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!!

I did some writing for the Rifflandia Festival Guide and one of the groups I covered was Pigeon Hole. I first saw the duo play before Tommy Guerrero a few Rifflandias ago and loved their raucous energy and swagger. Seemed like a good choice for me. There wasn't enough information on the net about the duo to write the allotted word count so, through the power of Twitter, I contacted the duo and Dustry Melo was quick to get back to me.

Having seen them again recently at Shambhala, where they destroyed the Amphitheater in the blazing sun, I can happily assure everyone that their energy has not diminished one ounce. But now, that energy is focused like a laser. I don't know what trap music is, but apparently that's what you call the beats that pack their new album Chimp Blood . All I hear is slightly more electronic hip-hop. I dunno. Labels, eh, fuck 'em. Let's not worry about that right now. Let's all just read this sweet conversation I had with Dusty Melo, one half of Nanaimo-bred gangstas, Pigeon Hole.

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

Dusty Melo is well-spoken and not at all the ADD ruffian he seems like on stage.