5 Questions with Rags #10 - Chuck Robertson (of the Mad Caddies)

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Confession: Second-wave ska music kind of makes me insane. I want to like it, I really do. Everyone involved with it seems pretty cool and people in the crowds are always jovial and peaceful, but man, something about it makes me want to punch someone in the face. And as a guy who’ll have a big puff and listen to Run the Jewels with no inclination to punch another face, this is really saying something. A couple of years ago the Mad Caddies, a band with 20 years under their belts and a total of zero listens from your truly, headlined the Victoria Ska Fest (the greatest music week on the Victoria calendar) and I was more than pleasantly surprised with what I saw. These cats rock and burn, throwing every genre scrap they can into their “ska” and making something honest and uniquely theirs. The good homey and frontman Chuck was super cool to oblige me with some time while he was waiting for his California hotel room to be ready.

1. What was the first album you went to buy with your own money?

It was at a place called Records, Etc. I think by the time I started shopping there at age 7 or 8 they still had records, but they definitely mostly had cassettes, rock ‘n’ roll posters and posters of Ferraris and stuff. The first tape I bought was Billy Idol’s Vital Idol, if you can believe it. <laugh> That was the first tape I bought with my own lawn-mowing money. After that it was all Guns ‘n’ Roses, Metallica, Poison, lots of glam rock.

Do you still listen to any of that stuff?

Well, a lot of that glam rock didn’t really stand up to the test of time except for Guns ‘n’ Roses and a few Motley Crue tunes.

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5 Questions with Rags #9 - DJ Dubconscious

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If you've been around electronic music in BC for any length of time or if you've made the trek to the EDM-mecca that is Shambhala, you're probably at least passingly familiar with the name Dubconscious. Dude makes some tasty, reggae-based music that never fails to energize and dose the listener with positivity. He's a fixture on the Living Room Stage at Shambhala, the chillest zone at the festival. He had been on my radar for the 5 Questions for a little while now and when he got me confused on ye olde Facebook with another person who goes by "Rags" (WTF?!), I took the opportunity to test his interest and BOOM! It happened.

Catch the good homey Dubconscious playing with Moontricks in Vancouver on Friday, Jan.23 at the Electric Owl at the monthly "Kootenay Time" show. Check the FB page for the show info.

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1. If the world was about to end and you go to anywhere in the world and grab one piece of culture what would you grab? And you can’t say the Internet, because a couple people have done that and I’ve closed that loophole…

I would say soundsystem culture and Jamaican reggae heritage. Soundclashes, vintage reggae, 45s, deejaying and toasting and roots reggae. That’s kind of the one thing that comes to mind.

If you could only take one guy’s Soundsystem who would you poach it from?

If I was going to cover all my bases and it was only going to be one it would be David Rodigan. He’s been huge in reggae/dancehall  for a long time but now he’s kind of adjusted with the times and keep himself updated, rolling with Chase Status and Shy FX and that stuff. So I think that would be my #1.

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Top Songs of 2014 (Subconciously ranked.)

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I guess I’m supposed to do some sort of year-end round-up thing. These things always feel kind of forced and I really, really loathe pitting art against art in some kind of relative combat. This isn’t a competition. So, in the spirit of that, he is a short list of songs from this year that had a lasting effect on me. They are in no order except the order that they appeared in my head. I suppose that might be a gauge of how much I loved them, so maybe that’s my subconscious ranking them as such. There you go.

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Sturgill Simpson – Turtles All The Way Down

Remember when the Highwaymen released “The Highwayman?” That was some real bad-ass mystical reincarnation shit. Maybe the titular Highwayman has found his way back in the form of Sturgill Simpson. It’s entirely possible, right? Who else has the balls to making such traditional country music singing about the positive elements of psychedelics? This isn’t about drinking beer down at the fishin’ hole shit, this is some serious expand-your-mind-and-learn-yourself-and-you’ll-love-your-brothersandsisters stuff here. Obviously all of this is just shtick if it’s not being delivered by an incredibly talented performer and writer, both of which Simpson most assuredly is. (Listen to “Just Let Go.” Fuck) His album Metamodern Sounds in Country Music is pretty much great across the board and worth your $10 on bandcamp. It’s amazing watching this guy gain so much steam with no radio support whatsoever. Thanks Joe Rogan for using your mighty reach to bring the good Sturgill to the people. (Props to Rob Porter for the cover photo.)

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5 Questions with Rags #8 - Timothy Wisdom

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I found Timothy Wisdom's tunes through my (Kinda-sorta brief) obsession with Ghetto Funk that started after my first Shambhala festival. A strict adherent to the Temple of Funk and Groove, Wisdom's tunes are instantly accessible for the non-EDM initiated and the consistently pleasing (From what I'm told by people who know more than me) to those already initiated. A Vancouver homey reppin' our beloved West Coast of BC, he was super cool to talk with and I'm looking forward to some delicious golden potatoes in the future...

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1. What’s the first record you remember going out to buy with your own money?

That would probably be a K-TEL anthonolgy of some sort. “Hit News” I think it was called, maybe. It was a K-TEL record with Michael Jackson, Pat Benatar and Cindi Lauper on it.

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5 Questions with Rags #7 Colin from Pigeon Hole (Bonus Interview included!)

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The first time I saw Van. Island-bred ruffians Pigeon Hole was at Rifflandia some years ago (I wrote their write-up in the festival guide for their second appearance). The ferocity they attacked the near-empty crowd with was frankly astonishing and they’ve only gotten better. I’ve seen them blow up Shambhala, another Rifflandia and various other shows around here in Victoria and really, these guys have become assassins. I’ve been trying to find another reason to get ahold of Colin and get back on the Pigeon Hole train, and he’s a cool dude he was game for answering the 5 Questions.

 And this week, as a bonus, we have some extra discussion – the result of life taking a chunk out of both of us over the last couple of weeks and taking too long to get this done. See, this was going to be a piece for the Martlet in anticipation of their big headline show at Distrikt Nightclub this Thursday, but as the postponing went on for so long that we couldn’t make it online there in time, so rather than let the words get lost in the ether, I figured I’d at least get them out here.

 Get advance tickets for Pigeon Hole at Distrikt Nightclub this Thursday, Nov. 27.

1. If for some insane reason you were about to lose your vision and your hearing and you could only keep one, which would you keep and why?

Oooo…I’d keep vision. I’d be bummed not being able to hear music but i could still work on art and feel the bass at a rave.

2. What’s the first album you remember going out to buy with your own money and how old were you? What track from it, if any, lives on for you?

House of Pain’s Fine Malt Lyrics on cassette. I’m guessing I was like 12 or something? I’ve got it in a shoe box in my moms basement with all my other tapes. “Jump Around” is still the jam!!

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