains Kevin. "Ifs
cool to get the audience to associate a song with a visual
image, some kind of
synthesasure - hitting two
senses at the same time - at
the same time. We don't want
to come off as
showmanshippy, so the slides
can do that for us."
Adds Arch, If d be cool if
we could come across as a
soundtrack to the images. Ifs
jusl atmospheric. The slides are
something to look at and enjoy
and the music is sublimind."
cided to embark as a unit they
didn't know much about playing. As James says, "We were
just learning our instruments,
making it up and feeling il
out." But they knew what
sounds they liked and had
ideas on how to create them.
Pipedream's somewhat
unique sound is not derived
from years in a musical background, or from an innate
drive to become rock stars,
but because three guys strove
to understand more than
three-chord indie rock. "We
were all kinda interested in
the abstract quality in psych
edelic music," says Jeremy.
The acid rock of the '60s and
'70s peaked Pipedream's
musical interest further, where
bands like Pink Floyd would
veer off into long sets of music. "Like on (Pink Floyd's)
Pompeii, [which is] basically
just perfect to where our in
terest* started," says Jeremy,
"just writing really simple
parts and not really [being]
interested in chord changes.
Music from that era had these
long jams in it, these breaks,
and the idea we had was to
isdate the idea of a break. A
musical break, and make that
a musicd whole.*
"V-fe don't write music [as]
verse, chorus, verse, chorus,*
add* Dave. "We write it in
The minds behind
Pipedreom and its divergent
arrangements are guitarist/
keyboardist Dave Tedman,
bassist Jeremy Schmidt and
drummer James Roberts.
When the three of them de
parts. Wa learn them by the
parts. And we just add part*
and if II start getting longer
and longer."
"I tend to think of our music
as Pink Floyd filtered through
Spacemen 3," says James.
i     FEBRUARY 1996 "Spacemen 3 are a classic contemporary rock band,"
continues Jeremy, "one of the
most important groups from
ihe underground. [They were]
really focused and [they] re-
aBy knew what they wanted
to do and kept reworking
ideas."
Pipedream have a song
entitled "Pompeii", to appear
on a soon-to-be-released recording, which they have no
shame in confessing was a
"direct rip-off" of Pink Floyd.
"On the old Pink Floyd
records they had all the analog delays and tape echoes
and synthesizers that sound
that way," says Jeremy. "We
6ke that stuff."
So Pipedream carry with
them the particularities of music more than the average
band. This is visible during
iheir live performances. The
band has developed an infamous habit of taking a good
few minutes to set up in between songs. Dave hides behind his cage of keyboards
with a guitar close by, while
Jeremy stands next to a string
of equipment for his bass and
tfien perhaps a Voice Vocoder
to synthesize the rare vocals.
One should keep in mind
that Pipedream's sound is not
created from state-of-the-art
equipment; they say that they
like to have the imperfections
d analog gear. To reproduce
the original sounds,
Pipedream uses original
equipment that they have accumulated over a period of
two years. Says Jeremy,
"maybe ifs kind of obsessive
to have all that gear, but
we're using stuff that was
used on the records we like."
Because of the size of the venues that Pipedream plays, it
limits the band's use of equipment. The final Shindig show
at the Starfish Room enabled
them to use different equipment. "Not more equipment,
but stuff thafs a bit bigger."
Pipedream's first studio ex-
iperience would be something
to dig up out of the archives.
Ihey made a brief appearance on the DiSCORDER
chart* a while back. "We
kind of documented the learning process," says James. It
was a simple eight track recording that Pipedream
would, admittedly, rather forget exists. "We just wanted
to see if we could actually
record, if we could actually
sound like a band," says
Jeremy.
The band's more recent
sludio endeavors involved a
more thoughtful process. The
group recently recorded four
songs to be released on their
first CD. The music will range
from "Saturday Disaster", a
song written two years ago,
to "Pompeii", which has onfy
been around for a month or
so. Besides actually being
pleased with the sounds they
have been making recently,
they had more of an idea of
what they wanted to create
in the studio. "We wanted to
get a live sound," says Dave.
"Basically, just set up all our
stuff and just mic what we
were doing... W» know our
sound and we know what
sounds good now."
"What we're conscious of
when we're writing music is
incorporating sounds that are
familiar," says Jeremy. Adds
James, "I'd like to see if we
can push the boundaries of
what we've imposed on ourselves. Just as three guys who
don't exist as musicians outside of Pipedream."
As the only non-synthesizer-oriented band making
an appearance in the Shindig
final, 1000 Stamps, whose
name does indeed come from
the matchbook cover, certainly captured audience attention with their finely tuned,
well-written pop songs and
the wonderful, distinctive vocals of Tanya Chapman.
When 1000 Stamps played
in the first round, they were
immediately remarkable as
Tanya was, at that point, the
first woman seen in the competition. They won that night
because of their combination
of great playing, good songs
and lyrics, and their obvious
cohesion as a unit, and that
combination took them
through to play with the
Readymade and Pipedream
in the final, in which they
were placed second.
Apart from Tanya, the
band members are Phil Van
Veen on bass and back-up
vocals, Robin Bajer - "guitar
and tube-screamer. And I
sing, too" - and newish member Shane Wilson on drums.
Tanya, Phil and Robin attended high school together
(their original drummer also
went to school with them) and
one night the three of them
"went to a concert and bet
each other that we could have
a band. So we went and we
jammed out, and we made
the band."
The band has been together as 1000 Stamps for a
year, but they had an earlier
incarnation as the Sea Monkeys for about six months
prior to that, "and we had
kind of a long period or practice before that," says Tanya.
In response to a query about
what it was exactly that
brought them together as a
group in the initial stages,
Robin says that he and Phil
had played music together in
different formations for a
while. Tanya, however, apparently started singing as a
joke: "Phil bet me that I could,
and I said I couldn't. So now
I am. So I guess (Phil] won."
The band's songs tend
towards the pop-rock side
of things, but they stand
out from a lot d tune* produced in mat genre, impressing with iherr thought
ful, literate lyrics and their
carefully tooied construction. Phil and Tanya both
*ay that they liked pop-
rock alternative music,
with Tanya adding that *he
has been listening to a lot
of Nina Simone lately*
Robin listens to "a whole
variety of thing*. I redly
like jazz music and ! like
twentieth-century classical
music".
When you see 1000
Stamps for the first time, it is
Tanya's voice that you notice
- it is somewhat like Kathleen
Hanna's in tone, ond if i* dynamic and strong. It is just the
right voice for the lyrics, as
she sings redly clearly so you
can actually hear what she's
trying to say (aiways a good
thing). Naturally, a question
or two about her voice is in
order, and she answers one
about whether she practices
her singing, or whether her
voice is just like that, by saying that she partakes of "no
practice at all, thafs why I
sing like that." Phil's rejoinder
is that "it is developing into a
style". Tanya adds: "...we
started and I couldn't sing at
all, so it wasn't a matter of,
'Tan, try and sing this song',
it was a matter of, 'OK, lef s
make up a song she can
sing'. So, then ifs [become]
more and more since then,
kind of more of my own
thing...the longer we've been
together." Apart from Nina
Simone, the singer she'd most
like to emulate appears to be
a certain former student ofthe
London School of Economics
who is still touring the world
with his aging cohorts: "If I
could sing like Nina Simone
mixed with Mick Jagger, I'd
be happy."
Robin, Phil and Tanya
share the songwriting duties,
and Tanya explains the process thus: "I don't play guitar
well enough to write any guitar lines. So if I have a song
in my head it's the words and
the melody, and then we
bring it in, and then I try and
talk to the guys in very
unmusical forms and get the
song out. And we develop,
like -1 try and explain something and the guys will somehow know what I mean. Or
else, other time* Robin or Phil
will write one, ihe/ll have the
words and the music, or
sometimes they'll just have the
musk and we'll ali write the
do that."
Other than a couple of
trips to the Sunshine Coast,
where they distributed a few
hundred stickers to local punters, 1000 Stamps have confined their musical outings to
Vancouver; although, when
asked if they'd fancy the odd
jaunt to Halifax, they say that
they'd like to fake the outfit
east sometime within the year,
words. It depends. We all
work together to pick ihe best
strengths of each one of us
on each individual song. Like,
'Oh this sounds like a song
that Robin could write, or that
Phil could write', and then we
probably in the summer. Their
new drummer ha* a van, but,
says Phil, "ifs the dd Ford
brown Econoiine crush van.
So, we might be looking for
a new van."
The members of 1000
Stamps have every reason to
be proud of both their live
abilities and their songwriting
skills, but the/re modest creatures, as they show when
asked about their success at
Shindig. Phil says they never
thought they'd make the finals, and Tanya adds, "We
didn't know why or what, we
just went in it, and said OK,
let's just do what we always
do. And then every
time we heard [we'd
won], we just look at
each other, tike,
'What?'. But ifs cod,
ifs great."
They are also full of
praise for other
Shindig participants:
"The bands we played
against were really
good, says Phil. "Each
round we thought it
could have gone to
anybody."
For a couple of
rounds, at least, that
anybody wa* 1000
Stamps. If you like intelligent, well-made music, you should do yourself a
favour and check out these fine
ambassadors of the form
when they play around town.
You couldn't be devoting your
leisure hours to a nicer bunch
o' folks. r
Ml
'ITH SPECIAL GUESTS
llANMARLEY
%PAMIAN MARLEY
,%^| ?MA.K^"JR.60N6")
SUNDAY FEBRUARY if & MONDAYFEBRUARYW
COMMODORE z*.
Produced by Mel '0 Productions & Perryscope '96
zombi
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FILTER
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TASTE OF JOY
WITH
THE PIT PUB • IN THE BASEMENT OF THE STUDENT UNION BUILDING, 6138 SUB BLVD. • 604-322-6511 DiSCORDER: Has it been hard for you, now that you're on
a major label, to deal with negotiating what you want to
say, your message, with your music?
No. I mean, the basis of my contract with the record company I'm
on is creative control; [I control] the music, the graphic design, the
photo imagery... So with that understood and negotiated in writing, there are no misunderstandings.
OK. When I listened to a lot of this new album, songs
like "Power ofthe Gospel" and "God Created Man", I
personally got a very spiritual message from what
you're trying to say. I've just been wondering, especially because ofthe photograph that's in the CD
cover of you praying in church, how do you find
expressing your spirituality through music?
Well, the spirit is music, and music is the spirit. Music is the
strongest spirit known to humanity, and it's a spirit that
moves throughin and throughout all of us and throughin
and throughout the earth. [It] resonates in every human
being, and I'm just thankful for the ability to communicate that feeling I have in me to other people.
How do you pick up the influences that you
use in your music? I've heard you talk about
Indian classical  music and those  kind of
things - how do you pick up on that stuff,
where do you find it, and how do you feel
about using it in your music?
I love and respect traditional musics from all over
the world. Out of that respect, I do not abuse the
sounds p use]. I try to bring them respectfully into
what I do.A lot of people just go to another place
and play with other musicians and call it world
music. But that's not world music. I just try to
incorporate different musics and sounds that
move me - wherever they may be in the world -
into my world, and not go and try to be a part
of someone else's [world].
of sharing the earth free of separation, segregation and prejudice,
then you're not truly free in your heart and in your mind. I feel bad
for people who actually carry that with them,'cause all you can call
your own is your beliefs.
What's really influenced your beliefs?
Well, my beliefs have come to be formed into something that I know.
A belief is something that might be true, but what you know is what
you feel; [it's] what's brought you to where you are as a human being.
That's what's moved me. My beliefs are formed into what I know,
'cause what I know has brought me here.
I was gonna ask you something about skating, and if you've
ever integrated skating with music.
Definitely.There's a video out that's called 411, it's a skate video -
Board City, have you ever been in front of Board City?
No, but I've heard of it. I'd like to be,'cause I love to skate, y'know.
But there's the 411 video, and I did a video for "Ground on Down"
that's all skating.
Do you get time to skate these days?
We always have boards [with us] on the road. The whole band
skates, so we've got a lot of boards out with us.
Even Juan?(Ben's large bass player.)
Juan gets down a little bit - ask him. [laughter]
What kind of music have you been listening to lately?
Turkish folk music.
Is that something you picked up while you were touring?
Yeah, we toured in Turkey. We're going back in about a month. [We've
also been listening to] a lot of, well, the eternal inspiration of Jimi and
Bob, and [we've] been listening to, like, Foo Fighters, always Nirvana,
Pearl Jam, DiAngelo, Pharcyde, Lab Cabin California - just whatever
I get my hands on, y'know, that's good music.
Can you describe what it was like playing in a place like Turkey
where, culturally, it's so different from what you've known
growing up in California? How the music went over, what it
was like being in that culture for a little while, meeting people...
It's a very powerful, powerful land, and a blessed place. I didn't really
know how it would go - what can you expect? Turkey, y'know. But it
Harper The bathroom intend by Natasha Lend
"Must is the strongest sprit known to humanity"
I  remember you saying in an interview
somewhere that you felt that your music
was colourless, and that you really try to
avoid being a spokesperson for any kind of
group. Do you find that hard? How do you
deal with that? Do you get criticism from people for refusing to be a spokesperson?
No. I speak for myself, I speak for people who want to
listen, and I allow those people to speak for me. I
speak for goodness and I believe in goodness in everyone and in every blessed heart upon the earth. So I say,
well, everybody's a spokesperson, and I try to bring a
positive vibration into what it is I do, and communicate
that for bettemess.
What is 'betterness'?
Betterness - uplifting.
Is that about a political message, or is that about
social change? How would you articulate that?
I don't discuss politics because politics is not for the people.
Politics is for die financial minority. I don't know anything
about that group, [so] I don't deal with any politics. But the
power of music is immeasurable; it moves people to act and
think and move. Sure, there are atrocities, and there is goodness and badness every day, but I believe that the strongest
way to bring good upon the earth is through music. And if you
know a better way, then I'll get together with you on that.
There's a line from one of your songs from We/come to
the Cruel World where you talk about how you weren't
born prejudiced, that it's something that you learned in
school.That's something I can relate to, and you can obviously relate to, but how would you explain that to someone who didn't understand that sentiment, that idea?
Well, you have to understand that idea - sooner or later - to really be comfortable with yourself.'Cause if you're not comfortable
with yourself, with the earth, and comfortable with the realities
was overwhelmingly positive, in the sense that it was just clear communication through song. It just - it amazed me. It amazed me, really. I mean, I was as shocked as anybody.
Why were you shocked?
Because, I mean, I don't speak Turkish, but I got a chance to hear and
feel the people there, to hear their music. And [now] that music's a
part of me, deeply, and I just really respect that tradition.
I was wondering how you felt about the idea that a lot of
your listeners are gonna be hearing Indian classical instruments for the first time -
Or slide guitar, even.
Yeah - though that has more North American roots, slide guitar.
Oh yeah, definitely. But it'll still be the first time, [pauses] You know
what? I gotta go make a set, I gotta do that.
OK, I just wanted to ask you one more question. Do you
have any ideas about deja vu?
Oh yeah, I had one today.
What was it like?
I met a Native American woman, and she made me a pair of moccasins. I had met her before - right when I saw her, I'd seen her
before, y'know, in my mind. How about you?
I have a lot of dream deja vu's. I've been trying to figure out
what it is about our brain that -
- brings that together with life.
Yeah, exactly, and gets past your daily life into a life that you
might have had before and experiences that you might have
had before.
Yeah, right.
How do we use that? How do you suppose you can use what
you get out of deja vu?
Yeah, it's powerful, you know that, [someone calls for Ben from outside the bathroom] I gotta go.
Well, thank you.
A'right.
[Exit Ben Harper]
t2   FEBRUARY 1996 I LINK. SOUL. TRIP-HOP - ALL TINGED WITH
some jazz'mees and all filed under "acid jazz" - are
the In' sounds now In Vancouver. Acid jazz (a name
which I can't quite come to terms with but I'll use
anyway for convenience sake) le being heard more
and more on the radio and, more noticeably, in the
clubs. It can eatery be &ald that Vancouver ie getting on an acid Jazz tip at the moment, and the
people largely responsible for the emergence of this
scene are the djs splnnln' it and the top notch performers who are coming out to play it.
To go through everyone who's been Involved In
making this music work hens In our beloved city would
be flippin' tough and would require at Iea6t half of
the paper space, and even a front page. However,
seeing as we don't have these resources at this
particular moment in time (I can a66ure you we will
eventually). I'm gonna feature a group of guys -
namely Seren Isahlon, Luke McK-eehan and \an
Menzies - who are arguably at the forefront of the
headz to blame for this boom. They're known as Mo'
Funk, they've been around for about a year, they've
promoted all the lovely act6 that have come out
and continue to come out, and, more importantly,
they've formed their own \ndependent record label.
Mo' Funk Records, Canada's fir6t acid jazz record
label. Pretty impressive in't?
Fresh Jazz Vibe6, Mo' Funk's debut release, has
been out for a couple of months now and Is doing
well. And so it should as it's got some real solid
cuts on it, featuring, from Toronto, One Step Beyond and Jacksoul, and from Vancouver, Soul Crib.
So, hens to talk about how they formed, where they're
going and general jazz type shtyles, I give you Mo'
Funk - give it up for Mo' Funkl
Luke: The name Mo' Funk started last fall, but we
(Luke and Seren) started promoting over a year and
a half ago. We came up with the idea to start promoting at the Ronny Jordon concert (February
1994). That show kind of showed us that people In
Vancouver were Interested in the music, and that
Richard's [on Richards] was probably not as bad a
venue as everybody had thought. We did New Year's
at Benny's in Yaletown, then we brought Slide 5 in
from San Francisco to the Starfish Room. We both
were doing our other jobs on the 6ide and just
started seeing more and more people coming to us
and asking U6 when the next show was. And all the
local bands loved us 'cos we always made an effort
to put them on the bill; like when we brought Slide 5
we put two Vancouver bands on the bill (Soul Crib
and The Workshop) so that everyone got their own
share of the pie. And then John at Richard's asked
us to do a night there and right away we realized
that without the big acts people really weren't Into
going to K\chard's. Then we met \an through Music
West last year, and basically he had similar ideas in
Toronto. He had secretly been planning to fly out
here and take over the Vancouver acid jazz scene.
Ian: I decided to be nice and Include these guys...
Luke*. ...and basically we just took It from there. Ian
moved out here In the summer and we just started
having meetings, trying to flesh out an Idea of how
we were going to come together and execute all our
different Ideas. Seren and I, when working together,
have always had different Ideas of the way things
can be done, so bringing another person in was ob-
vlousry going to add a different dynamic to that.
And that's Mo' Funk really.
Seren: Actually, before Mo' Funk we were the Vancouver Acid Jazz Series. That was the initial thing
we did. We were sponsored by Boys Co and Automotive and we had a contract to do five shows.
Luke*. Yeah, we did SHde 5, Solsonlcs, dj Greyboy,
Greyboy All6tare, Maceo Parker, UFO [Raphael
Sebbag] and Cruder and Dorfmelster, Omar, Repercussions and Jazzmatazz.
DiSCORDER: So what etarted off a* a club night
has quickly evolvad Into a pretty heavy promotion
team, and with the entrance of Ian, a record label.
In the process, you've helped to make Vancouver
the acid jazz centre of Canada...
Luke: Well, right now I'd say that we're sort of a victim of our own success because there are 60 many
people playing the music. I guess it's good because
we've carved our niche out as promoters and as a
label collectively, and Mo' Funk as a
established. We got in at the right tir
- if you wanted to start the
thing nowinVancouveryou'd have
to compete with us.
Ian: What we all acknowledged after one or two
meetings was that now
was the time. It wouldn't
make 6ense to be second
when we had the opportunity to be first. So we said
well, we'll work out 6ome of
those other details along
the way and just get started.
Now that you guy* haw stepped
upto the market, do you see any possibilities of other labels being set up?
Luke*. I talked to dj Czech the other day, and he'6
working with other producers on a compilation of
dance music by Canadian artists. But that's much
more oriented towards house and techno.
Ian: I think we'd welcome [other labels] though, on
an International level If you look at the Bristol scene,
with Massive Attack, Portishead and Tricky, they
all helped each other to make their scene Identifiable and make it more internationally renowned. So
we would welcome like-minded labels coming out of
Vancouver because it's just going to strengthen the
Luke*. And because we're in Canada, where the music is a rock and folk tradition, there's a certain
amount of live instrumentation that people expect
when they're buying music. So the more labels that
come out will benefit us because we will, as a label,
be able to take more chances. We won't have to give
people what they expect acid jazz to be. We'll be
able to define it in our own way. And I think, internationally, that'6 what the west coast scene represents. It has collectively brought that live playing
back Into the music and has thrown it back to the
Europeans who are going off too far In to technology. Bands like the Grey Boy Allstar6, Broun Fellini©
and Slide 5, among others, are good examples.
Would you be looking to release material that \e
lees Jazz oriented, or croeeover tracks?
Luke: Last time I was back In Toronto I met some
djs who wanted this twelve Inch of Sarah McLachlan.
That amazed me because I don't think it's very good.
In terms of the trip aspect of It, but everybody
wanted It. And going back to Czech, for example, he
did a trip hop remix of a track done by one of the
two women from Lava Hey. So In that respect, that's
probably where the crossover is going to come from.
Ian: I'm definitely interested In that. I have 6ome
production experience and, with Seren and Luke collectively, I think that we would like to be able to do
remixes for more mainstream artist6 In the future.
It's a way to Introduce artlst6 to audiences that
they wouldn't be Introduced to otherwise.
Luke: Of the three major cltie6 in Canada, Vancouver definitely has the potential to cross a lot more
ofthe boundaries.
Ian: And I think that the one other thing
that would move us In that direction 16 that [while] we may have
established a label for
dancefloor jazz and trip-hop
in Vancouver, supply and
demand are not equal.
It's not like there are a
hundred projects out
there creating this kind
of mu6ic, 6oJust b/ virtue of having to satisfy
our own needs as a label,
■} release stuff, we are goto have to look towards
djs to remix other artists. We
s going to have to look af
these Ideas to generate enough
stuff to survive. [That's why] we have encouraged [writers], in every interview we've done, to
print our address and phone number. If you've got
something you'd think we'd be interested In we want
to hear it. We have a wide open policy for A&R that
way. It doesn't mean we'll use everything, but we want
to hear everything for sure.
What's the story with distribution?
Ian: We have a distribution deal with a company
called Outside Music. It's good for us because [Outside] is also a young company. They're open to working with us and growing with us because we are a
significant part of their business. We are available
across the country, but we can't be found in every
store In the country; we will only be in stores across
the country if we can demonstrate that somebody
want6 to buy [our product]. We're now seeking out
international possibilities for distribution of our
product as well.
Luke: To follow up on that our tactic has been guerrilla distribution: Finding people that we know In every
city to go In and harass store managers to get our
product. If we can't even convince the store manag
ers to get It... The most open minded buyer in
Saskatoon isn't even gonna have the chance to listen to it If he doesn't see it on that rack space.
And it's kind of shame when you've got to go up
against Bon Jovi - of course It's not the same genre,
but It's rack space. We're not competing with acid
jazz records, we're competing with Janet Jackson.
Ian: There's no such thing as an acid jazz section In
607. of the stores In the whole country.
Seren: Even here, it was onry 6 months ago that
record stores started to have acid jazz sections.
Luke: There've been a few record stores that have
been good to U6, but we slag Music World 'cos they
Seren: The graphic stuff has helped us a lot. Ross
at Atmosphere was the one who did the cover for
our CD, and I'm sure that 20-30% of the sales are
due to people looking at the cover and liking the
funky look.
Let's talk about some upcoming releasee from Mo'
Funk Record*.
Seren: One Step Beyond - full length album in February. Then we've got an Australian compilation
called Undertones Vol. 3 In March with Matt's One
Movement label - a lot of the tracks on Fresh Jazz
Vibes are from the One Movement label. Then In May
Fresh Jazz Vibes Vol. 2 will be released.
How about eome future Mo' Funk promotions?
Luke: Well right now Seren and I are concentrating
on this jazz bar that we're working on. It will be called
Chameleon on Howe and we're bringing Zachary
Breaux In for the opening (February 23) and the
Broun Fellinls (March &) will be following that. Some
more good stuff Is In the works.
Seren: More than anything it will be a venue for people to come in and chill. That's the potential of the
club. Not generally a music venue, but a place to get
people of the 6ame taste and style together.
With the opening of their new club looming in the
very near future, you can expect to see a big increase in the support of the Mo' Funk crew. This is
Indeed a good thing because they are doing a nice
jobforthe city: providing its jazz heads with a more
permanent place to commune and have good tlme6,
to get this city rolling. They recently promoted Ben
Harper and the club was jammed (around a thousand people). So things are definitely working out
In this city In terms of good music. ICeep up the
loveiy work.
Mo' Funk Recorde
PO Box 95566
Nelson Park RPO
Vancouver, BC, V6E 4L7
frishrambarcm
M    Sufe°3£g3 faff mtko hofftnaS
After a long, nervous wait, I finally met
up with the San Francisco Seals, who had
just eaten at the great vegetarian Chinese
restaurant, Bodoi. Hidden away in the
Starfish Room's band room, they consented to answer some of my silly questions
before their set. Apparently they had
heard that I was "laid-back" and "nice,"
which upon hearing, only made me feel
more uptight. Nonetheless, we managed
to have a fun conversation about little
league, dreams, and pesky interviewers.
DiSCORDER: Okay, boring questions over
with first - could you introduce yourselves pleas*?
Ron Bums: I'm Ron Bums and I play drums... and bass!
Brenlly Pusser: I'm Brently Pussor, and I play guitar
Barbara Manning: I'm Barbara Manning. I play guitar ond bass.
Brenlly: And she sings, and I sing a litde bil sometimes.
Ron: Sometimes I do a monologue.
Barbara: Yeah, let's do it tonight!
Brenlly: Forget it! (laughing)
Barbara: They might not understand it, though.
Brenlly: Do you know who Jimmy Carter was?
Yep.
Ron: He's a Nobel Peace winner!
BrenHy: Yeah, they know, they're hip to it.
Barbara: Okay, it'll be very American!
Brenlly: They'll ihink we're very American too.
Barbara: The only time we ever strive to be
American is when we're in Canada...
Would you consider yourselves patriotk at al?
Barbara:   I have my own  set of values aboul
America, but I don'l litter!
Ron: I'm not patriotic in any sense of ihe word. And
I don't litter eilher!
Brenlly: No, I'm not either.
Is littering an American thing?
Barbara: I love the earth, I love where I live, and
I respect that. America happens lo be where I
live, so I guess lhat's what I mean. But littering is
very American, os it is European, as il is everywhere. I see people throwing litter all the time,
and I want to say lo them, "Who do you think is
gonna pick that up?!?* Don't pollute. That was
the owl who said that.
Have you ever dressed up in strange and
wild costumes?
Ron: We had pretty great Halloween gear.
Barbara: Whenever the moment strikes any of us,
we'll put on something wacky. Brenlly definitely has
another persona - he dresses what he considers normal but what I think everyone else considers spastic.
And he's even worn diapers on stage.
Really?
Brenlly: Oh yeah. Actually, I wore diapers here
in Vancouver with my other band, Three Day
Stubble, al the Commodore. There was disco
dancing afterwards, and I disco danced with
everyone with my diapers on.
>, Cindy,
What was the first band lhat you
were ever In?
Barbara: 28th Day. We had a record
out in 1985. How old were you ihen?
You  probably  don't  want  to
know.
Ron: Yes we dol
^B      I was in grade 5, so...I'd have
■b_V_f   been about ten. Sorry.
J||3^   Barbara: No, there's nothing wrong
with that. I'm just glad that I started
BrenHy: My first band was Three Day
Stubbie, which lormed in December of'80.
Ron: The Hotspit Dancers [sic], which
was '84? '83?
Barbara: Actually, 28lh Day and Hotspit Dancers
played together in '85, so Ron and I shared the
stage, but we didn't realize that ton years later we
would be playing on the same stage again!
How did this formation of SF Seals come
about?
Barbara: Melanie was pregnant and had a baby,
so she decided she didn't want ta lour. Her baby's
name is Esmerelda May DiGiovanni - big name for a
little baby! Anyway, I had a friend of m
who's in Smog, who told me
lhat Ron was a great drummer,
and since he wasn't currently
ploying in Smog, she figured
he'd be available. I called him
up and asked him to join the
band and he said yes.
And you lived happily
ever after?
Barbara: Well, who knows?
This is still ihe very beginning
of the fairy tale.
Did you name the band
after the animal or the
baseball team?
Barbara: Both.
Were you ever in Little
League?
Barbara: No, I wasn't.
Brenlly. I was.
Barbara: You were a pitcher! I
saw a real cute picture of him.
Brenlly: I was in the Cubs and
the Pirates in Little League,
from when I was 9 through
11. Then I quit.
Ron: I was in the Pirates in
Little League too!
Brenlly: All right! Were you
bad ass?
Ron: Bad ass third baseman.
BrenHy: That's what I play now in soflball.
My second sports-related question, is were
you ever involved in water sports?
Barbara: Can il be sexual?
BrenHy: Sexual water sports?
Any kind of water sports I
Barbara: Then I would have to say yes to lhal quesHon!
What are your day jobs?
Barbara: I work in a record store in San Francisco.
Reckless Records, open ten o'clock ta ten o'clock!
Ron: I work af a natural foods store company.
BrenHy: I drive a limousine.
Have you ever driven any famous people?
BrenHy: No. Only the family of Hie first victim of the
latest spree killer, Glen somebody.
Ron: The one who was just caught Iwo weeks ago.
Barbara: The one who chased redheads around.
BrenHy: The redhead killer. I drove the family of his
first victim because Hiey were Rown to New York by
the Rolando show. Is lhat it? Shit, I don't remember
Hie name of Hie talk-show host. .
Ron: It's such a depressing story!
Did you know who they were?
BrenHy: No, I didn't. I had to ask ihem, because
when I picked them up at the airport, they were
talking about how they had worn the same
clothes for four days. I was driving ihem three
and a half hours away ta toke them home, and
I was trying to figure oul how somebody could
afford to have a limousine drive them lhat far
yet no! change their clothes for four days. So
I started asking them after a while, after things
got comfortable. And they told me who they
were, ond why they were in my car, and I felt
really bad. (laughing) It was uncomfortable,
to say the least.
What was it like touring with Chris
Knox? (New Zealand indie rock dude,
also in Tall Dwarfs.)
Barbara: Really fun. Quiet at limes - he mentioned
that we were quieter than Superchunk. He's a really great, fun person. He sent us a Hiank-you tape.
Did you do any on-stage jamming with
him?
Barbara: Yes. He sang with us on "Straw
Man", and then we would play a bit of
"Demons on the Corners", which was where
he would keep on playing, and the boys would
get up on stage and make some noise, and
then I would gel on slage and do the same.
Id start our song.
Ron: It was kind of a segue
between sets.
Another indie rock guy,
Peter Jefferies, covered
your song "Scissors'",
didn't   he?   Have  you
ever played with him?
Barbara: We were on the
same bill in Holland.
Is he here tonight?
Ron: Oh, lhat's right, he lives
Barbara: Ohhhhh, I forgot!
I heard a rumour he
was opening for you,
but I guess not.
Barbara: No... I forgot he existed, for a while, (jaughs) I mean,
yes, he is here [in Vancouver].
He came to see me when I
played here last time.
Ron: We saw him in
Hoboken!
Barbara: That's right. We
played wilh Two Foot Flame.
With Jean Smith! How
was that?
Barbara: It was fine, (laughs)
The   sound   effects   on
your other album...
Barbara: Nowhere!
Yeah, I was actually going to ask you if
you intended the title to be Now Here,
or Nowhere.
Barbara: Now Here is nice. Both. It was intentional to do it that way. I call it either one, it
depends.
About the sound effects: why did you
choose them, and where did they
come from?
Barbara: Il came from so many different places. I
could explain it to you while we listened to it, ond
tell you every detail, but...Why I chose to do it? I
thought it would be great.
Yeah, from a radio perspective, it's so
much fun to have interesting sound bites
to play.
Barbara: Oh, that's good. I thought that album
was rather un-radio friendly.
Not for college radio!
Barbara: I love college rodio. I was a dj for three
years in Chico and for four months in San Diego. In
Chico I hod two shows: one where I played the regular rotation, and I also had a psychedelic show.
When I was in San Diego I hod a lateoight show,
from 2am to 6am. I would play whatever I felt like.
Did you get crazy callers?
Barbara: I got a lol of weird, pornographic calls
at lhal lime of night. Il kinda freaked me oul a little. There were definitely a few men who would
call me every week; I think they liked my voice or
something. But I would just start playing really
harsh music and make it so they couldn't stand to
listen to il anymore.
Brenlly: The first radio station I was involved in
was a pacifica station in Houston colled KPFT. I
did two ond a half years of free-form late-night.
Barbara: I miss doing radio so much; it's been
ten years since I've hod a show. A lot of times, I'll
get really stoned or a little drunk ond I'll be in my
own room and I'll start pretending I'm on the
radio. It's fun. I love segging songs together,
there's something really exciting about lhat.
Do you want this band to be a full-time
job?
Barbara: Il depends on what you think is "full-
time." If you take into occount Hie off-time where
you're writing and developing material, ond if
you consider that part of the fulklime, then I would
say absolutely, I would love to see a musical
group lhat I'm in be able to grow and do something important. I ihink that ihis line-up is doing
something important. I think lhat we sound a lot
different from Hie bands we've been playing wilh
ocross Hie country, and I'm really proud of us right
now. But I wouldn't like to do this [touring] full-
time. Hell no, I'd quit. I wont to have o life, and I
want to have domestic tranquillity. I want to have
a sweetheart and a family and a garden. I'd like
to have a pet, which I can't have right now. I think
part of the development of the music is having
time to gel inside yourself and discover how you
feel. And you can't do lhat when you're constantly performing. Does lhat make sense?
Ron: I'll let lhat speak for me.
Barbara: All right!
What is the strangest dream you've ever
had?
Barbara: Let Hie boys answer first.
Ron: Hmm, you might wanna pause that button.
BrenHy: Strangest dream...
Barbara: I'll tell you about a dream I had two
nights ago. I dreamt I wos discussing stage fright
wilh Barbra Streisand, and lhat's strange, in my
opinion! Why Barbra Streisand would be in my
Do you remember what she said?
Barbara: She was totally commiserating wilh me.
Al one point I was saying, "Oh, ond the limes
you stand up there when you're not holding your
guitar, and you're just holding the microphone,
it's scary, and you don't know what to do with
your hands..." And I remember saying to her,
"You know what that's like, don't you." She wos
wearing a sparkly sequin gown, and her hair was
really short. But she was being my friend.
Can you top that?
Ron: I don't know, it's hard to say, 'cause mine
are so...
Barbara: Sexual?
Ron: Yeah, so sexually deviant, that I just
can't...No, they seem so weird that I can't put
them into any frame of reference.
BrenHy: I guess my strangest dream would be one
that's olmost indescribable because it look place
in a wodd lhal was anli-diluvion. Isn't thai the time
when Hie sky and water switch places? It was so
bizarre and so out there that I couldn't even
describe it. When I woke up I just freaked. I
couldn't believe that I had had a dream where
reality was that altered.
Ron: I had something similar to that, where it was,
what was it colled? Affirmament or something,
when Hie water and sky switch...Well, it doesn't
matter. I had a dream • this isn't Hie strangest one,
but it's along those some lines. I hod figured out
how to defy gravity, I understood all the makings
of what happens. I went to the centre of the earth
t4   FEBRUARY 1996 somehow and understood it completely. I got in this
other dimension and I was so proud of myself that I
knew how il worked. I could breathe underwater
and I could defy gravity. Then I woke up and was
still trying to figure il out: "It's going, it's slipping...
damn." It just didn't work out in my head and I
couldn't write it down.
Brenlly: What's your strangest dream?
One of the strangest, I think, was when I
was being chased by super models.
There's another water theme here, 'cause
somehow I was able to traverse this lake
by foot...
(At this point in the interview. Cod and Don of show
openers Destroyer enter the room in search of coffee) Do you enjoy playing acoustic sets?
Barbara: Yeah, I'm not afraid of il. Last time I was
here I played the Malcolm Lowry Room, ond if wos
acoustic. I played with Duolron, Couch, and, what
is Keith's [Parry] crazy bond called?
CaH: Twerdocleb.
Barbara: I was gonna play wilh ihem lhat night but
Hiey wouldn't let me.
Carl: Well, you know, Hiey're getting a litde serious.
Barbara: I guess. They were gonna let me play
drums but as soon as they heard me play..(laughs)
CaH: You see, that's just...would you play drums for us?
Barbara: Yeah! Tonight? But I don't want to mess
up your sel.
Dan: The set's already messed up.
CaH: That's my job already.
Barbara: I know you're nervous os you are...
CaH: Come on, go on out there and drum I
BrenHy: Yeah!
Barbara: Okay. I will. But I have to get another
beer.
[exit the Destroyer clan plus Barbara Manning.]
Does the name Dan Sutton mean anything
to you?
Brenlly: No, I don't think so.
From the Matador newsletter, I read a letter from this Dan fellow who is defending
himself against someone at Matador calling him the 'date rape Idng of Cambridge"
for something he did to Barbara...
Brenlly: Oh yeah, we know about lhaf.
Can you elaborate on it?
BrenHy It was a guy who showed up at a show and
was asking Barbara some extremely personal and
sexually nalured questions. She told him she was
uncomfortable wilh [his questions] and he continued
to pursue lhaf line. She was by herself and she kept
tolling him that it made her uncomfortable. Then she
finally gol away from him. He was oul of line and
ridiculous, and makes himself look even more so by
writing this letter to Matador, that they printed!
The letter was apparently also posted on
Sub Pop's listserve on the internet.
BrenHy: (reading) He doesn't believe his actions were
inappropriate? That's so outrageous! Where was he?
... (laughing) I'm listening to Barbara playing drums!
Ron: You're getting this on tape, right?
Is there anything I didn't ask you that you
would like to answer?
(long pause)
Ron: (laughs) I was thinking, swear to god, then my
attention got grabbed again by the drums...
We decided it would be best if we stopped chatting
and went out and watched Barbara play, rather than
be distracted by listening to her. No matter what you
may think, she wasn't such a horrible drummer.
There's a certain style, you might say, to her approach
to drumming. Her added touch to Destroyer's opening
song (a lo-fi, uncensored version of Alanis' - as we
know her in Canada - song "Hand in My Pocket")
made it absolutely magnificent. And the SF Seals set?
No less than I expected. They were enchanting, laid-
back, ployed musical instruments raHier Hian chairs,
and played a nice selection of old, borrowed, and
new material, from "Every Pretty Girl" to iheir current
album's pop hit, "Pulp." Fun stuff ... even if Brenlly
wasn't wearing diapers this lime 'round.
We all know it, but let it be said again: women
know how to put on a party. This is exacHy what
happened to the unsuspecting St. James
Community Centre last December 16 when miko
hoffman and Megan Mallett organised on all-
ages benefit show for Women Against Violence
Against Women (let's call it WAVAW from now
on, shall we?), featuring Hie likes and licks and
outspoken chicks of ten days late. Gaze, Vico,
Paizuli, Wandering Lucy, and Trish Kelly [as herself). Not only was Hie lineup eclectic and independent, but it successfully shouted out the
message lhat violence against women happens a
lot more than we core to admit - and ihof it really sucks. All of this was rounded out wilh a very
healthy shot of "we hove to fight for change" consciousness raising. To put it mildly, this was the
opportunity for chicks and their friends (boys,
natch!) to rock out in an asshole-free space.
Yup, this girl-claimed space was teeming with
Hie rainbow-haired youth of today, sippin' Sprite
and siltin' cross-legged on Hie floor. I don't know
what these gals did for fun during their formative
years, but the all-girl + Henry (of Vico) line-up
proved that right now women have no qualms
about playing hard, or being centre stage. And
while Hie sound system at Hie St. James seemed
determined to mangle the sounds of the musicians as Hiey plunked and hollered, it was once
again proven lhal attempting to drown oul a
roomful of women with something to say is
beyond futile - ha ha hal As spoken word artist
around all Hie time, egos and that • you know
how guys are - but there's none of lhat here.
Tanya (Vico)- There's not many all ages gigs out
there, [so there are] lots of teenage boys coming to
this and getting ihe message. It's good to promote
bands with women in them, ihough not simply
because it's an oil women thing. I don't think il matters what sex you are - ten days late are a great
band wheHier Hiey are men or women.
Devon (Paizuli): When I was in high school I
didn't know any giris who were in bands at all,
and if Hiey were Hiey just sort of sang every once
in a while - some pretty little song in a folky band.
Or worse, Hiey played Hie tambourine.
In -what way do you hope your
music/spoken word/noise will influence
your listeners?
Trish: Because I'm doing spoken word and I'm
not doing it with a band, I can be a little bit more
to Hie point about my political agenda. I don't
have to worry about fitting it in with Hie music; I
just write about what I'm feeling. I want to be a
political voice here as opposed to being in a band
that just sounds good. People have to listen to my
voice 'cos there's nothing else for them lo dol
Tanya (Vico): When I was in high school I didn't really have any musicians lhat were women
as role mod els... hopefully people will come out
tonight and see all these women doing it and
realize you don'l have to be a guy to be in a
rock band. I wish I had picked up Hie bass when
empowerment and independence from Hie often
self-defeating shelter of a "big strong arm", or an
escort home. A lot of Hie musicians thought that
Hie idea of an all giHs show was unusual, possible, and very cool, but were weary of being
clumped together only with other giri bands, forever. This concern results from the sexist altitudes
as rare in Hie music business as flies on a piece
of shit - you know, lhat there are "girl bands" and
regular bands. I can see the frustration of ten
days late , eternally being compared to 17, Bikini
Kill, Babes in Toyland, elc. etc., when they
sound quite different from these bands and are
rarely compared to "regular" (i.e. male) bands.
But as o first step in just getting women together, and proving that real female talent exists,
ihe benefit and other all or predominantly giH
shows are essential.
Yeah, it might keep some guys at home 'cos
they're scared or surprised by "angry" (i.e.
"aware, unafraid") women, but if these guys onfy
realized how many gigs women go to where
they have to deal with being insulted, belittled,
harassed, pinched, ass-slapped, poked, and
even strangled (I'm not making this up!), Hiey
might be a little more supportive. Women are so
accustomed to being in situations like these while
al bars, clubs, and gigs, we often get used to it!
Loads of gals at Hie benefit were amazed al how
much Hiey could thrash in a girt-friendly environment - especially wilh Trish Kelly patrolling the
mosh pit for disrespectful boys who hadn't
WAVAW
Trish Kelly would remade to an inattentive audience
member, "Hey! Where do you think you're going
with lhat cigarette, when I'm not finished yet?!"
In order to get the lowdown from the performers, Heavy O and I set up shop in Hie St.
James kitchen and interviewed twelve giH musicians and Henry. We asked them all a set of
four questions cleverly crafted to elicit their personal opinions regarding iheir music, Hie benefit, and violence against women. Here's the
word from Hie kitchen:
Why did you decide to do this gig?
Henry (Vico): [If it's] for a good cause, I play
ony show I can that's offered to me.
Trish Kelly (plays with herself): Because
I Ihink lhat WAVAW needs money and I think
it's important lhat Hie Vancouver music scene
gives money to organizations like WAVAW.
We need things lhat are politically charged in
this community; otherwise, we are just stupid
indie rock and punk rock kids. We have to be
motivated to help organizations that need
money and need our support.
Valeria (Gaze)t I've worked with WAVAW
before, and I'm very supportive of [the organisation]. They kept Hie crisis line open during the
holidays from iheir homes.
Lana (ten days late ): I think it should be
called People Against Violence Against Women
- men feel shunned away even though they
believe in it jusl as strongly as everyone here. I
jusl think thai maybe men and women should
work together - maybe have a man speak to
teach other men, ond to make women more comfortable with men. [The focus] shouldn't be so
narrow; I know a lot of guys who would like to
gel involved, but they don't feel welcome.
What do you think about the (almost)
all-women line-up (we later factored
Henry into this equation)?
Kara (ten days late): It's really affirming for
giHs to see other giHs doing stuff like this. It's not
the standard. I don't really have a lot of issues
about needing segregation - " an only women
kind of thing" - but I think it's really rod.
Henry (Vico): I enjoy playing with Deanna and
Tanya; it's a better experience lhan I've had playing wilh most guys. There's lots of attitude flying
I was 14 instead of when I was 22.
Henry (Vico): I guess tonight I just hope that
Hiey don't hate me 'cos I'm a manl
Lana (ten days late): We hope lhal we can
get people ta forget about the bullshit and have
fun. A lot of my guy friends thought that tonight
would be about a lot of angry girls...because of
Hie spoken word!
Kim (ten days late): Hmm...influencing our
listeners...we have listeners?!
How has/does violence against -women
affect/ed you?
Lana (ten days late): I guess its been more
mentally; I've never been physically abused.
There's a lot of mental abuse.
Deanna (Vico): I haven't been physically violated, bul I've known people who have been
raped and it pisses me right off.
Trish: It's been a motivator for me because it's
something thot I realize is fucked up in our society; I can do something about changing that, and
empowering other women so that it doesn't hap
pen to so many other women. Every woman in
this society is aware of violence against women.
It's not just a matter of being in an abusive relationship wilh someone, it's a matter of looking at
the media and looking at every aspect of the
society around us lhat hates us. So I think that it
affects every one.
Marcy (Paizuli): Well just today a friend of
mine was attacked in front of her own house - in
front of her own house in Hie middle of Hie day
on a Saturday. That affects whal I do and where
I go; I mean, lhat affects everybody.
The WAVAW benefit followed on the heels of a
benefit for Vancouver Rape Relief, also to raise
money to support the fight against violence
against women. Interestingly, while Hie WAVAW
benefit was overwhelmingly a show of women
musicians, Hie Rape Relief benefit drew crowds
wilh boy bands like Sparkmarker and Facepuller.
While I think that it's important for men to understand and support the issues surrounding violence against women, it is also really great for
young women to see other women sharing experiences in a safe space and making noise themselves about stuff lhat pisses them off. Young boys
and giHs have to become aware about women's
noticed mat Hiey didn't fuckin' own Hie space.
Organizer miko said lhat it was Hie most comfortable show she had ever been to, period. I
think lhat all those boys who avoided Hie show
for fear of being gang-wedgied in a dark corner
should stop feeling so sorry for themselves and
come and parly and listen for once. Or they
should organize their own benefit to support Hie
fight (Hiey could coll it BAVAW...hmmm, though
that does sound suspiciously like Baywatch, or
conversely, bow wow... anyway).
The only disappointment in the whole
evening was mat Hie event was definitely not a
sex positive one. All references to sex were
framed with words like 'assault', 'rape', 'bad',
'nasty', 'cold'; the traditional equation of
"girl+sex=misery, pain" was unfortunately reinforced. This was a result of mosriy Hie need for
a lot of women to share their negative experiences regarding sex and men. Now I think lhat
this is totally useful and certainly feels freeing,
and is an important part of fighting violence
against women, but so is exploring your sexuality. When giHs figure out how to groove on
their own sexuolity, alone, wilh a giH or with a
boy, then isolation, shame and oppression are
harder lo dump on women. Ironically, it was the
Iwo women who represented WAVAW who
failed to bring up this point (that women con
ond should demand sexually respect and
action) or any olher, I'm afraid lo soy. I'm no
crisis worker (but I play one on tv) and I know a
bad sell when I hear one. These two women
were supposed to give us an idea of whal
WAVAW was all about, but instead Hiey literally read out the organisation's pamphlet and
hemmed and hawed with all Hie creativity and
panache of dental technicians. I know that it
could have made a whopping impact on all Hie
young'uns in the audience if they had gotten
people psyched about Hie great work lhat this
organization does for society. Oh well.
All in all ihough, Hie night was lots of fun for all
the giHs and boys who trooped home lhat night
high on Sprite and giH-energy. Everyone left hop
ing that there would be other such chances in the
future for women to get up on stage and make
noise and wank around... shomelessly.
by Natasha Lena
fs mgg°mim useen
Nfcmcouver's premiere party-rock
sensations, the Smugglers, have,
been packing halls around the
continent since their humble
beginnings at the annual Mod
Scooter Run in Vancouver in 1988.1
After their first full-length release oi
Nardwuar Records, At Marinelam
(1991), the band hooked up witl
Conrad Uno, owner of Seattle's Eggl
Studios, and released their Seconal
LP, Atlanta Whiskey Flats (1992), on
Popllama     Records     (Fastbacks,)
Posies, Young Fresh Fellows). Soonl
after, an explosion of international]
interest blanketed the band, and the)
Smugs released  a shower of  7"|
records with labels in Spain, Italy,
Germany and Japan.
The past year has been the Smugglers' busiest yet: they
completed their fifth North American tour, toured Spain, and
recorded two releases for their hometown label Mint
Records, who recently agreed to a co-release merger with
Berkeley's Lookout! Records (Green Day. Riverdales. Pansy
Division). The first fruit of this union was a spirt EP with the Hi-
Flves entitled Summer Games (1995). and will be followed
this month by the Smugglers' fifth fulHength record. Selling
the Sizzle (1996). Renowned for their energetic stage performances and sassy fashion smarts, the Smugglers are
arguably Vancouver's most vibrant musical entertainers.
DISCORDERs long-lost definition of rugged machismo,
Sean Raggett, caught the Smugglers In the act.
The Smugglers are: Bryce Dunn - drums; Beez - bass,
backing vocals; David Carswell - guitar, backing
vocals; Nick Thomas - guitar, backing vocals; Grant
Lawrence - voice.
Why have the Smugglers never been featured In
DISCORDER!
Grant: Ask Dave. I don't know the answer to that.
Dave: It's just that same old...people love tt when
you're fresh, and we're not that fresh anymore
(everyone laughs). We're still here, you know?
(More laughter) People shouldn't think any
less of us, but we're still here! It's hard convincing them that records are still fresh
when It's, like, the third record, and then the
fourth record. It's hard to be the latest thing
(laughter).
Beet (laughs) I'm withdrawing my comments.
Dave: Really?
Beez: Well. I was thinking about saying
that the DISCORDER sucks, and I decided
that maybe that's a little harsh.
Dave: It's so easy to hate.
Beez: It's so easy to hate If you're not participating In It. I mean. If I think It sucks so much,
then why don't I do something about It?
Dave: Right.
Beez: And what am I doing about It? Nothln'.
But Vancouver should be your breeding
ground, .for the world!
Grant: Weil don't get it wrong, we do great
In this city. I think we have a great, great
fan base here, and we've been able to
get lots of people out to our shows. But if
you're asking that question, you should talk
about poor old Bum, who had their last
show last night. Now that's a band that didn't get the proper recognition. I think we've
gotten fine recognition.
Well, not with DISCORDER.
Dave: We've never been featured on the
Fox. either.
Nick: I've heard us on the Fox! One time,
while I was dish washing at this restaurant, I
said to the chef, "That's me on the radio!",
and he said (in stern foreign accent), "That's
not your radio!" (laughter).
Have the Smugglers ever played a high-
school dance?
Grant: Oh yeah. Our second gig ever was at
the West Van High Halloween Dance.
Were you going to school there?
Grant: Yeah. And, to add Insult to Injury. In a total
conflict of Interest. I was the Student Council president. I was given the budget for the dance, so I
said. "Well, I think we're worth about five c-notes"
(laughter).
Nick: We were nervous before going on. Everyone's
favourite social studies teacher came In and gave
us a big pep talk on the Rolling Stones.
Grant: And he told us we were the new Grames
Brothers. He was, like, "They're over, they're gone,
they're graduated...you're It!"
The Grames Brothers went to the same school!
Grant: Oh. yeah. She Stole My Beer - our school...you can
see this deep-rooted hippie scene...
There are a lot of hippies in West Vancouver?
Grant: Total hippie scene, Volvos with Grateful Dead stickers on the back...it's a total hippie scene. Nardwuar and our
group, the Palmerston Posse, were the only kids with any sort
of style or grace In West Vancouver (laughter).
Who is the cutest Smuggler, and why?
Grant: The cutest Smuggler hasn't joined the band yet.
Dave: I wear the shortest shorts.
Grant: He wears the shortest shorts, the tallest cowboy hat.
and the whitest cowboy I
boots, so that makes him f
the cutest.
Who were the Leather j
Uppers?
Dave: They were the I
greatest band that ever
walked the face of this
earth. Two young boys
from Ontario, classy
Cralg-o and Greg-o, and
together they wreaked
unholy hell on this planet.
Grant: It's a shame. Bum goes
down, the Leather Uppers go down...the clothes they wore,
everything they did was over the top. Every single time they
got on stage, their outfits matched exactly.
Nick: When we saw them they had these black tees with a
sparkly Iron-on that said 'punk', and an Iron-on razor blade,
and they had Adidas shorts.
Grant: Short shorts. Anyway, they were totally wild...two guitars and drums, and they put out one fantastic album called
OK. Don't Say HI. and they have a couple of 7"s out, and
we tribute them every time we can. We cover their song
"Supercar" on a Flipside compilation, and we cover their lat-
"When you sucked on my tongue
i got bored of your forehead
you taste like a peach, and i'm sick
of especially you"
- from selling the sizzle (l 995)
est song "Smokin' Monkey" on a Spanish EP called Senior
Pants Down. They deserve to be heard more.
Are they getting back together?
Grant: No. Craig has a new band now called the Stlnkles.
They are doing super-well, they're on the cover of Now.
which is the Georgia Straight equivalent in Toronto, and they
got signed to Sympathy For the Record Industry. You can't
do much better than that If you're just a gritty, baHs-out rock
'n roll band. And believe me. when he's wearing those short
shorts, chances are his balls are hanging out. you know what
I'm saying? (everyone laughs).
Does Grant practice his stage moves in front of a mirror?
Grant: Of course I do! Whaddya think?
Nick: And in front of his buddies (laughter). We rate them.
Grant: Of course I practice my moves!
Beez: He's working with Karen Jamleson this year, trying to
get some new moves.
Grant: I mean, does the cast of Cats practice?
Beez: Of course they do.
Have the Smugglers met any famous Canadians?
Grant: Are you kidding? Are you fucking kidding me?
Have    the    Smugglers    met    any    famous
Canadians? ,
Grant: We...OK, let me put tt this way. Do you
consider this meeting? Alan Thlcke once
pogoed across the stage when we were playing a song on national television, OK?
Where did this happen?
Grant: This was at the YTV Achievement Awards
In Ottawa In 1992.
Nick: The year before us. the Barenaked Lades
won the same award. That was basically where
we got our big list of famous Canadians that we've
met. We met the Governor General, and Grant and
I were on a talk show with Preston Manning.
Grant: We met the Crash Test Dummies, who now have a
book published about them. Beez has met Margaret
Atwood. and of course we're friends with Terry David Mulligan.
You're friends with Terry David Mulligan?
Grant: Yeah, of course! He starred In our first video, "Vancouver,
BC". and has since become a great friend and supporter.
Everyone is friends with Terry David Mulligan. Who is your
Canadian hero?
Grant: My hero at the moment would probably be Rebecca
from Lick the Pole.
Who is Lick the Pole?
Grant: Lick the Pole is a band with more notoriety than anything else, I would think. I have yet to see the much-talked-
about Lick the Pole, but I know that I have seen the lovely
Rebecca who's In the band, and I do think she's lovely!
They're known for their wild, sexy shows and certain sexual
acts that have occurred on the floor of the Commodore at
the Cramps show...things like that. Tons and tons of rumours
abound, and to be quite frank, that's what rock and roll Is
about, and they got It down pat. If you know what I mean. Nick: I think they formed a supergroup with the guys from Rash Bastard.
What do the Smugglers think of Flash Bastard, glamcore revivalists Flash Bastard?
Nick: We've heard very good things.
Grant: Yeah. Nick and I have been trying to see Rash Bastard for a while. Maybe
soon we can work it in sometime (Nick laughs). It's true!
Which Vancouver bands have released more 7"s than the Smugglers?
Nick: Sparkmarker. probably.
Grant: Sparkmarker has about Tne cutest smuggler hasn t
six out. My first reaction would joined the band
be to say nobody, but D.O.A.
could very well have. Art, no Art (Bergmann) yet."
stopped putting out 7"s a long time ago. -frnnt
Bryce: cub are getting up there, actually.
Grant: Yeah, cub are up there. They're at around five or six. maybe seven. There's
a lot of bands hovering around the two or three level, but I think we're at about
twelve, so I would say Just In spanning the globe it would have to be the fabulous
Smugglers (pauses). Oh. that's us! (laughter).
Smugglers favourite hangouts?
Beez: The Railway, of course. Standard.
Grant: My favourite Is called City Picnics, and that's right here In Vancouver. I eat
lunch there every day. Fantastic food, very fast, run by a Czech couple. You get
to do the joke 'Check please'...ha. ha. ha. They say 'yes?', and I say, 'Check
.they say. 'Yeah, right here!' (laughter).
Nick: I go to the Eldorado a lot and play pool. You can catch the classic act Texas
Rood in the background, a Stevie Ray Vaughn tribute band. It's not too bad; you
run Into a few shady characters.
Beez: Reno's, for me. Reno's restaurant on Main at Broadway.
Nick: Or the Cottage on Commercial Is pretty good.
Bryce: I like going to Cafe S'il Vdus Plait on Robson and Richards where Amie from
knock-down-ginger works. I also discovered a place on Granville called Normandy's.
What happened to Dave Carsweil's moustache?
(Beez laughs) Dave: It was never a real moustache - It was painted on (Grant
laughs). I just wanted to go truck. I did tt. It worked, and It was good.
Nick: And that TV series got canceled.
If the Smugglers were to take a visitor from out of town for a tour of Vancouver,
where would you take them?
Nick: All the classics. Stanley Park Is always In there, and we also go to the
Tomahawk -
Grant: - for a Skookum Chief Burger, usually with Nardwuar. so he can do his spiel
about how a Skookum Chief Burger is three meals In one. and he does all his lettuce, bun. chicken routine. Bryan Adams dish washed In the back, so that's definitely a landmark. Then we do the little known Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge,
which is way scarier and way freer than the Capllano Suspension Bridge. Then we
go down to the cliffs and show people -
Nick: All the tattooed bangers jumping off the big cliff at the top, which Is nicknamed "The Motherfucker".
Grant: So then we go to the salmon hatchery where all the salmon run. When
people want to go downtown, we used to take everybody to the Bourbon. That
was the Smuggler hangout of all time, but it got pretty goddamn shady.
Nick: There's always the battle between young and old. and the young won at the
Cambie. and the old won at the Bourbon. The Jades were the house band.
Grant: That was the end. when the Jades were fired. It's the one thing
that Terminal City columnist Rob Dayton and I agree on. Is that the
Jades are a fantastic class act. A great band, and great people.
Nick: They actually still do exist. The other guy who left went into a
band called the Hl-Hats. It's quite sad now, when you walk through
■ Stanley Park and you hear this lonely saxophone playing. That's the
guy from the Jades entertaining the kids with stolen country songs.
Do the Smugglers have any groupies?
Grant (in Ralph Ferley stud voice): Yeah, I've tended to attract a
few over the years (Bryce laughs).
Bryce: One in particular?
Grant: Yeah, one of which Is named Dodle. I have a filing cabinet
dedicated to the mall she's sent. Nutty, nutty bird, that Dodie. She
has sent me gifts on ALL holidays, not Just Christmas or my birthday,
but on Valentine's Day, Easter. Thanksgiving... But Bryce has a ton.
Bryce had a 'zine written about him!
Bryce: (sheepishly) Yeah. There was a girl who writes a "zine called
Montgomery. She came to the show in Kingston last year, and said she
wanted to do an article on the Smugglers, but more specifically she wanted to do an entire 'zine about me (everyone laughs).
What was the 'zine called?
Beez: ftyce Is Nice (laughs).
Bryce: It was called Overbryced. and it was a supplement to Montgomery. I don't
know If you can still get It. If you want to find out, write to Montgomery 'zine, and
they may still have some.
Beez: Or you can go to Bryce's house and get the 500 copies left over (laughter).
The Smugglers recently toured Spain. What Is the story behind that?
Grant: It was great to go to a new continent, it was wild. It was like a normal tour.
Monday, Tuesday it would be so-so.
"It's so easy to hate if you're then as the weekend approached
  the shows would get bigger and
not participating m it. bigger   Madrld  on  Saturday
I mean if it sucks so much, n|9nt was reallv hu9e-We recorded
a live record, and it was a great
why don't we do something show. But it's Bum who are the stars there.
* .   r> How did you get past the lan-
about it. guage barrier in Spain?
-Beez commenting on Discorder.        Nick; Most peep1**--* know a certain
amount of English, and so the first few shows we had written out a few
things to say In Spanish that were kind of like...lame Jokes. Like _
(speaks Spanish phrase), which means "We are very happy to b
here". That was one of our more serious ones.
What were some other phrases you learned?
Nick: (Says Spanish phrase) That means "We are pregnant".
Grant: A phrase I was using often was
"What the hell are you saying to me.
you dirty little man" (laughter). I was saying that In English to people.
Nek: We'd tel people "We are the Stones". "We
want to father some children" was another.
What are your plans now that Mint has j
merged with Lookoutl records?
Grant: Well, we're under more pressure now I
to produce and to perform, which we !
haven't been before. Before, we would tour ]
when we wanted to. Now It's like, when the
record comes out we are expected to be on j
the road right away for a good chunk of time,
and to cover as much territory as possible. As I
soon as our record comes out it will be on
Mint In Canada, and Lookout! worldwide. We
will be heading off on two different tours,
both of which we're not sure where we're
going yet. but one will most likely be with the
Mr. T Experience, and we may end up with
some dates with Rocket From the Crypt as I
well. We plan to cover as much ground as
possible In the U.S., and then we plan to tour I
across Canada as well, because of course that's
very Important. We're going to spend a large part I
of 1996 selling the sizzle.
Where does that ("selling the sizzle") come from? I
Grant: Well, it's a common selling phrase, and I
what happened was this guy coined the phrase j
in the '30s. He was a salesman. You know now I
how they have Infomerclals? Well in the '30s, they I
put It on vinyl and sold tt as a record that said. "This I
wtll help you sell more cars", or whatever. So this I
guy's point was. If you're selling a steak, don't sell 1
the cow, sell the sizzle. (In other words) sell what j
makes people's mouth water. We always pride ourselves on the live show, in which we try to be as outlandish and as energetic as possible, so we tried to ]
translate that on to the album, and now we are trying to sell our sizzle.
The Mint/Lookout! merger is a big thing; potentially,
that could make the Smugglers very big...
Grant: Well, yes and no. That would be great, but what \
a lot of people forget Is that Lookout! has Operation \
Ivy, Green Day. Screeching Weasel and the Queers,
bands that have sold hundreds and thousands and millions of records, but they also have a bunch of bands that \
don't sell hundreds and thousands of records - the HI-FI
are moderate sellers, the Potatomen, bands like Squirtgun -
and we're going to be In their class, I would think. If we sell a }
ton, that would be surprisingly great, but If we don't, I
we're just going to be happy working with a competent label.
Nick: It will Inevitably increase the fan base just because more ,
people will hear the record. It's got great distribution.
Grant: Lookout! are so gung-ho; they're talking about Japan c
Europe. Not only will the record be distributed there, they expect IV
their bands to play there, so It's pretty exciting for us. We're really il
overwhelmed with it coming up so fast, trying to ,-,.     e .
figure out our lives, how we're going to do this. The Smugglers Shindig score card
and how much we're going to do. etcetera, etcetera. from 1989.
It's a whirlwind, for sure. __,_«*_
Gaunch or ginch? (As judged by Bill Baker, now owner
Beez: Ginch. r jl|.   . Reoorcl„ \
Nick: No. that's pre and post.       .
Everyone: Ginch is clean, gaunch is dirty underwear...
Nick: Going, going, gaunch!
Best pick-up line?
Beez: "Hey lady, you'd look hotter if you shaved that moustache".
Grant: That's a good pick-up line.
Nick: It was used on Beez (laughter).
Any last words?
Nick: The last words ate "Grant said".
Beez: The last word of every Smugglers Interview Is "sorry".
Grant: Oh. sorry about that (laughter).
For Smugglers newsletter info, write Mint ^f
Records. #699-810 W. Broadway, Vancouver, ^1
BC. Write Montgomery fanzine: 565 Gilmour Street,
Ottawa ON, KIR 5L5.
All photos by     ^<,
PaolCIark^> n- ■
Please Introduce yourself.
My noma it Mork Emery. I'm the publisher of Cannot/
Canada, the proprietor of Hemp BC, and agent provocateur
of the legalization movement for the Canadian publi
On January 4th the police raided your store. Hemp
BC, and confiscated thousands of dollars of equipment and merchandise - why did the police wait
until now to raid your store when you've been in
operation since 1994?
Well that's probably precisely the reason: to do the most financial damage they could possibly do. We now wholesale to
thirty olher stores, so they were able to seize five cars and a whole 24-foot
truck full of things, worth $105,000. It's a huge loss to us. Thot inventory pays
for our 24 employees, now down to fourteen; it allowed them to have decent
wages, now cut by 45%; and I'm looking at life imprisonment and $120,000
in fines, along wilh three other employees, for selling seeds lhat were seemingly fine for the previous 13 or 14 months. Basically, they want to devastate
the legalization movement. We received o lot of American publicity - The Wall
Street Journal, Notional Enquirer, High Times magazine, endless TV stations -
one from Seattle is in today - and they constantly film what we're doing, and
the liberalization lhat's going on in Vancouver and British
Columbia, and I guess some bureaucrat in the DEA called
the moyor of Vancouver, ond of course, you know, people                 <Jp^()|n^^^ig|jtf^^^^»l°l||gg|P^^^S>
here jump when the American government calls, and        jf§L i_>
that's what they did. And then all of sudden in the last   RgjriL-.    —^ __-. _-- \M
^^^^r^^^t^^^^^m^Y^   ITjpTl   WMC
cil about revoking our business license, ond other kinds of \ T     "~T       T_. ^Hs_
punitive measures. All those are responses to the fact thot    \ \A7C)T_1_LCJ_       JO£~^
we are getting international attention, that we are causing »
a revolution here in Canada. There are these hemp stores
in almost every city selling seeds, bongs, pro-marijuana
propaganda, ond our battle is being won. The majority
ore clearly sympathetic to us.
So is the whole police line that they bought
seeds from your store and were waiting for
them to grow just bullshit, basically?
Well, no, it's probably true insofar as they'll prove to
the court that the seeds we're selling produce morijuo-
na. But substantially, who cares? You don't need to do
that kind of thing. First of all, it's going ta introduce a
very tricky problem for the police in court, lhat in fact
what I sold is not going ta be introduced in court. I
sold seeds. That would be like holding someone
responsible for o bootlegging operation during
Prohibition becouse he sold them grapes and they
turned into wine, or hops that became beer.
You were arrested for possession of seeds
with intent to traffic, and the other employees were charged with trafficking in seeds...
Right, and they were merely the clerks on duty that
day. I mean, it's not like the police ever bought their
seeds from them - I don't even know if they were
observed selling seeds. Those charges ore bogus and
will probably be dropped.
Is there actually any THC in seeds?
None whatsoever, so there's no drug quality to them.
We're gonno win on the face of it - we're just going
to make the Crown try to prove their case and we
don't believe they con.
Your store was raided once before in
November when the police came in and arrested three people
for less than a gram of pot between them. Was anything taken
then, any merchandise? What was their rationale for raiding
your store then?
They came by and said they were there to deliver a political message, that they
didn't want people smoking pot in the store. They made a clear point that
they weren't interested in interfering with ony other part of our business, and
they weren't going to hassle us for selling seed; they had no problem with
thot. And of course, you know, like all cops they lie, so they went back on that.
How would you characterize your relationship with the police
before these raids? 'Cause I know they've known about you
since the beginning, and I'm sure you've talked to ihem before....
Yeah, and I've always been polite, I've always done what they told me, ond
I've always been responsive to any concerns they had. And they know that. I
mean, they're going against the tide here, because we're clearly seen as a
good influence on the community. Just a few people in senior levels of government find us uncomfortable, -and that's because we're successful. If we
were unsuccessful, or nobody come to our shop, or it just continued to be a discreet, quiet hole in the wall, we'd never get this attention. But because we're
seen by international mogazines of the stature of Tfie Wall Street Journal now,
we have a lot of power and influence in the media, and the city's trying to curtail our power and our influence.
o
You see, there's no passionate following
anybody on city council. They couldn't
get a thousand people to come ta a meeting
just to hear their ideas; they just hove a
bunch of trough feeders who are on the
gravy train, and that's iheir following ot city
hall, or at the provincial level. But we actually hove a real following, an ideological
movement based on ideas, based on
human liberty, based on freedom, based on
changing this terrible bigotry we have in ihis country. It's o cultural genocide that's going on right now
against cannabis lovers and cannabis connoisseurs.
I mean, they buy advertising ta malign us and slander us, they stop us from traveling, we get criminal
records, they round up millions of plants every year
ond burn ihem, they seize books about marijuana,
they seize clothing [made from] marijuana, they
take away our pot when we have it, they take away
our pipes and our bongs. If you label if for tobacco
use it's legol; if you label it for
marijuana use it's a $100,000
fine.   Non-marijuana   smoking
Canadians   don't  care   about
[what's basically] a pogrom that's
gone on against marijuana smokers for twenty five years, and it's
time they opened iheir eyes. And
that's what we're asking them to
do,  'cause it isn't marijuana
smokers persecuting other marijuana smokers, it's the non-marijuana smoking public attacking
and supporting the state that's
attacking marijuana consumers.
And even, I'm sure, some
marijuana smokers; I'm
sure there are police officers and politicians who
are enforcing these laws
who do smoke occasionally. I was reading an
article in Vancouver magazine, for example, and
they talk to Sgt. Undo,
the  head  of the  drug
squad. He indicates that
he thinks there are politician s and judges who
smoke pot. And his attitude seems to be that
the whole thing is fust a
game. (Readlng)t "Undo
goes   along,    bearing
growers   no   III   will.
When he's in a good
mood, he'll commend
them on a particularly
Innovative or sophisticated operation...". He
doesn't seem to think that mariiuana Is a
threat or a danger; ifs just that thafs the
law and he's there to enforce if.
Yeah, but that's what makes him such a sick scumbag of o bastard, because he'll go around and
ruin people's lives and punish them and torture
ihem, like he did to me. He actually came into my
cell during the night and told me that after cleaning me out they were going to go out for a drink
and that I was a bad parent because I let my 16
year old son have a joint. The guy's a sick twisted
fucker and I wish the worst plague of AIDS to hit
him and kill him fast. He's a very bad person, and
the fact thot there's a sadist like that in charge of
the RCMP shows what kind of people they recruit.
Why is Bill C-7 (the Controlled Drugs and
Substances Act) a bad bill?
Well, you can go to the editor of Cannabis
Canada for a fully articulated explanation of that.
But, basically, it doesn't help marijuana smokers
at all. It increases penalties for all other substances; it adds a whole bunch of new substances      25% of all patent med-
ihat weren't illegal before - like psilocybin mushrooms, which is a relevant concern in British
Columbia; it gives the police wider powers - it
allows them to sell you pot to convict you for buying pot; it allows them to expedite your trial so
lhat you have fewer defenses, fewer opportunities
to defend yourself; it takes away jury trial for trafficking. And there's absolutely no benefit in Bill
C-7 for industrial hemp, or for legalizing or
decriminalizing marijuana. So it's a very bad bill,
[and it] perpetuates this crazy War on Drugs mentality that's really only an American  policy.
Worldwide, people have no interest in that.
I was reading the transcripts from the
House of Commons debates on Bill C-7
(available through the Hemp B.C. homepage) and ifs kind of fascinating reading
because there's so much garbage in there.
They draw parallels between marijuana
and cocaine, which seems to me to be
completely ridiculous being as they are
completely different drugs with completely different effects. Also, Hedy Fry mentions that a large number of Canadians
are at least tolerant of soft drug u»e, but
points out that ifs illegal for Canada to
decriminalize marijuana because of international laws. What are these laws?
What is she talking about?
Well, Hedy Fry is an intellectual lightweight, so it's
no surprise that you're confused by her remarks.
What she's referring to are the Single Conventions
on Drug Trafficking and Narcotics, which were
passed way back in the stone age of 1961 by
Harry Anslinger, of the United States. Basically, they
do not permit any country which has signed that
agreement to legalize any of those specific drugs.
But Holland is also a signatory to that, and while
they don't exactly legalize [marijuana], you can buy
if in thousands of coffee shops. There's no punishment for having marijuana in Holland and they still
haven't been accused of violating the treaty. The
treaty allows people to have alternatives to punitive
police enforcement as a way of dealing wifh their
drug situation. And we can always just break that
treaty. It's not like anybody'd give a shit, except the
United States, which just shows fhe guflessness of
Canadian politicians. We have an injustice where
millions of Canadians suffer brutally all the time at
the hands of ihe police, and that's still nof enough to
override our obedience to the American government's international needs. [The treaty is] just on
excuse for the government not to act on an obviously grotesque human injustice that goes on in this
country. But what do you expect from a liberal,
wimpy cabinet minister wannabe who really just
doesn't have an intellectual bone in her body. And
the irony is, too, that she's a doctor, and a doctor's
first oath is 'Do no harm', - that's right in the
Hippocratic oath. Well, every day she sits as a
Liberal Member while Canadians every hour of
every day get prosecuted and jailed and arrested,
guns at their head, over some pot plants in the corner of their house. I mean, she's a criminal, and,
unfortunately, she hos to take a fair bif of the responsibility for the kind of brutal cultural genocide that's
going on now. She's
in the Cabinet, she's  |
on the government's
side, she's guilty.
Wasn't hemp originally outlawed as I
a textile more th
as a drug?
Well, the excuse used   |
ta justify its banning ir
the '30s was that it |
was a  drug without
ony social purpose -
even though 50 years
prior it was in, like,
fS   FEBRUARY 1996 icines, and Queen Victoria used it for a number
of maladies, ond things like lhat It was used as
an industrial rope, cloth, sail cloths - lots of
things • for three or four hundred years. And,
yes, it's suspected that the petrochemical industry and the newspaper industry - Hearst and all
that - conspired to drive it underground. They
used racism as their cover; they just said
Mexicans and block people became arrogant,
untrustworthy, dangerous and violent on marijuana. And, of course, playing upon white fears
of blocks and immigrants from Mexico, this wos
a very successful strategy. Also, Prohibition had
just ended, so there were o lot of people used to
going around busting people, and they recruited these people from the Bureau of Tobacco,
Alcohol  and  Firearms  into  the Bureau  of
Narcotics. So there were some very ready circumstances in the United States to allow the
banning of marijuana to pass virtually unnoticed
and then to create this complete police state.
Do you think there's any sort of pressure
from the alcohol, tobacco, or timber industries to keep hemp llegal? Do they care?
Not really, no. I don't think so. Remember, big
business will just go into this business when it's
all mode legal. They'll be there with more money
and more influence than anybody. They've
already got all the channels, and they've got ihe
government regulatory system locked up. So, no,
they'll be the biggest entrepreneurs, the biggest
business capital going into those fields.
"Oh - it'll be
decriminalized at the end
of this year."
Reading different articles about you - and
ifs other people writing about you, so I
don't know whether ifs a very accurate
portrait -1 get the impression that you're
more of a libertarian than a liberal. A lot
of what you've done in the past has been
as a small businessman trying to fight for
your right to do business...
Well, that's just part of it. I just don't like government. I'm basically a capitalist, a libertarian. I believe in total utter freedom; I believe in
the primacy of the individual over the state
under all circumstances, with no exceptions. I
don't believe in ony kind of censorship, so I
fought a lot of censorship battles; I don't
believe in any kind of unionization; so I fought
unions. I don't believe in any kind of government control over the economy, so of course
I'm opposed to every kind of tax. And basically, I've always been opposed to marijuona prohibition, and there's nobody in this country who
I think is more qualified to get this revolution
underway. I believe we've certainly kick-started
the revolution towards legalization with all
these hemp stores across the country, with our
magazine Cannabis Canada, and with all the
extensive coverage we've received. So we're
accomplishing goals in an area that wos in
neglect before we came by.
Would it be fair to say that in many ways,
you're more of an industry lobbyist.
Oh yeah, absolutely. We do it all. We lobby for
the industry; we promote the integration of marijuana and hemp into Canadian economic life
and Canadian culture. It's already part of our
culture, so what we're trying is to get it legitimized, acknowledged, tolerated and promoted so that we con sell more. We've got a
hundred million marijuana smokers worldwide,
minimum, who want what British Columbia produces, and we've got even more people who
can   use   the   industrial   hemp   that  British
Columbia could produce if it were legalized
here. Huge, huge - I mean, it is already the
biggest industry in the province, ond we're the
industry spokespeople for It So, you know, thot
could, theoretically, make me the most powerful
moninBC. And it will. It will.
Speaking realistically, what do you
think the chances are that marijuana
will be decriminalized within the next
ten years or so?
Oh it'll be decriminalized at the end of iiis year.
You think so?
Oh, absolutely. I guarantee it. By the end of
December 31, 1996 - it'll be a banner year -
we'll see some courts strike down marijuana
prohibition somewhere, we'll see the governments coming to discuss this, we'll hear the
Lidone commission being brought up, we'll see
provincial politicians, local politicians, ringing
about it. I might even get elected to city council
myself - I'd make a great moyor.
Anything else to add, anything you
want to say to our readers?
It's really important for the people out there
who do or do not smoke marijuona to bear in
mind lhat more often than every hour of every
doy, every week, every month of the year,
somebody is being arrested,  somebody's
being jailed, somebody's being fingerprinted,
somebody is being hassled by cops because
of marijuona in their house or on their person.
Some people are having urine tests done to
them right now, as we speak, to deter
they smoked a joint three weeks ago. Other
people are having their kids taken away from
them; others can't travel; others are in jail. It's
the biggest form of cultural genocide. It's o
worldwide phenomenon. It goes ocross borders. Every single marijuana smoker in every
country in the world except Holland has to
deal with death, capital punishment, ten, twenty year penalties or life imprisonment, as I'm
facing. It's a cultural genocide that'i
wide where we see millions of plants burned,
our whole lives ruined, families destroyed
worldwide. It's the worst injustice today, I
think, that's legally sanctioned by governments
legally sanctioned by the public. It's a horrendous situation and people have
thing right now to correct it.
OK, thanks for your time.
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A benefit for Hemp B.C. is being held on
February 22 at the Town Pump • see page 7 for
details. Visit the Hemp B.C. homepage -
http://www.hempbc.com/  I HE FIRST BOOK REVIEW OF THE YEAR IS Supposed to be a fairly charitable affair. Composed
when we're past the bleakest time of the year, when
our seasonally affected disorder is on the wane, it
is the book reviewer's best opportunity to draw upon
the milk of human kindness before it once again
clots and sours in our nether regions. What better
lime to review some things that avaricious publishers euphemistically call 'early work'.
A writer's early work tends to be treated with
varying degrees of respect, depending on how successful lhat writer goes on to become in later life.
When you first put pen to paper everything you
write is shit. Period. You may have a few good
insights about how one thing is like something else;
you may (even in a post-literate world) have enough
of a grasp on ihe language to express that relationship in metaphorical terms. Still, the fledgling writer
is unlikely to write anything worth reading, simply
because the impulse to write invariably precedes
eilher ihe skill to write or the experience lhat gives
her something to write obout. Skill requires practice; lhat is, lhal you repeatedly do it wrong until
you get something half-right. Unfortunately, for a
number of reasons, most young writers don't practice. The most common reason is lhal, no matter
how convincing our affectations of cynicism, we all
harbour a romantic belief in 'the muse'. We all believe lhat, if only we can get close enough ta ourselves, art, beautifully forged and instantly gratifying, will burst out of our navels like pop tarts out of
The dozens (and dozens) of pages of shit you
generate while getting it wrong is your 'early work'.
It tends to be seltabsorbed, indulgent, noTve (especially if you're trying to sound worldly), riddled with
cliches, ond generally embarrassing in later life. If
you're trying to write poetry, which young writers
stampede toward in droves because it appears as
vague ond formless to us os our sense of self, then
the process is ten times worse. Yet, mysteriously,
early work sometimes manages to gel published.
Earfy Work (New York: Norton, 1995) is a
collection of writings that Patti Smith set to paper in
Ihe 1970s. This collection was probably culled from
the best of Smith's earfy stuff, but il still displays
most of the characteristics of juvenilia, good and
bad. There is a rebelliousness in the form and content of ihe writing, and a tendency to take on a
wide variety of issues that were contentious ot the
time - from race ond nationality to sexuality. Stylistically these works bounce around from short-line
poetry, to verse-repetitive pieces lhat have the aspect of song lyrics, to longer bits of blank verse that
read like heavily symbolic prose. In content, ihough
ihe poet's feminine sexuality is evident in the poetry's most powerful lines, she is also preoccupied by
mgs derive from the same source. These pieces were
clearly formed by a mind intent on self-exploration
and, at times, accompanying the poet through her
tortured interior and exterior journeys can be a little trying. The problem is partly one of clarity, which
is difficult to avoid given the inward focus of the
writing, and partly one of intensity: the imagery is
sometimes so raw, so dense that you find your patience wearing thin during some of the longer pieces,
maleness and many of her personas are male, as B«=ouje *™ moterial '» » *&*Y loaned on *»
in "rape": author s experiences ond her own secular icons,
some of the stuff seems a bit dated twenty years
... i'm a wolf in o lamb skin fro/an. ohh yeoh that's hence- '• doosn'' ,invite ridi1cu!° liko a lo' of **• **•«**
hard that's good, now don't tighten up. open up from «• 1960*. but it might be difficult to relate to
bebop, lift that little butt up. ummm open wider be- *"»■• of Smirtl'$ exl™""" trough ihe jaded lens of
bop. come on. nothing, con. stop me. now. ohhh l"e "'"••'es.
ahhh. isn't that good. my. melancholy be-bop.
The cultural references are eclectic, from such
pop culture cohorts as Jim Morrison and Bob
Dylan to an odd pan rheon of historical figures:
Pablo Picasso and Jackson Pollock, James
Joyce, and Arthur Rimboud; Jeanne d'Arc,
Amelia Earhart, and Georgia O'Keefe; even
Harry Houdini inspires a poem. Another recurring theme is that of ihe desert and, oddly
enough, Islam (or ot least Smith's perceptions
of it). Islam isn't assigned any definite value
(positive or negative), but is used to invoke
the exotic - often the exotic Smith sees in herself: "... i desire him and he is absolutely/
ready to serve me. in house i am moslem. in
hear! i/ am an american artist and i have
no guilt."
The collection's cultural references make
it an interesting historical artifact of the
1970s, a period of particular interest these
days (ihough I'm not sure why). Of course,
this book was not written as a piece of
cultural history. EaHy Work is, more particularly, an artifact of the decade as refracted through the consciousness of Patti
Smith:
/ keep trying to figure out what it means
to be american. When I look in myself
I see orobio, venus, nineteenth-century
french but I can't recognise what
makes me american. I think about
Robert Frank's photographs—broke
down
jukeboxes in gallup, new mexico...
swaying hips and spurs... ponytails ond
syphilitic cowpokes. I think about a
reid, white and blue rag I wrap around
my pillow. Maybe it's nothing material
maybe it's just being free.
Freedom is o waterfall, is pacing
linoleum til dawn, is the right to
write the wrong words, and I done
plenty of lhat...
The collection's main poetic strength is the freshness of its imagery and outlook, its energy - characteristics usually ascribed to 'youth'. But its shortcom-
WO OTHER SAMPLES Of EARLY WORK CROSSED
my desk recently, both from a small local press called
Pink Flamingo Works. David S. Purvis' Big Vacant Hollow, and S.R. Duncan's In Transit are
effectively the first published collections of both poets
(ihough Purvis seems to have produced a chapbook
previous to ihis). On the surface, these two slim volumes (Purvis' book contains 17 short poems,
Duncan's has 11) have very little in common besides their publisher. Purvis' poems have an inward-
looking quality, while Duncan's are intended to be
"snapshots from familiar places"; Purvis seems more
concerned with the formal aspect of his poetry
(rhyme scheme and the like), Duncan's writing lends
toward blank verse. What bonds the two works is
the inexperience of their authors.
I'll refrain from discussing ihe pronouncements
of the 'Author's Note' al the beginning of Big Vacant Hollow, but the back cover warns the reader
lhat Purvis is 'contemplative,' and as you read his
collection you see that the poet, or at least his persona, spends much of his time contemplating himself. There is nothing particularly damning in this:
poets are generally a thoughtful crowd, especially
when it comes to themselves. But, precisely because
it is done so often, poetic whining and navel gazing demands interesting imagery if it's to be done
successfully. Purvis is not necessarily successful in
this. Take, far instance, his poem "Desolation Isle":
Alone om I
upon this cloud
of human being
desolately proud—
ond dreaming thus
resolutely I'll slay
with the wind
om I endless blown away.
This isn't the stalest imagery ever found in contemporary poetry, but neither is it fresh enough ta make
ihis particular statement worlh while. The reader is
left with a vague 'Yeah, so what?' forming in the
bock of his mind. When a subject is 'contemplated'
in a style lhat features a more traditional rhyme
scheme, the (probably undesired) effect is amusement. Thus: "Mirror, mirror/ on the wall/ whose
frames contain/ a deathly pall/ upon a face/ so
splendor free—/ curtain to chance—/ That can not
bemel"
When Purvis looks outside himself, as in "Down
on Hastings Street", he finds a subject lhat the reader can more readily relate to, even if the poet's impressions seem more menacing than
ihe reality of the place. More generally, there are turns of phrase and
the odd bit of wordplay lhat suggest
lhat there is some talent for metaphor
here. For instance:
Subconscience
every thing
like a ravenous rag
Conscience
leaves laying there.
If David Purvis' collection il
mainly wilh its own poetic persona, the
poetry of S.R. Duncan considers a
broader range of affairs. Though the poet's persona is never absent, it wrestles
with issues of mortality, poetry, 'the
world', but especially wilh women. The
voice in these poems expresses the sentiments of the average, somewhat sensitive
(probably white) male. The poems lhat examine women display lhal all-too-common
mixture of fascination and resentment, as
this excerpt from the opening poem, "In
Transit", demonstrates:
Waiting also brings neurotic girls,
as unreliable os buses
e expensive.
They ride me then get off,
leaving me empty
like on old bus.
The poet does periodically demonstrate a good eye
for detail and image ihough, with my favourite lines
coming in "Gypsies": "on a hot August day/when
the air is so heavy/ even the wind can't push it..."
Duncan's consideration of broader, more worldly
issues echoes the sort of ambivalence that comes
from not giving a damn about the misery in ihe rest
of the world, but knowing lhal you should:
Then he'd tell me the plight of a notion
I know only quaintly from its coffee,
as watered down in this country
as my passion is.
An old room-mate of mine used to call ihis sort of
poetry "Bruce Cockburn stuff".
As may be apparent, of the three works, I liked
Patti Smith's the most. It's a little unfair lo compare
the early work of Patti Smith with lhat of Purvis and
Duncan, if onfy because Smith almost certainly imposed a lot of unseen editorial control over which
of her juvenilia made its way to press. Her collection also can'I be compared lo the olher two because, as a retrospective, it contains a lot more
material than the olher Iwo do. Also, since the Flamingo works go for a couple of bucks each, anyone buying them will be doing so for very different
reasons than someone interested in Smith's work.
Still, comparing the early work of someone who's
'made it' is not a bad way of evaluating the quality
of legitimately new writing. It could have been
worse. I might have compared them line-byline.
& §Ks°gig3 Mectarine Mo 9 Saint Jnck
Davey Henderson, of fire Engines and Win fame/lack there of, and crew
continue re-constructing the pop song. On Saint Jack, you can't help but
feel you are listening to a band that knows they've hit their stride. From the
inverted comma set; "...it shits confidence. It really is that good." If you
are looking for a great read, pick up Irvine Welsh's book "Trainspotting?.
The band are currently working on a sound-track inspired by the book...
Also available:
The Mectarine Mo 9 Niagara Falls
1
EH
mKi
u*
E.QTARINE N°9        ft
mi
Starting this montth with
a bang. Mint and Lookoutl Records
have co-released Summer Comes,
a split EP featuring two of ihe best
garage rawk bands around. West
Vancouver's The Smugglers kick
it all off wilh 'She Ain't No Egyptian* (which also appears on their
new 15 song fulHength Selling the
Sizzle), and then keep the sound
full, fast, and tight for a power-
poppin' cover of Brenl TV's "Elite
Monila". The baton is then passed
to the wonderful Hi-Fives, California's answer to our Smugglers.
Formerly the
Ne'er Do
Wells, these
four wacky
guys begin by
introd<
The Vacant Lot Shake Well
The third album from Brooklyn's finest, and it certainly is their finest!
Produced by Bryan Martin (That Petrol Emotion), 14 pop gems. There's
an inherent quality to this stuff that leaves mosl ofthe ilk still counting r.ff
...2, 2, 4... Years of reading others hype sheets rears it's ugly head-
Hype or not we're happy and I guess that's what counts.
Also available:
The Vacant Lot      Because They Can
The Vacant Lot      Wrong
the
elv
■Don't forget our 7 page mailorder catalogue with all sorts of cool"
^tuff. Mice prices, quick turnaround, friendly or snotty service you£
e choice. Mice ponytail, nice sideburns...we got it all! ■
QHAKE THE RECORD LABEL
59? VICTORIA CP. 265?7
ST-LAMBERT, QUEBEC
J4P-22?
wilh their song
"Meet the Hi-
Fives", o short
but snappy little
ditty that's sure to
get your toes a
tappin'. Rounding
off Ihe record is "I
Need Your Lovin'
Like a Chicken
Needs an Oven
(When I'm a Little
Bit Hungry)", which probably has
the biggest ratio of length of song
title to length of actual song. Four
songs of summer fun guaranteed
to melt away your winter blues.
(Mint Records, P.O. Box 699, 810
W. Broadway, Vancouver, BC,
V5Z 4C9)
Two other punk Canadian releases worth checking out are The
Dinks' DOA-sounding "Go
Home' 7" and the latest slab o'
vinyl from The McRackins, a
band which never seems to run out
of songs! This one is a split 7" wilh
Germany's The Cheeks, on
Screaming Apple Records. (The
Dinks c/o Mealheod Records, PO
Box 29024, Thunder Bay, ON,
P7B 6P9; The McRackins c/o the
Hen Hut, 92737 117th St., Delta,
BC, V4C 6B6)
It looks like we've come across
yet another cool Canadian indie
label: dead bum recordings, based
in Ontario, hos sent us a compilation featuring four examples of
what lhat province hos to offer. Entided The Greatest Love of All, the
record opens wilh The Double
Feature Creatures, an
all-female group who have
produced an oul-of-con-
organ-driven son
called "Jello". Next up
Christian Johnston, a.k.a.
Me Against the World,
playing Moon-socket type
guitar wilh sweet boy vo-
cols claiming lhat "(He's]
Not Psycho Really". No
Clu have the prettiest insert
of ihe bunch, with sparkly
blue glue, and their song,
"Bug", is the happiest on the
record. Finally, Kate
Beckett is another boy
band continuing the weird
trend of naming themselves
after a woman. They have three
Iracks on this 7", all of ihem extremely short and noisy, (dead bum
recordings, 70 Hydepark, Hamilton, ON, L8P 4M7)
Evading the Devil's Darts is a compilation of
seven acoustic Iracks by various artists, the first of
whom is North Carolina's Will Simmons. Singing and playing all the instruments on his song
"Hours We Wait", Simmons reminds us of Ben Lee
(Noise Addict) in a youth-pop kind of way. Pennsylvania's Yak Brigade, formerly Yak Ampersand
and who knows what they'll
be colled tomorrow, contribute a funky little noise-pop
number, while Ihe geekyyet
charming Doormouse offer up "Maybe I'm Big in
Europe", in which they
complain that "a
doormouse is such a stupid thing to be". Olher
artists on this record are
Charlie McAlister,
Mean Spirit'd Robots, Edith Presler,
and Vancouver's own
Mark. (Catsup Plate
Recordings, PO Box
375, Sworthmore, PA,
19081)
As part of the Australian Pop Series, Spit and a
Half Records has released a split 7" by Ashtray
Boy and Clag. Ashtray Boy features Randall Lee,
who's deep-throated vocals transform
the surprisingly country-folk oriented
"Golden Fingers" into a strangely
soothing lullaby. Clog's first track,
"Bike", is cute kid-punk you can
squaredance to, whereas their second, "Running Amok", is a harder,
distorted track, (distributed by Endearing Records, PO Box 69009,
2025 Corydon Ave, Winnipeg,
MB,      R3P      2G9      e-mail:
endeor@mbnet.mb.ca)
Lonesome Pine Records has
sent us a tastefully packaged split
by The Lune and Karate. The
Lune's music is hard to describe:
sort of like jazzy art-rock with a
twist of lemon. Karate (with
Geoffrey from No Duh zine ond
the band Secret Stars) is more to our liking, possibly because the band plays the same sort of soft/
hard, intricate, fretful songs os Seam, a band we
love to mope to. (Lonesome Pine, c/o No Duh, PO
Box 921, Allston, MA, 02134)
Recently, we were fortunate enough to receive
a sweeHookin', limited edition split featuring Su
perchunk and
Superchunk's "Kicked
In" showcases
(if you can call
it that) Mac
McCaughan's
Portastatic.
With "She's
Cracked",
Tsunami join
the long list of bands who have covered
Jonathan Richman's songs. Their version is from an
older four-track recording, and included at the end
is Tsunami's trademark answering machine
soundbite. (Honey Bear Records.)
Veronica is three Texan gals who play upbeat,
unpretentious pop. Their drumming is charming and
iheir guitars are jangly; our only complaint is lhat
the vocals sound a little forced. Check out their 24
Hours + 2 record on Jody's (Team Dresch/Hazel)
Candy Ass Records. (Candy Ass, PO Box 42382,
Portland, Oregon, 97242)
Olympia's K Records finally found it in their
hearts ta send us ihe new Belmondo record, "Lake
Front" b/w "Grey-Eyed Lie*. Belmondo feafcres Pam
Berry of Glo Worm ond assorted other bands on
vocals and keyboards, Trisha Roy of Heortworms
on 12-string guitar ond vocals, and R. Scott Kelly
on drums. Together, ihis trio plays pretty giH/boy
pop in the vein of ihe Crabs and the Softies - or a
jush sounding Beat Happening. (K Records, PO Box
7154, Olympia, WA, 98507)
Featuring members of ihe Vindicators and ihe
Fallouts, Illinois combo Milk Duds is a superstar
garage quartet of sorts. It's also essentially a parody
of one of Billy Childish's bands, Thee Milkshakes,
complete with bond member's "stage" nomes (Billy
Boyish, Micky Hamster, etc.), and, on their Shake
EP, interpretations of five of Childish's songs, along
wilh one previously unreleased track, "9/1 Oths (Of
Your Love)". (Square Target Records, PO Box
19673, Seattle, WA, 98109)
While we're on the topic of Billy Childish, Japanese Irio The Pebbles have released a 7" on Planet
Pimp Records, the highlight of which is iheir cover
of Childish's tune, "Comanche*. I'm Sitting
By   the   Window
contains      three
songs in total, all of
them sparse, cutesy,
Comes complete
wilh an entry form for
Planet Pimp's Crazy
Caption Contest,
where you can win
"BIG prizes". (Planet
Pimp, 1 800 Market
St. #45, San Francisco, CA, 94102)
Sit'N'Spin's "I'm
Sick" b/w "Shofto
Road" wins the award
for coolest record cover
of the month, featuring
cool cartoon art by Yoshiko Fujii. Of the two
Iracks on this Planet Pimp release, we prefer the
mid-tempo, retro surfrock a la the Smugglers on
ihe A-side. It's nice to hear women wanking for a
changel (Planet Pimp, address above.)
The first of our two picks o' the month is from
Boston's Skinner Pilot, who take their name from
a test pilot who crashed inloMf. Skinner. This band
also features a somewhat all-star cast, wilh Elizabeth Sharp, formerly of New Radiant Storm King,
and Steve Healey from Frances Gumm. Andrew
Zarou's vocals on the Sin Side's "New Sun" sound
very Mark E. Smith (The Fall) -like , while the music
reveals the influences of Unwound and Slint. The
Good Side's "Stimulus/Response" boasts beautifully
angst-ridden vocals by Sharp, plus Jason Lowenstein
(Sebadoh)-styled sounds. (Good Sin Records, 215A
Street 5lh Floor, Boston, MA, 02210)
To end this column on a nice note, we'd like to
introduce you to New York's Varnaline, who, upon
first listen, will make you want ta keep 'em on your
turntable forever. Their slow, lush-sounding "Party
Now" certainly doesn't make us want to party, but
lhat's o.k. On the flip side, "The Iron Horse" is a
bluesy, Grifters-esque pop song, all the more appealing for its Eric's Trip-like recording quality (i.e.
tinny and lo-fi, but slill full sounding). Varnaline's
sound is captured by ihe record sleeve: on one side,
it's intense, smoky, and mournful; on the other, it's
calm and blurry. (Clubland Records, 7095 Hollywood Blvd. #651, Hollywood, CA, 90028-8903) Ever wonder how February became
the month of depression? My theory is that any
monlh without a paid working holiday is a real
downer. Furthermore, the only calendar worthy date
is the 14fh - Valentine's Day (yuck). Statistics show
lhat North America's attempted suicide rate is highest during February. Plus, people get less exercise
in February, which can lead ta backache, headaches, ond fatigue. And don't forget lack of sunlight (those who live in basement apartments know
what I mean). Andrea ond I suggest eating green
leafy veggies, long hot baths and ordering these
uplifting zines.
Design #816  #0
(5.5 X 4; 20 pgs)
Being alone or isolated always tests one's ability to
survive. Michelle of #816 seems to be coping. She
is a straight-edge vegan living in Milwaukee "brew
city" Wisconsin, where her immediole environment
offers no one wilh common beliefs. A lot of us may
be able to relate to feeling like an outsider, even
when surrounded by friends or peers. As a newcomer to the straightedge lifestyle who maintains
friendships wilh those who are not straight-edge,
I've noticed that many people are intimidated and
not understanding of straight-edge, which is an extreme lifestyle involving total abstinence from drugs
and alcohol. Michelle explains her personal reasons for going straightedge, as well os a few political motives. She also writes about her day job, being
working-class, ond punk. What impresses me is lhat
she questions her identity within the context of these
things, and also how she as on individual has developed values and overcome obstacles herself,
instead of letting a 'peer group' make decisions for
her. #816 is the first zine about straight-edge I've
read that doesn't sound preachy, condescending or over-
emotional, and it
demonstrates
thai sometimes
feeling alone or
isolated is a worthwhile price to pay
to be true to yourself. Send a stamp,
trade or spore
change to Michelle,
816 P.O. Box
11496,
Milwaukee, WI,
53211.
GiH Fiend MB
(5.5X4.5; 24 pgs)
Christina went from \«*--
gelting her first kiss to
losing her virginity in
oneweek.She uses the zine format to write about
her first Iwo sexual experiences and how ihey affected her. She is honest and open about whal went
on between her and her partners and her own attitudes about sex, which she is trying to overcome.
She writes aboul various problems, among them
miscommunication with her partners, and how she
felt uncomfortable with her own body when she was
with her skinny boy partners. This zine disturbed
me because I'm not used to reading about people's
sex lives, and becouse of the screwed-up dynamics
of the relationships. It made me realize that these
communication problems are more common than
we'd like to admit, and that sex isn't os much of a
wonderful thing as it's made out ta be. Send $1 to
Christina, Hampshire College, Box 960, Amherst
MA, 01002-5001, USA.
I'm Jonny and I Don't Give a Fuck MI
(4X5.5; 37 pgs)
Andy, the creator of this zine, says lhat he wrote it
becouse he needed to 'document a bunch of dumb
shit' he did as a kid. Andy's writing is so descriptive and humorous that, as I read his 31 tales of
misadventure - which document his interesting you'll,
growing up in Niagara Falls, and his many road-
trip fiascos - I gasped out loud, sighed, and
laughed hysterically, leading everyone oround me
to ihink lhat I was completely insane. Now I can
simply look at the cover and smile, remembering how bizarre and funny ihis zine is.
If laughter is the best medicine, this is the
best $1 cure you'll ever find. Write Andy at
P.O. Box 21533-1850 Commercial Drive,
Vancouver, BC, V5N 4A0.
Deep Girl #5
(8.5 X 6; 24 pgs)
I picked up a copy of DG #5 during my
last trip to Seattle, immediately noticing
the fancy-shmance, full-colour cover gracing the comic. Deep Girl is on its way
up. In fact, Ariel Bordeaux has announced lhal back issues of Deep GiH
are sold out and she will no longer oo
cept trades far her comic. However,
the news isn't all bad. The new look of
Deep GiH is fantastic. Inside are seven
strips, the best one definitely being Tit Chat", where
Ariel describes her experiences as a big-breasted
woman, and attitudes towards breasts in general.
And it contains the cartoon favourites Lucky Penny
and her pal Crabby Cathy. I suggest ordering while
you can because, by ihe looks of Deep GiH , it
won't be on unknown comic for much longer. Write
Ariel Bordeaux at 573 Scott St, Apt L, San Fran-
CA,94117.
Funeral
(8.5 X 7; 44 pgs)
I get excited when I see other wimmin
of colour writing zines. Sugar is a
queer, working-dass chicana who
is a survivor of sexual abuse and
currently employed as a sex trade
worker. Her zine is about lhat and
so much more. Zines like ihis are
so amazing and powerful becouse it's by a womyn refusing
ta let people shut her up. Sugar
uses her poetry and drawings
ta tell her story, and she means
to disturb her readers. She
questions the institution of
punk-rock boy and rich white
girl feminism and how ihey
really aren't working for change because they Iry ta be the voice for people who haven't
lead the same privileged lives thai they have. This
zine is angry and it's what I personally need as I
work out some of my cultural/class confusion, especially when I'm surrounded by people who can't
'identify' wilh my experiences os an immigrant and
as a womyn of colour. I recommend this zine to
anyone who is ready to have iheir privilege questioned, and far those who had never had il. Send
$2 US or trade to Sugar, 2754 Harrison St, San
Francisco, CA, 94110, USA.
Quiet Boy
(8.5 X 5.5; 20 pgs)
Quiet Boy is about white boy privilege and misogyny
at its peak. Each piece is brief and badly thought
out, leaving me offended by the mass of contradictions and woman hatred. Anthony, the author
the zine, talks aboul changing Canadian currency
so lhal there are Canadians on the notes, bul he
only suggests white entertainers as the face of the
new currency. He thus exdudes First Nations peo
ple or people of colour, and people who have
worked for real change in society. Most of the material in this zine is about his distrust and haired of
women. In one piece he talks about ihe struggles of
ihe working class and how they are the true proletariat, wilh ihe statement below the piece saying
RETHINK THE REVOLUTION. I suggest lhat Anlhony
rethinks the revolution, because in his revolution
women and minorities don'l play a part; we are the
enemy. $ 1.50 to Anlhony, 5751 Ludlow Road, Richmond, BC, V7C 2Z5.
Blue Roses #5
(8 X 5.5; 20 pg,)
"She walked 27 blocks home from Kinko's, alone
at 3am, screaming all the way." I swear I could
hear Geneva screaming when I read Blue Roses, or
maybe ihe noise I heard was her heart hitting the
floor and breaking into a million pieces. I fear I
might portray BR #5 as for too emotional, but I literally embraced and was touched by her every word.
I even got that gnawing sensation in my stomach.
Falling in love and letting go is no cut-and-dried
topic. Not only is Geneva facing her love and frustration, she discusses her existence as a lesbian
when almost all her friends are eilher straight or
bisexual. Her honesty is so admirable, especially
because she challenges many unspoken ideas about
being queer, such as the media portraying queer
culture as hip or fashionable, and how that belittles
her commitment to being a lesbian and ihe genuine
trauma of coming out of the closet. I must also
praise the cover art and illustrations, as
they add to the personal and heartfelt
nature of her writing. Blue Roses is a split
zine, wilh Lie for a Lie #3 by Jason Pruift.
His half is great too, although it is very
emo. I let Andrea review it. Write Geneva
M Gano, P.O. Box 40674, Portland, OR
97240.
lie for a Ue #2
X 5.5; 20 pgs)
The main focus of Jason's zine is a critique of
emo from the perspective of someone who is
heavily involved in it, the main criticism being
lhat it is mostly a boys-only atmosphere. Words
mean nothing without action; so, he wonders,
that you have the ability to openly express
emotions, what are you going to do next? Femi-
>mething lhat involves action ond lhat is
why it can not be a part of emo. He talks about the
cliques and cults lhal happen in punk and hardcore and how, instead of trying to separate themselves from mainstream society, they are becoming
il instead, with their sexist and homophobic ideals.
Jason also talks about the importance of volunteer
work, because the only way lhat you ore going to
change things is if you get involved in your own
community. Send a dollar to P.O. Box 40674, Portland, OR, 97240-0674, USA. MCA CONCERTS CANADA
An evening of spoken word with
T
11
PUBLIC
INSOMNIAC
IMO-
TOUR
11
THE VOGUE
straight     8 PM
***T«REE SAN6S PER SHOW***,
SB
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*AU AGES SHOW* W*N0 MINORS EVENING*
DOORS 2PM-SHOWTIME 3PM     DOORS 7PM • SHOWTIME 8PM
first up - steel Woof, then    first up - the enptys,then
Hazel, then sparknarher     steel wool hazel closes
SATWU>AYm.3,
I THETOVNPUNP *
1 111
(3
X
r    -)-
with guests SALT and  LOCAL H
FRIDAY FEBRUARY 9
THE TOWN PUMP:
REAL ROCK
EARLY SHOW! DOORS 7PM
TIX $10 AT THE DOOR
For Henry Rollins available at: all Tl CKETMASTER
outlets or Charge  by Phone  280-4444.
Tickets For Mystery Machine & Hazel. Sparkmarker, Steel Wool & The Emptys at the door only! jppierrwiM.
THE BONADUCES
Matching Socks, Misting
(Charlotte's Web Record.)
The Bonaduces is a band lhat includes members from other Winnipeg groups, including Cheerleader and the sadly defunct
Banned From Atlantis. On Matching Socks, Missing Feet, the band
has made a definite ode to modern-day pop culture, with images
of Claire Danes and David
Hasselhoff on the sleeve, song-titles like 'Judy Blume Weekend',
and the band name itself. Pop culture references abound in the lyrics at well, which are as interesting to read at the titles of the
songs: 'Megan is a Frvirioop",
"Really Powerful Telescope' and
The Early Ayn Rand'.
The music is power, power,
power-pop to the hilt, often sounding like the best parts of
Chixdiggit, Pluto, Gob ond Small
23 put together, wilh a vocal style
reminiscent of Propaghandi. Energy and melody ore everywhere
wilh this guitar-based quartet, and
it's not at all boring like so much
of this genre has become. It's
maybe a little bit early for such
predictions, but the Bonaduces'
cassette could very well end up
as one of my favourites for the
CADILLAC TRAMPS
Cadillac Hearse
(Doctor Dream Records)
Cadillac Tramps died a year ago,
but their spirit is far from the
grave. The raw, unfiltered power
of the band screams, as driven
as ever, throughout the twelve cuts
on the recently released compilation, Cadillac Hoarse. The album,
honouring the band's seven-year
history, is gritty and rages in classic Tramp-style from beginning to
end. Il is a collection of remixes
and live, pr^produclion otftokes,
all of which display the power
and angst that followed the
Tramps wherever they went. The
classics, such as "Don't Go" and
"Life on the Edge", are there as
well, reminiscent of earlier days
and re-igniting the spark lhat the
band always seemed to inspire.
But Cadillac Tramps are gone,
end of story. If nothing else, the
album delays for a while the inevitable truth that the boys from
Oronge County won't be making
ony more records. Cadillac
Hearse is a monument, an epitaph, and a last dying scream.
Jeremy Lanowoy
CUSTARD
Wisenheimer
(Ra Records)
From the lads who gave us the
masterpiece lhat is Wohooti Fon-
dango comes another beautiful
album, the ecstatically brilliant
Wisenheimer (apparently it
means 'smarty pants'), which
could also be entitled Reasons to
Love ond (Still) Believe in Songs
of the Pop/Rock Genre. It's
lounge, ifs punk, it's a little bit
country, it's a little bit rock 'n' roll,
it's pop, it's noise, ifs cheezy, often all within one two-minute
song. Most importantly, David
McCormack ond his merry crew
have senses of whimsy, mischief
and humour which make the
songs on this offering both a light-
hearted joy and an excruciatingly
well-written survey of the current
musical landscape and life in general. The great skill of Custard is
that they toke the otherwise banal details of quotidian existence
and turn them into items worthy
of Dionysian celebration and emphatic worship (os long as they
provide the soundtrack). They also
make biting cultural observations,
as in "The Synthesizer is Rapidly
Overtaking the Guitar as the Most
Popular Instrument in the World",
and write cutesy romance songs
worthy of the name:
"Leisuremaker" and "Venus Flytrap ond Lightning Bug", in which
McCormack declares, "Ifs violins
for our relationship". Ah I The poetry and wonder and musical brilliance of it all is almost overwhelming. I love 'em, and you
will, too. (Available through
Warner Musk Australia - ifs well
worth having it imported.)
Sophie Hamley
DJFOOD
A Recipe for Disaster
(Ninja Tune)
I picked up DJ Food thinking it
was DJ Krush, Japan's best
mixmaster and club gun*. My mistake. DJ Food is actually the
eiectrofreaks also known as Hex
and Coldcut, two anonymous
blokes who have been playing on
the fringes of underground star
status without a grasp of firm reality (but at least a grasp of virtual reality). Unlike their Hex/
Coldcut reincarnations, DJ Food
leans towards trip hop in the vein
of the Chemical Bros, or Depth
Charge instead of...well, whatever the hell Hex/Coldcut do in
the daytime.
Recipe... is damn fine trip hop
with the extreme amounts of indecipherable weirdness that Hex
& Coldcut are known for. A good
companion piece to FSOL on a
strange night, when the moon
turns green and the clouds pink.
Christian
FOR SQUIRRELS
Example
(550 Music/Epic)
For a full-length debut, Example
is quite remarkable. Unfortunately, their legs were knocked
from under the quartet before they
had a chance. Last October, two
members died in a car accident
on their way home to Florida after a concert in New York City.
While Ihe band nicks from
R.E.M., Ihe Pumpkins, and a host
of others, it is influence, not theft.
A froth of styles and hooks bubble to the surface, yet with one
swipe of an invisible wand, For
Squirrels sound distinctive.
Slightly burying the vocals, Example places the guitars upfront with
a rhythm section logging not for
behind. You've heard it done before, but if it isn't broken, why fix
it?
What makes this debut so potent is the band's muscular song
structures. Musically and lyrically
they con write a song that producer Nick Launay has little trouble buffing into a glistening bauble. Example sustains an edge yet
never loses its cool, from ihe opening chords of "8:52 P.M." to the
final blast of "Eskimo Sandune*.
Whether they give a nod to
Stipe & co. on "Mighty K.C." or
look bock at the heyday of the
Clash/Specials for "Long Live the
King", For Squirrels can hardly go
wrong, which makes iheir probable demise all the more tragic.
Pieter Hofmonn
GOLDEN SMOG
Down by the Old Main-
(Rykodisc)
There's a tendency to consider
Golden Smog as a 'supergroup'
of sorts, as it indudes members
of Soul Asylum, Wilco, ond the
Jayhawks. However, as greal os
this collaboration may seem, the
results are sadly disappointing.
Down by the (Did Mainstream is
a collection of mostly average,
country-tinged, lifeless acoustic
numbers. The high points for me
are the tunes sung by Wilco's Jeff
Tweedy, such as "Pecan Pie" ond
"She Don't Have to See You". Unfortunately, the high points seem
few and for between. Don't set
your hopes too high, as I did, or
you'll likely be disappointed also.
Fred derF
GRAND THEFT CANOE
Bolivia + Argentina = Paraguay
(Prospective Records)
I first heard Grand Theft Canoe a
year ago when I was given a cassette release of Bolivia... With a
few changes for the belter (improved album artwork and remastering), the band has now released a CD version of quirky pop
music that makes me think of Syd
Barrett meeting XTC in a medieval
British village.
The songs on Bolivia... are almost everything you wouldn't ex-
pecl from Winnipeg if all you
knew was its punk scene. The focus on melody and arrangement
lead me to believe that if you
placed the band in a studio for
three or four months, they would
produce something approaching
a masterpiece. GTC's use of simple melodies exploring the most
ear-calching notes of the chords
they play combined with occasional intensity make a really
good album.
Brkm Wieser
THE HAIL MARYS
Sex Child
(Panic Stricken Records)
The Hail Marys remind me of
Mollies Revenge, sans cello.
Singer Jackie Strano has a powerful voice, and great range. The
first seven songs on this disc are
upbeat, catchy tunes. Strano's
voice is well complemented by
these riff-driven tunes, quirky lyrics and all. His voice is best
showcased on the final song (and
tide track) "Sex Child". Recorded
live ot a gig, this acoustic number
is the icing on an already-delicious cake.
Peter Stevens
HEAVY VEGETABLE
Frisbie
[Cargo)
"Locked. Trapped in the cupboard. Kicking and scratching all
night, half-blinded by fluorescent
light. It's still moving." These
words, taken from the song "Still
Moving", could be the thesis of
Frisbie. Trapped and kicking,
scratching and half-blind, and slill
moving. Exactly.
Think movement, think energy.
Slop-and-start, then go. The songs
are frantic, blurring fragments
splashed wilh chaos and racked
by convulsions. The tempos are
jogged and fast and they actually
define the mood of perpetual motion rather than support it. And
the songs come out of nowhere,
raging, head-on, and then they're
gone - quick as they came, only
to be replaced by another.
Twenty-two of the twenty-eight
Iracks are under two minutes long,
so the pace rarely lets up. Figure
in the catchy guitar riffs, ihe
smooth, dreamy vocals, and a
few breathers here and there, and
the picture is clear, if not vivid:
Frisbie is a forty-five minute storm
that re-defines the relationship
between peace and frenzy.
Jeremy Lanowoy
Be a DETECTIVE
OUH-Al. SCH00l»i>tVE«riGMi<» ]
~i HUSH HARBOR
Hush Harbor EP
(Up Records)
All of Hush Horbor's songs ore
full of anger, but I think thot the
slower songs seem to work better. "Looking for a Ladder" is one
of these slower ones (my favourite), a moody song about trying
to escape from undesirable circumstances. Sunny Day Real Estate showed that emacore works,
and Hush Harbor have done the
same. Il should be interesting to
hear what evolves from this out-
take in the future.
GQ
RICHARD H. KIRK
The Number of Magic
(Warp/TVT/Wax Traxl)
R. H. Kirk (love the namel) may
be familiar to those who like the
now defunct Cabaret Voltaire.
Kirk was a member of that '80s
outfit, whose electronics inspired
both New Wave ond today's
ambient techno. His solo debut.
Virtual State, set new boundaries
for the intelligent technooriented,
putting him in the same category
as Eno, Fripp, Cage and Cale.
True, his tunes are for the computer nerd set, but so what? So is
Block Dog, B12, Aphex Twin,
Autechre and other bleeporienled
outfits. The best way to listen to
the LP is straight through, ifs that
stimulating.
Christian
MEAT PUPPETS
No Jokel
(London)
The first thing one notices about
this album is how accessible it is.
The second thing is that the house
of music the Meat Puppets entered
at the ground level is now representative of a style of architecture
yawningly prevalent all over
town. Nonetheless, this is quite a
good album, less reminiscent of
the music of their former collaborator Kurt Cobain (the Puppets'
Kirkwood boys appeared on Unplugged) thon of Monster Magnet ond...ur...those Live/Collective Soul-type bands (not in the
same songs, mind). The songs are
solid, and disturbingly catchy
(Should grunge be catchy? What
ore fhe rules now?). Unfortunately
they also sound too much like
eoch olher.
The lyrics are more interesting
than the music, ond one suspects
there is a theme at work here with
song titles like "Scum", "Nothing", "Vampires", "Predator",
"Poison Arrow' - yup, I suck, you
suck, we all suck - "I'm a hole in
this time/In a time full of holes/
You see it/I'm nothing" ("Nothing"). The piano and cello work
on "Head" is nice, and is a better accompaniment lo the morose
vocals than a more electric deal
would hove been, and "Taste of
the Sun" is surprisingly melodic.
But, opart from that, it's fairly unremarkable.
Sophie Hamley
JOEL R.L PHELPS
Warm Spring Night
(El Recordo)
When Joel Phelps was still in the
band Silkworm, he was my favourite Silkworm guy. I thought he
was cool, and you know why?
'Cuz he wore horn-rimmed spectacles and he never seemed to
appear quite comfortable on
stage, especially when he had to
sing and play guitar at the same
lime. Watching him teetering on
the edge of his stool, I thought his
kind of non-attitude was charming and endearing. Kinda geeky,
but pretty refreshing. The songs
that he wrote and sang were so
passionate I felt like crying, but
thought better of it. Then, he quit
Silkworm ond I was sad.
But heyl No need to be so sad
musical creations courtesy of Mr.
Phelps, on the same label lhat released Silkworm's latest fulHength
Libertine. Same wonderful guitar
sounds and quiet/loud (always
emotional, but never melodramatic) vocals. When his voice
strains, Phelps is reminiscent of
Neil Young, but the music is on
the same line as bands like Codeine and Seam. Most of the
tracks ore slower, windy, ballad-
style, but he also throws in a
faster, dare I say, rock song: "God
Bless the Little Pigs". Phelps is accompanied by a full band, including horns and flute, but he could
just as well be playing alone with
an acoustic guitar. Listen to it. He
don't need to be on Matador to
be good.
miko
THE SHOEBOX COUPONS
Eh
(Independent)
If imitation is the highest farm of
flattery, then North Vancouver's
d.b.s. con hold their heads high.
Okay...perhaps that sounds a bit
cruel. Actually, I quite like Eh. It is
full of blaring guitars, endless energy, inconsistent rhythms, silly lyrics and the chants of four prepu-
bescent boys from Kamloops. I
think that I am justified in saying
the Shoebox Coupons are yet another punk-ish band inspired by
the success of Green Day, Offspring, et al. While I couldn't simply sit down ond listen lo Eh in its
entirely, ifs great to play a few
songs when I am just in the mood
to mosh. Who says the Interior
doesn't rock?
Peter Stevens
SHOW BUSINESS GIANTS
Let's Have a Talk with the
Dead
(Essential Noise)
Show Business Giants' latest, Let's
Hove a Talk with the Dead, is a
testament to the fact that it is fun
to be in the music industry. Just
reading the track titles is entertaining: "The First Pygmy in Space",
"I am the Lickspittle ofthe Animol
Kingdom", and "I Can't Get
Russell Johnson Off My Mind*, to
name a few. Some of the songs
could be sold on a t.v. advertisement far songs 'in the style of
Elvis', but others are pure punk-
rock. The bond is a compendium
of west-oast rockers such as John
Wright, Scott Henderson and Tom
Holliston of Nomeonsno, ond
Ford Pier from D.O.A., so ifs no
wonder that some of the songs -
the best songs, in my opinion -
sound similar to Nomeansno (i.e.
the second track, 'Mothra Has
Send cheque or
money order to:
SuSs c/o CiTR
233^138 SUB Blvd
— ~ — ""*1  Vancouver, BC
V6T 1Z1
Yes! Send m DiSCORDER" And the CiTR Stkker button and magnet! i
Taken Tokyo*). Have a listen to
Let's Have a Tolk with the Dead
because it is AOK.
took
THIRTY OUGHT SIX
Hag Seed
(Mute America)
New York's Thirty Ought Six are
obviously preoccupied with Classical culture: Hog Seed contains
songs wilh names such as "Ado-
mantine', 'Eris", 'Hussar' and
"Analept", ond is decorated with
photos of Roman statues. Much
art poles in comparison to lhat
from the ancient world, and this
album does likewise. While Hog
See J is by no means an offensive
disc, il doesn't really contain any
standout tracks. The major challenge facing 3006 is that iheir
sound is not unlike thousands of
other garage bands across North
Peter Stevens
VARIOUS ARTISTS
110 Below Volume 3
(New Electronka)
Ifs called 110 Below because all
tracks featured on this compilation are below 110 beats per
minute. In addition lo the slowed
pace, there is an overall tribal-
dub-elhno influence which permeates throughout the grooves of this
compilation, making it danceable
but also great for the chill-out
room. There are a lot of great cuts,
including Future Sound of London's 'Smokin'Japanese Babe",
Material's 'Mantra*,
Muslimgauze's "Khan Younis*,
ond Squid's 'Overdub*. Overall,
100 Below Volume 3, like its predecessors, is a good slow groove
that brings together some of the
best artists in the business. Try to
grab a listen at your favorite
record emporium.
Brian Wright
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Ambient Time Travellers
(Cleopatra/Hypnotic)
Hypnotic has rounded up a
number of tracks from their diverse harem of artists to create an
eclectic feast far the imagination.
There are several tracks lhat really stand out on this compilation,
including Anubian Nights' "Soul
Herder", with its eastern influences conjuring up images of
ancient Egypt. Another enjoyable
ethno-influenced cut is Dilale's
"Udism", which also employs the
sounds of the Middle East with
overlying tribal tones. However,
the standout track for me is Spaceship Eyes' 'Sea of Steps', which
is a slow, moody, bootless massage for the mind. Other artists
include: 7, The Brain, Dark Matter, Zero Gravity, Xylon, Giez and
Surface 10. Overall, there's a little something for all fans of the
'ambient' genre.
Brian Wright
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Secret Agent S.O.U.N.D.S.
(Mai Tai/Dr. Dream Records)
Thirteen super-spy instrumental
cuts can be found on this digital
dossier (which doubles os a
decryptograph for all you really
investigative types). Among the
featured crime-busting combos
are Laika and the Cosmonauts
(doing the theme from 'Mission:
Impossible'); the scariest band in
the world, Deadbolt, wilh the
"James Bond Theme"; Man...or
Astroman?, Los Stroitjackers, ond
the fearless femmes folates, the
Neptunos, doing an ode to underwater underwear, "DoubfaD
Seafoam*. A medal-winning release to be sure.
Bryce Dunn
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Seek Refuge From Your Intolerable Situation
(Garden of Delights)
Cool indie UK label Garden of
Delights has compiled a 23 band
12" vinyionfy release, with proceeds going to the Women's Aid
Federation in England. The selection of bands spans the globe, although many of the bands are
from the UK, such as Momus
(doin' his own brand of thought-
provoking pop), Red Chair
Fadeaway (psychedelic folk-rock),
and the Pastels (legendary Scottish version of Beat Happening).
My eors were olso treated to the
sounds of North Carolina's quirky
gal Rebby Sharp, New York's
queercore folks God Is My Co-
Pilot, and Maryland's 4-track
songstress extraordinaire Linda
Smith. There's even one sole contribution from Canada: one of
cub's oldest recorded ditties, "The
Day We Met*. Other highlights
on the record are by the Television Personalities, Azaiia Snail,
and Mambo Taxi, but there isn't
a sour grape on this bunch I These
group all explore ihe boundaries
of what we now know of as 'indie pop*, *lwee-pop*, or *lo-fi*,
whatever term you associate with
the genre of music that is more
concerned with artistic expression
than production. Say NO to mole
violence, support a good cause,
ond listen to some lovely tunes.
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Step On It • The Best of the
Ska Parade Radio Show
(A to Y Productions)
I picked up the particular recording in question because it features
a number of great ska bands,
many recorded live on the John
PeeUsque *Ska Parode*, an exclusive ska/rock steady show on
KUCI 88.9 FM in Irvine, California, hosted by Tazy Phyllipz and
Albino Brown. Featured are Let's
Go Bowling, the Voodoo Glow
Skulls, the Skeletones, the
Schmedleys, Skankin Pickle, the
Mudsharks, and Roland Alphonso
of ihe Skatalites, among many others (including some great covers,
such as Turning Japanese" by
Sparker and "Solid as a Rock"
from 1958 by Ocean 11, and
Mancini's "A Shot in the Dark"
by Jump with Joey). Not all the
recordings are ihe greatest quality, and some songs do not necessarily represent the best stuff by
some of these groups, but as a
collection, if you are into the
scene, it is worth picking up if you
can find it. (A to Y Productions,
P.O. BOX 5766, Irvine, CA,
92716-5766, USA.)
/. Boldt VELVETS' CHRISTIAN  COMICS
PART"*Ql    ©IW  8MWELyi*»uR«R
27 £ufe°H>S2 • A:-:c--■■■■':■■■ :'■■'*'**■-V^A.^*?-A-
febmary'96 LONG VINYL fe.nan'qg SHORT VINYL february'96 INDIE HOME JOBS
1 various artist*
oh canaduhl
lance   rock
|
wandering lucy
really truly
k
1   *5
fuzzy head   pills
2 th* aaps
tha aap*
aad/polydor
2
the acrackins
life, hay aikey
shreddar
2 squeeky
three
3 voodoo glow skulls
tLtm
epitaph
3
pluatrae
wetar   had   leaked...   cdnaaonnon   toast
3 destroyer
karan is  in  roae
4t.hea shatners
thee shatnars
planet   piap
4
the fiends
she's not broken
dr.  aushrooa
4  gaze
pda
5 t.wer docleb
chalk fairy
trackshun
5
hayden
aild and hazy        lunaaoth/hardwood
5 vico
junior
6 tha softies
it's lova
k
6
eric's trip
the road south
sonic   unyon
6 pipedraaa
Saturday    disaster
7 southern culture
dirt track data
gaffan
7
aocca noraal
tha   bird   that   wouldn't   fly   aatador
7 tha readyaada
first    bass    is    sleeping
8 2 foot flaae
2 foot flaae
aatador
8
the cebe barns band
she's a winner
horsakitty
8   hayden
on   it  on
9 rocket fron tha crypt
scraaa dracula scraaa
intarscope
9
brand new unit
quickdraw richy rich
heart   first
9  floragore
saq
lOhellua
suparball ep
aatador
10
tha third sex
feed ae
kill rock stars
10 the aystarons
bbq   with  alvis
11 aan or astroaan?
live transaissions...
hoao   habilis
11
go sailor
long distance
slunberland
11   johnny ailleniua
spsad
12hlur
tha great escape
food/eai
12
girl afraid/Z..flinching split
pop   kid
12  naardvark tha sanitary elephant
1 wanna get punched
13 varloua artists
aallrats soundtrack
510/aca
13
fluffer
what you're good for
pasta
13  violet
i step  on all tha cracks
Msicko
chef boy r u dua
eapty
14
pouaons
new se
think
14 space kid
aolly    ringwald
15 taxaa it tha raaaon
taxas is tha reason
revelation
15
soul junk
go away
sub    pop
15 joexaas
unknown
16 flowchart
nulti  personality...
carrot        top
16
red dye no. 5
not again you
candy   floss
16 nine days wonder
sun
17 tuscadero
step   into   ay   wiggle
rooa   taan   beat
17
bubby girl
bubby girl
boon
17 acre socks
blends   with   pens
18 rancid
and out cone the wolves             epitaph
18
state cbaaps
nevada downs
daydreaa
18 dick'n'jana
release  ae
19 sonic youth
washing aachine
gaffen/aca
19
la donnas
long legs
scooch   pooch
19 aeow nix productions
sunnyassin
20 pizzicato five
unzipped ep
aatador
20
Moonsocket
accept fear
sub   pop
20 1000 staap*
poster child
21 the cardigans
life
polygraa
21
guided by voices
aotor away
aatador
21   freeloader
not   afraid
22 various artists
sonic unyon rock hits
sonic   unyon
22
bikini kill
in accordance...
kill rock stars
22 disturbed coapany
bootleg    noons nine
23 sf seals
truth walks in sleepy ■
hadows   aatador
23
orange glass
wait a day
sappy
23 touch & go*
Ugly
24 don caballero
don caballero 2
touch & go
24
thinking fellers loc.
282everyday
aaarillo
24 12 point buck
flog
25you an i
hit! way
ra/wea
25
railroad jerk
bang the drua
aatador
25 pluap
cold      feet
26 lisa garrard
the airror pool
«ad/polydor
26
la grenuda
fast girls, fast living.
horsekitty
26 ak naoai
fern
27 banco de gala
aaya                           aaa
aoth/atlantic
27
tha phantaa surfers
survival of the fattest
planet   piap
27 ioo story
the    only    reason
28 various artists
ausic of joy division
virgin
28
tizzy
new jersey
chunk
28 texture
london
29 various artists
rock for choice: spirit of "73       sony
29
gas huffer
ooh ooh ooh]
lance   rock
29 jabber
follow    your    voice
30 various artists
blow hard and pop
bubblegun
30
super hussy
wa are tha best
corporate
30 sturvis
later
31 bunnygrunt
action pants!
no life
31
tan days lata
out of tune
klark
31   cool hand luke
david
32 cub/potatoaen
split cd
aint/lookoutl
32
teen angels
teen dreaa
sub    pop
32 trish kelly
untitled
33 various artists
the poop alley tapes
win
33
paveaent
father to a sister...
aatador
33 kid chaapion
luainites
34 fifi and tha nach ill
1376
1 + 2
34
goldfish
fondly
bonfire
34 paisley suitcase
reconcile
35 noaaansno
the worldhood of tha world alt.tentacles
35
f0»
gold leather with heel detail      genius
35 added height
down   tha   highway
MARY 1YIER MOORE SHOW
7 MOST BOUFFANT TKNGS
nWf
1   ce be barns band
horsekitty 7"
2 puncture
snipe or .tMrve
snap your neck
3  coaet gain
casino classics
xaas wiiija
4 the alien girl ca
talogu.
5 palzuli's perforaance at the NAVAN benefit
6 rock she wrote
eds e aacdonald and
a powers delta books
7 when people find
nu and interesting ways to connunieata
1    la banda gorda
candela pura
ap
2   patato, changuito y c
restesritao     y     candela
redwood
3   salif    kaita
folon...the    past
island
4   bigga r>»<H»n
best of the best vol S
ras
5   gloria     estefan
abriendo     puertas
sony
6   luciano
where is the life
island
7   king sunny ade
e dido get up
aesa
8   orquesta tropicana
elboabazo
indy
9   jane bunnett
rendez vous brazil Cuba
justin tiae
10   yellowaan
around   the   world
ra.
LOVE SUCKS
TOP TEN
%m to* w
bluafeld
l'etat et noi
big cat
for carnation
fight songs
aatador
grifters
eureka ep
shangrila
heliua
the dirt of luck
aatador
labradford
a stable reference
kranky
rac hai
handwriting
quartarstick
red red aeat
bunny gets paid
sub pop
seen
r u driving aa crazy
touch and go
Bone
s t
earth to
tortoise
caaera (and) cliff dweller 12"   duophonic
1   orquesta da la luz
sefue
bag   latin
2   raaon orlando
al   ven.o    (reaix)
karan
3   jose alberto
quien coao tu
raa
4   loa illagales
la   aorena
bag    latin
5   pochi y su cocoband
al      chisae
karan
6   los haraanoe rosario
duena   del   swing   (reaix)         karan
7   Willie gonzalez
pobre tonto
ap
8   gloria estefan
abriendo puertas
Bony latin
9   selena
techno cuabia
eai  latin
10   tito goaez & tito rojas
deja        la
ap
28  FEBRUARY 1996 SUNDAYS
ARE YOU SERIOUS? MUSK 8:00AM-
1200PM All of time it measured by its
art. Most broadcasting shuns art for
incestuous market-music. This show presents the most recent new music from
around the world. Ears open.
THE ROCKERS SHOW 1100-3:00PM
Reggae ima all styles and fashion.
LUCKY SCRATCH Aberrating 3.-00-5KWPM
Blues ain't nomin' bul a good woman
feelin' bad. Git down and git back up
again - host Anna.
RACK) BLUE WARSAW 5KJ06.-00PM join
lum & helen in their quest for krupnik.
HEATHER'S SHOW 6:00-8:OOPM
Dedicatatedtolhe gay, lesbian, bisexual,
and transsexual com-muniliei of
Vancouver and listened to by everyone.
Lots of human interest features,
background on current issues and great
music from musicians of all sexual
preferences and gender identities.
GEETANJAU WXM0-00PM Geelanjoli features a wide range of music from India,
induding classical music, both Hindustani
and CamaHc, popular music from Indian movies from the lyS^s to the
1990*8, Semi-classical music such as
Ghazals and Bhajans, and also
Quawwalis, Folc Songs, etc Hosted by
J. Dhor, A. Patel and V. Ronjan.
RADIO FRE AMERICA 10:00PM- 12:00AM
Join host Dave Emory and colleague Nip
Tuck for some extraordinary political
research guaranteed to make you think
twice. Bring your tape deck and two C-
90s. Originally broadcast on KFJC (Los
Altos, California).
INTW GRIP OF INCOHERENCY 12:00AM-
4AM Drop yer gear and slay up late.
Naked radio for naked people. Get
bent. Love Dave.
MOM-DAYS
BREAKFAST WITH THE BROWNS 8:15-
11.-00AM Your favourite brown-slers,
James and Peter, offer a savoury blend
of the familiar and exotic in a blend of
aural delights! Tune in and enjoy each
weekly brown plate special.
THE STUPC RADIO SHOW 11:00 AM-IKK)
PM With your hosts the Gourd of
Ignorance and Don the Wanderer. What
will we play today? Rog will put it away.
MEKANIKAL OBJEKT NOIZE 1 *O0- 3.-00PM
CiTR's induslrial/noise/ambienl show,
all-ernating with SKINTIGHT
BUFFOONERY - wimpy British pop,
Beastie Boys, indie guitar swing, and
techno thrown in for good measure. Hit
your olfactory nerve centre with
June scudelerQmindlink.bc.ca.
THE MEAT-EATING VEGAN 3KXM*«0PM I
en-deavour to feature dead air, verbal
flatulence (only when I speak], a work of
musicbyalwenh'eth-cenlu7compo$er—
can you say minimalist?—and whatever
else appeals to me. Fag and dyke
positive. Mail in your requests, because
I am not a human-answering machine.
Gol a quarter then cal someone who
cares.
FEMININE HY-JMX 4:00-5*OOPM For
women who sometimes don't feel fresh,
bul always get fresh. Spoken word and
music: light to heavy flow. "
protection recommended for male
listeners. Holy Hannah! It's a Femininst
show.
BIRDWATCHERS 5:304:00PM Join Colin
Pereira for all the weekend sports shlock
from the high altitudes and ihin air of
Point Grey.
POLYPHONIC alternating 7KX>-?:00PM
Listen for all Canadian, mostly
independent tunes, and band interviews
al 7:301
THE JAZZ SHOW 9:00PM- 12:00AM
Vancouver's longest running prime time
jazz program. Hosted by the ewrsuave
Gavin Walker. Features at 11.
TUESDAYS
THRD TIME'S THE CHARM 960-11-00AM
Hearl Music that makes you feel burned
alive on an altar of flame! Shake wilh
laughs! Shiver wilh suspense! Tremble
wilh thrills! Not for sissies or children! It's
scary) It's screamy! It's screwy!
MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW 3:00-5:00PM
Women in music and grrrls in music; Iwo
hours of info and rawk. Ya don't need a
penis to be a musical Genius!
KMA 5:30-6-OOPM News, issues, and
concerns fixing Muslims throughout me
world.
THE UNHEARD MUSK 7:00-9:OOPM Meat
the unherd where ihe unheard and the
hordes of hardly herd are heard, courtesy of host and demo director Dale
Sawyer. Herd upl
RITMO LATINO   ?:00-l<HX)PM  Gel on
CiTR lOLS £m
board Vancouver's only tropical fiesta
express wilh your loco hosts Rolando,
Romy, and Paulo as they shake it and
wiggle it to the latest in Salsa, Merengue,
Cumbia and other fiery fiesta favourites,
latin music so hot itH give you a tan!
ijRADfO SABROSAI!
WOLF AT THE DOOR KHWPM-12:00AM
Alternating Tuesdays. Live readings and
the latest in techno bizzarre with hosl
Lupus Yonderl>oy.
AURAL TENTACLES MIDNITE - VERY LATE
Warning: This show is moody and unpredictable. It encourages insomnia and
may prove to be hazardous to your
health. Listener discretion is advised.
The music, news and 2:00 WWOD
hosled by Pierre may not be suitable for
the entire family.
WEDNESDAYS
LOVE SUCKS 11:30AM-1:00PM Tune in
for ihe musical catharsis lhat is Love
Sucks. If you can't make sense of it, at
least you can dance to it!
MOIORDADDY   3:O0-5:0OPM   'At dub
fundions ihere is to be no shooting of
firearms or setting off fireworks.'
ESOTERIK 6:00-7:30PM    Ambient/
electronie/industrial/elhnic/
experimental music for those of us who
know aboul the illilhids.
AND SOMETIMES WHY 7:30-9*OOPM BOO
GA LOO, SMELL MY SHOE, DOODLE
TOO -secret stars, joel phelps, tarnation,
strawberry jams...these are a few of our
fave-oh-writ things. La la la!
TROPICAL DAKXJHB9:O0-10:00PM Zouk,
Soukous, Samba, Salsa. Yesl Even Soca.
Enjoy ihisTropical Daiquiri with ElDoctor
delRilmo.
STRAIGHT OUTTA JAUUNDHAR 10:00PM
11-00 AM Lei D/sJindwa and Bindwa
immerse you in radioactive Bhungra!
"Chakkh de phutay*. Listen to all our
favorite Punjabi tunes - remixes and
originals. Brraaaah!
THURSDAYS
CANADIAN LUNCH 11:30- 1:00PM Toques,
plaids, backbacon, beer, igloos and heaven.
STEVE & MKE 1:00-2.WPM Crashing the
boys' club in the pil. Hard and fast,
heavy and slow. Listen to il, baby.
JUSTIN'S TIME 2:00-3:OOPM If you like
Shirley Hom or Oscar Peterson, tune in.
If you don't know who ihey are, listen
anyway. It's great jazz.
OUT FOR KICKS 6:00-7:30PM No
Birkenstocks, nothing politically correct.
We don'l get paid so you're damn right
we have fun with it. Hosted by Chris B.
ON AIR WITH GREASED HAIR 7:30-
9:00PM Roots of rock & rol.
LIVE FROM THUNDRBIRD RADIO HELL
fcOO-llrOOPM  Local muzak from 9.
Live bandz from 10.
BANDSTOBEANNOUNCBX
FRIDAYS
VENUS FLYTRAP'S LOVE DEN 8:30-
10*00 AM Greg here. Join me in the love
den for a cocktail. We'll hear retro stuff,
groovy jazz, and thicker stuff too. See
you here... and bring some ice. XOXX
TELESIS 10:00-11:OOAM Tune in for
discussions, interviews & information
relating to people who live with physical
& mental challenges.
SKATS SCENE-IK DRIVE! 11:00AM
12.-00PM The hottest, newest, cutest,
bestesl, raging Ska tunes wilh Scolty and
Julie.
UTTLE TWIN STARS 2*00-3:30 PM Kiki liki
Kiki liki
NARDWUAR THE HUMAN SERVIETTE
PRESENTS... 3:30-4:OOPM Have a
good brunch!
NATION 2 NATION 6:00-9:00PM
Underground sound system-
style masrermix rodio.
FOR THE RECORD 6:30-6:45PM Excerpts from Dave Emory's Radio free
America Series.
HOMEBASS 9:00PM-12:00AM The
original live mixed dance program in
Vancouver. Hosted by DJ Noah, the
main focus of the show is techno, but
also includes some trance, acid, tribal,
TUB
THU
SAT
*reyvk
serious
music?
vn*kf*it
wfthtkt
ffrowtaf
third time's
the charm
fttffc
musical
interludes
Vom FirrxAP't
tot* Dm/
tkr
SATURPAY
EPCE
DIGITAL
RLRRH
CHRONOMETER
R-ttliU Fr-r-r
WOMEN
Telttit
*•
SWl>
MM SNOW
BLOOD ON
THE SADDLE
*"%£**
love sucks
CANADIAN
LUNCH
ISI-BMd
ROCKERS
SHOW
IAMT1WATC1
POWER
CHORD
HEHHRIKRL
OBJEKT
IME
9ie6tl^vz0
SAM
rill-In.
girlfood
justin's time
LitetX******
Stars
WVTAM«)/
Ikcky
SCTAtck
MMt-EAtfNj
VMM
Qet  Til******
Jay!
MOTOR
DADDY
HfXYOUR
MHO
AFRICAN
SHOW
NARDWUAR/
Ft-nlKlM Hy-\lnx
Mary Tyler Moors
Show
Hettker's
Show
FUaliij
CittTfllttr
AWATA HOW*?
ESOTERIK
fett For Kfcfcf
NATION
2
NATION
THE
SHOW
(hiphop)
polyphonic/
kip kop k**;t
UNHEARD
nusic
and sometimes
ON AIR WITH
CREASED HAIR
cobra.
synaptic
sandwich
6«T*NJ*U
THE
JAZZ
SHOW
RITMO LATINO
trapi-?*! lUi^fciri
LIVE  FROn
THUNDERBIRD
RADIO  HELL
HOME
BASS
ONE STEP
BEYOND:
RADIO FREE
AMERICA
wolf at Ihe doer/
witchdocotor
highball
STtt Olttt-A
Fill-in
RADIO T.Y./
Groove
Jumping
IK THE
GRIP OF
INCOHERENCY
SCReAMWG
/rVGOrV-
S/Sr£rVC/fS
AVUAL
Tb/TA(I£S
IHEORUFR-
LlVHf
ffufc
fill-in
slot from
hell
SOMETHING
etc... Guest DJ's, interviews,
retrospectives, giveaways, and more
are part of rhe flavor of homebass.
UMPSINK 12.-00AM-142AM Hosled by
the G42 players. The show that doesn't
hale you.' with your friendly pals Friar
Frilter Abfackeln and Postman Pal. And
on alternating weeks join Dr. Killdare
on 'The Doctor Killdare Show." Contact:
limpsinkObroken.ranch.org
SATURDAYS
THE SATURDAY EDGE 8:00AM-
12:00PM Now in its 10th year on the
air, The Edge on Folk features music
you won't hear anywhere else, studio
guests, new releases, Brirish comedy
sketches, folk music calendar, ticket
giveaways, etc., plus World Cup
Report at 11:30 AM. 8-9 AM:
African/World roots. 9-12 noon:
Celtic music and feature performances.
POWERCHORD 12:00-3:00PM
Vancouver's only true metal show; local
demo tapes, imports and other rarities.
Gerald Raltlehead and Metal Ron do ihe
damage.
THE SHOW 6:OO-8:00PM Strictly Hip
Hop - Strictly Undergound - Strictly
Vinyl With your hosts Mr. Checka,
Flip Oul & J Swing on the ]&2's.
SOMETHING l*00-4-00AM-You can
tell by the way I use my walk. I'm a
woman's man ...no time to talk."
WHOM       &       HOW
Arte Ian MdGmon
Board Chair Harry Hertscheg
Business Mgr. Otis Ashby
Current Affair* Andrea Spence
Demos/Cassettes Dal* Sawyer
Engineer Richard Anderson
Entertainment Kevin OToole
Librarian Clarence Chu
Mobile Sound Andy Bonfield
Musk Megan Male*
President Brian Wieser
Production Aaron Robertson
Programming Miko Hoffman
Promotions Selena Harrington
Secretary Chandra Lesmeister
Sports Dave  Ryan
Station Manager Undo Schoiten
Student Engineer Fern Webb
Traffic
BUS. LINE 604.822.3017
DJLINE 604.822.2487
MUSIC DEP7. 604.822.8733
NEWS LINE 604.822.5334
FAX   LINE   604.822.9364
Programming News
CHANGESlGroove
Jumping has moved from Sat.
toaltemating Thurs. from 11 pm-
1am.
START PLANNING for
INTERNATIONAL
WOMEN'S DAY (March
8)! Call CiTR if you want
lo contribute!
The programming dep't.
js looking for anyone
interested in producing a
spoken word/music show
dealing with First
Nations/Aboriginal
issues; for info, please
contact Miko @
822.1242.
29 E£fe°3^3 REGULAR EVENTS
MON: CiTR 101.9fM PRESENTS WORLD VIBES W/EL DOCTO
D£L RITMO (WORLD BEAT) AT THE PIT PUB...Z00 Boogaloo w/
djs Spun-K and Czech (jazz, funk, reggae, hip hop) at the Starfish Room...Blue Room w/dj Isis (ambient) at Automotive...80's
Dance Night w/d| Brian St. Clair otGroceland...Readings, Music & more at the Grind Gallery (every other Monday at 8pm)...
TUISj CiTR 101.9fM PRESENTS INFUSIA W/DJS GANDORF &
CO (JAZZ, SOUL, HIP HOP & FUNK) AT THE PIT PUB...Winter
Mountain w/dj James Brown ot Graceland...The Magic of Disco
at Richard's On Richards ...Aqua w/djs Isis and Markem (ambient) al Benny's Bagels Yaletown...Boogie Ave w/dj Maggee (70's
old school) ot the Heritage House Hotel (453 Abbott).. Disco Night
at the Commodore...The Greasy Spoon w/Slick at the Hungry
Eye...Klassix Night w/dj David Howkes at Luv Yr Hair...New
Wave/Retro 80's Night w/dj Atomic at the Twilight Zone...Aural
Fixation at DV8 (poetry - sign-up 7:30, show at 8:00)...The Tongue
of the Slip af the Glass Slipper (scheduled readers and open limited open mike • 9pm on the third Tuesday of the month)...Live
jazz w/ dj Brian James at the Purple Onion...
WED: Velvet w/djs T-Bone, Dickey Doo and special guests (deep
house) at The Underground...Reggae Night at Graceland w/dj
Silk...Ginger Snaps w/dj Mike A Soma and live electronic guests
ot Mars...Mo' Funk w/ djs Soul Kid & Seren trip hop, acid jazz &
funk) at Richard's On Richards...Gin & Sin Lounge at
Niagara...Punk Rock Wednesday w/dj Twigboy at the Twilight
Zone...Nitro (industrial progressive indie) w/dj Czech at
Luvafair...Max Murphy Collective at Raffels...Open Mouth (open
mic) w/host Carolyn Mark at the Malcolm Lowry Room (9pm -
call ohead to read)...El Famoso (raregroove, funk, hip-hop, jazz,
reggae) ot the Rea Lounge...
THUR: Sol w/dj Markem and guests (progressive, trance, tribal,
hard house) at Graceland...The Bottle w/djs Clarence and David
Love Jones (soul, jazz & rare groove) at the Piccadilly...Soul V
Funk in the Basement w/dj Marc and guests at the St. Regis
(bsmt)...Nocturnal Injection Revelation w/dj Wonderbread at the
Twilight Zone...Cat House w/dj Mick Shea (house) at
Celebrities...Blowfish (soul, iazz, r&b, latin, worldbeat) w/djs Al
Testa and Thomas at the Rea Lounge...Step Hard w/Andy B Luke
at 898 Richards (2-41...Strictly Business with djs Luke, Andy B.
and Wundertwins at the Hungry Eye...
FRI: Sugar w/weekly rototiong djs ot Graceland...lowdown w/
djs Lovely Lisa and Dick at the St. Regis (bsmt)...Explorations in
Outer Bass (ambient) at Melriches Coffee House (1244
Da vie)... Planet ov Sound w/James Brown and guests at the World
(1-5)...Homo Homer w/di Jules (house & disco) at the
Odyssey... Malebox w/dj Mick Shea (house) at
Celebrities...Blitzkrieg (tribal, industrial, goth) at the Twilight
Zone...Low Down (funk, jazz, hiphop) at the St. Regis Basement
Lounge...Lounging w/ dj T-bone (house, jazz and beyond) at the
Red Lounge...Groove w/djs Marc and Todd Keller, 154 W Hastings at lam...
SAT: Noah's Arc w/dj Noah at the World (1-5)...Yo Mama w/
djs KiloCee and J Swing (hip hop) atthe Twilight Zone... Bad Boys
Night Out w/dj Jules (house) at the Odyssey...djs Storm & Dickey
Doo (house) ot Celebrities...Lounging w/dj Soul Kid (jazzy, groovy)
at the Red Lounge...
SUN: Uranus Invades Mars w/djs Dickey Doo and Quest at
Mars... Alternative Jazz af Cafe Deux Soleils (every other Sun)...dj
Jules (house & disco) at the Odyssey...Ska Night w/dj Pig at the
Twilight Zone...Movie Night at the Railway Club...Pressing Poetry at the Press Club (7:30)...Lipstik Doom w/ Doctor Killdare at
1250 Richards 9pm-12am...
IRREGULAR EVENTS
FEBRUARY
THURS 1 ten days late and Queazy at the Pit Pub...The Beauticians at the Railway Club...Strictly Business with djs Luke, Andy B
& Wundertwins at the Hungry Eve...Knockin' Dog and Don't Ask
at the SaiTioo PubThe Mystery of Rampo at the Ridge...The Best of
the Northwest ot the Pacific Cinematheque...
FRI 2 Drunken Monkey II w/ djs Mixmaster Mike, Zodar &
others at the Starfish Room...The Beauticians at the Railway
Club...Breathe Underwater with Flag at the Hungry Eye,..Noah's
Great Rainbow at the Piccadilly Pub...Knockin Dog and Don't
Ask at the Samoo Pub...Carrington and Clockwork Mice at the
Ridge...Days of Being Wild and As Tears Go By at the Pacific
Cinematheque...Diamanda Galas at On the Boards in Seattle;
for info coll (206) 325 7901...
SAT 3 CITR 101.9fM PRESENTS HAZEL AT THE TOWN PUMP.
TWO SHOWS: ALL-AGES AT 3PM WITH SPARKMARKER AND
STEEL WOOL AND EVENING SHOW AT 7PM WITH STEEL
WOOL AND THE EMPTYS...Pussycat Benefit w/ the Evaporators,
the Tonics, Manifold, Meow, Sister Lovers and more too at the
Malcolm Lowry Room, 9pm, admission by donation...knock-down-
ginger at the Railway Club...Blue Oyster Cult with guests at &•
Commodore...Mad Pudding at Studio 16...Atlantis Bus and Green
Room at the Piccadilly Pub...Paupers Feast and S.M.A.K. with
Triskellion af the Hungry Eye...Knockin' Dog and Don't Ask at the
Samoo Pub...Can*ington and Clockwork Mice atthe Ridge...Ashes
of Time and Days of Being Wild at the Pacific
Cinematheque...Diamanda Galas at On the Boards in Seattle;
for info caH (206) 325 7901...
SUN 4 NoFX with Snuff plus Sideways at the
Commodore.. .Carrington a nd Clockwork Mke at the Ridge.. .On
the Rood of Life and Jubiaba at the Pacific Cinematheque...
MON 5 Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories with Once Blue at the Commodore (ALLEGES SHOW)...Seven and Devil in a Blue Dress at the
Ridge...On the Road of Life and Jubiaba at the Pacific
Cinematheque...
TUES 6 Bob Marley Celebration at Graceland...Seven and Devil
in a Blue Dress at the Ridge...
WED 7 Bob Wiseman at the Glass Slipper...Moscow Fish at the
Railway Club...Total Eclipse and The Run of the Country at the
Ridge...Mamma Roma at the Pacific Cinematheque...
THURS 8 The Colorifics and Astrid Spumant*** and the Velveelos
at the Pit Pub...Sing Sing Deadman at the Railway Club...Total
Eclipse and The Run of the Country at the Ridge...Mamma Roma
at the Pocific Cinematheque...
FRI 9 Mystery Machine with guests Salt and Smackmelon at the
Town Pump...The Sweaters w/ 1000 Stamps at the Hungry
Eye...Blade Runner and Strange Days at the Ridge...As Tears Go
By ond Ashes of Time at the Pacific Cinematheque...
SAT 10 Beth Winter at the Glass Slipper...Soul Candy ot ihe
Piccadilly Pub... TCHKUNGI at the Hungry Eye...Emofion w/ djs
Jacqueline Christie, Donald Glaude, Mike Stevens and others: for
info call (604) 444 8030...Blade Runner and Strange Days at
the Ridge...Chungking Express and Days of Being Wild at the
Pocific Cinematheque...
SUN 11 D.F.L. with guests gob and Another Joe at the Town
Pump ot3:30pm (ALL-AGES SHOWII)... 10ft Henry atthe Malcolm
Lowry Room...Blade Runner and Strange Days at the Ridge...The
Third Bank of the River and Mamma Roma at the Pacific
Cinematheque...
MON 12 Canadian Bacon and Babe at the Ridge...The Third
Bank of the River and Mamma Roma atthe Pacific Cinematheque...
TUES 13 Happy Campers at the Railway Club...Canadian Bo-
con and Babe at the Ridge...
WED 14 Henry Rollins spoken-word performance at the Vogue
Theatre...Peal featuring Julie McGeer at the Railway Club. ..Billie
Holiday Valentine Special at the Backstage Lounge...Les Miserables
at the Ridge...la Nuit de Varennes at the Pacific Cinematheque...
THURS 15 The Deadcats and the Saddlesores at the Railway
Club...Soul Crib at the Railway Club...Les Miserables at the
Ridge...African Brushstrokes at the Pacific Cinematheque...
FRI 16 Colin James with special guests at the Commodore...The
Muscle Bitches w/ Punched Unconscious at the Hungry
Eye...Knockin' Dog at the Piccadilly Pub... Gl Blues at the Garage Pub...The Crossing Guard and The Indian Runner at the
Ridge...The Baby of Macon and The Draughtsman's Contract at
the Pacific Cinematheque...
SAT 17 Queen Ida and the Bon Temps Zydeco Band at the
Commodore...The Muscle Bitches w/ Punched Unconscious at trie
Hungry Eye...The Crossing Guard and The Indian Runner at the
Ridge...The Baby of Macon and A Zed and Two Noughts at the
Pacific Cinematheque...
SUN 18 Ziggy Morley at the Commodore...The Humpers af the
Railway Club...The Crossing Guard and The Indian Runner at the
Ridge...The Baby of Macon and The Belly of an Architect at the
Pacific Cinematheque...
MON 19 The Messytones at the Railway Cbb...G_t Shorty and
Saturday Night Fever ot the Ridge...Drowning by Numbers and
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover at the Pacific
Cinematheque...
TUES 20 Billy Cowsill at fhe Railway Club...Get Shorty and Saturday Night Fever at the Ridge...
WED 21 Billy Cowsill at the Railway Club.. .Kiss the Ground ond
One Angel
Down at the Garage Pub...The Doom Generation and Fun at the
Ridge...Kaos at fhe Pacific Cinematheque...
THURS 22 Billy Cowsill at the Railway Club...The Doom Generation and Fun at Ae Ridge...Narmaaa: A Valley Rises at the
Pacific Cinemathecpje.,.
FRI 23 The Real McKenzies at the Railway Club...Hellbilly
Hootenannyatthe Hungry Eye... Wild Reeds at the Ridge...A Zed
and Two Noughts ana Drowning by Numbers at the Pacific
Cinematheque...
SAT 24 Facepuller at the Hungry Eye...The Real McKenzies at
the Railway Club...Wild Reeds at tlie Ridge...The Belly of on Architect and A Zed and Two Noughts ai the Pacific Cinematheque...
SUN 25 Wild Reeds at the Ridge...The Cook, the Thief, His Wife
and Her Lover at the Pacific Cinematheque...
MON 26 Cleo Laine at the Vogue Theatre...Wild Reeds at the
Ridge...Prospero's Books and The Draughtsman's Contract at the
Pacific Cinematheque...
TUES 27 Wild Reeds at fhe Ridge...
WED 28 Wild Reeds af the Ridge...Ginger ond Fred ot the
Pocific Cinematheque...
THURS 29 Taste of Joy and Daytono of fhe Pit Pub...Wild
Reeds at the Ridge...
FRIDAY 1 CiTR 101.9fM PRESENTS SPEEDBUGGY, THE
READYMADE, COAL, MARK AND THE TONEBURSTS AT THE
ANZA CLUB AT 8PM...
EVERYTHING YOU
The Abyss 315 E. Broadway (side entrance)
Almo Street Cafe 2505 Abo (ol Broodwoy)
Anza Club  3 W. 8th  (Mount Pleasant)
Arts Hotline
Ba.»ix 217 W Hastings (at Cowbiei
Backstage Lounge   1585 Johnston (Granville Ulond)
Block Sheep Bo6ks 2742 W.'4lh |ef MocOonold)
Cafe Deux Soleils 2096 Commercial (the Drive)
Cafe Vleux Montreal 317 E. Broodwoy (Mount Pleajont)
Caprice Theatre 965 Granville  (Granville Mall)
CebbriHet   1022 Davie (at Burrard)
CN Imax Theatre 999 Canode Place
Commodore Ballroom 870 Granville  (Granville MaH)
Commodore Lone* 838 Granville (Gronvile Moll)
Cordova Cafe 307 Cordova [Go»tawn)
Cro»«town Traffic 316 W Hailing*  (downtown)
Denman Place Cinema  1030 Denman (Weil Enrrrd)
DV8 515 Davie (downtown)
Edison Eleclric Gollery/Cafe 916 Commercial (the Drive)
Firehall Artt Centre §0 E. Cordova  (at Main)
Food Mot Bombs Vancouver
Frederic Wood Theatre   UBC]
Garage Pub 2889 East Hading* Si (downtown)
Gastown Theatre 36 Powell (Gastown)
Glow Slipper   2714 Prince Edward (Mount Pleasant)
Graceland 1250 Richard* (downtown)
Greg's Place 45844 Yale Rd. (Chilliwack)
The Grind Galery 4124 Main St. IMf. Pleasant)
Hotting* Community Centre  2096 £. Hastings  (near PNE)
Hemp B.C. 324 W. Hastings (downtown)
Hoiywood Theatre 3123 W. Broodwoy Kitsilom**}
Hot Jozz Society 2120 Main (Mt. Pleasant)
Hungry Eye 23 W.Cordova (Goslown}
Jericho Arts Centre 1600 Discovery (Pi. Grey)
Lo Quena  1111 Commercial  (ihe Drive)
The Lotus Club 455 Abbott (Gostown)
Lucky** 3934 Main
luvA*F«ir 1275 Seymour (downtown)
Malcolm Lowry Room 4125 E. Hastings (N. Burnaby)
Men  1320 Richard* (downtown)
Maximum Bluet Pub  1176 Granville [downtown)
New York Theatre 639 Commerciat jlhe Drive)
Niogoro Hotel Pub 435 W. Pender (downtown)
Odyssey import* 534 Seymour (downtown)
Old Americon Pub 928 Main (downtown)
Orpheum Theotre Smithe & Seymour (downtown)
Pocific Cinematheque  1131 Ffowe (downtown)
Porodi*e 27 Church (New West)
Paradise Cinema 919 Gronville (Granville Ma8)
Park Theatre 3440 Combie (South Voncouver)
PicodiftyPub 630W.Pender [olSeymour]
Pit Pub basement, Student Union Building (UBC)
PitfGoKery 317 W. Hosting* (downtown)
Piaza Theatre 881 Granville (Granville Mall)
Rafy* lounge 1221 Gronvile (downtown)
The Rage 730 Pocific Blvd. South (Plaza ol Naltora)
^.Cinema 3131 Arbulu* tot 16»b Ave.)
Romper Room 639 Commercial (the Drive)
RussionHal  600 Campbell (Chinatown)
Scratch Records 317A Cambie (Gostown)
Southhill Condy Shop 4198 Main (of26#i)
Storfith Room  1055 Homer (downtown)
Starlight Cinema 935 Denman (We*t End)
Station Street Art* Centre 930 Station (off Main)
St. Regi* Hotel 602 Dtswmlur (downtown)
Theatre I 254 E. Hotting* (Chinatown)
Town Pump 66 Water Street (Gottown)
Track Record* 552 Seymour (downtown)
Tree Howe Lounge 602 Dunsmuir St. (downtown)
Twilight Zone 7 Alexonder (Gojtown!
UBC CINEMA (iocoled in ihe SUM
UBC Grod Cenlre Gale 4 (UBCJ
The Underground  1082 Gronvile (downtown)
Voncouver Eo*t Cultural Centre 1895 Venobles (af Victoria)
Vancouver little Theotre 3102 Main  {Ml. Pleasont"
Vancouver Pre** Club 2215 Gronville [S. Granville)
Varsity Theotre 4375 W, 10th (Point &ey)
Vert 2412 Main (Mt Pleosont)
Video In Studio. 1965 Main (Ml. Pieo«ont)
Vogue Theatre 918 Granville  [Gronville Moll)
Waterfront Theatre  1405 Anderson (Granville I..)
W.I.S.E. Hall 1882Adonoc (the Drive)
Women In Print 3566 W. 4lh (Kitsilom*-)
Yole Blues Pub  1300 GronviBe  (downtown)
Zulu Record* 1869 W. 4th (Kitsilano)
SUBMISSIONS FOR DATEBOOK ARE FREEI TO HAVE YOUR EVENT LISTED,
FAX ALL THE REIEVENT INFO (WHO, WHERE, WHEN) TO 822 9364. ATTEN
TION "DATEBOOK". DEADLINE FOR THE FEBRUARY ISSUE IS JANUARY 191
IOUT EVERYWHERE
488 6219
222 2244
876 7128
684 2787
689 7734
687 1354
732 5087
254 1195
873 1331
683 6099
689 3180
682 4629
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681 1531
683 5637
669 7573
683 2201
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689 0926
872 6719
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822 9364
684 MASK
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255 2606
681 4620
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688 5351
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251 6626
685 7777
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685 0143
230 MARS
688 8701
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688 7574
669 6644
682 329!
665 3050
731 3456
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681 1732
876 2747
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738 3232
SO  FEBRUARY 1996 The first Canadian b .   •',   d to the
infamous Sub Pop label, Eric's   Trip  are
sweetly brilliant, always
using their unique ability
for blending pop hooks
& candid melodies with
random explosions. With
their third release,
PURPLE BLUE, Eric's
Trip  continues to
refresh the listener
with unjaded, noisy pop
and ambient moments of charismatic
punk rhythms. "Sun Coming Up", the first
single, instantly grabs your attention.
PURPLE BLUE is truly a plethora of
pretty persuasion not to be missed!!
1160 Robson Street • Park Royal Shopping Centre (North Mali) • GuildFord Town Centre
Willowbrook Shopping Centre • Richmond Centre • Coguitlam Centre
Eaton Centre - Metrotown • MayPair Shopping Centre / Victoria
Hillside Shopping Centre / Victoria • Sevenoaks Shopping Centre / AbbotsFord i
S232>
Various Artists
"Explorations 3" cd/ip
Dancefloor jazz... a layered smooth-ride city
sound, if you will. A
Money-Mark meets c
bilingual Brand New
Heavies combination
at times — soul hooks
for chemist laboratories and basement suites
alike. A little jive. A little horn. A little scat.
16?" CD • 12" LP
Various Artists
"Cocktail Mix Volume 2" cd
"Cocktail Mix Volume 3" cd
Hiccup...! If you want to be the life of the
party, get lhat lampshade on your head, martini in one hand and cigarette in the other and
cha cha cha all the way to Zulu to pick up
Volume 2 and Volume 3 of Rhino's
Cocktail Mix, bonafide classic '50s and '60s
loungesoundz!
16** each CD
Moonsocket
"Moonsocket" co
This endearing
unbleached cardboard
package garnished with   |
hand drawings and silver ink contains twenty
fuzz-fi tunes aboul loneliness, secrets and guitars, courtesy of Eric's Trip's Chris
Thomson and his one-man 4-track band.
Acoustic, heart-warming and fretful, these
songs are for the Lou Barlow fan in all of u
Moonsocket is bedroom-pop at its finest.
12* CD
"How I Quit Smoking" cDdoubie ip
Lambchop is vocalist/guitarist Kurt
Wagner's vision of a soft and desperate world
cluttered with subtle truths and heartbreaking
regrets. Wagner and his blissfully capable
band gently take hold of the listener with tales
spun out of the cracks and corners. How I
Quit Smoking is an album that opens up
with repeated listenings, rewarding the patient
listener with gems cloaked in a smooth velvet
dust. Available early February.
16" CD • 16s* double-LP
Joel R. Phelps
"Warm Springs Night" cd
We were first introduced    F
to the wonderful songwriting sty I ings of Joel
Phelps from his contri
butions in fhe critically
acclaimed but oft misur
derstood band
Silkworm  His departure from Silkworm
hasn't affected his propensity towards composing stormy lullabies full of meandering guitar
sounds and intensely emotional vocals. The
album indeed sounds kinda like a warm
spring's- night—comfortable, intoxicating, and
addictive.
16s* CD
The Mekons with Kathy Acker
"Pussy, King of the Pirates" cd/ip
Enjoying cult status for the last two decades,
The Mekons join forces with post-feminist
writer extraordinaire Kathy Acker to delve
deep into the intersection of politics and sexuality. Available early February.
16* CD • 12* LP
Global Communication
"Remotion" co
A collection of hard-to-
find remixes by Global
Communication. What]
Chemical Brothers
are to progressive
house—Global
Communication an
ambient music. Remixes of folks like
Chapterhouse, The Grid, Nav Katze
and more!
16* CD
NOFX
"Heavy Petting Zoo" co/cassette/LP
Pull up to the NOFX pop-punk drive-in and
catch their latest epic feature: Heavy Petting
Zoo. You laugh a bit, you cry a bit, you get
punk-rock in your eye a bit. It's more juicier
than a shark meat burrito baby! Available
February 1st.
14* CD • 10* Cassette • 10* LP
Eric's Trip
"Purple OlUeS" CD/Cassette
With old wooden hou
and rocky Atlantic beach-1
es in mind, the humble
Canadian loners of Eric's |
Trip have been staying
up all night perfecting
their quietly passionate
music. For understanding fans or new listeners
alike, Purple Blue has much to offer, from
folky simplicity to energetic pop. Halifax's
favourite introverts have added another enduring recording to their substantial discography
(as a troop, or as solo artists).
14?8CD • 9* Cassette
Turtoise
"Millions Now Living Will Never
Die" cb lp
Tortoise's slow revolution begins at hor
your listening room. Taking inspiration from many
genres, Tortoise combine diverse sounds and
ideas into a captivating new musical vocabulary
(with attention, composition, detail and careful
studio technique). With style, innovation and a
collective talent overflowing with experience and
potential, Tortoise are a new creative vanguard.
Hard to describe, a pleasure to listen to, and easy
to recommend. Available early February.
16* CD • 12* vinyl
Greyboy
"Land of the Lost" cd/lp
Following up on last year's
acclaimed Freestylin'
release, Greyboy's most
recent full length positions
him at the forefront of
today's smooth groove DJs.
Land of the Lost weaves
its amicable blend of beats into a cohesive canvas
of soul/jazz/house heaven. Music to dance to!
16* CD • 12* vinyl
Pavement
"Pacific Trim" cd-ep
Spotliting the instantly enthralling bubblegum classic "Give It A Day," Pavement pen another
batch of diddies approaching unrefined rapture.
File under: For those with an unbridled passion
for pop music!
9* CD-EP
kll sale prices ii effect until February 29 'SG
LP
H
ym~'
"SustairT W §1
by Paytcfaa _J
on Zulu RjCTWBI