Sunday 21 April 2013

OMGCMW2013



I got a text from 
Retro Radio drummer
 Justin Jones the other evening, 
telling me he'd seen my face 
scrawled on the bathroom walls 
of several beer-slinging 
Hamilton establishments. 

What fresh madness is this?
 I texted back. 

Had one of my sloppy visits 
to the coolest suburb transmorphed 
in the darkness of the night 
to some kind of manic arts and crafts encounter session?
 I don't usually tag when i get wasted, 
but I have been getting into the habit of sketching 
little Matisse-ish caricatures of my friends and servers 
while ho-beauing it up at Toronto's tasteful, young 
(hipness neither implied, nor denied) sud-spots.


But the shreds of information 
passing as evidence 
in this Hamilton caper were indicative of 
deeper, more systematic troubles.  
The very nature of the bea$t itself. 
The reason why TO men, while sober
 can no longer dance in front of others
(and many other ills)
Of course i am talking about 
this year's cmw. 
no big thesis. 
Just the real stories. 


as far as I can see, 
nothing new is supposed to happen anymore. 
The inevitable fresh fetishes 
of culture and class clashes 
will eventually simmer down 
and all human cultural activity 
will resemble Cmw: 
a hollow attempt to impress upon 
the attendee, voluntee, or presentee 
(not to mention the still larger portion of the population 
who choose to celebrate CMw by simply not going.) 
that constant, terrible joy 
with being involved in something 
so hulkingly massive that it cannot 
really be said to have 'thoughts'
 but only vague lusts 
and obscene hungers.
 This horny beast swallows all.


 It swallows attendance at any 
below-the-radar aka real cultural occurances. 
It swallows whole the time of those 
who wanna grease  palms and meet some geeks
 part-time carnies on point for the  Golden Ticket. 
But especially and most totally 
it swallows up the minds of those bands 
who are involved in this virtual feat of imitating reality. 
I was worried about Wool on Wolves
I really love dancing to the grooves this band throws down, 
and I was a little nervous to witness 
the treatment and the reception that 
my presumed port of call had to offer them up. 

Have I even been to the Tranzac before? 
After Jones' message I scoured the dishpit for the evidence:
 a brochure from the zine museum! 
Its true! 
I must have teleported from Hamilton to the annex sometime during CMW....

a few days later, 
when i get home, 
i thrash about the papers 
and boomboxes in my personal space 
to find further evidence: 
three small squares of card paper from Nota Bene, 
each one bearing a small portrait of Justin 'JJ' Jones, 
spectacles and all. 
The first square is titled "cmw begins!!! guuuman!" 
and has the wool on wolves email address written on it.


For the first time, 
my compulsive impaired doodling 
has become a convenience, 
a fossil record of the week's endeavours, 
the trail of slime left behind a floridean snail...
I gather some thumbtacks 
and assemble the evidence chart-like on the wall. 
Pages lie torn from notebooks,
 the contents of every pocket i own 
are scattered in a heap near the door. 

These fresh clues begin to revive scarred tissues, 
forcing both repressed pains 
and indelible pleasures to the surface. 



It's the last night of CMW, 
and Nicks working the bar downstairs 
at Crawford, which is open till four tonight, 
which makes it less obscene 
that we just wasted two hours of our life 
at the Supermarket just so i could dance a bit 
onstage and play some harpo-marx style drums. 


We arrive with armfulls of gear: 
a casio rap-man, 
electric guitar, 
tambourine, 
boombox, 
etc, 

which our boy handily vanishes into an unused bar fridge. 
The remainder of CMW is spent happily moshing 
or dancing to the old soul-punk sock-hop mix upstairs. 
and try to talk to some other bands. 
Maybe it was better at the supermarket:
Dalton says he got like four numbers. 
The second portrait of Jones is in my hand.
on the back is scribbled


NMD vs CMW: 
institutions and individuals alike 
who choose the appearance rather than the actual fact 
will be forever doomed to repeat cliches, 
and will become oppressor and oppressed both, 
most rich bitches and blessed poor poets. 

Take heed, open mikers! Garage rockers! 
Kids with bad hair and baby fat, 
three songs in the bag 
and nothing but dreams to get you through the night. 

The system feeds on your energy, 
your excitement and your naivete. 
And it gives you NOTHING back. 
Of course, you could always, if you decide that you Truly Beleive 
and your partners/parents understand that you will be broke for a while, 
but then potentially hit the big ticket, 
Play the GAME, 
and come pimp your sets at festivals like CMW, 
a bigger, more credible form of SUPERNOVA, 
all of which are canandian dreams of 
CAREER, CLASS, and CULTURE. 

Respect yourselves, boppers! 
Ravers, dishwashers unite! 

Toronto's thousand greasy corners 
begin to warm up again when the beast moves on, 
tru+living CULTUR starts to happen once again 
in the frisky, sweaty glow of the springtime. 


The last time I saw Jones,
we were at the GUU Izakaya house at bathurst and bloor.
It was their second anniversary celebration,
 so Sapporo was cheap on tap, and Jones was pleased. 
Wool on Wolves would soon be joining us. 
Sake was warm and I was in fine form. 
Jones, however, couldn't tell his pork from a piece of fish.  
The second highlight of CMW for me 
was this busboy DIO from that night, 
who played field with some mad beat boxing. 
I tried to hit him up for an interview, 
but my handmade business card 
must have hurt his eyes to look at. 
Instead, I sketch the linesmen in their open kitchen 


and I pass the pictures to the manager. 
People keep shouting and eventually i just want to go home. 
I congratulate the proprietor on his success in Toronto, 
hand him more sketches, and disappear. 

Later that week,  
I stand before the suite of pen and- sharpie 
portraits of Justin Jones, pinned to my bedroom wall. 
The last square in the tryptich 
is dated and tagged 
at the Ship in Hamilton: 
a coy, cozy beer-house, 
and titled 
'synchronicities'


on the back is scrawled

one; rock the casbah was playing while we ate lunch,
now, at the ship, vinyl single of same song is on the wall. 

Two: meryl streep in julia and julia came up twice thru the day

was it the iron lady or iron man?
a young woman hands in a resume. 
The staff is unimpressed, 
but my partner insists that the girl has potential.
Beer-geekery is afoot and I go to the can to roll a smoke. 
I empty my pockets in the spacious facilities, 
and start drawing a self-portrait on the door with a black sharpie. 
I feel my hold on reality beginning to slip,
...Memories and dreams blurring together...


It's coming back to me. 
I'm on a GO bus, 
sulking at Jones for not having brought his flask, 
sobering up by the minute as the bus rushed us back to downtime toronto, 
nice and early for Wool on Woolves early set. 
Two kids from Oshawa in the seats behind me 
are chatting each other up before the game. 
A beautiful woman beside me watches porn on her phone. 
The pieces fall back totgether. 
Another CMW has been fully recontructed, 
properly processed, 
and immediately discarded.
See you next year : )

Thursday 4 April 2013

artist's statement: Erika Werry



 The Alphabet is a band name I came up with not too long ago, after Kate joined;
I'd been toying with the idea of an all-girl band, and was going to call it Alpha Betties,
but then I couldn't find any girl within my circle of acquaintances who could come even remotely close to the playing of Mike Hopkins, who has also been playing with me for many years, at one point on bass,
and we've toured a lot as a guitar duet.
He truly is a musical genius, and composes music for his other projects,
The Spanish Waiter and The Formula, all-original classical / latin and afro funk awesomeness.
We've gone out on the road a bit this year as a full band, playing in Pittsburgh and Montreal,
and Peterborough, and Sudbury... kind of haphazard, but for the road trips I needed to replace Wes on bass,
and lo! the incredible Josh Cavan, a fellow Humber alumni of Kate's, who we called in to play organ on the album, offered to pick up the bass: he's a great player, and fun to watch too! he plays left handed like Jimi Hendrix.

Mike Tuyp (guitar) and Tim Alchin (drums) are also key members of the band - it turns out Kate is getting very busy as a drummer, and so we're fortunate enough to have the exciting beats of Mr Alchin to groove to, who I first met a couple years ago as a member of The Bon, a great punk band fronted by Craig Daniels. So I guess long answer short, you could say this ensemble's been together almost two years.
The current lineup is different from older versions of the band namely in the form of KATE MACLEAN,
who altered the course of my life, no joke really, by offering to drum for me after a solo set I played at Not my Dog in the summer of 2011. The timing (was) interesting, because although I fell in love with her drumming and singing on that fateful night, I already had a great drummer in the Erika Werry band.
but Marshall Bureau had been getting so busy playing in other bands that on the day following Kate's offer,
he finally called me to say he couldn't play any of the dates I'd sent to him for that fall.
How sad I would've been, had Kate not made her offer only the day before. So strange and so nice.
As for the other members of the band, Wes Neal has been playing with me since 2005;
his double bass is an important element in my 2006 release Time on our Hands, a really beautiful album if I do say so (featuring a slew of guest players, including Christine Bougie, Bryden Baird and James Robinson).


This is the first time I've been invited into a REAL pro studio, complete with ENGINEER Tim Vesely,
formerly of the great Canadian band The Rheostatics.
Tim's solo stuff as The Violet Archers is also amazing.
Tim is house engineer at the Woodshed studio on Danforth Ave,
aka Blue Rodeo's studio,
which means he has the keys,
and the skills!
After a few glasses of Christmas cheer at a party at the end of 2011,
he suggested I come by sometime, and "record a tune or two".
So I pulled into the studio with my full Alphabet and we recorded a 15-song album.
How's that for creating opportunity and a happy ending?
I have to say, Tim was a great sport about it, and ended up I believe really enjoying the project; he decided to mix the tracks for us too, so his name's all over the thing and it's a really great, very live-sounding album.
I discovered Ian Blurton, relatively recently, as lead singer and guitarist of the band C'mon.
I heard them at Carvalho's NXNE bbq in the summer of 2011, and then I caught his other band Change of Heart's reunion show at the Horseshoe, and was completely blown away by his guitar playing,
and melodies and just overall everything.
I'd been smitten by the notion of working on my "punk" tune with him,
and he was cool enough to make it happen. We spent two days together in his studio down by the waterfront, and turned the Woodshed recording of "What" into the first track on Think yer so Smart,
We shot a cool video for the Woodshed version of this song; see it at YouTube! 
Another recording highlight of the year 2012 was being invited into Revolution Recording for a full day,
as part of the studio's professional development program for its junior engineers. Revolution is Joao Carvalho's other studio, touted as the highest end studio in town. It was GORGEOUS!  (Joao's another helpful supporter of me and the Alphabet, and he mastered Think yer so Smart) Although the intention was to include the 3 live tracks we got at Revolution on the album, the sounds ended up being quite different, and with the Blurton track already throwing a brick into the mix, I opted to keep these songs off Think yer so Smart. But the live Revolution tracks are still around, and are mixed and mastered... the songs themselves will certainly be included on the band's next album, at this point slated to be called Cruisin for a Bruisin, Truthfully, total time spent working on this album was much, much less than when recording in a home studio, as on previous Erika Werry albums, but the planning around peoples' busy schedules delayed getting things wrapped more quickly).


The end product, a 15-song, 43-minute album, true to the live sound of the band
 (except for the first track, which is the Ian Blurton production),
culminated in an incredible showcase of live music at the Piston in Toronto on April 4th, 2013.
Tim Vesely opened the show with a solo set of 5 or 6 of his great songs, f
ollowed by Joao Carvalho's band Lost and Profound. I
t was wonderful to keep our big release party an all-in-the-family affair;
truly if not for Tim and Joao, and not to mention the Alphabet, there would be no new album..
at least not just like this one. Me and the Alphabet performed a great set, with 6 members on stage,
complete with light show, and closed the evening with a screening of
the awesome video Keith Urquhart directed for us last summer
on the hottest day in Trinity Bellwoods park.
It's nice to have all of our hard works rewarded
in the form of this little square five inch cardboard wrapped disc
to offer for sale at our shows.
It does sound great; I love listening to it myself.
It looks great, too, thanks to Tom Perry's artwork.

I've been playing a while now, like.. 15 years or so.
I have friends who own amazing venues like The Piston and The Press Club...
gosh there really are so many great places to play in town,
and I mean just being around in the right places can sometimes lead to really cool opportunities,
for instance I opened for Richie Havens at Hugh's Room,
thanks to a fun game of pool at the Intersteer with Todd Bruder, the guy who used to book Hugh's.
He just mentioned something like "I need to find someone to open for Richie Havens"...
and you can bet I was all over that. haha. Havens was a sweetheart too;
he listened to my set, and after the gig we chatted for a bit.
He seemed like a genuinely happy soul; all he does is tour and play,
and after he plays his gig, he'll jam into the wee hours,
I enjoy talking about how I opened for the guy who opened for Woodstock.
I've also had the pleasure of playing at Mary Margaret O'Hara's martian awareness balls on St Paddy's days,
and various other one-off fun things,
singing a duet with Bob Wiseman at the Tranzac valentines day event,
played in other peoples' bands and sang at Glenn Gould studio with Christine Duncan's element choir,
but this is the first year I've really truly benifitted from being a Toronto girl,
with this album coming into being simply because Tim is a fan of my music
I opened for his 2008 Violet Archers cd release and that was another highlight gig,
 And then Joao also having heard my music , and being willing to help, just means so much to me.


I think like anywhere, if you stay in the same place too long you get put into a category.
People come and hear you once, and judge you. And certain places just won't give you a gig;
Toronto is a cliquey place.. (I can't even spell that word). Also, I keep applying for OAC grants but never get one, and then I see the list of people who do, and .. I mean, .. why them and not us?
There's no good answer to that question. The answer, like my dad would say, is "just because".
But overall I think Toronto's a great town. I love that I was born here, and my first babysitter was Chinese,
while my mom studied at U of T. She came to get me after class one day,
and the babysitter had fed me solid food, of some sort...
my mom figured the woman knew what she was doing, as she'd had babies before.
So my first real food was Chinese! I still love it.


like I said above, The Piston is #1. The new owners (of 3 years or so now)
fully rennovated the place, and built it especially for a great live band sound.
I love the owners at the Press Club, and it's a fun place to play... curiously, the room sounds great,
I think, even without a fancy PA or monitors etc. The Monarch tavern is turning into a nice place to play too.
We also enjoy the Horseshoe, and my big show in 2006 at The Supermarket has endeared that place to me forever. Now that Sam Grosso owns the El Mocambo, I have very high hopes for that venue. 
Sammy D: Who are the best local acts?
The Spanish Waiter and The Formula. No online presence,
I know I know it's pathetic but it makes them that much cooler...
they don't play much but when they do it blows my mind.
Neil Quin, if he'll ever play a solo show apart from his band Zeus,
Polyester Heart, if Dave Marcotte would come out of early retirement,
Emily Jill West, the sweetest songbird in town, Alun Piggins, Dryer, Leon Knight,
Dani Nash, John Borra, umm I know there are others...
John Tielli moved to Montreal but when he was here I was in his band and it was great. 

Sammy D: I auditioned to be Dryer's drummer once. 
So you sell hard copy of your album. why?

This is a great question!! Why indeed. I guess I'm just enough of a ... luddite,
to feel appreciation still for the hard copy. I listen to cds in the van. I really want to release a vinyl record someday; at home I listen to vinyl, or else my itunes...
the only thing I prefer about listening to music on my computer is not having to get up and flip the record.
And the real answer to the question is, because people do actually buy cds,
up north in the far flung places we play when on tour.
At least I HOPE that's still true!
Just yesterday, I wrote a song that made me feel so sad,
because it's such a sad song, but I wasn't sad in the first place.
put myself in someone else's shoes, and wrote from her perspective.
It's the first time I've been able to to that effectively, or even tried to,
and I hope to do more of it. I've written songs about my grandmothers,
and start crying if I think too much about the lyric while I'm singing...
 and yes, generally speaking, I'll write a sad song when sad, an angry song when angry,
but always the act of writing and completing a good new song always makes me feel good ; )
As for open stages, Sam Grosso offered to have me host a night for him when he still owned Graffitis in Kensington market, and it was a great open mic night - people still reminisce about it.
Mark Sasso used to bring his banjo down on a weekly basis, before starting his band Eliott Brood.
Dave Azzolini of the Golden Dogs, and so many other great songwriters used to come out.
I formed my first band there, with Ryan Fairhead on guitar and he recorded and produced my debut album which was awarded four NNNN's in NOW magazine. Today I think a great open mic night happens at Not my Dog on Wednesdays, and Mondays at the Tranzac, and Tuesdays at the Press Club, but I don't go too often.


Sammy D: what kind of guitar do you play? are you particular about your gear?

ERIKA
I'm not a gearhead, but friends who are make sure I have the good stuff;
Ryan Fairhead found my acoustic for me at the 12th fret years ago and called me up to go buy that guitar
It's a 1962 Gibson LG2 acoustic, a small size. Ryan installed a pickup in it for me,
so I can plug it in and I've been writing on that guitar and performing with it ever since.
Recently I've been playing the odd show with my 1971 sunburst Fender Telecaster,
through a vintage Princeton Reverb amp, and that sounds pretty cool. I'm playing that on a few of the album tracks, as well as the acoustic. With Mike Tuyp joining us more and more frequently,
whenever he's free, and he being the Tele King, as it were, I'm tending to play the songs on the acoustic
Really I think it's what I prefer, and the amount of stuff to carry is less, which is a bonus!
Sammy D: What are your goals for the rest of the year?

ERIKA
I plan to play as many shows as possible, in and out of town 
particularly the latter, either as a full band or as a touring acoustic duo act, 
and sell as many of these cds and just basically get the word out. 
THINK YER SO SMART. 
Our next show is Friday June 1st at the Silver Dollar,
 opening for two great bands:
Jimmy Ohio and the Ultimate Lovers (from Detroit), and
Simply Saucer (from Hamilton), so come early!!

Tuesday 2 April 2013

Sammy D in conversation with: The Mercy Now



Sam

How is the Mercy Now different 
now from when you started?

Russ 

We're older and fatter

Sam
How is Toronto different?

Russ 
More ethnicity in rock n roll

Dave
Toronto has always been a great city 
for musicians and fans alike. 
There is a never ending stream of great creative diverse artists. 
The sad thing about Toronto has always been 
that the music fans are spoiled.
We don't appreciate how vibrant and rare our scene is.
Toronto is truly a dirty little secret 
full of peeps with cold feet.
Really is time to dance like no one is watching. 
Life is too short

Sam
How does New York compare?

Russ 
Too broke to go there anymore


Dave 
New York is just a memory. Mostly poorly attended shows.
But I can say that those in attendance fuckin rocked.

Sam

I've been to some TO shows like that. 

Remember how I used to say if I ever went to Montreal 
I'd wind up either pregnant or married?


Russ 

Too broke to go there as well


Dave

 Um, you wouldn't get pregnant because you are a man.
You might meet a wife because the women are gorgeous and artfully cool.

Sam

Would you play in Europe? what countries and why?


Dave

Yes. All of them because it is Europe. 
I busked in Guelle Park in Barcelona once and it was magic.
I'd go back in a heartbeat if only somebody would actually pay us.

Russ  
Europe's going down...
Spain s got huge evictions. 
They need the rock n roll.

Sam
What does a living wage for a working musician mean to you?


Dave

Food, shelter, clothing, good times 
and a future for me and my family.
If we were able to multiply that by at least 4 we would not have day jobs.

Russ 
huh (working) musician where?

Sam

Whats your fave TO venue to play?

Russ 

cherry colas gets rowdy


Dave

 (No particular order) 
Silver Dollar, Horseshoe, Cherry Cola, Bovine,
Not my Dog which we haven't played in a long time. 
We should fix that. 
The whole Bar Sang on one of our songs on an early EP. 

Sam

what are your fave current TO bands?

Dave

Ian Blurtons new unnamed super group. 
We rehearse next door and 
they blast the heavy into our space.



Russ 

the mercy now

Sam

fave TO bars, restaurants?


Dave 

New kick ass music bar for all you mimico west 
lakeshore live music junkies.

Russ 

Not My Dog 
lol


Sam

whats the next Mercy Now release going to look like? 
how attached are you guys to packaging and media?

Russ 

online...

Dave

The Mercy Now is releasing a song a month for the next year online.

Russ

... we owe you three for 2013 

New video care of Warren Mcgoey coming within the month

Dave

If there is demand we would love to print it up on vinyl 
like our first record Self Control. 
We have already started recording with Ian Blurton
and (it's) sounding great...
Would love to own a copy on vinyl myself someday.



Sam

what are your goals in the studio?





Dave

Songwriting has always been the focus 
but the writing is more focused than ever.
Finally beat the prog out of the songs.
I'm surprised it took so long cause 
I personally have been over prog since I was 12.


Russ 

to re-invent the term Can-con- 
international is the main goal- 
no plaid


Sam

what producers/ productions excite you?



Russ 

quincy jones- off the wall



Sam

who is the most talented member of this band?

Russ 

Lee- multi instrumentalist and sound engineer, hands down



Sam

 how do you prefer to unwind after the nervous exilhiration(sic) of a good rockout?

Russ

 Breathing

Sam

what are your biggest musical influences?

Russ

the mercy now


Sam

 where do you see N American or World soul music changing or going in the 21st century?

Russ 

the mercy now

Dave


When we started we were a good live band 
and now we are great. That's right, I said it.
We have become the band that I would go see play 
if I wasn't in it.
You probably have a great vantage point to hear our evolution because you were there from the start. Thx Sam.



Russ 

up de dup de dum dum