I talk with Five Alarm Funk's resident Animal, Tayo Branston. Also, it's wicked!

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Five Alarm Funk has been a West Coast institution for nearly a decade. Their Empire of Funk may be based on the quiet, slow coast of Canada, but they're slowly marching on the rest of the world, establishing a New World Order of Fun. I was there to witness one of their highpoints of Glorious Fun at Shambhala where they destroyed the Amphitheatre (Formerly the Rock Pit) and made my good friend and Guide to the Cosmos, Hingle McCringleberry, admit to their live-band greatness. Fuck yeah. Anyways, I was supposed to talk to frontman and guy who surprisingly isn't Animal from the Muppets, Tayo Brantson whilst at the festival but I was unable to make it. But luckily we managed to hook up on the phone a little more than a month later and talked about that missed opportunity, the grueling nature of the F.A.F.'s tour schedule and the dangers of spilling on oneself.

This week Five Alarm Funk celebrates 10 years of funking the hell out of fans in Victoria at Sugar Nightclub. Read this, get amped and then get some tickets here. 

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Hawksley Workman and I chat for a third time. I love Hawksley Workman.

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My friends, it's been a little while since you've heard from me. I've been busy preparing and executing my plans in and around the Rifflandia festival. It's the biggest week of music in Victoria every year (Though I still contend that the Victoria Ska Fest is the BEST week) and it's always a mightily distracting thing. But here I am with a delicious interview for you with my favourite guy to talk to and all-around dreamboat, Hawksley Workman.   I conducted my this interview, my third with Workman, in preparation for writing his profile in the Rifflandia guidebook. The 600+ word article I wrote ended up getting cut down to somewhere around 175, so the amount not in there is mighty. We talk about his involvement in and the creation of supergroup Mounties, using art to deal bridge emotions and machismo, the best sounding venue in Victoria and how he crippled me emotionally with "Piano Blink."

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Andrew WK cements his status as World-Record holder for Awesome Partying.

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I don't usually associate MTV with awesomeness these days, but they have thrown their name into the party hat, reporting that Official Spokesman of Partying and former regular Overcompensating character Andrew W.K. is going to attempt to set the world record for "Longest Drum Session in a Retail Store" with a 24-hour drumstravaganza at something called the "O Awards," this Wednesday (June 19).

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