by Miné Salkin | Oct 6, 2011 | interviews, live action, news, song of the day, technology, television, Uncategorized
FOR SEVEN STREETS MAGAZINE
Rhodes is a musical talent you may not have heard of until recently. The five-piece indie rock outfit played a stellar set at Mello Mello on Friday 30th September to finish off a week-long national tour, with ear-ringingly impressive results. They just released an EP with Liverpool’s original E.D.i.L.S. Records alongside the talents of Moonlit Sailor and Elk, and are now heading back into the shadows of songwriting.
Built on lifelong friendships, the group’s synergy onstage truly brings this sentiment alive. Newly reunited with their singer, Alan Croft, who spent the past year on the West Coast of British Columbia, the group rocked out together and delivered one of the most blisteringly loud gigs I’ve experienced. In fact, two days later, the ears are still ringing.
Drummer Michael Davies, despite his off-stage reserve, lets loose on his kit and brings to mind the mathematical side of his craft, with technical beats and jams. Bassist Jon Papavasiliou performs fluidly and dynamically on his chosen weapon, and with the half Greek connotation it’s hard to put Poseidon out of your mind when you’re watching him perform. Guitarists Aaron Noroozi and Michael Connor might have a bit of rivalry going on, staunchly placed on opposite sides of the stage, but the melding of their distorted, melodic sounds is an act of love.
Rhodes is a band that, despite their complex rhythms and math-rock tendencies, they manage to offset the brainy aspects of music writing by fleshing out natural sounds and rich harmonies. Caught somewhere between the brainy tendencies of Foals, and the catchiness of Two Door Cinema Club, their polished sound is bound to take these boys far.
by Miné Salkin | Sep 22, 2011 | interviews, live action, news, song of the day, technology, television, Uncategorized
FOR SEVEN STREETS
It’s unarguable that Liverpool is a stunning creative playground. Backed by a rich history of rebellion and revolution, it’s a hub of music and culture that continues to influence and inspire. Dismembered Empire, an insurrectionary multimedia cabaret, pushes this sentiment to the extremes of the steampunk style— by putting forth the tantilising question—what if Liverpool was the centre for world trade and economic power in the modern age?
The interactive mixed arts and technology project will take place in the mystifying locale of the Williamson Tunnels October 7-8th. Descending into the labyrinth of the tunnels, the audience will be immersed into an alternate version of Liverpool, inhabited by sinister scientists, revolution, bizarro machines and strange music.
Using the steampunk style, a super playful and expressive aesthetic, DE blurs the line bewteen reality and imagination, the nefarious and the benign. Using elements of both real and imagined history, the performance plays out as the ripping apart of two parallel worlds, driven by tensions between industrial mavericks Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla during the Industrial Era.
It’s the brainchild of Jennifer Catterall, an evolutionary biologist with a penchant for theatre and music composition. “DE is all about re-imagining ourselves and thinking, how could we have done something different with our science and technology. It’s all about seeing things from a different point of view.”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyzrT24nIrI&feature=related]
Dismembered Empire
7th – 8th of October, 7pm at the Williamson Tunnels
For more information, visit http://dismemberedempire.org.uk/
by Miné Salkin | Jun 4, 2011 | interviews
FOR THE LIVERPOOL ECHO
Meet The Thespians, Liverpool’s budding punk quartet, and my newest musical obsession.
With Paul Thespian as the helm and frontman, the band boasts three other members, with the lovely Jess Branney on guitar, Danny Hall on drums and Phill Gornall on bass.
I caught up with them for a video interview after they’d played an acoustic set for BBC Radio, to talk about what it’s like to be an indie Liverpool band.
[vimeo http://vimeo.com/24542652]
by Miné Salkin | Mar 26, 2011 | interviews
FOR THE BLOCK MAGAZINE
Static on the Wire, by Holy Ghost!, is arguably one of the best combinations of deep funk, ferocious percussion and pillow-talk lyricism sure to make the most uptight of British nannies drop their panties. Loaded with satin romance driven by fat, bass-heavy disco beats, Alex Frankel and Nick Millhiser, the mortal beings behind the music, have deep sensibilities lining their hearts. The electronic duo, hailing from Brooklyn, could easily be described as the epitome of the American dream—from two kids running amok in the streets of New York to two glowing beacons of creative prosperity.
Frankel and Millhiser met at an elementary in Manhattan, and instantly became friends. “I don’t remember exactly the first time we met, although it was in the second grade. I suspect we met somewhere in the hallway,” Millhiser says, before taking a long drag on his American Spirit cigarette. He’s quick to correct the assumption that him and Frankel were partners in juvenile tomfoolery. “We were pretty good kids. Everybody thinks it’s so crazy we grew up there, but none of my friends did crazy drugs or got pregnant or anything. We had so little time to get bored or get into trouble. I think boredom breeds serious trouble.”
Twenty minutes later, singer Frankel tells a slightly more familiar story of parental tough love. Raised in a strict Jewish household, Frankel’s early life set the bar for high expectations. “Our parents didn’t tolerate any bullshit. Especially from me as their first kid. When I got to high school I did my share of NYC hooligan antics, but growing up, school was definitely important.”
Partly planned, and partly accidental, Frankel’s conversation angled itself more and more like a therapy session. While much of their music is dirty, suggestive and infectious on the dance floor, the duo is incredibly grounded, despite having achieved huge successes early in life. With doting parents, the band’s choice to be professional musicians was not always the easiest family conversation.
“When I was in another band with Nick, we got a record deal when we were 17 years old, with Capitol Records,” Frankel says. “We got the deal during senior year, and I was like “Fuck college!” but my parents were like “What? We just spent 17 years of private school tuition for you to be in a band?” So they were a little skeptical at first, for sure.”
Now that Frankel and Millhiser have achieved critical acclaim from all over the world, their parents have mellowed out. Both of their parents come out to all their shows in New York, and even dance up storms at their DJ sets. “Now they say they supported us the whole time, that being musicians was their idea!” Frankel laughs, flicking the ashen embers off his preferred Camel brand.
Much of the Holy Ghost! sound comes from pure, unadulterated production. Abstaining from the digital-heavy equipment that has often become the recording norm, the electro group’s silken disco sound is instrumentally authentic. Millhiser even abstains from listening to music on headphones. “I hate the way modern rock records are recorded,” he says. “Everything is super compressed, every take is edited to perfection, and everything is autotuned. Everyone knows autotune and it’s like everything’s gotta be perfectly on key. To me, it sounds horrendous and it just sucks all the fun and spontenaiety out of it.”
by Miné Salkin | Nov 18, 2010 | interviews
FOR THE BLOCK MAGAZINE. CHECK OUT THE ORIGINAL STORY HERE
If I wasn’t getting called a faggot I honestly don’t think I’d be pushing the envelope far enough.
Acid washed denim. Rainbow coloured war paint. Anthematic new wave. These are the things that Special Affections are made of. Hailing from Oshawa, Ontario, John O’Regan has made a name for himself as the shimmering, gender-bending artist and epicentre of Diamond Rings. With a strong penchant for retro basketball attire and a love of David Bowie, Regan seamlessly weaves together all the best artifacts of the 1980s. Although he’s probably best known as the bespectacled guitarist in techno rock outfit The D’Ubervilles, Regan’s solo work shines as vividly as his bejwelled name implies. The 25-year-old gave us some time to talk about his debut, which was released October 26th.
You’ve been described before as a gender-bending glam rocker in the same style as David Bowie. How have you been received in the hipster-heavy music scene in Toronto?
I don’t really think about Toronto being a hipster hotbed as much as a great place where my friends and I live and work on our art and music. The whole concept of something being hipster is fraught with so many contradictions that I try to avoid thinking about it altogether. The ultimate in cool is being yourself and not giving a second thought to whether or not you’re going to end up as a “Do” or a “Don’t” in the Sunday style section. Toronto, of course, is one of my favourite places to be myself.
A lot of musicians who wield an original, unusual genre often get stereotyped. Have you had to break though any particular stereotypes, or felt misunderstood?
My entire life, really. I think everyone feels as though they can’t relate at some point in their lives, and expressing those feelings openly is what Diamond Rings is all about. I cut a fairly striking figure when I’m all dressed up so obviously I have to deal with homophobes and jerks all the time. That’s part of the process though, challenging others by first challenging myself. If I wasn’t getting called a faggot I honestly don’t think I’d be pushing the envelope far enough.
(more…)
by Miné Salkin | Oct 19, 2010 | film stripped, interviews
Kevan Funk’s short film toys with faith, the Free World and a matchbox budget
FOR METRO VANCOUVER NEWSPAPER
A Fine Young Man, directed by Kevan Funk, is a dark comedy that has garnered critical acclaim at this year’s Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF), winning the award for Best Short Film in Calgary.
Director Kevin Funk (second from left) talks with actors on the set of A Fine Young Man.
Set during the Cold War era, the film flirts with the fine line between faith and the danger of personal convictions.
My intention with the film was to start a conversation, rather than giving an answer,” Funk said in a video Skype interview. “Most importantly, it’s about belief. When you have blind faith in something, it can be very dangerous.”
Funk, 24, is a fourth-year student of Film, Video and Integrated Media at Emily Carr University of Art & Design. He was born in Vancouver and raised in Banff, Alberta.
With an early interest in the performing arts, Funk later developed a talent in photography which lead him to pursue a career in film. Since 2002, Funk has been involved in numerous independent film projects.
Funk is currently seeking an international opening for A Fine Young Man to showcase his talents.
There’s a lot of humour and unexpected things in life,” said Funk. “It seems more of an appropriate fit, dark comedy, in terms of telling authentic stories.”
