5 Questions with Rags #69 - DJ All Good

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Have you ever walked into a place completely foreign to you and just felt wholly and completely welcome? One of the few times as an adult I've felt that was the first time I walked into the Turntemple. A true monument of Hip-Hop, The Turntemple (A travelling DJ school housed in a 26-foot U-Haul) is unlike anything I had ever seen; a place where one of the pillars of Hip-Hop is tended and shared. The incredible human at the head of this low-key important space is DJ All Good (aka Peter Poole), Western Canada DMC Champion, Redbull Thre3style Finalist and human beam of Love. It didn't take more than a few seconds of me being in the Turntemple for him to come up to me, welcome me and notice my eyes on those turntables. Despite my crucial error in my first minute of touching them (“As long as you don't hit the needle, you're golden...” BAM! Right away, needle off the record.) he encouraged me to stay on and try it more, get closer to this foundation of the Hip-Hop that I love so much. Everyone I know who has crossed paths with the homie (This is a very high number of people) has glowing things to say about him and for good reason. His passion for music and willingness to share his vast reservoirs of knowledge – and his straight-up phenomenal skills – have made him a staple of West Coast festivals, strengthening the deep bonds between hip-hop and modern bass music whenever he sets up shop.

Finally getting a chance to do this interview thing proper with All Good was a thrill and I couldn't just pass up the opportunity to pick the brain of such an incredible DJ about all things scratchy and turny. So, in addition to the usual nonsense, we've mixed in a generous helping of queries about the Turntemple and the Art of Scratching.

Recently the U-Haul truck that housed the original Turntemple drove its final roads and breathed its final gasps of life. If you dig the noble mission of preserving the Art of Djing, check out the Turntemple's GoFundMe page and considering supporting the cause with a donation to help cover the costs of getting this educational beast back on the road.

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

It was one of those 1 penny for 10 albums things. I got 10 cassette tapes. I remember in that collection there was Pearl Jam Ten, INXS Kick, The Cure Greatest Hits, The Doors Greatest Hits, the Jimi Hendrix Experience Greatest Hits. Don't remember all of them but those were in there. As I matured I was a little bit ashamed I had so many Greatest Hits albums. There was Kids in the Hall skit where Bruce McDonald is running a record store and the guy comes in, “Hey, I'm looking to buy some Doors.” And Bruce says, “I'm not selling you any Doors! Greatest Hits albums are for grandmas!”

1a. How'd you get into the whole DJing thing?

Jam Master Jay...hearing “Peter Piper.” That song totally blew my mind. That and “Rocket” by Herbie Hancock. A lot of scratch DJs credit that song with being the song that got them into DJing because it's the first song that highlighted the turntable as an instrument. I'm talking turntablism here, not just DJing. I remember walking to school and air-scratching on my zipper, pulling it up and down. Hearing those songs really got me into it. Then I started making mixtapes for friends and house parties and stuff. I think if you're making a mix cassette tape it's a form of DJing – you're taking the time to curate and compile music for other peoples' listening experience, creating a journey.

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5 Questions with Rags #60 - 2018 Kickoff Spectacular with Jim Vanderhorst (Rebel Cause Films)

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A funny thing happened at Tall Tree this year. I was asked by no less than three separate people if I knew Jim from Rebel Cause Films. (The mighty Everyman was effusive in his praise of the good Mr. Vanderhorst.) Apparently, because I like bass music and live in Victoria, I MUST be know and work with Jim. I didn't know who he was, but I was familiar with some of his work – as is pretty much anyone on the west coast who digs bass music and/or attends festivals and parties fuelled by such music. His work capturing the diverse beauty of musical audiences is, frankly, unparalleled. Turns out he's one hell of an interesting cat as well. I figured someone so entrenched in this community that I think I'm becoming a viable part of (?), a guy who has so much experience and so many stories, would be the perfect homie to kick off 2018. So, in an effort to blast off another year of 5 Questions with Rags in style, I dug up a large portion of the guest questions that got asked over the last year and let this incredibly interesting human being tear through them like some kind of fascinating buzzsaw.

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1. Colin from Pigeon Hole – What's the most vegetable and why?

Potatoes because to take the amount of time needed to describe everything you can do with potatoes would feel like like the shrimp montage from Forrest Gump. There are just so many things you can with potatoes...scalloped potatoes, mashed potatoes, french fries, baked potatoes... Potatoes are so goddamned versatile that when there were no potatoes, Ireland collapsed and turned into a joke for hundreds of years.

2. Jennay Badger...What's your go-to album for a good cry/emotional cleaning out?

I would say my go-to is probably Underdogs by Matthew Good Band.

3. Mike Love...What will you do now, to make the world a little better?

I really want to help spread the message that fear doesn't help anyone. I want to figure out ways to help people move beyond listening to fear. I want to make narrative feature films and I want them to share the basic theme of overcoming fear. Fear of useless, of lack of value. Fear is what we needed to save us from jungle cats when we were primitive stone-age animals. Now fear only drives us to bad decisions.

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#festivalseason - Victoria Ska & Reggae Fest XVII

I’ve lived in Victoria all of my life. The Victoria Ska & Reggae Festival has been around for the past 16 of these years and as it heads into its 17th year it remains my favourite week on the West Coast music calendar. People I don’t see for a year at a time reconvene from around the globe to the Festival, a cultural touchstone unlike anything else around it. In a world of boutique festivals, catering to a specific fanbase, Victoria Ska & Reggae was among the first, and it remains one of the strongest. With the main shows once again centralized right in the heart of my city’s beautiful Inner Harbour and night shows at various venues throughout the city, the Ska & Reggae Festival is a kind of love letter to the city as well as a celebration of the incredible strong culture, descended from another, way more famous island than our own.

Get full lineup, scheduling and ticket info at victoriaskafest.ca.

TOOTS and the MAYTALS

lo mejor de lo meor

The headliner of any festival obviously should be the biggest reason to check out said festival. Well, maybe it's not always the case but it often is and there might not be a bigger, more appropriate headliner than Toots and the Maytals. They've headlined the festival before, but this is different. For more than three years the legend, Toots Hibbert, has been off the road, after suffering the repercussions of some astoundingly dumb person hurling a bottle from a crowd and smashing the reggae pioneer in the head. It stands to reason that the fire and passion that Hibbert has demonstrated over his years of surviving in the notoriously cutthroat music business would manifest itself in a roaring return to the stage, full of a renewed determination. The last time Toots and the Maytals hit the Festival's now legendary stage in the heart of Victoria's Inner Harbour was a show for the ages, with the band running through hits and covers with the perfect balance of precision and looseness. Toots is one of the most important connections we still have to the roots of reggae culture, a culture that has seeped through the veins and into many corners of the modern musical landscape. Who knows how many more chances anyone has to see this titan of music.  

COMMUNITY

I've been covering the Victoria Ska & Reggae Festival in some form or another for five years now. I've come to know the people running it, even as they change over, and the deeper into this thing I've got, the bigger the rings of joy that surround this planet reveal themselves to be. I've met a gentleman from New Zealand who left his home to answer the call of the Festival, dedicating himself to spreading the culture through working with the all-important Street Team. A wonderful lady who left her home, promoting shows in Edmonton, to come to the coast and join the Board that helps keep the festival on track. The head of the Festival, who started it as a labour of love and has helped incubate the fledgling baby into the longest running festival of its kind in North America. Look around at any one of the many shows on the schedule and you'll find these people, among the countless others who volunteer year in and year out, dancing as hard (Or harder) than anyone in attendance. It's a lovely, warm feeling to know those behind the massive operation are doing it for their love of this powerful, important culture and ever uplifting music.

THAT FULL, JOYOUS LIVE BAND SOUND

Western Standard Time Ska Orchestra.

Western Standard Time Ska Orchestra.

In its 17 years of existence the Victoria Ska & Reggae Festival has proven its commitment to the overwhelming power of the Live Band. Like moths to the light, it's nigh impossible for a music fan to not be pulled towards a group of talented musicians playing a soundtrack for getting down. Over the last few years I've delved deeply into the world of electronic music (A direct of reggae when you go back in time just a bit). As that DJ rabbit hole has deepened, so has my need to make regular stops in the land of live music. No matter how fun or funky any given night with a DJ might be, there is no substitute for the intimacy that a great group of live musicians can deliver. While the Ska & Reggae Fest does a great job bringing in choice selectors to augment each performance, the lineup from top to bottom is stuffed with that real, uncut LIVE MUSIC. This year bands like big-band ska-swing kings WESTERN STANDARD TIME SKA ORCHESTRA, New Zealand reggae rebels the BLACK SEEDS and Argentinian clown sensations ENTANGADOS promise to bring those live grooves you need to get your summer dance party on.

Entangados - Primero Lo Primero | DVD "Que Culiau!"10 Años | HD Contacto: entangados@gmail.com https://www.facebook.com/Entangados https://www.bandcamp.com/Entangados https://soundcloud.com/entangados https://www.youtube.com/user/Entangados Gracias a todos los que ayudaron a que este sueño exista en la vida real!! ----------------------------------------­­----------------------------------- Representante: Demian Escribano Gonzalez Córdoba, Argentina: (+549)351-3946339 Se agradece toda difusión y contacto. Luz en sus Vidas...*...

ILLVIS FRESHLY & FRIENDS

I've been writing about Illvis Freshly on and off for the last year because they're damned-near inescapable in these parts and for good reason. Their unique blend of heavy EDM grooves and playful west-coast party rap takes the infectious factor to new heights. I've been running into them, one by one, around our shared home here in Victoria and each dude has lit up at the mention of this upcoming set, on a bill with headliner Dub FX and Canadian reggae sensation Mikey Dangerous. I've heard rumours of the impending dance party they're itching to put on, gathering up a bunch of their friends – some of the most talented, exciting artists the city has to offer – for a super-duper, extra special, one-of-a-kind West Coast blowout.

A funky feel good track featuring cuts by DJ All Good and The Funkee Wadd, written and performed by Illvis Freshly, Mixed and Mastered by Matt. McKenzie AKA Scrumb. Check out the link below for the Zizo music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyEfa2WkW9c Download for free on The Artist Union

CITY LIVIN’

I'm all for going to commune with my fellow music lovers in whatever field or small forest people want to set up a festival in but as I age through my 30s, the idea of being around the comforts of the a city is more appealing than ever. I love comfortable shit and there really is no replacement for crashing in a real, honest to God bed at the end of a night of dancing my face off. I don't care how comfortable of an air mattress you have, it's not a bed. Don't lie to yourself. Beyond my petty, selfish love of comfort, we have the far more important and serious issue of environmental impact. A festival that takes place in the heart of a city skips a lot of the problems with transportation of people, resources and equipment to some remote location. I'd really like to see someone break down what gets saved by holding an event in a location with an established infrastructure that is easily accessible by public transportation. With the proliferation of festivals in the last few years all over North America, as we continue to adopt the European model, the need for Festivals like this (Sled Island in Calgary, Levitation in Vancouver, Rifflandia again here in Victoria – to name a few) is ever more important.

The Archives: Boots Riley is a traditionalist dragging things forward. And we're all the better for it.

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Two nights before Barrack Obama's second Presidential election in Nov. 2012, I tracked down political activist, songwriter, public speaker, Coup frontman and all around bad muthafucka Boots Riley to talk about the latest Coup record, the instant classic Sorry To Bother You, the live Coup experience vs. the records and the impact of social media on political activism. It was the second time I've interviewed Riley and he remains one of the best, most open interviews I've ever done. If you're not fucking with the Coup you're fucking up. Mad respect to Boots, one of the most important brothers working in the game today. Great talk. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed having it.

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