The Skinny Magazine in Vancouver: INTERVIEWS

TEN DAYS LATE

TEN DAYS LATE - Dave Jacklin photo

Never too Late for ten days late...

If you could go back in time in Vancouver, 1993 was a mighty fine year. It was before FaceBook, Twitter, cell phones, digital cameras and so on. Word of mouth, posters, radio shows, and newspapers helped spread the word of gigs. When you saw a women’s washroom symbol on a poster on a poll, you knew the gig to get wrecked at that weekend was the all-girl punk band, ten days late.

The speedster queensters ruled the land and lived in a famous punk rock house before calling it a day a decade later. But on Feb 7th, the girls bring it all home for a reunion at LanaLou’s. I got to talk to ten days late’s drummer Lana Ryma, (co owner of Lanalou’s and currently drums in the Furniture) about the reunion show and what they achieved as a band.

“Some great accomplishments would be playing CBGB's or opening for Pennywise, Rancid, SNFU, Social Distortion. Down by Law, and blink-182.- just to name a few. We recorded two 7-inches. The first was the "Get Away" 7-inch and the second was "Out Of Tune". We released a full length CD, mixed by Garth Richardson, called Sticky Fly Trap. We also released a few tracks on different compilations. I personally think our greatest accomplishment was being together for ten years constantly touring in a van. Looking back for me personally, it was a real lesson about being a team player and overcoming personal differences. I think we all felt that the band was bigger than any differences. And we did whatever we could to tour and just be on stage spreading our music. When we weren't in the van we all lived in a big punk rock house as well to save money so we could tour. Kara, our rhythm guitarist, can't play the reunion show so Seana Gnaw is filling in. “

The ten days late reunion is on Feb 7th at LanaLou's (362 Powell St, Vancouver) with Scum Element and guests, Both 7-inches will be for sale at the show.

BLOODSHOT BILL

BLOODSHOT BILL - Tim Snow photo

His brand of rock ’n’ roll gets greasy

“If you’re a horrible band, then that’s your fault,” says Bloodshot Bill. “That has nothing to do with anybody but you,” as he takes ownership of his musical project. For him, this is something he really can’t escape due to the fact that he often travels as a one-man band. His ‘raved about’ performances are living proof.

A prolific touring machine, the Montreal-based Bloodshot Bill serves up good old-fashioned rock and roll with a side of twang and no shortage of grease. He started playing in 1998 armed with his instruments and distinctive voice. Once he hit the road and hasn’t stayed off since.

His look and sound have a 1950s flavour and according to Bloodshot Bill it was in this time period that “they really got it right.” But it is not just ‘paint by numbers’ nostalgic rock and roll. “There are bands today that try to do that and it’s just horrible and they are missing something, and then there are bands that don’t try to do that and do something else and they are just great. It’s truly up to the band, not necessarily style,” he adds.

He has a distinctive look, he even had his own brand of hair grease, and this sometimes draws comments from the general public. Some lady in a diner will say, “You remind me of Elvis!” He doesn’t mind so long as the comments are made by the really old or the really young, but if someone is making the comment to be a jerk they had better watch out.

“This one time I remember walking down the street, I was with some friends and we had split up and were going to meet somewhere. Blocks away some guys were like, ‘Hey Elvis,’ or whatever, and I was like, ‘That’s it!’ I was just in a mood and I start walking back. I see a bottle, so I pick up a bottle. And I’m just about to toss it at them and it’s my friends. They all thought it was really funny… But I usually don’t get too violent, I usually look at what the other person looks like, usually someone from the cast of friends, and I call them that,” Bill explains.

This feistiness not only affects his personal life, it is a key part of his survival as a musician. He was banned from entering the USA from 2006 to 2011 but is now taking full advantage of his regained freedom. While he has found some success as a Montreal-based artist, there still have been some limitations. “There used to be a couple papers in town, like French and English version type of style, but they don’t have those anymore. I think you get a little more press I think if you’re French.” But according to Bill the audiences in Montreal are great and don’t care whether good music is in French or English.

When asked what song he would recommend for someone to listen, he favoured a slower song called “Jill.” His track record for releases throughout his career has been consistent and is definitely worth checking out. The 2014 LP Shook Shake is a great place to start.

Bloodshot Bill will be live onstage this January but also keep your ears open because he hinted at a West Coast tour with Shannon and the Clams. If you’re smart, catch this one-man firehouse solo as he is gonna heat up a cold and lonely January night.

Bloodshot Bill performs at the Hindenburg on January 23.

- by Alex Moulton

HERON

A project takes flight

When clarity, timing and all points converge for an artist it can yield an extraordinarily intense product. For Heron the result was not “strictly” any genre, but their own with a trademark element of layers, samples and a dense landscape. The early live dates did not pigeonhole as much as point at a “nineties vibe,” with components of bands such as Helmet and ISIS coming up in discussion.

Heron is the undertaking of Ross Redeker, who may have been known for being a bass player, but was actually a guitarist and he had been quietly stockpiling material for over a decade. After some sage advice, which led to a year off to focus, it all came together when drummer Spencer Clark and Scotty Bartlett became available. Heron came together naturally and was off the ground.

Redeker was with Eugene’s Axe and the sludge/grinders, Cathar on bass “I’ve always felt rather stifled, so to get that music out I’ve been recording and doing stuff at home,“ reveals the soft-spoken guitarist. He wanted to keep working with Scotty Bartlett, who was also in Cathar, because of their positive chemistry. “The last band I was in before Cathar was My New Enemy,” explains Redeker and, “the vocalist in that band, Spencer Clark, was an amazing drummer, foremost, but we also played in a band a very long time ago before that, where we synched and the clear choice was to bring him on board.”

In Heron, Scotty Bartlett and Ross Redeker share vocals with Bartlett handling the rhythm and Redeker working his chops on layers and loops plus Spencer Clark on drums.

“Ross plays a seven string, I play a six-string guitar and through multiple cabs, “ adds Bartlett and “Spencer has a unique drum style, he doesn't tend to repeat.” After a rehearsal the drummer counted fifteen different drum parts in a song without repetition and he has a style that adds, fills and reinforces.

They considered adding a bass player but realized it was not necessary. “The response from folks at shows was, tone, we love your tone,” says Bartlett. “We are tuned down so low, in A-sharp,” says Redeker and after gigs, audience members had remarked, “you guys are so full, thick and so encompassing, you don’t need a bass.”

Heron is recording with Kevin Grindon from Burning Ghats and WTCHDR at Grind City and the release ETA is set for early 2015. So, if you factor in the timing of steady rehearsals and recording tightness, expect the VU meter to be teetering on high potential for their next live date.

Heron perform at the Art Signified Two year Anniversary Party January 9 at Studio East, on 1480 Frances St.

- tiina.l

LIQUOR KINGS

Liquor Kings - Jonathan Moogk photo

“And their fans say, Liquor Kings Baby”

Some might say, RNR music is the fountain of youth. After the last four years these rolling lifers, the Liquor Kings seemed to have tapped into a prolific wellspring. With over 60 original songs under their belt, they seem to be pumping them out at a rate of one a week these days. If you check out the rap sheets for these musical gangsters you will find their individual records go back as far as Vancouver’s first and second wave of punk heyday. History, indeed, look it up!

Their second release, Unfiltered came out in the fall 2014 and a third DIY release Happy Hour is underway and due out early 2015. Perhaps, this last title is a tip of the glass to the reinstated drinking establishment tradition and a return to Vancouver cocktail culture. You should check in with them at the next bar show, after all, they are the ‘Kings!’

Oh, wait; this story is getting sidetracked, so back to the album. “We do the entire process ourselves. We write, record, mix and master the songs,“ says their front man, Eddy Dutchman. To add to this home-brew society, another pal of theirs, artist Richard Katynski threw together some artwork and T-shirt designs.

They claim these high-spirited and high-proof songs come together as a rock ‘n’ roll duty and an enterprise of good friends. “Everybody is involved. Our music is seemingly simple and anthem oriented rock with lots of loud and complicated guitar parts,” he adds.

As for original music, Dutchman asserts that they will never do covers. “Never have, never will,” he firmly states reinforcing their inclination ‘to do it their way.’

For this gang of pranksters their colours are laden with imagery and metaphors of LIQUOR, DEVILS and EVIL. Dutchman’s philosophy reads like a mislaid pulp fiction novel. “For us, as a rock band, we are like your older juvenile delinquent brother,” he claims and “it’s a challenge and rock is our medication and our rock is salvation rock.”

You never know what dark corner these guys turn up on for local gigs. They can add them, as fast as they can write songs. With that in place the vocalist dares you to hit them up at one of their live shows. “Loud and ugly,” he calls it, “we don't care, and straight up and on the rocks, Liquor Kings, baby.

In the meanwhile for those who wanna hear the testimony, their two releases Liquor Kings - 100 Proof and Unfiltered are available direct from the band or at Neptoon Records and Bonerattle Music.

The Liquor Kings perform at The Fairview Pub on Friday, Feb. 27th with The Bad Beats

- Anita Lee

SPITFIRES

The SPITFIRES loosen things up!

It's just Rock n Roll, that's all...

So somewhere on the very outskirts of Vancouver, around 1995 some pals got together to make some noise. Out of that clamour, shot out some fast, furious and unabashed rock n roll. Think, Humpers and Pagans. In the midst of post grunge copycats and eccentric indie super tours, their fuelled up and stripped back punk and roll was as refreshing as a can of cold beer. So with packed venues, spilled drinks and broken glass, the good times spread across Canada, US and the UK. After a bunch of touring, they continued to jet away on four-fourteen day blowouts. These days the frequency may have toned down to special occasions, but the intensity hasn’t been diluted. “Now our mission is to get together and hang out like old pals do!!” explains, front man Jay and that they do very well. So with a quick nine-ten question spread, we interrupt the lead singer’s Christmas dinner to find out the status of this fine tooled lot of scoundrels.

Driving that mountain

In a thick sea of genres this three piece has spent the last year in the studio pushing through the low, slow and heavy. Attaching a handle to their sound may not always be accurate. As with all good things, music, the common variable maintains an uncompromising attitude, exponentially. This approach yielded a new ten-inch recording aptly titled Mountain, which is about to make its way out to the public ear, as early as the new year.

Rich Hope and partner have been Keithmass staples

This Rock n Roll fundrager turns five

So, what does Rich Hope and His Blue Rich Rangers, The Jolts, Sh-Shakes, Strange Things, Johnny De Courcy, The Highway Kind, La Chinga, The Midnight Ramblers and The Rentalmen all have in common? Well, this handpicked crew of nine bands are gonna deliver nine takes on Keith Richards and 100% of the proceeds go the Vancouver Foodbank. Rocking into their fifth year event organizer John Hewer fills us in, on how they roll.

Ester Segarra photo

Back in the groove

Stoner rock has become somewhat of a vague term when describing heavy music. Like the weed that gives the genre its name, it has many branches. It’s fair to say though, that the seed was planted with British icons Black Sabbath. So it seems odd that over the years the U.K. would fail to clone similar bands. However, there are a few that have sprouted up and London, England’s Orange Goblin have been smoking grooved out riffs since 1995 – around the time the stoner rock movement began to take shape in the U.S.

Pop the cork on pacific punk

Not long ago, Pacific Northwest’s Mudhoney managed to cash in on a more discerning investment, something finer than a gratuitously priced bottle of vintage. This is not about a ‘90s Seattle sitcom or wineglass toting crew of celebrity. Instead, they traded in their full-time “rock star career” stocks for a different set of high notes. You will not find these four glued to the couch or caught up in complacency. By the time the Friday arrives, Steve Turner, Mark Arm, Dan Peterson and Guy Maddison bypass the velvet upholstery and strap on the jetpacks making their way to exotic venues near you. Still poking fun at those day-to-day forces of irrationality with a punk rock stick.

‘Because Bed Wettin’ Bad Boys was already taken!

It’s true, just Google it. But try searching for the band in question and you get nary a blip on the Internet save for a Bandcamp page. That page reveals a couple of links, one of which is a YouTube clip of the Fat Boys. Where I am going with this, you ask? Well, the plump pontificates are from the borough of Brooklyn, home to the gutter-garage scrawl of Pampers, who assault your ears quite righteously with a din of noise somewhere between the sharp punk jabs of the Spits and the cathartic crunch of the Cheater Slicks; basically a perfect fit for In The Red Records, their present label lair after a pair of now-extinct singles funded by their illegal puppy-breeding business (read: record label) Jack Shack Records.

A not so silent night

“Burning Ghats has been lucky enough to play every single Diecember Fest! Some of the best heavy bands in the city, blowing your eggnog riddled brain for two nights at one of the best venues in town, all for a great cause. Would you rather be at your creepy uncle's house singing Christmas carols?” jokes Cam Strudwick of Burning Ghats.

Christmas may only come once a year, but Diecember Fest comes twice and once again the musical underground of Vancouver will congregate for their annual holiday party. This event keeps gathering momentum and has become a tremendous tradition in this city. Johnny Matter from Apocalypse Productions has been at the helm since day one. He created a festival that has gained a life of its own and since then has since enlisted fellow local promoters Crowsnest, Invisible Orange and Nothing Is Heavy. “Crowsnest has been an essential part of the fest for the last four years and NIH has helped out for two. [Working] with co-promotion and getting on board some of the bands they manage,” says Matter. “I wanted to invite Invisible Orange to the promoter roster this year. They book some of the best metal shows this city has to offer and are wonderful to work with.” Add in some of Vancouver’s cream-of-the-crop bands and you will have what they call a plum treat.

Marc Gabor photo

Strip it down to the wires

First off, lets tear out some of pages from this black book of rock’n’roll and piece together the six degrees of separation between vocalist Sam James Velde, guitarist Stephen McBean, bassist Austin Barber and drummer Flo Schanze. A question still remains in this rat’s nest of punk and metal wires. Which one of these connections will cross and which of these bare cables will burst into Obliterations?

Ryan Walter Wagner photo

Lords of the north

Vancouver! Take notice and pay attention, because in local heavy music, lesson number one is Baptists.

“Our label owner, Greg, made me some crazy concoction before we played with Pentagram in San Francisco. I don't know what the hell he put in it, but I ended up smashing a bottle over my head onstage and then crushing some dude in the crowd. I think I got carried back to the van that night,” estimates the Baptists’ front man/vocalist Andrew Drury. That pretty much sums up the agitating menace that is Vancouver’s ‘cleanup hitter’ of heavy bands. If you haven’t already, you might want to take notice and get on board.

Just wanna see you dance

What are these sounds of Beat? Well, you might find yourself walkin’ down a lane, one foggy Vancouver night and suddenly your feet just start to shuffle to some nearby rhythm. It could just be you are passing by the Bad Beats rehearsal garage as they bite through songs like the snotty "She Don't Talk To Me” or the moody “It Breaks Me Down.”

Who killed the Living Deadbeats?

With a new EP releasing mid October at SBC and a track in an upcoming compilation, it seems like there is no end in sight. However, this is also their final show.

The Living Deadbeats have been together for six years. They have several tours including a six-week cross-country tour under their belt, one full-length record and a series of smaller recordings and compilations with an EP titled Brain Candy on the way. Their sound and live show defies categories, playing garage shows and punk shows alike to a loyal fan base. With all this, one might wonder why they’ve decided to throw in the towel. Why did Vancouver’s female fronted garage punk favourites, the Living Deadbeats, call it a day?

Zack Smith photo

NOLA brothers fight the good fight

Make no mistake; Crowbar is Kirk Windstein’s band. As vocalist, guitarist and chief songwriter, it is his baby, vision, and his mission. Windstein recently made the bold leap from the commercially successful band Down to concentrate on Crowbar and allow it consume his life once again. With a history that dates back to the eighties, Crowbar hits the road with what might be his favourite line-up yet. “All the members are in sync,” confirms Windstein.

Kings of punk ride again

"Mötley Crüe wrote books about abusing women and shit, we could just write a book about abusing each other," says Jerry A. of Poison Idea, their long-standing front man. He sheds some light on the infamous Portland, Oregon hardcore punk band, their sordid history and lineup changes. Still active and significant since the band’s 1983 inception, the singer has a lot to say.

Live to die

With a near riot at the 1984 Shindig contest and apparently a beer can to the MC’s head, the notorious Death Sentence garners a second-place spot. This reckoning force of Vancouver’s hardcore and second wave punk is now a name synonymous with early Canadian punks D.O.A. and the Subhumans. Keep in mind that Death Sentence was bottled fed in the cradle of a Burnaby haunted house and that upbringing that would come to foreshadow their tumultuous ride. This band would emerge swinging with the ferocity and danger of what a live show should be. “Their tour shenanigans would make Mötley Crüe blush,” says drummer Doug Donut.

The trail of their recording history includes the 1984 demo with two tracks on the celebrated Undergrowth compilation, collaboration with Collector's RPM Undergrowth label led to the 1985 EP Not a Pretty Sight. After touring and sold out local dates, they recorded the 1987 full length Stop Killing Me! for Fringe Records. A 1989 metallic and rock tinged demo titled "Girls, Guns & Guitars" was recorded but never released.

An unshakable story is spelled out

British Columbia metal passed through a doom, stoner and sludge filter can only stir up a legitimately lethal substance. This is a story of a side project’s rehearsal-demo tape with two members of stoner trio, Mendozza playing musical chairs. In chapter one, Norm jumps from bass to guitar and Deuce wants to get back to some drumming.

Miki Matsushima photo

the discordant and the beauty

If this volume and genre-defying trio, Boris, holds one constant, it can be described as intensity. The July 2014 album, Noise is the most recent to be added to their prodigious output. “Your noise, my music,” is a phrase dropped by drummer/vocalist Atsuo as he takes a moment to discuss the creative process of this recording. He will be touring with his other two prolific counterparts guitarist/vocalist Wata and Takeshi on bass, guitar and vocals.

Boris is a band that manages to keep their fans and themselves guessing.

THE SKINNY