Slowcity.ca Open Mic with Rich Aucoin, The Rentals, Marcus King, Lindy Vopnfjörd, Luke De-Sciscio, Austra, Maya Killtron, Nation of Language, Sorry,

By Will McGuirk

To make just to make, to share just to share, to connect just to connect - to act without intent nor purpose, to act not to affect, but just to express, to give voice - we are nearing, probably, in a time when the wheat and chaff of music is ascertained, the value is no longer in coin but coinciding- who has figured out how to put soul into the machine - find them, reap. And as for a livelihood?

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“The song talks about the good things in life sometimes not sticking around for long." - Marcus King

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“There’s a struggle that forms as I attempt to balance my social media content to keep me both informed about the world and inspired to create. Connectivity often feels like it keeps me chained or absent, but simultaneously it can also drive me to go make new things. Perhaps it’s just an excuse I make for myself, but in my head there really is a push/pull that exists, and so I’m left trying to find a way to develop some kind of reasonable symmetry within the tension of my tech habits.” - Ian Devaney of Nation of Language

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Protest The Hero release 'The Canary', first single from new album 'Palimpsest'

By Will McGuirk

The intriguingly titled new album from prog-metal musos Protest The Hero will be available June 19 2020. Pre-orders for ‘Palimpsest’ are now being taken, and there are a few bundle choices. Palimpsest for those who don’t google refers to the reuse of a medium, its a medieval thing, but for PTH, does it mean renew, recycle, recreate, refer, - or maybe after the scraping singer Rody Walker’s voice took two years ago the title is a nod to those issues and his return to form. it will be a lot of digging in on the new album to get the messaging. Here is the new single, “The Canary” - Amelia Earhart’s yellow bird may be the thing here. Lot of flight references in Protest’s catalogue, must dig into that too. And dig into Walker’s soaring vox performance, his voice takes flight - oh damn how did that slip in there!

Slowcity.ca Open Mic with Catherine MacLellan and Tara MacLean, Pharis and Jason Romero, Satellite & the Harpoonist, T. Thomason and Rose Cousins

By Will McGuirk

Slow living, living slow, indoors out of the fray, but slowly little by little, breath by breath the words fade and fall and slowly, breath by breath, one by one we will become two by two then. . .

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"For me, this song is about connecting. It's a reminder to have patience and to know that in time all wounds are healed. There are moments, especially now, when we can't be with those we love, but we can always reach out. We will find ways to be with one another, in person, virtually or spiritually"    - Catherine MacLellan

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“Most of our songs are about other people; it’s exhilarating to sing such a personal song. It’s a release, a permission to be frank about the outward charade I can create, and what it is I desire - ease, smiles, love. Knowing that love - especially for myself - is the channel that guides me best. The yodel at the end is so me at my core, when I’m feeling great and relieved.” - Pharis

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“To me it reflects the spiralling of our current predicament and how easy it is to be lost in our collective mad descent, while still being lovingly engaged and aware of our situation.” - Shawn Hall

Finding peace in being alone, Jaunt release 'All In One' videos series, ahead of album release

By Will McGuirk

The six pieces of Jaunt took an each one reach one approach to releasing their new album, ‘All In One’ available Thursday Apr 16 2020. A series of videos, one for each member, were created with tranquilo. Oddly they show snapshots of what each member would do while STAYING AT HOME!! But they were created before the Covid-19 orders!! Whuuuut!! The artists see the present, the rest of us see the past as Marshall says.
“These videos shot in January were originally intended to highlight the serenity found in everyday acts of escape in self-care — painting, cooking, listening, reading, cleaning, watching. Now in this new era we are all experiencing together, they seem less about escape and more about our collective confinement. In lockdown the intended meaning of the videos, let alone the album as a whole, has completely changed. Finding a sense of peace in the otherwise lonely aspects of routine felt, in January, aspirational. Now, it feels necessary, almost mandatory." - Jaunt

WATCH THE ALL IN ONE VISUAL ALBUM HERE

#StayAtHome - Rody of Protest the Hero teases new band album, plus new solo project

By Will McGuirk

You may, at times, wonder what Protest The Hero are up to of late. We at slowcity.ca sure do. The roaring prog-metal rollers have been quiet for some time but if you have, as we have, been following the social medias you will know lead vox, Rody Walker, has been being a dad, building a lo-fi punk home gym and teasing us with news of a new album. Details are to drop soon, soon as in this week, so while we are all waiting with bated and moistly masked breath for news from the PTH camp we emailed Rody to see how Covid-19 has impacted his life and the band’s plans. AND then he teases us with news of a solo album!! Also can someone tell me how one turns the thermostat into a radio!

Slowcity.ca: Can you update me on the changes around Protest The Hero between now and the last album, have there been member changes?

Rody Walker: “There hasn’t really been any member changes since our last release. Mike’s been drumming in the band since Moe left, and Cam has been playing bass on record since Arif left. We toured with a great little bass player named Eric Gonzalvez because Cam was busy, but Cam did the bass on the new record.”

SC: How are you dealing with the planning of a record release, with physical product and tours to plan - and all in the midst of Covid-19 pandemic? What are you thinking of doing?

RW: “There’s no way to really predict when touring will be a viable option again, clearly crossing any borders is out of the question, but we don’t really even know when it’ll be okay to tour nationally. We’ll just have to wait and see what the new world looks like on the other side of this shit.”

SC: It has been sometime since the last album, is there an underlying narrative to the new album? How have the songs being made/ discovered/ created - melodies first, lyrics first? jamming? Who took the lead on this album's creation?

RW: “There is an overarching theme to the whole record, I don’t really want to spell it out just yet as I’d like for people to get an opportunity to sit with it and interpret it first. The song writing wasn’t that different than any of the other records. The dudes got together and wrote the music, sent it to me and I wrote the words and melodies at the same time.”

SC: You have been active online on the social media, what are your days like now and how do you find time to make music?

RW: “Yea it’s for sure difficult to find the time, mostly just because I’m alone with my son all day everyday. I find the time to write a little music everyday though. I often write while he’s napping. Lately I’ve been doing twitch streams and writing a bunch of garbage music for an audience.”

SC: Are you able to create and rehearse at home? if yes what is the set-up?

RW: “Oh yea, luckily I built a little studio in my basement so I could record from home, which is exactly where I did this album. It’s great, I’m actually really productive, I’ve written an absolute buttload of music. So on top of the new PTH record I’ll also be releasing self produced solo shit this year.”

SC: It may be sometime until live shows are a thing again, tell me your fondest memories of being on the road and your fave shows that PTH have performed? Remind us how much fun it is to gather for music?

RW: “We spent a long time on tour since we were very young and a lot of the magic that we once found in it had been usurped. It’s actually been more than a year since we’ve played live. I think we needed that time and maybe even more to rediscover the reasons why we loved it in the first place.”

SC: In what bands or music are you finding some solace in, what are the top five you are listening too these days?

RW: “Four Year Strong’s new record is at the very top for me right now. Mappe of’s new record ‘The Isle of Ailynn’ is incredible and constantly spinning on my record player. I’ve been listening to a Garth Brooks playlist on my thermostat a lot, because he signed an exclusive deal with Amazon and I refuse to pay for Amazon music. Finally in the wake of his recent death we’ve been tossing on a lot of John Prine, one of the finest songwriters and story tellers of our lifetimes.”

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#StayAtHome - Sail away on the sounds of Mappe Of

By Will McGuirk

If Covid-19 cabin fever is stirring inside, just strap on the headphones and immerse yourself in the prog-realism of Mappe Of’s latest album ‘The Isle of Ailynn’; its a sonic get-outside. An album-length accompanying video has been released to feast your eyes on as you take yourself away for a fantastic voyage. Music is a healer, it is in these times more so and the space Mappe Of (aka Tome Meikle of Whitby, ON) has drawn up, out and on, is one well-earned wellness break. As we all await the captain’s orders we reached out to Tom to see how he is faring in our land of Pandemia.

Slowcity: Woodshedding doesn't seem to be an issue for you, I say that as I haven't heard from you in a while and then wow you come out with this great visualisation for the album - artists disappear and then appear with new work but how has this enforced woodshedding affected you?

Mappe Of: “It's definitely something I've done habitually in the past to get in a certain headspace. I spent a few days alone in a literal cabin in the woods for the past few summers, not necessarily to write music but to have the space to let that stuff brew. It's in my nature to lay low I think, so the current situation isn't entirely out of my comfort zone. That said, interacting with human beings is an essential part of making things, so we're still exploring ways for that to happen.”

Slowcity: Do you feel pressure to create or are you chilling? 

MO: “I think there is an element of that, but not far beyond where it was before anyways. That pressure is always there in varying degrees. Particularly now because there was sort of a cultural thing of 'all these artists are going to hole up and make records during the pandemic', which is a nice concept but not entirely realistic. I feel grateful to have something that I can pour myself into at this time though, that's for sure.”

Slowcity: Tell me about the video - its genesis and what further plans do you have to dig deeper into the Isle of Ailynn?

MO: “We've been working on this virtual reality project for some time now, and these 2D visuals were developed from the VR stuff for the album release show in November. We decided to release them as something that might ease folks' minds during this tectonic shift. We have plans to develop the project beyond the 2D video realm, as it was created entirely in VR, so has the potential to become a much more immersive experience. We're on the hunt for further resources on that front. There's a whole bunch of lore and whatnot I developed for the record that has yet to see the light of day, so I'm looking forward to incorporating new mediums like this to deliver that world-building. “

“NAC CanadaPerforms series of live stream performances on Wednesday, April 29th at 7PM EDT. ”

Slowcity: There is an opportunity for innovation around performance and delivery of music at this time - what are you cooking up to reach out and share the tunes?

MO: “I just did a live stream with the creators of the visuals (Kristyn Watterworth and Ed Platero) on YouTube Live, and I'll be performing for the NAC CanadaPerforms series of live stream performances on Wednesday, April 29th at 7PM EDT. I'm doing some experimenting right now with tech setups and ways to adapt to our new situation.”

Slowcity: Are you talking the opportunity to go down some music rabbit holes - what records have you been listening to? and why?

MO: “I've been going back to stuff like Nick Drake and Joni Mitchell recently, along with digging into Hiss Golden Messenger a ton, but also a bunch of instrumental guitar stuff like John Fahey and William Tyler. A little bit of video game soundtrack music, some of the Studio Ghibli soundtracks, and a lot of Oneohtrixpointnever. As for why, the acoustic guitar has always been a grounding, friendly presence for me, and maybe the intense electronic stuff like Oneohtrix offsets it with a healthy dose of dystopia? The video game soundtracks just make me feel good. 

Slowcity: Its curious to me, as I said in the review for slowcity.ca, you created a place to travel to with that record - listening to it is a staycation but where do you go when you go out into the physical world - are you seeking wilderness, plazas, water - where is your physical Isle of Ailynn?

MO: “My physical Isle is definitely the wilderness, but sometimes not so far away, sometimes it's just this tree by the waterfront in Whitby that has a perfect shape for sitting in, sometimes it's in the middle of a lake in a canoe. Wherever you can find those moments.”

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So good, Evening Hymns new single 'I Can Only Be So Good'

By Will McGuirk

Evening Hymns (aka Jonas Bonetta) has released the first single from his upcoming new album ‘Heavy Nights’ due for a summer drop on Shuffling Feet Records. The track is a gentle plea to an ex-lover to keep their distance as temptation can overwhelm even the best of us. Evening Hymns has always been among the best of us in many ways, but most definitely when it comes to songwriting.

#StayAtHome - The Standstills, upbeat in downtown Oshawa

By Will McGuirk

Although The Standstills tour and travel to record across the continent, they continue to live downtown Oshawa. These nice guys of rock ‘n roll, Jonny Fox on guitar and Renee Couture on drums, are isolating in their condo, making music, listening to music and working on some DIY projects including a vertical balcony garden made from a wooden palette. The couple have always been big boosters of the city’s core, supporting local businesses in any way they can and in our interview with the band below they shout out Mathilda’s, a restaurant on Simcoe Street with plant-based menu items.

Slowcity.ca: Assuming you are both together - How has the Covid-19 affected your plans for the release of new music and for live shows?​

Standstills: “We are together and Covid-19 has changed everything. Release dates will be pushed because studios are closed and our shows have been postponed with no determined new dates BUT it's given us a chance to reinvent our creative process”.

SC: Are you isolating at home, in downtown Oshawa - how is that going, what is the downtown like in respect of the small businesses you frequent or places you would go to?

S: “Physically yes, mentally no. It's going fine. The geese have taken over, we remain optimistic. Mathilda's is still open.”

SC: How are you using the time to create new music - how is that working at home rather than in a studio or rehearsal apace?

S: “We are spending a lot of time writing. Since the lock down we have left our rehearsal space behind and set up a "in the box" type of recording space in our home. It's sparked a lot of creativity and inspiration.”

SC: Do you feel pressure to create and be productive? How are you dealing with that pressure?

S: “We felt that pressure prior to being isolated but now we are free to create at our own pace, which so far has been very rewarding.”

SC: In what other ways besides music are you filling the time?

S: “Honestly music is 90% of our day, If we're not playing or writing we are listening to albums or watching live videos. The other 10% is mostly spent cooking together, video chatting with friends and family, prepping the garden for spring and watching movies.”

SC: Are you digging into music more, listening to new records, catching up with old? Can you give me five albums you are enjoying at this time?

S: “Absolutely. Mostly old but a bit of new. Currently in rotation; Pearl Jam- Gigaton, Soundgarden- Badmoterfinger, Thrice- Palms, Mogwai- Hardcore will never die, but you will, and Our Lady Peace- Spiritual Machines.”

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#StayAtHome - A scream into the Void, Ellis quietly releases 'Born Again'

By Will McGuirk

Ellis became part of our Shwarawk City crew by way of her marriage to Whitby raised passion punk Chastity. Her initially long-distance relationship, as Ellis (aka Linnea Siggelkow) is based in the Hammer, finds its way into her new album ‘Born Again.’ The album just dropped April 3 right in the middle of this new world ordering. Although Ellis describes the record as “screaming into the void”, ‘Born Again’ is soft-spoken, intimate in its exploration and expression of the essence of one life. The Edvard Munch scream of Ellis is the common ground with the all who are striving to not be ground down by the grind. In the all of the yell there is the one of each one but on the bridge a connection to each, a place where one meets one. And that place can be found in the entanglement of a couple by a hidden suburban stream underneath the roadway. And that place can have a name and in Linnea’s case, a delicate and delightful shout-out to a meeting place many in Whitby would be acutely aware of, where one met one and both born again, (personal experience - Ed). And here we are in this place together apart, as we are all told to ‘shelter-in-place’, Ellis reminds us, we do find a shelter in place, a place value, and where we are born has much to do with why we are born again.

Slowcity.ca: Pringle Creek in Whitby has quite the history; beyond your song and Chastity’s “Manning Hill”, it runs behind Anderson high school, K-Os and members of Protest The Hero are alumni. The creek is the inspiration for the series of Nethergrim books by Matt Jobin; growing up in the area he played in the waters and woods like a modern day Tom Sawyer. What is your relationship with Pringle Creek and why did it inspire the track of the same name?

Ellis: “I didn’t know about that book series! That’s so cool. I grew up west of Toronto and it wasn’t until I started dating Brandon (Williams) that I spent any time in Durham Region. There’s a line in the song that says “you take me to places that I have never been”, and that’s referencing all these little spots in the area that were unfamiliar to me at the time, but were really significant in Brandon’s life and became really special to me too. Whitby has come to be my second home and I love it there. We would often go for walks along Pringle Creek, particularly when we needed to have tough conversations - it sort of became this sacred place in our relationship where we’d go to work through things. This song is meant to be a nod to Whitby and the beginning of our relationship, from the moments of bliss to the moments of doubt, and ultimately the foundation we were building together.”

SC: There is something already nostalgic about getting on a train to see someone as you sing on “Pringle Creek” - how are you dealing with this rapid transformation we are in?

E: “I hadn’t really thought of it like that, but you’re right! I am taking things day by day - some days are better than others! It’s hard to stay positive about this when it’s such a scary time for many people, physically and emotionally and financially, and there’s no real end in sight. I am having difficult time not being able to see my friends and family. For me, isolation and staying inside are usual signs that I’m not at my best, mentally, so it’s hard to not get into that headspace when there’s no other choice.”

SC: How has the Covid 19 situation affected your plans around the album release?  

E: “My album came out on April 3, and I’m so relieved to have it out in the world, but it’s obviously not at all how I had imagined it. I am meant to be on a big tour in support of the record, and that’s obviously all been cancelled. For an artist like me, touring is the most important way to promote a new record, and it’s pretty devastating to not be able to do that.  I’ve worked really hard on everything leading up to this moment, and it feels like the moment sort of just got taken away from me. “

SC: There is an sense of interior to the new album, its very intimate, how does being indoors affect your songwriting and how do you translate (hopefully sometime soon) these songs into a bigger outdoor performance - if at all?

E: “It’s funny to hear you say it like that, because I have spent the last while working on the live show with my band in preparation for the tour, sort of figuring out how to translate these songs from the recordings into a live performance that feels big and full and alive. Now I am having to do the exact opposite, with live streams and home-video recordings of stripped down solo-performances. I do not typically enjoy playing solo - I played my very first show as Ellis by myself, and told myself I’d never do it again! But you’re right- the record is very intimate, and maybe these performances will better compliment that aspect of these songs. I am very much looking forward to performing them the way I had intended to, though, with a full band, as soon as I’m able!”

SC: It must be so frustrating to have something to release into the world and have to restrict it, how are you dealing with this frustration?

E: “Putting this record out sort of feels just like screaming into the void and hoping that anyone will hear. I am lucky in that I am feeling so supported by my friends and family, my labels and management, my local community, and even strangers on the internet who all made release day very special for me, but it was also pretty anti-climactic. With all the record stores closed and not being able to play shows, the release almost doesn’t feel real.”

SC: What plans do you have to get the music out, online performances like tonight of course and what else? 

E: “I’ve done my first few live streams and have a bunch more lined up. This is totally out of my element, it’s awkward and strange and hard to get used to! But I’m grateful for the opportunity to connect with people, to get to share my songs despite all of this, and to stay busy. It’s been cool to see how people have come together and are using the internet to create these spaces for ‘live music’ to still exist. We’re all adapting to our new normal. I’ll be posting about all of the performances as they come up.”

SC: Music is of course the healer; your’s, Brandon’s, what music are you digging into these days to get by - can you send me five artists or songs you are turning to?

E: “I definitely agree with that - especially listening to new music being released during all of this has been helpful, to remind me that the world is still turning, you know? Five recent releases I’ve been really into are Waxahatchee - Saint Cloud, Soccer Mommy - Color Theory, Andy Shauf- The Neon Skyline, Grimes - Miss Anthropocene, and Half Waif - The Caretaker. <3”

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#StayAtHome - Oshawa Music Awards livestream series - Shawn Mendes and Jules McCools win

By Will McGuirk

Due to Covid-19 the organisers of the 2020 Oshawa Music Awards galas scheduled for Friday Apr 3 and Saturday Apr 4 at the Oshawa Music Hall were cancelled but not the awards themselves. Tonight (Apr 4) at 7 p.m. the OMAs, presented by Durham Regions innovation tech hub, the Spark Centre, launched the first of eight scheduled live-streams of the awards.

With host Sandy Horne, of the Spoons, as well as Sherry Colbourne and Kristina Svana of the Spark Centre, safely social distancing in their respective homes, the awards began with two categories, best single and best video.

Daniel Caesar of Oshawa, Shawn Mendes of Pickering and Chastity of Whitby were the ‘Single of the Year’ Nominees. Chastity, at home, after cancelling his European tour, took part in the live-stream and spoke to his award nomination.

Shawn Mendes was the winner for his song “Senorita”.

Next up was the ‘Video of the Year’ category with Oshawa roots outfit The Doozies (directed by the North Brothers), Jules McCools (directed Keegan Doyle) also from Oshawa, and country singer Leah Daniels (director Tim Deegan) from Uxbridge the nominees.

McCools and Doyle, Daniels and Deegan, the North Brothers and Josh Kvasnak of the Doozies took part in the livestream with the award going to Jules McCools for the video for his song “Encore.”

To revisit the live stream go here ->

Slowcity.ca Open Mic with Jordan Klassen, Thao & the Get Down, Ant Saunders, Amtrac, Tops, Blue Stones, and the Elwins

By Will McGuirk

Are you happy where you are? If you had been given fair warning would you have chosen where you are to quarantine, would you have chosen who you are with, would you have chosen the same city? If you answer in the negative what changes would you have made and more importantly what changes will you make when this lifts, where will you move to?

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“When writing the EP, I wanted to present it from the perspective of my consciousness growing up. I was always (and still am) a shy and anxious person. Doing what I was most comfortable with and disregarding what everybody would think was what I would aim for, but I restricted myself. It was the type of restriction which, in my mind, felt like being inside a bubble.” - Ant Saunders

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#StayAtHome - Dark metal harpist Lindsay Schoolcraft, looking on the bright side

By Will McGuirk

2020 Juno nominee for Best Metal Artist, what a crowning achievement for Oshawa’s metal queen. The nomination was for Lindsay Schoolcraft’s solo album, ‘Martyr’ but the COVID-19 pandemic has meant the cancellation of the JUNOs and Lindsay, who was on her way to the award ceremonies in Saskatchwan when word came in, returned home.

Lindsay tells slowcity.ca in an email, the unfortunate part of it now is the cancellation of her hometown show at the Oshawa Music Hall, which was scheduled for May but there’s a bright side to the darkness.

“Unfortunately had to cancel my home town show, but I did plan to use this time to write for future albums so if anything it’s halted business so I can focus more on my creativity,” she says.

That creative takes the form of working on new music, concentrating on learning her instrument, the harp, more and having toured from 2018 into 2019 Lindsay is enjoying the time off the road, plus digging back into records.

“I’ve actually gone back to the 90s, have really caught up with Massive Attack and Bjork. . . . but I can say I’ve mainly listened to Bjork’s ‘Vespertine Live’ and Portishead’s ‘Live in NYC’. There is something about live strings that always pulls me back. Or pulls at my “heart strings” so to say.”

Staying in touch with fans and performance is still on her mind however.

“I may do an online performance soon with my harp,” she says. “But I’m more on the studio working on an Ambient Harp Album and hoping to release it this summer. It’s a ‘best of album’ so to say, since it’ll be a decade this year I’ve been a solo artist.”

Slowcity.ca Open Mic with Slow Leaves, Scott Hardware, Alex Izenberg, Ada Lea, Kadeema, Lukas Nelson & the Promise of the Real, and 100 Mile House

By Will McGuirk

Say you survive, most will, so say you’re a lucky one, say we get back to something resembling what we had, say you are talking to your grandchildren about this time, what will you say you did? You have time now, for all the projects, for all the records, for all the lessons, to learn a language, to birdwatch, to stargaze, to knit, too cook, to slow down and look at your neighbourhood and your neighbour, say you don’t die, then what? Did you help or hinder, grow or standstill like time.

“This song is a defence of my fears, conceits, and contradictions. Some of us were born with broken hearts and find comfort in slipping into sentimentality as though into an old pair of slippers. The video intends to be as transparent as the song.” - Grant Davidson

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