As of press time, word was the city will lease The Khyber Club space to the Khyber Arts Society until February 19 after all, as previously agreed. What will happen after that date is still up in the air. Stay tuned.
Search them
What began as the fusion of musical talents between three New Brunswick high school friends and their like-minded neighbours has, at long last, produced a record. Woodstock High School grads Isaaq Thompson, Garrett Barker and Bill Wilson met Tim Topping and Jason Methot while attending university, forming The Search for Alexander over Christmas 2002. They’ve finished their first LP, A Spade, A Frame, and Flowers in the Background.
“We were friends long before we were even playing music together, we all knew we played music and sat around talking about being a band. Then one day we were all like, ‘Hey, we all play so why don’t we start a band together?’” says vocalist and guitarist Wilson. “We spent about a year after we first started just writing songs and rehearsing, and not playing anything. Then another year, maybe, playing live before we went to start recording.”
Wilson says there are themes that bind the effort.
“A lot of them, I find, are about relationships. Whether with friends, girlfriends, or authority figures even. Basic little stories that happen in life and how you’re going to get through them,” he explains.
The album has been available at shows since its first pressing in December, but the official CD release on February 9 with War Pony and The Fantods will be Search for Alexander’s first big push in its support.
Oh, MIANS! Er, MNS
The Music Industry Association of Nova Scotia announced on Tuesday it would be dropping the IA from its acronym, and will henceforth be known as Music Nova Scotia. Executive Director Gordon Lapp says it’s part of the marketing strategy for an organization that has experienced noteworthy increases in membership and prominence, especially over the past year.
“It’s not just a name change, it’s a whole sort of brand re-launch. We’re clearly getting to be a little more of a well-known organization, a little more in the public eye,” he says. ”MIANS is, you know…what is MIANS? When you say Music Nova Scotia it’s pretty clear what you’re talking about.”
The announcement — coupled with a complementary logo change — comes soon before the East Coast Music Awards. Lapp says this timing was intended to coincide with the ECMA hype.
“As a matter of fact, we’ve put a little bit of a fast-track launch on this thing. We have the Junos coming up, which Music Nova Scotia is very involved in with the local host committee,” he says, correcting himself after almost saying MIANS. “And also the ECMAs, Canada Music Week, South by Southwest…all of which are coming up over the next six weeks. We certainly wanted to launch the brand before those opportunities came up. This is a good opportunity to get word out within a short period of time.”
Power stance
Campus-community radio station CKDU is asking you to be its Valentine as it expands its broadcast power. Sometimes difficult to pick up around town, the old 97.5FM will go off the air at 1pm on February 14. It will reappear at a new high-powered frequency at 88.1FM at 7pm.
It ain’t pretty
Not only is JD Fortune bringing INXS to town for the Junos, but Bryan Adams will also be there to receive a lifetime achievement award. Adams will return the following week with the fab Kathleen Edwards in tow.
Who’s your main act? [email protected]