Montreal’s Creature emerged from its recent tour of China feeling like “we were part of a new scene,” says drummer-vocalist Sid Sanforlin. Beijing only has about four clubs for indie bands, and Creature played two of them. “The second night was 500 Chinese people, and people were eating it up. It was amazing to see […]
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Dana Carly Andrews croons in Finch
Another Ontario singer-songwriter has brought her raw talent to Halifax. Unintentionally following the trail of Jill Barber before her, 21-year-old Dana Carly Andrews has drawn limitless inspiration from her loves and losses, both in Halifax and back home. At her free show Friday night at Minstrels, the singer-artist-actor might just break your heart with lyrics […]
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King Khan’s smoking BBQ
Mark Sultan calls during one of those sloppy Monday afternoons where the sun keeps peeking out tantalizingly from beneath a wet blanket of fog. His lovely voice is an unrecognizable rasp. He’s been in Mexico for nine days, drinking vodka and dodging drunks while playing in his band, The King Khan and BBQ Show. One […]
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The Bad Plus is all good
“Wouldn’t it be great to hear a jazz version of Led Zeppelin?” That’s what Reid Anderson asked his bandmate Dave King, when the two first played together in high school, two decades ago. “It’s always been part of the jazz tradition to play the pop music of the day,” Anderson says. Playing a mix of […]
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The Pack A.D. kicks your ass
Don’t let a Monday night stop you: Vancouver’s The Pack A.D. will kick your Monday—and every other night—in the ass. For a two-piece band, they put on an intense performance, playing blues-fuelled garage rock. Their album Funeral Mixtape was released a year ago, but the duo’s still been touring since March, managed to record a […]
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Beatles memorabilia: Here, there and everywhere
You don’t have to look hard to see Mike Spurr’s obsession. The police sergeant stands on his Waverley porch wearing a Yellow Submarine t-shirt. Three Beatles-related prints line a wall in his family’s living room, including a limited-edition photo by Astrid Kirchherr of a young John Lennon, George Harrison and early member Stu Sutcliffe, sporting […]
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Dinosaur Jr. runs on fossil fuels
If you remember anything about pioneering indie rockers Dinosaur Jr., you’ll recall the fiery relationship between bassist Lou Barlow and guitarist J Mascis as much as the sheer volume and intensity of the band. So if Barlow admits to being a perennial shit disturber, you might expect him to say as much. Still, four years […]
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Slackers do undoubtably great ska
Slackers’s saxophonist Dave Hillyard wants to make one thing abundantly clear: Although his band is technically considered ska, they’ve got nothing to do with No Doubt. “We play very old music,” he says. “We call it Jamaican rock ‘n’ roll—but we’re not faking being Jamaican. We sing about our lives in New York and we […]
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Mix Master Mike’s DJ revolution
Watch for UFOs suddenly appearing in the north end of Halifax. The Beastie Boys’ DJ Mix Master Mike is coming to rock the Paragon Friday night with a no-holds-barred, “don’t bring your pillows, bring your hockey stick, in-your-face, psychedelic funk instrumental hip-hop show,” and he might just be bringing the aliens with him. “Humans cannot […]
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Gypsophilia’s fresh face
Nick Wilkinson raises his hand to block fellow guitar player Ross Burns’ beard, and squints. The Gypsophilia boys are picturing what they’d look like with moustaches, only. The new aesthetic is inspired by trumpet player Matt Myer, who shaved his beard to showcase his moustache. Now the three other bearded members have a dilemma: to […]
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Krasnogorsk and the Moscow Country Club get around
The Krasnogorsk is a Soviet movie camera and a suburb of Moscow, but Halifax’s Krasnogorsk can be found playing on the number seven bus, in trees, on the Common or on tall ships. Violinist Jacques Mindreau interrupted baritone ukulele player Corey Hinchey’s interview with a potential roommate last fall; he “started playing music with him, […]
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Gianna Lauren fits in swell
“I didn’t have a job, I wasn’t coming for school, I just got in my car and drove here,” says Gianna Lauren. The Edmonton native arrived via Ottawa in January, with an EP (Fist in a Heart) and a plan: to become part of the local music scene. “I found the scene really insular,” she […]
