Laraaji Here’s something you need to experience: Twinkling, cyclical zither music from the world’s most interesting man, Laraaji—Eno collaborator, comedian, actor, New York fixture, multi-instrumentalist, meditation master, cool person. Sunday, 7:30pm, Fort Massey United Church; Laughter Meditation Workshop Sunday, 2pm, Halifax Central Library, pre-registration required 902-490-5700 OBABY with The Magic Project This year’s installment of […]
OBEY Convention
Senyawa’s chemical compound
“A literal translation of the word senyawa would be ‘chemical compound’. It’s used to describe when two or more different elements combine and create something new. In this case it is my partner Wukir Suryadi and I who are the two different chemical elements. He stands for nature—which is represented by his bamboo instrument—and I […]
OBEY Convention early line-up announcement
Celebrating the 10th edition of the festival, OBEY X, the OBEY Convention announced the early line-up for spring’s wildest festival, including Indonesian folk, hip-hop, thrash metal and more. Clear the ol’ calendar for May 25-28, across the city at “alternative and historic venues” (over half of the programming free and all ages) OBEY once again […]
Chicago Producer RP Boo’s dancing drive
RP Boo w/Thrillah, EDDY/BUDI, DJ Goldilocks Friday, March 3, 10pm Menz & Mollyz Bar, 2182 Gottingen Street $20 OBEY Convention has been at the forefront of presenting underground music and art in Halifax for years, as each spring its namesake festival lines up artists that cross genre lines and push the boundaries of sound and […]
Techno with DJ Kaz_Kandy
“The music I tend to play is usually techno and acid house,” says DJ Kaz_Kandy (AKA Kelly Zwicker). “Sometimes I like playing EDM and minimal-wave, but techno is a really transcendent type of music for me. I love how repetitive and hard-hitting it can be, while still having so much depth. Plus, it’s just super-fun […]
Brave Radar’s minimalist pop
Playing soft and intricate pop, Brave Radar began as the solo project of Sydney, Australia’s Conor Prendergast. After moving to Montreal, he was joined by Halifax’s Tessa Smith of Fixture Records. The band has since grown to be a four-piece, full-fledged member of Montreal’s independent scene, with Smith’s label at the centre. If he could […]
The EverySeeker Symposium debuts
OBEY Convention is more than just a weekend of seeing wicked, life-changing bands. For its ninth and most robust year, OBEY has prepared its very first music lecture series, the EverySeeker Symposium, running in tandem with the rest of the festival. Organized by former Halifax musician and current music theory student Dave Ewenson, who is […]
Marie Davidson, electro poet
“I find inspiration in my everyday life,” says Montreal composer, poet and synth-artist Marie Davidson. “I often take notes of thoughts I’ve had or things that people say to me. If you come close to me, you might end up in a song.” Since the release of her debut LP Perte d’identitĂ© in 2014, Davidson […]
Peerless avant-garde music from Zs
“Zs has no peers really,” says Sam Hillmer, founder and tenor saxophonist of his Brooklyn-based experimental avant-garde ensemble (pronounced the American way, “zees”). “But there are really engaged audiences.” With Patrick Higgins and Greg Fox, Zs is a sonic experience that exceeds expectation, even though “expectation is the death of experience,” Hillmer says. With swelling […]
Art In Fest finds its range
Until the iconic Khyber Building on Barrington Street was closed in 2014, the Khyber Centre for the Arts served as headquarters for the OBEY Convention. Visual artists would create installations for the festival, like prismatic ceiling pyramids in the ballroom, or Mitchell Wiebe’s black-light paintings in the attic or poetry readings, poster sales and waffle […]
Art In Fest finds its range
Until the iconic Khyber Building on Barrington Street was closed in 2014, the Khyber Centre for the Arts served as headquarters for the OBEY Convention. Visual artists would create installations for the festival, like prismatic ceiling pyramids in the ballroom, or Mitchell Wiebe’s black-light paintings in the attic or poetry readings, poster sales and waffle […]
Fall in—your complete guide to OBEY Convention is here
In this, its ninth year, OBEY is bigger and more inclusive than ever. Along with the standard tightly curated collection of boundary pushing music shows and the Khyber’s Art In Fest running all weekend—Thursday, May 26 through Sunday, May 29—the festival features a new lecture series, the EverySeeker Symposium, plus a mandate to make more […]

