Robert Drisdelle is music-obsessed. When the Century Egg guitarist isn’t working on the band’s upcoming record, he’s nerding out over Japanese rock music, learning about the maximalist production styles of DJ/composer/producer Yasutaka Nakata and spinning ideas for how this influence could appear in his own work. And when he’s not, as he puts it with […]
Morgan Mullin
Morgan was the Arts & Entertainment Editor at The Coast, where she wrote about everything from what to see and do around Halifax to profiles of the city’s creative class to larger cultural pieces. She started with The Coast in 2016.
Posted inArts + Music
New Music 2018: Kids Losing Sleep
When three of the four members of the pop-rock band Kids Losing Sleep start listing their influences, they shuffle around in a cafe booth, their matching black Converse-shod feet clapping as names get bounced around emphatically. Bassist Brycen Gunn loves Led Zeppelin, something that carries into the band’s churning rhythms, while the whole gang’s devout […]
Posted inArts + Music
New Music 2018: Frail Hands
From the opening notes of Frail Hands’ debut, S / T, it’s clear the “melody-driven hardcore” five-piece’s name isn’t picked for literal reasons: Guitars offer punk-tinged noodling as the beat knocks your eardrums off the sides of your brain. It takes something decidedly un-frail to make a sound so ferocious—and, as guitarist Tom Burke puts […]
Posted inArts + Music
New Music 2018: Jody Upshaw & Shay Pitts
Jody Upshaw and Shay Pitts bound into a downtown coffee shop together, so engrossed in conversation they move through the doorframe at the same time. The two teens’ laughter trails as they push into a corner booth, discussing how Pitts is newly grounded for the small diamond stud sitting directly under her nose. They’re best […]
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New Music 2018: Maura Whitman
Maura Whitman is only a teenager and is already more together than you’ll ever be. The Halifax singer—who describes her style as a pop-/R&B fusion (“I really love Alicia Keys, I think she’s super cool—mostly because I play the piano and she influenced me in that sense, and I really love Demi Lovato and her […]
Posted inArts + Music
Enter sandcastle: celebrating 40 years of Clam Harbour’s annual competition
Clam Harbour Sandcastle Competition Clam Harbour Beach, 158 Beach Road Sunday, August 12 9am-6pm It all started with $200 and a beach. Charlotte Wilson-Hammond had heard of the sandcastle competitions in California that drew huge crowds as artists sculpted sand into shapes of all kinds, and was sure that a similar event at the strip […]
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Make your Natal Day long weekend extra-lit with these Sure Things
Multiple fireworks shows and the Halifax Busker Festival bring high-energy glitz to the holiday weekend, while the Halifax Opera Fest continues a glamour-doused run and a Caribbean culture fest heats up The Common for maximum good times. Twelfth Night Friday, Sunday As Shakespeare By The Sea continues to celebrate its 25th season, the theatre company […]
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Have a weekend that’s absolutely extra with these Sure Things
Being low key is not always the recipe for maximum summer weekend fun, as this weekend’s over-the-top happenings prove: Live it up as early-2000s legend Thrice throws a free show, Pride wraps with its beloved Dykes vs Divas baseball game, RuPaul’s Drag Race star Thorgy Thor hosts the first-ever drag queen-led orchestra in Canada from […]
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Have the best weekend under the rainbow with these Sure Things
Pride Parade 2018 and the annual Africa Festival of Arts and Culture brighten the weekend, plus FIN Outdoor takes a bow with its final summer screening and Kim Harris says so long to Halifax (for now). Halifax Pride Parade 2018 Saturday Arguably the biggest parade of the year (and certainly the most colourful!) returns this […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Bailly Perfume smells like good spirits
When Ariel Gough and Edwina Govindsamy first met—on a friend date set up by Gough’s mom—there was good energy right away. “I think the first time that we met for coffee at Starbucks, we just clicked and knew that we wanted to start something together. It took us awhile to figure out what that was,” […]
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Jazz Fest: Land of Talk
Land of Talk Thursday, July 12, 7pm St. Matthew’s United Church $35 Elizabeth Powell doesn’t have it all figured out, but she sure is trying. The frontperson of acclaimed indie outfit Land of Talk has just returned from a morning run when she answers the phone, full of energy and new revelations. “I had another […]
Posted inArts + Music
Have a festive, summery weekend with these Sure Things
It’s a festival-filled weekend as Lebanese Fest, Cat Fest and the East Coast Kite Fest take off around town, but there’s lots more going on, including Dre Ngozi and Nino Brown melting the dance floor at Lion & Bright and sculptor Robert Murray gets his first solo Nova Scotian show. Monster Jam Saturday, Sunday Jacked-up […]