5 Questions with Rags #25 - Weird Party

in

Weird Party is holding down the tasty grooves here in Victoria, BC. Wherever you see their name pop up you’re guaranteed to find some rump shakin’ delights. The quintet’s Mellow Funk Vol.1 has been on my headphones pretty regularly this summer (Even though it’s a year old…I was late to the Weird Party! Sorry!) and is required listening for anyone who likes feeling good because of the music they put into their ears. Getting five people together for an interview is a tall order, one that was not going to be conquered here, so I threw out a call and got ahold of saxophonist Anand Greenwell for this installment of the 5 Questions.

-----------------------------------------

1. Do you remember the first album you bought with your own money?

Yep! Def Leppard Pyromania. I collected empties until I had $10 saved up, then I went to the store and got the record. Haven't listened to it in a while, but I still have the vinyl. My favourite song initially was Stagefright, but later on I liked Die Hard the Hunter the best.

Read More

5 Questions with Rags #24 - Hawksley Workman

in

Hawksley Workman is the most interesting man in Canadian music. Now 16 albums deep (Not counting his various side-projects and producer credits), Workman continues to impress with his willingness to follow his muse wherever it takes him. You genuinely never know what you’re going to get when you pick up a Hawksley Workman record and that’s an exciting feeling. His latest, Old Cheetah, his first solo record in 5 years (Not counting the companion album to his one-man show The God that Comes) is another wholly different beast – one awash in bright synths and bouncy pop rhythms. Songs like “Make Up Your Mind Tonight” and “Teenage Cats” will bury their way into your brain and have you singing refrains under the cover of breath all day into dreamtime. “We’re Not Broken Yet” glides through the cosmos fuelled by frustrated wonder, floating on supple piano. With a voice stronger and more evocative than ever and lyrics to match, it’s another more-than-solid outing and one of the finest records we’ve been blessed with this year. I was lucky enough to get a few moments of the good Hawk’s time and get some answers to our silly questions as he prepares to take to the Canadian road on his Winter Bird Tour.

Full tour dates can be found HERE on his site.

----------------------------------------------------

1. Do you remember the first album you bought with your own money? 

I don't really remember the first one. My house was full of music and records, so it's a little blurry. I remember convincing my grandma to buy me the Best of Blondie... 

2. If you could spend the day with anyone living or dead, who would it be and what would you do? 

Probably my Grandma Hawksley.  We'd probably go to Swiss Chalet.

Read More

5 Questions with Rags #23 - Chelsea Lou

in

Anyone who can make me laugh with an inappropriate joke in a slightly inappropriate place is someone I can get behind. Chelsea Lou told a joke about gluten-intolerance and being barren (I can’t remember the specifics of the joke so you’ll have to go see her live to hear it) during a 10am set at Tall Tree this summer and my laughter echoed off the shocked, hung-over, sun-soaked crowd around me like so many marbles in a billionaire’s empty mansion hallway. Luckily she’s around town fairly often it would seem, like at this year’s Rifflandia (10:30pm, Friday, Sept.19, Intrepid Theatre) where I probably won’t see her because I will be dancing, but you should see her and save some dancing space for me! There’s some more ways to find her down below, after you read our chat.

1. Can you think of a movie that had an effect on the way you saw the world?

I think after I saw Reservoir Dogs I started to get a little more assertive as a human being. It was also around that time I saw Goodfellas. I think that started to inform who I became as a woman, in a lot of ways.

Read More

5 Questions with Rags #22 - The Funkee Wadd

in

The Funkee Wadd is e’rywhere on the West Coast now. Between his own funks and the funky live hip-hop he’s helping lay down with his homeys in Illvis Freshly, the Funkee Wadd has all the momentum a human could have out here on Vancouver Island and the surrounding areas. After watching his ass-rattling set and catching a brief chat with him at Tall Tree earlier this summer, I knew I was going to have to get him down with the 5 Questions. Luckily for me, and all of you wonderful people, he was more than happy to get on the phone and talk all kinds of shit with me.

--------------------------------------

1. Do you remember the first album you went out and purchased on your own?

It was a CD, the first album I ever purchased, and it was Beastie Boys’ Hello Nasty. It’s kind of funny how it’s come around full circle, being in a rock group.

Favourite song on the record?

“3 MCs and 1 DJ”

What a good song. That video was way good.

Yeah man. Mix Master Mike just cuttin’ it up. Great.

Read More

5 Questions with Rags #21 - Mat the Alien

in

This was supposed to be the final in the 5 Questions in the run-up to Shambhala, but alas, as it was close to Shambhala, it kind of got filed away and lost in the festival hustle. But now, my chat with Mat the Alien sees the light of day and it’s a good thing too, because Mat the Alien is one of the best and most important DJs in the West Coast scene working today. He’s also one of the nicest. His English accent and calm manner of speaking belies the audio-killer that lurks underneath. You never know what you’re going to get at an Alien show…maybe heavy on funk? Drum ‘n’ bass, perhaps? Breaks? Dubstep? The homey’s got you covered. I was super lucky to get the local legend on the phone to answer my silly questions and you are even luckier to get to read it. Feel the luck!

Despite my awful timing, this works out perfectly as Mr. The Alien is going to be back in my neck of the woods in Victoria, BC, in September. Make sure to catch him before Longwalkshortdock on Saturday, September 19 at the Capital Iron Stage during Rifflandia.

And for your listening pleasure whilst you enjoy our brief, whimsical conversation (And for an hour afterwards) here is Mat the Alien’s winning mix for the good people over at THUMP. Listen and enjoy.

------------------------------------

How many Shambhalas have you been to? Do you have a memory that sticks out?

I think this is my 12th or 13th Shambhala. There’s a lot of memories, really. The first time I played there I played right before Bassnectar on what used to be the Main Stage, now it’s the Pagoda. That was a big one. Just being able to see it grow has been awesome. All of it is such a crazy experience.

------------------------------------

1. Can you think of a movie you saw that had an effect on the way you saw the world?

The movie Quadraphenia, with the soundtrack by the Who. That was a big movie about different music movements in England and people rebelling against old stuff. I don’t know, it kind of reminded me of rave music that I got into. That Who soundtrack was really good too, lots of good rockers. It seemed like a really crazy era.

Read More